M.W. Luke Adolphus Lockwood 1872-1873

Luke Adolphus Lockwood

The Solon of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, Luke Adolphus Lockwood, was born at Riverside, December 1, 1833, in the house in which he died. His early education was in the public schools and academy at Greenwich where he prepared for college. He entered Trinity College in 1851 and graduated in 1855. In early life he became a member of Christ Church at Greenwich. In 1875 he started a mission at Riverside which subsequently became the present St. Paul Parish. For many years he officiated as lay reader, until the parish was able to sustain a Rector, was its Senior Warden until his death, an active member at the conventions of his diocese, and an earnest and devoted churchman. In 1890 he was elected Trustee of Trinity College, which office he held during life.

At the close of his college course he took up the profession of the law, was admitted to the bar in 1856 and remained in active practice until his death. .

He was raised in Union Lodge, No.5, at Stamford, January 16, 1856. In 1858 he became a charter member of Acacia Lodge, No. 85, at Greenwich, and was its first Master, continuing in office for ten years. May 9, 1872, he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut from the floor, a very rare occurrence, the only other instance being in 1816 when His Excellency, Oliver Wolcott, who, the same year, had been elected Governor, was elected Grand Master without having served in any other station. It was at this time that he was deeply imbued with the practical meaning of Masonic charity. He ably presented the subject in his address before the Grand Lodge and his persistent efforts finally led to the establishing of the Masonic Home, located at Wallingford and dedicated September 25, 1895.

May 9, 1865, he was elected Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter and re-elected in 1866. His administration was distinguished for ability and a high moral tone, leaving the impress of a master's hand upon every page of its history more enduring than marble.

During almost the entire connection of Brother Lockwood with these Grand Bodies, he was honored as Chairman of the Committee on Jurisprudence, and his legal mind wrought order out of chaos, furnishing for the government of the Craft a system of Masonic law unexcelled by that of any jurisdiction. He was the author of Lockwood’s Masonic Law and Practice, a most valuable handbook of jurisprudence which has been adopted as authority of the Grand Bodies of Connecticut, and is recognized as a standard work throughout the country.

To Freemasonry in Connecticut he has been a tower of strengths Father in Israel-and his influence has been the means, to a great extent, of laying the foundations of the Order in Connecticut on a broad, deep and enduring basis.

His death occurred November 20, 1905, and the Masonic service was impressively rendered by Past Grand Master John H. Barlow. His picture appears in the 1892 and 1906 Proceedings.