The Shawnee Daily Herald. (Shawnee, Okla.), Vol. 14, No. 292, Ed. 7 Tuesday, June 14, 1910 Page: 8 of 14
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"INDUSTRIAL SHAWNEE 50,000 IN 1912/
1
c
Benevolent Protective Order0/"Elki/
•••*•• VT
• lio. 65^
J
II
j :
L. LaPrelle, Esteemed Lecturing
Knight.
Chapman, Inner Guard
By U. S. RUSSELL
Inwardly and outwardly Shawnee is
| distinctively an Kilt City. Her's is a,
| fraternal and social organisation that I
j lives its leadership every day; that
' praotlcea tin- doctrines of Charity, Be. i
I nevolencf and Fratc< nalism which : re
: preached. If not practiced, from the
! pulpiis of the world. Her n is an or-
der Hint won leadership as a socl il j
; organization purely l y the standard,
set and iIm standard religiously kept. {
Shawnee Lo;l;«. Benevolent Protec-
tive Order Elks, No. « 67, is in itself a|
rosier of the men who do things; of!
the en-ain of professional and btis4*j
it.-s life; where prominence and in-'
ti urily are. in a sense. indicative of
I membership and full fellowship in all!
j (hat goes to make ,i combination of
'a siiceessfnl. attaining citizenship. I
| With the real tenants of Elkdom |
uppermost equal rights of the grand j
I brotherhood of man, regardless of'
j wealth, or rank, or station, but fully j
inlbued with the belief that.
"The rank is but a guinea'.} |
stamp:
A man's a man for a' that,"
the Shawnee lodge. 11. P. O. E. has
been made to represent more, per-
haps, than the critics of the order
generally would . "mit. It Is pure in |
thought, in action, in work, in mem-
bership. 9
In January. 1901, n charter was ob-|
tained from the national organization
authorising the organization of e!
lo"aI order.
Looking into the archl.es of the or-
ganization we find the initial officers
and charter members .is follows;
Harry Mewl. Exalted Ruler; it F
Hlamllton, Leading Knight; J. H.
Wood. Loyal Knight; Chas. C. Pot-
ten Rer, Lecturing Knight; lr. S. Hart,
Secretary; Chas. .1 Benson, Treas-
urer; .1. L. LeBosquet, Esquire; H. J,
McKay. Tyler
W. C.
■ .. M;„.. U5 —
order in Oklahoma or Indian Terri-
tory.
From that grand opening of the new
lodge to this day visitors have an un-
completed Idea of Shawnee until they
enter the palatial home of the great
organization.
Here it is that most elaborate of
all local receptions are given; here
il is that the dignitaries of sta \
railway magnates, convention guests,
and prospectors see Shawnee beauty
and intelligence amid luxurious sur-
roundings and in an atmosphere typ-
ical of a true conception of Elkdom.
But the present elegant apartments
of the Elks is unsatisfactory. It met
the demands 01 190(5. but not the -
mands of 1010. Naught but a home of
its own—a building entirely conse-
crated to JClkdom—can meet the will
of IvOdge No. GuT. V
For several years past the order
has planned, and planned and dream-
ed of its future permanent home.
Finally, such men of progress as
Frank Stearns, whose religion is Elk-
dom; J. W. Uubey, M. Aydelotte,
Secretary "Billy" Harnett and oth<iy
declared the time to net was now.
Words were discounted for immediate
action, and as a result the lodge was
fortunate n securing a most valuable
site on Bell and Tenth streets, where
a frontage of 73 feet on Bell street
looks out on a nicely paved and park.nl
thoroughfare, but a few rod- distant
from beautiful Woodland Park, and
a shorter distance from the heart of
the business district.
A building committee composed of
Frank Stearns, chairman; W. J. Bar-
net:, secretary; J. P. Wirfs; ,T. XV. Ru-
hey. John Kirker, Pike Baker, Chas.
Eckford, W. S. Anderson, 11. T. Doug,
las. C. J. Benson, .s elected and
given authority to proceed.
A cottage homo which adorned the
site was removed to available prop-
erty acquired on Highland and Chap-
man, and this will be marketed within
the next few weeks.
D. J. LaPrelle, Tiler.
L. Dean, Esquire
ryler; M OWen. Chaplain;
Becker, Inner Guard. Trustees:
O. B Sheiry, Exalted Ruler
fc'V 'i
■fjn
mm
1If
mm
W. F. Brill, Esie
W. M. Longmire, Trustee
H. T. Douglas. J. M. Remington, B. I
F. Hamilton. ( barter members: Cash
M Cade, C. F. Barrett, A. M. Coffin,
W. 0 Dilworth. Frank Stea . A. E
Nelson, 'ohn Aydeic te, J. M. Aydo-1
lotto, John Ruddy, Phil. Ryan, F. A.
Stone.
With this excellent foundation it
was not a difficult task to muster in
the intelligent, the aggressive and
progressive workers of that early day I
iii Shawnee. A strong lodge resulted
asserting a leadership fraternally, i
land socially, that has since been re-
tained.
Fioin the small band that assumed
the obligation on January 26th, 1901,1
the order has grown to 1550 active I
workers.
li was not until 15.04 that the or-
der felt sufficiently strong io assume!
the responsibilities of a ('ebt neces*!
aar.v to secure a home commensurate
with the standing of the organ Iza-1
tion. When the Pottawatomie build-!
med Loyal Knlg'<t1 injs- cor,,w Broadway and Tenth, was
conceived, the Elks entered into a
lease for the entire third floor, out-1
lining the construction of its various!
apartments and, when constructed,
taking pride in the decoration* and
furnishings to the extent that for
years the Shawnee lodge possessed
i the finest, most elaborately decorated
|and furnished quarters of any Elk,
J. W. Rubey, Trustee and Grand Lodge Representative to Detroj
Mayor Frank P. Stearns, Tru°tee
Plans for a three story building to
be entirely dedicated to Elkdom, were
ordered drawn. But a few weeks la-
ter the lodge adopted the plans pro-
posed by its building committee, and
with an enthusiasm seldom wi messed
in a fraternal organization, began Im-
mediate planning for its ccnetructlon.
The new home is to cost $30,000.
It will be of buff brick trimmed with
cut stone. The front will be dis-
tinguished by a delightful eie ?ted on.
trance, kdoraed with huge colonial
columns, and a cut stone stairway
trom the street. Outwardly It. vill de-
note all that it is to be- a private
home for Elks, so different irom the
usual style of architecture that it
will at once be c lassed as one of
the show buildings of the state. A.
particular feature of the structure is
the entire absence c. any thought Of
realizing, commercially, from its pro-
portions, other than from its own fa-
vored membership. Thus the seclus-
ion of club life is assured, and only
those congenial spirits that ljavc won
the horns are to be recognized as f^
ture occupapts.
The basement floor df the new
structure will contain a dining hall,
gymnasium and swimming pool. The
first floor—above the street—will be
devoted to airy compartments for
reading rooms, rest rooms, card room
| and billiard room. On the senv I
I floor proper will be the large lodg^
Harry Pierson, Treasurer
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Harlow, Victor E. The Shawnee Daily Herald. (Shawnee, Okla.), Vol. 14, No. 292, Ed. 7 Tuesday, June 14, 1910, newspaper, June 14, 1910; Shawnee, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc104653/m1/8/?rotate=270: accessed April 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.