HISTORY OF FREDERIC MASONIC LODGE, NO 244

When Freemasonry first came to northern Wisconsin, travel most certainly was not what it is today. Years ago travel was limited to trains or horse & buggy over roads which were little more than logging trails. You worked in the town you lived in and attended a lodge in your home area. This was not a deterrent to the Masons of the area. Within a span of fifty-three years, four lodges came into existence:  

   Osceola Lodge, No. 134, chartered in 1862

   Grantsburg Lodge, No. 244, chartered in 1891

   St. Croix Falls Lodge, No. 275, chartered in 1901

   Frederic Lodge, No. 308, chartered in 1915

Over time, these four lodges have merged to become Landmark Masonic Lodge, No. 244. Landmark now has members in Burnett and Polk counties.

How did Masonic Lodges come to Northern Wisconsin?

The town of Osceola was 18 years old when the first Masonic lodge meeting was held in May of 1862. This was a time when Osceola was full of pioneers, mainly from Scandinavia and northern Europe. Spittoons and sawdust on the lodge room floor were standard at the time when chewing tobacco during lodge meetings was considered an acceptable behavior. At that time, Masonic lodges usually initiated only one or two members at a meeting; however, on May 28, 1862, Osceola Lodge, while working under dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin, conferred the Entered Apprentice degree on 15 new members. The Grand Lodge issued Osceola Lodge No. 134 a Charter in June of 1862.

As there were many Masons from Grantsburg who attended lodge meetings in Osceola. In 1890, they requested permission from the Grand Lodge to start their own lodge, as Osceola Lodge was forty-two miles from Grantsburg. The following year, on June 24, 1891, the Grand Lodge presented a charter toGrantsburg Lodge No. 244 at a public ceremony at the Burnett County Courthouse. The first master was Gustavus Olson, who had been born in Clayborg, Sweden.

Once again, in 1900, twenty members of Osceola Lodge, with the Lodge’s approval, requested and were given permission to form a new lodge in St. Croix Falls and in 1901, St. Croix Falls, No. 275 received their charter.

In May of 1913, a group of Masons at Frederic requested permission to form a lodge, and received a dispensation from Grand Master David Green.  Frederic Lodge, No. 308  received its charter in June 1915.

Per lodge minutes, on May 20, 1913, George Schuette, WM was selected WM; Louis Copeland, SW and Morris Yager, JW. WM Schuette selected the 2ndand 4th Tuesday of each month as the regular meeting nights and appointed the following officers: J Olsen, S.D.; J Morrell, J. D.; Wm Martin, Tyler; R Arveson, Treasurer and J Blackstone, Secretary.

The first regular communication of the Frederic Lodge, under dispensation, was helped in the I. O. O. F. (International Order of the Odd Fellows) hall in Frederic and was presided over by Louis A. Copeland, WM pro tem. The secretary, J. W. Blackstone, was the publisher of the Frederic Star. In 1984, Frederic Lodge relocated south of town and constructed a new lodge building.

In 1989, the Masons at Grantsburg Lodge, No 244 voted to merge with Frederic and the lodge was named Frederic-Grantsburg Lodge No. 244.

Many Masons stationed at the Osceola Air Force Base attended Osceola Lodge frequently,  but after the closing of the Air Force base in 1970, the lodge membership slowly decreased, and in 1990 Osceola Lodge merged with St. Croix Falls Lodge No. 275. The newly consolidated lodge was called Osceola-St. Croix Falls Lodge No. 134.

On September 28, 2001, Osceola-St. Croix Falls No. 134 consolidated with Frederic/Grantsburg Lodge #244.

In 2002, because of the wide geographical area the Lodge members represented, the brothers voted to name their lodge Landmark Lodge, No. 244, the name it holds today.

Exerpts taken from “Forward Freemasonry, Vol. I” and lodge minutes