(See our # 70 Officers page for a list of famous Odd Fellows.)
At a meeting, in the office of Dr. E.H. Durgin, on March 21, 1899, in Westside, California, a group of the local citizens met to consider the proposition of organizing a lodge of The Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
April 15, 1899, was set for the culmination of the proposition to form a lodge and to be conducted in the H.V.A. Hall, Westside, California.
The Westside Hall was also designated to be the regular meeting place on a rental basis at a fee to be established.
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| HVA Hall, Westside, California |
The Grand Warden appointed the following officers, Pro Tem, for the purpose of hearing the petitioners for a new lodge:
H.E. Perks, Lodge #238, Grand Warden
H.C. Mumford, Lodge #52, Grand Marshal
W.W. McKee, Lodge #238, Grand Conductor
C.M. Beall, Lodge #18 (Iowa), Grand Guardian
In addition, the following officers were in their respective offices:
George T. Shaw, Grand Secretary
M.P. Forbes, Grand Herald.
A lodge having been declared duly opened, the Deputy Grand Master and Grand Marshal presented the following petitioners for a new lodge:
J.D. Williams, J.C. Martin, W.T. Baer, Norman Dunbar, E.H. Durgin, A. Neilson, D. Gartelman, Charles H. Smith, and J.R. Johns.
The petitioners satisfactorily answered the questions proposed, and being duly obligated, CUPERTINO LODGE #70, I.O.O.F., under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the State of California, was declared duly and regularly instituted.
The numeral 70 was originally that of Mount Shasta Lodge, in Yreka, CA., having been instituted on August 20, 1857 and existed as a lodge until December 24, 1875. On that date Mount Shasta consolidated with Yreka Lodge #19, Thus leaving #70 open and ultimately available for designating it for Cupertino on April 15, 1899.
J.D. Williams, J.C. Martin, W.T. Baer, Norman Dunbar, E.H. Durgin, A. Neilson, D. Gartelman, Charles H. Smith, and J.R. Johns.
The numeral 70 was originally that of Mount Shasta Lodge, in Yreka, CA., having been instituted on August 20, 1857 and existed as a lodge until December 24, 1875. On that date Mount Shasta consolidated with Yreka Lodge #19, Thus leaving #70 open and ultimately available for designating it for Cupertino on April 15, 1899.
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| Cupertino IOOF Lodge #70 as it appears today. |
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| Members of the Odd Fellows Temple in Philadelphia celebrated the cornerstone of their new lodge in 1892. Once constructed, the Lodge was considered to be the finest IOOF Lodge in the United States. |
