That the frontier is a young man’s country was proved by the age of the early Grand Masters at the time they occupied the Grand East.
Chivington, the first Grand Master was forty. Only two others of the first nineteen were older: Greenleaf who was forty-one and Sagendorf who was fifty-five.
Youngest was Chase Withrow, Grand Master at the ripe old age of twenty-six! Incidentally Withrow was a Mason for over seventy years, lived to be ninety-one one! in the Jast year of his life conferred the Third degree “in a perfect manner.”
Next youngest was Albert H. Branch, thirty years and nine months of age when he mounted the three steps to the East.
Ages of the first nineteen Grand Masters follow, except for Andrew Mason whose life record is unavailable:
Chivington, 40; Weston, 39; Teller, 33; Van Deren, 33; Mason; Withrow, 26; Anthony, 35; Henry, 33; Orahood, 35; Hart, 39; Woodbury, 37; Carr, 37; Greenleaf, 41; Quillian, 39; Church, 39; Sagendorf, 55; Peabody, 32; Wyman, 37; Branch, 30
JOHN MILTON CHIVINGTON
Rev. John Milton Chivington came to Colorado as the first presiding elder of the Methodist church. Biographer Reginald S. Craig in “The Fighting Parson” tells of his interest in Masonry. “Early in his career the new parson was impressed with the fact that, in many communities, the members of the Masonic order were the largest group which was working to establish law, order, and morality. These were his kind of people, and in 1846 he became a member of the order, joining the newly organized lodge in Butlerville, Ohio.
“As John and his wife, Martha, moved to new locations (in their church circuit riding endeavors) they left a series of revitalized parishes behind them. They never stayed more than two years in anyone community. New assignments were always in locations where congregations were weak and the lawless element in charge. Rev. Chivington always left it solvent and with a Royal congregation. The community could also count on the benefits of an energetic Masonic Jodge, improved schools, and a good library, largely due to his efforts. He was a leader in the fight for right and leadership.”
Chivington was the first Master of a Lodge under dispensation in Kansas, Wyandotte at Kansas City, and was the first Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska.
The Civil War broke out during Chivington’s term as Grand Master. He was offered the position of Chaplain of the first Colorado regiment by Governor Gilpin. Chivington forcefully replied: “Governor, I have been praying for these disunionists for years, but without avail. They are now in arms against my government; the time calls for action and not for words. I will accept a commission from you, but it must be a fighting commission.” He became Major, third in command.
The fighting skill and bravery of Chivington’s troops at the Battle of Glorietta Pass is credited with saving the gold fields and the West for the Union.
The later Sand Creek Battle is one of the most controversial episodes in American history. However, two great forces for good – the church and the Masonic fraternity – rallied to his support. He returned to the ministry of Methodism in 1867, and both Denver Lodge No.5 and Union Lodge No.7 endorsed his efforts to make the state safe from the Indians with the following resolution:
“Whereas, there have been the most exaggerated and erroneous reports sent to the authorities at Washington, D. C. of the character of the battle between Col J. M. Chivington, the troops under his command, and the Cheyenne Indians…
“Whereas, we live in Colorado and are presumed to know the facts as they exist, and
“Whereas, CoL Chivington and many of his officers and men of his command are well known to us and members of our order,
“Resolved these Indians were hostile and had committed many acts of barbarity on the commerce of the plains and the outer settlements of the territory and deserved the severest chastisement. . . in our judgment no more women and children were killed than would necessarily follow the attack of a village of Indians, a city or town inhabited by white people,
“Resolved that we express the sentiments of the entire population of Colorado when we endorse the conduct of Col. Chivington and his command in the Sand Creek affair, “Resolved that the command of Col. Chivington has our warmest gratitude and that we urge the Military authorities to repeat the chastisement. . . until the Indians of the plains sue for peace and give evidence of their sincerity.
ALLYN WESTON
Allyn Weston, Second Grand Master from Chivington Lodge No.6, was responsible for Colorado’s “work.” He brought the Barney “work” from Michigan where he had been editor of the Masonic magazine “The Ashlar.”
Weston’s attributes were vividly portrayed in 1910 by M. W. Bro. Henry M. Teller, a fellow resident of Central City:
“Bro. Weston was a remarkable man – a man of fine education, good ability, and dignified presence; he traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, and in other parts of the world, and was a most earnest and zealous Mason, and thoroughly versed in Masonic law; and it is no exaggeration to say that he had great influence on the organization, upbuilding, and general character of Masonry in Colorado.
“He believed firmly in the tenets of the craft, in the maintenance of strict order, and was devoted to the great principles that underlie the Masonic institution. During his term as Grand Master he impressed himself upon the Lodges of Colorado as perhaps no other has since done.”
HENRY M. TELLER
Henry M. Teller was Grand Master of Masons seven terms – serving as the third Grand Master in 1863 and then again from 1867 to 1872 inclusive.
“He stood upon the heights, one of the really great men of the nation. .. a statesman in the highest sense. . . gifted with prophetic vision. .. wise in counsel, cool, calm, and skillful in debate, tolerant always of the opinions of others, ever ready to give credit for good intentions, but slow to criticize or censure.”
These were the attributes of this Mason of Chivington Lodge No.6 which brought him the honors and dignity of being Governor of his state, United States Senator, and Secretary of the Interior in the Cabinet.
“His influence on Masonry in the formative years of the Craft in Colorado and as a conservative, uplifting force at nearly every Grand Communication for over fifty years, will be felt more and more strongly with the passing years.”
He became first Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar when it was organized in 1876. He was Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the Scottish Rite in Colorado for nearly thirty-two years, being crowned an active member of the Supreme Council in 1882.
ARCHIBALD J. VAN DEREN
Archibald J. Van Deren of Nevada Lodge No.4 was fourth Grand Master.
It was reported to the Grand Lodge:
“When territorial government was established for Colorado he was appointed one of the commissioners to organize and put into operation a county government of Gilpin County. In 1863 he served as a member of the territorial council from Gilpin Co. and was identified in the county and territorial affairs during the exciting times of the civil war.
“Of late years has taken no active part in Masonic affairs, but at all times has been greatly interested in all matters pertaining to its welfare, being content to rest from active labor and permit the younger members of the craft to carryon the grand and glorious work. Nor will he hesitate to remind them of any departure made from the ancient landmarks.”
CHASE WITHROW
The unusual or dramatic must have appealed to Chase Withrow of Nevada Lodge No.4. In 1867 he concurrentlv served his Lodge as Master and his Grand Lodge as Grand Master. He was twenty-six year’s of age at the time. Then fifty years later he returned to the East of Nevada Lodge.
Possessed of a retentive mind until his death at the age of ninety-one, he was an important source of information about early CoJorado Masonic thinking and happenings.
ANDREW MASON
The restless seeking for gold and movement from camp to camp was personified by Andrew Mason, second Deputy Grand Master and fifth Grand Master. Previously Master of William B. Warren Lodge No. 211 in Chicago, Illinois, he became first Master of three Colorado Lodges, Nevada No. 36 chartered by Kansas and now Nevada No.4 of Colorado, Empire No.8 at Empire, and Washington No. 12 at Georgetown.
He later went to Utah where he assisted in formation of the Grand Lodge of Utah and “was a constant visitor and advisor of our city (Salt Lake) Lodges. A more charitable ‘Mason’ never stood before the altar of a Masonic Lodge, and a more genial miner never prospected the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains in Utah or superintended a mine.”
WEBSTER D. ANTHONY
First Grand Master from Union Lodge No.7 was Webster D. Anthony who served two terms, 1873 and 1874. He was private secretary to the first Territorial Governor, first Speaker of the House of Representatives in Colorado, and secretary of the convention which met to frame a constitution for the organization of the state government.
OREN H. HENRY
Our eighth Grand Master, Oren H. Henry, was both a miner and a railroad man. He came to Central City from Vermont in July, 1860. In the fall of ’61 he enlisted in the Colorado Volunteers and served until 1864 when he returned to Central City. He mined there and at Ward for five years. He was a director of the Colorado Central Railroad when it was built to Boulder and later became its superintendent. He organized the North American Mining Co. in Leadville in 1881 and was one of the first Coloradans to go to Montana during the Coeur d’Alene mining excitement. He returned to Denver in 1885 and made three mining expeditions to Mexico. Receiving his Masonic degrees in Nevada Lodge No.4, in 1867 he became a charter member of Columbia Lodge No. 14.
HARPER M. ORAHOOD
Harper M. Orahood, law partner of Henry M. Teller, was Grand Master of Colorado Masons in 1876 and Grand Commander of Colorado Knights Templar in 1879 and 1880. For thirty-seven years he headed the committee on correspondence in the Grand Commandery and attended every triennial conclave of the Grand Encampment from 1877 until his death in 1914.
In 1861 he joined the Colorado National Guard and helped recruit the first militia company, named after Ex-Governor Samuel H. Elbert, first Master of Union No.7. As Captain of Company B of the Third Colorado Cavalry, Orahood had charge of guarding the mails, stages and wagon trains on the pJains from desperadoes and Indians. He was Captain of the Second Division under Col. John M. Chivington in the famous Sand Creek battle, winning plaudits for his coolness and bravery.
His casket was draped with a worn American flag presented to him by the women of Colorado for his militant efforts in preserving the Union.
CORNELIUS J. HART
Cornelius J. Hart, tenth Grand Master, organized Pueblo Lodge No. 17. He served as its Master under dispensation, for the first six years after chartering in 1868, and again in 1876, 1881, and 1882, a total of ten years. On April 18th, 1918, wearing the Master’s jewel he had worn fifty years before, he presided over his Lodge’s fiftieth anniversary with a dignity characteristic of over five decades of Masonic thinking. He was the powerful figure of the first half-century of Masonry in Southern Colorado.
ROGER W. WOODBURY
Roger W. Woodbury, the 1878 Grand Master, was the organizer and first president of the Denver Chamber of Commerce and was re-elected as long as he would consent. He was president of and the most active worker in the Denver Public Library. His greatest Masonic memories are in connection with his suggestions for the George Washington Centennial, though he was active in the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons.
