Page 17 - MFMJan 2016

Montana Freemason January 2016 Volume 92 Number 1
Brother Zerah French
Blake Gardiner (3)
Brother Zerah French, was born on his family’s
farm, near Willisboro Mountain, Essex County,
New York on March 22, 1827. He moved to Kent
County, Cannon Township Michigan in 1850, where
he dabbled in railroad construction. In March 1854
Zerah and George French and nine members of their
family moved to a shanty close to Mitchell Creek
and the Muskegon River. Zerah and George French
are considered the cofounders of Big Rapids. They
were the first white families permanently located in
the vicinity of this flourishing place.
In 1862, Zerah traveled to the gold fields of
Bvein’s Gulch near Virginia City,Montana Territory.
In January 1864 he moved to Last Chance Gulch
(Helena),Montana Territory where he operated the
Star Restaurant. While in Last Chance Gulch, he
became one of the first three Fire Commissioners
and was head of the Vigilante Committee, with the
Code Name “Z”.
According to Brother William Campbell, in his
1951 book “From the Quarries of Last Chance
Gulch: “[in 1865] The first regular meeting of Helena
City Lodge No. 10 U. D. [Under Dispensation from
the Grand Lodge of Colorado] convened in a two-
story log structure located at 53 South Main Street.
During the time that Helena City Lodge was under
dispensation, the Entered Apprentice Degree was
conferred on Zerah French,
and the FellowCraft Degree
was conferred upon J. G.
Sanders and Adniram Fall,
Sanders was a brother of
Wilbur Fisk Sanders.
It should be noted the lodge did not confer a Master
Mason Degree, which is usually required of a lodge
under dispensation before a Charter can be granted.
However, application for a Charter was made to
the Grand Lodge of Colorado, holding its sixth
annual communication, and a Charter was granted
November 7, 1865 to Helena City Lodge No. 10.
The Charter did not arrive in Helena until the First
of December, and then the business of receiving
petitions for degrees and affiliation became very
lively.
On January 24, 1866 Helena City Lodge No. 10
joined with Virginia City No. 43 and Montana No.
9 to form the Grand Lodge of Montana. Helena City
Lodge No. 10 was then Chartered as Helena No. 3,
Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Montana.
Brother Zerah returned to Michigan and then moved
to San Bernadino, California in 1874. Then moved
to the Green River Valley, King County, Washington
in 1878. Brother Zerah is buried next to his wife on
the family farm near Auburn, Washington.
On display in our Grand Lodge Museum is a
Masonic apron that belonged to Brother Zerah
French who was the first Entered Apprentice
initiated in Helena in 1865. The Apron was passed
down to George Dewey French, Zerah’s grandson,
who passed it down to
his niece, whose husband
Thomas Cooper donated
the apron to Helena Lodge
No. 3. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper
still live on the land that
Zerah French homesteaded.
Page 17