Pittsylvania Lodge No. 24, A.F. & A.M.

                                                              Chatham, Virginia

The original charter for Pittsylvania Lodge No. 24 was issued on August 4, 1788, when Edmund Randolph was Grand Master of Masons in Virginia and also Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The original charter names the following officers:

Haynes Morgan                       Worshipful Master

Daniel Lovell                          Senior Warden

John Markham                        Junior Warden

Eleven other Master Masons joined in applying for the charter. They were: Willie Shelton, Frederick Shelton, Townes Shelton, Thomas Lankford, Leroy Shelton, James George, Jr., Thomas Haskins, Peter P. Thornton and Robert Johnson. It is not known where these men received the Master Masons degree as there were no known Lodges in the area other than in nearby North Carolina.

The organization of the first Lodge was held in Pittsylvania Courthouse on September 15, 1788, and the Lodge was active until 1806. The Lodge was inactive from 1806 to 1831, for unknown reasons, though it is surmised that differences arose among the members about the construction and location of a new courthouse. The General Assembly of Virginia settled the matter and established a town named “Competition” which subsequently became the Town of Chatham in 1852. Interestingly, the Grand Lodge of Virginia did not revoke the charter of this Lodge between 1806 and 1831 but allowed it to continue as inactive.

Upon a petition for a charter the Grand Lodge of Virginia reinstated Pittsylvania Lodge No. 24 and issued a charter to that effect on December 13, 1831. The organizational meeting took place in Danville at Roman Eagle Lodge No. 122 on June 17, 1832. The Lodge opened and conducted business on the Entered Apprentice degree from 1832 through 1844. The Master Masons Lodge was primarily used for raising candidates to the Master Masons degree. The Lodge met for some years in a room at Lovells tavern. There were no churches in the town at that time.

Bylaws of 1832 set the dues at twenty-five cents per month, with suspension following four months in arrears. About 1847, the Lodge bought land and constructed a Lodge hall, but this was sold about 1855. In 1856, land was purchased and in 1858, a brick building was constructed which still stands. An addition to the building was constructed in 1915.

There were no meetings of the Lodge during the years of the War Between the States from 1861 to 1865. Sometime before 1874, eighteen chairs were purchased which continue to be in excellent condition in the Lodge hall to the present time. In 1886, the Lodge laid the cornerstone for the Chatham Methodist Church and in 1889, it laid the cornerstone for the Confederate Monument in the courthouse square. In 1902, a portrait of Dr. Rawley White Martin was placed in the Lodge. Dr. Martin was a distinguished physician and soldier and was a pillar of the Lodge. In 1906, the Lodge laid the cornerstone for Pruden Hall, a nationally known private high school. In 1908, the Lodge made a liberal contribution to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria.

In 1925, a large sign was placed on the outside of the Lodge indicating the meeting place of the Lodge, the Royal Arch Chapter and the Eastern Star. During the depression years the membership dropped. At one meeting twenty-six members were suspended for nonpayment of dues.

During the period from 1935 to the present there have been many repairs and improvements to the Lodge hall. In 1944, Kenneth Scott and Gray Sours donated the picture of George Washington.