Page 292 - Cornelius Hedges Story

279 The Cornelius Hedges Story

In Grand Lodge I knew that I forfeited my right to advancement and
in fact did not desire it, for my future was altogether too uncertain.
I did, however, return with my family in the spring of 1867, and
Helena has been my residence ever since. My place in Lodge and
Grand Lodge had been well supplied by Bro. Langford. Bro. Hull
had been re-elected Grand Master, as his first term had been only a
part of a year. The only changes in the list of elective Grand Officers
was in the two Wardens. Bro. John Potter of Helena was elected
Senior Grand Warden and F. C. Cornell of Virginia City, Junior
Grand Warden. Three new Lodges had been organized, a second
one in Helena, Morning Star, No. 5; one at Diamond City, then the
metropolis of Confederate Gulch, a very rich and prosperous mining
camp about forty miles northeast from Helena, as No. 7; and one at
Bozeman, the county seat of Gallatin County, a great agricultural
country one hundred miles east of Helena, as Gallatin Lodge, No. 6.
A new edition of the constitution corrected and revised by Bro.
Langford was published at this time. Bro. Sanders reviewed the
Proceedings of eight jurisdictions, all that had been received, and
under Maine gave the memorable letter of George M. Dallas to a
committee of the Pennsylvania legislature in 1836, refusing to appear
and be sworn in an investigation of “The Evils of Freemasonry.”
Oregon for 1866 was included in the Correspondence Review. The
report, though brief, was a most worthy beginning of a series of
reports in which Montana has never failed. Bro. J. R. Alden, now
living in Oakland, California, was Grand Orator. The Communication
continued four days and the proceedings were very harmonious and
everything among the Lodges was prosperous and harmonious.
The Third Annual Communication was held also in Virginia City,
and continued six days, with seven Lodges represented. The address
was brief and everything represented as harmonious and prosperous.
Four dispensations for new Lodges had been granted, one of which,
Wasatch, was in Utah, and soon became a constituent of a Grand
Lodge in that Jurisdiction. When chartered it became No. 8 on our
register.
King Solomon’s Lodge, No. 9, was the third Lodge in Helena,
showing the rapid growth of Masonry in this city. No. 10 was named
Summit, from a prosperous camp at the head of Alder Gulch. It had
some very zealous members, and flourished for a time while the
mines were pouring out their treasures.