Necrology
"From time immemorial it has been the custom of Masons to assemble with the family and friends of a departed Brother to honor his memory and to voice their sympathy to those whom he loved and who loved him."
When a Mason passes to the "undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns," his Lodge is often asked, either by the Brother prior to his death, or by his immediate survivors, to conduct the Masonic funeral or memorial service, either at the graveside or funeral parlor customarily on the evening prior to burial.
Eureka Lodge has done this on many occasions. Seventy eight instances appear in the minute books, and there are undoubtedly others which were never recorded. Several of these services were done for sojourners (Masons who were members of other lodges), but most were for Eureka's own members.
Masonic funeral customs vary from time to time and from place to place. It is general practice nearly everywhere, to hold a brief memorial and drape the Lodge's charter or altar in addition to any Masonic funeral service which may be conducted. Flowers are often provided for the funeral or a contribution made to a charity, as the circumstances indicate. In Eureka Lodge, it is customary to adopt a Resolution of Respect, and a copy is sent to the deceased Brother's widow.
On several occasions the Lodge assisted in funeral arrangements either by requesting other lodges to ship the remains of a deceased brother home, or in paying for funeral expenses. Other entries show the Lodge extending its thanks to a lodge elsewhere for "courtesies and assistance rendered to Brother — in his last illness," or for conducting Masonic funeral services on its behalf."
In preparing a profile of the members of Eureka Lodge over a century and a quarter, local cemeteries were checked and graves of many former members of the Lodge were found. In the Ridge Cemetery, Martinsville, there were 56 found; in Seaside Cemetery. Tenants Harbor, 98; in Clark's Hill Cemetery, 10; North Parish Cemetery, Wiley's Corner, 35; and in Spruce Head Cemetery, 2. There are believed to be a number of others buried in unmarked graves. In the course of the search, many of these graves were found marked with the Square and Compasses on the headstone, indicating to posterity that here lies the body of a Master Mason.
As a part of the 125th anniversary program, the Lodge is undertaking to clean up several former members' graves which have become overgrown or otherwise neglected.
The first record of a Masonic funeral service by Eureka Lodge is found in the 1855 - 70 History of the Lodge, where it is noted that Brother Joseph Kinney, mate of the ship "ST. PATRICK" died in Liverpool and his remains were brought home and buried with Masonic honors. In another instance, Brother EA Alexander Hathorn, master of the schooner "JOHN McADAM", died of yellow fever in Charleston, S.C. Arrangements were made with the lodge there for his remains to be sent home for burial. It is also recorded that Thomas K. Davis, mate of the ship "CAVALIER" died at sea, and that "a sermon was preached at his home and such service performed as the circumstances would admit."
The final entry in the first History's Mortuary Record relates that Captain Dennis F. Tracey, master of the Barque "REUNION" died in Savannah, Georgia, and that his remains were brought home and buried in Seaside Cemetery with Masonic honors by Eureka Lodge, assisted by King Solomon's Royal Arch Chapter.
The minutes from then on show Masonic funeral services conducted frequently. In the list of them shown below, the date is that of the service. Where known, the place of burial is also given. The notation "S&C" indicates that the Masonic Square and Compasses appears on the gravestone.
| DATE | NAME | BURIAL |
| April 4, 1871 | James D. Weed | Unknown |
| January 13, 1873 | William S. Codman | Camden, Maine |
| June 24, 1877 | John L. Tracey | Seaside Cemetery |
| January 10,1878 | George K.Davis | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| October 16, 1879 | Edwin Meloney | Ridge Cemetery |
| June 9, 1884 | Samuel H. Jackson | Seaside Cemetery |
| August 17, 1886 | William A. Elwell | Seaside Cemetery |
| March 11, 1890 | Jackson G. Watts | Unknown |
| May 14, 1890 | Louis Lowell | Ridge Cemetery (S&C) |
| April 14, 1891 | Francis Clark | Unknown |
| September 5, 1891 | Isaac Fountain | Ridge Cemetery |
| March 1, 1893 | John H. Long | Unknown |
| February 21, 1894 | Samuel L. Davis | Ridge Cemetery (S&C) |
| March 14, 1894 | Simon Pierson | Seaside Cemetery |
| June 21, 1895 | John D. Snow | Seaside Cemetery |
| July 21, 1895 | Enoch R. Clark | Clark's Hill Cemetery |
| August ?, 1896 | Henry Wiley | Unknown |
| May 2, 1897 | John A. Hobbs | Unknown |
| October 1, 1897 | George W. Barter | Ridge Cemetery (S&C) |
| September 29, 1900 | Nathan Bachelder | Ridge Cemetery |
| November 22, 1901 | John M. Clark | Unknown |
| March 6, 1903 | Sewall A. Wheeler | Seaside Cemetery |
| December 8, 1904 | Charles R. Hupper | Ridge Cemetery |
| May 30, 1905 | William W. Ferguson | Clark's Hill Cemetery (S&C) |
| November 23, 1906 | John H. Gardner | Ridge Cemetery |
| January 23, 1907 | Alfred Butman | Ridge Cemetery |
| February 14, 1907 | Walter H. Mathews | Seaside Cemetery |
| July 16, 1907 | Orris C. Hathorn | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| July 30, 1907 | Charles Lucas | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| August 12, 1908 | Henry Dukeshire | Unknown |
| April 4, 1909 | William Dunbar | Unknown |
| April 3, 1910 | William Dwyer | Ridge Cemetery (S&C) |
| February 19, 1911 | George Slingsby | No. Parish Cemetery |
| April 11, 1911 | Joseph Meservey | Ridge Cemetery |
| August 22, 1911 | James M. Smith | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| January 31, 1912 | Albion K. Meservey | Clark's Hill Cemetery |
| January 16, 1915 | John Nairn | No. Parish Cemetery (S&C) |
| April 7, 1915 | Frederick Sheerer | Seaside Cemetery |
| August 8, 1915 | George F. Brown | Seaside Cemetery |
| March 11, 1916 | Thomas J. Wheeler | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| November 19, 1916 | Oscar F. Nelson | No. Parish Cemetery |
| December 4, 1916 | John S. Smalley | Seaside Cemetery |
| January 15, 1918 | George Nairn | No. Parish Cemetery (S&C) |
| May 19, 1919 | Paul G. Rivers | Seaside Cemetery |
| September 28, 1919 | Hiram Russell | Ridge Cemetery |
| November 27, 1921 | Charles G. Crocker | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| December 27, 1922 | Albion Andrews | Seaside Cemetery |
| June 6, 1924 | Samuel Hawkins, Jr. | No. Parish Cemetery |
| August 21, 1924 | David H. Sumner | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| November 14, 1925 | David W.Giles | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| May 11, 1926 | William J. Caddy | No. Parish Cemetery (S&C) |
| July 24, 1931 | Josiah W. Hupper | Ridge Cemetery |
| August 16,1931 | George Wood | No. Parish Cemetery |
| August 27, 1932 | George K. Marshall | Ridge Cemetery |
| February 1, 1934 | John A. Ewell | No. Parish Cemetery |
| July 3, 1934 | Fred N. Hart | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| September 10, 1935 | Warren Philbrook | Unknown |
| February 15, 1937 | George B. Smith | Seaside Cemetery |
| June 24, 1939 | Weston H. Wiley | Seaside Cemetery (S&C) |
| January 16,1940 | Charles C. Wall | Seaside Cemetery |
| November 13, 1943 | Sewall H. Wagel | Seaside Cemetery |
| June 10, 1945 | Frank H. Pierson | Ridge Cemetery |
| June 17, 1945 | Herbert A. Elwell | Spruce Head Cemetery |
| August 27, 1948 | Charles W.Allen | Seaside Cemetery (Soj.) |
| February 4. 1949 | Abraham Benson | Clark's Hill Cemetery |
| November 2, 1964 | Henry Paterson | Seaside Cemetery |
| February 5, 1970 | Harland L. Rawley | Seaside Cemetery |
| January 30, 1971 | Reddington Sprague | Clark's Hill Cemetery |
| April 5, 1975 | Clarence J. Dwyer | Ridge Cemetery |
| September 11, 1975 | Donald Doe | Unknown (Soj.) |
| May 12, 1976 | Erland Swanson | Unknown (Soj.) |
| June 19, 1976 | Donald Pendleton | Unknown |
| January 14, 1977 | Eric Harjula | (DDGM- Service performed by RW Arthur C. Frieder) |
| May 10, 1980 | Albert W. Smith | Seaside Cemetery |
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