Queens History and Freemasonry / Springfield Gardens Series / Woodhull Lodge No. 982
Part of the Springfield Gardens Lodge series · An institutional history within The Lodges That Built Queens
Main Feature: Nine Lodges, One Living History · Series Overview · Companion: Woodhull’s Meeting Places
Organized in Jamaica’s Masonic Temple in 1921, Woodhull Lodge brought together members whose careers reached into banking, politics and the trades. Its separate history ended with a merger into Jamaica in 1985; its institutional line later continued in Springfield Gardens.
November 10, 2026 · By Brete Murphy
An Offshoot in the Jamaica Temple
On January 5, 1921, a new lodge organized in the Jamaica Masonic Temple on Union Avenue.
District Deputy Thomas J. Towers presented its dispensation.
The next day, the Brooklyn Daily Times described Woodhull plainly as “an offshoot of Jamaica Lodge No. 546.”
Its first Master was George Cogswell.
Dr. Edward L. Dillman was Treasurer, and William Harte was Secretary.
The chaplain was the Rev. Andrew Magill, pastor of Jamaica’s First Presbyterian Church.
The church’s published history dates its organization to 1662.
Magill’s role connected the new lodge with an established local congregation, while Jamaica Lodge supplied the institutional setting in which it began.
The January event establishes organization under dispensation.
The exact charter date remains to be added from the Grand Lodge record.
For the parent institution, read Jamaica Lodge No. 546: A Mother Lodge of Southeast Queens.
A Name with Local Revolutionary Resonance
The name Woodhull carried a strong association in eastern Queens.
Brigadier General Nathaniel Woodhull commanded New York militia during the Revolutionary War.
He was captured near Jamaica, in what is now Hollis, after the Battle of Long Island in 1776.
Severely wounded during his capture, he died in British custody that September.
A Newsday historical account distinguishes those events from later stories about his supposed final defiance of his captors.
The distinction matters.
The general’s capture and death are not dependent on accepting every detail repeated in patriotic legend.
The Lodge’s Namesake
The author’s research identifies the general as the lodge’s namesake.
No founding resolution or contemporary explanation of the naming has been supplied for this article.
The connection is geographically persuasive, but the distinction between local association and a documented naming decision should remain visible.
Woodhull Avenue and later commemorations preserved the general’s name in the area.
A naming record would establish how the lodge’s founders themselves explained their choice.
Bankers and Political Figures
Woodhull’s membership connected the lodge with Queens business and political life.
Warren B. Ashmead, identified in the supplied newspaper research as a Brooklyn Trust Company vice-president and Queens County Republican leader, was a member.
Nelson B. Ashmead, president of the Springfield Gardens National Bank, also belonged.
A January 1934 funeral report placed attendance at about 300 and identified Masonic participation from Woodhull and Hollis.
The shared surname does not, by itself, establish the relationship between the two men.
Their individual careers demonstrate that Woodhull’s membership extended into financial institutions and public affairs.
They do not establish that the lodge directed those institutions or political organizations.
Mortimer S. Weis
Mortimer S. Weis was an insurance executive, First World War veteran and longtime Republican state committeeman.
His 1980 obituary described him as Woodhull’s oldest living Past Master.
That wording records his standing at a particular date.
It should not be converted into a complete chronology of his lodge service without additional records.
Norval Nichols
A 1957 notice identified Past Master Norval Nichols with district leadership and described him as a civic figure.
His commissioning as District Deputy Grand Master of the Second Queens District connected Woodhull with the wider Queens fraternity.
The event also returned the lodge’s history to Jamaica’s temple, the setting in which Woodhull had begun.
Beyond the Notable Names
The notices also identify members whose careers lay in the trades, public service and other businesses.
The supplied examples include:
- A Standard Oil employee.
- A retired police officer.
- A baker associated with the Nassau-Suffolk Master Bakers.
- A dentist.
- A printer with a career spanning decades.
- A Rockville Centre stockbroker and New York Stock Exchange member.
These examples are not a complete occupational survey.
They show why the lodge should not be reduced to its best-known political or banking figures.
The stockbroker’s 1964 notice also identifies affiliations with B’nai B’rith and Temple B’nai Sholom.
That individual case demonstrates overlapping Masonic and Jewish institutional membership.
It should not be expanded into a numerical claim about Woodhull’s religious composition.
A Lodge in Shared Rooms
Woodhull’s early meetings and ceremonies repeatedly appear in Jamaica’s temple.
Officers were installed there in January 1922.
A 1925 district schedule placed Woodhull at the Masonic Temple on Union Avenue.
In February 1929, Master Frederick G. Haubitzer conferred the Entered Apprentice degree on five candidates there.
The references establish recurring use.
They do not supply a complete tenancy history or establish whether the accommodation was rented, shared under another arrangement or provided without charge.
No temple owned or commissioned by Woodhull has been identified in the research assembled here.
That is not proof that no such property ever existed.
The Hollis Reference
The earlier Woodhull manuscript cites The Chat of February 13, 1926, placing a visit to Woodhull at a Masonic Temple in Hollis.
The later series dossier questions whether that connection is established.
The original clipping needs to resolve the conflict.
Even if confirmed, one event would not establish a full relocation or continuous occupancy.
The [New York City Organ Project’s Queens index](The New York City Organ Project — Organs in the Borough of Queens
The New York City Organ Project — Organs in the Borough of Queens
independently records a Hollis Masonic Temple on 191st Street.
Identifying that building does not, by itself, settle Woodhull’s use of it.
The fuller meeting-place discussion appears in Woodhull Lodge No. 982: The Search for a Temple of Its Own.
Members Farther from Jamaica
Later members’ notices came from Westbury, Bethpage, Bellmore, Miller Place and Florida.
Those references show that affiliation could continue after a member left the neighborhood.
They do not provide annual membership totals or establish that relocation alone caused the eventual merger.
Woodhull’s practical community was not limited to people living close to the Jamaica temple.
The lodge’s name and institutional relationships could remain stable while individual addresses changed.
Back into Jamaica
According to the author’s compilation of Grand Lodge records, Woodhull merged into Jamaica Lodge No. 546 in 1985.
The union joined the lodge with the institution described as its parent in the 1921 organizing report.
There is a return in that relationship, but not an unchanged circle.
Woodhull had maintained a separate identity for approximately sixty-four years.
The merger ended that separate operation.
It did not prove that Woodhull had continuously met in Jamaica’s building throughout the intervening period.
Institutional succession and occupancy answer different questions.
Through Jamaica-Queens Village
On April 24, 1998, Jamaica joined the Suburban-Queens Village branch to form Jamaica-Queens Village Lodge No. 546, according to the supplied consolidation research.
Woodhull’s line entered that combined institution through Jamaica.
Jamaica-Queens Village then entered Springfield Gardens Lodge No. 1057 on July 22, 2013.
The route was:
Woodhull
→ Jamaica
→ Jamaica-Queens Village
→ Springfield Gardens
Read Jamaica-Queens Village Lodge No. 546: Keeping the 1864 Number.
The complete framework appears in Springfield Gardens Lodge No. 1057: Nine Lodges, One Living History.
The continuing institution now meets in Rockville Centre while retaining its Queens affiliation.
That later setting is explored in A Queens Lodge Outside Queens.
What the Offshoot Preserved
Woodhull’s beginning is unusually clear.
A newspaper named its parent lodge, identified its officers and recorded the place where its dispensation was presented.
Its later notices reveal a membership spanning banking, politics, trades and professional life.
Its meeting-place history is less complete.
The absence of an identified temple should not obscure the institution that worked inside other buildings.
In 1985, Woodhull’s separate name ended through consolidation with Jamaica.
Its history continued through subsequent unions.
The offshoot did not remain unchanged.
It became part of a larger institutional inheritance.
Sources and Research Notes
Newspaper references follow the author’s supplied Woodhull clippings and research packet. Direct links are included where identified public sources are available. Unlinked historical references are preserved rather than assigned speculative URLs.
Formation and Local Context
“New Masonic Lodge Formed at Jamaica,” Brooklyn Daily Times, January 6, 1921, p. 4. January 5 organization, dispensation, officers and parent-lodge description.
First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, “Our History”. Congregation’s origins. The lodge’s chaplain appointment follows the 1921 newspaper report.
Newsday, “A Hero’s Last Words”. Nathaniel Woodhull’s capture, wounds and death; discussion of later legendary details.
[William G. Pomeroy Foundation, “Woodhull Grave”](WOODHULL GRAVE | William G. Pomeroy Foundation
WOODHULL GRAVE | William G. Pomeroy Foundation
Supplementary account of Woodhull’s Revolutionary service, capture and death.
- Author’s local-history research, including “Holliswood, Queens” and Spooner Central’s “Woodhull’s Wood.” Context for the name’s local use. A contemporary lodge naming resolution has not been supplied.
Members and Public Careers
Brooklyn Daily Times, May 9, 1931, p. 5. Warren B. Ashmead.
“Ashmead Funeral Attended by 300,” Brooklyn Eagle, January 27, 1934, p. 4. Nelson B. Ashmead and funeral participation.
“Mortimer S. Weis, 84, Former GOP Leader,” Newsday, November 12, 1980, p. 31. Career and oldest-living-Past-Master description.
“Nichols to Be Named Master,” Daily News, June 30, 1957, p. 248. Norval Nichols and district appointment. The original notice should be checked for the precise ceremony wording and date.
Members’ notices: Brooklyn Eagle, April 10, 1927; Newsday, July 7, 1952; May 21 and July 18, 1955; November 23, 1963; January 3–4, 1964; September 30, 1969; January 21, 1972; February 22, 1985. Occupational, civic, religious and residential examples.
Meeting Places
Brooklyn Eagle, January 14, 1922, p. 20. Officers’ installation.
Brooklyn Daily Times, January 4, 1925, p. 19. District visitation schedule.
The Chat, February 16, 1929, p. 5. Degree work at Jamaica’s temple.
The Chat, February 13, 1926, p. 13, as cited in the earlier manuscript. Hollis event reference, requiring comparison with the original clipping because the later dossier questions the connection.
[New York City Organ Project, Masonic Temple—Jamaica](Masonic Temple - Jamaica (Queens), N.Y.
Masonic Temple - Jamaica (Queens), N.Y.
Building and organ context, not proof of Woodhull’s occupancy terms.
- [New York City Organ Project, Organs in the Borough of Queens](The New York City Organ Project — Organs in the Borough of Queens
The New York City Organ Project — Organs in the Borough of Queens
Independent identification of the Hollis temple.
Consolidation
Grand Lodge of New York records, as compiled by Brete Murphy. Woodhull’s 1985 merger into Jamaica and the subsequent 1998 and 2013 relationships.
[Grand Lodge connect, Springfield Gardens No. 1057](Groupable
Groupable
-Present receiving institution and Queens affiliation. The current listing is not treated as independent confirmation of every earlier merger detail.
A Note on the Evidence
The January 5, 1921 event establishes organization under dispensation. The original charter date remains to be supplied.
The manuscript identifies Nathaniel Woodhull as the namesake, but no contemporary naming resolution has been examined here.
The general’s capture and death are distinguished from later patriotic stories about his words and actions.
Shared surnames are not used to infer relationships between members.
Occupational and religious examples are individual cases, not a complete membership survey.
No Woodhull-owned temple has been identified. That is a limitation of the research, not proof that ownership never occurred.
The Hollis reference remains qualified pending examination of the original clipping.
The 1985 merger does not prove uninterrupted occupancy of Jamaica’s temple.
Institutional succession does not establish physical custody of every original charter, minute book or artifact.
Questions for Further Research
- What was Woodhull’s precise charter date?
- Do minutes record the choice of name?
- Who were the charter members, and what were their prior lodge affiliations?
- What were the exact relationships among the members sharing the Ashmead surname?
- What do annual returns show about membership and attendance?
- Where did Woodhull regularly meet in each decade?
- What does the February 1926 Hollis report establish?
- What were the terms of the 1985 merger?
- Where are Woodhull’s surviving records and objects?
Research Gateways
The Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Newsstand provides information about historic newspaper access.
The NYC Municipal Archives provides information about historical city records and photographic collections.
These are research gateways, not direct links to the individual clippings cited above.
Continue the Springfield Gardens Series
The Main Feature
Springfield Gardens Lodge No. 1057: Nine Lodges, One Living History
Place Woodhull within the complete consolidation framework.
The Series Overview
Open the Springfield Gardens Lodge series
Find the companion lodge histories, building articles and meeting-place studies.
The Companion Meeting-Place History
Woodhull Lodge No. 982: The Search for a Temple of Its Own
Examine the Jamaica references, the Hollis question and the limits of the property record.
The Parent Institution
Jamaica Lodge No. 546: A Mother Lodge of Southeast Queens
Follow the lodge that supported Woodhull’s beginnings and received it in 1985.
The Later Combined Lodge
Jamaica-Queens Village Lodge No. 546: Keeping the 1864 Number
Trace the institution through which Woodhull’s lineage reached Springfield Gardens.
A Lodge Connected Through Visits
Prosperity Lodge No. 962: Shared Rooms, a Social Calendar and a Traveling Degree Team
Explore another Queens lodge associated with Woodhull’s ritual and visiting calendar.
Return to the Springfield Gardens Main Feature · Springfield Gardens Series Overview · Read Woodhull’s Meeting-Place History
Lodge Histories · Masonic Buildings in Queens · Queens History and Freemasonry
