Our story - page 3
Meeting Places
It is difficult to determine exactly where Patmos Lodge met in its early years. Some minutes simply read “Masonic Hall, Ellicott City,” while other records indicate rent was paid for the Odd Fellows’ Hall. Some early meetings are believed to have been held in the “Hotel” on Main Street adjoining the B&O Railroad. This was probably the Patapsco Hotel. From there meetings moved a few doors west on Main Street to the building known as “Town Hall” or the opera house.
In her book, Historic Ellicott city: A Walking Tour, Joetta Cramm summarized some correspondence from a young Union Soldier, Louis LeClear, who was stationed in Ellicott City in 1864. He said the soldiers occupied “the fourth and fifth stories of a large building originally intended for a Free Mason’s Lodge.” From this we can infer that Patmos Lodge met in the Town Hall some time before the Civil War. Patmos held its first meeting after being re-chartered on June 20, 1865 in the Ellicotts Mills Inn.
The location of Patmos Lodge came full circle when on September 11, 1890; a letter was received from Bro. John G. Rogers, owner of the Town Hall. He said, “I will rent the upper floor of the Town Hall to the Lodge for five years with the privilege of renewal for five years for $25.00 per year payable at the end of each and every year.” The minutes of December 16, 1890, show the change of location: “A regular communication of Patmos Lodge No. 70, AF&AM was held this evening in the new hall recently fitted up in the upper part of the old Town Hall and now appropriated to our exclusive use.”
Patmos was interested in having its own quarters, but shopped around carefully. It was reported on July 16, 1895, that “the Lodge was offered the House and Lot situated in Ellicott City belonging to the Estate of Benj. Mellor, deceased, $1000.” The Lodge declined the offer. A few months later a committee reported that the lot adjoining Howard House was “the most suitable and satisfactory lot available.…”
The housing situation improved remarkably on April 3, 1900, when it was reported “Bro. Christian Eckert, [owner of the Howard house], who is now building a large dining room, and over this room he proposes to build a Lodge room for Patmos Lodge.” To raise funds to furnish the new room, the lodge held a “Masonic Bazaar” on the 27, 28 and 29 of September 1900. Mayor H. D. Duaku opened the bazaar which made a profit of $652.41 including $220.48 from a raffle and $231.30 from a “contest” for a gold watch.
In 1901 Patmos Lodge finally gained a permanent home: the upper floor of the newly completed extension to the Howard House Hotel. Bro. Christian Eckert owned the hotel and “agreed to rent the Hall, heated and lighted, for one year for one Hundred Dollars.” Grand Master Thomas J. Shryock and the Grand Lodge dedicated the hall on March 5, 1901. According to a Baltimore newspaper account, “It has been furnished at a cost of about $1200, and is considered one of the handsomest in the state outside of Baltimore.” On March 3, 1903, Grand Master Shryock sent Patmos Lodge rough and smooth ashlars. He said, “It might be of interest to the brethren of your Lodge to know that these were taken from the columns of the old Masonic Temple.”
It is difficult to determine exactly where Patmos Lodge met in its early years. Some minutes simply read “Masonic Hall, Ellicott City,” while other records indicate rent was paid for the Odd Fellows’ Hall. Some early meetings are believed to have been held in the “Hotel” on Main Street adjoining the B&O Railroad. This was probably the Patapsco Hotel. From there meetings moved a few doors west on Main Street to the building known as “Town Hall” or the opera house.
In her book, Historic Ellicott city: A Walking Tour, Joetta Cramm summarized some correspondence from a young Union Soldier, Louis LeClear, who was stationed in Ellicott City in 1864. He said the soldiers occupied “the fourth and fifth stories of a large building originally intended for a Free Mason’s Lodge.” From this we can infer that Patmos Lodge met in the Town Hall some time before the Civil War. Patmos held its first meeting after being re-chartered on June 20, 1865 in the Ellicotts Mills Inn.
The location of Patmos Lodge came full circle when on September 11, 1890; a letter was received from Bro. John G. Rogers, owner of the Town Hall. He said, “I will rent the upper floor of the Town Hall to the Lodge for five years with the privilege of renewal for five years for $25.00 per year payable at the end of each and every year.” The minutes of December 16, 1890, show the change of location: “A regular communication of Patmos Lodge No. 70, AF&AM was held this evening in the new hall recently fitted up in the upper part of the old Town Hall and now appropriated to our exclusive use.”
Patmos was interested in having its own quarters, but shopped around carefully. It was reported on July 16, 1895, that “the Lodge was offered the House and Lot situated in Ellicott City belonging to the Estate of Benj. Mellor, deceased, $1000.” The Lodge declined the offer. A few months later a committee reported that the lot adjoining Howard House was “the most suitable and satisfactory lot available.…”
The housing situation improved remarkably on April 3, 1900, when it was reported “Bro. Christian Eckert, [owner of the Howard house], who is now building a large dining room, and over this room he proposes to build a Lodge room for Patmos Lodge.” To raise funds to furnish the new room, the lodge held a “Masonic Bazaar” on the 27, 28 and 29 of September 1900. Mayor H. D. Duaku opened the bazaar which made a profit of $652.41 including $220.48 from a raffle and $231.30 from a “contest” for a gold watch.
In 1901 Patmos Lodge finally gained a permanent home: the upper floor of the newly completed extension to the Howard House Hotel. Bro. Christian Eckert owned the hotel and “agreed to rent the Hall, heated and lighted, for one year for one Hundred Dollars.” Grand Master Thomas J. Shryock and the Grand Lodge dedicated the hall on March 5, 1901. According to a Baltimore newspaper account, “It has been furnished at a cost of about $1200, and is considered one of the handsomest in the state outside of Baltimore.” On March 3, 1903, Grand Master Shryock sent Patmos Lodge rough and smooth ashlars. He said, “It might be of interest to the brethren of your Lodge to know that these were taken from the columns of the old Masonic Temple.”
