History of Grandview Lodge
Grandview Lodge # 618 is currently located at 1800 High Grove Road in Grandview, Missouri. The original lodge was located on the corner of 8th and Main. At a time when the lodge was heated by a wood stove, some brothers considered it a fire trap. One of the masters actually bought ropes to keep behind the chairs to help the brothers get down if there ever was a fire. (We were able to keep the stove and it currently sets at the lodge.)
The Lodge itself was chartered in 1911 by man known as Harry S Truman. Of course later he became the Grand Master of the state of Missouri and is one of only two Grand Masters to become President of the United States. MWB Truman and WB A.C. Wintermute were the only two people to be Masters of the Lodge for more than one year. MWB Truman also held the secretary’s position for a few years.
His sister and brother were both involved with the lodge as well. His sister, Mary Jane, was in the Eastern Star and became the Worthy Grand Matron of the state. His brother, Vivian, was also master of the lodge.
When the owner of the building where the lodge was wanted more rent and the lodge was getting to big for its current home, Harry wanted to donate some land to build a new lodge. The lodge, however, decided to purchase some land on a popular street of the time, and built the existing lodge there. MWB Truman then donated the land to the U.S. government and the post office for Grandview now stands there.
Did you know that a former Master of Grandview Lodge was a formost and well known maker of duck calls. True- L.L. Williams master in 1952 ( I think). Pete as we called him had a shop in back of his house with a wood lathe and many other peices of equipment. Pete liked to duck hunt with Harry Wintermute ( PM GV 618) and they went all over to pursue ducks. Pete even made records on how to call and about that time the winner of the duck calling contest in Stutgart, Arkansas just happened to come from Grandview, Missouri- Sam Hoeper Jr. Pete’s secret he said was that he used hedge wood to make the piece that held the reed because it would not absorb moisture from the mouth and freeze up in cold weather.
Grandview Lodge currently has membership of about 350. The brothers extend from Rhode Island to Hawaii. At its peak, when Richards-Gebaur Air Force base was open, there was over 1000 brothers.
No one knows with certainty how or when the Masonic Fraternity was formed. A widely accepted theory among Masonic scholars is that it arose from the stonemasons’ guilds during the Middle Ages. The language and symbols used in the fraternity’s ritual come from this era. The oldest document that makes reference to Masons is the Regius Poem, in a copy dated about 1390, which was a copy of an earlier work. In 1717, four Lodges in London formed the first Grand Lodge of England, and records from that point on are more complete.
Within thirty years, the fraternity had spread throughout Europe and the American Colonies. Freemasonry became very popular in colonial America. George Washington was a Mason; Paul Revere served as the head of the fraternity of Massachusetts, as did Joseph Warren. Other well known Masons involved with the founding of America included Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, John Sullivan, Lafayette, Baron Fredrick yon Stuben, Nathaniel Greene, and John Paul Jones. Another Mason, Chief Justice John Marshall, shaped the Supreme Court into its present form.
Over the centuries, Freemasonry has developed into a worldwide fraternity emphasizing personal study, self-improvement, and social betterment via individual involvement and philanthropy. During the late 1700’s it was one of the organizations most responsible for spreading the ideals of the Enlightenment: the dignity of man and the liberty of the individual, the fight of each person to worship as they choose, the formation of democratic governments, and the importance of public education. Masons supported the first public schools in both Europe and America.
During the 1800’s and early 1900’s, Freemasonry grew dramatically. At that time, the government, and the Masonic tradition of founding orphanages, homes for widows had provided no social “safety net”, and homes for the aged provided the only security many people knew.