Hi Sharon, I don't have time to address all the questions now, but the second part of #1 is relatively easy. "A. F. & A. M." stands for "Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons." I believe that "D. D. G. M." probably stands for "Deputy District Grand Master." However, I am not certain of this. Some of my ancestors and close relatives were or are Masons. Ross Cameron >>> [email protected] 08/11/03 12:46PM >>> Hi, I just finished reading a very interesting article "Masonic Research: Did Your Ancestors Join?" by Bruce Black in The Searcher, Summer 2003. Volume 40, No. 1, pg-188. The Searcher is a publication of the Southern California Genealogical Society [ http://www.scgsgenealogy.com ]. I would like to search for the Masonic records of my ancestors and I have a few questions. 1. Has anyone on the Dade or Lawrence County lists done any research on the Masonic affiliation of their ancestors in the same counties? Please tell me, what do the initials "A. F. & A. M." and "D. D. G. M." mean? Both my gr grandfather, John William Nickel, and my gr, gr grandfather, Thomas Nickel were Masons. Their farms were located between Lawrenceburg and Halltown [closer to Lawrenceburg]. In the Reprint of Goodspeed's 1888 History of Lawrence County, pg. 129, it states that Thomas Nickle was a member of Mt. Vernon Lodge No. 99 A. F. & A. M. since it's beginning in Jan. 1853. I found the Mt. Vernon Chamber of Commerce website for Fraternal Organizations: http://www.mtvernonchamber.com/AboutOrgs.htm and it gave the address and contact of Dan Ditzler. 2. Does anyone know if they still have the old records? In the same book, pg. 166, it states that John W. Nickle was a member of Rock Prairie Lodge No. 267 in Lawrenceburg, and was a Past Master of the year 1883. The article mentioned above stated that if the Masonic ancestor was a Civil War Veteran [Union or Confederate], there would be other information possibly available. 3. Is The Rock Prairie Lodge No. 267 still in existence and do they still have the old records? If not, did this lodge merge with another? I could not find it through any website. He lived Ash Grove the remaining few years of his life. I found a "Masonic Hall" in Ash Grove through the http://www.smartpages.com/directory but is the Hall still a Lodge? The rest of the lodges I found in the area were all listed as a lodge. 4. Do I need to contact the Grand Lodge? If so, does anyone know how to contact them? I Found the website for the Grand Lodge of MIssouri [ http://www.momason.org ] in Kansas City, but no address is given. Note: This site has links to the Missouri Lodges & Districts. If you click on the Masonic Lodges link, you can find the Grand Lodge Sites for other states. Any information, suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Sincerely, Sharon Ford Valley Glen, CA ==== MOLAWREN Mailing List ==== Visit the Lawrence County Query, Biography, Obituary, Will, Deed, Bible, Pension, etc., Boards at: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=localities.northam.usa.states.missouri.counties.lawrence ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237