HOLLY, COLORADO
A Lodge of Masons was instituted in Holly on July 17, 1901 by Joseph W. Milsom, Grand Master of Masons in Colorado, and a charter issued sixty days later, on September 17, 1901, establishing East Gate Lodge No. 113 of Holly, Colorado, with fourteen Charter Members.
The charter was presented on October 8, 1901, by George W. Kennedy, Deputy Grand Master, with other visiting brethren acting as Grand Lodge officers. The officers that were appointed and installed were as follows:
Bro. John E. Murphy, Worshipful Master; Bro. Richard D. Wilson, Senior Warden; Bro. Olof Engstrom, Junior Warden; Bro. J. S. McMurtry, Treasurer; Bro. F. W. Montgomery, Secretary; Bro. W. E. Tarbox, Senior Deacon; Bro. John Duncan, Junior Deacon; Bro. Ray M. Anderson, Senior Steward; Bro. James A. Pierce, Junior Steward; Bro. F. Garritson, Tiler.
These brethren with John Trotter, George W. Stevens, John L. LaMotte, and Jasper A. Dailey were the charter members.
The Lodge has shown an uneven growth through the years with its fluctuations reflecting the conditions of the times. During the first five years the Lodge gained twenty members, but gained only two more in membership during the second five years. The lodge gradually grew to a membership of eighty-three in 1931, but declined to a membership of fifty-six by 1941, a loss of twenty-seven members during those trying times, and, it was only by the hard work of the more faithful members that it was able to continue.
The Lodge originally met in the hall over the store located at 200 So. Main Street, and continued here until it had the opportunity to buy the present building at 129 South Main Street, which then housed a hardware store. The members organized a Masonic Temple Association, and, after purchasing and remodeling, held their first meeting in the new hall on July 7, 1932.
In spite of the depression, the brethren managed to finish paying for their building and it is entirely free of incumbrance.
After the depression, our lodge again began five members on November 30, 1960, with the during the 1940’s.
Some of the early members had to serve as Master several times to keep the Lodge in operation. Brother R. D. Wilson served six terms as Master in the years 1903, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916 and Brother A. W. Hornbeck served in 1917, 1918 and 1921. During World War II, Brother Rurrel Morrich served two terms and Brother L. R. Phifer served again in 1943 after having served in 1929.
Brother John E. Murphy, besides serving as our first Worshipful Master, also served nine years as Secretary besides serving in several other offices through the years.
Other secretaries with several years of service were L. M. Gee with four years of service; T. G. Demary with nine years; P. J. Sayer and C. D. Thompson with seven years each, and, L. R. Phifer, who besides serving two years as Master, is now in his sixteenth year as Secretary, which is indeed an enviable record.
East Gate Lodge celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on October 5, 1951 with a large number of the brethren from neighboring lodges present to wish us continued success.
