By John W. Miller, Past Master of Collins-Spring Valley Lodge
BALDWIN, WI – On June 10, 2024, the Collins-Spring Valley Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons (F. & A. M.) of Wisconsin in Baldwin celebrated its 150th year since receiving its Charter from the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin; and to celebrate this event, the Lodge will be hosting a free pancake breakfast to anyone who stops by the Baldwin American Legion Post at 410 Maple Street between 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM on Sunday, September 29, 2024.
Free Masonry is an organization that a lot of people know very little about. In fact, there are probably a number of Baldwin residents who didn’t know that a Free Mason Lodge existed right in downtown Baldwin for the last 150 years. This is probably in part due to most Lodges doing a poor job of letting their fellow citizens know of their very presence.
So, who are these Free Masons and what do they do? Many men make their first contact with a masonic lodge to answer these questions and others. Some men may have had a grandfather, an uncle, or a distant relative or family friend who was a Mason and now they want to see for themselves what Masonry is about. Others may have seen the Shriners in their little cars in our local parades and have just found out that these guys were Masons, too.
Free Masonry is the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world. It can trace its roots to the great cathedral builders of the Renaissance period and even earlier. Masonry teaches the virtues of morality, prudence, tolerance, honesty, integrity, truthfulness, the values of friendship and the love of all humankind, without regard to a person’s color, creed, social status, disability, politics or ethnic origins. Masonry judges no one by their outward appearance but by their inner qualities.
Many believe that Masonry is a religion and that it requires its members to follow certain religious beliefs. This is totally and unequivocally untrue. Masonry is a worldwide organization, and it does not require its members to have a belief in any specific religion. However, Masons do recognize that there is supreme divine being, a Creator of all and that there is something bigger than just ourselves. But Masonry also believes that every person should have the right and freedom to worship as they so please.
Today, Free Masonry is one of the largest philanthropies in the world. Through its local Blue Lodges, it focuses on its community service and assistance. It makes contributions to medical and mental health facilities, supports medical research and development, it supports law enforcement, first responders, fire departments, schools, food shelves, and programs that assist the needy. Masons are taught to be good citizens, to respect the rights of others, to live moral and ethical lives and to be of good character. Masonry brings together men from all over the world to support one another, to build international relationships of camaraderie and fellowship; and it stresses the importance of family, community and every individual. Free Masonry cuts across just about every country, every culture, every social stratum, and every belief system. Its focus is on making good men better.
It is unfortunate that there are still those who have come to believe much of the hate, lies and calls for violence which are expounded by the unscrupulous, the devious and the corrupted groups and individuals who use the Internet and chat sites to proliferate their warped ideologies. Masonry is against all those who spread malicious lies and falsehoods about others and about our organization.
Masonry has been within the State of Wisconsin’s current borders since the early 1820s. There were probably Masons here even before that time. However, Masonry reached our location in Baldwin in the 1870s, and possibly there were individual Masons here even earlier, but there are no exact records of those times. We do know that Masonry was involved with the Village of Baldwin in 1872 when the Town of Baldwin was established. It was on October 18, 1873, that the Baldwin Bulletin printed its first paper, but prior to that date, a group of local Masons got together and petitioned the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin for a dispensation to form a Lodge and hold regular meetings in Baldwin. That dispensation was granted on August 27, 1873.
Earlier in 1873, one of Baldwin’s founding fathers, D. R. Bailey, was building a new building on the South side of Front Street, which would be later named Main Street. This building would become known as the D. R. Bailey Building, or The Bailey Building. The building was three stories tall, and it was completed in 1873. The Free Masons decided to name their new Lodge “Bailey Lodge” after their benefactor D. R. Bailey, who designated the third story of his new structure to “be appropriately finished off for the exclusive use of Bailey Lodge” which was under dispensation” by Wisconsin’s “Free and Accepted Masons.” On June 10, 1874, the Masonic Lodge in Baldwin received its formal Charter from The Grand Lodge of Wisconsin in Madison and Bailey Lodge No. 192, Free and Accepted Masons of Wisconsin, became a reality.
In these newspapers next week will be the conclusion of “Masonry and a brief history of Baldwin and Spring Valley – Part II.”
