Secret Societies (1887)
Blackford Lodge, No. 106, A. F. & A. M., began to work under dispensation dated July 18, 1849, with seven members. The charter is dated May 29, 1850, with Joseph C. Maddox as Worshipful Master, Lewis Bailey, Senior Warden, and R. Z. Cassel, Junior Warden. the other charter members were A. G. Perkins, J. R. S. Ewing, S. Miller, J. G. Van Horn, J. Schick, U. B. Hull, Josiah Twibell, Josephus Streeter, D. Fox and T. Cochran.
The present number of members is thirty-four, and the officers, H. B. Smith, Worshipful Master; J. P. A. Leonard, Senior Warden; J. W. Sage, Junior Warden; S. R. Shelton, Secretary; C. R. Cooley, Treasurer; J. H. Rhoades, Senior Deacon; A. T. Knight, Junior Deacon; Elisha Pierce and Theodore Knabe, stewards; J. P. Willman, Tyler.
The club meets Wednesday night on or before the full moon and every two weeks thereafter, at Masonic Block, corner of Main and High Streets.
Hartford City Lodge, No. 262, I. O. O. F., meets every Monday evening at Odd Fellows Hall, Van Cleve's Opera Block, corner of Washington and High Streets. It was instituted July 5, 1866, and the charter was granted November 20 ensuing, to the following members: John W. Dungan, William C. Sudwarth, John M. Ruckman, Aaron S. Curry, John Wolford, Nathaniel H. Gable and John F. Pierce. Of this number, Mr. Ruckman is the only one who is at present a member. The following were the officers for the first term, beginning with July, 1866; John F. Pierce, Noble Grand; J. W. Dungan, Vice-Grand; J. M. Ruckman, Record Scribe and Permanent Secretary; John Wolford, Treasurer; W. C. Sudwarth, Right Supporter to Noble Grand; James E. Ervin, Left Supporter to Noble Grand; Aaron S. Curry, Warden; D. W. Kurtz, Conductor; M. E. Jones, Right Scene Supporter; Lyman Bonham, Left Scene Supporter; Alfred Jackson, Outer Guard; N. H. Gable, Inner Guard; Charles R. Cooley, Right Supporter to Vice-Grand; John Moran, Left Supporter to Vice-Grand.
At the present there are sixty members, with the following officers: J. A. Bonham, Noble Grand; H. M. Campbell, Vice Grand; A. W. Frazier, Record Scribe; George W. Marlay, Permanent Secretary; John A. Newbauer, Treasurer; E. M. Stahl, Joseph Burchard and Aaron Groves, trustees; John W. Moon, Warden; Isaiah Cortright, Conductor; H. R. Sinclair, Inner Guard; Joseph W. Younts, Outer Guard; George W. Amsden, Right Supporter to Noble Grand; Aaron Groves, Left Supporter to Noble Grand; Ephraim L. Waters, Right Supporter to Vice-Grand; John Clapper, Left Supporter to Vice-Grand; John C. Edens, Right Scene Supporter; Samuel Huggens, Left Scene Supporter.
George W. Younts is representative to the Grand Lodge, with George W. Amsden as alternate. E. M. Stahl is serving his third term as District Deputy Grand Master.
The lodge owns a beautiful and commodious hall in the third story of the Van Cleve Block on the west side of the public square. It has recently purchased some ten acres of ground, and eligible site, on the Maddox farm, on the south side of the pike and about a half-mile east of town which it will layout and improve as a cemetery.
Hartford City Encampment, No. 115, I. O. O. F., was organized about 1867. The present membership is about fifty. The following are officers: J. A. Bonham, Chief Priest; Isaiah Cortright, Senior Warden; R. C. Voss, Junior Warden; Aaron Groves, High Priest; J. A. Newbauer, Scribe; J. M. Schisler, Treasurer. The encampment meets in Odd Fellows Hall, the second and fourth Fridays of each month.
Blackford Lodge, K. of P., was organized February 14, 1886, with fourteen members, and these officers: H. M. Campbell, Chancellor; F. L. Ervin, Prelate; Samuel M. Briscoe, Keeper of Records and Seals; T. P. Van Winkle, Master of Finance; Abraham Weiler, Master of Exchequer; James Alexander, Master of Arms; William A. Gable, Inner Guard; Frank Hart, Outer Guard.
Present membership numbers thirty-four and the present officers are, E. I. Winters, Chancellor Commander; S. W. Cantwell, Vice-Chancellor; J. M. Alexander, Past Chancellor; W. S. Brannum, Prelate; W. H. Campbell, Keeper of Records and Seals; William A. Gable, Master of Finance; O. M. Shinn, Master of Exchequer; Ed. C. Campbell, Master of Arms; frank Hart, Inner Guard; William Johnson, Outer Guard. The lodge meets every Thursday evening, at Castle Hall, Van Cleve's Opera Block.
Jacob Stahl Post, No. 227, G. A. R, Department of Indiana. Meets every Tuesday evening in Odd Fellows Hall, Van Cleve's Opera Block, corner Washington and High Streets.
The Sons of Temperance flourished at Hartford City about 1850-'54 and perhaps a little afterward, or during the period of their greatest prosperity throughout the nation. They declined in 1856-'57, and in 1857 re-organized, but went down again in 1862-'63. No Daughters of Temperance society was organized, but ladies were sometimes admitted as "visitors" at the meetings of the Sons.
The Good Templars were first organized in the fall of 1865, as it were on the ruins of the Sons' organization. beginning with only ten or twelve members, they increased in number until they reached as high as fifty or sixty. The chiefs were Ezra M. Stahl, Mrs. Maria W. Cook, J. Emery Ervin, John M. Ruckman and others. The society went down in 1871; but was recently revived as follow:
Fidelity Lodge, No. 52, I. O. G. T., was organized July 20, 1886, with about fourteen members, by Mrs. Stone, of Cleveland, Ohio. The number of members has risen to forty-two, and the lodge is in a flourishing condition, meeting every Tuesday evening in their hall in J. H. Dowell's Block on Washington Street. Present officers: Lora V. Cline, Chief Templar; Emma Sudwarth, Vice-Templar; L. J. Hudson, Secretary; Nannie Woodward, Assistant Secretary; M. H. Robbins, Treasurer; M. F. Hudson, Financial Secretary; Lillie D. Cline, Chaplain; Abner Stallsmith, Marshal; Ord Gable, Deputy Marshal; L. G. Knight, Inner Guard; J. Burt Stahl, Outer Guard; Annie Sudwarth, Right-hand Supporter; Hattie M. Hardin, Left-hand Supporter; John M. Ruckman, Lodge Deputy.
Source: Biographical and Historical Record of Jay and Blackford Counties, Indiana by The Lewis Publishing Company, 1887.
