Stated meetings are third Thursday of every month at 7:30 PM in Egyptian Hall at the Allentown Masonic Temple, 1524 West Linden St. Allentown, PA.
History of Greenleaf Lodge No. 561
Greenleaf Lodge, No.561, the second oldest lodge in Allentown, Pa. was constituted on November 10,1882 at 11:30a.m. at the southwest corner of Seventh and Hamilton Sts.. in Allentown, PA, on the third floor.
Old records indicate that it was named in honor of James Greenleaf, WM, who was born in Boston on June 9,l765 ( Ten years before the battle of Lexington) and died in Washington, D.C. on September 17,1843.
Beginnings of Greenleaf Lodge #561
Masonry in Allentown actually began in November of 1817 when a warrant was granted to Jordan Lodge Number 151.
Barger Lodge came into being at 6 P.M. on May 27, 1859, due to the fact that the charter for Jordan Lodge was lost during the Anti-Masonic period when it had to go dark indefinitely, and a new Lodge was to be constituted. Since that charter could not be found, it was subsequently renamed and numbered. Shortly after Barger Lodge was constituted, the original Charter for Jordan was found, however, it was deemed unnecessary to have 2 Lodges in Allentown at the time, so Jordan’s charter was returned for cancellation. Barger Lodge was named for the Right Worshipful Grand Master William Barger, who held that office during the Anti-Masonic period.
A Warrant of Constitution was granted to Greenleaf Lodge at the quarterly communication of the Grand Lodge help on June 08, 1882. It was duly consecrated and constituted on November 10, 1882 at 11:30 A.M. at the southeast corner of Seventh and Hamilton Streets on the third floor. The Lodge was closed in harmony at 02:30 P.M. Until the year Barger Lodge merged with Greenleaf, it was the second oldest Lodge in Allentown.
Greenleaf Lodge was named after James Greenleaf. On April 26, 1800, he married Anne Penn Allen, granddaughter of Provincial Grand Master William Allen; Allentown’s namesake. Greenleaf was a land speculator during the development of Washington, D.C.
However, the Worshipful Master in 1957, Harry T. Barnett had a thought that the green leaf of the living tree, which comes back from winter’s darkness every spring to beatify the earth, truly exemplifies the hand of God, the Great Architect of the Universe; and that our Greenleaf Lodge is truly a green leaf on the great tree of Masonry.
The first Stated Meeting occurred December 13, 1882, opened at 1930 and closed at 2245. There were 3 petitions for membership, 7 petitions for initiation, and the election of officers. The first officers of our Lodge were Brothers Hiram H. Fisher, W.M., Edward Harvey, S. W., William H. Ryan, J.W., Phaon H. Stettler, P.M. Treasurer, Augustus F. Schick, P.M., Secretary.
Brother Edward Harvey became President of the Second National Bank of Allentown, and was well known in the financial and banking industries.
The first petitioner to be initiated in Greenleaf Lodge was Morris L. Kauffman, Esquire. Our original fee for initiation was $50, and the annual dues were $5. This was in the 1800’s, based on information I found at Economic History Services’ website, compared to today’s dollars, that would be equivalent to $894.50 and $89.45 respectively. As of 1906, there had been 249 admissions to the Lodge, but in 1907 alone, there were 69 additional admissions; of them there were 5 ministers.
Relative to initiation and Degree work:
1) March, 1892, permission was given by the Grand Lodge to confer degrees upon Jacob Erhart in the German Language
2) April 1929, at the raising of 2, there were 266 visitors in attendance. Fourteen states and 1 country, Scotland, were represented.
3) June of 1947, there were again 2 being raised. There were 107 members present, and 338 visitors. I wonder if they recognized every one of them individually?
It is interesting to note that the original stated meeting day was the second Wednesday, changed to the fourth Thursday in 1883, and finally to the third Thursday in 1886. The last change was due to the fact that the election of officers needed to be done in November, due to the fourth Thursday coming after Saint John’s Day on two occasions.
In 1885, the Lodge moved to the top floor of the four-story building at the northeast corner of Hamilton and Law Street and paid annual rent of $200 to Barger Lodge. In 1903, the Lodge’s meeting place was moved to the Northwest corner of 8’th and Hamilton Streets. The first meeting at that location was on September 17’th of that year.
In 1915, the Trustees of Jordan, Barger, and Greenleaf Lodges passed a resolution approving the building of a Masonic Temple. It was around 1918 that the plans for our current Masonic Temple began to take form. It was also during this year that Greenleaf Lodge had to cancel its Stated Meeting on October 17, and four extra meetings October 21 to October 30. This was due to the outbreak of the influenza epidemic.
On July 16, 1923, at the laying of the cornerstone of the new Masonic Temple, Brother and Reverend Joseph I. Peters read the opening prayer. April 16’th, 1925, a resolution was offered to change the meeting place of the Lodge to the new temple at Linden and Fulton Streets. The entire membership was summoned to a special meeting on May 21, 1925 to act upon the resolution with the effective date being July 1, 1925. The resolution was unanimously carried and in September 1925, the Lodge began to meet in the new building in Renaissance Hall.
On February 20, 1941, the Lodge accepted and considered it an honor to display the U.S. Flag; thereby becoming the first lodge to have the privilege to display the national colors in the Allentown Masonic Temple.
To make good men better.
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