LODGE ANNIVERSARIES — 2006
Lodge Anniversaries — 2006 Staff Report his year three of our constituent lodges will celebrate significant anniversaries. In order of seniority, they are: (1) National Lodge No. 12 (now NationalStansbury- Dawson No. 12); (2) Arminius Lodge No. 25; and (3) Magnolia Lodge No. 53. During the year these lodges will celebrate, respectively, 160, 130, and 10 years of Masonic service in this jurisdiction.
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National Lodge No. 12 National Lodge No. 12 was chartered by the Grand Lodge on May 7, 1846. The first Master of this lodge was General James Shields, who was at that time Commissioner of the General Land Office under President Polk. Shields served as a Brevet Major General during the Mexican War in which he was seriously wounded. He was also Hector M. Ramirez, distinguished by his Worshipful Master, unique career in the U.S. National-Stansbury-Dawson Senate, in which body he Lodge No. 12 represented Illinois from 1849-55; Minnesota from 1958-59; and Missouri from January to March 1879. The first roster of the lodge was issued on October 27, 1846. Included as a founding member was Benjamin B. French, who in 1847 served the first of his several terms as Grand Master of Masons of the District of Columbia. At the time of his affiliation with National Lodge, he was assistant clerk of the House of Representatives, a position he had held since 1833. In addition to Grand Master French, National Lodge lays claim to one other Grand Master, Isaac La Rue Johnson, who served as Grand Master in the Masonic years of
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1875-1876. During the Civil War Brother Johnson served in the Army of the Potomac as a Captain in the 153rd Infantry, following which he resumed the practice of law in the District of Columbia . National-Stansbury-Dawson Lodge now meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month at the Takoma Masonic Center.
Arminius Lodge No. 25 Arminius Lodge No. 25 was chartered on November 8, 1876, during the administration of second of National’s Grand Masters, Isaac L. Johnson. This date is significant in the history of the Grand Lodge, which at that time made a monumental decision — to permit a lodge to operate and work the degrees in a language other than English (i.e., in German).
Columbus Thompson, Worshipful Master, Arminius Lodge No. 25
Initially the Grand Master was hesitant to grant the enabling dispensation, having doubts about the propriety of establishing such a lodge and the ability of the applicants to translate the work, as practiced here, into another language. On the strength of recommendations by many Masons of stature he relented, however, and on July 10th of 1876, he permitted the German-speaking brethren to commence work. In due course all of the Grand Master’s apprehensions were removed by brethren who satisfactorily demonstrated that they could conduct a lodge successfully and confer the degrees, in German, and in strict accordance with the ritual, requirements, and usages prevailing in this jurisdiction. By so doing they established a reassur-
