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History of Bestor G.
Brown Lodge
No. 433 A.F. & A.M.
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From 1942 to 1948, we saw a remarkable
growth in our
organization, the membership having been just short of
tripled during this period, 1945 was a busy year, with a
net gain of two hundred and twenty-four members.
During this year, 229 Masons were raised. Grand Lodge
Reports showed Bestor G. Brown Lodge as having had
the second largest gain in total members in 1947 among
Kansas Lodges. Our ranking is high in total membership
in the state.
The founders of Bestor G. Brown Lodge must
feel that
their vision and efforts in establishing our lodge were
well directed and has been well repaid considering the
number of men who have received the Light of Masonry
to help guide them in a better way of life in these past
years. Our present officers and members look forward
with the hope that our efforts will 1 bear the same fruit
and that the future holds for the lodge a measure, of
successful existence at least as great or greater than has
been enjoyed since the time of the inception.
During the year of 1950, several lots on
George
Washington Boulevard and Wilma north of Harry
Street, were purchased with the idea of building a new
Masonic Home at some future date. The lots were later
sold and the proceeds from the sale applied to the
mortgage. The mortgage was cleared during the year of
1954.
Over the years, the officers of the lodge
purchased
government bonds, having in mind to some day having
its own home. In 1952 the building at 3755 East
Douglas was purchased from the Byrd Snodgrass
Funeral Home at a cost of $30,000.00. The residence
which was formerly one of the most elaborate homes in
Wichita was converted into a lodge at a cost of
approximately $50,000.00. During the summer of 1952,
the lodge moved from its rented quarters into its new
home on East Douglas.
Our furniture furnished by A. L. Shattuck,
is an example of
the willingness to serve. The altar and general fixtures of
the lodge bears the care that comes from hand-made
instruments in its beauty. The Master's Chair was presented
to the lodge by L. R. Rushing of Vamell Lodge No. 282 of
Tylertown, Mississippi.
When the lodge moved into its new home
located at 3755
East Douglas in 1952, the lodge room was not carpeted and
the kitchen cupboards were bare. The lodge's treasury was
in the same condition. Rose Douglas Chapter No. 475,
Order of the Eastern Star paid five years rent in advance.
The advance rent amounted to $3900.00. This advance rent
money enabled the lodge to carpet the lodge hall and Rose
Douglas moved in as a tenant on May 13, 1953. The
chapter also bought two chairs, kitchen equipment and
dishes amounting to $99.75 and presented them to the
lodge as a gift. In May 1961 Rose Douglas Chapter
presented a 50 star flag to the lodge. The piano which is in
the lodge hall at the present time was moved in by the
chapter and is their property. We are deeply appreciative of
the assistance give to Bestor G. Brown Lodge by Rose
Douglas Chapter.
There are probably other organizations and
individuals who
made contributions to our new home. If so, the oversight
was not intentional, and we are also grateful for their
assistance.
Ray W. Kinzie, a member of Bestor G. Brown
Lodge is
one of the most active and outstanding men in Masonic
circles in Kansas. He "went through the chairs" in Bestor
G. Brown Lodge and was elected and served his lodge as
Master in 1944. He is a member of practically every branch
of the order and was actively interested in each of them.
One of the highlights of his Masonic career was crowned
when in 1960 he was elected Most Worshipful Grand
Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Kansas.