Albany Lodge #24 F&AM

07/14/2013

Don't forget tomorrow night at 6:30pm Family Night dinner. Followed by a program by Brother Donald Combs. We will be honoring all Past Masters, 50 year Masons, Emeritus Masons and Masonic Widows. Please come and be with us.

07/03/2013

July 2, 1863 -- One hundred fifty years ago today.

Confederate General Lewis Addison Armistead (a Freemason) led his brigade to Gettysburg. The following day he was shot twice, and as he went down he gave a Masonic sign asking for assistance. A fellow Mason, a Union officer named Henry H. Bingham, then a Captain, later a higher officer and then a very influential Congressman, came to Armistead’s assistance and offered to help. Armistead reportedly asked to see and talk with his friend General Hancock, but he was told that Hancock had been very badly wounded just a few minutes earlier. Union Brother Bingham then helped Confederate Brother Armistead off the field and to a hospital, but Armistead died two days later. General Hancock, to the surprise of many, recovered and resumed his command later in the Civil War.

This incident, of a Freemason who was a Union officer helping a Freemason who was a wounded Confederate officer, is one of the greatest examples of the ideals of Freemasonry in action. In 1993, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania completed and dedicated a monument on the Gettysburg National Cemetery, with the cooperation and support of the United States government, that shows Brother Bingham, a Union officer, assisting Brother Armistead. This statue is extremely dramatic, and it is called the "Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial."

05/14/2013

04/22/2013

R.I.P. Brother

04/21/2013

Gary D. Lemmons
For my Masonic brethren...I have just learned that Most Worshipful Brother James E. Miller, Past Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the State of Georgia (1999), passed away last evening (Sat. Apr. 20, 2013). M. W. Brother Jim was a distinguished Freemason and a Christian gentleman, and we shall all miss his words of counsel and comfort. Please remember his lovely wife, Miss Liz, and the family in your prayers.

03/03/2013

Michael Karpovage wrote:

An excellent Masonic story from the Civil War, written by John Howey:

L.J. Williams of Harvard, New York, enlisted in the 114th New York Volunteers at the beginning of the Civil War. He received the Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft Degrees in Downsville Lodge No. 464 prior to his leaving home.

Later during the war he was captured and imprisoned near Savannah, Georgia. While in the prison, he communicated with his friends in the North. His lodge in New York through the proper officials got in touch with Zerubbabel Lodge in Savannah and stated that they would consider it a favor if the lodge in Savannah would confer the Third Degree on the Fellowcraft Brother Williams.

One night Brother Williams was taken from the prison and conducted to the lodge room in Savannah. He only had his blue tattered uniform to wear, a token of his sympathy with the cause he believed in. The officers of the lodge were all in Confederate gray. Although on opposite sides in the struggle going on on the battlefields of the South, they were all Brethren. He was then and there raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason and acclaimed a full Brother and friend to those who wore the gray.

Later that night Brother Williams escaped. When asked about his escape he would "smile peculiarly. You might put it down as an escape, but it wasn't an escape strictly speaking. They put me in a boat and carried me off some distance. Then they deposited me on neutral soil between the lines." From there Williams was able to find his friends. Williams never knew who exactly helped him escape. He considered it as their secret and it was never disclosed. Williams stated: "I know exactly to whom I may attribute my escape, His name is Hiram."

02/12/2013

Albany Lodge #24 will be dark next Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

01/27/2013

I have just received the following message from M.W. Brother Bobby Simmons:

“It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of the passing of Anita Horne the beloved wife of Past Grand Master C. E. “Buster” Horne. Arrangements are unknown at this time and will be provided as soon as available. Please keep Buster and his family in your prayers when upon bended knee.”

01/07/2013

William E. (Bill) Maxwell
September 16, 1939 - January 4, 2013
William E. (Bill) Maxwell, 73, of Albany, GA died January 4, 2013 at his residence. Funeral services will be held Monday at 11:00 AM at Mathews Funeral Home. Rev. Bobby Moye will officiate. Entombment will follow at Crown Hill Cemetery.

A native of Albany, GA, born to the late Leon and Ethel Maxwell, Mr. Maxwell attended Albany Schools and graduated from Albany High School in 1958. He lived in Lee County, GA for forty years before returning to Albany, GA in 1998.

He and his family owned and operated Albany Welding since 1937 until his retirement in 2007. Mr. Maxwell was a member of Albany Lodge # 24 F & AM, a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, a York Rite Mason and a member of Hasan Shriners. He served as Potentate of Hasan Shrine Center in 1988, he was a member of the Directors Staff and was also a member and past director of The Royal Order of The Jesters Court # 159.

Survivors include his wife of fifty three years, Marideane Melton Maxwell of Albany, GA, a son and his wife, Bill E. and Jo Beth Maxwell, Jr. of Worth County, GA, two daughters, Kimberly Maxwell and Penny Williams and her husband, Charlie all of Lee County, GA, his grandchildren, Clint Garrett of Lee County, GA, Lacie Noe and her husband, Jeremy of Kennesaw, GA, Melanie Agentis and her husband, Nate of North Hampton, PA, Nathan Williams of Slydell, LA, Dalton Williams and Joele Maxwell of Lee County, GA, Cole Maxwell, Cade Maxwell both of Worth County, GA, four great-grandchildren, Lola Agentis, Logan Agentis, Riley Agentis and Daegan Williams, two sisters, Loretta Maxwell Daniels of Albany, GA and Marilyn Maxwell Kramer, of Tallahassee, FL, two brothers and their wives, John and Gail Maxwell of Lake Mary, FL and Charlie and Tricia Maxwell of Lee County, GA and a sister-in-law, Evelyn T. Maxwell, wife of the late Joseph (Joe) Maxwell, of Shalimar, FL.

The family will receive friends Sunday from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM at Mathews Funeral Home.

Those desiring may make contributions to the Hasan Shriners Transportation Fund c/o Hasan Shrine Center, 1822 Palmyra Rd, Albany, GA 31701. Or Albany Community Hospice, 320 Foundation Lane, Albany, GA, 31707.

Mathews Funeral Home
229-435-5657

12/24/2012

From the Officers and Members of Albany Lodge #24 F&AM, Merry Christmas.

12/04/2012

Congrats to 2013 Officers elected tonight.
WM: Andy Jernigan
SW: Gene Jernigan
JW: Tony Stevens
Treasurer: Robert Wells
Secretary: Sam Lee
SD: Bo Lane
JD: John Frazier
SS: Ashley Helton
JS: Bill Buntin Jr.
Chaplain: Bill Pressley
Tyler: Ronnie Keel
Masonic Home Ambassador: Gene Jernigan
Director of Work: Sam Lee

Installation will be on December 15 at noon by Grand Master Ray Knittel

10/22/2012

Sympathy goes out to Brother James Vanzant in the loss of his brother Charles today. Charles had suffered with MS for many years.