82 A Bridge To The Past

Wilmot Valley decided to form its own branch and the name chosen was Excelsior Division Number 114, Sons of Temperance.

The earliest record of a meeting is dated April 1, 1880 and the slate of officers elected at the June meeting, 1880 is as follows:

Worthy Patriarch - Brother Chas. Reade

Worthy Associate - Sister Lucy Waugh

Recording Scribe - Brother Fenwick Lefurgey Associate Recording Scribe - Brother Chas. Waugh Treasurer - Sister Annie Schurman

Chaplain - Brother Bishop

Conductor - Brother Jacob Silliker

Associate Conductor - Sister Mary Price

Inside Sentinel - Brother H. Lefurgey

Outside Sentinel - Brother Baxter

The structure of the organization was interesting, the regalia worn by the officers quite attractive, their titles and the secret password all added to the exclusiveness of the group. No one was admitted to a meeting without repeating the password to the outside sentinel and this password was chang-

ed quarterly.

Persons wishing to join had to have their names presented to the in- vestigating committee and this committee would report at the next meeting and having found them to be “fit and proper persons", they would be in— itiated into the order in the usual manner. If a member broke the rules of total abstinence a charge would be preferred against him for violating the pledge. This was also handled by the investigating committee and if the culprit was expelled from his own group, a notice of action taken would be sent to other Divisions. One of the few accounts showing an involvement in community work stated that a motion had been passed to pay half the ex— pense of white washing the school.

Debates were held on such subjects as: “Which has done the most good, the plow or the compass?” “Which has wielded the greater in- fluence, the pen or the sword? and “Is man the architect of his own fortune or is he the creature of circumstances?"

Their meetings for the most part were taken up with matters pertain- ing to temperance, and included a discussion of the Scott Act or a straight— from—the-shoulder address by a visiting member. An account states that on one occasion a member appeared much m0ved when he told of a wedding celebration that he had attended locally and stated, “Blood and rum flowed like water” and the account continued “some cross firing took place between several members.“ At the next meeting some time was spent discussing the Scott Act.