Welcome to
the Pioneer History page of San Jose Masonic Lodge Number
10
When the delegates to the California State Constitutional
Convention convened at Monterey in the fall of 1849,
one of their tasks was to designate a capital. Their
choice fell on the City of Jose, a decision that was
ratified by public vote on November 13, 1849. The newly
elected lawmakers held their first session in the City
of San Jose in the following month. San Jose was legally
the capitol of California from November 1849 to April
1852.
There were a number of Masons found in the population
of early California emigrants and overland pioneers
found in the period of 1841 - 1846 and prior to the
discovery of gold in 1848. These Masons carried with
them dispensations or charters authorizing them to organize
lodges in Alta California. The first charter for organizing
a lodge in California was that issued by the Grand Lodge
of Missouri on May 10, 1848 to Western Star Lodge No.
98 of Benton City, Tehama County. This Lodge was later
moved to Shasta. Their original charter is known as
the now famous Lassen Charter that arrived with the
Peter Lassen’s Overland Party.
Western Star Lodge was organized on October 30, 1849
and its first Master was the Rev. Saschel Woods a native
of Kentucky who had been earlier raised in Wakanda Lodge
No. 52 in Carrolton, Missouri. And, it was Rev. Saschel
Woods of Missouri who is published as Chairman of the
first convention of the Grand Lodge of California on
April 5, 1850. The Rev. served as the first Junior Grand
Warden. As of the above date there existed several Lodges
other than Western Star, those published being Connecticut
Lodge No. 75, New Jersey Lodge, and Benicia Lodge.
The convention itself of April 17, 1850 was conducted
at Sacramento. Charles Gilman who was a San Francisco
Attorney and a Past Grand Master of both New Hampshire
and Maryland presided and B. D. Hyman of Benicia was
appointed Secretary. Subsequently Jonathan Drake Stevenson
was elected and appointed as Grand Master, John Ashby
Tutt as Deputy Grand Master, Caleb Fenner as Senior
Grand Warden, Saschel Woods as Junior Grand Warden,
John Gihon as Grand Secretary, W. Berryman Jennings
as Senior Grand Deacon, B. B. Grove as Junior Grand
Deacon, and Joseph C. Derby as Grand Tyler (some of
the lesser officers possibly having been appointed rather
than having been elected). Published are three Lodges
were the nucleus of the first Grand Lodge of California
being California Lodge No. 1 in San Francisco (formerly
No. 13 of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia),
Western Star Lodge No. 2, Benton City (formerly No.
98 of the Grand Lodge of Missouri), and Tehama Lodge
No. 3 of Sacramento (formerly No. 75 of the Grand Lodge
of Connecticut).
The First Annual Communication of May 7, 1850 found
three more Lodges being added which were Berryman Lodge
No. 4 at Sacramento, Benicia Lodge No. 5 at Bencia,
and Sutter Lodge No. 6 also at Sacramento. The three
Lodges being six through nine are not herein mention
but will be gladly added if one might inform this writer
of the name and locations of each.
In August 1850 San Jose Lodge No. 10 Free & Accepted
Masons was also added, being one of the oldest Masonic
Lodges still active in the State of California. It was
instrumental in assisting in the organization of yet
other Masonic Lodges in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and
San Benito Counties, and San Jose Lodge No 10 is known
as Santa Clara Valley’s “Pioneer”
or “Mother Lodge”. At the time of Charter
this Lodge was the first geographical found between
the City of San Francisco and the Mexican border
San Jose Masonic Lodge is unique in its initial membership
as it included some of the earliest and most famous
names in California History as many of the Overland
Pioneer families first settled in Santa Clara Valley.
Dr. John Townsend, an organizer of the Lodge, was a
principal member of the Stephen-Townsend-Murphy overland
party of 1844. James F. Reed, also an organizer of San
Jose 10, was a member and subsequent rescuer of the
Donner Party of 1846. Wm. Eddy was a charter member
of San Jose 10 and earlier the leader of the “Forlorn
Hope” rescue relating to the history of the Donner
Party. Today the remains of these early members lie
in Oak Hill Memorial Park, San Jose, CA.
History of San Jose Masonic
Lodge No 10:
In this early period Masons were instrumental in establishing
law and order in their respective California communities,
building hospitals, schools, and participating in local
and state government.
On July 11, 1850 and during the days of the California
Gold Rush, fifteen members of the craft residing in
Santa Clara Valley petitioned the Most Worshipful Jonathan
Drake Stevenson, Grand Master of Masons of California,
requesting dispensation to open a Lodge of Master Masons
in the City of San Jose. The dispensation was received
from the Grand Lodge on August 4, 1850.
The original organizers of San Jose Lodge No 10 F.
& A. M. were: William B. Almond, Dr. Benjamin Cory,
E. D. Hammond, Jacob Durant Hoppe, John Huston, Freeman
S. McKinney, Henry Clinton Melone, Louis Prevost, James
Frazier Reed, Caius Tacitus Ryland, F. H. Sanford, Dr.
John Townsend, D. C. Vance, William Van Voorhies, and
A. W. Wigginton.
The first minutes of San Jose Lodge No 10 are dated
August 5, 1850. During this meeting five Brothers, being
A. W. Wigginton (mentioned above), William H. Eddy,
Burt, Shearer, and Huston were made members by affiliation
and a unanimous vote of the Lodge. Exhibited was a Lodge
consisting of nineteen members as of August 5th. Other
Overland Pioneers who were later members included: Josiah
Belden of the Bidwell-Bartleson Party; Major Samuel
J. Hensley of the Chiles-Walker Party; and Moses Schallenberger
of the Murphy-Townsend-Stevens Party; Thomas Fallen
who raised the American Flag in San Jose and in 1844
had arrived California with Fremont, Carson, & Goodey;
Senator William Riley Bassham of the Grigsby-Ide Party;
William McCutchen of the Murphy-Townsend-Stevens Party;
and later Charles McKiernan of Santa Cruz Mountain fame
and today’s name sake of Mountain Charlie Chapter
1850, E Clampus Vitus.
The Lodge’s first officers were: W. B. Almond,
Worshipful Master; H. C. Melone, Sr. Warden; John Townsend,
Jr. Warden; C. T. Ryland, Secretary; E. D. Hammond,
Treasurer; W. Van Voorhies, Sr. Deacon; J. S. Huston,
Jr. Deacon; and Louis Prevost, Tiler. The first individual
to receive all of his degrees in San Jose No 10 was
Brother A. C. Campbell.
Brief historical sketch of some of the individuals
above mentioned:
Brother Jonathan Drake Stevens,
the first Grand Master of Masons in California being
of New York and earlier was selected by President Polk
to raise a regiment of New York volunteers for service
in California. Stevens was a lawyer and Colonel of the
New York Militia and had also been a member of the New
York Legislature. June 1846 The U.S. Secretary of War,
Wm. L. Marcy, and General Winfield Scott instructed
Stevens to raise his regiment of eight hundred that
was to be known as the First Regiment of New York Volunteers.
The companies subsequently gathered on Governor’s
Island, N.Y. in August 1846. This regiment was comprised
of single men who had agreed to settle in California
and many were to later join the 1849 California State
Militia inclusive of Captain Joseph Folsom for whom
the City of Folsom was named.
Brother William B. Almond,
was an organizer and was first Master of San Jose Lodge
No 10 having earlier organized and presided as Master
of Sparta Lodge No. 46 in Sparta, Buchanan County, Missouri.
In 1849 Almond lead his own overland party to California.
Almond was observed as a tobacco chewing San Jose Civil
Judge noted for how quickly he cleared his calendar.
He was acquainted with Dr. J. Townsend naming one of
his daughters after Townsend’s wife, “Louise”
(Schallenberger) and was also a friend of Governor Peter
Hardeman Burnett. See link below to His Honor Judge
William B. Almond, by Clyde Arbuckle, with a “Forward”
by H. Hamlin.
Brother Benjamin Cory, MD
(1822 – 1896) was an organizer of the Lodge who
arrived in 1848 at the age of 25 years. San Jose’s
first physician, Cory arrived from San Francisco to
establish a practice from Monterey to Martinez, making
his rounds on horseback. He served in the first State
Legislature, as City Councilman, and also assisted in
the founding of today’s San Jose State University.
Brother William H. Eddy (abt.
1816 – 1859) and his first family set out across
the plains in 1846 from Belleville, Illinois, where
Eddy had been a carriage maker. Eddy was the earlier
“Forlorn Hope” hero of the Donner Party.
Published is in December of 1846 fifteen set out from
the snowbound camp; only seven of them were still alive
a month later when they finally reached safety. This
party had been lead by Eddy. None would have survived
without Eddy’s courage, resourcefulness, and determination.
In March 1847 Eddy returned to the camp to rescue his
family, only to discover that his wife and children
were dead. Eddy’s party brought George Donner’s
three orphaned daughters to safety. His grave is at
Oak Hill Cemetery, first unmarked, but today bears a
plaque set on Sierra granite that was dedicated by E.
Clampus Vitus in 1949.
Brother Jacob Durant Hoppe
(1815 – 1853), an organizer of the Lodge, was
a native of Maryland, and came over the Sierra in 1846.
He was editor of the Californian, a member of the Constitutional
Convention in 1849, and an early postmaster of San Jose.
He was one of the founders of the Port of Alviso. Bro.
Jacob Hoppe died in the explosion of the steamship “Jenny
Lind” on San Francisco Bay.
Brother Henry C. Melone was
another organizer of San Jose 10 and its first Senior
Warden. Melone had also earlier in 1840 assisted in
the organization of Liberty Lodge No 31, Liberty, Clay
County, Missouri where he served as its first Junior
Warden. Wm. B. Almond had known Melone from their mutual
Missouri experience.
Brother Louis Prevost (1807
– 1869), an organizer of the Lodge, and the Lodge’s
first Tiler was a native of France. He was a nurseryman
who came to San Jose in 1849, owned the San Jose Nursery,
and developed Prevost Gardens off Park Avenue. He attempted
to establish a silk industry in this city, but disease
found in the silk worms he imported from China caused
his financial ruin. Today Prevost Street in this City
bears his name.
Brother James Frazier Reed
(1800 – 1874) was an organizer of the Lodge and
a prominent member of the Donner Party of 1846-1847.
Reed, a businessman from Springfield, Illinois, was
banished from the Donner Party after killing an enraged
teamster on the Humboldt River who also had first allegedly
attacked Reed’s wife. He went on to Sutter’s
Fort for supplies, but snow prevented his return to
the party trapped in the mountains; his subsequent attempts
to save the emigrants were thwarted by the existing
war with Mexico. After participating in the January
2, 1847 Battle of Santa Clara, Reed was finally able
to organize and lead the second Donner relief party.
The Reed family all survived and settled in San Jose.
Reed was appointed guardian of the orphaned children
of Jacob Donner, brother of Captain George Reed. George
and Mary Donner are both buried near the Reed family
plot found at Oak Hill Memorial Park, San Jose, CA.
A historian alleges that Reed never affiliated to San
Jose Lodge No. 10. As I write the early records of San
Jose Lodge have not been search to confirm the above
issue that has been earlier published. Argued is Reed
retained his membership in Springfield Lodge No. 4,
Springfield, Illinois and participated in San Jose 10
as a sojourner. Reed campaigned vigorously to make San
Jose the capital of California and spent thousands of
dollars on the project. He engaged in various businesses
over the years but it was in real estate that he left
his mark. “Reed’s Addition” located
at the earlier southern boundary of the incorporated
City of San Jose features streets named after Reed and
members of his family being Reed, Martha, Margaret,
Virginia, Lewis, Keyes, and Patterson Streets.
In passing the area south of Keyes was earlier known
as the un-incorporated geographical area of “South
San Jose” and included the earlier lands of Rancho
Santa Teresa now mostly known as the Blossom Hill area.
Today the area found in the 101 Monterey Road triangle
is still known as South San Jose. However many do reference
this area as “East San Jose”, forgetting
also that East San Jose was once a separate City.
Brother John Townsend, MD
was an organizer of the Lodge and the Lodge’s
first Junior Warden. He set out for California with
the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy overland party in 1844,
the first to bring wagons over the Sierra Nevada. The
route they pioneered, the Truckee Route, became a major
gateway into California. Dr. Townsend was the first
licensed physician in San Francisco, where he also served
as an alcalde (mayor & judge) of San Francisco and
also served as councilman and school trustee. He and
his wife Elizabeth Schallenberger Townsend moved to
San Jose in 1849 where they both died in the cholera
epidemic of 1850 . Townsend was also a real estate promoter
and much of his wealth was derived from that activity.
Bibliography:
Arbuckel, Clyde.
His Honor Judge William B. Almond, forward by H. Hamlin,
text transcribed by Damon Waring, Pony Express Courier
June -November 1942.
Balance, Captain Jim.
Stevenson’s Regiment: First Regiment of New York
Volunteers, California Center for Military History,
California State Military Reserve.
Down, Charles West,
P.M. A Brief History of San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. &
A. M. 1850 – 1974, San Jose Lodge No. 10, San
Jose, CA 1974.
Liberty Lodge No. 31,
History of Liberty Lodge No. 31, A.F.& A.M., Liberty,
Missouri, 1959.
Loomis, Patricia.
A Walk Through the Past, Argonauts Historical Society
of San Jose, 1998.
Stansel, Edwin N,
1850 - 1975 A History of the Grand Lodge of Free and
Accepted Masons, State of California, second printing,
1975.
California Historical Internet
Links:
Donner Party, His Honor Judge William B. Almond, Overland
Emigration, Historical Interpretive Monuments of Mountain
Charlie Chapter 1850, E Clampus Vitus, early San Francisco
California, and early California
