A 150 year history of Dodge County Lodge #72 Free & Accepted Masons in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin beginning with the issuance of the charter on June 12, 1856. 568 pages.
From the Forward to the book "A History of Dodge County Lodge #72 Free & Accepted Masons"
The story of Dodge County Lodge #72, Free and Accepted Masons of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin is a story that can compare very typically with lodges that populated most of the small towns and bigger cities in Wisconsin, that got their start back in the middle years of the 1800's, when the Masonic lodge was a primary gathering place for men of goodwill.
Many things began to change gradually at the approach of the mid 1900's when competition from all of the advances in the technologies of modern man brought shifts in the every day habits of Americans and made inroads into the membership roles of the Masonic movement. It should be stated that the Masons were not the only volunteer organizations that were having problems, service clubs like Kiwanis and Rotary and others were having trouble getting and keeping members. Even some of the churches were on a downward slide in membership as Americans found many more choices for their time and efforts.
Excerpt
It should be noted that John Robinson and John W. Robinson were father and son and that John W. Robinson was a businessman who owned a store that sold drugs and medicines, groceries, books, and other sundries. His store was located on the corner of N.
Spring St and Front Street in what is now an empty lot. (See picture in picture section ofthis book.) He died on February 7th in 1857 of quinsy, an inflammation of the tonsils and
surrounding tissue while returning home from a business trip to Chicago.
He felt when he got to Milwaukee that he couldn’t proceed any further and died there where he sought refuge with friends. He was also an active member of the community serving on the Common Council of the City of Beaver Dam. He died at the age of 30 years. He and his fiancée, Lucy Newell, came to Beaver Dam in 1850 or 1851 and they were married in Beaver Dam on May 21, 1851. The new couple were reported to
come from Rochester N.Y. although there was mention that he has a relationship with Natchez, Mississippi in some manner or form
325 letters my father wrote to my mother during his time in World War II.
Woven together in a timeline of events of three of his brothers, 5 brothers-in-law, and one cousin, all 10 of them were in WWII at the same time.
