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Abstract

Organization of masons in Enfield, Massachusetts. Contains material from after their charter was reinstated in 1858, including a membership list, financial records, by-laws, burial service manual, directories, insurance policies, meeting cards, and a one-hundreth anniversary booklet.

Access:

The collection is open for research.

Language:

English.
Bethel Lodge, F. & A.M., Records, 1858-1938
1 box (0.5 linear ft.)
Call no.: MS 12

Background on Freemasons, Bethel Lodge (Enfield, Mass)

The Bethel Lodge of Masons, organized in 1825, is the oldest recorded social or fraternal group in Enfield, Massachusetts. Although it was a flourishing organization, the Lodge suspended and surrendered its charter in late 1829 in response to anti-Masonic pressures of the period. The charter was restored in 1858 to petitioners Aaron Woods, Henry Fobes, Nathan Weeks, J.B. Woods, John Crosby, Ichabod Pope, and Daniel Ford.

The Masonic Building, erected in 1926, was located in the central business district of Enfield. When the town was flooded for the Quabbin Reservoir, the Bethel Lodge folded, in 1939; most of its former members merged with Eden Lodge of Ware.

Enfield was among the Western Massachusetts towns abolished in 1938 to allow the Swift River Valley to be flooded, thereby creating the Quabbin Reservoir to provide Boston with water.

Contents of Collection

The collection consists of material only from the period following the reinstatement of the charter. Records include a membership list (1861), financial records (1858-1898), by-laws (1882, 1937), burial service manual (1909), directories (1898, 1929-1938), insurance policies (1873-1898), meeting cards (1880-1926), and a one-hundredth anniversary booklet (1925).

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Inventory of Collection
Annual Return of Membership 1861
Box :1
Bills and Accounts 1858-1898
Box :2-6
Burial Service manual 1909
Box :7
By-Laws 1882, 1937
Box :8
Directories 1898, 1929-1938
Box :9
Insurance Policies 1873-1898
Box :10
Meeting Cards 1880-1926
Box :11
One-Hundredth Anniversary booklet 1925
Box :12
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Provenance

Acquired from Donald Howe, 1960

Processing Information

Processed by Ken Fones-Wolf and Linda Seidman, February and September 1985.

Copyright and Use (More informationConnect to publication information)

Cite as: Bethel Lodge, F. and A.M., Records (MS 12). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

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Names and Subject Terms
Subjects
  • Enfield (Mass.)--History--Sources.
  • Enfield (Mass.)--Social life and customs.
  • Freemasonry--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--Sources.
  • Freemasons. Bethel Lodge (Enfield, Mass.)--Archives.
  • Freemasons--Massachusetts--Enfield--Archives.
  • Men--Massachusetts--Enfield--Societies and clubs--Archives.
  • Quabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--History.
Genre terms
  • Insurance policies.