157 W. Main Street,
PO Box 118
Franklinville, NC 27248
United States
A Brief History of Hanks Lodge*
The year was 1850. The Town of Franklinville was only three years old. It would be eleven years before Abraham Lincoln would be President of the United States. The Civil War was also eleven years away.
What few roads there were, stayed in poor condition most of the year. Transportation was by means of horse and mule power; not horsepower as we know it today.
There were no public schools. The education of the children was taken care of locally by interested people. As early as 1849, a number of Masons were holding lodge meetings in and around Franklinville, therefore laying the foundation to establish a new Masonic lodge. Where the meetings in those early days were held, we do not know, but we would like to think that they reverted to the ancient custom of being a moon lodge. Moon lodges were held in plains, valleys, ravines, or hilltops during the full moon of each month.
We have a receipt dated July 20, 1850, in the amount of $5.00 and signed by Archibald T. Pound to pay for a dispensation from the Grand Chapter of North Carolina. At a stated communication on November 15, 1850, the following resolution was introduced and passed. It was resolved that the Master, Junior Warden, and Senior Warden be authorized to make application to the Grand Lodge of North Carolina for a charter and number. At this same time, the Treasurer was authorized to advance $20.00 to pay for the charter and number. The charter was granted and dated December 6, 1850, and the number 128 was assigned.
As stated before, there is no way of knowing where the first lodge meetings were held, but their dream of having a permanent meeting place was soon to become a reality. At a stated communication date April 12, 1850, a motion was passed that Brothers Garrett Love, A. S. Horney, and David Reece be appointed to select a location, present plans, and get an approximate cost of building a Masonic Hall.
On July 17, 1850, Brothers A. S. Horney, S. B. Hunt, and H. M. Foust were authorized to purchase a lot and contract for the building of a lodge hall. On September 10, 1850, this committee signed a contract with Spencer W. Dorsett and Thomas Allred to construct the building for a sum of $1,350.00. The amount of $675.00 was to be paid when the building was completed and the remainder to be paid in installments. The building was to be completed within six months of the contract. Among the lodge records are two receipts for payment on the building. One is dated April 25, 1851, in the amount of $363.69 and the other is dated May 9, 1851 in the amount of $75.00, the latter one stating "paid in full".
The contract for the building is still in the archives of the lodge.
As you can imagine, the handwriting of this time period was beautiful, but is now
sometimes very difficult to decipher. However, there are a few facts from this contract that needs to become a part of this history.
This very well could have been the first formal school in the area or even in the county. When the building was complete, it stood some six to eight hundred feet east of its present location, facing what was then River Road and Deep River. It was moved to its present site on Main Street in 1924 by rolling the building on logs and pulling it by mules.
In spite of the ups and downs during the Civil War, Reconstruction Years, and the
Depression of the 1930's, Hanks Lodge was able to preserve several things that are
regarded as prized possessions. First, the Bible that is on the Altar and is still used, was upon the Altar at the initiation of Brother J. A. Cheek in 1902. According to his recollection, it may be the only Bible ever used in the lodge. There are still many of the original chairs, some of which are fastened together with pegs, remaining in the lodge room and are used today. There are also platforms, bench arrangements, and turnings, that are used in our ceremonies. The ten and twelve-inch pine flooring boards that have supported all who have been brought from darkness to light in Hanks Lodge, are just as sturdy as they were in 1851.
The continuing sequences of events that surround the long life of Hanks Lodge are so
numerous that it would be impractical to list all of them. There are, however, some that are important enough to report.
In the beginning days of Hanks Lodge, we really do not know when the meetings were held, but in 1868, it is noted that the meeting times were the third Friday, with an exception of the month of June and December 4, which is the Festival of St. John the Baptist. In 1873, the meetings were changed to the third Saturday except for the month of June and December 4. In January 1953, the by-laws changed the meeting time to the second Monday of each month at 7:30 P. M., which is in force today.
* - Excerpts from "History of Hanks Lodge No. 128" By Hanks Lodge Historical Committee
157 W. Main Street,
PO Box 118
Franklinville, NC 27248
United States