Suffolk Lodge No. 30, A.F. & A.M.

                                                                Suffolk, Virginia

The Grand Lodge of Virginia granted a charter to Brother Stephen C. Graham, J. Hodges, Benjamin Bartlett and others, inhabitants in and near the town of Suffolk and county of Nansemond, to hold a Lodge in the said town of Suffolk, under the designation of the Solomon Lodge No. 30. The first meeting under the charter was held at the home of Dempsey Copeland on November 6, 1790. Those present were:

Stephen C. Graham                 Worshipful Master

Benjamin Bartlett                    Senior Warden

Joseph Hodges                        Junior Warden

Elisha Copeland                      Treasurer

John Miles                               Secretary

Thomas Adams                       Senior Deacon

Benjamin Street, Junior Warden of Norfolk Lodge presented the charter. The minutes state that because there were not sufficient Masons present to take up any business of general importance, the Lodge was closed during the will and pleasure of the Worshipful Master.

The second meeting was held two weeks later on November 20, 1790. Three candidates were proposed for initiation who were: David Bell, William Lankford and John Lawson.

During the Civil War Suffolk was occupied by Federal Forces and this Lodge was used as a hospital. A Captain Ferguson of Rhode Island, being a Mason, put the charter in his trunk for safekeeping. It was returned to Suffolk many years after the war. Many of the early records were destroyed during this occupation. However, some items were returned from a Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Lodge by the Worshipful Master of that Lodge.