A Surprising History

The following letter is of interest as it throws new light on the establishment of the first Masonic Order in Front Royal.

Dear Bro. Carson.

I received your note and information in regard to the old Chester Lodge No. 61 in Front Royal. We have no records of that Lodge except what information I was enable to get from some old reports of the Grand Lodge at Richmond. Some years ago I was attending the Grand Lodge, and during the evening of the last session I was out in the lobby smoking. There was another brother who came out of the room. We got in a conversation and he said, “Where are you from?” I said, “Front Royal.” He then said, “We don’t live far apart. I live in Warrenton. Your Lodge is a very old one.”

“Organized in 1870, but there was a Lodge under another name about 1816,” I said.

He then said, “There was a Lodge in Front Royal in 1799.”

“You must be mistaken,” I said.

He said he was not for his grand-father was a member of it and he had his demit, which he took out of his pocket and showed to me. I was agreeably surprised and immediately went to the Grand Secretary, and got all the information I could from his records. During the war nearly everything was destroyed. I came home and reported what I had learned at Richmond and we immediately began to arrange for a celebration, which every member entered heartily, and on June 24, 1899 we celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of Masonry in Front Royal. It was one of the big events in the history of our Lodge. We had Masons from all over the state and many from a distance.

Very truly,
        Geo. W. Forsyth.