The First Decade

Dr. Francis J. Scully continued his scholarly research into the early days of Masonry, and a record of his activities is found in his article, The First Decade of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, 1838-1848. Excerpts from that Article follow:

On November 21, 1838, representatives of the four lodges in the state met in Little Rock and, after completing the organization of the Grand Lodge, adjourned on November 27^th. There are no records of the proceedings of this convention. However, we do know that a Constitution and By Laws were adopted, and that Charters were ordered to be issued to the four lodges. The Grand Lodge met each year in November, holding its meeting in Little Rock. These early meetings were held in the Lodge Hall of Western Star Lodge No. 2. In 1843, fifty dollars in Arkansas money was appropriated to pay for use of the Hall for that session.

No permanent records remains for the meetings of 1839 and 1840, and the original notes have long been lost. However from other sources, some of the work of these two years has been brought to light. Starting with the four original Lodges in 1838, the decade ended with twenty-one more having received Charters from the Grand Lodge.

Toward the end of the decade Masonry was spreading rapidly. At the session in 1848, eleven lodges received their Charters. However, there were a few that were not very active and three - Clarksville No. 5, Van Buren No. 6 and Napoleon No. 7 had given up their Charters.

In 1839, Andrew Scott, A. Lewis and others obtained a Dispensation from William Gilchrist to open a Lodge at Clarksville. Onesimus Evans of Fayetteville presented the Potosi Jewels brought from Missouri by Scott and later given to Washington Lodge No. 1, to this new Lodge. The Charter was granted at the meeting of the Grand Lodge that fall. In 1846 for reasons sufficient to the members of the Lodge, it was decided to dissolve the Lodge. Contrary to the Provisions of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge, all of the Funds in the hands of the Treasurer and the proceeds from the sale of furniture were applied to the building of a school house and for the purchase of school books. This unusual action was referred to a special committee at the meeting of the Grand Lodge in November of the same year. The committee evidently was in sympathy with the objective of the members of that Lodge for they recommended that the funds, except for $ 100.00 due the Grand Lodge, he allowed to go for the purpose designated by the Clarksville Lodge. But in view of the illegal action of the Lodge, the members and officers were required to appear at Franklin Lodge No. 9, where they would be reprimanded by the Grand Master.

Van Buren Lodge No. 6 early developed some difficulty among its members and in 1843, John W. Sketo was appointed to inquire into the situation. He reported at the session of the Grand Lodge in November 1843, that he had proceeded to Van Buren where he had called a meeting of the Lodge at which time he bad settled the difficulty and had reinstated the Lodge and had installed the officers. The Lodge did not become very active. Returns were made for 1844, but in 1846 it was listed as being "dissolved". The Grand Master in his address stated that due to a peculiar local reason the Lodge had ceased to exist and that its Charter jewels and funds were in the hands of the Grand Secretary. The Charter was restored in 1850

Cherokee Lodge No. 21 was the first of several lodges to be established in the Indian Territory by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas. It continued active up to the onset of the Civil War. No returns were made after 1861 and it was declared defunct in 1868. That same year the newly chartered Jasper Lodge was given its place on the roll as No. 21. The Grand Lodge of Indian Territory was not organized until 1874, so Cherokee Lodge did not have any part in its formation.

In 1848, Franklin Lodge No. 9 received permission from the Grand Lodge to move its domicile to Clarksville, taking the place of Clarksville Lodge No. 5, which had dissolved in 1846.

The Constitution and by-laws adopted by the Grand Lodge Convention in 1838 were published the next year. This early Constitution is very interesting and will have a further consideration at a later date. Many changes have been made in the basic law adopted at that time, in fact a number of amendments were adopted before the decade ended. In the original Constitution Section 3 of Article 6 required that each member of the Grand Lodge pay the sum of one dollar each year and that each visitor to the sessions of the Grand Lodge pay fifty cents. In 1843, the Grand Secretary, John Moms, called attention to this section stating that the Grand Lodge of Arkansas was the only Grand Lodge that followed such a practice. An amendment to strike out this provision was immediately proposed and adopted.

On November 6th, at the session of the Grand Lodge in 1846, Brothers W. E. Powell, J. T. Brown, and J. H. Strong were appointed as a committee to prepare and Act of Incorporation for the Grand Lodge. They attended to their duty promptly and made their report on November 9th, which was adopted. The Act as presented before the State Legislature at once and was approved on November 25th of the same year. The Grand Lodge was incorporated under the name of "Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons of the State of Arkansas and its Masonic Jurisdiction." For no reason now known this title is used only on the Charters issued by the Grand Lodge. Elsewhere, even in its Proceedings, the Grand Lodge is styled as "The M:. A:. Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Arkansas." The Act designated Benjamin P. Jett, the Grand Master, and his successor in office to continue the perpetuity of the Corporation to be known by the above tide.

As the new Masonic Lodges were established in the various parts of the State, it was found that there were many unaffiliated Masons residing in their jurisdictions, who attended these Lodges and enjoyed most of the privileges and benefits with out contributing to their welfare. In 1844, the Grand Lodge adopted a resolution which required each subordinate Lodge to send in, as part of its annual return, a register of such unaffiliated Masons in it jurisdiction. For several years these lists were printed in the Proceedings. In 1846 another resolution was adopted levying a fee of one dollar on such unaffiliated Masons. The Lodges in whose Jurisdiction they resided were empowered to collect this fee. They were further required to urge all such Masons to affiliate with some regular Lodge. Should they fail to do so within a reasonable time, provided they lived within twenty miles of a Lodge, they would no longer be entitled to the benefits of Masonry. These requirements did not prove very satisfactory or very popular with the Lodges, and at the next session of the Grand Lodge they were rescinded. By 1844 it became evident that some provision would be necessary to keep the ritualistic work uniform and correct. That year a resolution was adopted requiring the ceremony of initiation, passing and raising a candidate to be performed at each communication of the Grand Lodge. At the installation of Grand Master Samuel Mitchell in 1843, it is of interest to note that a Past Masters’ Lodge was opened at which time he was "inducted into the Oriental Chair in due form and installed Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, according to ancient usage and customs". In 1847, after Brothers D J Baldwin and E. R. Maguire had been elected Grand Master and Grand Senior Warden respectively, it was discovered that neither had passed the Chair of any regular Lodge as required by the Constitution. To remedy this, Brother E. H. English then presented a resolution stating that am emergency existed and asking that the requirement of Section 3 of Article I be waived at this time. It was adopted, after which the officers were duly installed.

Dr. Scully’s paper covers at some length the services of several officers of the Grand Lodge, in organizing a General Grand Lodge, and their attendance at meetings with delegates from Grand Lodges of other states. Conventions were held from 1842 until a Constitution was completed in 1848.

Also included was a list of Grand Masters, to be covered in a later chapter and a brief mention of the Grand Lodge’s support for the organizations of a school for the blind.

The paper closes with the following Paragraph:

"The decade ended with the Grand Lodge in a Flourishing condition. The membership had increased from less than a hundred to well over five hundred. Men of attainment and prominence had joined the ranks. The dreams of its founders had been fulfilled."