There
has been a Death in the Family
 |
| Death Notices of a Commandery |
By Tom Hendrickson-Past Grand
Master Grand Lodge of Minnesota
Today, I
had to assume the role of a Mortician-Funeral Director. It’s a job that I never
wanted to do, as I don’t much like anything about funerals, nevertheless it is a
job that had to be done.
Today’s
funeral is a simple yet very sad event. There are no beautiful flower
arrangements to set up. There is no organist or piano players to contact nor
any special songs to be selected. No Clergy or program to worry about. No
hearse or funeral coach to wash and wax. No need to make sure that the boxes of
tissues are strategically placed, and no coffee to make.
The lid of
the coffin had been closed and sealed ahead of my arrival. Really, all that is
left for me is to do is to make a few calls, to provide comfort and council and
mail out the death notice.
This death
that I speak of is not the death of a human being, but instead the death of a
Masonic organization, Constantine Commandery #20 of the Grand Commandery of
Knights Templar of Minnesota.
Its demise
came to no great surprise as it had suffered from a long lingering illness of
declining membership. The closing of Constantine Commandery is an end of an
era, it had a good life, nevertheless, you mourn its loss.
Out of
respect I would like to take a moment to eulogize to honor those who started Constantine
Commandery and sustained it through the years.
The
Commandery Story Here…………….
On October
1, 1887, Grand Commander Thomas Montgomery issued a dispensation to eleven Sir
Knights who had requested to open and work a Commandery of Knights Templar at
Crookston, Polk County Minnesota.
Their
petition was recommended by the nearest Commandery, Palestine, #14 at Fergus
Falls, one hundred and ten miles away.
Grand
Commander Montgomery appointed Thomas C. Shapleigh as E.C. Sidney F. Markham as
G, and Charles H. Mix as C.G.
The only
concern of the Grand Commander was that he would be unable to visit due to
Crookston was three hundred and fifty miles from his home in St. Paul,
Minnesota.
This new
Commandery in Crookston Minnesota became known as Constantine Commandery #14. In their first year they quickly grew
to twenty-four Sir Knights. These men were among the pioneers to that far
Northwest corner of Minnesota. They were Farmers, Craftsmen, Business Owners,
and Venture Capitalists. Looking into the history books I can see that they had
a willingness to endure hardship in order to explore new places or try new
things. They had a shared vision of developing a community that would grow with
human social and cultural development. Organization would be needed to bring
industry and government. They were civic minded. They built churches, created a
cemetery, established a fire department. Many went on to become Mayor and a few
to become State Senators.
Here are a
few who have interesting stories to be told.
Tom Morris
Was the Mayor
of Crookston, businessman, Past Grand Master of Minnesota Masons 1906, Past
Grand High Priest of Royal Arch Masons, and Grand Commander Knights Templar
1918.
Edmund M.
Walsh
A Tinsmith
by trade, a member of the City Council, Mayor of Crookston, County Auditor,
Clerk of Court, and organized the first telephone company to serve the region.
Andrew D.
Stephens
Engaged in
Real Estate, he started his own Bank. He was so successful he went on to owning
six other banks in the region with one in Minneapolis. He served two terms as
Mayor and was elected to the Minnesota State Senate where he served two terms.
Charles
Henry Mix
He came to
Minnesota in 1852. He worked as a clerk at the Winnebago Agency at Long
Prairie. In 1854 he was a Secretary to the Territorial Governor, Willis Gorman.
From 1855-1861 he was a trader and Agent to the Winnebago Indians at Blue Earth
Agency.
In 1862 he
enlisted in Company A, First Independent Battalion Minnesota Volunteer Calvary
to participate in the U.S.-Dakota War. He was stationed at Pembina and
Commandant of Fort Abercrombie Dakota Territory in 1864.
He moved
to Crookston and his remaining years of his career was with the railroad St.
Paul-Minneapolis-Manitoba Line. He became Mayor in 1905.
Charles
Mix took a very active role in the Commandery.
He was the third person to sign the petition for the formation of the
new Commandery. He was the Commander
from 1890 to 1893 and again in 1903. He was the Generalissimo in 1889 and the
Captain General from 1901 to 1902 and again from 1904 to 1909. He died while in office on December 15, 1909.
His Knight
Templar Sword and Scabbard have been preserved and may be viewed at the
Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.
Thru the
years Constantine continued to grow and was very active. It did better than most Masonic bodies during
the economic depression and during WW I.
Surprisingly, they knighted twenty new Sir Knights in 1943 during WWII.
The last Commander was Leo Luettjohann. Leo
stated that in the 1990s the Commandery was very busy.
They hosted an annual Christmas Observance that was attended by the
Commanderies from Thief River Falls and Fergus Falls. The Sir Knights always
brought their ladies. The dinner must have been an elegant affair with the Sir
Knights in uniform and the ladies in their fancy dresses and gowns.
The Sir
Knights enjoyed practicing receiving the Grand Commander and Officers on their
official visits.
The
Commandery was very active in raising funds and sending the local Pastors on
the Holy land Pilgrimage.
One of Crookston’s
Commandery prized possession is on display in the Masonic Lodge. It is the
Officer Jewels for the Constantine Officers made by Tom Morris. Tom was a
pioneer to the area, and a Charter member of the Commandery. He became the
Grand Master of Minnesota Masons in 1906, Grand High Priest of Royal Arch
Masons, and Grand Commander of Knights Templar Minnesota 1918. He started a jewelry business in Crookston.
Today if you go to where his store used to be. You will find it to be an Attorney’s
office. When you walk in you will see a black and white checkerboard floor with
the name Morris inlaid.
Crookston
is a community that is in the far Northwest corner of Minnesota that’s only 25
miles from Grand Forks North Dakota, and one hundred miles from the Canadian
border. 1960 was the start of a declining era for the region. The major economy
was agriculture, and most people earned their living directly or indirectly
from agriculture. The young people have left the area seeking careers and well-paying
job in larger communities, leaving an aging population. A telephone interview
with the Publisher of the “Crookston Times” the regions daily newspaper, Don
Forney, confirmed this “Ya that’s pretty much right. The Baby Boomers either
went off to war or college and found good jobs and didn’t come back. There was
only a few that came back to farm.”
My analogy
is that a Lodge, Chapter, Commandery or any Masonic Body is like a living thing,
it has a life of its own that has a life process. This is a process of inception,
growth and in due time death. Masonic organizations may have different life
spans so one lodge may live for 200 to 300 years while another may only last
for 25 to 50 years. Generally, the Lodge or Masonic body will experience its
birth, a period of growth, a period of stabilization, and then a period of
declining membership that can lead to its demise. The time frame for this
process is uniquely different for each case. Generally, it happens when lodge
or Masonic body loses its purpose and/or loses those two or three “spark plugs”
who can attract new members and generate interest that encourages the existing
members to attend.
Constantine
Commanderies demise was due to aging membership, members who left the town to
be closer to relatives in distance cities or that members left the state. Those
who did remained had health issues or a spouse who had health issues or they
could not drive to the meetings any longer.
Some just lost interest due to years of inactivity.
What makes
this eulogy sadder is that Constantine is not an isolated case. There are many
lodges, Chapters, Councils or Commanderies that are in similar situations and
are struggling to even hold a meeting.
Every
member who stops coming to a meeting, every member who demits, every member who
doesn’t pay their dues, is another precious drop of blood of the organization
that is wasted. Eventually the organization is another drop closer to death.
The life’s blood of any Masonic organization is its membership.
If you
love your masonic organizations and value your membership the best thing you
can do is to help them continue. Find a good candidate to join but then make
them feel welcome and get them engaged. Help him learn and accept our ways.
Every new member is a new transfusion of life into your organization.
If not, I
guess you can give me a call. I can help you prepare the death notice and write
the obituary. I know it’s not a job anyone wants to do, but if we do not make
positive changes regarding membership, it may be something that the rest of us
may have to do.
