Records from 1932 Wisconsin?

by tammy
(ames, ia)

Hi,

My husband's great grandfather was in the masonic lodge in Antigo, Wisconsin best as I can figure. The funeral according to the obituary in 1932 said that it would be in Clintonville under the masonic auspices. Are there any records kept back that far that would tell us more about his great grandfather John Kaufman? What could I hope to find if there are records that far back? I think I sent an email to someone at the state level on a Mason website but not heard anything back. Would appreciate the help and I enjoyed reading a little about the funeral service. I am excited to see what more we can find out about him.

Thank you.

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Jun 25, 2020
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by: Bob

Sadly, there are no central records. Each grand lodge (organized by state in the USA) maintains its own and each lodge its own.

You say you sent off an email, but you didn’t say to whom. I would try these:

First off, the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin: https://members.wisc-freemasonry.org/contact-us/ I would in particular email the records management office. They won’t have a great deal of information, but could help you confirm which lodge he belonged to.

A search on the GLW website shows one lodge now meeting in Antigo and you might want to ask them. It Antigo Lodge #0231 and meets at American Legion Hall, 645 - 7th Avenue, Antigo WI, 54409. With what’s going on, I am not sure whether or not they are meeting now, but you could drop them a line and they should get it eventually.

The same search shows two lodges meeting in Clintonville:

Shawano Lodge #0170, 2324 East Richmond St, Shawano WI, 54166-0273, meeting first and third Thursday except January and February. Website:http://shawanoareamasons.org I believe that they are not meeting at present due to the pandemic.
Clintonville Lodge #0197 at the same address, meeting first and third Mondays, April through December. Website:http://shawanoareamasons.org
Be aware that lodges sometimes merge or fold, so it’s possible that your ancestor was not involved with any of the three lodges mentioned above. Even if he was, we’re talking about somebody going through some very old documents in his spare time, so a response might take a while. Nor can you expect to get masses of information, just basic dates and so forth, maybe his occupation, his address when he joined, his wife's name if he was married at the time he joined, etc.

For each inquiry, giving his full names, place and date of birth, etc would be best.

Good luck.

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