Page 22 - Montana Freemason Magazine November 2013

Samuel W. Langhorne
19th Grand Master
Samuel Wesley Langhorne
was born in Buckingham
County, Virgina on January
19, 1836. Shortly thereafter
the family moved to Missouri
where he was educated
and attended college at
Lexington, Mo., and in 1852
he accompanied his father to
California. In 1863 he moved to Virginia City, and
1865, moved to Helena which became his home, with
the exception of fifteen years in Bozeman.
He was trained as a druggist, working in Helena
from 1865 to 1870 before moving to Bozeman. As a
representative from Gallatin County he served in the
first territorial assembly to meet in Helena, in 1876, the Temple. The cornerstone laid that day can be seen
and had the distinction of being chosen speaker of the clearly today, although it is partially obstructed by a
assembly. He was also an attorney and practiced in
the field of land and mining operations.
On January 27, 1883, Samuel W. Langhorne
established the Bozeman Weekly Chronicle in
order to promote the Democratic Party. The main
competition in town was the Avant Courier, a
supporter of the Republican Party. He also served as
Mayor of Bozeman. On August 22, 1883, he was one
of the few of the privileged local citizens who were
extended an invitation to attend the “Golden Spike”
ceremony at Gold Creek. In 1884, he was elected a
delegate to the constitutional convention which
framed a state constitution, which was never adopted.
He was appointed register of the Helena land office by Montana.
President Cleveland in 1885, serving for four years.
He was again chosen to the legislature in 1896,
representing Lewis and Clark County. He also served
two terms as Probate Judge in Gallatin County and
two years each in the offices of Clerk and Recorder of
the County.
In political views, Judge Langhorne was one of the
leading representatives of the Democratic party and
did much to further its cause.
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He was a member of the Freemasons. In 1884 he
served as Grand Master of Montana the and spent
several years as chairman of the jurisprudence
committee of the Grand Lodge. As a pioneer of
Montana and as one who wielded a strong and vigorous
influence in shaping the policy and advancing the
material welfare of the state, he was held in the highest
esteem throughout the territory and state.
On the morning of June 16, 1885, the Grand
Lodge of Montana Masons assembled to perform the
ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the Masonic
Temple in Helena. Gathering at the old Temple at
Main and Edwards at 11 a.m., the Grand Lodge
officers and acting Grand Lodge officers marched to
the site of the cornerstone in the northeast corner of
wooden stairway.
Brother S.W. Langhorne was raised to the sublime
degree of a Master Mason in Gallatin Lodge No. 6 on
January 11, 1873. He served as Worshipful Master in
1876-1878 and 1882 and served as Secretary in 1879.
He Dimitted from Gallatin Lodge No. 6 on January
12, 1895 and affiliated with Helena Lodge No. 3. on
February 2, 1895. Brother Langhorne served as Most
Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in Montana in
1884-1885.
Past Grand Master S.W. Langhorne died at the age
of 91. He was interred in Forestvale Cemetery, Helena,