By Brigadier General Albert L. Cox

Worshipful Master, My Brothers of The North Carolina Lodge of Research and Visiting Brothers:

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity given me to talk to you tonight regarding Army Lodge A. I am particularly appreciative of the fact that within this lodge tonight there sit two former members of that Lodge: Sam Nash, of Kannapolis, who was initiated, passed and raised before the departure of the lodge for over-sea duty, and Tom Graham, also of Kannapolis, who was initiated within the sound of the guns on September 7 1919, near the village of Sanzy on the outskirts of the Foret de la Reine.

The One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery, being almost 100 percent North Carolinian to start with, it was naturally a hot-bed of Masonry. All North Carolina believes in the principles of the greatest of all secret orders, the Masons, and no good Tar Heel figures on living out his allotted span and dying without having been raised to the degree of Master Mason.

When the regiment had time to get settled and there was opportunity for casting about and getting acquainted with one another the Masons of the regiment found many "brethren" and some were occupying high places, while others were holding down positions slightly lower. The brigade commander was a Mason of the most enthusiastic variety. So was the colonel, so was the lieutenant-colonel, so were all three of the regiment's majors and nearly all of the lower officers. There were Masons among the sergeants and corporals. There were Masons among the bucks of the batteries. There were Masonic cooks, mule-skinners and incinerator experts.

Someone studied out a plan for an army lodge, an organization of brothers, who would "meet upon the level," where rank is forgotten and all men are equal. It pleased everybody. A petition was circulated in the regiment, asking the Grand Lodge of North Carolina for a dispensation for the establishment of "Army Lodge A." Major Claude L. Pridgen, commanding officer of the regiment's Sanitary Detachment, was grand master of the North Carolina Grand Lodge AF & AM, and he arranged for the dispensation.

The first meeting of the lodge was held in the Masonic Temple at Greenville, SC January 12, 1918, and it was opened by Grand Master Pridgen.

At this meeting Sergeant Joseph H. Mitchell, of the Sanitary Detachment, was elected worshipful master, Brigadier General George G. Gatley, commanding the 55th Field Artillery Brigade, was elected senior warden, and Colonel Albert L. Cox, Junior Warden. The officers who served at this first meeting were: worshipful master, Joseph H. Mitchell; senior warden, George G. Gatley; acting junior warden, Alfred L. Bulwinkle; acting chaplain, Claude L. Pridgen; acting senior deacon, Benj. R. Lacy Jr.; acting junior deacon, Louis A. Hanson; acting senior steward, Erskine E. Boyce; acting junior steward, Ralph L. Sholar; acting tyler, Karl P. Burger.

Thomas S. Payne, of the Sanitary Detachment, was elected secretary of the lodge and Erskine E. Boyce, adjutant of the Second Battalion, was elected treasurer.

At a subsequent meeting, the following permanent officers were appointed by the worshipful master: senior deacon, B. R. Lacy Jr.; junior deacon, John E. Burris; senior steward, Samuel T. Russell; junior steward, Julian M. Byrd; tyler, Karl P. Burger; and chaplain, Claude L. Pridgen.

The following standing committees were named:

Finance-Claude L. Pridgen, George G. Gatley, Benjamin R. Lacy Jr.

Reference-Alfred L. Bulwinkle, Erskine E. Boyce and Albert L. Cox.

Oxford Orphanage-Thomas S. Payne, Karl P. Burger and Samuel T. Russell.

The lodge meetings were always interesting, but it was the first that will linger longest in the memories of those who were present. It was the first experience of meeting on the level that the Masons there assembled had had for many months. They had been in the army for more than six months and army rank and circumstance is pretty well defined and rigidly maintained. Here for the first time in his military experience Brother Buck Private met Brother Brigadier General and Brother Colonel on perfect equality of footing and none was the worse for the experience. Brother Buck found that his Brother Brigadier was a human being after all, and not the tyrant that he had watched from afar with fear and trembling, and he carried back to his fellows who were not members of the lodge the new impressions he had received not only as to the Brigadier General but as to many other officers. Army Lodge A was a source of profit to the regiment from its inception and the good it accomplished can never be estimated.

The first meeting of the lodge was featured by short speeches by General Gatley and Major Pridgen and the lodge's most important action was to direct the newly elected master to go to Raleigh, NC, for the meeting of the North Carolina Grand Lodge, and formally place before that body an application for a charter.

The following is the Petition which Worshipful Brother Mitchell carried to the Grand Lodge:

THE UNDERSIGNED PETITIONERS, being Free and Accepted Master Masons in Good Standing, having the prosperity of the Fraternity at heart, and willing to exert their best endeavors to promote and diffuse the genuine principles of Freemasonry and for the convenience of their respective dwellings, and other good reasons, respectfully represent:

That they are desirous of forming a new lodge at 113th Field Artillery, (NCNG) USA, of Camp Sevier, SC, (which is __ miles from the nearest lodge in this Jurisdiction), to be named Army Lodge A.

They, therefore, pray for a Dispensation to empower them to assemble as a regular lodge, to discharge the duties of Masonry in a regular and constitutional manner, according to the ancient forms of the Order of the regulations of the Grand Lodge.

They have nominated and do recommend Brother Sergeant Joseph Henry Mitchell to be the first master, Bro. Brigadier General George G. Gatley to be the first senior warden; Bro. Colonel Albert L. Cox to be the first junior warden, of said Lodge.

If the prayer of this Petition shall be granted, they promise a strict conformity to the edicts of the grand master, and the constitution and laws of the Grand Lodge.

Claude Leonard Pridgen, George G. Gatley, Albert L. Cox, Alfred L. Bulwinkle, Benjamin R. Lacy Jr., F. E. Boyce, Otto E. Millican, Louis A. Hanson Jr., Samuel T. Russell, Ira T. Wortman, Joseph H. Mitchell, Ralph L. Sholar, John E. Burris, Thomas S. Payne, Karl P. Burger, William L. Futrelle, Dudley Rogers, Julius M. Byrd.

This petition was duly presented to the Grand Lodge by Worshipful Bro. Joseph Mitchell, whereupon Grand Lodge authorized the issuance of the following Charter of Dispensation:

No. Army Lodge A.

WE, THE GRAND LODGE

OF THE MOST ANCIENT AND (Seal) HONORABLE

FRATERNITY OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS

OF NORTH CAROLINA

IN AMPLE FORM assembled, according to the Old Constitutions regularly and solemnly established under the auspices of Prince Edwin of the City of York, in Great Britain, in the year of Masonry 4926, viz:

The Most Worshipful George S. Norfleet, Deputy Grand Master, The Right Worshipful Henry A. Grady, Senior Grand Warden, The Right Worshipful Jas. A. Braswell, Junior Grand Warden, Do by these presents appoint, authorize and empower our Worthy Brother Joseph Henry Mitchell, to be the Master; our Brother George G. Gatley, to be the Senior Warden; and our Worthy Brother Albert L. Cox, to be the Junior Warden, of a lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, to be by virtue hereof, constituted, formed and held in Camp Sevier, which Lodge shall be distinguished by the name or style of ARMY LODGE A, Number __, and the said Master and Wardens, and their successors in office, are hereby respectively authorized and directed, by and with the consent and assistance of a majority of the members of the said Lodge, duly to be summoned and present on such occasions, to elect and install the officers of the said Lodge, as vacancies happen, in manner and form as is or may be prescribed by the Constitution of this Grand Lodge.

AND FURTHER, the said Lodge is hereby invested with full power and authority to assemble upon proper and lawful occasions to make Masons, and to admit members, as also to be and perform all and every such acts and things appertaining to the Craft as have been, and ought to be, done for the honor and advantage thereof, conforming in all their proceedings to the Constitution of this Grand Lodge otherwise this warrant and the powers thereby granted, to cease and be of no further effect.

GIVEN under our hands and the seal of our Grand Lodge, at the City of Raleigh, in the United States of America, this 4th day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eighteen and in the year of Masonry five thousand nine hundred and eighteen.

(Signed)

CLAUDE L. PRIDGEN, Grand Master.

W. W. Wilson, Grand Secretary.

Prior to the granting, however, of this Warrant or Charter for Army Lodge A to meet and work, there was issued a Dispensation as follows:

THE GRAND LODGE OF NORTH CAROLINA

BY THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL GRAND MASTER

KNOW YE, That the Most Worshipful Claude Leonard Pridgen, Grand Master, at the humble petition of our Right Worshipful and Well Beloved Brethren: Claude L. Pridgen, George G. Gatley, Albert L. Cox, Benj. R. Lacy, Jr., E. E. Boyce, Otto E. Millican, Louis A. Hanson Jr., Samuel F. Russell, Ira C. Wortman, Joseph H. Mitchell, Ralph L. Sholar, John E. Burris, Thos. S. Payne, Karl P. Burger, William L. Futrelle, Dudley Rogers, Julius M. Byrd, Alfred L. Bulwinkle, of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of York Masons, and for other certain reasons, moving our Most Worshipful Grand Master, doth hereby constitute the said Brethren into a REGULAR LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS, to be opened at 113th Field Artillery (NCNG) in the USA, at Camp Sevier, SC, by the name of ARMY LODGE A. At their said request, and from the great trust and confidence reposed in every of the said brethren, The Most Worshipful Grand Master doth hereby appoint Joseph Henry Mitchell, Master; Brigadier General George G. Gatley, Senior Warden; and. Colonel Albert L. Cox, Junior Warden; for opening said lodge and governing the same until the first Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge after the date of this dispensation.

PROVIDED, however, that this dispensation is based upon the express condition, that said lodge shall secure the services of one of the Grand Lecturers of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina; become proficient in the authorized work of the Grand Lodge, and file with the Grand Secretary a certificate from said Lecturer certifying that at least five of its members can each confer the three degrees in Masonry efficiently and according to the authorized work of the Grand Lodge.

Failure of the lodge to comply with this condition for six months from date shall render this Dispensation null and void, and it shall be returned to the Grand Secretary's office, unless the time is extended by the Grand Master.

It is required of our friend and Brother Joseph Henry Mitchell to take special care that all and every of the said Brethren of the said lodge, as well as those hereafter to be admitted into our body by said lodge, be REGULARLY MADE MASONS and that they do, and observe and keep all the Rules and Orders contained in the BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS, and that the ANCIENT LANDMARKS be strictly attended to: and, further, that he do cause to be entered, in a book kept for that purpose, an account of the Proceedings of the Lodge, which, when done, is to be transmitted to the Grand Master, with a list of those Initiated, Passed and Raised and otherwise disposed of under his authority.

Given at Raleigh, under the hand of the Most Worshipful Grand Master, and the Great Seal of Masonry, This 4th day of January, AL 5918, AD 1918.

CLAUDE LEONARD PRIDGEN, Grand Master.

Attest:

W. W. WILLSON, Grand Secretary.

BROTHERLY LOVE, RELIEF AND TRUTH.

At the next regular meeting, which was held on January 19, 1918, the lodge was legally dedicated and consecrated, and the officers elected at the first meeting lawfully installed. Grand Master Pridgen presided at the ceremonies and there were many visiting Masons present. At this meeting the first petitions for degrees were received, these being from Lieutenant Joseph A. Speed, and Lieutenant Henry P. Ledford, of the Sanitary Detachment, and Privates Aaron T. Salling and Harry B. Register, also of the Sanitary Detachment. It became necessary to ask the South Carolina Grand Lodge for permission to confer degrees in its jurisdiction. This right was readily granted.

The lodge was much gratified to learn that the Grand Lodge Of North Carolina had accorded the new organization a warm welcome and was very proud of its new offspring. Past Grand Master Pridgen brought from the Grand Lodge of North Carolina an offer to donate $500 toward a Masonic club room for the soldiers of the regiment and from St. John's Lodge No. 1, Wilmington, NC, a further donation of $50 for the lodge. The project met with disfavor when the camp authorities were approached and it was abandoned. It was also learned that the War Department had prohibited secret meetings within the limits of all army camps and arrangements were made to hold all meetings for secret work thereafter in the Masonic Temple at Greenville, SC.

The lodge's first meeting in March was featured by a visit from Brother George S. Norfleet, Grand Master of North Carolina Masons, of Winston-Salem. He had been elected in January to succeed Major Claude L. Pridgen. The Grand Master took a great deal of interest in Army Lodge A and offered it every encouragement. He gave the lodge a very beautiful silk flag which was carried with the lodge throughout the war and after the regiment's return to the United States, presented to the Grand Lodge of North Carolina.

Unfortunately, the minutes of the lodge were not well kept at all times. The first secretary of the lodge was transferred to another outfit and the lodge lost his services and the work was passed around from hand to hand. Such of the records as are still available record the election of the following candidates for degrees:

Liston L. Mallard, Thomas I. Graham, Eugene Allison, W. T. Dixon, J. E. Lambeth Jr., Otway C. Fogus, Roman L. Mauldin, Hugh C. Pollard, L. W. Gardner, Thomas A. Lacy, Wilbon O. Huntley, Ferdinand D. Fink, Carey E. Dorsett, Frank W. McKeel, Walter W. Pollock, Arthur B. Corey, Sam N. Nash, Rufus C. Miller, Herbert M. Thornburg, Lewis Norwood, Charles R. Davis, Wilbur C. Spruill, John W. Brookshire.

There is also recorded at various meetings in the United States and in France and Luxemburg, the election to membership in the lodge of various Masons, among them being the following:

Sidney C. Chambers, G. N. Taylor, E. W. McCullers, W. R. Thompson, L. P. McLendon, L. B. Crayton, Thaddeus G Stem, J. M. Lynch, J. C. Fortune, J. T. Leslie, Nelson L. Nelson, W. E. Baugham, Enoch S. Simmons, H. B. Newell, C. T. Scott, R. L. Vaughan, J. P. Bolt, A. L. Fletcher, H. G. Coleman, J. T. Gross C. L. Gross, D. T. Moore, N. O Reeves, J. W. McCawley, G. P. Norwood, R. L. Atwater, Zeno O. Ratcliff and Christian E. Mears.

The last regular meeting in the United States was held on May 1, 1918. Moving orders came soon thereafter and no regular meeting was held until after the regiment had completed its period of training in France and had been actively engaged in the fighting on the Toul front for two weeks. On September 7, 1918, in the little village of Sanzy on the outskirts of the "Foret de la Reine," Army Lodge A met in special communication to initiate Thomas I. Graham, W. T. Dixon and Stewart Barnes, the first two having been elected as candidates for the degrees and the last named as a courtesy to Watauga Lodge No. 273, of Boone, NC. This point was only a few miles from the front and the sound of the guns and the muffled roar of exploding of shells furnished a strange accompaniment for the solemn words of the Masonic ritual.

There was no regular or special communication after that until after the Armistice, when meetings were resumed in a shack in the Foret de la Montagne, on the Woevre Sector, which Headquarters Company honored with the title of "Messhall." Here at a meeting held on November 16, 1918, the following new officers were elected:

Worshipful master, Albert L. Cox, who had been junior warden, senior warden, Karl P. Burger, who had been tyler. Junior warden, Christian E. Mears. Treasurer, Erskine E. Boyce. Secretary, George N. Taylor.

At a subsequent meeting held at Colmar-Berg, in the province of Luxemburg, the following appointments were made:

To be senior deacon, John E. Burris. To be junior deacon, W. Reid Thompson. To be tyler, Dewitt T. Moore. To be chaplain, B. R. Lacy Jr. To be senior steward, Ralph L. Sholar. To be junior steward, Cleve L. Gross.

The following standing committees were appointed:

Oxford Orphanage Committee - John E. Burris, Chairman; John M. Lynch, Harry B. Newell.

Finance Committee - A. L. Fletcher, Chairman, Harry B. Register, Lennox P. McLendon.

Reference Committee-Alfred L. Bulwinkle, Chairman; William L. Futrelle, Roy L. Vaughan.

These officers served throughout the remainder of Army Lodge A's existence.

The lodge did a great deal of work for other lodges in various states, a service which it rendered gladly. It also "kept open house" for all Masons everywhere. Comparatively few of the Masons of the regiment transferred their membership to Army Lodge A but those who did not were welcomed just as warmly to every meeting as if they had transferred, and the Masons of other regiments in the 30th Division while in the United States, and of the various units with which the regiment served in France and with the Army of Occupation, were always invited to all meetings of the lodge and many a homesick Mason was cheered and comforted by the experience.

The book of minutes which is now the property of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, records meetings in various parts of France, at the little town of Bous, just a mile from the Moselle River in Luxemburg, at Colmar-Berg and at Bissen in Luxemburg and at Jouy-Sous-les-Cotes, in France, the last meeting on French soil being held on Saturday, January 18, 1919, just before the regiment entrained for Le Mans to rejoin the 30th Division.

The last regular communication of the lodge was held aboard the USS Santa Teresa, on March 16, 1919, en route from St. Nazaire, France, to Newport News, VA. It was featured by a large attendance of visiting Masons from the ship's crew and everybody enjoyed the very unusual lodge meeting aboard one of Uncle Sam's great transports, headed for home. At this meeting Arthur B. Corey, Sam N. Nash, Rufus C. Miller, Herbert M. Thornburg, Lewis Norwood, Charles R. Davis, Wilbur C. Spruill and John W. Brookshire were given the degree of Entered Apprentice.

With the close of this meeting Army Lodge A passed into history. It was not regularly dissolved until the regiment was demobilized, but in the rush and hurry attendant upon demobilization it was impossible to hold other meetings. Under the charter of the lodge the memberships of the old Masons who constituted Army Lodge A automatically reverted to the home lodges from which they had received dimits and the new Masons were certified to lodges having jurisdiction over them.

Army Lodge A did a great deal of good, underwent many odd and unusual experiences, and brought into the Masonic fold a fine lot of young men. It aided materially in sustaining the morale of the regiment in all kinds of trying circumstances. It helped the Masons of the regiment to keep in mind the high principles of their great order. It served to remind the officers of the regiment of the fact that officers in all armies sometimes forget that they were only men, clothed for a time in authority but no whit better than the men under them. It served also to bring about a clearer understanding among the enlisted personnel of the heavy load of responsibility their brother officers carried, and, by so doing, it helped to make the regiment what it was. The lodge never forgot its obligations to provide for the widows and orphans and it contributed largely to every good cause. Fifteen hundred francs, at that time equivalent to about $275, was contributed to the AEF French Orphans' Fund.

The lodge jewels which were made by members of the lodge from shell cases used in action by 75 mm guns of the regiment have been presented to the Grand Lodge of North Carolina. The Deacon Rods made from rammer staffs, the Perfect Ashlar secured from the Cathedral at Verdun, and the Rough Ashlar secured from the Cathedral at St. Mihiel, were also presented to the Grand Lodge.

The Roster of Army Lodge A, AF & AM, was as follows: Allison, Eugene; Atwater, R. L.; Bailey, R. A.; Baugham, W. E.; Bolt, J. P.; Boyce, E. E.; Brookshire, J. W.; Bulwinkle, A. L.; Burger, K. P.; Burris, J. E.; Boyd, J. M.; Chambers, S. C.; Coleman, H. G.; Corey, A. C.; Cox, A. L.; Crayton, L. B.; Davis, C. R.; Dixon, W. T.; Dorsett, C. E.; Fink, Ferdinand; Fletcher, A. L.; Fogus, O. C.; Fortune, F. C.; Futrelle, W. L.; Gardner, L. W.; Gatley, G. G.; Graham, T. I.; Gross, C. L.; Gross, J. T.; Hanson, L. A.; Huntley, W. C.; Lacy, B. R. Jr.; Lacy, T. A.; Lambert, J. E.; Ledford, H. P.; Leslie, J. T.; Lynch, J. M; Mallard, L. L.; Mauldin, R. L.; Miller, R. C.; McCawley, J W.; McKeel, F. W.; McLendon, L. P.; Mears, C. E.; Mitchell, J. H.; Moore, D. T.; Nash, S. N.; Nelson, N. L.; Newell, H. B.; Norwood, G. P.; Payne, T. L.; Pollard, H. C.; Pollock, W. W.; Pridgen, C. L.; Norwood, L.; Ratcliffe, Z. O.; Reeves, N. O.; Register, H. B.; Rogers, Dudley; Russell, S. T.; Salling, A. T.; Scott, C. T.; Sholar, R. L.; Simmons, E. S.; Speed J. A.; Spruill, W. C.; Stem, T. G.; Taylor, G. N.; Thompson W. R.; Thornburg, H. M.; Vaughan, R. L.; Wortman, Q. O.

Thus the annals of this most interesting lodge of World War days came to a close.

NOCALORE

Volume 1-Part 3-1931, pp. 75-83

Copyright, Grand Lodge of North Carolina, AF & AM