Stedman Lodge 730 AF&AM

Lodge history
In the Masonic Year 4926 or the Lord's Year 926, King Athelstan and his son, Prince Edwin, gave the Masons a charter at the City of York in Great Britain and patronized them generously.

In later years, in Blockersville, N.C., at the head of Sandy Creek, a Masonic Lodge was chartered. The charter read: "Under the auspices of Prince Edwin of the city of York, Great Britain, December 4, 1867, Durbin Lodge No. 266 was duly constituted a Master Mason Lodge." When Durbin Lodge No. 266 was chartered, the officers of the Grand Lodge were: The Most Worshipful R.W. Best, the Grand Master; the Right Worshipful J.G. Ramsey, Deputy Grand Master; the Right Worshipful Rob Venson, Senior Grand Warden; the Right Worshipful Thro Gardner, Junior Grand Warden, and the Right Worshipful D.W. Bain, Grand Secretary.

The first officers of Durbin Lodge No. 266 were: D.R. Packer, Worshipful Master; F. Cooper, Senior Warden; J.D. Culbreth, Junior Warden; J.R. Maxwell, Treasurer; L. Culbreth, Secretary; J.L. Autry, Senior Deacon; F.H. Howard, Junior Deacon, and J.R. Howard, Tyler. Durbin Lodge No. 266 did not have Stewards or a Chaplain in its line of officers.

The lodge was a crude, two-story building lit by lanterns and lamps. Located near the lodge was one of the largest lumber mills in this part of the country. The mill was located where Stedman Elementary School currently stands. The lodge stood in an oak grove about 1,500 feet east of the lumber mill. The Lodge was about 4/10 of a mile off of what is now Highway No. 24 at the intersection of Maxwell Road."

In 1868 membership grew from 13 to 18 members. In the years 1869-71, growth was very slow. In 1872, Durbin Lodge initiated 12, passed 12, raised 10 and rejected three. Membership grew until 1874 to 46 Masons. Afterwards, membership declined steadily until 1884. In 1883, 14 members withdrew their membership, leaving a total of 15 members.

In 1890, Durbin Lodge No. 266 moved from Blockersville to Vander with a membership of 19. The Lodge remained constant until 1896, when it moved to Autryville in Sampson County. Durbin Lodge had a membership of 20 during the time it met in Autryville

During 1890-91, Blockersville had two large turpentine distilleries; one located near the current Pentecostal Holiness Church on the west side of the creek bank, and the other in a pine thicket between Highway 24 and the future home of Stedman Lodge 730 on Euclid St., behind where the old railroad depot was turned into a library in 1975. During these years, the Cape Fear and Yadkin Railroads pioneered their way into Blockersville, and along this time Blockersville's name was changed to Stedman.

During 1911, Durbin Lodge No. 266 moved to Stedman, with a membership of 19. The Lodge in Stedman was located beside the future home of Stedman Lodge 730 in a two-story, wood-frame building. This building was rented from L.M. Averitte. There were four other buildings that adjoined the Lodge building: a barber shop, a hardware store and a general merchandise store. The Lodge remained there for several years.

The first appearance of a Lodge District was in 1915, placing Durbin Lodge No. 266 in District 14. In the early days the per capita dues to the Grand Lodge were 50 centers per member. That figure was raised to $1 per capita about 1915.

David Sessoms deeded the Masonic order a lot, which is now the east driveway going into the current Stedman Elementary School (A.D. 2001, and originally Stedman High School). The order built a two-story frame building for its Masonic lodge. Several years later an explosion in the barber shop, destroying it and all the adjoining buildings, including the lodge.

Meeting times changed almost yearly during the early history of Durbin Lodge. Some years their meetings were on Saturdays at 8 p.m.; some years, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; other years, Friday at 8 p.m.

In 1924 Bro. Emmitt Carl Johnson was elected Master of Durbin Lodge and he presided over a membership comprised of 31 other brothers. Meeting time was set for the first Friday of each month at 3 p.m. and again on the third Wednesday at 8 p.m. The following year, Bro. John Robert Bryant was elected Master, and the meeting time was changed to the first Friday at 3 p.m. (Bro. Bryant's father, Leonard Bryant, had preceded him as Master of Durbin Lodge.) Bro. John Robert Bryant was re-elected as Master again in 1929. He was the last Master of Durbin 266 and decades later, the first Master of Stedman 730.

On Friday, January 4, 1929, Durbin Lodge 266 opened for the purpose of conducting business. There was one motion to come before the lodge. Bro. K.C. Averitte made the motion that Durbin consolidate with Phoenix 8 in Fayetteville. That motion was seconded by Bro. W.B. Maxwell, and the motion was unanimously passed. The officers present were: John Robert Bryant, Master; C.C. Culbreth, Senior Warde; H.A. Williams, Junior Warden; E.C. Johnson, Treasurer; J.E. Fussell, Secretary; W.B. Maxwell, Senior Deacon; J.H. Davis, Junior Deacon, and W. Maxwell, Tyler. Other members present were J.E. Rice, K.C. Averitte and C.R. Pope. There was no further business to come before the lodge, and it was closed in due form. The charter of Durbin Lodge 266 and the minutes of most of its meetings were placed in the archives of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina in its Raleigh headquarters.

Stedman remained without a Masonic lodge from January 1929 until another one was constituted in September 1963. Most Worshipful Brother William Edward Burrier, the Grand Master of Masons in North Carolina, granted a dispensation to 26 brethren to form Stedman Lodge U.D.

Worshipful Brother John R. Bryant, the last Master of Durbin 266, was appointed the Master of Stedman Lodge U.D. The following brethren were appointed officers: Eldridge Hazel Cashwell, Senior Warden; Haywood Bunyan Smith Jr., Junior Warden; Henry Alexander Williams, Treasurer; Jesse Willard Hall, Secretary; Harold Frank Shirley, Senior Deacon; Robert J. Miller, Junior Deacon; Homer Case Taylor and James Bonner Hubbard, Stewards; Johnnie Franklin Fields, Tyler, and George Neal McCall, Chaplain.

M.W. Bro. Burrier called the meeting to order on September 16, 1963, at the appointed hour and directed the Grand Secretary, M.W. Charles A. Harris, PGM, to read the call for the meeting, then the dispensation. Afterwards, a list of the brethren who had been appointed to serve as officers of the new lodge was called. As their names were announced, those brethren took positions west of the altar, where Very Worshipful Robert S. Bass Jr., Junior Grand Deacon, acting as Marshal and assisted by Worshipful Brothers R. Vincent McBryde and Louis W. Shrier, invested them with the jewels and aprons of their respective offices and conducted them to their stations and places.

The Grand Master then opened a Master Mason's Lodge in Ample Form with the above officers in their stations and places and with 15 other Masons in attendance. With appropriate remarks and well-wishes for the future of Stedman Lodge U.D., M.W. Bro. Burrier delivered the dispensation and presented a gavel to Worshipful Bro. Bryant, Master of the new lodge, and resigned the chair. The proposed By-Laws of Stedman Lodge were read and approved.

Fifteen other members were included in the membership of 26, namely: Bros. Jim Henry Averitte, Horace Obed Barefoot, Ottis Johnson Bedsole, Harley Wilson Bullard, Walter Marion Bullard, Joseph Onsby David, Judge Carson Faircloth Jr., Marvin Elwood Faircloth, Oscar Clarence Faircloth, Emmitt Carl Johnson, Jerry Westbrook McCall, Charlie Nixon, Kermit Durant Pruitt, Ira Love Vinson, and Archie Brafford West. As the lodge was constituted, three Past Masters were members of the lodge (John Robert Bryant, Emmitt Carl Johnson and Henry Alexander Williams) were present. Nine Grand Lodge officers and two District officers (W. Bro. R. Vincent McBryde, DDGM, and W. Bro. James H. Horne, DDGL). Seven petitions for the degrees were read and eventually those petitioners became members of the lodge.

The new lodge was blessed with a very active, dynamic and dedicated Mason in Bro. George Neal McCall. He worked diligently in getting Masons to affiliate with the new lodge to build its membership. He was also responsible for making arrangements for the town's first bank, first medical officer and many other facilities.

A few dedicated Masons from Fayetteville spent a lot of time and support working with members in the new lodge; namely, W. Bro. R. Vincent McBryde, Phoenix 8; W. Bro. James H. Horne, Creasy Proctor 679; W. Bro. Thomas C. Slate, Phoenix 8; W. Bro. Gilbert M. Honeycutt, Creasy Proctor 679; W. Bro. George W. Godwin, John Huske Anderson 731; and Bro. John C. Bruffey, Creasy Proctor 679.

The lodge building was a converted two-story grocery store. Neighboring Masonic lodges and brethren contributed the necessary furniture to equip the lodge. Cokesbury United Methodist Church donated one of its pulpit chairs and it continues to be used by the lodge's sitting Master to this day (Feb. 9, 2001). The building was rented during 1963, and as it was being auctioned at a later date, Bro. Jerry W. McCall graciously offered to purchase the building so that the lodge could continue to meet there. In 1964 the lodge reimbursed him. During the period of 1968-70, many renovations were made, including the adaptation of the upper floor for a Masonic sanctuary, and extensive work was done to the structure of the building. All of the work was done by lodge members. The Lodge secretary, Bro. Jesse Hall, made significant efforts in coordinating many details in starting the new lodge.

The charter for Stedman Lodge 730 was granted on April 22, 1964. The lodge purchased property on Carol Street for the purpose of building a new Masonic temple in the future. That building was eventually constructed during the Fall of 2000 and early winter of 2001, and the first meeting was held in the new building on Feb. 5, 2001. Fifty-nine members and guests attended the meeting - four short of filling every chair in the room.

Stedman Lodge 730 remains a country lodge; its membership on Dec. 31, 1999, was 80 members. The lodge has had two District Deputy Grand Lecturers - W. Bros. Jackie F. Wrench and Larry S. McPhail. W. Bro. McPhail also served as DDGM. The lodge has had three Certified Lecturers in recent years: W. Bro. Wrench, W. Bro. McPhail, and W. Bro. Thomas A. Pope Jr.

This history was revised and compiled by W. Bro. James Hay with assistance from W. Bro. James Bonner Hubbard, Bro. Jesse Willard Hall, Judge Carson Faircloth Jr., Jerry Westbrook McCall Sr., and W. Bro. Laurice Vendell Hubbard. (Feb. 2001)