History of Fair Haven Lodge #182, A.F. & A.M.
Account Submitted by Jim Peterson
November, 2007

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Fair Haven Lodge #182 was started under dispensation at Fair Haven, MN. (Stearns County) on Feb. 22, 1889 by Jeremiah Gould, a farmer: Carlton E. Kimble, a blacksmith; Phineas S. Rudolph, a farmer; Clinton D. Grimols, a merchant; John H. Bliler, a salesman; Leland H. Munger, a physician; Walter C. Stevens, a farmer; John S. Croker, a miller; Henry H. Buzzell, a druggist; William O. Sterling, a butcher; Cyrus M. King, a teacher; and Wm. H. Vye, a bookkeeper.  All but two were Masonic members of Plumb Line Lodge #173 located in Kimball, MN.  The Kimball Lodge had originated from Maine Prairie, a village north of Kimball that disappeared shortly after the turn of the century.

Peter Larson and Fred L Strout were the very first candidates for the first degree on April 1, 1889.  Fair Haven Lodge #182 was chartered on January 16, 1890, and constituted on February 10, 1890. During the early years the Brothers came by horse and buggy from as far as six and eight miles and quite a few walked or rode bicycles.  It moved to Annandale, MN. in Wright County in 1894, into the building presently housing the local newspaper, The Annandale Advocate. It moved to and rented the 2^nd floor of school in 1923 after the new three story school (known as the 1922 building) was built on Cherry St.  The Lodge used the large assembly room as its temple where basic tenets of Masonry were taught in three Degrees.  These Degrees are First, Entered Apprentice; Second, Fellowcraft; Third, Master Mason, and they consisted of ceremonies of a serious nature in which each candidate took part with dignity and solemnity. The Lodge remodeled classrooms into a full kitchen and dinning room capable of seating over 150 members and guests.  New furnaces were added in the late 1950s.  The Eastern Star furnished much of the Lodge hall and held their meetings & ceremonies there as well.  Most of the furniture used in ceremonies was built by Brother Rinehart Olson.  

The school and/or city offices shared the 1^st floor of the building up until 2001 when the building was demolished. Most of the Lodge paraphernalia was given to the Glencoe Lodge for its outdoor meeting area. The St. Cloud Lodge was also given items of value.  Donated items were returned to the family members still in the area, such as the furniture built by Brother Olson and furnaces from Brother Ferrell. 

The Eastern Star merged with the Clearwater chapter and much of the kitchen and dining room items were disposed of or included in the Clearwater inventory. The Lodge remains active and meets monthly to discuss business and its future.  The Lodge has been without a permanent home since the 2001 demolition of the hall but has been welcomed by the local Methodist Church to conduct monthly meeting in their Fireside Room.  At present the Lodge finds itself unable to officially conduct degree work in Annandale and must yearly ask for the assistance of neighboring Lodges, Clearwater or St. Cloud, to allow Fair Haven Lodge officers, accompanied by the local charter, to open and close Lodge under their charter.  

In 1964 the Lodge reached it highest membership with 96.  At present [2007] the membership stands at 18.  

Submitted by Jim Peterson, 2007

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Note: On December 15, 2010, the seventeen remaining members of Annandale's Masonic Lodge 182 became part of Buffalo's NelsonLodge. Declining membership and the lack of a meeting place contributed to the merger, which ended the 120-year history of Annandale's Masonic Lodge. CLICK HERE for an article in The Annandale Advocate about the end of the lodge.

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THE HONOR ROLL OF WORSHIPFUL MASTERS
FAIR HAVEN LODGE  AF & AM No. 182, ANNANDALE, MN.  

1889  -  Jeremiah Gould

1890  -  Carlton E. Kimble

1891  -  Carlton E. Kimble

1892  -  Leland H. Munger

1893  -  Jeremiah Gould

1894  -  Peter Larson

1895  -  W S Huntington

1896  -  W S Huntington

1897  -  Phineas S Rudolph

1898  -  H K Kelley

1899  -  H K Kelley

1900  -  W S Huntington

1901  -  W S Ives

1902  -  LeRoy Ritchie

1903  -  H K Kelley

1904  -  J G Hayter

1905  -  J G Hayter

1906  -  H E Fellows

1907  -  Theodore A Wirsing

1908  -  Theodore A Wirsing

1909  -  Harry Kurz

1910  -  Harry Kurz

1911  -  N C Smith

1912  -  N C Smith

1913  -  John A Ferguson

1914  -  John A Ferguson

1915  -  LeRoy E Larson

1916  -  LeRoy E Larson

1917  -  W D McDonald

1918  -  W D McDonald

1919  -  Bert Thayer

1920  -  Bert Thayer

1921  -  W T Towler

1922  -  W T Towler

1923  -  W W Mann

1924  -  W W Mann

1925  -  A H Lofstom

1926  -  A H Lofstom

1927  -  Charles Kurz

1928  -  Oscar Kurz

1929  -  Oscar Kurz

1930  -  Ross M Ives

1931  -  Colin McDonald

1932  -  Frank Erickson

1933  -  George R Johnson

1934  -  Ralph Sather

1935  -  Ralph Sather

1936  -  C E Johnson

1937  -  C E Johnson

1938  -  Palmer Sawyer

1939  -  Carl Johnson

1940  -  H F Betsinger

1941  -  N A Fundquist

1942  -  Guy Hinshaw

1943  -  Guy Hinshaw

1944  -  Arthur Sjolin

1945  -  H E Tripp

1946  -  Tom Jarl

1947  -  Joe DeChaney

1948  -  Richard Guptill

1949  -  Harry Heasley

1950  -  Donald Peterson

1951  -  Otto Ball

1952  -  Fred Oberg

1953  -  Norman Planer

1954  -  Myloe Loberg

1955  -  Melvin Wells

1956  -  Paul Jedlicka

1957  -  Harold Carnes

1958  -  Lester Cheney

1959  -  Chester Sparks

1960  -  Alfred E Broten

1961  -  Melvin Josephs

1962  -  Richard Roe

1963  -  Norman Osterby

1964  -  Wendell Ponsford

1965  -  Carlton Magnuson

1966  -  Reuben Lantto

1967  -  Walter Schmidt

1968  -  Walter Schmidt

1969  -  LuVerne Schmidt

1970  -  Rudolph Westlund

1971  -  Harvey Schwartz

1972  -  Walter Schmidt

1973  -  Melvin Wells

1974  -  Roy E Lockhart

1975  -  Donald D Haskin

1976  -  David Hart

1977  -  Dennis Klemz

1978 -  Walter Schmidt

1979  -  Wallace Peterson

1980  -  Robert Shoberg

1981  -  Donald D. Haskin

1982  -  Walter Schmidt

1983  -  Richard Vossen

1984  -  Lowell Farrell

1985  -  Richard Wilson

1986  -  Walter Schmidt

1987  -  Walter Schmidt

1988  -  Charles Martin

1989  -  James Rogers

1990  -  Norman Osterby

1991  -  Robert Saksa

1992  -  Charles Martin

1993  -  Walter Schmidt

1994  -  James L Peterson

1995  -  Laurence Keefe

1996  -  Robert Marsh

1997  -  Reuben Lantto

1998  -  Reuben Lantto

1999  -  Reuben Lantto

2000  -  Norman Osterby

2001  -  Norman Osterby

2002  -  Erik Johansson

2003  -  Norman Osterby

2004  -  Norman Osterby

2005  -  Lowell Farrell

2006  -  Lyle E Bing

2007  -  Lyle E Bing

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Name	Yr Raised to  Master Mason	Yr Joined Lodge #182 F. H.
Jeremiah Gould	Charter member	1889
Carlton E. Kimblo	Charter member	1889
Phineas G Rudolph	Charter member	1889
Clinton D. Garimols	Charter member	1889
John H. Bliler	Charter member	1889
Leland H. Munger	Charter member	1889
Walter C. Stevens	Charter member	1889
John G. Crocker	Charter member	1889
Henry H. Buzzell	Charter member	1889
William O. Sterling	Charter member	1889
Cyrus M. King	Charter member	1889
William H. Vye	Charter member	1889
George E. Rockwood	1889	1889
Peter Larson	1889	1889
Fred H. Strout	1889	1889
Francis H. Gary	1889	1889
Sheldon J. Stearns	1889	1889
George R. Boobar	1889	1889
Wilson C. Weeks	1890	1890
Walter A. Gould	1891	1891
Samuel A. Gordon	1891	1891
Charles A. Mathew	1891	1891
Dewitt C. McCrory	1892	1892
Charles D. Strout	Not available	1892
Lorenzo Cofield	Not available	1892
W. G. Huntington	1893	1893
George E. Gould	1893	1893
Alisag P. Ritche	1893	1893
Rudolph Isch	1893	1893
Morton Athow	1894	1894
John Ld. Jaiser	Not available	1894
Rufus T. Triplett	Not available	1894
George W. Keniston	Not available	1894
Pitt Pray	Not available	1894
W. D. McDonald	Not available	1894
John Renney	Not available	1894
William Parsons	Not available	1894
Frank Lewis	Not available	1894
Henry Lewis	Not available	1894
Jay Martin	1894	1894
Hans W. Nelson	1894	1894
Stephen C. Kemp	Not available	1894
George A. Magoun	1894	1894
Thomas E. Archer	1894	1894
Henry K. Kelley	Not available	1894
John H. Miller	1894	1894
G. W. Vogler	1894	1894
William S. Ives	1895	1895
Davis W. Bryant	Not available	1895
George Eagy	Not available	1895
G. E. Pickard	1895	1895
William H. Towle	Not available	1896
Roy Ritchie	1896	1896
Alfred M. Ridgway	1896	1896
Stephen J. Wooster	1897	1897
John A Ferguson	1899	1899
Fred Bryant	1899	1899
Leroy S. Cofield	1899	1899
Marion P Satterlee	1899	1899
Theo A. Wusing	1899	1899
John G. Hayter	1900	1900
Edward G. Stark	1901	1901
William Isensee	1902	1902
Alonzo L. Jordan	1902	1902
Erivine E. Jordan	1903	1903
George P. Mathew	1903	1903
Henry Nobbs	1898	1903
Wallace W. Jewett	1884	1904
E. K. Barthalamew	1904	1904
Orrin L. Cofield	1904	1904
James E. Walters	1904	1904
Henry A. Becklund	1904	1904
Martin E. Fellows	Not available	1904
Harry Kurz	1905	1905
Christ Olson	1905	1905
John E. Dahlstrom	1905	1905
Arthur Armstrom	1907	1907
Miles B. Hively	1907	1907
Owen Groves	Not available	1908
G. K. Meade	Not available	1908
Albert L. Schaun	1905	1908
G. H. Norris	1908	1908
Everett A. Jordan	1908	1908
C. E. Rudolph	1908	1908
Sam Sykes	Not available	1909
Elvey E. Sykes	1909	1909
Nathan C. Smith	1909	1909
John S. Kothman	1910	1910
Guy A. Murdock	1910	1910
Leroy E. Larsen	1911	1911
James M. Burns	1911	1911
William Cool	1911	1911
Augustus Bragg	1912	1912
Henry C. Tessman	1912	1912
Almer W. Swanson	1912	1912
George G. Sawyer	1906	1912
M. G. Foster	1912	1912
W. A. Ziegler	Not available	1912
Maurice Silverman	1912	1912
Fred L. Eads	1912	1912
Adolph B. Ernest	1912	1912
Delmer M. Goode	1912	1912
B. H. Thayer	1913	1913
Thurston W. Weum	1913	1913
Max Buckman	1914	1914
Edward L. Kurz	1915	1915
Joseph A. Walover	1916	1916
William B. Conger	1917	1917
Bruce Gordon	1917	1917
John Tygeson	Not available	1917
Ira B. Mann	1918	1918
Oscar A. Kurz	1918	1918
Lester Friend	1918	1918
Richard Meintsma	1918	1918
W. W. Towler	1918	1918
Peter Meintsma	1918	1918
Wilton H. Towle	1919	1919
George W. Mann	1919	1919
Ned F. Sommers	1919	1919
Carl Johnson	1919	1919
Harman G Stalblom	1919	1919
W. L. Beach	Not available	1919
H. J. Goode	Not available	1919
L. E. Converse	1920	1920
John P. Hoikka	1920	1920
Roland M. Bullock	1920	1920
Lyle A. worden	1920	1920
George Vitalis	1920	1920
Irv Malaen	1920	1920
Paul L. Vandergon	1920	1920
Guy M. Hanshaw	1920	1920
Charles Kurz	1920	1920
Arthur H. Lofstrom	1919	1919
A. C. Gruss	1921	1921
N. A. Rundquist	1921	1921
George H. Smith	Not available	1921
Ralph J. Olson	1921	1921
Walter A. Andrews	1922	1922
R. L. Dunton	1922	1922
Calvin C. Jewett	1922	1922
Glen Converse	1922	1922
Horton Goodman	1922	1922
Reinhart Olson	1923	1923
R. L. Olson	1923	1923
E. J. Rochel	1923	1923
Fred M. Ferrell	1923	1923
Edward H. Peterson	1923	1923
Emil Ryti	1923	1923
Harry Parker	1924	1924
H. J. Dunton	1919	1924
O. B. Rudolph	1924	1924
Joseph D. Decheny	1925	1925
Colin McDonald	1924	1924
H. P. Archard	1925	1925
John H. Seeger	1925	1925
Courteny J. Dunton	1925	1925
George S. Norris	1925	1925
Horton V. Goodman	1922	1922
Edgar M. Rackliff	1926	1926
James Rankin	1926	1926
Maurice W. Kirsner	1925	1925
Ross M. Ives	1925	1925
Henry A. Wright	1925	1925
Frank E. Erickson	1926	1926
Gilbert Bahr	1903	1926
Jesse Ray	Not available	1926
S. H. Allen	1911	1926
Arthur R. Fenske	19927	1927
Earl H. Converse	1927	1927
D. H. Granger	Not available	1927
Lester F. Ashbaugh	1927	1927
Henry Swanson	Not available	1927
Julius C. Richter	1928	1928
Rudolph T. Johnson	1928	1928
George M. Scheyer	1929	1929
Palmar L Sawyer	1929	1929
Robert Aronson	1929	1929
Neil W. Bahr	1929	1929
Kenneth R. Ives	1929	1929
Reuben Finnell	1929	1929
Harold Kalberg	1929	1929
Henry K. Hill	1887	1929
Louis Fine	1914	1929
Ralph sather	1930	1930
Harry s. Heasley	1930	1930
Franklin Seeger	1930	1930
Linvinston A. Lydeard	Not available	1930
Vern M. Cherrey	1919	1930
Willis E. Dugan	1930	1930
Charence Johnson	1931	1931
H. M. Waldron	1931	1931
Charlie H. Blake	1931	1931
L. H. Karie	1934	1934
H. F. Betsinger	1935	1935
Thomas H. Brandon	1936	1936
Hans A. Sjolin	1936	1936
Albert L. Larson	1937	1937
William J. Estling	1939	1939
Thomas G. Jarl	1939	1939
Charles M. Johnson	1939	1939
Arthur J. Fagerlund	1939	1939
E. N. Baker	1922	1939
H. E. Tripp	1920	1939
Edwin A. Mogenson	1927	1939
Richard Guptill Jr.	1942	1942
William C. Langdon	1942	1942
Francis A. Parent	1944	1944
Raymond E. Johnson,Col	1944	1944
D. W. Boles	1941	1944
Otto T. Ball	1926	1945
Floyd L Johnson	1945	1945
W. F. Buridoin	1945	1945
Elias Worre	1905	1946
Raymond Bassett	1934	1946
Nobel Shadduck	1929	1946
Carlton C. Magnuson	1947	1947
Donald P. Peterson	1947	1947
William J. Schmitz	1947	1947
Lyle D. Schnackenberg	1949	1947
Elmer C. Thompson	1947	1947
Emil Riep	1948	1948
Robert W. Nelson	1948	1948
Myloe J. Loberg	1948	1948
Melvin G. Wells	1948	1948
Donald W. Dechaney	1948	1948
Norman J. Planer	1948	1948
Gordon A. Biebighauser	1948	1948
Sielo Fred Oberg	1948	1948
Lester V. Cheney	1944	1948
George H. Morris	1908	1948
Chas B. Raisanen	1949	1949
Paul Jedlicka	1952	1952
Alfred E. Broten	Not available	1954
Harry Frounfalter	Not available	1954
Niel Raisanen	1951	1954
Laurence R. Cochran	Not available	1953
Harold A. Carnes	Not available	1953
Earl M. Johnson	Not available	1955
Gilbert E. Andrews	Not available	1955
John Hendricks	1953	1953
George W. Parker	1953	1953
Eugene W. Erninger	1953	1953
Albert H. Pagenkopf	1953	1953
Manne J. Johnson	1955	1955
John Doss	1955	1955
Richard H. Roe	1955	1955
Chester Sparks	1955	1955
Melvin Josephs	1955	1955
George Luce	1955	1955
Leo Olson	1955	1955
Earl Olson	1956	1956
Stanley Johnson	1956	1956
Burt F. Hahn	1957	1957
Norman R. Osterby	1959	1959
E. J. Ferrell	1958	1958
Gordon R. Arneberg	1959	1959
Richard G. Hodge	1959	1959
Don B. Gordon	1959	1959
Melvin C. Stringer	1953	1959
DeVan F. Johnson	1919	1959
M. Ponsford	1959	1959
Robert Flygare	1959	1959
Charles Rode	1959	1959
Gery Hawkinson	1959	1959
Carroll D. Cady	1958	1958
Vernon G. Wolff	1958	1958
David W. Hart	1960	1960
Keith Ferrell	1960	1960
Gilbert Rhoe	1960	1960
Lowell G. Ferrell	1960	1960
Lamoine H. Ferrell	1960	1960
Herbert P. Sjoberg	1956	1961
Delbert L. Carter	1961	1961
Robert G. Miller	1961	1961
Gary Ferrell	1961	1961
Earl Putzke	1962	1962
Robert Shoberg Jr.	1962	1962
Reuben L. Lantto	1962	1962
Benjamin W. Norell	1922	1962
David T. Dahl	1962	1963
Robert Magnuson	1964	1964
LuverneButchSchmidt	1964	1964
Walter A. Schmidt	1964	1964
Dana Ferrell	1958	1984
Robert McGregor	1964	1964
RudolphRudyWestlund	Not available	1965
A. F. Strand	1966	1966
Arthur J. Waisonen	Not available	1965
Henry H. Jokie	1942	1965
Oscar C. Hendricks	Not available	1964
Robert Jeppeson	1968	1968
Norman Ponsford	1968	1968
Edward R. Kury	1915	1968
LaVelleBudMorrow	Not available	1969
Robert Nordstrob	1953	1969
Harvey Schwartz	1920	1969
Orville Thorson	1944	1970
Russell W. Anderson	1957	1970
Earl M. Estes	1970	1970
Royal L. Beckman	1970	1970
Anton E. Barson	1928	1970
Frank L. Troubridge	1963	1971
Michael Casey	1972	1972
Roy E. Lockhart	1959	1972
Dennis Klemz	1973	1973
George Arenson	1973	1973
D. D. Hasken	1953	1973
Bernard Anderson	1973	1973
Harold Kolstad	1973	1973
Richard Schwartz	1973	1973
Wallace Peterson	1949	1973
George Meintsma	1974	1974
Evert Stockman	1960	1973
Carl A. Crusell	1944	1974
Willard C. Scott	Not available	1975
David Winters	1964	1975
Norman R. Nelson	1952	1976
Merlin Forland	1967	1977
Richard Wilson	1961	1978
Clinton Anderson	1940	1980
Charles Martin	1950	1980
James J. Rogers	1974	1985
Robert Saksa	1974	1985
James Larson	1971	1985
Richard Pratt	1946	1986
Urho Kuuisisto	1948	1986
Adolph R. Seldenkranz	1956	1987
John R. Noble	1962	1988
Jim Morford	1943	1988
Roy Holt	1952	1988
James Monson	1955	1989
Beryl White	1942	1990
James L. Peterson	1970	1991
James Rudolph	1960	1990
Jon K. Papas	1957	1989
Gerald P. Heitz	1993	1993
Robert Marsh	1993	1993
Robert L. Atkins	1956	1993
Donald Anderson	1950	1993
Laurence Keefe	1961	1993
Gene South	1993	1993
Erik Johansson	1994	1994
Warren Gammell	1944	1994
Philip  Raabe	1938	1995
RoscoeRackThuleen	Not available	1995
James W. Miller	1959	1995
Jack Ponsford	1997	1997
Lyle G. Bing	1960	1998
Richard Smith	Not available	1993
Richard Vossen	1978	1978
George E. Padaen	Not available	1924
Steven A Olson	1969	2000

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Masonic lodge fades into history
By Chuck Sterling Editor

Annandale Advocate
January 18, 2011


The 120-year history of Annandale's once-thriving Masonic lodge has come to an end. Established in Fair Haven in 1890 and moved to Annandale in 1894, Fair Haven Lodge No. 182 merged with the Nelson Lodge in Buffalo last month. Membership that once included the "movers and shakers" of Annandale had dwindled to only a handful of local men after the lodge lost its meeting place when the old city hall was demolished about a decade ago, former secretary Jim Peterson said.

"We are done now," Peterson said after he and acting master Bob Magnuson, standing in for Lyle Bing, handed over the Annandale lodge's charter in the worldwide fraternal organization to Nelson Lodge officials Dec. 15. The Minnesota Grand Lodge told the Annandale lodge to merge with another one because of its declining membership, he said. The 17 remaining members are now part of the Nelson Lodge, but only about a half-dozen of them live in Annandale, and two of them are ill.

"There are three of us healthy enough to go to Buffalo," Peterson, a 40-year member and onetime lodge leader, said. It wasn't always that way. The lodge had 96 members back in 1964 and '65, according to a history in an album of photos of its leaders. As recently as 1978 it had 78 members. In its heyday, many of the lodge's top officials, called worshipful masters, were "movers and shakers" in the community, Peterson observed as he paged through the album. Some were mayors, like Carty Magnuson and Jim Rogers in the '60s and H.K. Kelly in the 1890s. Colin McDonald, 1931, was president of the Annandale State Bank, and Myloe Loberg, 1954, was publisher of the Annandale Advocate.

Peterson estimated there were 30 members about 10 years ago when the lodge found itself without a meeting place, which he said was the main cause of the merger. The Masons had met on the second floor of the old city hall building since 1923, but it was torn down after Annandale moved into a new city hall just north of there in 2002. The lodge met in the United Methodist Church for a few years and in the back room of a restaurant for awhile, even gathering in members' homes. "But nothing worked very well," Peterson said. The lodge also wasn't attracting any new members. "The interest was no longer there." The lack of a meeting place contributed to that, Peterson said.

Thriving lodges like those in Buffalo and St. Cloud have impressive places to meet and conduct their rituals. "We had absolutely nothing." The Annandale chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Masons' women's auxiliary, used to meet in the same space. It merged with the Clearwater chapter in 2001 when it couldn't find another place to meet here.

The Masonic lodge was started in 1889 in Fair Haven by Jeremiah Gould, a farmer who was its first master. It was chartered the next year and moved to Annandale in 1894, occupying the former Advocate building. "They never did say why they came to Annandale," Peterson said.

The Masons are a men's fraternal and social organization with a religious aspect, according to Peterson. Wikipedia, the internet encyclopedia, says: "Freemasonry's central preoccupations remain charitable work within a local or wider community, moral uprightness (in most cases requiring a belief in a supreme being) as well as the development and maintenance of fraternal friendship."

Worldwide membership is estimated at 6 million and just under 2 million in the U.S. "It's very related to God," Peterson said. The Masons also support the Shrine hospital research centers, one of which is at the University of Minnesota. Part of the activities at the lodge's meetings involved getting together and socializing, he said.

Back in the early years of the Annandale lodge before his time, dining and playing cards was an important event, Peterson said. "You'd go to a meeting, you'd have a meal and then you'd sit and play cribbage" for a couple of hours. "That was a big deal."

While the healthy Annandale Masons can attend meetings in Buffalo, Peterson said he hates to see the lodge fold for the sake of some 40- and 50-year members who have moved elsewhere but faithfully maintained their membership for so long. But since the lodge had become inactive, "it's time I guess."

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