The 100 or so persons who attended the rededication of the cornerstone of the Greene County courthouse Sunday afternoon got a rare and very informative look at Freemasonry as members of the Grand Lodge of Iowa conducted the rite’s cornerstone ritual.
Only three Masonic rituals are done in public – the cornerstone dedication, the Masonic funeral, and a public installation of officers. The cornerstone dedication Sunday was much the same as the ceremony done exactly 100 years ago, May 15, 1916, six months after the ground breaking for the courthouse.
About 35 Masons, including brothers of the Grand Lodge and Morning Star Lodge #159, participated in the ceremony. Grand Tyler Keith Voss of Centerville gave a brief introduction of Freemasonry as a prelude to the ceremony.
Grand Master Arthur Crandon of Gilman presided. The ritual included using three tools of masonry to verify the correct placement of the cornerstone: a square, symbolic of “squaring our actions”; a level, symbolic of equality; and a plumb, symbolic of upright living.
After the cornerstone was tested with all three tools, Crandon declared the craftsmen had “carefully and skillfully performed their duties.”
The cornerstone was consecrated using three elements: corn, an emblem of plenty; wine, an emblem of refreshment; and oil, an emblem of joy and gladness.
School books were presented to the Grand Master as a symbol of intellectual liberty, indicative of the Masons’ dedication to the “protection and perpetuity of public schools”.
The ritual ended with Crandon declaring, “In the name of the most worshipful Grand Lodge of Iowa of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, I now proclaim that the cornerstone of this structure has been proven square, level, plumb, true and trusting, and laid according to the rules of our ancient Order by the Grand Master of Masons.”
Don Van Gilder, chair of the Courthouse 100 committee, planners of the courthouse centennial celebration, then gave a brief history of the county’s courthouses, including the first wood frame courthouse in 1856 and the red brick courthouse built in 1870.
In 1915 a grand jury found the brick building to be inadequate to house the county’s records. A bond issue was approved by voters for the construction of a new courthouse, and ground was broken Nov. 4, 1915. The red brick courthouse had been moved aside and remained in use until the new courthouse was completed.
The stately limestone courthouse, designed by Proudfoot and Bird of Des Moines in the Classical Revival style that was popular at the time, was dedicated Oct. 27, 1917. Cost was $180,000.
The rededication program began and ended with music. Greene County High School students (pictured, from left) Maddie Schroeder, Kenna Marquardt, Hannah Promes, Michael Kennedy, Wyatt Funcke and Edwin Lenchanko sang the National Anthem to begin the program.
The Greene County Singers, directed by Sheilah Pound and accompanied by Becky Greiner, performed “America, The Beautiful” near the end.
Van Gilder introduced the county supervisors, all of whom were present: John Muir, Tom Contner, Mick Burkett, Guy Richardson and Dawn Rudolph. Richardson’s grandfather’s brother, H.E. Richardson, had participated in the Masonic ceremony in 1916.
The cornerstone rededication program was followed by a presentation at the Greene County Historical Museum hosted by the Historical Society and featuring architect/historian Steve Stimmel of Brooks Borg Skiles, the successor to Proudfoot and Bird.
Stimmel gave a history of the company and general information about architecture of the period. Proudfoot and Bird designed many buildings still in use at the University of Iowa, the University of Northern Iowa, and Iowa State University.
He had high praise for the Greene County courthouse, and said what he finds most impressive is the integrity of the building. “Everything that’s been done over the years was with respect to the original,” he said. “The integrity is outstanding; the maintenance is outstanding.”
The Courthouse 100 committee is planning a gala celebration of the courthouse’s centennial in October 2017. Don and Jean Van Gilder, Mike and Dianne Piepel, Chuck Offenburger, Mary Weaver, Denise O’Brien Van, Hollie Roberts, Tori Riley and Emily Brewer comprise the Courthouse 100 committee.
