THE McLEOD LODGE NO. 424 F.& A.M. BUILDING: 1893-1928
The McLeod Lodge No. 424 F. & A.M. Building is located in the most northerly segment of the Joseph Bellande land tract (Culmseig Map of 1854) on Government Street at Bellande Avenue. The Masonic lot had an east-west front on Government Street of 103 feet and ran 195 feet north-south on Bellande Avenue.
The land were this Masonic Temple was erected in 1928, is also in the north part of the Widow LaFontaine Claim, that 237 acres in Section 37, T7S-R8W, which comprises most of what we are beginning to refer to as "Old Ocean Springs". Catherine Bourgeois (1768-c.1845), the widow of Louis Auguste LaFontaine (1762-c. 1813), legated this area of Ocean Springs to her granddaughter, Rosaline LaFauce (1821-1893). In May 1842, Rosaline married immigrant, Joseph H. Bellande (1813-1907), from Marseille, France. He had come to Ocean Springs in 1835, and made his livelihood as a fishermen and the captain of a trading schooner. As a result of his marriage to Rosaline LaFauce, Joseph Bellande received title to approximately 20 acres of land at Ocean Springs in August 1846. This real estate, which is known in the Land Deed Records of the Jackson County, Mississippi Chancery Court as the "Bellande Strip", is approximately 260 feet wide and 3300 feet in length and runs north-south from Government Street to Front Beach Drive. In addition to the McLeod Lodge No. 424, the Ocean Springs City Hall, Public Library, Police Station, the east half of Little Childrens' Park, Bellande Avenue, Dewey Avenue, and the Bellande Cemetery are located on the Bellande Strip.(The History of Jxco, Ms., 1989. pp. 120-121)
Joseph and Rosaline Bellande made the first conveyance of the future Masonic lot to their son, Jean Nestor Bellande in July, 1891, for $50. Jean N. Bellande (1852-1895) was a peripatetic chap who never married. He died at the home of his sister, Zoe B. Simmons, at Houston, Texas. His heirs, Marcellus Bellande (1844-1905), Adolph Bellande (1861-1897), Clement Bellande (1850-1918), Laura B. Bultman (1859-1895+) , A.B. Bellande, Jr. (1887-1897), Delphine B. Ryan (1844-1910+), Azalie B. Reuss (1853-1923), and Zoe B. Simmons (1863-1897), sold their legated lot to their father, Joseph H. Bellande, for $50 in April 1895.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 12, p. 491 and Bk. 16, pp. 611-612)
F.J. Lundy
In May 1897, local entrepreneur, F.J. Lundy (1863-1912), bought Joseph Bellande's County Road lot for $450. Lundy had come here from his native Mobile circa 1889. Here he met and married Vera Poitevent (1874-1897), the daughter of Captain Junius Poitevent (1837-1919) and
May E. Staples (1847-1932). They had a daughter, Virginia May Lundy, who was born in 1893.
F.J. Lundy was active in commerce at Ocean Springs. His mercantile store on the southeast corner of Washington at Government was a local landmark until its demolition in 1926. A Standard Oil station was erected here.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 18, pp. 273-274)
After Vera P. Lundy died in 1897, F.J. Lundy married Mignon Coursen (1877-1957), an Iowan, in 1901. She was a skillful violinist who came to Ocean Springs from Chicago as a guest of Dr. and Mrs. H.B. Powell. F.J. and Mignon C. Lundy also had a daughter, Margaret Lundy.
Sometimes between 1904 and 1909, F.J. Lundy built a commercial building on his Government Street parcel. The structure was a one-story, wood frame building with an
area of 1650 square feet. It had a large gallery in the rear.
C.E. Dees
The first tenant of Lundy's building known to this researcher was Calvin E. Dees (1877-1954), a native of Grand Bay, Alabama. He operated a livery stable and feed store here prior to February 1909. His brothers, Mendum H. Dees (1884-1949) and Clifton L. Dees (1886-1963), were very successful business men at Biloxi and Vancleave respectively. Calvin E. Dees was married to Helen McClure (1885-1937), the daughter of Marstella E. McClure (1852-c. 1889) and Corrine Lundy (1854-1930). Helen M. Dees was the niece of F.J. Lundy, the landlord of their County Road (Government Street) business.
D.C. Toler
In February 1909, Alabaman Dan C. Toler (1876-1939) who may have come to Ocean Springs from Kiln, Mississippi, bought the Dees feed store and livery business from Mr. C.E. Dees. Toler advertised his new enterprise in The Ocean Springs News on March 6, 1909, as follows:
D.C. TOLER
LIVERY FEED & SALE STABLE
BOARDING HORSES A SPECIALTY
C.E. Dees left the livery business in late January 1909, to join his brother-in-law, L. Morris McClure (1884-1940), in his new mercantile enterprise. McClure had worked for F.J. Lundy before striking out on his own. He and Dees acquired the Bargain Store, a large mercantile establishment on Washington Avenue, from J.C. Tucker in January 1909.
Circa 1911, the C.E. Dees family moved to Perkinston, Mississippi. From here, Calvin E. Dees ran a general store and later operated the Dees Funeral Home at Wiggins. Mr. Dees was a Mason for more than fifty years.
New tenant, Dan C. Toler, as horse use declined, later sold gasoline and repaired automobiles at the Government Street Lundy building. It is not known when the Toler
Garage closed, but Mr. Toler did move to Vancleave with his wife, Dora Ramsay (1871-1941) and son, Kenneth C. Toler (1906-1950), before 1920. Here D.C. Toler was involved in the logging and timber business probably with the Dantzler Lumber Company.
A temporary change in land ownership occurred in August 1908, when F.J. Lundy sold this and other lands to his brother, Louis A. Lundy (1876-1941), for $6,000. F.J. Lundy repurchased his Government Street tract from L.A. Lundy in December 1910, for $3500. This transaction also included another lot. Unfortunately, F.J. Lundy passed on February 9, 1912.(JXCO, Ms. Trust Deed Book 1, pp. 328-329 and Land Deed Bk. 48, pp. 291-292)
After her husband's demise, Mignon Courson Lundy left Ocean Springs and resided at London, England with her daughters for several years. When they returned to America, she and her natural daughter, Margaret, settled in their LaFontaine Avenue home for a few years before relocating to Vermont where they resided on a farm in Windham County.
After a forced heirship suit, Cause No. 4066, May Lundy v. L.A. Lundy et al, was adjudicated in 1920, the future Masonic Lot on Government Street was sold by Commis-
sioner Fred Taylor of the Jackson County Chancery Court on January 9, 1922, to L. Morris McClure (1884-1940) for $5,000. The conveyance included three land parcels for-
merly owned by F.J. Lundy.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 51, pp. 133-134)
As mentioned previously, Morris McClure was in the mercantile business. He served briefly as mayor of Ocean Springs in 1933, and was postmaster here several times. Morris McClure's wife, Gertrude Wattleworth (d. 1971), was the sister of the wife of L.A. Lundy, Alberta May Wattleworth (1885-1962).
Morris McClure conveyed the lot to the McLeod Lodge No. 424 F. & A.M. on July 12, 1922 for $700. The old Lundy building which had served a feed store, livery stable, and auto garage must have been demolished or destroyed by fire before the Masonic acquisition. There is
definitely no structure on the Government Street lot in 1925. This is clearly indicated by the Sanborn Insurance Map of that year.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 52, p. 156)
THE McLEOD LODGE NO. 424 F. & A.M. BUILDING: (1893-1928)
The McLeod Lodge No. 424 F. & A.M. was established at Ocean Springs in June 1893. The eleven original members of this local Masonic organization were: George W. O'Neil, Worshipful Master; Thomas W. Grayson (1825-1904), Sr. Warden; Henry C. Havens (1831-1912), Jr. Warden; Dr. Dan Newcomb (1829-1908), Treasurer; William Martin (1838-1930), Secretary; J.W. Westfall (1846-1928), Tiler; Alexander Scarborough, Sr. Deacon; and Thomas E. Ramsay (1845-1934), Jr. Warden. Members were: D.W. Halstead (1842-1918), Enoch N. Ramsay (1832-1916), and Dr. D.P. Russell.
Dr. John Knox McLeod
Many of the charter members of the Ocean Springs Masonic Lodge were from the Vancleave area. They formed their own Masonic Lodge, called Ezel No. 426 F. A.& M. It
was chartered in February 1895. Henry C. Havens was named the first Worshipful Master.
The Ocean Springs Masonic Lodge was named for Dr. John Knox McCleod (1840-1900) of Moss Point. Dr. McCleod was born on August 22, 1840, at Salem, Greene County, Missis-
sippi. He attended county schools and after the Civil War, matriculated to the University of Louisiana at New Orleans which is now Tulane University. Dr. McLeod began the practice of allopathic medicine in 1868. He arrived at Moss Point in 1875. John Knox McLeod was issued License No. 148 on April 18, 1882, to practice medicine at Jackson County. Dr. J.K. McLeod was active in the Masons at Moss Point. He served as Grand Master of Pascagoula Lodge No. 202 of Moss Point and was Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of the State of Mississippi. Dr. McLeod was a member of the Jackson County Board of Supervisors in 1892. J.K. McCleod married Josephine McInnis (1845-1910). They were the parents of five sons: Norman A. McCleod (1872-1879), Frank McCleod (1873-1874), Singleton M. McCleod (1874-1941), W. Scott McCleod (1876-1956), and Ray D. McCleod (1882-1950). Dr. McCleod was a Presbyterian. He expired on August 30, 1900. His remains and those of his family are interred in the Griffin Cemetery at Moss Point.(The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, September 7, 1900, p. 3)
Early lodges
In 1893, the organized Masons at Ocean Springs met initially in the two-story, wood-framed Knights of Pythias Hall on the west side of Washington Avenue. It was located just north of present day "Art Who?-Who's Inn?, the cheerful edifice of Trailer and Sharon McQuilkin at 623
Washington Avenue.
Before the 1893 Masonic Lodge occupied the first floor of the Knights of Pythias Hall (Royal Arch Chapter), it was the news office of The Ocean Springs Leader operated by F.L. Drinkwater. This local journal closed it doors in September 1893. From the Sanborn insurance maps of Ocean Springs, it appears that McLeod Lodge No. 424 left the K of P Hall before 1898. The group then met in a structure owned by Herman Nill (1863-1904) as indicated by the Lodge's history. By 1903, the local masons returned to the K & P Hall and occupied the second floor. The building at this time was in disrepair.
After 1912, with the membership of the local Masonic Lodge increasing annually, it became pragmatically and economically viable for the group to consider erecting their own building. The first serious attempt to locate a permanent "home" for McLeod Lodge No. 424 commenced in November 1916, when Worshipful Master, Brother Walter Armstrong (1878-1945), appointed a building committee consisting of Ernest G. Pabst (1883-1927), I.W. Simmons (1867-1919), and Fred Bradford (1878-1951).
Funding
Possibly the largest cash contributor to the McLeod Lodge No. 424 building fund was J.A. Witty (1852-1933). Mr. Witty was born at Joliet, Illinois. At the turn of the 20th Century, he was a frequent winter visitor to Ocean Springs where he enjoyed piscean pursuits in the bays and bayous.
In 1911, J.A. Witty purchased a vacation home at present day 619 Porter. Witty and his wife, Emma Billings (1853-1933+), moved to Los Angeles in May 1922, from their residence at Whitehall, Michigan. In February 1923, he contributed $1000 to the Masonic building fund. It is believed that Witty's total contributions to the McLeod Lodge building fund were approximately $3,000.(The Jackson County Times, February 17, 1923, p. 1 and December 30, 1933)
In January 1926, The Jackson County Times announced that the McLeod Lodge had accumulated $8,000 in cash. They planned to erect a $15,000 structure on their Government
Street lot. The financial committee planned to issue non-interest bearing bonds to the Lodge members of the organization to make up the difference between the building cost and their accumulated cash account. In actuality, the group borrowed the money to construct McLeod Lodge No. 424 from Escambia McClure Baker Pabst (1880-1947). In May 1928, Lodge Master Malcolm Hodges and secretary Charles D. Todtenbier (1893-1966) signed a deed of trust on the property for $7,000.(The Jackson County Times, January 23, 1926, p. 1 and JXCO, Ms. Trust Deed Book 13, pp. 170-171)
Contract let
The building contracts to erect the structure were awarded on January 11, 1928. The integrated winning bid package sum was approximately $15,000 which included the architectural fees of Shaw & Woleben. This Gulfport engineering and architectural firm was established in 1906, by Hobart Doane Shaw (1879-1934+), a native of Carrolton, Mississippi. Dean Parkhurst Woleben (1891-1934+), who was born at Brooklyn, New York, joined Mr. Shaw at Gulfport in 1919. Individually, the successful firms and their bids were: General contractor-Lovell & Meyer of Gulfport, $13,064; Plumbing, roofing, and sheet metal work-Hamilton Brothers of Gulfport, $1,000; and the electrical work-The Standard Electric Company of Gulfport-$288.80. Local
companies who submitted estimates were Vaughn & Spaulding of Ocean Springs and the Collins Brothers of Biloxi. The building committee at this time was composed of: Albert C. Gottsche (1873-1949), chairman; J.K. Lemon (1870-1929), secretary; J.C. Wright (1879-1941) and Fred Bradford (1878-1951).(The Jackson County Times, January 14, 1928, p. 1)
The planned construction for the McLeod Lodge was described in The Jackson County Times of January 14, 1928, as follows: The building will be brick masonry construction, the exterior walls faced with attractive tapestry brick in the full range of fire-flashed colors and trimmed with white stucco. It will be devoted entirely to Masonic purposes. A large banquet hall or social room on the first floor will be 32x51, with the proper kitchen and other facilities. The Lodge room on the second floor will be the same size as the banquet hall and located directly above it. The necessary ante-rooms, etc. will also be provided in connection with the Lodge room. The floor of the Lodge room will be supported by heavy steel girders, and steel trusses will be used to carry the roof construction so that the floor space in the Lodge room and banquet hall will be free from obstructions of any kind. The banquet hall will have a high grade oak floor with polished finish. The floor in the Lodge room is to be carpeted. The interior of the building is to be plastered through out and the entire structure will be modern in every respect.
Cornerstone
The cornerstone for the Masonic Temple was laid on February 3, 1928. The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, the Honorable James H. Johnson of Clarksdale, was in attendance at the 2:00 P.M. ceremony.( The Jackson County Times, February 3, 1928, p. 1)
Reverend L.A. Darsey and Hattie Weeks
In late February 1928, the Reverend Lowndes Alonzo Darsey (1849-1929) broke ground for the new structure. Reverend Darsey resided at Ocean Springs and was reputed to be one of South Mississippi's best known Masons. L.A. Darsey was a native of Georgia. He was ordained a Methodist minister circa 1869. Darsey arrived at Mississippi in 1904, and was pastor of the Ocean Springs Methodist Church. In May 1912, the Reverend Darsey married Hattie Weeks (1858-1939), the daughter of Captain Silas Weeks (1823-1901), a native of Maine, and Matilda E. Rayne (1830-1912) of London, England. Hattie Weeks was born at sea. L.A. Darsey was at the Pascagoula Methodist Church at the time of their nuptials. He returned to Ocean Springs in December 1917. Reverend Forsyth went to Pascagoula at this time.(The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, May 3, 1912, p. 2)
Captain Weeks was a leading shipping agent at New Orleans. Another daughter, Jessie W. Boyd (1855-1932), owned at beautiful home called Anchorage on the Bay of Biloxi, east of the Shearwater Pottery. The small bayou in this area was called Weeks Bayou from this family. Captain Weeks retired to Ocean Springs and resided at Anchorage where he gardened and raised poultry.
Dedication
The McLeod Lodge No. 424 F. A. & M. building was dedicated on June 6, 1928, and has served well the local Masonic community well for the past sixty-eight plus years.
My sincere appreciation to former McLeod Lodge No. 424 Worshipful Master, Buford D. Myrick, who suggested this research and aided in its compilation.
photo caption: THE McLEOD LODGE (1993)-The McLeod Lodge No. 424 F. & A.M. Masonic Temple located on Government Street at Bellande was designed by Shaw & Woleben of Gulfport. Construction on the $15,000 edifice was commenced by Lovell & Meyer, also of Gulfport, in late February 1928. The building was dedicated on June 6, 1928.
REFERENCES:
Books
Ray L. Bellande, The Bellande Cemetery, (Bellande: Ocean Springs, Mississippi-1990), p. 3.
Regina Hines Ellison, Ocean Springs, 1892, Second Edition, (Lewis Printing Services: Pascagoula-1991), p. 27.
The Daily Herald, Fiftieth Anniversary Biographical and Historical Souvenir (1894-1934), (Daily Herald: Gulfport, Mississippi-1934), p. 78.
The History of Jackson County, Mississippi, "Joseph Bellande", (Jackson County Genealogical Society: Pascagoula, Mississippi-1989), p. 120-121.
A History of McLeod Lodge No. 424, Free and Accepted Masons Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Volume 1 (1893-1928), (McLeod Lodge No. 424 Historical Committee: Ocean Springs, Mississippi-1995).
Court Cases
Jackson County, Mississippi Chancery Court Cause No. 3127, F.J. Lundy Estate, July 1912.
Jackson County, Mississippi Chancery Court Cause No. 4066, May Lundy v. L.A. Lundy, January 1922.
Jackson County, Mississippi Circuit Court License Registration Book 1, "Dr. J.K. McLeod", p. 3.
Journals
The Daily Herald, "Rev. Darsay (sic) Dies in Ocean Springs", October 28, 1929, p. 1.
The Daily Herald, "C.E. Dees, Sr. Retired Merchant of Wiggins Dies", August 24, 1954, p. 1.
The Jackson County Times, “Masonic Building Fund Given Big Donation”, February 24, 1923.
The Jackson County Times, "Masons To Build $15,000 Home", January 23, 1926.
The Jackson County Times, "Contract Let For Masonic Temple in Ocean Springs", January 14, 1928.
The Jackson County Times, "Masons To Lay Cornerstone", February 3, 1928.
The Jackson County Times. “Darsey Starts Building Masonic Temple", February 25, 1929, p. 5.
The Jackson County Times, "J.A. Witty here", May 12, 1928.
The Jackson County Times, "J.A. Witty Obit", December 30, 1933.
The Mississippi Press, "Centennial Celebrated", April 30, 1995, p. 1-B.
The Ocean Springs News, "The Weekly Round-Up", January 30, 1909.
The Ocean Springs News, "The Weekly Round-Up", February 27, 1909.
The Ocean Springs News, "D.C. Toler Advertisement", March 6, 1909.
The Ocean Springs News, "Will Cruise Here", October 7, 1915, p. 1, c. 6.
The Ocean Springs Record, "Sous Les Chenes", March 16, 1995, p. 17.
The Ocean Springs Record, "Sous Les Chenes", March 23, 1995, p. 22.
The Ocean Springs Record, "Sous Les Chenes", march 30, 1995, p. 25.
The Ocean Springs Record, "McLeod Masonic Lodge Celebrates Century Mark", June 1, 1995, p. 1
The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, "Ocean Springs Locals", June 22, 1900.
The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, "In Memory" (obit of Dr. J.K. McLeod), September 7, 1900, p. 3.
The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, "Popular Pastor is Wedded", May 3, 1912.
Maps:
Sanborn Insurance Map (New York)-Ocean Springs (1909)