David E. Moulton, Fifty-first Grand Master
M. W. Brother Moulton was born in Falmouth, Maine, on September 16, 1871, coming from old New England Colonial stock. He received his early education in the public schools of Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth, where his father moved when David was still a lad, and was graduated from Westbrook Seminary in 1888. Choosing the profession of law he entered Yale Law School and was graduated therefrom with the degree of LL. B. in 1897, and received the degree of M. L. the year following. He was an instructor in the Yale Law School for one year. In 1899 Brother Moulton began to practice law in Portland, where he has since remained, specializing in corporation and public utility law. In 1901 he represented the City of South Portland in the State Legislature, and was City Solicitor of South Portland from 1899 to 1907. Probably, however, Brother Moulton is best known by his connection with and valuable service for the Portland Water District which he has served as attorney and clerk since 1908. Brother Moulton's hobbies are farming and horticulture, not by any means forgetting his interest in Masonry. He has a farm at Falmouth where may be found some of the best bred Jersey stock in America, while his acres devoted to raising the rarest varieties of peonies afford for a pleasant and profitable pastime. Brother Moulton was initiated in Hiram Lodge, No. 180, at South Portland, June 20, 1899. He was elected Worshipful Master in 1913. He was exalted in Greenleaf Royal Arch Chapter, November 20, 1906; greeted in Portland Council, R. & S. M., November 30, 1907, and knighted in Portland Commandery, No. 2, K. T., February 22, 1907. He served as Eminent Commander in 1916, and was Grand Commander, 1933. He received the degrees of the A. & A. Scottish Rite from the Fourth to Thirty-second in 1912, and was Commander-in-Chief of Maine Consistory, 1928-1930, and became an Honorary Member of the Supreme Council, Thirty-third Degree, 1925. He was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, 1924-1925.
David L. Wilson, Fifty-second Grand Master
Rev. Brother Wilson was born in New York City, February 3, 1874, and received his early education in the public schools of that city, which was supplemented by three years' instruction under a private tutor. He entered Union Theological Seminary in New York graduating in May 1, 1898, taking a post graduate course in Columbia University and then spent a year abroad in study and research. Admitted to the ministry as a Congregationalist he was settled in Fort Fairfield, Me. From there he went to Belfast, Me., and after ten years ministry there, he accepted a call to the Central Congregational Church of Bath, where he labored for twenty-five years. Brother Wilson is an indefatigable worker and interested in every movement for civic and social improvement. He has been Treasurer of the Home for Aged Women at Bath, since 1918. A ready and forceful speaker he is often sought for public and Masonic functions. Brother Wilson early took an interest in Masonry and ever since his initiation in Eastern Frontier Lodge at Fort Fairfield, on January 2, 1901, has been an enthusiastic worker for the best interest of the craft. When he moved to Belfast he affiliated with Phoenix Lodge, No. 24, and served through the chairs to the exalted position of Master, which he held in 1912, He was exalted in Corinthian Royal Arch Chapter at Belfast, April 29, 1908, and served as High Priest in 1913. In 1923, he was placed at the head of Capitular Masonry, serving for two years. In May, 1924, he was elected Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, succeeding in 1926 to the office of Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in Maine. He is Past Illustrious Master of King Solomon's Council, Royal and Select Masters, and was Grand Master of the Grand Council in 1938. He is Past Commander of Palestine Commandery and Past Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Maine. He served as Chaplain of the Grand Encampment of the United States, 1931-1934; Past Grand Sovereign of Maine Council Red Cross Knights of Constantine. He is a member of the Lewiston and Auburn bodies of the A. A. S. R., Maine Consistory, Portland.
Harold E. Cooke, Fifty-third Grand Master
Harold E. Cooke, fifty-third Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Maine, was born in Charleston, Maine, on October 26, 1869. He passed the early years of his life in that quiet Penobscot County town where his father, George D. Cooke, was a practicing physician, and where young Harold was educated at Charleston Academy. Graduating, he went to Waterville reading law in the office of Charles F. Johnson. Graduating from the U. of M. Law School he received his degree of L. L. B. in June, 1900, and was admitted to the Maine Bar. Returning to Waterville he practiced until 1908, when he was elected Judge of Probate for Kennebec County. In 1909, Brother Cooke moved from Waterville to Augusta being more convenient to his official duties, and in 1911 moved to Gardiner. Brother Cooke was made a Master Mason in Neguemkeag Lodge, No. 166, at Vassalboro, on September 14, 1899, and was elected Worshipful Master the following year, serving two years, 1900 and 1901. Neguemkeag Lodge was at that time the smallest Lodge in the state and almost dormant. Brother Cooke at once put his shoulder to the wheel and infused new life into the lodge. Brother Cooke served as D. D. G. M. for the Twelfth Masonic District from 1903 to 1905; as Grand Marshal, 1906 and 1907, and in 1926, Deputy Grand Master and Most Worshipful Grand Master in 1928. He was exalted in Dunlap Royal Arch Chapter, No. 12, at China, Maine, on October 18, 1905, and was knighted in St. Omer Commandery, No. 12, K. T., at Waterville, on August 1, 1906. He served that body as Eminent Commander in 1911. He received the degrees of the A. A. S. R. from the Fourth to the Eighteenth inclusive, in the Augusta Bodies, and from the Nineteenth to the Thirty-second, inclusive, in Maine Consistory at Portland, in 1909. Brother Cooke was a member of the Maine Society of the Sons of American Revolution. Brother Cooke was an Episcopalian in his religious affiliation, a Senior Warden in Christ Church Parish in Gardiner. Our M. W. Grand Master Cooke was married on September 16, 1895, to Miss Alberta Fayette Parkhurst and the union was blessed with the birth of three sons. He died December 1, 1940.
Cyrus N. Blanchard, Fifty-fourth Grand Master
Brother Blanchard was born in the town of Wilton on October 6, 1869, and has ever since resided there except for three years when he was teaching as principal of the Dexter High School. He was born of old Colonial stock; attended the public schools of Wilton, then went to Anson Academy at North Anson, from which institution he was graduated in 1888. The following fall he entered Bates College and was graduated therefrom in the class of 1892. He taught school and read law during the next four years, was admitted to the bar in 1896, and then opened an office in his native town. He has ever taken a deep interest in public affairs and state politics, enjoying the deepest confidence of his fellow citizens who elected him as their Representative in Legislature in 1897, and as State Senator from Franklin County in 1899. He served as County Attorney from 1907 to 1912 and was a member of the Governor's Council in 1895 and 1896. He was President of the Maine Bar Association in 1919-20, and has been a Director of the Wilton Trust and Banking Co. since its organization. Brother Blanchard was made a Mason in Wilton Lodge, No. 156, on August 19, 1891. He received the Capitular degrees in St. John's Chapter at Dexter, in March, 1894, while there teaching, and was knighted in St. John's Commandery, in Bangor, November 5, 1894. Returning to Wilton he affiliated with Franklin Chapter and Pilgrim Commandery at Farmington and served as High Priest in 1918, and Eminent Commander in 1909 and 1910. He was Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Maine in 1923. He received the Cryptic degrees in Jephthah Council and served as Illustrious Master in 1897. In 1919 he was appointed Grand Steward of the Grand Council and by successive appointment and election reached the high position of Most Illustrious Grand Master in 1925. He received the degrees of the A. and A. Scottish Rite, to and including the Thirty-second Degree, in 1915. He was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, 1930-1931, and administered the affairs of the fraternity in a manner to win the unanimous approbation of his brethren and distinct honor for himself.
Ernest C. Butler, Fifty-fifth Grand Master
Brother Butler was born in the town of Avon, Maine, on March 17, 1872, the son of Benjamin Butler and Susan Hilton (Badger) Butler. He graduated from Phillips High School in 1887 and from Farmington Normal School in 1892. He taught school during the following six years and then entered the University of Maine School of Law, from which he graduated in 1901. He was admitted to the Bar in 1901, and has since been engaged in the practice of law in Skowhegan, Maine. He went overseas with the Young Men's Christian Association during World War I, and served with the Second Division in the front line. Brother Butler was made a Mason in Blue Mountain Lodge, No. 67, at Phillips, on Decem- <sic> 6, 1893. He demitted from this lodge and affiliated with Somerset Lodge, No. 34, at Skowhegan, on March 17, 1902. He was made a Royal Arch Mason in Somerset Chapter, No. 15, at Skowhegan, on May 30, 1902, and Royal and Select Master in Mount Moriah Council, No. 10, at Skowhegan, on March 29, 1911. He was knighted in DeMolay Commandery, No. 10, at Skowhegan, on December 6, 1917. He served as Senior Deacon of Blue Mountain Lodge in 1896, and was Worshipful Master of Somerset Lodge in 1908, High Priest of Somerset Chapter in 1909-1910. Thrice Illustrious Master of Mount Moriah Council in 1914, and Eminent Commander of DeMolay Commandery in 1929. He is a member of Maine Council Order of High Priesthood, Past Officers' Association and Kora Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. Brother Butler was District Deputy Grand Master of the Thirteenth Masonic District in 1912 and 1913, and again in 1928 and 1929. He was appointed Grand Senior Deacon in 1916 and 1917, and was elected Deputy Grand Master in 1930 and 1931. He was elected Most Worshipful Grand Master in May, 1932. Bro. Butler has been a Mason for more than fifty years and during most of that time has actively served as an officer of some Masonic body.
Clark D. Chapman, Fifty-sixth Grand Master
Clark Drummond Chapman, the fifty-sixth brother who had been called to lead the Craft in this Grand Jurisdiction, was a worthy successor of the twenty-second Grand Master whose name he bears, and whose grandson he is. Born in the City of Portland on September 5, 1888, the son of Wilford G. and Tinnie A. (Drummond) Chapman, educated in the public schools of Portland, Colby College and Harvard Law School, he followed in the steps of a distinguished ancestry, and in 1912 was admitted to the Cumberland County Bar. He was raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason in Ancient Land-Mark Lodge, No. 17, on November 11, 1910; received the Capitular Degrees in Greenleaf Chapter, No. 13, in 1920; the Cryptic Degrees in Portland Council, No. 4, in 1921; and was knighted in Portland Commandery, No. 2, on June 8, 1920. He was Worshipful Master of his Lodge in 1921, and Commander of his Commandery in 1929. He became a member of the A. A. S. R. in 1921, and was elected Commander-in-Chief of Maine Consistory in 1934, and an Honorary Member of the Supreme Council in 1935. He served as an appointed officer in the Grand Lodge for nine years, from 1923 to 1932, when he was elected Deputy Grand Master. His outstanding work, up to this time, had been as a member of the Committee on Grievances and Appeals. The reports of this committee, written by him are models of excellency. On his election as Grand Master, he entered upon the discharge of the duties of his office with vigor, and few, if any of his predecessors have more strenuously conducted the affairs of the Grand Lodge. That his efforts were highly appreciated was shown by the kindly reception he received in the many lodges he has visited, as well as the hearty response which has been made to his every proposition. It is needless to say that he was unanimously chosen by his brethren to be their leader for another year.
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