By W:. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA Over a thousand visiting firemen descended on Huntington’s Main Street, joined by over...
By W:. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA Jephtha Lodge approved the purchase of this Service Flag and a Scroll with...
By W:. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA Despite Long Island Freemasonry tracing its roots to Huntington Lodge No. 26 A....
By W:. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA Walking around the antiquated rooms of Jephtha Lodge, I am constantly searching for...
By W:. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA Over the course of the history of Freemasonry, brothers had the ability to...
By W:. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA
No current furnishing, artifact, or memorabilia has been discussed in Jephtha Lodge more than the mysterious African water buffalo head mounted on a second-floor wall. Some of the wild conspiracy theories include the long-held legacy than the mighty beast was hunted and killed by nearby resident and Brother Theodore Roosevelt and personally delivered to the Huntington lodge by the former President.
As our late Brother coined over one hundred years ago, “Bully!”
The Expeditions of Theodore Roosevelt
Our mystery commences in February 1915, when Theodore Roosevelt delivered a lecture entitled “My Masonic Experiences in South America and Africa” to his local masonic brothers residing near his home in Cove Neck. An invitation went out to the members of his own Matinecock No. 806 and their parent lodge, Jephtha No. 494 in Huntington. It is estimated over 30 Jephtha brothers from Huntington trekked over to Roosevelt’s home in Sagamore Hill, including one of his second degree examiners, R:.W:. Douglass Conklin for this exclusive gathering. While in Africa, Roosevelt did find time to visit a masonic lodge in Nairobi, in the British colony of Kenya, but the focus was clearly on his hunting exploits.
Roosevelt’s first expedition started just 19 days after the conclusion of his final term as President. Organized by the Smithsonian Institute to collect specimens for their new Natural History Museum, the small group was led by legendary hunter-tracker R. J. Cunninghame and set sail for East Africa on March 23, 1909. By the end of the trip over 10 months later, the team killed or trapped approximately 11,397 specimens, including 512 by Roosevelt and his son Kermit. Roosevelt kept a detailed diary of his adventures and later published the exact list of his kills in the book “African Game Trails.” The variety of big game personally hunted by the former president was extraordinary, including lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, elephant, white rhino, the now exceedingly rare black rhino and ten buffalos-six by the former president and four by his son Kermit.
Roosevelt stated in his book, “Kermit and I kept about a dozen trophies for ourselves; otherwise, we shot nothing that was not used either as a museum specimen or for meat…the mere size of the bag indicates little as to a man’s prowess as a hunter, and almost nothing as to the interest or value of his achievement.” If Roosevelt’s claim that the family only kept one dozen for themselves is accurate, a tour through the Sagamore Hill home would count for most if not all these specimens.
Roosevelt later led a scientific survey expedition in South America between December 1913 to April 1914 to follow the path of the Rio da Dúvida in the Amazon basin. The problematic tour including many members coming down with malaria, poorly supplied food leading to starvation diets, one person drowning, one person murdered, and his accused killer left behind in the jungle to perish. Roosevelt himself was near death after having received a gash in his leg that later became infected. Roosevelt returned to New York greatly weakened and never fully recovering, dying at his Cove Neck home less than five years later. There is no record of Roosevelt hunting for buffalo in South America.
Roosevelt started giving lectures in May 1914 in part to silence the critics doubting he discovered the river and made the exhibition. These series of lectures included his invitation-only event to Oyster Bay and Huntington Freemasons in February 1915. Unfortunately, there are no known records of the lodge receiving a prized water buffalo head from Roosevelt.
A Forgotten Sale from a Coroner
But Roosevelt was not the only big game hunter to cross paths with Jephtha Lodge. On February 15, 1937, Jephtha Lodge took possession of nine taxidermied animal parts from Dr. William B. Gibson in exchange for one dollar of American currency. The list of stuffed animal parts included two large, mounted moose heads; two mounted deer heads; two mounted caribou heads; two mounted deer hoofs and one moose horn. The bill of sale was accepted by W:. Allison E. Lowndes, Past Master (1922) and longtime Trustee of Jephtha and filed in the archives by W:. Herman Chris Lorck, Secretary (1935-1944) and Past Master of Jephtha (1932).
There is no known connection between Dr. Gibson and Jephtha Lodge. He was not raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason, nor is there any record of a petition. There is also no recorded proof that Gibson hunted the mammals or if he acquired the pieces from an intermediary.
William B. Gibson (1855-1941) was born in Clarenceville, Quebec, Canada to Dr. John B. (b. Scotland) and Lucy S. Baker Gibson. In 1878, he obtained his medical degree from McGill Medical College (now McGill University) in Quebec. Gibson practiced medicine in London for one year, before returning to Dunham, Quebec. Between 1878-1885, he was an Assistant Surgeon of the 60th Canadian Regiment, obtaining the rank of Major in a commission signed by Queen Victoria. Appointed to the Medical Department at the University of Vermont in 1885, Gibson lectured on materia medica and obstetrics until 1889.
Gibson moved to Huntington, New York in 1891, living on 153 Main Street (1900 -1920) and 71 New Street (1930-41). Elected President of the Queens and Nassau Counties Medical Society and Associated Physicians of Long Island in 1901, Gibson was the Suffolk County Coroner for several decades. In 1880 he married Amelia Caroline Moore, and they had two sons, Gordon, and Frederick.
The big game trophies from the collection of Dr. Gibson have long vanished from the rooms of Jephtha Lodge. Although water buffalo is not listed as part of Gibson’s former collection, there is no evidence that his items were acquired in the African continent.
In Search of Additional Evidence
We can determine that the mounted head on the second floor is a water buffalo based on its horns growing slightly downward and backward, then curve upward in a spiral. More common in Asia, water or river buffalo, can be found in Egypt. But Roosevelt’s safari was in the sub-Saharan part of Africa, miles away from the northeast corner of Egypt and based on photographic evidence, Roosevelt only hunted cape buffalo.
The water buffalo was introduced in the Amazon river basin in 1895, which was part of Roosevelt’s 1913-14 exhibition. Because of the challenging South American survey trip, including almost facing death, it is not believed Roosevelt did any hunting in the continent during his three months stay.
The origin story of the old water buffalo staring out to curious onlookers with its glass eyes in the small second floor room will remain a mystery for the time being. It does not stop brothers from spinning tales to unsuspecting visitors that Jephtha Lodge’s connection to Long Island’s most famous freemason is more than a proficiency examiner and personal lecturer. The framed picture of the former president with one of his African prizes still hangs adjacent to the mounted head, with a black and blue masonic baseball cap on one of its horns. The evidence is not clear, but Jephtha lodge members can carry the infamous legacy forward as a distinct possibility if not a certainty, the TR Buffalo can retain its moniker.
By W:. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA Masonic lodge historians do not realize the wealth of history is at their...
By W:. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA
What do two shipbuilders, a ship’s captain, two farmers, a former Democratic U.S Congressman, a local active Republican and a disgraced freemason have in common? They are the seven charter members of Jephtha Masonic Lodge No. 494 in Huntington.
The First Meeting
The charter members William H. King, Jesse Carll, David Carll, John H. Jarvis, Phineas E. Sills and Charles A. Floyd laid the foundation of Jephtha Lodge at a meeting in the home of Francis Olmsted (1820-1901) in Northport on December 21, 1859, for the “purpose of taking into consideration the feasibility of establishing a Lodge in the Village of Huntington.”
It was unanimously agreed to submit an application to the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of New York to form a Lodge. The application and $40 fee were submitted to Grand Secretary of Masons in New York on December 23, 1859.
The name “Jephtha” is based on a character in the Old Testament who served as one of the Judges in Israel for a period of six years (Judges 12:7) between the conquest of Canaan and the first king. Jephtha lived in Gilead and was a member of the Tribe of Manasseh.
The Planning Stage
The charter members first met in the sloop Rebecca in Huntington Harbor throughout January 1860. The brothers prepared themselves with the many initial plans and ritual work required to operate a masonic lodge. Captain John Knight guarded the door for any trespassers that may disrupt the secret meetings. The future freemason kept a pot of coffee heated in the forecastle of the yacht for the busy members during these frigid winter nights.
The first official meeting was held in a room over S.T. Shadbolt’s Harness Shop in Huntington Village on January 28, 1860. The purpose of this initial meeting was to elect the seven charter members to their respective officer stations. Other items on the agenda included obtaining an extended lease for future meetings and forming a committee to obtain the necessary regalia.
The Charter Members
William H. King was the acting Worshipful Master of Joppa Lodge No. 201 in Brooklyn during the initial planning meetings. Born in Maine in 1825, the 35-year-old farmer raised three children in Centerport with his wife Jane. The first registered brother and Master in three out the first four years for Jephtha (1860-61, 1863), King and Jonas Pearsall were instrumental in purchasing the property the lodge is currently located. At the dedication of Alcyone Masonic Lodge No. 695 in Northport in 1869, King was the acting Grand Secretary. King officially demitted from Jephtha Lodge on April 26, 1875 after his move out of state.
Shipbuilder Jesse Carll (1833-1902) was brother number 2 of Jephtha and the lodge’s first Senior Warden. Later elected as the second Master in 1862, Carll was originally raised in Charter Oak No 249 in New York City. Carll was also a charter member of Alcyone No. 659 in Northport in 1869, where he redirected his masonic responsibilities, forcing him to demit from Jephtha. The Carll Shipyard was the most successful shipbuilder in Northport for over 40 years in the late nineteenth century.
Jesse Carll’s brother David (1831-1917) of Charter Oak No 249 was elected the first Senior Deacon. David Carll was partners with his brother Jesse in the Carll Shipyard and later demitted from Jephtha for unknown reasons.
Phineas Bryan Sills (1813-1869) was a farmer originally raised a mason in Joppa Lodge No 201 and was the lodge’s first Treasurer. Sills has the distinction of being the first member to be suspended indefinitely from Jephtha Lodge for unmasonic conduct in 1861.
Jephtha’s first Junior Deacon was Jonas Smith Higbie (1821-1907). Raised a mason in Charter Oak No 249 in 1854, Higbie demitted from Jephtha Lodge on September 28, 1868 to become a charter member of Alcyone Lodge in Northport.
Born in Centerport, Higbie was a ship’s captain for decades, for a time running the Storm Cloud, a 195-ton vessel built by fellow charter member Jesse Carll. During the Civil War, Higbie served as an officer for the Union Navy and engaged in several successful conflicts. After the war he traded supplies in the West Indies, was active with the local Republican party and was a Commander for the local Grand Army of the Republic Post. The first Jephtha brother to file a U.S. Patent in 1865, his expertise on the water informed his design for an improved boat rudder. After his death, the Jonas S. Higbie Council No. 71, Junior Order of United Auto Mechanics of Northport was founded in his honor.
John Hewlett Jarvis (b. 1837) of Lexington No. 310 on Court and Montague Streets, New York City was elected as Jephtha’s first Junior Warden. Jarvis was a yeoman in Brooklyn, which duties delayed his first day as Junior Warden until the fourth stated communication. Jarvis later decided that his responsibilities in Brooklyn were preventing him to attend regular meetings, forcing he decision to demit from the lodge in 1871.
Charles Albert Floyd (1791-1873) was the only charter member of Jephtha to be raised a mason on Long Island (1813). Floyd was elected Worshipful Master of Suffolk No 60 in Port Jefferson five times (1818-20, 1824-25) and was the last master of Suffolk No 60 before the lodge ceased meetings due to the anti-masonic period in the 1820’s. Floyd was a founding member of the reorganized Suffolk No 401 in Port Jefferson in 1856 and was elected Jephtha’s first Secretary. The son of John Floyd, a member from Long Island’s first masonic lodge Huntington No. 26, and charter member of Suffolk No 60 in 1796, the younger Floyd was dropped from Jephtha’s membership on April 26, 1869 for unknown reasons.
Pursing agriculture interests in Commack, Floyd served as Suffolk County Clerk (1820-21), District Attorney (1830), New York State Assembly (1836 and 1838), Huntington Board of Trustees (1837-1840), Suffolk County Judge and Town Supervisor of Huntington (1843-1865). Elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-seventh U.S. Congress (1841-43), Floyd was in session during the one-month administration of William Henry Harrison, the first President to die while in office.
The diverse backgrounds of these seven charter members gave the fledging lodge decades worth of education, cultural and personal traits that enabled freemasonry to prosper in the developing north shore village. Although these seven brothers’ time at Jephtha only lasted a few years, their determined groundwork in forming the lodge is a fitting chapter of the new fraternity in Huntington. Within twelve months, 46 new members were raised master masons in Jephtha Lodge, more than a 600% growth from the cold and uncertain planning days in January 1860. It is a testament to these founders that the lodge continues the tradition of accepting a wide variety of members over one hundred and sixty years after the first meeting.
By W:. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA
Since 1866, Jephtha Lodge brothers were charter members of several other lodges, including Glen Cove No. 580, Alcyone No. 695 in Northport, and Matinecock No. 806 in Oyster Bay. To request a dispensation for a new Masonic Lodge, a group of local brothers are required to petition nearby lodges for permission to form, addressing issues such has regional boundary jurisdiction, qualified charter members, and ritual proficiency. In most cases, new lodges are granted dispensation and start the procedure to obtain a charter from Grand Lodge of Masons in New York.
Over the course of three years in the mid-1920’s, two separate proposals were presented to a Stated Communication to form a lodge in Huntington Station, five miles from Jephtha. In both cases, the matter was either withdrawn or rejected and involved two brothers: Eugene Theodore Geissinger (1896-1966) of Island City Lodge No. 586 and Albert S. Walling of Long Island No. 382. Little is known of these two non-Jephtha brothers residing in Huntington Station, their reasons to form a lodge near Jephtha and no records have been found that either were elected officers of any lodge in New York.
The first petition was received and read into the Stated Communication on September 28, 1925, but formerly withdrawn on October 12, 1925 from brothers Geissinger, Walling and Voorhees Allen Herbert (1887-1960). No reason was given for the withdrawal.
Between 1920 and 1927, 14 new lodges were formed in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Grand Lodge had to add districts for the fast expanding fraternity and in May 1927, the Long Island Masonic District was divided into two separate districts: Nassau and Suffolk. At the time, there were 14 masonic lodges in Suffolk county and 18 lodges in Nassau county, including the newly formed Garden City No. 1083. It was believed the time was ripe to form a new lodge on Long Island.
A few months after the formation of the new districts, on October 10, 1927, a group of eight brother’s once again petitioned Jephtha to form a lodge in Huntington Station and proposed to name it Nathan Hale Lodge.
Legend has it that when American soldier and spy Nathan Hale was asked if he had any last words after being led to the gallows in 1776, he supposedly replied with his infamous quote, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” The small hamlet of Halesite in Huntington Harbor was named after the Revolutionary War first lieutenant, near the location the spy was ferried across from Connecticut to gather intel on British occupied Long Island.
Despite all these accomplishments, there is no recorded proof that Nathan Hale was a Freemason. The brothers probably chose the name for the patriotic spirit a fallen hero over the local poet Walt Whitman, whose birthplace was in nearby West Hills, and may have experienced more interaction with Freemasons when he tended wounded soldiers during the Civil War.
In the early twentieth century, Huntington Station was centered around the Long Island Railroad Station and the Fair Grounds, an area between present day Depot Road and Lenox Road. The Fair Grounds included a one-mile horse racing track with a 1500 seat grandstand and open fields. By 1911, the area was renamed Huntington Station and beginning in 1921, the Fair Grounds was subdivided into residential properties. Several of the proposers for the new lodge, resided in the area once known as the Fair Grounds.
The Nathan Hale Lodge proposal recommended the following members: Albert S. Walling from Long Island No. 382 for Worshipful Master; Eugene T. Geissinger from Island City No. 586 for Senior Warden; Herman Ehntholdt from Jephtha No. 494 for Junior Warden. The other petitioners were David Ehntholdt from Island City No. 586; Rasmus Rasmussen from Guiding Star No. 565; David MacLetchie from Howard No. 35; Karl Christiansen and George Pike from Jephtha.
Most of the petitioners were members of lodges as far away as Bronx and Manhattan but had homes in Huntington Station. Only two of the eight brothers were from Jephtha. No records can be found on the “third” Jephtha petitioner Herman Ehntholdt.
The only petitioner to be raised at Jephtha was the Swedish born Karl Christiansen (1872-1951). Later becoming a life member of Jephtha, Christiansen was a survivor of the U.S.S. Maine disaster in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. Serving 24 years (1895-1919) in the United States Navy, Christiansen was a veteran of the Philippine Insurrection and the Boxer Rebellion. After his retirement, Christiansen was a custodian in the Huntington Station School for 15 years.
George Chamberlain Pike (1874-1956) affiliated with Jephtha from Putnam Lodge No. 338 in 1923. Pike’s occupation was a stationary engineer. Both Christiansen and Pike were proposed by Voorhees Allen Herbert, one of the three brothers petitioning to form a Huntington Station Lodge in 1925.
While in Huntington Station, Herbert owned a service station. After twice failing to form a lodge in Huntington Station, Herbert moved to California in 1937 with his wife and four daughters, studied medicine and became a practicing physician in Beaumont, California. He later affiliated with Sunset Lodge No. 352 in Los Angeles and was active with the Shriners.
At the October 10, 1927 stated communication, a spirited discussion on the petition of Nathan Hale Lodge was held in Jephtha. W:. Charles E. Cragg, Past Master of Alcyone and Jephtha Chaplain and Historian, made a motion to grant the petition. Past Masters W:. Allison C. Lowndes (1922), Fredric W. Hunninghouse (1926) and several brothers gave their reasons why the petition should not be granted.
Past Master W:. Carroll E. Welch (1925) stood for the proposed lodge and listed several reasons why the petition should be granted. After a prolonged and lively discussion with over 90 brothers in attendance, W:. Lowndes made a motion that the matter be made on the table. W:. Welch submitted the prepared resolution and a vote was prepared. Past Masters W:. Cragg, W:. Hunninghouse, W:. Lowndes and W:. Lawrence Henry Newton (1915) were appointed tellers and R:.W:. Douglass Conklin and W:. Welch were appointed inspectors.
One can only imagine the heated discussion on the formation of a nearby lodge. Territorial boundaries were most likely on top of everyone’s mind that evening. Many Jephtha brothers lived a few miles south and a new lodge would surely have witnessed an exodos to a closer meeting place for many brothers, leading to reduced membership dues for Jephtha. This fateful discussion was only two years prior to the stock market crash of 1929, and if the new lodge was granted a dispensation, a third lodge in Huntington could have been disastrous.
Ninety-one votes were cast: 87 against and 4 in favor of the proposed lodge. A copy of the resolution was sent to the proposed master, Albert S. Walling informing him of the rejection. It is a testament to the brothers of Jephtha Lodge to reject this proposal and not giving into a false sense of security, a problem that would return in greater numbers with the masonic lodge boom of the post-World War II years.
Nathan Hale would finally get a masonic lodge named after him when Nathan Hale No. 350 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was charted in 1951.
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