By Brete Murphy · November 11, 2026
Two companion sidebars for The Seven Lodges: a Ridgewood pastor connected with Tadmor’s neighborhood life, and a former Grand Master who presided at Advance’s temple dedication.
Connecting Stories: Complete Guide · The Seven Lodges
The Pastor in the Chaplain’s Chair
Rev. Arthur B. Rhinow and Tadmor Lodge
A February 1921 officer list identifies the Rev. Arthur B. Rhinow as chaplain of Tadmor Lodge No. 923.
He was also the pastor of Ridgewood Presbyterian Church at Forest and Halleck Avenues, near Tadmor’s first temple at Fresh Pond Road and Halleck Avenue.[1]
Those roles connected two neighborhood institutions.
Newspaper accounts describe Tadmor members and associated Eastern Star and Amaranth participants attending services at Rhinow’s church.
Coverage of the May 1923 occasion reported approximately five hundred present. A May 1925 notice records another service with Rhinow preaching.[2]
These references establish particular gatherings, not necessarily an uninterrupted annual custom.
They also show that some of the lodge’s most visible occasions took place outside its own rooms.
Rhinow’s participation extended beyond the service program.
When a Tadmor founder identified in the supplied clippings as Sanntrock died in May 1925, Rhinow conducted the funeral. The man’s full name still requires confirmation.[3]
A 1929 reference connects Rhinow with the Ridgewood chapter of DeMolay.
In April 1934, coverage placed Tadmor and Ridgewood Presbyterian among the organizations associated with a musical comedy at the Labor Lyceum, alongside Turn Verein Vorwaerts and others.[4][5]
The records do not establish how Rhinow understood the relationship between church and lodge.
They do establish repeated cooperation through worship, funeral observance, youth activity and entertainment.
His chaplaincy should not, by itself, be treated as a complete membership history.
His own lodge affiliation, the dates of his pastorate and his earlier career remain to be documented.
For the Tadmor story, the connection is already useful: the lodge’s neighborhood life reached beyond the temple, and one pastor appears repeatedly where those institutions met.
Read Tadmor: One Charter, Many Rooms →
Read One Hall in Ridgewood: Tadmor Temple →
Read Edward J. Smith: Mr. Mason of Queens →
The Judge at the Dedication
Townsend Scudder and the Advance Temple
Advance’s temple history identifies Townsend Scudder as presiding at the dedication of its Grand Avenue building under the authority of Grand Master Thomas C. Penny.
The author’s transcription gives November 14, 1916.
Because that passage is garbled, the precise date should remain provisional until checked against contemporary coverage.[6]
The occasion was separate from Advance’s November 1915 cornerstone ceremony.
It marked the dedication of a completed temple after decades in rented premises.
Scudder brought two public identities to the event.
He was a former Grand Master of New York and a sitting justice of the State Supreme Court.
The supplied judicial history places his first period on that court between 1907 and 1920. The biographical references identify his Grand Mastership with 1906–1907.[7][8]
Those offices explain his place in the story more directly than a full account of his political and judicial career.
He represented experience in both Masonic administration and public service.
The dedication account should nevertheless control the description of what he actually did that evening.
Without a clear transcription, the sidebar should not assign each ritual action—such as the handling of corn, wine and oil—to Scudder personally.
Nor does his presence establish why the building later remained in Masonic use.
The dedication and the building’s subsequent operation are different parts of its history.
Scudder also provides a possible connection within the wider series.
Earlier Island City research identifies him with that lodge’s 1907 temple dedication. The two accounts should be checked together rather than describing Advance as his only known appearance in these lines.
For Advance, the documented significance is straightforward.
A former Grand Master presided over the dedication of its new home.
The lodge’s building project had reached a formal public milestone.
Read Advance’s Temple-Building Story →
Read The Two James Prowses: The Cornerstone Connection →
Source Notes
1. Rhinow’s Chaplaincy
The Chat, February 19, 1921, “Tadmor Players Please.”
The supplied officer list identifies Rhinow as chaplain.
The reference does not establish his complete membership or service chronology.
2. Services at Ridgewood Presbyterian
- Brooklyn Citizen, May 7, 1923.
- New York Times, May 7, 1923.
- The Chat, May 9, 1925.
The approximately five hundred attendance figure remains attributed to contemporary coverage.
The dated examples are not treated as proof of an uninterrupted annual arrangement.
3. Sanntrock’s Funeral
Brooklyn Daily Times, May 12 and 13, 1925.
Supports the funeral reference summarized in the author’s research.
The full name and spelling require confirmation.
4. DeMolay
Brooklyn Daily Times, March 10, 1929.
Supports the reported Rhinow connection with the Ridgewood chapter.
His precise role should follow the original notice.
5. The Labor Lyceum Event
Brooklyn Times Union, April 14, 1934.
Supports the participation references summarized here.
Participation in a common event is distinguished from formal institutional partnership or shared governance.
6. Advance’s Dedication
The author’s Advance Masonic Temple article and “The History of Advance Lodge No. 635.”
The supplied transcription identifies Scudder as acting under Grand Master Thomas C. Penny’s authority and gives November 14, 1916.
The original passage and contemporary newspaper reports should be checked before final publication.
Specific ritual actions are not reconstructed from the garbled transcription.
7. Scudder’s Biographical Context
The biographical references supplied with the manuscript include the Townsend Scudder summary and its cited New York Times obituary of February 23, 1960.
The sidebar omits the disputed age wording and unnecessary career detail.
Exact Grand Mastership dates should follow Grand Lodge records in the final source file.
8. Judicial Service
Historical Society of the New York Courts, “Townsend Scudder.”
The supplied reference places his first Supreme Court service in the Second District between 1907 and 1920.
9. Island City Connection
Earlier Island City lodge and temple research supplied within this series identifies Scudder with the 1907 dedication.
That account should be reconciled with the Advance references.
It is not treated here as a newly verified finding.
10. Scope
These are companion sidebars, not a joint biography.
The supplied material does not establish a personal relationship between Rhinow and Scudder.
Direct clipping and source-page URLs were not supplied with this manuscript.
Questions for Further Research
- What were Rhinow’s dates at Ridgewood Presbyterian?
- What records establish his lodge membership?
- What was his precise DeMolay role?
- What is Sanntrock’s full name?
- Can contemporary coverage confirm Advance’s dedication date?
- What does the original account say about Scudder’s ceremonial duties?
- Which lodge did Scudder belong to?
- What contemporary evidence supports his Island City dedication appearance?
- Did he participate in other ceremonies documented elsewhere in the series?
Connecting Stories: Complete Guide · The Seven Lodges: Complete Series Guide
