Denver Lodge No.5 History:
Masonry came to Colorado with the pioneers and it may be said that the history of the early days of Colorado is a history of the achievements of the Masons of that time. Their firm belief in the tenets of the Fraternity-Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth-and their constant practice of the four cardinal virtues- Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice—caused them to work in harmony and to take a prominent part in all movements tending to promote the welfare of the community.
The first recorded informal meeting of Masons in this region was held on November 3, 1858, and is described in a letter dated March 21, 1896, written by J. D. Ramage, the first junior Deacon of Auraria Lodge, U. D .2 This and subsequent meetings were dramatized by members of Denver Lodge No. 5 on November 1, 1958, in the presentation of a play entitled “This, Our Heritage. 5
On August 15, 1859, an application was made to the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Kansas for a dispensation to organize Auraria Lodge, U. D., but through a series of most unfortunate events, caused by Indian depredations, swollen streams and the many other difficulties attendant upon travel, the dispensation did not arrive until October 1, 1859, when Right Worshipful Brother D. P. Wallingford, Past Deputy Grand Master of Missouri, in whose care the dispensation was committed, arrived to install the officers and set them to work.
The first regular meeting of Masons in Colorado was then held on October 1, 1859, when a group met in the hall of Auraria Lodge, later known as 1361 11th Street, Denver .4
The minutes of Auraria Lodge contain many interesting items. On October 15, 1859, $110 was subscribed “for the good of Masonry.” On October 26, the lodge was “opened in due and ancient form … to perform the funeral ceremonies of Bro. Geo. Ewing, deceased. On November 26, there was read a “Petition of J. E. Hardy and others of Golden City, K. T., praying a recommendation of this Lodge to the M. W. Grand Lodge of Kansas for a dispensation authorizing and empowering them to work.” On December 3, the petition of A. N. J. Crook for the degrees of Masonry was received. Bro. Crook was initiated on December 10, 1859, the first Masonic initiate in the region. He died 50 years later, on December 2, 1909.
The minutes further show that the first Masonic trial by Auraria Lodge was held on February 11, 1860.
Golden City, Gold Hill and Parkville Lodges formed the Grand Lodge A. F. & A. M. of Colorado in 1861, and on October 24, 1861, Denver City Lodge, U. D., received a dispensation from this Grand Lodge.
The existence of this dispensation was but of short duration, for on December 11, 1861, the Grand Lodge A. F. & A. M. of Colorado granted a charter to the lodge under the name and style of Denver Lodge No. 5, by which name it has continued to exist up to the present. The charter was written upon paper.5 On March 25, 1863, that charter was withdrawn and a new one, prepared upon parchment, was issued in its place. This charter issued in March, 1863, is the one now displayed in the lodge room.
The first Worshipful Master of Denver Lodge No. 5 under its present name was P. S. Pfouts. Bro. Pfouts at the time of his election was the installed Master of, St. Joseph, Missouri, Lodge No. 78. It appears that he was very well versed in Masonry, and consequently the members of Denver Lodge No. 5 requested the Grand Master to grant a dispensation to ballot for Bro. Pfouts to become a member of the lodge. The dispensation was granted and Bro. Pfouts was elected to membership. The election of officers for the ensuing year then proceeded with the following results:
Paris S. Pfouts, Worshipful Master
Charles H. Blake, Senior Warden
John H. Gerrish, junior Warden
Fred Z. Salomon, Treasurer
George W. Kassler, Secretary A
Andrew Sagendorf, Senior Deacon
E. S. Wilhite, junior Deacon
E. Winslow Cobb, Senior Steward
Chas. L. Bartlett, junior Steward
William Porter, Tiler
The various meeting places of Denver Lodge No. 5 during the early years of its existence were the Russell and Sagendorf log cabins in 1858-59; the next was over the store of Bro. Abraham Jacobs, on Perry (now 11th Street, near Holladay (now Market); from there-the lodge moved in 1862 to the upper floor of the building on 15th Street next to the corner of Holladay, over A. M. Clark & Co.’s bank; the next move was made in the fall of 1865 to the Hoyt building, on Blake Street between 15th and 16th Streets; then in February, 1868, to the Tappan Block, on the corner of Holladay and 15th Streets; in 1873 to the Fink Block, directly opposite the Tappan Block on 15th Street; in July, 1883, to the rear portion of the then City Hall on the 14th Street side; and on June 24, 1890, to our present building at the corner of 16th and Welton Streets.6
Wor. Bio. George B. Clark, past historian of the Grand Lodge A. F. & A. M. of Colorado, in compiling a history of Union Lodge No. 7 has this to say about the year of 1863: “This combination of adverse circumstances in 1863, the dry winds and fire in the spring, the drought and loss of supplies in the summer, the severe winter opening early in the fall, and the near collapse of the mining industry- all these in addition to the rapidly growing tension over the political and war situation, produced a state of mind wherein each man was suspicious of his neighbor. Collisions were frequent. Even in Masonry, brother was arrayed against brother so sharply and so decidedly on the war question that it was feared the lodge in Denver might be disrupted. It was not alone the division on the issues of the war, because it is well known that Masonry functioned beautifully back and forth across the battle lines. William McKinley, a Major in the Federal Army and later President of the United States, received the degrees of Masonry in a Virginia lodge, officered by soldiers of the Confederate Army. Even in Denver the lodge could have survived had this been the only issue. But the cause was deeper. The discouragements produced by the disasters of 1863 so accentuated private opinion as to render any compromise almost impossible.
The Grand Lodge of Colorado convened in Denver, November 2, 1863, and the prevailing unrest was the major topic. The question was one that could not, with Masonic propriety, be discussed either in lodge or in Grand Lodge. The brethren present were decidedly on one side or the other. The feeling was intense but a solution must be found if Colorado Masonry was to survive. A solution was found. Out of the conference came the decision to organize a new lodge in Denver and thus permit the two sides to separate and each function through a lodge of congenial members. A large majority of Denver Lodge No. 5, including many of its officers, believed the cause of the Southern Confederacy to be a just one. Opposed was the Administration party represented by the Governor and his Secretary and the Army group. Consequently the decision reached was to leave Denver Lodge No. 5, with its organization intact, and to organize the Union sympathizers into a new lodge. Thus Union Lodge was born. Both sides supported the action for they recognized the fact that Denver Lodge could not stand as it was and they were perfectly ready to have a new lodge set up along the suggested line.”
Union Lodge No. 7 was chartered on November 3, 1863, a little more than two weeks prior to President Lincoln’s address at the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetery. It should be noted, that contrary to popular belief, no members of Denver Lodge No. 5 became charter members of ‘Union Lodge No. 7.
On January 7, 1865, the Masonic Hall Association was formed, consisting of Denver Lodge No. 5, Union Lodge No. 7, and Denver Royal Arch Chapter, U. D., as members. Denver Lodge No. 5 subscribed $4,000 to the stock of the Association. Later, in 1881, The Masonic Temple Association of Denver, present owner of the building at 16th and Welton, was incorporated.7
A Masonic burying ground was purchased July 21, 1866, in the west part of the city, and was called the “Acacia Cemetery.” A committee was appointed to promote the best interests of the Fraternity relative to this cemetery and likewise to superintend the sale of lots to Masonic members. The Masonic funerals were always well attended and on each occasion the lodge went from the lodge room to the deceased brother’s residence. The procession was led by a band, known as the “Denver City Band.” The Worshipful Master made some appropriate remarks relative to the deceased brother’s life, and they then proceeded to the cemetery, where the Masonic burial service was given. On returning to the lodge room, a committee was appointed to prepare a resolution of condolence, a copy of which was sent to the family of the deceased. Many of these resolutions are to be found in the minutes and they furnish an interesting glimpse of a bygone age. In those days the lodge was required to open and close in the lodge room. In 1950 the Grand Lodge A. F. & A. M. of Colorado permitted lodges to open and close wherever the ceremonies were to be given.
On June 25, 1870, the lodge met in special communication and went from the hall to the depot grounds to assist the Grand Lodge A. F. & A. M. of Colorado in laying the cornerstone of the Union Depot. After the ceremonies, the lodge repaired to the Fair Grounds for a picnic. These grounds were located on the east side of the city between 37th and 40th Streets, Marion to High Streets. The grounds were surrounded by a high wall, and many elaborate festivities were held there on numerous occasions.
Cornerstone laying was a popular rite for the Fraternity in those years. Denver Lodge No. 5 participated in the cornerstone laying of the University of Colorado on September 20, 1875, and assisted at similar functions in later years.