Centennial Celebration

Lodge Celebrates its Centennial in 2003

On Sunday, September 14, 2003, Mill Valley Lodge will greet the Most Worshipful M. William Holsinger, Grand Master of Masons of the Jurisdiction of California, who will rededicate the Mill Valley Masonic Center on the occasion of its 100th year in Mill Valley. The Rededication ceremony will be a public event.

A 100 year commitment to Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth continues:

Fraternalism was introduced to Marin County by Freemasons acting under dispensation of the Grand Lodge of California, Free and Accepted Masons, in February 1868. Acting under this dispensation, that Lodge was formally instituted in November 1868 as Marin Lodge No. 191, F. & A.M.

The birth of Mill Valley Lodge came about in a somewhat casual way.

On a beautiful spring morning in 1902 – while chatting about how up and coming this town of Mill Valley was, two commuter steam trains a day, board sidewalks practically everywhere, new businesses springing into existence overnight – Arthur McLoud told Harvey Klyce that he thought, all things taken into consideration, Mill Valley was now large enough to support a Masonic Lodge. Neither they nor their friends were Masons but strongly desired to be so.

The suggestion struck Harvey as a brilliant idea and he, with his usual energy, proceeded to put it into action. He accordingly rounded up their mutual friends and placed the suggested plan before them. They accepted it with much enthusiasm and immediately began organizing. Soon, a group of twenty-two of the young town's most prominent citizens were involved, including five men who had two years earlier organized the Town's first newspaper, the Record. Imagine their surprise when, on contacting Past Grand Master Stevens, who was living in Mill Valley at the time, they learned that they had to be Masons in order to start a new lodge.

This little stumbling block did not daunt them nor dull their enthusiasm. Not at all. They forth with applied to Marin Lodge in San Rafael for membership. Came a time of waiting and worrying: Applicants and their applications were treated no differently then than they are now. But, joyful day, they were accepted. The "they" consisted of Louis L. Janes, James Newlands, Jr., Samuel Burt, Arthur McLoud and Harvey A. Klyce.

When the petitions were sent into Marin Lodge it was with the understanding that, if accepted, the new members would be allowed to immediately demit to form the new Lodge. So it was, in 1902, that George Murray, Master of Marin Lodge, and his Lodge conferred the Degrees of Masonry on the brothers who now are a part of Mill Valley Lodge's charter members. Bro. Harvey Klyce completed his degrees on August 6, 1902, just three weeks after having received his First Degree.

Thus it was that Marin Lodge became Mill Valley Lodge's parent Lodge. As a token of this relationship and as a wish for future success, Marin Lodge presented Mill Valley Lodge with a beautiful set of sterling silver officers jewels that are still used to this day: Each of the jewels is engraved, "From Marin Lodge to Mill Valley Lodge." Later, on July 20, 1903, in reciprocation and on behalf of the officers of Mill Valley Lodge, U.D., Bro. Harvey A. Klyce, W.M., presented to Bro. George F. Rodden, Master of Marin Lodge, No. 191 for the year 1903, a silver loving cup as a token of respect and esteem and in appreciation of his assistance in forming this Lodge and teaching the officers their duties.

In the summer of 1902, the new Masons of Mill Valley, went about acquiring paraphernalia with which to operate the planned Lodge. They purchased two columns, a flight of stairs, charts for different lectures, three candlesticks, etc. from a Lodge in San Francisco (Pacific Lodge) that was moving into the new, furnished Grand Lodge Building on Van Ness Avenue. Everything was stored in Harvey Klyce's large but finished basement until the Masonic Hall was completed.

The new Masons of Mill Valley saw the year 1903 ushered in with the inauguration of a Freemason and former Oakland Mayor, Bro. George C. Pardee, as the twenty-first Governor of California on January 7, 1903. It was an auspicious beginning to the year.

At this time, transportation across the bay depended on ferry boats: The young Mill Valley Lodge also depended on these boats. The preponderance of ferrymen were entitled to wear the square and compass, and a "Ferry Boat Coaching Club" was formed on the boats were many Masonic candidates and officers learned their work while traveling to and from work - the ferrymen reserved the room close to the paddle box on board the ferries for this purpose since the noise of the paddles drowned out the voices of the groups that met there. Harvey Klyce, the Lodge’s first Master, was taught much of the ritual of Freemasonry on the ferry boats and became the first in our Lodge to be a "Paddle Wheel Mason." Harvey's coach was a friend from San Rafael, Mr. Thos. Bonneau, a Past Master of Marin Lodge: They made arrangements to meet on the Ferry Boats, traveling to and from San Francisco. On Sundays Klyce went to Bonneau's home to continue coaching since Klyce was having to learn in the span of a few months what most men learned over the course of at least eight years.

After joining the fraternity and becoming proficient in its ritual, the brethren held their first recorded preliminary meeting in the home of Brother Harvey Asbury Klyce in Mill Valley, March 3, 1903. As has already been noted, Bro. Klyce's basement was already outfitted with all the accouterments of a Masonic Lodge thanks to the equipment purchased from Pacific Lodge.

At this meeting, the initial twenty-two members chose the name "Mill Valley" for their Lodge, appointed a committee to draw up a petition for dispensation and respectively nominated Klyce, Louis Lyman Janes and Charles Ellis Stocker their first Master, Senior and Junior Wardens. By July 1903, the Masonic Hall at 19 Corte Madera Avenue had been constructed by Brother Klyce. On recommendation of Marin Lodge No. 191 in San Rafael, their dispensation was issued by Grand Master Henderson July 17, 1903. When the first meeting was held under it three days later, however, the officer setup had been changed a bit. Klyce was still Master and Janes was still Senior Warden, but James Newlands, Jr., had replaced Stocker as Junior Warden. Mill Valley received its charter the following October 15, and was duly constituted on the floor of Grand Lodge that same evening. The official dedication of Mill Valley Lodge No. 356, F & AM was held at the Masonic Hall in Mill Valley on Saturday, January 2, 1904.

From a small coterie of twenty-two of Mill Valley's early, distinguished citizens, the Lodge grew through the years to have more than 400 members during various periods of its existence. During the Great Depression, the Lodge maintained membership in excess of 300 members. During the World Wars the Lodge continued to attract new members in great numbers. Even during the difficult years following the 1960's and the Vietnam War, when all organizations experienced sharp declines, the Lodge maintained its current level of membership in excess of 130 members. This is quite an achievement considering that Freemasonry does not solicit for membership: Men have to voluntarily approach the Lodge and apply for membership without benefit of an invitation to join.

A Hub of the Community

Since 1903, the members of the lodge have been active in the pursuit of their fraternal, social, and charitable ends. Mill Valley Lodge’s members took to heart and have always practiced the principal tenants of the fraternity - Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth: Such ennobling virtues, practiced by the members of the Lodge, helped shape the nascent Town of Mill Valley into a community. From the ranks of the Masonic Lodge, came political leadership, men leading in the provision of public services like fire and police, and men who helped guarantee ethics in the business community nearly fifty-years before Chamber of Commerce was created. The Lodge has been a center of social activity for many brethren and their families, and the community at large. Moreover, in less opportune times members have dutifully cared for brethren who were in disposed, seen that those who had died were given a fitting burial, and given care, comfort and relief to the widows and orphans of deceased members.

Throughout its history, Mill Valley Lodge No. 356 has entertained a host of prominent guest speakers addressing important issues of the day. These have included: Ng Poon Chew, editor of the first San Francisco daily Chinese paper, on "The Rise of Nationalism and Democracy in the East;" Mill Valley Lodge member Frederick Thompson, a founder of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade which fought General Franco during the Spanish Revolution, on the state of that civil war; Dr. Walter Morritt on Mussolini and Italian Fascism; and then future California Governor and future Chief Supreme Justice Bro. Earl Warren (at the time a Grand Lodge officer), on combating organized crime. Such lectures have continued through recent times including: Civil rights attorney, Stephen Shaiken, Esq., on the topic of the Constitution and Constitutional construction by the Courts; Imam Abu-Qadir Al-'Amin of the San Francisco Muslim Community Center on the topic of Islam. While the brethren have not shrunk from investigating such political topics, the Lodge has followed centuries old Masonic tradition and not involved itself in partisan politics.

Mill Valley Lodge and its individual members have been active in civic leadership. From 1903 until 1908, the Mill Valley Masonic Hall Association rented space to the Town of Mill Valley for use as a City Hall (Past Master Thomas Bagshaw was serving as Mayor and other Lodge members where on the City Council when the City built its current City Hall across the street from the Lodge in 1936). Moreover, various positions in local government have been filled by members of Mill Valley Lodge: Many men who rose through the leadership ranks within the Lodge took that experience with them into public service. Among those active Mill Valley Masons involved in public office: Thirteen of the first eighteen Mill Valley Mayors (terms of Mayoral office given here in brackets) were members of Mill Valley Masonic Lodge and included Frank F. Bostwick (1900-1902), F. Blair Turpin (1902-1905), Alonzo Coffin (1905-1906), William James Thomas (1906-1909), Harvey A. Klyce (1909-1910), John Morton Jones (1914-1916), Casper J. Gardner (1916-1920), Roy C. Ward (1920-1924), Oscar Cornelius Cappelmann (1924-1926), Heinrick Walter Johnson (1934-1936 and 1944-1946), Thomas Frederick Bagshaw (1936-1941; He also became the Chairman of the Marin County Board of Trustees for twelve years following this term as mayor), William A. Hamilton (1941); City Councilmen have included Kent J.C. Seymour, Thorpe J. Delasaux, Robert D. Huber; Town Board of Trustees have included Alonzo Coffin; Mill Valley Tax Collectors have included Frank L. Hemsted, and Frank F. Bostwick; The City of Mill Valley's first Park and Playground Commission included two Mill Valley Lodge members Carl Fennema, who chaired the Commission, and David G. Hudtloff; from 1937 to 1949, Harvey Klyce was Mill Valley Building Inspector; Tamalpais High School Trustees have included Clinton Folger; Virgil S. Hollis, Marin County Superintendent of Schools; among Special District offices, Stanley J. Bransgrove has been a director and chairman of the Alto Sanitary District; Marin County Supervisors, in addition to Tom Bagshaw, have included Casper J. Gardner, Frederick Thompson and J. Walter Blair; Judges have included Justice of the Peace Paul Helmore; and state legislators have included Charles John McQuillan (Arizona House of Representatives).

One Past Master of Mill Valley Masonic Lodge was outstanding for his efforts in creating the infrastructure of Marin County. George H. Harlan, Jr., helped establish the Golden Gate Bridge District in co-operation with the Assemblyman Frank L. Coombs, with whom he helped write the legislation establishing the Golden Gate Bridge District. Harlan later acted as the GGBD’s attorney. Harlan was also instrumental in establishing the Tamalpais High School District, along with another Past Master of Mill Valley Lodge, Clinton Folger. Bro. Harlan also helped found the Marin Junior College, and served as a Trustee for thirteen years: Harlan Hall at the College of Marin is named after George H. Harlan, Jr. Finally it should be noted that Harlan was responsible for interesting townships of Marin County to unite their water companies to form the Marin Municipal Water District; he served as that agencies attorney for 25-years.

As can be seen from the foregoing, for many years the membership rolls of Mill Valley Lodge No. 356 was a virtual who's who in local government.

Besides being utilized as the meeting place for the local government, Mill Valley Lodge’s meeting hall became the hub of much of Mill Valley’s early social life. Mill Valley Chapter No. 219, Order of Eastern Star was organized in 1904 and is still an active organization. Mill Valley Chapter No. 108, Royal Arch Masons, was organized in c.1908 and remained active until c.1977 when it merged with the still active Chapter in San Rafael. An example of the community’s utilization of the Masonic Lodge is the period between October 4, 1907 and December 6, 1908 for which it is recorded that in addition to use by the Town of Mill Valley and other fraternal groups, eleven meetings, "political and otherwise" were held t the Masonic Lodge. With regard to non-Masonic fraternal use, when other organizations were formed, they rented the Masonic Hall. Hence, when Mt. Tamalpais Lodge No. 399, Independent Order of Odd Fellows was organized in September 1907, the organizational meetings and initial degrees took place at the Masonic Hall: Mt. Tamalpais Lodge No. 399, and its auxiliary, Blythedale Rebekah Lodge No. 305, met at the Mill Valley Masonic Hall until their own hall was built at the corner of Millwood Street and East Blithdale in 1909. As late as 1915, some Odd Fellows Rebakah activities, such as their Installation of Officers, were still being held at the Masonic Hall. Similarly, when Lamonte Tribe No. 209, Improved Order of Red Men, was organized in Mill Valley in c. 1908, the Red Men’s Tribe rented the Masonic Hall: Lamonte Tribe did not survive past its third year of existence. It is evident that the Masonic Hall was in use practically every night of the week. Undoubtedly, the extent of the activities in the Masonic Hall, and the storage requirements of the various fraternal groups provided some of the early impetus for expanding the Hall that was expressed as early as 1907: That expansion finally occurred in 1928 with the addition of that part of the building that is set back from the street. (Other notable work on the building has included replacement of the original structure's foundations in 1958, and earthquake retrofit of the 1928 addition following the Loma Prieta Earthquake.)

Members of the Lodge answered the call to arms in both World Wars: In World War I, forty-two active members of the Lodge were in uniform; in World War II, forty-one active members of the Lodge answered the call to duty. During both wars, the Lodge invested heavily in U.S. Defense Bonds to assist the war effort. During World War II, the Lodge purchased equipment and outfitted itself for use for emergency service by the Civilian Defense Corps. Twenty members of Mill Valley Lodge served in the armed forces during the Korean Conflict. At least one member of Mill Valley Lodge served in the armed forces during the Vietnam War.

Mill Valley Lodge Supports Community Youth

Throughout the years, Mill Valley Lodge No. 356 has been a great supporter of public schools. From the 1920's through the 1940's Lodge was the organizer and moving force behind public school open houses, sponsoring separate meetings in the elementary schools in Corte Madera, Sausalito, Mill Valley and also at Tamalpais High School. For many years it sponsored essay contests at Tamalpais High School, and a school spelling bee. It recent years it has been a sponsor of the Middle Schools' Academic Pentathlon "Super Quiz."

Besides the cause of public education, Mill Valley Lodge No. 356 has long been active in providing youth in the community with various recreational outlets. The Lodge sponsored orphans from the St. Gabriele Home to the Panama Pacific Exhibition in 1915. Mill Valley Masonic Lodge Brothers Leighton Robinson, Henry Carl Tieck and Stanley Carlton Aitchison were instrumental in the organization of Boy Scouting in Mill Valley and helped make Scout Hall a facility usable for the drill work and recreation of the Scouts: Throughout the course of 1921, the members of the Masonic Lodge collected money each month from its members to defray the local Scout's operating expenses. From February 1937 until the late 1970's the Lodge sponsored a Job's Daughters Bethel for the young women of Mill Valley. From October 1937 until 1989 the Lodge sponsored a DeMolay Chapter for the young men of Mill Valley. Since these groups became dormant, the Lodge has given its support to Youth in Arts, and the Boy Scouts Eagle Scouts, as well as sponsoring a safe annual community haunted house and in the vein of safety, have been providing free Kids-Id's for parents to use if their child is ever missing.

Still Oriented to the Future ...

Mill Valley Lodge joined the information age in 1997 with the creation of its award winning web-site. Since 1999, Mill Valley Lodge No. 356 has sponsored a weekly program - The Mill Valley Masons Show - on Marin cable access television.

In March 2003, Mill Valley Lodge contracted to remodel its banquet facilities to maintain its place as Mill Valley’s downtown Events Center. Lodge member, architect and urban planner Charles Sands designed the renovation plans: Bro. Sands other works have included the recent rehabilitation of the San Francisco Embarcadero, construction of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and construction of International Airports in Tokyo (including the Aquatic Park), China, and Saudi Arabia. The renovated Banquet Room will remain true to the original design of the building, but will incorporate entrances and bath room facilities to accommodate those with disabilities, and incorporate modern audiovisual and computer technologies.

The brethren of Mill Valley Lodge No. 356 look forward to the next 100-years of commitment to Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth and in spreading these virtues thoughout our community by their practice of Masonry. Since more younger men with young families have joined the Lodge in recent years, the Lodge has a wealth of new ideas for its future and for serving the community of Mill Valley and greater Marin County.