By Brete Murphy · November 10, 2026
An editorial guide to the people, buildings and acts of assistance connecting the Advance Service Mizpah, Tadmor, Anchor-Astoria, Francis Lewis, Cornucopia, Springfield Gardens and Harmony histories.
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What These Stories Connect
The seven active-lodge series follow institutional lines through foundations, changes of name and consolidations.
The connecting stories follow the relationships between those lines.
Their subjects are the people who helped organize new lodges, the rooms several bodies shared, the degree teams that traveled, the drawings supplied to another building project and the objects that passed from one institution to another.
A connection is not necessarily a merger.
A founder’s earlier membership, an officer’s participation in a ceremony and a building’s later tenants each establish a different relationship. The articles should name that relationship precisely.
This guide records the proposed stories, evidence already identified and questions still open.
Drafting Progress
The following stories were identified as written by November 10, 2026:
- The Engineer’s Room: Arthur E. Wenige and the Lodge Room Queens Built Twice
- The Thirteen Who Left Advance
- The Tuesday Night Visitors: Cornucopia and Anchor
- Mr. Mason of Queens: Edward J. Smith
- From Tadmor’s East to the Grand East: Charles W. Froessel
“Written” describes draft status, not confirmation that a page has been published or that every claim has been resolved.
The next editorial work identified in the original plan was the project’s Start Here page, the Seven Lodges hub and the eight lineage articles in the wider working plan. The eight lineage pieces should be enumerated separately before their navigation is finalized.
Navigate the Seven Lodge Series
- Advance Lodge No. 635: An Entry Into the Advance Service Mizpah Line
- Tadmor Lodge No. 923
- Anchor-Astoria Lodge No. 729
- Francis Lewis Lodge No. 273: The 273 Line
- Cornucopia Lodge No. 563
- Springfield Gardens Lodge No. 1057
- Harmony Lodge No. 241
People Who Crossed Lodge Lines
1. Edward J. Smith: Mr. Mason of Queens
Connects: Tadmor, Anchor-Astoria through Astoria Lodge No. 963 and Wakefield, and Advance Service Mizpah through Geba.
One Tadmor man appears repeatedly in the organization of other lodges.
As district deputy, Smith presented Astoria Lodge’s dispensation in 1919. He participated in Geba’s early ceremonies and assisted with Wakefield’s institution and constitution. His Queens Masonic Association work provides another route through the borough’s lodge network.
The article should follow those documented appearances rather than turn every appearance into a membership or founding claim.
Evidence already identified:
- Tadmor lodge article and research memorandum.
- Geba article.
- A Tadmor delegation led by John H. Nuhn and Smith at Geba’s June 10, 1919 institution.
- Associated newspaper clippings.
Still to check:
- Exact district-deputy service dates.
- Obituary and biographical chronology.
- Whether each Geba reference concerns institution, charter presentation or another ceremony.
Read Mr. Mason of Queens: Edward J. Smith →
2. Thomas J. Towers and the Queens Masonic Association
Connects: Anchor-Astoria through Richmond Hill and Wakefield, Tadmor, and potentially the wider seven-series network.
Towers provides a way to tell the Queens Masonic Association’s history through a person who appeared across lodge boundaries.
The research identifies him as the Association’s first president, a lecturer at Tadmor in 1925, a speaker on the Froessel occasion and a participant in Wakefield’s constitution.
The organizing question is how an association brought separate lodges into a borough-wide circle.
Evidence already identified:
- Tadmor clippings.
- Anchor-Astoria research, Article 4.
Still to check:
- The Association’s founding date.
- The evidence establishing Towers as first president.
- Its structure, activities and eventual history.
Related: Tadmor Lodge No. 923 →
3. Charles W. Froessel: From Tadmor to Grand Master
Connects: Tadmor, Harmony through Maspeth and Rufus King, and Springfield Gardens through Suburban.
The proposed Francis Lewis connection requires a specific supporting event or record before it is added to the article’s central claim.
As district deputy in 1928, Froessel participated in the constitutions of Maspeth, Rufus King and Suburban. Those lodges later entered different surviving institutional lines.
He became Grand Master in 1944 and appointed Ossian Lang and Edward R. Carman to Grand Lodge posts.
The story follows the reach of one Tadmor member’s service, not simply his accumulation of titles.
Evidence already identified:
- Tadmor lodge and temple articles.
- Rufus King and Outer Queens research.
- Suburban at Tadmor article.
Still to check:
- His Tadmor offices before 1928.
- Exact judicial-career dates.
- The appointments and their dates.
- The proposed Francis Lewis connection.
Read From Tadmor’s East to the Grand East →
Related: Maspeth, North Shore and Cardozo →
4. Arthur E. Wenige: One Lodge Room Built Twice
Connects: Advance Service Mizpah through Advance, Springfield Gardens through Hillside, and Tadmor through its early and present meeting places.
Wenige was raised in Advance in 1903. The supplied records later place him at Hillside as a charter member, Senior Warden, Master and secretary of the temple’s holding company.
Wenige & Nelson designed Hillside’s Woodhaven temple. Advance’s records state that the firm later supplied the same lodge-room blueprints for Astoria.
Tadmor’s 1946 retrospective places its institution at Hillside in 1914. The author confirms that Tadmor now meets at Advance.
The bridge is the room plan.
Do not describe the Woodhaven interior as destroyed or the present Astoria room as an exact surviving duplicate. Neither conclusion has been established.
Evidence already identified:
- Advance membership and building records.
- Hillside temple newspaper coverage.
- Tadmor’s 1946 retrospective.
- The author’s present-day meeting-place confirmation.
Still to check:
- Whether Wenige transferred membership or held both memberships.
- His firm’s role in the 1920 enlargement.
- Original drawings and room dimensions.
- The fate of the earlier Hillside interior.
5. James Prowse: A Cornerstone and a New Lodge
Connects: Advance Service Mizpah through Advance and Anchor-Astoria through Astoria Lodge No. 963.
Prowse’s contribution to Advance’s cornerstone and his role among Astoria Lodge’s founders connect the building to the organization of another lodge within it.
The wording needs care.
The supplied Advance account identifies Prowse as the cornerstone’s donor. It identifies the Grand Master as the ceremonial officiant. Do not say Prowse formally laid the cornerstone without a source establishing that role.
Still to check:
- Prowse’s precise founding role.
- The complete cornerstone account.
- His biographical dates and other lodge offices.
Related: The Thirteen Who Left Advance →
Related: Advance’s Temple-Building Story →
6. Otto L. Thomsen, Meissner and Wakefield’s Founders
Connects: Advance Service Mizpah through Mizpah, Springfield Gardens through Hillside, and Anchor-Astoria through Richmond Hill and Wakefield.
Wakefield was organized by men whose earlier affiliations crossed several lodges.
The proposed feature follows Thomsen from Mizpah, Meissner from Hillside and participants from Richmond Hill.
Its eventual lineage did not simply follow the founders’ former memberships.
The corrected institutional sequence supplied by the author is:
- Wakefield No. 1110 consolidated directly with Richmond Hill No. 892 on January 1, 1978.
- The combined body was Richmond Hill-Wakefield No. 892.
- It joined Cathedral-Granite No. 1011 on December 4, 1986, forming Queensboro No. 892.
- The later line belongs within Anchor-Astoria.
Still to check:
- Full names and precise roles of the founders.
- Contemporary petitions and institution reports.
- The remaining steps from Queensboro to the present lodge.
Related: Anchor-Astoria Lodge →
Related: Springfield Gardens Lineage →
7. George U. Harvey: Public Office and the Lodge Room
Connects: Cornucopia, Advance Service Mizpah through Mizpah, and Harmony through the proposed Rufus King appearance.
The existing Harvey feature documents his Cornucopia Masterships, Mizpah affiliation, public-servants’ evening and joint Masonic rites.
The arc guide adds a proposed connection to Rufus King’s City Officials’ Night.
That appearance should be added only with its date and source. It is not interchangeable with the 1922 event Harvey organized at Cornucopia.
Evidence already identified:
- Cornucopia and Mizpah membership information.
- Newspaper reports used in the Harvey feature.
- Rufus King research.
Still to check:
- Exact Rufus King event date.
- Whether Harvey was invited, announced or reported present.
- His role in the program.
Read George U. Harvey: Cornucopia’s Master, Queens’ Borough President →
8. Reverend Arthur B. Rhinow and Townsend Scudder
Connects: multiple series, to be specified from the member research.
These are currently best treated as shorter connecting profiles or sidebars.
A clergyman’s recurring appearances and a judge’s Masonic service can explain how public and fraternal roles intersected across lodges.
Before drafting, identify the exact events that connect each man to each surviving line.
Do not expand a ceremonial appearance into membership.
Related: Charles W. Froessel →
Related: Advance’s Temple Dedication →
Buildings That Brought Lodges Together
9. Tadmor’s Summerfield Street Temple
Connects: Tadmor, Springfield Gardens through Suburban, Harmony through Maspeth and Rufus King, and Anchor-Astoria through Wakefield and Granite.
Heritage Lodge No. 284 adds another proposed occupancy connection.
The building at 59-03 Summerfield Street provides a physical center for several organizing and meeting-place stories.
The research identifies the 1928 constitutions, Suburban and Wakefield connections, the organ associated with Granite, and Heritage’s later use.
Keep the building’s chronological phases separate. A reference to “Tadmor’s temple” must be checked against the date and address before being assigned to Summerfield Street.
Evidence already identified:
- Tadmor temples article.
- Suburban at Tadmor article.
- Lodge-formation reports.
Still to check:
- Exact occupancy dates.
- Which ceremonies occurred in this building.
- Granite’s organ donation and its later fate.
- Heritage’s 1988 connection.
10. The Advance Temple: A Lodge’s Home, a Shared Address
Connects: Advance Service Mizpah, Anchor-Astoria through Astoria Lodge No. 963, Tadmor and Parthenon No. 1101.
Astoria Lodge began in Advance’s building. The temple now accommodates Tadmor and other lodge activity confirmed by the author.
A before-and-after feature should follow the occupants without confusing shared tenancy with consolidation.
Settled by the author:
- Tadmor has met at Advance for many years.
- Tadmor continues to meet there.
Still open:
- The year Tadmor arrived.
- Complete tenant chronology.
- The terms of occupancy and building management.
Read Advance’s Temple-Building Story →
11. Castle Hall on 31st Avenue
Connects: Anchor-Astoria through Astoria Lodge No. 963 and Harmony through King David.
The research places both lodges at Castle Hall during portions of the 1930–1937 period.
The feature can compare their use of the same hall during difficult economic years.
Do not assume that financial savings caused either move unless minutes, correspondence or contemporary coverage establish the reason.
Evidence already identified:
- King David article.
- Astoria Lodge history.
Still to check:
- Exact move dates.
- Whether occupancy overlapped.
- Rental arrangements.
- Documented reasons for relocation.
Related: The Thirteen Who Left Advance →
12. College Point: Where Several Lines Meet
Connects: Anchor-Astoria, Cornucopia and Harmony.
The author’s supplied chronology establishes the present-day connection at 18-14 College Point Boulevard.
Cornucopia and Harmony left Whitestone at the end of the Masonic year in June 2024 and began meeting in College Point in September.
The author also reports that the Whitestone temple was given over to use by the German Masonic District. This should not be described as a transfer of legal ownership without property records.
A building feature could close the wider project by showing several institutional lines meeting under one roof.
Evidence already identified:
- Anchor-Astoria research, Article 2.
- The author’s attendance at Harmony meetings.
- The author’s confirmation of the 2024 move.
Still to check:
- When Cornucopia and Harmony first began using Whitestone.
- Formal arrangements for the 2024 change.
- Ownership and management distinctions at both buildings.
Related: The Whitestone Masonic Temple →
13. Arcanum Hall: Two Constitutions, Two Nights
Connects: Springfield Gardens through Hillside and Anchor-Astoria through Richmond Hill.
The proposed short feature concerns Hillside and Richmond Hill being constituted on successive evenings at the same hall in 1912.
The shared venue makes the growth tangible without requiring a broad claim about the entire borough.
Still to check:
- Exact dates.
- Arcanum Hall’s address.
- Completed-event reports for both ceremonies.
- Whether the same officers participated.
Related: The Hillside Masonic Temple →
Related: Anchor-Astoria Lodge →
Visits, Foundings and Mutual Assistance
14. The 1925 Masters’ Night at Tadmor
Connects: Tadmor, Harmony through King David and Advance Service Mizpah through Geba.
The research identifies King David’s Isaac A. Albert and Geba’s David Kaplan participating with Tadmor’s Masters.
The event can show a shared occasion across different lodge histories.
Claims about the religious composition of the lodges require independent support. Names and attendance alone do not establish membership demographics or an institution’s policy of inclusion.
Evidence already identified:
- Tadmor clippings.
- King David and Geba research.
Still to check:
- Exact date.
- Program and participants’ offices.
- Whether the report describes an announced or completed event.
Related: Tadmor Lodge No. 923 →
15. The Tuesday Night Visitors: Cornucopia and Anchor
Connects: Cornucopia and Anchor-Astoria.
Anchor’s Golden Jubilee booklet recalls a period when members feared for the lodge’s survival and credits Cornucopia brothers Rasquin, Kirkman and Lewry with traveling to College Point on Tuesday evenings to assist with the work.
The present-day meeting-place connection provides a later counterpoint: Cornucopia now meets in the College Point temple associated with Anchor-Astoria.
The ending should describe that relationship without claiming a deliberate repayment of the earlier assistance.
Evidence already identified:
- Anchor Golden Jubilee account.
- Anchor-Astoria research, Article 1.
- Cornucopia’s 1940 anniversary program.
- The author’s present-day confirmation.
Still to check:
- Full names.
- Years of assistance.
- Exact work performed.
- How the retrospective describes their role.
Read The Tuesday Night Visitors →
16. The Thirteen Who Left Advance
Connects: Advance Service Mizpah through Advance and Anchor-Astoria through Astoria Lodge No. 963.
Harmony enters through King David’s separate use of Castle Hall, not through Astoria’s consolidation line.
The proposed group portrait follows thirteen Advance members associated with Astoria Lodge’s founding in 1919.
Smith presented the dispensation. Prowse was among the founders. Astoria began in Advance’s building, later used Castle Hall and consolidated with Anchor in 1985.
The article should distinguish the documented departure from any explanation of why the men left.
Evidence already identified:
- Advance and Astoria histories.
- Institution coverage.
- Castle Hall references.
Still to check:
- All thirteen names.
- Membership transfers.
- Any recorded reasons for organizing separately.
- The precise 1985 consolidation record.
Read The Thirteen Who Left Advance →
17. Cornucopia: Founders Beyond Flushing
Connects: Cornucopia, Anchor-Astoria through Anchor, and Francis Lewis through Whitestone and Bayside.
Harmony enters through the later shared College Point address, not through a Bayside lineage.
This wider feature follows Cornucopia members identified with the founding and leadership of neighboring lodges.
The word “mother” may be useful as a historical quotation or organizing image, but the article must distinguish formal sponsorship from founders’ former memberships and subsequent assistance.
Evidence already identified:
- Cornucopia’s 1940 anniversary program, especially page 19.
- Anchor-Astoria research, Article 1.
- Whitestone and Bayside histories.
Still to check:
- Each founder’s identity.
- The exact nature of Cornucopia’s role in each formation.
- Whether contemporary records support the anniversary account.
Read Cornucopia Lodge No. 563 →
Read Whitestone Lodge No. 973 →
18. Lending a Hand: Degree Teams and Shared Rooms
Connects: Springfield Gardens through Hillside and Prosperity; Tadmor; Advance Service Mizpah through Geba; and Anchor-Astoria through Richmond Hill, Wakefield, Cathedral and Granite.
This feature follows documented assistance before later consolidations made some relationships institutional.
Proposed episodes:
- Tadmor’s institution at Hillside in 1914.
- Hillside’s Fellowcraft team visiting Tadmor in 1925.
- Prosperity’s team working a degree at Geba in 1923.
- Geba making Richmond Hill’s Hugh I. DeGroot an honorary member.
- Granite’s formation by Tadmor members and its organ contribution.
- Wakefield’s early work and its use of Cathedral’s room.
- Smith’s ceremonial participation as Grand Marshal.
These events do not all describe the same kind of assistance. The article should retain their differences.
Evidence already identified:
- Hillside temple article.
- Geba article.
- Tadmor articles.
- Anchor-Astoria research, Article 4.
Still to check:
- Dates and completed-event reports.
- Exact institutional identities.
- The distinction between gifts, visits, occupancy and founding relationships.
- Whether the organ’s destination and later history are documented.
Related: The Engineer’s Room →
Corrections to Carry Across the Project
Astoria Lodge No. 963
Place Astoria in the Anchor-Astoria line, not Harmony.
Shared premises with King David create a connection to Harmony without changing Astoria’s lineage.
Wakefield No. 1110
Place Wakefield’s later institutional history in the Anchor-Astoria line under the corrected 1978 and 1986 sequence.
Its Hillside founders create a personal connection to Springfield Gardens, not an institutional continuation there.
Bayside No. 999
Place Bayside in Francis Lewis No. 273.
Do not describe it as a constituent of Harmony.
Granite
Follow the supplied Cathedral-Granite and Queensboro sequence into Anchor-Astoria.
A proposed Francis Lewis connection requires separate evidence or clarification of the lodge intended.
Wenige’s Rooms
The supplied account identifies two uses of the plan.
The survival of Hillside’s original interior remains unresolved. Astoria’s continuing use does not establish an unchanged or exact duplicate interior.
College Point and Whitestone
Carry forward the author’s dates:
- Departure from Whitestone: June 2024.
- Beginning at College Point: September 2024.
Do not use unreconciled directories to override the author’s explicit present-day confirmation without investigating the discrepancy.
Open Questions: Current Status
| Question | Working status |
|---|---|
| Was Minnetonka Avenue the former name of 191st Street in Hollis? | Answered in the author’s research |
| Did Wakefield consolidate directly with Richmond Hill? | Answered: January 1, 1978 |
| Does Tadmor meet at Advance? | Confirmed by the author |
| When did Tadmor arrive at Advance? | Open |
| When did Cornucopia and Harmony leave Whitestone? | Author confirms June 2024 |
| When did they begin meeting in College Point? | Author confirms September 2024 |
| When did each first occupy Whitestone? | Open |
| Did the 2024 change involve property ownership? | Not established by the meeting-place account |
Research Files Supporting the Arc
The following are working document references. They should not be assigned public URLs until their destinations are established.
- Tadmor lodge article.
- Tadmor temples.
- Suburban at Tadmor.
- Hillside temple.
- Geba.
- King David.
- Rufus King.
- Outer Queens.
- Anchor-Astoria Articles 1–4.
Published or proposed article destinations already used in the project include:
- The Engineer’s Room
- The Hillside Temple
- Advance’s Temple-Building Story
- George U. Harvey
- The 273 Line Research Dossier
Evidence and Editorial Rules
Keep the Relationships Distinct
A consolidation establishes institutional continuation.
A founder’s former lodge establishes a personal connection.
A visiting team establishes assistance.
A shared hall establishes occupancy.
A ceremonial officer’s presence establishes participation.
An object or drawing establishes a material connection.
None should silently substitute for another.
Attribute the Evidence
Identify whether a claim comes from:
- A contemporary newspaper report.
- An advance notice.
- A later anniversary history.
- Lodge records supplied by the author.
- The author’s direct confirmation.
- A proposed interpretation.
A retrospective may preserve valuable information without being contemporary evidence.
Do Not Invent the Motive
A departure is not proof of a dispute.
A Depression-era move is not proof of financial necessity.
A later shared address is not proof of intentional repayment.
A consolidation date is not a building-sale date.
When the reason remains unknown, describe the documented action.
Keep the Stories Concrete
Use the room, drawing, petition, organ, visit or ceremony as the center.
Explain what people did before interpreting what it meant.
Avoid treating the network as uniformly harmonious or every change as inevitable decline.
Respect the Project’s Naming Rule
Do not name living members under the author’s stated editorial rule.
Historical names and offices should be checked against the source and date.
Endnotes and Research Basis
1. Status of This Guide
This is an editorial roadmap compiled from the author’s supplied arc guide and the lodge articles and research summaries identified within it.
It is not a substitute for the underlying source notes.
2. Institutional Lines
The corrected Wakefield sequence, Astoria connection and other lineage assignments follow the author’s supplied research and the records described in the individual series files.
Exact record citations should appear in the articles making those historical claims.
3. The 2024 Meeting-Place Changes
The June departure from Whitestone and September beginning at College Point follow Brete Murphy’s supplied confirmation.
The dates when Cornucopia and Harmony first began meeting at Whitestone remain unresolved.
The phrase describing the Whitestone building’s later district use is not treated as a deed or ownership record.
4. Wenige and Tadmor
The shared-blueprint account follows Advance Lodge records as summarized by the author.
Tadmor’s 1914 Hillside institution follows its 1946 retrospective.
The distinction between continued Masonic use and unchanged physical survival is retained.
See The Engineer’s Room for the article’s source apparatus.
5. Proposed Article Links
Links to completed drafts are provided as editorial destinations.
Their presence does not establish that the pages are live. Match all proposed paths to the published site before posting this guide.
Begin With the Written Stories
- The Engineer’s Room
- The Thirteen Who Left Advance
- The Tuesday Night Visitors
- Mr. Mason of Queens: Edward J. Smith
- From Tadmor’s East to the Grand East
← The Lodges That Built Queens · Begin: The Engineer’s Room →
