The lying down of the cornerstone for the Masonic Hall on Church Street is commemorated with a ceremony on April 5, 1927.

Downtown Waynesville building symbolize 1920s economic boom
By David Teague - staff writer The Mountaineer

Like most of the rest of the country, Haywood County experienced the joys of a major economic boom during the 1920s. Two of the most visible symbols of that boom, the foremer Citizens Bank and Trust Co. on Main Street, and the former Masonic Hall on Church Street were added to the National Register of Historic Places in the past 12 years.

When the cornerstone fro the Masonic Hall was laid on April 5, 1927, it marked a high point in the commercial developmet in Haywood County during the pre-depression "boom" period of western North Carolina, according to the national register application, filed in 1991. There were 25 commercial establishments in downtown Waynesville, employing 2,006 wage earners, not including salaried employees.

The Lodges Past

By Edwin Paul Martin - Past Mater (1953)

William H. Peeps, A.I.A Most Illustrious Grand Master of The Grand Council of North Carolina.

As we observe the two hundredth anniversary of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and the one hundred twentieth anniversary of Waynesville Lodge No.259, we pause with pride to review and comment on the influence our Lodge has had on the religious, educational, political, and financial growth of our city, county, and state.

Waynesville Lodge was organized soon after the close of the Civil War. This was five years before the incorporation of the town Waynesville, originally called Mount Prospect.         

The Grand Lodge of Masons of North Carolina issued a dispensation on June 9, 1866 authorizing the following officers:  Daniel B. Nelson, Master; J. C. L. Gudger, Senior Warden; H. M. Rogers, Junior Warden; and others named in the dispensation to open and hold a Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons to be called Waynesville Lodge under Dispensation.  The Lodge opened on June, 29 and the Master appointed Samuel L. Love, Secretary; A. J. Osborne, Treasurer; R.G.A. Love, Senior Deacon; Matthew H. Love, Junior Deacon; and B. B. Edmondson, Tyler.

At this meeting the Lodge voted to hold its regular communications on the first Friday night, or preceding the full moon in each month, and on the anniversary of the Saints John. (The reason for this time of the moon was to facilitate travel to the meetings which was by foot or horseback).

The first Master of the Lodge was Reverend Daniel Burymen Nelson, born in Knoxville, Tennessee, August 7, 1832. He came to this area on a secret mission for the 31^st Tennessee Infantry during the Civil war and later located in Haywood County.  We find no record of when and where he was made a Mason.  He was a charter member of Waynesville Lodge and was the first Master.  He was ordained to the ministry in June 1816 at Old Locust Field Church at the Forks of Pigeon (now Canton).  Both he and J.M. Mease were principals at the Bethel Academy.  In 1869 he moved to Henderson County.  He demitted from Waynesville Lodge on September 17, 1869 to Kedron Lodge No. 387 and later served as its Master.

While a member of Kedron Lodge, he and the other Brethren organized Biltmore Lodge No. 446 and he became its first Master.  He was appointed Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina on January 12, 1892 and was Grand Representative to the Grand Lodge of British Colombia.  His silk apron is framed and hangs in the Secretary’s office of Kedron Lodge.  He died at Vale, North Carolina, August 28, 1895. The memorial in the Grand Lodge Proceedings for 1896 eulogized him as “An upright man and faithful servant”.

The first candidate to petition for membership was John A. Henry.  He was accepted and initiated at the first meeting.  (Many of his descendants are living in Haywood County today).

The mentioned in the dispensation were all prominent citizens of Haywood County and were officers and veterans of the Civil War.

J.C.L. Gudger was a grandson of Colonel Robert Love, founder of Waynesville. He enlisted in Company I, 25^th North Carolina Infantry, the latter part of (1861) and served as a First Lieutenant and Adjutent.  He served as Haywood County Attorney and was the First Superior Court Judge in this district in 1878 and served 8 years.  He held a position in the U.S. Treasury Department in 1894.

Samuel L. Love was a medical doctor and served on the Staff of Governor Zebulon Vance as a surgeon.  He served as North Carolina State Auditor from 1876 to 1881. He was a Haywood County Representative to the State Convention in 1875.  He was one of the signers for application for The Episcopal Parish in 1866.

R.G.A. Love was a Civil War veteran and served as a Colonel in the 16^th N. C. Infantry Regiment. He was in North Carolina House of Representatives from 1848-1854.  He was on the school committee of Waynesville Academy.  He gave the lot for the building of the Baptist and Presbyterian Churches.

Matthew H. Love was a Civil War veteran and led a Haywood County Company.  He was on the first school committee.  He was in the North Carolina House of Representatives for the term of 1821-23-25-26.  He signed for application for the Episcopal Parish in 1866. He was the first Junior Deacon of Waynesville Lodge.

H. Manson Rodgers was a doctor, veteran and Main Street merchant . He was the first Senior Warden of the Lodge.

The first location of the Lodge was in the old Welch building, which stood on the lot where the Waynesville fire and police departments now stand.

During the Lodge Dispensation Period petitions for the degrees were received from John Kindred Reeves,  J. T. O. Wilber, S. W. Swanger, H. L. Herren, Garland S. Fergusen, William L. Norwood, Hiram Rogers,  James A. Blaylock, J. M. Tate, W. C. Brown, Thomas Green,  Robert H. Plott, H.C. Lee,  R. N. Henry,  T. F. Glenn, Rev. D. C. Howell, A. Francis,  John Turpin, Rev. T. D. Wright,  F. M. Davis,  L. M. Welch, J. F. Hartgrove, and L. J. Smith.  All of these were prominent doctors, lawyers, judges, ministers, teachers, merchants and farmers in Haywood County.

Some of these charter members and early petitioners contributed the land on which the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal and Turpin’s Chapel (now called Maple Grove Methodist) churches were erected.

On December 6, 1866, the Grand Lodge granted a charter and gave the Lodge the number 259. The Lodge prospered and a public installation of officers was held on October 18, 1867, at which time the Lodge was also dedicated. The service was held in the Methodist Church.  Robert V. Vance of Asheville installed the officers and was the speaker for the dedication.  The Lodge appropriated $45.00 for refreshments and $10.00 for the expense of Vance.

It is interesting to note from the minutes the prices at that time and the scarceness of money. The Lodge authorized the purchase of 1 dozen chairs at $1.00 each, $0.45 for candles, $0.15 for oil, $0.50 for cleaning up the Lodge, $2.00 for spittoons, $4.45 for medicine for a sick brother, $14.45 for the funeral expense of a deceased member, and $5.90 taxes paid for a widow.

The time set for the meetings was changed several times.  Once to "early candle lighting time", another to 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon, and still another to 3:00 o’clock.  These changes were possibly made as sometimes the degrees of Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft were conferred at the same meeting.  In a few instances all three degrees were conferred the same day.  Often petitions for the degrees were read, voted on, and conferred the same day.

Fees for the degrees were $5.00 for the Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft and $10.00 for the Master Masons.  Very often labor was dispensed with until the following day and sometimes for several days.

Only two years after the chartering of the Lodge, the members became aware of the dire need of a school in Waynesville.  On October 20, 1868, on a motion by W. L. Norwood,  a committee was appointed “to investigate the propriety of building an Academy”.   A committee made up of F. M. Davis, J. W. Norwood,  G. D. S. Allen,  H. M. Rogers,  Robert H. Plott,  D. V. McCracken,  L. J. Smith,  A. J. Osborne, and B. B. Edmondson made their report on February 26, 1869, and the Academy was established.  This was the first school in Waynesville after the Civil War.

The school was named “Waynesville Academy” and was opened in a building on a site between the First Methodist Church and the present Landmark Apartments.  The building contained school rooms on the ground floor and the Lodge room on the second. Later this building was torn down, and a better brick structure for the grammar and high school was erected on the same spot.  This building was torn down in 1924 and Academy Street now extends through the property to Tate Street.

The school prospered and grew, and the records show that on April 27, 1877, the school committee reported- "The school is going on under the control of John K. Boone as principal and R. A. Sentell as assistant and has about 55 students and is in prosperous condition.  The patrons of the school seem to be well satisfied with the present teachers."  Signed by J. Ratcliffe, Jr. and S. J. Shelton.

Other teachers at a later date were Dan Jones, Mrs. L. J. Ratcliffe, Miss Ball, D. W. Kerr and others.  Major W. W. Stringfield and W. L. Norwood were substitute teachers during an emergency.

The Lodge operated the school for a period of 22 years and in March 1892 the Lodge voted to option the school property to the Town of Waynesville or any association of persons in the neighborhood for $1500.00 on the expressed conditions that the said property shall be held and used for school purposes only.  The committee of John K. Boone, W. B. Fergusen and J. M. Davis purchased the school on behalf of the Citizens of the Town of Waynesville.

On December 28, 1874, the Lodge stewards were instructed to purchase a bell for the school.  They arranged with the school committee and the bell was purchased.  Waynesville Lodge now has this bell on display in the Memorial and Archives room on the lower level of its new temple.

The Masonic Lodge was very generous in allowing the use of the school and Lodge building by other organizations.  Records show that at various times it was used by the Sons of Temperance, The Good Templars, The Macabees, Odd Fellows, Royal Arcanum, Friends of Temperance, Modern Puritans, and various Sunday Schools.  On December 22, 1882, the Episcopal Church used it for a Christmas Festival.

On January 7, 1887, the Lodge passed a resolution requesting that the General Assembly not modify in any way the Act of The General Assembly which incorporated the Waynesville Academy.  The act prohibited the sale of liquor within two miles of the Academy.

On December 11, 1891, a new Lodge room was rented over the McIntosh Drug Store.

In the same year, Charles F. Johnson of Farmville, North Carolina, Assistant Grand Lecturer of the Grand Lodge, lectured Waynesville Lodge.  The Grand Lodge adopted his Manual for the three degrees and it is still in use in 1986.

Several members of our Lodge demitted to form Clyde Lodge No. 453, and again in December 1883 several demitted to form Pigeon River Lodge No. 386.

On December 22, 1897 the Lodge sent two delegates to the Grand Lodge meeting in Asheville for the laying of the cornerstone of the Governor Z. B. Vance Monument on Pack Square.  W. B. Ferguson and J. N. Peacock attended and were allowed $1.20 each for expenses.

On May 6, 1899 The Grand Lodge requested contributions from the Lodge to help match funds given by Mr. Duke for the building of a girls home at the Oxford Orphanage.

On June 21, 1907 the Lodge accepted an invitation from the pastor of the Episcopal Church to attend Service on Saint John the Baptist Day.  On many occasions in the life of the Loge they have attended services in churches of the county on Saint John’s Days and at Easter.

General Harley B. Ferguson, a member of the Lodge, who raised the ill-fated Battleship Maine, which was sunk in Havana Harbor during the Spanish American Way, presented the Lodge with a mahogany gavel made from a piece of furniture in the ship.  The gavel is on display in the Archives of the Lodge.

On July 10, 1908 the Lodge loaned the Waynesville Chapter of Royal Arch Masons under Dispensation $400.00 for the purpose of purchasing robes and paraphernalia.  The Chapter was chartered May 12, 1909 and given the Number 69.  They repaid the loan in 1911.  The other York Rite Bodies; Doric Council No. 20 was chartered on May 9, 1923; and Waynesville Commander No. 31 on May 12^th of the same year.

These bodies have prospered throughout the years.  Several members of Waynesville Lodge have been state leaders in the Rite.  Dr. John R. McCracken was Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter and Grand Master of the Grand Council; William A. Coble was Grand Commander of the Grand Commander; and T. Troy Wythe, Lawrence E. Green, Claude B. Hosaflock, E. Paul Martin, Cornelius E. Morris and Carl McCracken, Jr. , were Grand Masters of the Grand Council.

When the Haywood County Court House was erected in 1931, the Grand Lodge met in the Waynesville Lodge Room with several Waynesville Masons filling the stations.  The Grand Lodge proceeded to the construction site and laid the cornerstone of the building in Due and Ancient Form.

Grand Master J. Wallace Winborne of Marion presided and Dr. Hubert Poteat, Professor of Law at Wake Forest, delivered the address.

T. Troy Wyche, a prominent Waynesville Mason, conceived an idea of having a Summer Assembly and Masonic Outing of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters in North Carolina in Waynesville.  In September 1935, the first Assembly was held.  The meeting was a success and he then had an idea of making a deposit of Masonic and historical materials.  The deposit was made on July 5, 1937 and was to be recovered on the 150^th anniversary of the Grand Council in North Carolina.  It was recovered in 1971, which was at the time of the Waynesville Centennial Celebration.  A large group of prominent Masons from all over the United States were present.  Troy Wyche was the originator of the Masonic Marker that was erected at Black Camp Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Mr. J. R. Boyd, president of the First National Bank of Waynesville, contributed the land for the Marker.  Mr. Wyche secured stones having geographical, historical, religious, fraternal and Masonic significance from every State in the Union, the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Islands of the Seas.  He assembled them in a monument in a fitting tribute of the Mason’s belief in the Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God.  The marker contains over four hundred stones, weighing from one ounce to one hundred thirty pounds.  The Monument is dedicated to “UNIVERSAL BENEVOLENCE” and truly symbolizes the “UNIVERSALITY OF FREE MASONRY”.  Masons from all over the world have visited Black Camp Gap to view the Marker.

In 1970, the Lodge purchased a lot on the corner of East Marshall and Broadview Streets and a new Temple was erected.  The first meeting in the new building was on June 1, 2973.  The Grand Lodge of North Carolina met in an Emergent Communication on September 29, 1973 to dedicate the Temple.  Grand Master Nathaniel C. Dean presided.

In April, 1976, the Waynesville-Hazelwood Woman’s Advisory Committee awarded the Lodge “The Orchid Award Plaque”, “In recognition of the construction of the handsome new Temple and beautification by appropriate shrubbery”.  In the same year the Lodge voted to allow The American Red Cross to use the lower level of the Temple for the quarterly visit of the bloodmobile.  In order to se the building, the Red Cross regulations required a telephone.  This was installed by the Lodge, and ten years later they continue to use the building.

During the year that Carl McCracken, Jr., served as Master of the Lodge, he secured photographs of all who had served as Master from 1866 to date and placed them on the wall in the memorial room.

Over a period of 120 years 83 have served as Master.  In the early years some served as many as six or seven years.  After 1914 only seven have served two years, and since 1936 none have served more than one year.  The Lodge in 1986 has 251 members.  There are 3 living District Deputy Grand Masters, eighty-one twenty-five members, eleven fifty year, and four sixty years.  During the last sixty odd years several have served as secretary.  Lawrence E. Green 12 years, Claude B. Hosaflock 16, Raymond C. Ellis 3, Robert C. Ferguson 2, James C. Carwile 2 and the present Secretary Robert C. Graybeal 27.  One of the members, Ray Norris, is now serving as Grand Steward in the Grand Lodge.

The Lodge has published a monthly bulletin for the past 35 years containing news and announcements concerning Masonic Activities in the area.

The Lodge, from its beginning, has been very charitable.   Even in the severely depressing days after the Civil War, a collection was taken at the meetings for the benefit of the orphanage.  At times, such items as 15 bushels of wheat and two sacks of flour and other items were contributed.  In the 1980’s the members make Annual contributions to the Oxford Orphanage and Masonic and Eastern Star Home.  In 1984, the contribution was $2,400.00 and in 1985 $3,200.00.  Others were $400.00 to the Order of Rainbow for Girls and $100.00 to the Shrine Hospital.  A total of $6,345.00 has been contributed to the North Carolina Masonic Foundation.

One hundred and twenty years after the chartering of the first Lodge in Haywood County, Masonry continues through its teachings and ceremonies to make good men better and thereby make the world a better place in which to live.