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Tyrrell Lodge #116 A.F. & A. M. 203 3rd St SE Waverly, Iowa 50677 Secretary --- Steve Palmquist |
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Stated meetings are on the first Wednesday of each month.
(dark in July and August)
A History of Tyrrell Lodge #116
A.F. & A.M.
(Ancient Free and Approved Masons)
1858-2002
On September 10, 1857, the Grand Lodge of Iowa issued a dispensation for the Masons of Waverly to form a lodge. On June 2, 1858 they were issued a Charter to meet as Tyrrell Lodge #116 A.F. & A.M. There were twenty-five charter members and within two years, twenty new Masons had been initiated, passed and raised.
The Grand Lodge of Iowa was established in 1844. Lodges had been established in Des Moines, Burlington, Muscatine (then called Bloomington) and Dubuque. Robert Lucas, the first governor of the Iowa Territory was a Mason and was involved in establishing some of those first lodges. By the time Iowa became elevated to statehood, there were over 97,000 Masons in 27 counties.
The first Worshipful Master in Wavelry was Thomas Downing and the lodge was named for Nicholaus Tyrrell, its first Tyler and the oldest charter member. Mr. Tyrrell was initiated into Masonry in Ireland at the age of 22 and was already a 60 year member at the time Waverly’s charter was received. When he emigrated to the United States, he first settled in McHenry County, Illinois in 1841 but moved to Waverly in 1857 where he farmed and worked as an operative mason. Nicholaus was affectionately called “Father Tyrrell”. He died in 1872 at the age of 96 and is resting in Harlington Cemetery.
The lodge meetings were held over a storeroom in a building owned by Theo. Hullman, one of the charter members of the lodge. They continued to meet in the Hullman building at 109 E. Bremer Ave. until 1870 when they moved into the third story of the Giles Building which was built by T.C. Aldrich, one of Waverly’s pioneer businessmen. It had always been the desire of the lodge to have a building of their own. Nicholaus Tyrrell had given them a forty-acre tract of timber from his homestead located on Highway 3 east of Waverly. The proceeds to be used to help fulfill this wish. They sold the timber land for $2000 and used this money to build the third story of the Giles Building which they could use rent-free for twenty years. This building is now the west half of what used to be Stauffer’s Pharmacy and now houses Love and Lace.
In 1901 A.A. Brodie and his brother build the building which is now the east half of Staffer’s and the Masons occupied the third floor of that building until 1926. That year they joined with the American Legion and the Community Club to build the Community Building which now houses the Palace Theatre.
In 1980 Tyrrell Lodge received a bequest from the estate of Brother Harold Gruben in the amount of $50,000. With other donations from members and friends we were finally able to erect our own building which would be easily accessible to all members – no stairs! This building, located at 203 3 rd St. S.E., was completed in March of 1983. Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, Norval Marks and his Grand Officers laid the cornerstone and dedicated the temple on June 25, 1983.
Since 1971 Escallop Lodge from Shell Rock and Butler Lodge from Clarksville have affiliated with Tyrrell Lodge and we appreciate the support of these brethren.
Bequests in recent years by Brothers G. L. Brandenburg and Raymond A. Norheim (and others) have allowed Tyrrell Lodge to contribute liberally to many projects and causes in the Waverly-Shell Rock Community. Major benefactors have been the Babcock Woods Project, the Waverly Public Library, Bremwood, Bartles, Variety Clubs of Iowa, Waverly Heritage Days, the Bremer County Historical Society and the Bremer County Fair Board.
Membership in the Masonic Fraternity reached its peak in the 1950’s, Tyrrell Lodge is still prospering with over 100 members. Freemasonry is the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world. It instructs its members to live their lives according to the teachings of the fraternity, thus making the world a better place in which to live.
Compiled by: Laverne Clary, Steve Palmquist & Michael Schmitz
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