FOUNTAIN LODGE 26

Wisconsin Grand Master William R. Smith, Grand Lodge Free & Accepted Masons of Wisconsin, issued a dispensation to Dr. Mason C. Darling, George Beech, Arnold Friedman, W. Perry, George Ruggles, S.J. Lush, James Myers, and John Reeve to form a Lodge in Fond du Lac.

The Petitioners were vouched for as Master Masons by the Oshkosh Lodge. The first meeting was held in Dr. Mason C. Darling’s office on September 28, 1849. The lodge was originally known as “Fond du Lac Lodge” but a petition was submitted to the Grand Master on December 7, 1849 to change the name to “Fountain Lodge”. This new name would reflect the numerous springs and fountains found in Fond du Lac. When the Grand Lodge granted the Charter (written entirely in script) on December 15, 1849, the Lodge name read “Fountain Lodge #26″.

Mason Darling was the first Master, and G.H. Beck and Arnold Friedman were the Wardens. Darling occupied the Senior Wardens chair when the Grand Lodge was organized in Madison on December 18, 1843. He was a member of Madison Lodge No. 5 prior to becoming a member of Fountain Lodge and served as Grand Lodge Officer several times.

Fountain Lodge’s regular meetings initially met in the Odd Fellows Hall. In 1862, the lodge met at Darling Hall on the northwest corner of 1st and Main Streets.


LODGES 26 & 140

The Lodge moved to an upper floor of the First National Bank Building on the Northwest corner of Main St and Forest Avenue in 1873. It then moved to the second floor of a building at the southeast corner of of 3rd and Main in 1889, where electric lights were installed in 1892.

The Lodge constructed a Masonic building in 1906 on the northwest corner of Marr and Sheboygan Streets. The cornerstone ceremony was on May 23rd 1906, and the dedication was on March 20, 1907. Past Master Nathan Giffin served as Grand Master in 1898.