THE BUILDER JULY 1929

American Army Lodges in the World War
The Two Kentucky Field Lodges
By BRO. CHARLES F. IRWIN, Associate Editor

MY approach to the task of writing the histories of these two
Military Lodges has been postponed to the latest possible moment
due to the fact that the record of these two Lodges is the most
unsatisfactory of all the series we have been recording. They are
also the only ones in the entire series in which their officers
made no report back to the Grand Lodge, returned no records nor
their dispensations. In other words, after they were granted their
dispensations and started on their way, they dropped from the
official sight of their Grand Lodge officers thenceforward. Only a
note here and there is left to indicate whether or not they ever
held a single meeting after their formal institution.

The Grand Lodge Officers attempted to obtain reports and records
but in the words of Grand Secretary Hardwick:

They made no returns to us. While I was present at the setting to
work of both I know of no meetings they had afterwards as the
Regiments moved and I was not in touch with them and no report of
any kind was made to this office.

Bro. Dave Jackson, in his 1919 report as Grand Secretary, said in
reference to "Army Lodges," after first reciting the circumstances
in which the two were established in Kentucky regiments, under
dispensation from Grand Master James N. Saunders, that:

If either of these lodges ever held a meeting, the Grand Secretary
has not been advised of it, nor has he been able to get in
communication with the masters or secretaries since the
organization of the lodges. When the dispensations were continued
by the authority of this Grand Lodge in 1917, date of expiration
was not given, but the presumption is that they expired at the
termination of the war. Unless otherwise instructed, I will drop
the names of these two lodges from our roster of subordinate
lodges.

No action appears to have been taken by the Grand Lodge in respect
to this part of Bro. Jackson's report, and apparently this was
taken by him as tacit authority for the erasure of the lodges from
the Grand Lodge roster, as they do not thereafter appear.

W. A. COLSTON ARMY LODGE, U. D.
159th U. S. Inf.

THE first of the two Kentucky Lodges to come into existence was
designated the W. A. Colston Army Lodge, U. D. The petition came up
from the Masons within the First Kentucky Infantry, that was
designated by the government as the 159th U. S. Infantry. The
petition is as follows and received favorable consideration by the
Grand Master:

PETITION FOR A MILITARY LODGE AND DISPENSATION GRANTED

To Grand Master J. N. Saunders, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of
Kentucky, F. & A. M.:

We, the undersigned officers of the First Kentucky Infantry, having
volunteered our services to the country in the war now waged, and
being about to depart for foreign lands for active service with the
Army of the United States; we, each of us, being residents of
Kentucky, Master Masons in good and regular standing, under the
jurisdiction of Lodges subordinate to the Grand Lodge of Kentucky,
F. & A. M., not disturbing our present relationship to our home
Lodges, hereby ask a Dispensation empowering us to meet as a
Masonic Lodge at or near the military stations of said Regiment of
the United States Army, and there practice the rites, perform the
duties and enjoy the privileges of Masonry; and in said Lodge to
receive to membership, to initiate, pass and raise soldiers of said
regiment who are residents of Kentucky, who are found worthy and
who possess the requisite qualifications.

William A. Colston, Falls City Lodge No. 376 (J.W.).

I. L. Shulhafer, St. George Lodge, No. 239 (S.W.)

Harris Mallenekrodt, Phoenix Lodge, No. 31, No. Carolina.

C. V. Williams, Aurora Lodge, No. 633.

F. J. Hardesty, Eminence Lodge, No. 282. 

J. C. Barnes, Donovan Lodge, No. 292.

B. F. Ewing, Louisville Lodge, No. 400.

George M. Chesehier, Louisville Lodge, No. 400.

Dan Carrell, Daylight Lodge, No. 760.

Walter Byrne, Jr., Russelville Lodge, No. 17. 

H. F. Rives, Solomon Lodge, No. 5.

F. S. Wright, Solomon Lodge, No. 5.

Ellis Duncan, Daylight Lodge, No. 760.

Thompson Short, Lexington Lodge, No. 1. 

Hubert E. Royalty, Breekinridge Lodge, No. 67 (W. M.).

Dan F. Offut, Preston Lodge, No. 281.

The Grand Master reported that the above mentioned were all of them
residents of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Master Masons in good
and regular standing, under the jurisdiction of Lodges subordinate
to the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F. & A. M., and officers in the
First Kentucky Infantry, Army of the United States now One Hundred
and Fifty-ninth United States Infantry, summoned to active military
service in a foreign land, and said, that, without disturbing their
present relationship to their home Lodges, they asked for a
dispensation empowering them to meet at or near their military
stations as a Masonic Lodge:

. . . and there to practice the rights, perform the duties, and
enjoy the privileges of Masonry, to receive to membership, to
initiate, pass and raise soldiers of said regiment who are
residents of Kentucky, who are found worthy and possess all the
requisite qualifications.

The Master Masons who make this petition have evidenced the highest
claim to all the rights and privileges possible to be granted under
the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky; they have
voluntarily offered their services and their lives in defense of
their country, in vindication of the rights of outraged
civilization, and in protection of peaceful homes, of guileless
children and defenseless women against the most barbarous and
faithless military tyranny the world has ever known. The
dispensation is granted.

The petitioners are hereby authorized to open and hold a Lodge of
Free and Accepted Masons at or near the military stations of said
regiment, to be known as W. A. Colston Army Lodge, with
jurisdiction not territorial, with the First Kentucky Infantry, now
One Hundred and Fifty-ninth United States Infantry. I hereby
designate Hubert E. Royalty to be Master, and I. L. Shulhafer to be
Senior Warden, and William A. Colston to be Junior Warden of said
Lodge, each of whom has been examined by me and found proficient in
the work and lectures of the Symbolic degrees of Masonry.

This Lodge shall be governed by the Constitution and Regulations of
the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F. & A. M., and the By-laws and Rules
of Order as recommended by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F. & A. M.,
and published in the authorized Book of Constitutions, Fourth
Edition, pages 184-190.

All Past Masters admitted to this Lodge to retain such rank therein
as though Past Masters thereof.

Given under my hand and the Seal of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F.
& A. M., at Standford, Ky., this 27th day of August, 1917.

J. N. Saunders.

On Aug. 27, 1917, at Regimental Headquarters of the One Hundred and
Fifty-ninth United States Infantry, at Camp Zachary Taylor,
Louisville, Kentucky, with the assistance of the Officers of the
Grand Lodge of Kentucky, in the presence of most of the Past Grand
Masters of this Grand Lodge, and a large company of distinguished
Masons from different parts of the State, the Grand Master
instituted W. A. Colston Army Lodge and installed the Officers
thereof in person.

As to any work that may have been performed by this Lodge, no
returns having been made to the Grand Lodge of Kentucky and no
Dimits having been brought under the notice of the Grand Secretary,
all presumption is to the effect that the Lodge was dormant so far
as work was concerned.

In a letter from Bro. Frank D. Rash, Louisville, Ky., Deputy Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, dated Feb. 16, 1929, he
says:

The latest sum total of information I have been able to secure
indicates that most likely neither of these Lodges held any
meetings after their Institution. At least Capt. Shulhafer, S. W.
of the W. A. Colston Army Lodge, tells me this concerning his
Lodge. He did tell me that perhaps one social session was held on
the transport en route to France.

This is the sum total of all that I have been able to glean as to
the Military Lodges of Kentucky during the World War. The present
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky is M. W. Bro. Dr. John
W. Juett of Eminence, Kentucky. Bro. Juett was a Y. M. C. A.
Secretary in France during the war and in 1919 was stationed at St.
Nazaire, Base No. 1 in the Embarkation Service. I met him while on
duty at that Base and formed a lasting and warm friendship with
him. "Dad" Juett, as he was affectionately known by thousands of
returning soldiers, was one of the most popular Y Secretaries in
the A. E. F. and a tower of strength to our overseas Masonic
activities. He was for quite a while President of the Masonic Club
of Base No. 1 and through his experience and executive ability
enabled that Club to do a most effective piece of work.

In the course of the years he has now reached the summit of Blue
Lodge leadership in his native State. Immediately upon his
induction into the office of Grand Master, M. W. Bro. Juett
appointed a special committee to investigate the whole matter of
the two Kentucky Field Lodges. This committee is the Deputy Grand
Master Frank D. Rash of Louisville, and Bro. Rash is confidently
expecting to be able to report back to the Annual Communication of
the Grand Lodge this year the complete story of these two Lodges
with their records attached. The story therefore of the Kentucky
Lodges is still open with bright expectations that it will be made
complete so that it may accompany all the other histories of
American Field Lodges.

This may be said of our Kentucky brethren. I was fortunate in
meeting many of them during the war and have made a host of friends
among them since that struggle and I know that they embody a host
of sincere and excellent Craftsmen. There is no doubt at all but
that these Masons did hold meetings and that they performed those
deeds of Brotherly Love and Relief which distinguished the Craft
throughout our Army.

For their own sakes our interest and our hope is that the former
officers of the two Lodges will have that historic vision which
will arouse them to the importance of enabling their Grand Lodge to
rescue and to preserve the records for later generations.

The following notice of this Kentucky Field Lodge appeared in the
Masonic Home Journal of Louisville, Ky., for Sept. 1, 1917, and was
reproduced in THE BUILDER for November of the same year:

KENTUCKY GRAND LODGE GRANTS DISPENSATION FOR MILITARY LODGE

"For the second time in the history of the First Kentucky Infantry,
a Masonic Lodge has been established in its ranks. During the war
with Spain, just before the regiment was ordered to Porto Rico, a
dispensation was granted and KENTUCKY ARMY LODGE, No. 1, U. D., was
organized from among the soldiers, which flourished until the
regiment was mustered out of the service.

"On last Monday night M. W. Grand Master James N. Saunders called
together the officers of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F. & A. M.,
to meet in one of the buildings just completed at Camp Taylor, for
the purpose of granting a dispensation to a number of soldier
brethren who had petitioned for permission to organize a Lodge, to
be named after their Colonel.

"The Grand Master issued a dispensation to form the W. A. Colston
Army Lodge, U. D., and under direction of the officers of the Grand
Lodge it was set to work. The following brethren having been
selected and named in the petition as the three principal officers
were installed by Grand Master Saunders:


Lieut. Dr. H.E. Royalty, Worshipful Master
Capt. I. L. Shulhafer, Senior Warden; Col. 
W. A. Colston, Junior Warden.

The newly elected Master assumed office, and thanked the Grand
Master for the honor conferred upon him by appointing him the first
Master. The following officers were elected or appointed:

Maj. Dan. M. Carrell, Secretary
Lieut. Walter R. Byrne, Treasurer. 
Capt. George M. Chesehier, Senior Deacon.
Capt. Ben. F. Offut, Junior Deacon. 
Lieut. Harris Mallenekrodt, Chaplain. 
Lieut. Frank M. Wright, Tyler.

"Col. Colston, when called upon for a few remarks, made a stirring
and patriotic speech, referring particularly to the fact that the
teachings of the Masonic Order are exactly the same principles that
the United States is now fighting to uphold.

"A number of Past Grand Masters who were present were called upon
by the Master for remarks, and they responded in inspiring,
patriotic speeches until a late hour, after which a luncheon was
served in the Officers' Mess Hall to all present."

The reference to the former Field Lodge of the First Kentucky
Infantry during the Spanish-American War brings to mind the fact
that the officers of this former Lodge are designated in their
dispensation as follows:

We recommend that Bros. John H. Cowles, Wallace W. Morris, and
Fred. W. Hardwiek be appointed Master and Wardens of this temporary
Lodge, to be known as "Kentucky Army Lodge, No. 1, U. D."

John H. Cowles was Captain of Co. H; Fred. W. Hardwick was Second
Lieut. of Co. H.- Wallace W. Morris was First Lieut. of Co. H.

In these names the readers of my story will be pleased to discover
our Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction of the
Scottish Rite, Sov. Grand Com. John H. Cowles, while in 2nd Lieut.
Hardwick they will discover the genial and popular Grand Secretary
of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. They have run true to form and in
the years that have passed each has come to a position of honor and
responsibility, which but proves that the brethren of Kentucky are
fine example of Masonry at its best.

There is a still further strain of coincidence in the two histories
of the Kentucky Army Lodge, No. 1, U. D., of the Spanish-American
War, and the W. A. Colston Army Lodge, U. D., of the World War. It
is found in the person of Bro. I. L. Shulhafer. In the Masonic Home
Journal of March 17, 1917, we find the following:

The next meeting was held on Aug. 1 in the Quartel de Infanteria,
Mayaguez, Porto Rico, in the audience chamber of the Commander, the
Worshipful Master being seated on a dais, over which was suspended
a portrait of Alphonso XIII, King of Spain. The Fellow Craft degree
was conferred on Bro. I. L. Shulhafer, Lieutenant of Company M, at
the request of St. George Lodge, No. 239.

In the story of the later Kentucky Military Lodge (W. A. Colston)
we read: "At the end of the petition presented to the Grand Master
of Kentucky, a list of names of the petitioners." The second in
this list is I.L. Shulhafer, St. George Lodge 239.

In the dispensation granted we find this line: "I hereby designate
I. L. Shulhafer to be Senior Warden."

From these two paragraphs from the two stories we are glad to
present to our readers the remarkable record of Bro. Shulhafer in
the two historic epochs in Kentucky Military Masonry.

J. N. SAUNDERS ARMY LODGE, U. D.
160th Inf., U. S. A., Kentucky

THIS is the second of the Kentucky Field Lodges that were warranted
by Grand Master Saunders during the World War. It bears the unique
distinction oaf having had two names during its brief career. You
will discover the name originally applied to it in the petition
sent up to the Grand Master by the Masons of the 2nd Kentucky
Regiment, known during the War as the 160th Infantry, U. S. A.

The story as I have obtained it from Grand Secretary Hardwick of
Kentucky is as follows. It comes from the records of the Grand
Lodge and the first is the report of Grand Master Saunders to the
Grand Lodge, accompanied by this note: "I am sending you the
portion of my address to the Grand Lodge as Grand Master, upon the
subject, which shows my opinion. The Grand Lodge sustained me and
continued the dispensations until the close of the war and the
return of the Regiments. Upon request of the members of the Army
Lodge the name 'Kentucky Rifle Lodge' was changed to 'J. N.
Saunders Army Lodge.' " (signed) J. N. Saunders.

The following is the story as P. G. M. Saunders told it to me: From
eighteen officers and privates in the Second Kentucky Infantry,
Army of the United States, he received the following petition and
made the following order:

To James N. Saunders, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky,
F. & A. M.:

We, the undersigned officers and members of the Second Kentucky
Infantry (now the One Hundred and Sixtieth United States Infantry),
having volunteered our services to the country in the war now
raged, and being about to depart for foreign lands for active
service with the Army of the United States; we, each of us, being
residents of Kentucky, Master Masons in good regular Lodge
standing, under the jurisdiction of Lodges subordinate to the Grand
Lodge of Kentucky, F. & A. M., not disturbing our present
relationship to our home Lodges, hereby ask a dispensation
empowering us to meet as a Masonic Lodge at or near the military
stations of said regiment of the United States Army, and there
practice the rights, perform the duties and enjoy the privileges of
Masonry; and in said Lodge to receive to membership, to initiate,
pass and raise soldiers of said Regiment, who are residents of
Kentucky, who are found worthy and who possess all the requisite
qualifications (signed): First Lieut. J. M. Harper, McKee Lodge,
No. 144 (S. W.).
Capt. K. B. Wise, Harlan Lodge, No. 879 (J. W.).
First Lieut. Ena W. Walker, Jackson Lodge, No. 731. 
Capt. George W. Jenkins, Whitesburg Lodge, No. 754.
First Lieut. A. C. Cope, Breathitt Lodge, No. 649.
First Lieut. Ura W. Bryant, Island Lodge, No. 743.
First Lieut. Carter D. Stamper, Proetor Lodge, No. 213.
First Lieut. Hiram Hogg, Jr., Booneville Lodge, No. 425. 
Capt. R. J. H. Spurr, Lexington Lodge, No. 1. 
Capt. F. W. Staples, Lexington Lodge, No. 1. 
Major Robert W. Jones, Lexington Lodge, No. 1 (W. M.). 
Sergt. James Bowling, Red Bird Lodge, No. 838. 
Cook, Henry Evans, St. Helen's Lodge, No. 684. 
Corpl. Charles Barker, St. Helen's Lodge, No. 684. 
Robert Stone, St. Helen's Lodge, No. 684. 
W. O. Bradley, St. Helen's Lodge, No. 684. 
Fred M. Curtis, Somerset Lodge, No. 111.
Sergt. John M. Bartley, Whitesburg Lodge, No. 754.

All of them residents of the Commonwealth of Kentucky Master Masons
in good and regular Lodge standing, under the jurisdiction of
Lodges subordinate to the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F. & A. M., and
officers and members of the Second Kentucky Infantry, now the One
Hundred and Sixtieth United States Infantry, summoned to active
military service in a foreign land, not disturbing their present
relationship to their home Lodges, ask me for a dispensation
empowering them to meet at or near their Military Station as a
Masonic Lodge, and there to practice the rights, perform the duties
and enjoy the privileges of Masonry, to receive to membership, to
initiate, pass and raise soldiers of said regiment who are
residents of Kentucky, who are found worthy and who possess all the
requisite qualifications..


The Master Masons who make this petition are the descendants of the
home-seekers who, bearing the rifle, the Bible and the ax converted
"No-Man's Land" into one of the greatest of all the American
States.

Masons of such descent, Masons who voluntarily answer their
country's call to patriotic duty, to hardships, to victory or to
death are entitled to make such request. The dispensation is
granted.

The petitioners are hereby authorized to open, and hold a Lodge of
Free and Accepted Masons at or near the military stations of said
regiment, to be known as KENTUCKY RIFLE LODGE, with jurisdiction
not territorial, and limited to residents of Kentucky in the
service of the United States with the Second Kentucky Infantry, now
the One Hundred and Sixtieth United States Infantry.

I hereby designate Major Roger W. Jones to be Master, First Lieut.
Joseph M. Harper, to be Senior Warden, Capt. Keith B. Wise, to be
Junior Warden, each of whom has been examined by me and found
proficient in the work and the lectures of the symbolic degrees of
Masonry.

This Lodge shall be governed by the Constitution and Regulations of
the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F. & A. M., and the By-Laws and Rules
of Order as recommended by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F. & A. M.,
and published in the authorized Book of Constitutions, Fourth
Edition, pages 184-190.

All Past Masters admitted to this Lodge to retain such rank herein
as though Past Masters thereof.

Given under my hand and the seal of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F.
& A. M., at Stanford, Ky., this 25th day of September, 1917.
(Signed)

J. N. Saunders, Grand Master.

On Sept. 25, 1917, upon a high hill, in the open, overlooking Camp
Stanley, near Lexington, Kentucky, guarded by military pickets, who
stood out of sight and hearing, and carefully tiled by two Master
Masons, I opened Kentucky Rifle Lodge, U. D., installed its Master
and Wardens, and, upon their appointment and election by the Lodge,
installed the remaining officers.

The love and the prayers of a grateful people go with the brave
boys of these two Lodges. They have voluntarily answered the
greatest call our country can make to its patriotic sons; they have
voluntarily enlisted in the holiest army that ever followed a
battle flag. We who sit at home in the place of safety cannot, dare
not, deny our soldier brothers, to the guardsmen of our homes, to
the defenders of our country, the sweet ministration of Masonry in
their shell-swept camps, which we, in places of security, here at
home enjoy.


I recommend the Grand Lodge continue these dispensations until the
close of the war and the return of what will be the two battle-
scarred regiments.

J. N. Saunders, Grand Master.

Bro. Frank D. Rash, in corresponding with me, calls attention to
the change of name of this Field Lodge as referred to already by
me. I trust that readers will note this alteration of the name of
this Field Lodge that no confusion may arise and the impression go
forth that Kentucky had more than its two Army Lodges in the World
War. The change of name was altered, on Oct. 18, 1917, by Grand
Lodge action, in honor of the Grand Master, to "James N. Saunders
Army Lodge, U. D."

In the 1917 Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, pages 110-
111, the following report was brought in to Grand Lodge by its
Committee on Charters and Dispensations:

Two dispensations were granted by the Grand Master to form "Army
Lodges". The report of the Committee which was adopted, was as
follows:

We approve the action of the Grand Master in establishing these two
Army Lodges. We find there will be numerous questions arising from
time to time, and believe that, in as much as it seems to be the
desire of the Craft to maintain Army Lodges, these two Lodges be
continued under dispensation.

Your Committee is of the opinion that it would not be wise at this
time to take further action. Your Committee feels that inasmuch as
these Army Lodges remain under dispensation and therefore under
control of the Grand Master, the incoming Grand Master be left free
to handle as to any questions (sic.) arising in the future
concerning territory, designation of Army unit to which the Lodge
may be attached, and any other questions which may arise.

We are in a state of war, conditions are changing daily, and we
feel the incoming Grand Master should not be hampered by
instructions and restrictions, but should be at liberty to use his
judgment in handling Army Lodges during the War. We recommend that
dual membership be allowed in the ease of the members of these or
any other Army Lodges which later may be established for the
duration of the war only, and that the members of these or any
other Army Lodges which later may be established for the duration
of the war only, and that the members of any Army Lodge under the
jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge be allowed to retain membership in
their home Lodges.

Just this word in closing. W. Bro. Fred Hardwick has been
indefatigable in his cooperation with me in the securing of the
data for this story. He is most desirous of recovering for the
records of his Grand Lodge the records and books and papers of the
two Kentucky Field Lodges. And although ten years have passed and
more since the Lodges functioned, surely among the former officers
of these Lodges there may yet remain brothers who will deem it
their duty and privilege to reduce to writing and to forward the
same to their Grand Lodge Officers, the story of the Lodges as they
recall them.

There are bright prospects that this happy consummation is just
before Bro. Rash as he labors in fulfilling the responsibility the
Grand Master has laid upon him, and we are all looking forward
eagerly to the next annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky
when a special order of the day will demonstrate a splendid
ceremony as the lost is found and fitted into the Arch of the
Kentucky Grand Lodge.
