COURTLAND LODGE NO. 85

IN CELEBRATION OF ITS FIRST 100 YEARS

A brief narrative history of Courtland Lodge No. 85 and two hundred years of Freemasonry in the Franklin-Southampton area

By

JAMES HARRY HOLLAND, PM; DDGM

1989

The Committee for the One Hundredth Anniversary Celebration

      “The First Article of This Geometry:-

      The Master Mason Must be Fully and Surely

It is not uncommon for Masonic Lodges to merge or consolidate when they can no longer meet all the requirements to be independent. Once agreed by both Lodges and the Grand Lodge, the Brethren are one body, one Craft, one – without distinction.

Three times Courtland Lodge No. 85 has welcomed Lodges in distress to merge with them:

The culture, however, is one membership, one now and forward, three new histories to enrich Courtland Lodge’s.

The Right Worshipful George C. Scott, Jr. Memorial Scholarship is a one-time (non-renewable) scholarship to a worthy high school senior in the greater Boykins area. It is presented in memory of RW Scott, a past Worshipful Master of Boykins Lodge for 27 years, 23 in a row, called to the Celestial Lodge Above in 2008.

The following is the list of Worshipful Masters from Benevolent Lodge No. 34, in Courtland, Virginia.

The following is the list of Worshipful Masters from all three Lodges ever chartered in Boykins.

Boykins Lodge No. 64 (1877 to 1895)

• Meet at the Courthouse (perhaps earlier at inn/taverns)
• Submitted annual reports 28 of 58 years it was active 1793: grown to 36 Masons, 10 raised that year; 5 in training; 6 rejected from membership
• By 1803 had grown to 72 members
• No reports 1804-1816. Declared dormant 1816
• Rechartered in 1822 with 51 members (would decline slowly)
• Returns became sporadic after the 1831 Rebellion
• Erected a hall in 1823
• Last official report in 1842 showed only 14 members
• Declared extinct 1849
• Members tracked to formation of Berlin 42 (1850), Acacia 84 (1854), & Franklin 151 (1856)

The History of Boykins Lodge(s)

The History of Freemasonry in Boykins, Virginia is a play in three Acts:

Boykins Lodge No. 64 (1877-1894)

The first Lodge in Boykins, Virginia was Boykins Lodge No. 64, chartered December 11, 1877. It was organized at Boykins Depot, a small town established in 1836.  In 1883 Boykins Depot was renamed Boykins.

• Met in Carrsville, Virginia (location unknown)

History of Newsoms Lodge No. 128

Chartered

• Merged into Courtland Lodge No. 85 Jan 1, 1993
• Building was on East Depot Street, Newsoms. On a second floor without a rest room. They rented the lower floor.

Boykins Lodge No. 287

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