Our story - page 6
Grand Lodge and Other Service
The members of Patmos Lodge have served their gentle Craft with distinction through the years. Several have achieved high recognition for their service. John Tyson was Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in 1877. Frederick J. Reitz was Potentate of Boumi Shrine Temple in 1990. James B. Coker and John A. Rafine were Right Eminent Grand Commanders of the Grand Commandery of the Knights Templar. Three members have been coronated 33° Inspectors General Honorary by the Supreme Council, 33°: Charles Brown, H. Lester Long, Jr., and S. Brent Morris. William McKinstray received the rank and decoration of a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor. H. Lester Long served as Deputy of the Supreme Council in 1990. Patmos Lodge also has been honored with several of its members serving as officers of the Grand Lodge or as members of the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Masonic Homes including one Grand Master, John Snowden Tyson Sr. – Grand Master 1880-1884.
The members of Patmos Lodge have served their gentle Craft with distinction through the years. Several have achieved high recognition for their service. John Tyson was Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in 1877. Frederick J. Reitz was Potentate of Boumi Shrine Temple in 1990. James B. Coker and John A. Rafine were Right Eminent Grand Commanders of the Grand Commandery of the Knights Templar. Three members have been coronated 33° Inspectors General Honorary by the Supreme Council, 33°: Charles Brown, H. Lester Long, Jr., and S. Brent Morris. William McKinstray received the rank and decoration of a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor. H. Lester Long served as Deputy of the Supreme Council in 1990. Patmos Lodge also has been honored with several of its members serving as officers of the Grand Lodge or as members of the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Masonic Homes including one Grand Master, John Snowden Tyson Sr. – Grand Master 1880-1884.
Epilogue
Patmos Lodge in Ellicott City, Maryland, has served its members and community for the better part of two centuries. Like a family, Patmos Lodge has had its ups and down, its moments of triumph and its times of despair. It was one of only eighteen Maryland Lodges to survive the ravages of the anti-Masonic movement from 1829 – 1840, but something happened just as the Civil War began, and the lodge went dark. Perhaps the fratricide was too much for the fraternal bonds. Then with an amazing resiliency Patmos reemerged a few years later and has continued strong until this day.
The lodge has had several meeting places, but the annex to the Howard House Hotel has served Patmos longest—ninety-six years from 1901 to 1997, but the time has come again to look for new quarters. (The next installment of this story could report a new address for Patmos.) In a few short years the lodge will enter its third century of service. Its future will be bright if the Brethren keep in mind the tenets of their profession: BROTHERLY LOVE, RELIEF, and TRUTH.
Patmos Lodge in Ellicott City, Maryland, has served its members and community for the better part of two centuries. Like a family, Patmos Lodge has had its ups and down, its moments of triumph and its times of despair. It was one of only eighteen Maryland Lodges to survive the ravages of the anti-Masonic movement from 1829 – 1840, but something happened just as the Civil War began, and the lodge went dark. Perhaps the fratricide was too much for the fraternal bonds. Then with an amazing resiliency Patmos reemerged a few years later and has continued strong until this day.
The lodge has had several meeting places, but the annex to the Howard House Hotel has served Patmos longest—ninety-six years from 1901 to 1997, but the time has come again to look for new quarters. (The next installment of this story could report a new address for Patmos.) In a few short years the lodge will enter its third century of service. Its future will be bright if the Brethren keep in mind the tenets of their profession: BROTHERLY LOVE, RELIEF, and TRUTH.