Kerbyville Masonic Lodge

Stories from the heart of the Siskiyou Mountains, Cave Junction, Oregon

The Kerbyville Masonic Lodge is the oldest Masonic Lodge in Josephine County and celebrates its 150th anniversary in July of 2008. It was founded before Oregon became a state in a remote mining community that was still reeling from a recent war with the local Native Americans. These were the earliest years of white settlement in southern Oregon and the chronicle of the lodge’s establishment provides a unique insight into the early pioneer and gold rush history of Oregon.

It is interesting that the traditions and formalities followed by Masons during their meetings in those earliest years are probably not very different from those practiced today. The following background information on the Masons will help provide an insight to these traditions as well as provide an explanation of terminology commonly associated with Masonic Lodges.

Freemasonry is the oldest and the largest fraternal order in the world with traditions reaching back more than 500 years. Since Medieval times, traditions of the Masons have been handed down from one generation to another carrying a philosophy and spirit of self-improvement. Of all the virtues in this organization, none is more valued than selfless giving.

Moral lessons are the foundation of Masonic practice and upon completion of each lesson the member earns a degree. There is a total of 32 degrees that can be earned but there is no requirement for a member to continue beyond the third degree. These first three degrees are offered in the Lodge of the Master Masons, also known as a Blue Lodge. The Kerbyville Masonic Lodge is a Blue Lodge.

The heritage practiced by modern Masons reaches back to the middle ages when structures such as the Saint Peters Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral and other complex stone structures were constructed in Europe. The Masons were the craftsmen and architects who built these structures. Freemsons designed and constructed structures such as the Canterbury Cathedral. Freemasons designed and constructed very ornate stone buildings in most of Europe. This is the interior of the Saint Peters Cathedral.

Canterbury Cathedral (left); Saint Peters Cathedral (right)

The skills of stonemasons and their commitment to the highest standards of moral and ethical values were highly respected and, unlike other classes of people, they were allowed to travel freely from country to country throughout most of Europe. For this reason they became known as Freemasons.

Until about the sixteenth century, only a stonemason or architect could be a Mason but early in the seventeenth century membership in the Mason lodges began to decline. To compensate for their loss in members, they began to admit others who were not craftsmen or stonemasons, usually men of social prominence. This class of members became known as the Accepted Masons.

The modern era of Masonry began when four lodges in London joined together in 1717 and created the first Grand Lodge. There were other lodges that did not join because they viewed idea of a grand lodge as a "modern" invention, and against the "ancient" principles of Masonry. Eventually, the lodges that practiced the “traditional” forms of Masonry formed their own rival organization. They called themselves the "Ancient" Freemasons, and called their rivals the "Modern" Freemasons.

Lodges that were formed under the Ancient's grand lodge took the initials AF&AM for "Ancient Free and Accepted Masons". Lodges that formed under the "Moderns" took the initials F&AM, for "Free and Accepted Masons".

It is interesting that early records indicate the Kerbyville Lodge started as an F&AM lodge and later became an AF&AM lodge.

Within the next 20 years, Masonry spread from England to America with the first lodge organized in Philadelphia around 1730. Some of the greatest names of the American Revolution were Masons: Ethan Allen, Edmund Burke, John Claypoole, William Daws, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, John Paul Jones, Robert Livingston, Paul Revere, Colonel Benjamin Tupper, and George Washington. After the revolution, Freemasons were involved in virtually all aspects of building the Capitol City in Washington, DC.

In 1848, the first Masonic Lodge in Oregon was established at Oregon City, the end of the Oregon Trail. The story of how this lodge obtained its charter was fairly well documented and offers an insight to how difficult it was to get things done in the early pioneer days. The following account was obtained from John Hodson’s 1902 book The Masonic History of the Northwest:

The first record of Mason activity in the Oregon Territory occurred in February of 1846, thirteen years before Oregon became a state. This was a meeting to discuss the formation of a lodge in Oregon City at the end of the Oregon Trail. However, to start a lodge they needed to obtain permission to do so from the nearest Grand Lodge, which at that time was located in Missouri.

They wrote a petition to the Missouri Grand Lodge but, since there was no telegraph or mail service, their petition was carried east on the Oregon Trail by an employee of Hudson Bay Company who was going to St. Louis. He crossed the country on horseback and delivered the petition to the Masonic Lodge in Platte City, Missouri.

In October 1846, a charter was granted for the Multonomah Lodge, No. 84 to be established in Oregon City of Oregon Territory.

Owing to the great distance and the infrequent departure of emigrant trains for the Northwest, it was several months before an opportunity was found to carry the charter to Oregon City.

In the latter part of December 1847, a Mason by the name of P.B. Cornwall was heading for Oregon and was asked to carry the charter. The party of five persons departed in April 1848 but, due to hostile Native American activity, were detained near Omaha for several days until the arrival of a large wagon train of emigrants, mostly from Ohio.

This wagon train reached Fort Hall near the southeastern corner of Idaho in August 1848 and it was here that Cornwall and several others heard about the discovery of gold in California and decided to seek their fortunes in that country instead of coming on to Oregon. He placed the charter in the keeping of a Mason named Orrin Kellogg from Ohio. Kellogg carried the charter the rest of the way over the Oregon Trail and delivered it to the members of the new lodge in September of 1848, two years and seven months after the first meeting in Oregon City. This lodge continues to be the first and oldest chartered Masonic Lodge on the Pacific Coast.

Almost immediately the lodge’s membership dropped when, a day or two after receiving the charter, most of its members, including the lodge’s founder, started for the gold fields of California. With most of its leadership gone, the Multnomah, No. 84 appeared to be poised for failure but a representative was sent by the Grand Secretary of the Missouri and the lodge was quickly reorganized.

It may seem odd that the first lodge in Oregon history was given the number 84 but under Masonic numbering rules, the Multonomah Lodge was the 84th lodge to be established under the authority of the Missouri Grand Lodge. In 1851 the Multonomah Lodge number was changed from No. 84 to No. 1, the first in Oregon.

By 1850, two other lodges had been chartered in Oregon and these along with Multinomah, No. 1 combined to form the Grand Lodge of Oregon, which had the authority to charter lodges within the state. Each of the new lodges formed in Oregon were numbered sequentially as they were formed. The first Lodge to be charted by the Grand Lodge of Oregon was the Salem Lodge, No. 4. The Salem Lodge then sponsored several other lodges including the Warren Lodge, No. 10 in Jacksonville, which later became the sponsor of the Western Star Lodge, No. 18 in Kerbyville.

The Kerbyville Masonic Lodge, officially named the Western Star Lodge, No. 18, was established shortly after the beginning of Oregon gold rush, a time when pioneer settlers were moving into southwest Oregon and tensions between Native Americans and miners had flared into the Rogue Indian War. Various events, especially the locations of gold strikes and the establishment of transportation routes, played a role in where this lodge would be established.

In 1852, the year after the first gold strikes in this area, pack trains began carrying supplies to Oregon mining camps from Crescent City. The trail forked near the present-day O’Brien with one branch going to the gold fields near Waldo and Browntown and the other going toward Jacksonville. The Jacksonville fork of the trail crossed the Illinois River in the approximate location of present-day Kerby. It was here, in 1853, that Col. James Kerby established a trading post on the west side of the Illinois River and in the following year he filed for a donation land claim on the east side of the river. This land claim would later become the town site of Kerbyville and the future home of Western Star Lodge, No. 18.

Dr Daniel Holton was the founder of Kerbyville and one of the first Kerbyville Masons. Photo circa 1865 In 1856 Dr. Daniel Holton began promoting the idea of creating the town of Kerbyville and moving the Josephine County Seat to this location because of its “centralized” location in relation to the major mining operations around the Illinois Valley. The logic apparently made sense to the voters and Kerbyville was declared the County Seat in July, 1857. Holton would later become instrumental in the establishment of the Western Star Lodge, No. 18. A picture of Dr. Holton is seen to the right (circa 1865).

The Masons of Kerbyville petitioned the recently formed Warren Lodge, No. 10 in Jacksonville to sponsor the formation of a lodge in Kerbyville. They were granted a dispensation in 1857. A dispensation gives the group the authority to hold meetings to demonstrate they are able to carry out the responsibilities of a lodge. These meetings require that three members from the sponsoring lodge are present to provide guidance. These three rode from Jacksonville on horseback or wagon to attend the meetings in Kerbyville. A year later, in July of 1858, the lodge was granted its charter by the Grand Lodge of Oregon.

Kerbyville as it looked in the early 1900s. Eight Dollar Mountain is in the background. The Western Star had a fairly unglamorous beginning with the first meetings held in a barn. This structure was used for two years before meetings were moved from the barn into a house owned by Dr. Holton. This building was located on the southwest corner of Sixth and Holton Street in Kerbyville and was purchased from Holton by the Masons in September, 1859. Dr. Holton's house can be seen on the left in the photo (left). Eight Dollar Mountain can be seen in the background.

Meetings were briefly moved in April, 1861 to a meeting hall in the second story of the Morris & Taylor store in Kerbyville but a fire destroyed the building in September of that year. The Masons negotiated to find a new location but it is uncertain where they met until July of 1864 when they purchased a two-story building from The "old" Kerbyville Masonic Lodge was located on the northeast corner of Sixth Street and Highway 199. Kendal & Bolt. This became known in later years as the old Kerbyville Masonic Building. This building was located on the northeast corner of Sixth Street and Highway 199. A photo of the Kendall & Bolt building is seen to the right.

In 1907 a new lodge was constructed across the street from the old lodge on the northwest corner of Sixth Street. The lower part of the building was used as a store with meetings held by the Masons on the second floor. This building is still standing and lettering at the top of the building identifies it as a Masonic Lodge (see below left). The Masons met in this building until 1979 when the organization purchased the old Kerbyville High School. They renovated the interior of the building and donated it to Rogue A new Masonic Lodge was constructed on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Highway 199, which is across the street from the "old" lodge. Community College to be used in perpetuity as an educational and community center. A small portion of the building is used as the Mason’s lodge where they continue to meet to this date.

Within a year after the Western Star Lodge, No. 18 was established in 1858, a group of Masons requested the Western Star to sponsor a lodge in Browntown, a mining community on Althouse Creek.

Browntown started out as a mining camp when gold was discovered in Althouse Creek in 1852 and later the largest gold nugget in Oregon history was found near Browntown. The town quickly became a point of much importance and it is estimated that it had from 300-500 inhabitants. There were probably another 500 people living in town-like camps up stream, all of which were within 5-6 miles of Browntown. By 1854, Browntown was said to have two bakeries, ten stores, four hotels, a bowling alley, seven saloons, three blacksmith shops and two “dance or fancy houses”. Doctor Belt, circa 1860. The Browntown Masonic Lodge was named in his honor but as far as we know, he never visited this area.

In March of 1859, the Western Star Lodge agreed to sponsor a lodge in Browntown. It was later chartered as the Belt Lodge, No. 26. The lodge was named in honor of Dr. Belt, a prominent and active leader at the Oregon Grand Masonic Lodge. There is no record that he ever lived in or visited this area. A picture of Dr Belt is seen to the right.

The cover of the Browntown Masonc Lodge journal, which records meetings held in Browntown from 1859 to 1864. The mines on Althouse Creek continued to produce gold for half a dozen years and the population in the Browntown area remained large until about 1864 when mining activity along the creek and in the surrounding mountains was said to have “nearly winked out”. The town is assumed to have gradually faded toward abandonment as miners moved away.

With membership in the Belt Lodge diminishing, it was decided to consolidate this lodge with the Western Star Lodge and in July of 1864, the Oregon Grand Lodge gave permission for the consolidation. It was decided that the new, consolidated lodge would be named using part of the names from both lodges. From the Belt Lodge, No. 26 they took the word Belt and from the Western Star Lodge, No. 18, they took the charter number, 18. The new lodge was named the Belt Lodge, No. 18, the name it continues to carry today. The meeting journal for the Belt Lodge is on file at the present Kerbyville Masonic Lodge (see cover to left - NOTE: The word Browntown appears to be spelled Bronntown. However if you look closely at "town" you will see the "w" is made with a small curl on the right. The "w" in "Brown" is also made the same way but the person doing the writing appeared to have made a mistake with the line going up and over rather than down and over making it look like a "n" rather than a "w").

After consolidation, the new lodge’s membership was spread out over a wider region and notices about meetings became increasingly difficult to dispense. Due to the great deal of time that members needed to invest in traveling from one side of the valley to the other it was decided in 1867 that meetings would always be conducted Saturday night on or before the full moon. The group became known as the full moon Masons.

At the time the Belt and Western Star lodges merged, plans were being made to construct a railroad from Portland to California. By 1879, the railroad had been constructed from Portland to Roseburg and in 1884 the construction of the Oregon & California Railroad reached Grants Pass with the first passenger train arriving there on Christmas Eve of the same year.

Around the same time that the railroad reached Grants Pass, a petition was submitted to the Belt Lodge, No. 18 to sponsor a new lodge in Grants Pass. Sponsorship was granted and the new lodge was chartered in 1885 as the Grants Pass Lodge No. 84. A year later, the county seat was moved from Kerbyville to Grants Pass. After that, Kerbyville began a long period of decline to where very little of the original town remains.

The Kerbyville Belt Lodge, No. 18 continues to be active today providing community service and scholarships for local students. Their lodge is now located in the Rogue Community College "Belt Building" in Kerby, a building they purchased and donated to the community for education and community service. In July 2008 the Kerbyville Masons will celebrate their 150th anniversary as Josephine County’s first and oldest Masonic Lodge.

Story by Roger Brandt

The first meetings of the Kerbyville Masons in 1857, the year they were in dispensation, were held in a barn .

Meetings were later moved to Dr. Daniel Holton's house seen center left during a flood. This home was located on the southwest corner of Sixth and Holton Street in Kerby, Oregon.

This photo may have been taken around 1920 and the two story, cement Mason Buildingcan be seen about half way down the street in the center right (a car is parked in front of it).

In 1974, the mason's purchased and moved into the abandoned Kerbyville High School. After renovating this structure they donated it to Rogue Community College to be used in perpetuity for education and the community.

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