Botetourt Lodge No. 7 A.F. & A.M.

                                                             Gloucester, Virginia

For more than one hundred years, the only early history of Botetourt Lodge was contained in an address by Right Worshipful John B. Donavan. Assembled from his own recollections, Brother Donovan delivered his address entitled A Officers and Members, Bylaws and History of Botetourt Lodge on June 24, 1971. In 1984, Botetourt Lodge requested Patricia D. Gillespie to research the Lodges history. The results of her work were published in 1985 in a booklet entitled “Early History of Botetourt Lodge No. 7: 1770-1800.”

Botetourt Lodge was originally chartered as a daughter Lodge by the Fredericksburg Lodge. The minute book of Fredericksburg Lodge for October 10, 1770, contains the following resolution:

Resolved, that Brothers James Maury Fontaine, Arthur Hamilton, Mann Page, Sr., Mann Page, Jr., Robert Andrews and Warner Lewis, shall be properly Authorized and Warranted by this Lodge to hold regular Lodges in the County of Gloucester and that the Secretary as soon as he can, make out a proper warrant for that purpose.”

The name of Botetourt was presumably chosen for the Lodge because it met in the vicinity of Gloucester Courthouse, which had been given the name of Botetourt Towne by the Virginia House of Burgesses. When the Lodge was organized, Warner Lewis was elected the first Worshipful Master, and meetings were held in privately owned buildings.

On November 6, 1773, the Grand Lodge of England granted a charter for the establishment of “Botetourt Lodge, No. 458 in or near Botetourt Town, Gloucester County, in the Colony of Virginia.” This charter is now in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Virginia. The necessity of a “new charter” is unclear. Thomas Clayton was the first Worshipful Master of Botetourt Lodge under the English Charter. By 1777, the colonies were at war with England, and the Masonic Lodges of Virginia began to discuss the formation of a Grand Lodge for the state. Botetourt Lodge played an instrumental, although somewhat reluctant, role in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Virginia.

There were no representatives of Botetourt Lodge present at the first meeting held on May 6, 1777, because its members did not feel that political separation from England required severing all ties with the Grand Lodge of England. A letter of mild admonition from Botetourt Lodge dated April 30, 1777, was read at the convention. Botetourt Lodge was represented at future organizational meetings, including the final meeting on October 13, 1778. At the installation of Grand Lodge officers on October 30, 1778, Botetourt member James Maury Fontaine was installed Junior

Grand Warden. On October 28, 1786, Botetourt Lodge No. 7 received its third charter, this time from the Grand Lodge of Virginia.

Like Masonry in general, many of Botetourts members provided leadership for the new nation. John Page was Botetourts most famous member. Brother Page was elected to the House of Representatives in 1789 and became Governor of Virginia in 1802.

Most of Botetourts early minutes are lost. Presumably, Lodge minutes were kept by the secretaries at their homes and destroyed with personal papers at the time of their deaths. Also, all of Gloucester Countys records were burned during both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Only the minute books of 1800 to 1809 survived. These minutes reveal that, for a time, the Lodge met in a room over Gloucesters original jail, which is still standing. The colonial compactness of the building gives some indication of the size of the Lodge during that period. Lodge membership and attendance began to wane in 1811, as Gloucester County lost population and influence during Virginias westward expansion. Grand Lodge records of 1820 list Botetourt Lodge as “dormant.”

Although Freemasonry was still weak in the area and only Brother Thomas T. Wiatt of the original Botetourt Lodge survived, there were several Master Masons in Gloucester County (most were members of St. Tammany Lodge No. 5 in Hampton). On August 3, 1857, seven Masons of Gloucester County met to petition the Grand Lodge for a dispensation. The dispensation was granted with Brother William E. Wiatt, Worshipful Master. The Lodge held its first regular meeting under its new charter on December 26, 1857, to celebrate the Festival of Saint John the Evangelist. The meeting was held in the Odd Fellows Hall which Botetourt Lodge rented from Marshall Lodge I.O.O.F. for fifty dollars per year. This building was purchased from the Odd Fellows about 1860 and, although expanded upon, is still used by Botetourt Lodge.

The first regular election of officers was held June 10, 1858. Brother William E. Wiatt was elected Worshipful Master and Brother William B. Taliaferro, Senior Warden. Both men served until June 26, 1860, when Brother Taliaferro was elected Worshipful Master. Worshipful Brother Wiatt became District Deputy Grand Master. After a long and illustrious military service, both in the Union and Confederate armies, Most Worshipful Brother Taliaferro became the only member of Botetourt Lodge to be elected Grand Master of Masons in Virginia. He held that office in 1874 and 1875.

As the War between the States engulfed Gloucester County, Botetourts existence was again threatened. Lodge meetings were erratic and minutes are nonexistent. The Lodge held a special communication on July 1, 1861, and decided to hold future meetings either at Gloucester Courthouse or Gloucester Point, and at the pleasure of the Worshipful Mater, because many of the members were stationed at the Gloucester Point military post.

Botetourt Lodge has met regularly since 1865, its minutes being recorded and stored in the archives of the Lodge. In the late nineteenth century, Botetourt Lodge advanced the cause of Freemasonry by being instrumental in the formation of four new Lodges: Oriental Lodge No. 20, Urbanna Lodge No. 83, Centerville Lodge No. 80, and Donovan Lodge No. 75. Botetourt Lodge also participated in the laying of several cornerstones. But its proudest day was probably September 18, 1889, when, assisted by sister Lodge, members laid the cornerstone for the Confederate Monument in the Gloucester Courthouse Circle. A Program and the proceedings of this event can be found in the Lodge archives.

Botetourt Lodge has in the twentieth century continued to support Masonic, patriotic, civic and charitable causes. Botetourt Lodge has provided space to the Red Cross and allowed the local Presbyterian congregation to use the Lodge building during major renovation of their church. The Gloucester Lutheran Church held its first services in the Lodge. Right Worshipful J. Doswell Dutton served on the board of Governors of the Masonic Home of Virginia for many years. Members continue to provide leadership to Masonry and the community.