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

Sharon, I know this won't be a lot of help, but maybe historically it will. The Lodge used to meet upstairs in the building where Jerry and Thelma White have their antique store in Halltown Missouri. The White's seem to have a lot of historical information about Halltown and Rock Prairie. The big lodge in Aurora is currently a private home owned by Bill McClure. Bill has been in the antique business for many years and probably could tell you where the Masonic records are for Aurora (My grandfather, ggrandfather, etc. were Masons, but I don' t know the answers to your other questions) Sharon Ford wrote: >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 > > >

Pat, Thanks for the information. Yes, historically it is very helpful. I wonder if the Whites would answer a letter from me? Do you have the name of the store and/or the address? Happy researching! Sharon Ford ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Miller" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 10:07 AM Subject: Re: [MOLAWREN-L] Masonic Research > Sharon, > I know this won't be a lot of help, but maybe historically it will. The > Lodge used to meet upstairs in the building where Jerry and Thelma White > have their antique store in Halltown Missouri. The White's seem to have > a lot of historical information about Halltown and Rock Prairie. The > big lodge in Aurora is currently a private home owned by Bill McClure. > Bill has been in the antique business for many years and probably could > tell you where the Masonic records are for Aurora (My grandfather, > ggrandfather, etc. were Masons, but I don' t know the answers to your > other questions) > > Sharon Ford wrote: > > >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.s tates.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 > > > > > > > > > > ==== MOLAWREN Mailing List ==== > More Lawrence County information can be found at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~molawre2/ > > ============================== > 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 >

Sharon, The Grand Lodge of Missouri is in Columbia. Address: Grand Lodge of Missouri, 800 Hwy N, Columbia, MO 65201. The telephone number I have is (573) 474-8561. This is not from the latest phone book, so you might want to check out the phone number on the Internet. About five years ago, when I lived in Columbia, I went to the office to see if I could find information on someone. They told me they would not have a lot of personal info on him, but told me which lodge he belonged to in McDonald County. They then located a packet of information from that lodge. It so happened the person I was looking for was a charter member when the lodge was organized in 1852. The other thing in the packet was yearly reports from the lodge, which listed new members admitted and members who died. The person I was interested in was listed as having died in July 1855 in that annual report. So that is what I found there. They were very helpful made copies of any of the material I wanted. Hope this may help. Alice McCollum On Monday, August 11, 2003, at 11:46 AM, Sharon Ford wrote: > 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 >