Past Masonic Member Verification

Jul 17, 2010
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The truth is out there
by: Tim

Unfortunately, there is no central depository for Masonic records. Lodges have records of their members. Grand Lodges have records of the members of their Lodges. But, the two sources will not necessarily have identical records. While Lodge Secretaries do their best to keep records straight and Grand Lodge Secretaries are normally quite fastidious about records keeping, things do happen over decades and centuries. Records are lost or misplaced or somehow wander off in a number of ways. This doesn't mean there won't be records for your grandparents. There most likely will be, but finding them might not be easy.

I think my first stop would be the Grand Lodge of Illinois and the Grand Chapter of Illinois.

http://www.ilmason.org/contact.html

http://www.illoes.org/grand_secretary.htm

Contact them and provide as much information as you can about your grandparents' Masonic memberships. If you're lucky enough to have old dues cards, or some sort of announcement or presentation that mentions your grandparent as an Officer that will be a big help. Otherwise, you might find mention of them in an archived newspaper article at the library or online. Family members or friends of your grandparents might also be able to help. If you have any Masonic memorabilia that belonged to your grandparents there will likely be some indication of its origin on it or written inside. Anything that you can remember will help.

You might also consider contacting the Masonic Lodge or Lodges, and the Star Chapter in the area where your grandparents lived. Odds are they were members of the organizations close to home.

As to your grandfather's Scottish Rite membership the Supreme Council in Washington might be able to locate his records. Here is the address for that Web site:
http://www.scottishrite.org/who/contact.html

However, your best bet might be to contact the Scottish Rite Valley closest to his home. It appears that there are several Valleys within Illinois. A Web search for "Scottish Rite Illinois" (without the quotes) will give you a great point to start from. Alternatively, if you would like to tell me where he lived I can locate the nearest Valley and get the contact information for you.

It's not really as difficult as it may sound. A few letters, some phone calls and e-mails and if there are any records to be found they will be. Don't expect it to happen in a hurry, though. Odds are, records from that era will not yet be digitized so it may take some time to track them down. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be persistent.

Thank you for your question and good luck in your quest.

Fraternally yours,

Tim

Past Masonic Member Verification

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