Queens History and Freemasonry / Harmony Series / Maspeth, North Shore and Cardozo
November 10, 2026 · By Brete Murphy
Maspeth Lodge began in 1928. North Shore and Cardozo followed in 1955. Funeral notices, a bowling result, charitable activity and scattered meeting-place references preserve parts of their histories—and trace three branches that eventually entered Harmony Lodge No. 241.
Harmony Main Feature · Series Overview · Related: Constitution Lodge · Sources
A Service on Linden Street
A February 26, 1930 notice announced a Masonic service for James Dye at 41 Linden Street, Maspeth.
Dye, a member of Maspeth Lodge No. 1089, had died two days earlier, in his forty-third year.
The service was scheduled for that evening. His funeral was to follow the next afternoon, with burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery.1
The wording matters: “in his forty-third year” describes his age, not forty-three years of lodge membership.
The notice supplies a small but specific view of the lodge’s work.
It names a member, a home, a planned service and a burial place.
Much of the material located for Maspeth, North Shore and Cardozo is similarly fragmentary.
That does not establish that the lodges left no other records or held no major events. It defines the limits of the research assembled for this article.
The fragments are worth reading without asking them to prove more than they contain.
Maspeth’s Lodge
The author’s Grand Lodge compilation dates Maspeth Lodge No. 1089’s charter to May 3, 1928.
On May 19, Grand Master John A. Dutton constituted Maspeth, Rufus King and Suburban lodges together at Tadmor Temple in Ridgewood, with District Deputy Charles W. Froessel assisting.
Maspeth’s first Master was Sherman Warner.
The newspaper coverage stated that the lodge would “meet in Maspeth.”2
That description establishes a neighborhood association, not a precise meeting address.
The general neighborhood histories cited in the research describe Maspeth’s mixture of residential streets, industry, rail infrastructure and cemeteries.3
Those surroundings provide context.
They do not, by themselves, establish the occupations or economic circumstances of the lodge’s membership.
Members, Recreation and Long Affiliation
Individual notices supply firmer details.
George Kirchner, a painter and decorator, retained his Maspeth membership for more than forty years.
Anthony J. Romano, later identified as a Past Master, operated a camera laboratory in Farmingdale and participated in Scouting in Huntington.4
A 1943 notice concerned Masonic services for Harry H. Fisher at a Glendale funeral chapel.5
Other coverage recorded recreation and district participation.
In May 1950, Maspeth won the Queens Masonic Association’s bowling league.
At the 1929 Queens Masonic charity ball, Master Roscoe L. Conklin represented the lodge among the participating bodies.67
These references show several forms of activity: funeral service, sport, district sociability and long membership.
They are not a complete calendar.
The author’s research notes also identify a period when Maspeth met in Bayside. The underlying source and dates remain to be added before that reference can become part of a continuous occupancy history.8
Maspeth-Constitution
On May 8, 1974, Maspeth consolidated with Constitution Lodge No. 241, according to the author’s Grand Lodge compilation.
The resulting institution became Maspeth-Constitution Lodge No. 241.2
Constitution’s published history explains that many of its members were then living in Queens and that the lodge voted to merge with Maspeth.9
That account says “many,” not necessarily a majority.
It provides an institutional explanation for Constitution’s decision without supplying every term of the agreement.
Read Constitution Lodge No. 241: From a Broome Street Loft to Queens.
A Degree Sequence Across the Consolidation Date
Thomas P. Mueller’s 2026 obituary records an initiation in Maspeth Lodge in March 1974 and raising on June 7, after the official consolidation date.
The obituary nevertheless identifies his lodge with the older Maspeth name and number.19
That is a useful example of biographical language spanning an institutional change.
It does not establish that every consolidation involved months of operation under the old names, or explain exactly how Mueller’s degree records were administered.
The minutes and original registers would clarify that sequence.
Members Beyond the Original Neighborhood
Later notices associate Maspeth-Constitution members with places beyond Maspeth.
Frederick Harmeyer died in Lake Worth, Florida, in 1976.
Charles F. Boehm had worked as a linotypist and compositor for the Hearst newspapers and belonged to Typographical Union No. 6. His obituary also connected him with Queens Village and Florida.
William A. Rose, associated with a Queens trucking business, died upstate in 1983. His notice described Maspeth-Constitution as being in Forest Hills.
Salvatore J. Sinacore, a Grumman employee, died in Ridge in 1987.10
These accounts document individual working lives, later residences and continuing affiliations.
They do not establish where every member lived, how often distant members attended or why the lodge later consolidated again.
Two Charters in 1955
North Shore Lodge No. 1149 and Cardozo Lodge No. 1150 received charters on May 4, 1955, according to the author’s Grand Lodge compilation.
The research associates North Shore with Douglaston and Bayside, and Cardozo with Bayside.2
Their consecutive numbers place them alongside one another in the charter sequence.
That alone does not establish shared founders, joint organization or a common meeting place.
General histories of Bayside and Douglaston–Little Neck describe the postwar development of northeast Queens.11
Those accounts supply a setting, not a demographic profile of either lodge.
It would require membership records and individual biographies to establish how many members owned new houses, commuted to particular jobs or moved into the area during those years.
An Existing Bayside Temple
Bayside already had a Masonic building before either lodge received its charter.
The building sources cited in the author’s research identify the temple at 32-25 Bell Boulevard with Bayside Lodge No. 999.
They name Herbert O. Wiegand as architect, place its cornerstone on May 30, 1923, and its dedication on December 10 of that year, and give a reported cost of approximately $80,000.12
The sources also identify a later church use.
That building belongs to the wider history of Bayside Masonry.
Its presence does not establish that North Shore or Cardozo met there. An occupancy connection requires its own evidence.
Four North Shore Biographies
The North Shore material assembled here includes four obituaries.
Robert Crockard, formerly of Little Neck, died in Boynton Beach, Florida, in 1981. His notice also identified a Florida lodge affiliation.
Herman J. Schell, born in Astoria, later lived in Douglaston and Port Charlotte. His obituary described him as a retired A&P butcher and a Marine veteran of World War II, and named “North Shore Lodge #1149, F. & A.M., Bayside, NY.”
David R. Urquhart, born in Scotland, spent thirty-nine years with Bayside Federal Savings and Loan and retired as a mortgage loan officer. He also served a New Hyde Park volunteer fire company and died in Hendersonville, North Carolina, in 1987.
Kenneth A. Johnson of North Merrick was identified with North Shore and an Eastern Star chapter. His burial was at Calverton National Cemetery in August 1990.13
The four biographies show occupational variety and affiliations that survived changes of residence.
They do not establish that these men all bought houses in the same development, shared a commuting pattern or represented the full membership.
The geographical pattern is individual rather than statistical.
Cardozo’s Incomplete Independent Record
Cardozo has the least independent coverage in the material assembled for this article.
That is a statement about the current research, not proof that the lodge left little documentation.
Its namesake has not been established by a founding source.
Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo is a possible identification, but the name alone is insufficient to settle the question.
The author’s notes place the lodge, at different times, at Hillside Temple in Woodhaven and a Masonic temple at 91-19 191st Street in Hollis.8
Dates, meeting notices or directories are needed to explain those periods of use.
The property references supplied for Hollis describe a 1924 building, religious occupancy and a 1988 transfer.14
Those details belong to a separate building history. They should not be used to reconstruct Cardozo’s tenancy without records linking the lodge to particular years.
For the Woodhaven setting, read The Hillside Temple in Woodhaven.
Cardozo-King David
The author’s Grand Lodge compilation places Cardozo’s consolidation with King David Lodge No. 994 in November 1975.
The resulting institution became Cardozo-King David Lodge No. 994.2
A November 1976 newspaper item reported distributions of more than $2,400 by the Cardozo-King David charity foundation within a program described as providing $5,000 annually to local organizations.15
The notice documents charitable activity under the combined name.
It does not, without the foundation’s own records, establish its precise legal relationship to the lodge or the continuity of the annual amount.
Read King David Lodge No. 994: Degree Nights, Castle Hall and Masonic Astoria.
Later Biographical References
Philip Benjaminson’s 1978 obituary described him as a member of Cardozo-King David in Forest Hills.
It identified him as a South African-born Staten Island resident, nature photographer and retired brokerage clerk.16
Emil Corsi’s 1996 obituary, published after his death in Florida, identified him as a Past Master using the wording “Cardoza King David.”17
The later notice preserves an older affiliation in a personal biography.
It does not mean the predecessor lodge was still operating separately in 1996.
The Forest Hills Question
The sources assembled for the series describe King David in 1972, Cardozo-King David in 1978 and Maspeth-Constitution in 1983 with Forest Hills associations.1016
A possible meeting place is the Forest Hills Masonic Temple at 101-01 Metropolitan Avenue.
The author’s building references identify that property with Forest Hills Lodge No. 946 and describe the lodge’s earlier Queens Boulevard temple.18
The connection remains unconfirmed for the three notices.
A neighborhood label is not a street address.
The existence of a suitable temple in Forest Hills does not establish that every lodge described as being “of Forest Hills” used it.
Directories, calendars or minutes naming the building are needed before the proposed connection can be stated as fact.
The 1990 Consolidation
By 1990, the six predecessor branches represented in Harmony had been gathered into three institutions:
- Maspeth-Constitution No. 241.
- Cardozo-Rufus-King-David No. 994.
- North Shore No. 1149.
The author’s Grand Lodge compilation dates their consolidation as Harmony Lodge No. 241 to November 21, 1990.2
Kenneth Johnson’s August death notice is the latest item in the supplied packet to identify North Shore before that consolidation.
It is not necessarily the latest surviving public reference to the lodge.
Likewise, Anthony Romano’s 1995 obituary still used Maspeth’s older name and number.4
Such notices show how institutional names could remain meaningful in members’ biographies after their separate operation had ended.
For the complete framework, read Harmony Lodge No. 241: One Number, Six Lodge Histories.
What the Fragments Preserve
A home service in Maspeth. A bowling result. A mortgage officer’s obituary. A charity foundation’s distribution. A lodge affiliation carried from Queens to Florida or North Carolina.
These are not complete institutional histories.
They are specific records from which parts of those histories can be recovered.
The present evidence does not establish that these three lodges were typical of all Queens Masonry, never owned property or held no important public occasions.
It does establish that their histories extended beyond charter dates and consolidation charts.
Members worked, moved, retained affiliations, served one another and participated in activities that occasionally reached the newspaper.
The task is to preserve those details while leaving room for records not yet found.
Sources and Research Notes
References follow the author’s supplied manuscript and research notes. Links within the article lead to these citations because direct newspaper-clipping URLs were not supplied.
- Times Union, February 26, 1930, p. 30. James Dye’s death, announced Masonic service at 41 Linden Street and planned funeral and burial. “In his forty-third year” is treated as an age reference.
2. Grand Lodge of New York records, as compiled by Brete Murphy. Charter and consolidation dates. Constitution ceremony: Brooklyn Daily Times, May 17, 1928, p. 10; Brooklyn Eagle, May 20, 1928, p. 8. Original Grand Lodge instruments were not independently examined for this conversion. See the Harmony lineage summary.
3. “Maspeth, Queens,” Wikipedia; Forgotten New York material concerning Maspeth; City Neighborhoods NYC, Maspeth. General neighborhood background. These sources do not establish the lodge’s membership composition.
4. Newsday, Suffolk edition, December 9, 1971, p. 35, George Kirchner; Newsday, February 14, 1995, p. 24, Anthony J. Romano.
5. Brooklyn Eagle, May 9, 1943, p. 23. Harry H. Fisher funeral and Masonic service reference.
6. Newsday, Suffolk edition, May 13, 1950, p. 38. Queens Masonic Association bowling result.
7. Brooklyn Eagle, November 23, 1929, p. 4. Queens Masonic charity ball and Roscoe L. Conklin’s identification as Master.
8. Brete Murphy, lodge research notes, November 2026. Maspeth’s Bayside association and Cardozo’s use of Hillside and Hollis premises. Underlying dated citations remain to be added.
9. [Harmony Lodge history, Grand Lodge of New York connect](connect | Harmony #0241
connect | Harmony #0241
Harmony Lodge’s published history. Constitution’s account of the 1974 decision and members residing in Queens. Public summary years for some predecessor foundations differ from the author’s Grand Lodge chronology and require comparison with original records.
10. Newsday, Nassau edition, January 19–20, 1976, Frederick Harmeyer; Newsday, August 12, 1981, p. 29, Charles F. Boehm; The Post-Star, January 31, 1983, p. 10, William A. Rose; Newsday, October 13, 1987, Salvatore J. Sinacore. Individual biographies and later lodge descriptions.
11. “Bayside, Queens” and “Douglaston–Little Neck,” Wikipedia. General neighborhood-development background, not evidence of lodge members’ homeownership or commuting patterns.
12. New York City Chapter, American Guild of Organists, Bayside Masonic Temple entry; Bayside Historical Society material; Joan Brown Wettingfeld, QNS, 2007. Bayside temple address, architect, cornerstone, dedication, reported cost and later use. Specific article and institutional record links remain to be added.
13. Newsday, Suffolk edition, August 12, 1981, p. 29, Robert Crockard; News-Press, Fort Myers, December 1, 1983, p. 22, Herman J. Schell; Asheville Times, December 27, 1987, p. 37, David R. Urquhart; Newsday, Suffolk edition, August 29, 1990, p. 48, Kenneth A. Johnson.
14. New York City Chapter, American Guild of Organists, Hollis temple entry; Hillside Temple companion article; Kevin Walsh, Forgotten New York, Hollis houses-of-worship material; PropertyShark, 91-19 191st Street. Building-history leads. Construction, ownership transfer and occupancy should be distinguished and checked against primary property records.
15. Daily News, November 17, 1976, p. 634. Cardozo-King David charity foundation distributions and reported annual program.
16. Staten Island Advance, November 15, 1978, p. 19, Philip Benjaminson; Herald Statesman, January 14, 1972, p. 3, King David reference. Forest Hills descriptions do not supply a precise meeting address.
17. Newsday, Suffolk edition, July 28, 1996, p. 62. Emil Corsi and the printed “Cardoza King David” affiliation.
18. Rego-Forest Preservation Council material concerning Forest Hills Lodge No. 946; New York City Chapter, American Guild of Organists, Forest Hills Masonic Temple entry. Metropolitan Avenue and earlier Queens Boulevard building-history leads. The sources cited here do not establish occupancy by each Harmony predecessor.
19. Thomas P. Mueller obituary, Baker Funeral Home, June 2026, as identified in the author’s research. Initiation, raising and retrospective Maspeth identification. Direct obituary URL remains to be added.
A Note on the Evidence
The relative scarcity of material in the present packet does not establish that the lodges left few records or held few events.
Charter and consolidation dates follow the author’s Grand Lodge compilation.
Individual biographies are not a complete membership survey.
Neighborhood development does not establish where members bought homes or how they commuted.
The namesake of Cardozo Lodge remains unconfirmed.
Meeting-place leads from the author’s notes require supporting dates and citations.
The Forest Hills temple connection is possible but unproved.
Property ownership has not been comprehensively researched for these lodges.
Later use of an older lodge name does not establish continued independent operation.
Questions for Further Research
- Where did Maspeth first meet after its 1928 constitution?
- What records support its period of meeting in Bayside?
- Where did Maspeth-Constitution meet immediately after May 8, 1974?
- Do North Shore’s founding minutes, rosters or anniversary materials survive?
- Who were Cardozo’s petitioners, and what source identifies its namesake?
- When did Cardozo use Hillside and Hollis?
- Did the Forest Hills temple house any or all of these institutions?
- What was the legal relationship between the charity foundation and Cardozo-King David?
- Where are the predecessor lodges’ minutes, charters and ceremonial objects?
Continue the Harmony Series
The Main Feature
Harmony Lodge No. 241: One Number, Six Lodge Histories
Place these three histories within the complete consolidation framework.
Maspeth’s Consolidation Partner
Constitution Lodge No. 241: From a Broome Street Loft to Queens
Follow the Manhattan institution that joined Maspeth in 1974.
Cardozo’s Consolidation Partner
King David Lodge No. 994: Degree Nights, Castle Hall and Masonic Astoria
Explore the lodge that combined with Cardozo in 1975.
The Later Jamaica Addition
Rufus King Lodge No. 1091: Merchants, Magistrates and Civic Jamaica
Read the history of the branch that joined Cardozo-King David in 1982.
A Shared Ceremonial Setting
Suburban Lodge at Tadmor Temple: A Shared Masonic Home in Ridgewood
Explore another lodge’s use of the building that hosted Maspeth’s constitution.
The Series Overview
Find the related lodge histories, meeting-place articles and lineage material.
Back to the Harmony Main Feature · Constitution Lodge · King David Lodge · Harmony Series Overview
Lodge Histories · Masonic Buildings in Queens · Queens History and Freemasonry
