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A History of Dodge County Lodge #72: Free & Accepted Masons

by Richard L. Larson

568 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-2683; ISBN 1-4251-0925-X; US$34.50, C$39.67, EUR28.34, £19.84

The 150 year history of a Masonic Lodge in diary form from 1856 to 2006.

About the Book

This book is a condensed version of an eight hundred plus page book that describes in certain detail the happenings of this Wisconsin Masonic lodge in the 150 year period of its existence.

This condensed version is made up of over five hundred pages. It does not remove any of the story lines of the original unabridged version but just removes mostly, the names of officers, elected and appointed, throughout the 150 years. Other instances with references to specific persons that only take up space but do not really contribute to the story that is being told. Few of these names and instances would have any recognition to the reader outside of the area of the lodge that is being written about. That is not to say that there are portions of the book that describe certain people, that may add a historical avenue to the narrative.

There were everyday happenings in the lodge that are described, that add detail to the history of the lodge which deserves recording and to the events occurring outside of the lodge while the brethren of the lodge were doing their work. Some of these happenings are recorded after the passage of every year in the section called "The Outside World in (1856)" and every year to the end of the year of 2006.

There are events such as the Masonic trials that took place in the early years of the lodge, the charity that was extended to the victims of the Peshtigo and Chicago fires in 1871, the events that were referred to during the Civil War and after the two World Wars and all those events that took up the time and energies of those in and out of the lodge. Or the letter that a disgruntled Mason had published in the local newspaper in Chapter 32 and the response that the lodge made to it. All of these events and many more, make up the interesting day to day happenings of the lodge and its members.

This book was produced to preserve a record of what happened during the life of Dodge County Lodge #72 and to provide a record for any person outside of the fraternity that might out of curiosity or of a real interest, in becoming aware of what Masonry really is and what has made it the oldest and largest fraternity in the world.

About the Author

High School graduate, S/Sgt Army Air Force/USAF 1946 to 1949, employee and manager of a family owned furniture store for 35 years to retirement in 1993. Member and Treasurer of Trinity United Methodist Church in Beaver Dam, member of Dodge County Lodge #72 Free & accepted Masons since 1979, Master of the lodge in 1983, Secretary/Treasurer from 1984 to present. Married to Roselyn in 1950, 4 children 2 girls (Linda, Nancy) and 2 boys (Craig, James) oldest 55 youngest 45. 7 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren.

Reviews

"That is a very impressive piece of work. Certainly anyone interested in Masonic history will need to refer to it. And, I think, anyone working in the history of Dodge County or southern Wisconsin is going to look at it for the vast amount of detail in it. This is really the spade work of history writing. You have made a lot of historians' lives much simpler and done yourself proud in the process. I congratulate you on your fine work."

A reader from the Philadelphia, PA area

Excerpts