iBrt’nte QEhtnariJ flange #14 8131’ & @1311 1885 to the present

What a person today would consider adverse travelling conditions were endured by the Stanley Bridge Masonic men during the early days of the “Lodge meetings”. One cannot imagine the hardships of the winter months as these ambitious men hitched a horse, made sure that each person was dressed adequately for the “sub-zero” weather, drove nine miles to Kensington, sta- bled the horse, attended a meeting, took the horse from a black stable and drove home again late at night. No doubt, this was considered to be part of the lifestyle of the era.

Foresight on the part of the men from the Stanley Bridge area helped to establish a Lodge closer to ‘home’. The members of the Mt. Zion Lodge #12, Kensington, granted the “members authority to meet as a lodge to perform the duties of masonry at Stanley Bridge, on March 4, 1885”. The name given to this organization was the Prince Edward Lodge #14.

On July 1, 1885 the Grand Lodge officers met in Stanley Bridge hall to formally open Prince Edward Lodge #14. Refreshments were served in the lower hall after the meeting. The records indicate that the “Grand Lodge officers then had to be driven by horse and wagon to Breadalbane to meet the train which carried them back to Charlottetown”.

Regular meetings were to be held in the local Church (Hall) which was then owned by the Presbyterian Church. The Masons were given authority to use the upper room of the building. The Church officials ordered that services would continue on this site until their new church was completed in 1895. Repairs and an enlargement to the Church was made in 1889. The Masons contributed $30.00 to assist with the work “. . . with the understanding that no porch be built but that the stairway be suitably closed in and provided with an entrance from the interior of the lower hall”.

Between the years of 1913 and 1918, the Masonic Lodge officials tried a number of times to purchase the former church from the Cavendish Charge. Each request met with a negative response as no one knew what to do about selling ‘glebe’ lands.

On September 1, 1915, the Church officials response was that the Members could not purchase the church lands because the organization was not incorporated. The Masons appointed a committee to correct this matter. They finally procured ownership to the property and building on November 5, 1919 for the sum of $50.00.

The first Master of the Lodge was Dr. Roderick McNeill, a former member of Mt. Zion Lodge, in Kensington. Most of the members who supported a Lodge closer to “home”, were also members of the Kensington Lodge. In 1895, Dr. McNeill was elected Grand Master of Masons on Prince Edward Island. Other men from Prince Edward Lodge who have served as Grand Masters of Prince Edward Island include - Edward W. MacKay (1923), Harland P. Found (1939), James Cole (1962), Archibald Campbell (1977) and Garth Gillespie (1986).

To make sure that fires were lit for the meetings, Arthur MacEwen, who lived across the road from the Church (Hall), was hired as Janitor. In 1887 he received $2.60 for doing his work for twelve months. Records do not indicate whether the bill for coal was taken from the funds or if the janitor had to pay the bill. If the latter were the answer, then at the cost of coal being $3.60 a T. ‘off a boat at Stanley Wharf’, then one would suppose that the janitor was in debt. Hopefully, the members paid this bill.

After the meetings it was usual for the men to ‘go down the road’ to the Stanley Retreat for refresh- ments. This was the home of Mrs. Emma Bell who owned a Boarding house. The Bell barn was used by some of the men to stable their horses. The next owners of the Stanley Retreat, John and

195