Dickinson lodge #32, AF&AM

From the Dickinson Lodge Pond Book

It is interesting to note that the first new lodge, instituted and chartered by the Grand Lodge of North Dakota after June 13, 1889, was situated in the vast territory west of the Missouri River, known as "out where the west begins", then abounding in buffalo and other wild game, still the primitive, pioneer home of ranchers and stockmen, and almost until that time the scene of Indian raids.

 Here, 100 miles west of Bismarck, the cow town of Dickinson with a few hundred people had been established in the 1880's, and here Masonry took root and has flourished ever since. Today Dickinson is a flourishing city of 10,000 people, the county seat of a rich farming community, the home of Dickinson State Teachers' College, and its Masonic lodge has a membership of 230 in 1962.

It was W.'. Brother Victor H. Stickney who took the lead in organizing the lodge at Dickinson in 1889, and he with W.'. Brother William A. McCloy, Edward R. Knowlton and fourteen other Master Masons, forwarded a petition for a dispensation to institute Dickinson Lodge U.'. D.'. to Grand Master James W. Cloes of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota. The dispensation was signed by him October 11, 1889 naming W.'. Brother Victor H. Stickney W.'. M.'.; William A. McCloy S.'. W.'., and Edward R. Knowlton J.'. W.'..

The charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of North Dakota to Dickinson Lodge Xo. 32 on June 17, 1890, and the lodge was constituted at Dickinson October 1. 1890, when M.'. W.'. Brother Frank J. Thompson was present and made the principal address. The occasion was celebrated with a banquet at the Kidder House, and a ball in the Masonic hall, which was located in the First National Bank building. Until this time fourteen Master Masons had been "raised", making the total membership of the lodge thirty-one.

The lodge continued to meet in the First National Bank building until the present adequate temple was dedicated February 22, 1911.

There have been many men who have served Dickinson Lodge No. 32 with great distinction down through the years, but we can mention only a few of them here, such as W.'. Brothers Victor H. Stickney, W.'. M.'. in 1890 and 1891; John J. Freeman, W.'. M.'. in 1892 and Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge in 1894; Thomas J. Green, W.'. M.'. in 1895 and 1896 and the first president of the building association in 1909. Others prominent in the building of the new temple were Alfred White, Frederick W. Turner, W.'. M.'. in 1909, M. L. McBride, George Perkins and George Senour; M.'. W.'. Brothers John Riessbeck, W.'. M.'. in 1899 and 1900 and Grand Master in 1907; and Charles H. Starke, W.'. M.'. in 1917 and Grand Master in 1930; W.'. Brothers Robert W. Rodgers, W.'. M.'. in 1946 and Grand Scribe of the Grand Chapter R.'. A.'. M.'., at the time of his untimely death in 1960; Frank Richards, W.'. M.'. in 1950 and secretary for many years; John H. McDonald, W.'. M.'. in 1956-1957 and District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge; Edward C. Blackorby, W.'. M.'. in 1957-1958; and Grand Pursuivant of the Grand Lodge in 1958-1959; and Hunter M. Picken, W.'. M.'. in 1962-1963 and Worthy Grand Patron of the Grand Chapter O.E.S. in 1957-58. He was appointed District Deputy Grand Lecturer of District No. 6 in 1961. All have served Dickinson lodge well.

For over seventy years Masonry has revolved about Dickinson Lodge No. 32, as a pivot for the great Missouri Slope area of southwestern North Dakota and in the meantime more lodges have grown up around it until today Masonry has fully established itself and is a dynamic force in the development of this prosperous and colorful section of our great state.