Records show that Wilcox County once had numerous Masonic lodges

Dale Masonic Lodge No. 25 in Camden.

According to the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Alabama, Wilcox County currently has two active Masonic lodges, but at one time, the county had many, many more.

The county’s two active Masonic lodges are Dale Lodge No. 25 in Camden and K.A. Mayer Lodge No. 703 in Pine Hill. Dale Lodge traces its roots all the way back to the 1820s when it was originally located at Dale Town, which is now known as Prairie Bluff. K.A. Mayer Lodge was organized in Pine Hill in December 1909.

With that said, I ran across an interesting book the other day called “Masonry in Alabama: A Sesquicentennial History: 1821-1971” by Joseph Abram Jackson. Published in 1971, this book was written in celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the establishment of the Alabama Grand Lodge. The book’s author was a native of Brewton, and he was serving as the Grand Historian of the Alabama Grand Lodge at the time of the book’s publication.

Keep in mind that this book was published nearly half a century ago, and within its pages it notes that there was a third active lodge in Wilcox County at that time. That lodge was Robert E. Lee Lodge No. 379 at Pine Apple. Apparently, at some point between 1971 and today, that lodge either closed its doors or merged with either Dale Lodge or the K.A. Mayer Lodge.

Perhaps the most interesting part of “Masonry in Alabama” is its list of defunct lodges, that is, lodges that no longer exist. This list shows, depending on how you count them, that Wilcox County had between eight and 10 other lodges at one time. This list of defunct lodges also provides some historical tidbits that are very intriguing.

By way of example, the list shows that Dale Lodge No. 25 was originally known as Lafayette Lodge No. 25 when it was located at Prairie Bluff. Organized in 1826, Lafayette Lodge eventually changed its name to Dale Lodge, and I’ve been told that the name change occurred because the Marquis de Lafayette didn’t stop at Prairie Bluff when he made his famous tour of the state in the 1820s. In any event, Dale Lodge moved to Camden in 1845.

Widows Son Lodge No. 72 was chartered at Furman on Dec. 8, 1846, but closed in 1924. Cokerville Lodge No. 75 was chartered at McWilliams on Dec. 6, 1856, but closed in 1934. Wilcox Lodge No. 80 was chartered at Oak Hill on Dec. 9, 1847 and eventually closed in 1938. Unity Lodge No. 136 was organized at Lower Peachtree on June 20, 1850, received its charter on Dec. 5, 1850 and closed in 1939.

The Rehoboth community has had two different Masonic lodges over the years. Rehoboth Lodge No. 182 was organized at Rehoboth on Nov. 8, 1852, received its charter on Dec. 8, 1853 and closed in 1858. Thirteen years later, E.H. Cook Lodge No. 381 was organized at Rehoboth on Aug. 9, 1871 and received its charter on Dec. 7, 1871. Apparently, the E.H. Cook Lodge reorganized at Gastonburg on July 21, 1893 before it eventually closed in 1911.

Clifton Lodge No. 272 organized at the Clifton community in April 1860 and received its charter in December 1860. According to “Masonry in Alabama,” the lodge’s charter was stolen, prompting the lodge to reorganize on Aug. 1, 1865 with a new charter issued on Dec. 7, 1866. Clifton Lodge moved to the Arlington community in 1893 and changed its name to Arlington Lodge No. 272. That lodge closed in 1903.

Last, but not least, there was Sunny South Lodge No. 497, which was organized at Sunny South on Oct. 3, 1890 and received its charter on Dec. 2, 1891. Unlike many of the lodges mentioned above, the Sunny South lodge didn’t close. Instead, it consolidated with the K.A. Mayer Lodge at Pine Hill in 1925.

The information above leaves us with many questions. When was the Robert E. Lee Lodge at Pine Apple organized and chartered? When did it close or merge with another lodge? What’s the real story behind the Dale Lodge’s name change? Who stole the Clifton Lodge’s charter and why?

In the end, it would also be interesting to know exactly where these old Masonic lodges were located. I would not be surprised to learn that a few of these old lodge buildings still exist today, possibly being used for other purposes or hidden by roadside overgrowth. If anyone has any additional information about the above, please let me know because I would like to document this information before it becomes lost.