When Oakland Lodge No. 3 forfeited its Charter in 1847, Masonry in Pontiac, however, was not dead and a number of the former members of Oakland Lodge No. 3 petitioned M.W. E. Smith Lee, Grand Master, for a dispensation to form a new Lodge. This petition was granted on November 12, 1847, the petitioners being as follows:   Charles M. Eldridge; Horace C. Thurber; Levi Bacon, Jr.; Alfred J. Boss; Julius Dean; James A. Weeks; Henry S. Rinehart; George W. Rogers; A. N. Hitchcock; David Hollenbeck; Francis Darrow.
     The original name intended for this Lodge was “Phoenix” and the minutes of the following meetings so indicate:  November 19, 26; December 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, 1847; and January 7, 1848.
     Apparently, they were not aware that a Lodge at Ypsilanti, (No. 13), had already been chartered under that name. However, this was changed at the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge in January, 1848. The minutes of the Lodge for January 14, 1848 show that the name was changed to Pontiac Lodge.
     The minutes of the first meeting held under dispensation on November 19, 1847, are as follows: “At a communication of Phoenix Lodge held at Masons’ Hall on the 19th day of November, A. L. 5847, under dispensation of the M.W. Grand Lodge of the State of Michigan, dated 12 November, 1847;
There were present the following officers named in said dispensation, viz.: Charles M. Eldridge, Worshipful Master; Horace C. Thurber, S. Warden; Francis Darrow, J. Warden. Also the following brethren named therein: Alfred J. Boss, George W. Rogers, Henry S. Rinehart, A. N. Hitchcock, Levi Bacon, Jr.
Lodge was opened in due form on the Third Degree of Masonry.
On motion the Lodge proceed to the election of its subordinate officers, Whereupon the following Brethren were elected to the offices set opposite their respective names : Levi Bacon, Jr., Secretary; Julius Dean, Treasurer; George W. Rogers, S. Deacon; H. S. Rinehart, J. Deacon.
The following Brethren were appointed a committee to report By-Laws for the government of the Lodge, viz.; Chas. M. Eldridge, F. Darrow and Jas. A. Weeks. The Lodge was closed in due form.
LEVI BACON, JR., Sec’y"
     The following Brethren advanced the sum of one dollar each to the Lodge:  Charles M. Eldridge, Jas. A. Weeks, Henry S. Rinehart, George W. Rogers, Francis Darrow, Horace C. Thurber, Levi Bacon, Jr., Alfred J. Boss, Julius Dean, David Hollenbeck.  Making the sum of eleven dollars, ten dollars of which was paid to the Grand Lodge for a dispensation.
Notes from the November 26 meeting:
“George Bigelow demitted to No. 21."  |  The first petition read for admittance was that of Charles Pittman.  |  Jasiel Smith was voted a member without the usual fee, also William Downer.  |  On motion ‘Brother A. N. Hitchcock, Treasurer, was directed to draw from the treasury upon the order from the Master the sum of $8.75 to be paid as the first advance quarterly payment of rent for the hall.’ “
     At the regular meeting held February 18, 1848, “A petition was read from the following Brothers at Flint: S. C. Munson, Lyman Stow, David Mather, Jeremiah Riggs, Derrick I. Wright, R. W. Stevens and J. K. R. Donalson, directed to the Grand Lodge desiring a dispensation to work under and wishing the approval of this Lodge. On motion the approval was granted.”
     At the March 3, 1848 meeting it was mentioned that “A statement was made by the W. Master that another petition had come into his hands directed to the Grand Lodge from H. S. Higgins, Charles Righly, William Eddy, John ----, Silas D. Halsey, Jeremiah R. Smith and C. S. Payne, of Flint, to the Grand Lodge being in our possession.
     A motion was made and carried to reconsider the vote of approval on the first petition. On motion of Brother Rinehart the petitions were laid over until our next communication. In the meantime the signers of both petitions to be notified that at the said communication both petitions would be acted upon.”
     At the regular meeting March 7, 1848, both petitions were considered. That of S. C. Munson and others was rejected and that of H. S. Higgins and others was approved.
     On Friday, July 14, 1848, Thomas Farmer, Rochester, Charles Raleigh, Flint, and Henry S. Higgins, W. M. Genesee Lodge, raised F. C. Henry Seymour for Genesee.
     In the returns for the year 1848 the membership is shown to have increased from 19 to 53. During the year 1848 Leonard Weed, who distinguished himself as a Master, Deputy Grand Master and Grand Master, became a member June 16.
     March 9, 1849, “An invitation was received from Oakland Chapter to use their hall free of rent during the term for which the Lodge had rented the room.”
     On September 28, 1849, “The committee heretofore appointed to confer with a committee on the part of Oakland Chapter to take into consideration the purchase of the hall made their report. Report accepted by the Lodge and the committee discharged.
     On motion it was resolved by the Lodge to unite with Oakland Chapter in the purchase of the hall.”
     On November 2, 1849, they voted approval of the sum of $50 as part payment of the hall.
     On motion November 30, 1849, “Brother Eldridge it was resolved by the Lodge that the Secretary furnish Mrs. Weed, the widow of Leonard Weed, a certificate of membership and good standing in his Lodge at the time of his decease.”
     In 1857, when Acacia Lodge No. 45 of Pontiac had practically ceased, the following Brethren of that Lodge petitioned No. 21 for membership and were approved on December 25, 1857: A. B. Cudworth, R. H. Elliott, A. Parker, John P. Kelley. R. H. Elliott signed the roll January 22, 1858; A. Parker, March 18, 1859; John P. Kelley, December 25, 1857. David A. Eliot petitioned for membership February 11, 1859, elected March 18, 1859, and signed the roll April 1, 1859.
     In February 1877, a duplicate charter was issued, and the Lodge permitted to retain its old charter, which had become illegible, as a souvenir.
On June 28, 1898, James Bradley, Grand Master, and his staff, dedicated the new Temple that the Lodge had erected at the corner of Huron Street and Saginaw Street. It is said that under the close and careful management of Horace C. Thurber, one of the charter members, that the nucleus was secured for the land where the Temple was built.
     This Temple having outlived its use, in 1921 three members of the Lodge, Ralph T. Keeling, Clayton Springer and W. H . (Bill) Harris, presented a report, that had no place in the regular order of business of the Lodge at one of its meetings. This report contained an offer of a site for a new Masonic Temple. A discussion was precipitated immediately. The result was the appointment of a committee to investigate the almost preposterous thing proposed.
The discussion of a new Masonic Temple brought forth the disparagement of the older and more conservative group. They set forth the trials and tribulations of financing and building the old Temple in 1898.

They pointed out the yoke of a heavy mortgage and decried anything that would bring upon them so onerous a burden as they labored under before. At the date of this writing had those who were interested in building a new Temple, listened to the older heads they would not have been in the predicament they found themselves in 1943 when they lost it on account of the heavy debt.
     On May 1, 1921, the old site was sold to the S. S. Kresge Co., with a lease to retain Lodge and Club rooms in the building until May 1, 1924. On June 29, 1921, the sod was turned for the new building on the site at the corners of Oakland, Lafayette and Wayne Streets. On October 4” 1923, the comer stone of the new Temple was laid by Grand Master Charles A. Durand. This act followed a procession in which all Masonic bodies of the city, headed by the police and the Oakland Band, participated. A Masonic quartette and the Right Worshipful William H. Gallagher, Grand Chaplain, pronounced the invocation. After laying the corner stone, M. W. Frank T. Lodge, Past Grand Master, delivered an address on “Visible Masonry.”
     The dedication of the Temple occurred five years later on November 23, 1928, by the M. W. F. Homer Newton, Grand Master, who was made a Master Mason in the old Temple. After the dedication M. W. Louis Fead, Past Grand Master, gave the dedication address.
     As mentioned above, the membership of the various Masonic bodies in Pontiac could not carry the load of debt in which they found themselves, therefore Roosevelt Lodge No. 510 purchased a home in Pontiac and altered it for Masonic purposes. This Temple was dedicated April 25, 1942, by Grand Master Dewey H. Hesse. He gave his dispensation for them to move their Charter and Great Lights on March 14, 1942. The new Temple is on State Street, near Huron Street.
     During the summer of 1942 a committee consisting of Emery J. Doerr, P. M., Marshall E. Smith, P.M., C. Bryan Kinney, P.M., Lloyd W. Burnes, P.M., and John A. Race were selected by the Lodge to secure a new building for Temple purposes. In September 1942, a new building was purchased, and the Pontiac Lodge No. 21 Building Association was formed with the original committee on purchase as the first Board of Trustees.
     January 23, 1943, Grand Master Orin E. Brown issued a dispensation to Pontiac Lodge No. 21 to occupy their new quarters at 18 1/2 E. Lawrence Street without dedication temporarily. The first regular communication was held in the new Temple on March 5, 1943. Financing the Temple was boosted in June 1943, by the membership pledging $60 per member to he paid in five years’ time. At the December, 1944, regular meeting $12,000 was still owed on the Temple. At this time 120 notes were issued covering the indebtedness with no interest to be paid. These notes were repaid at the rate of at least two per month, the last one having been paid on December 5, 1947. Thus, we then found our Lodge free and clear in the comparatively short period of five years, culminating in the burning of the mortgage on January 13, 1948.
     Pontiac Lodge membership peaked in 1928 at 1113 members. The Great Depression brought a drop in overall membership to approximately 900 and remained steady near that number until the 1960s when Freemasonry throughout the US began to see a slow decline in membership. Over the past 75 years, Pontiac has remained a mainstay in Oakland County Freemasonry and in the community. The Lodge has provided tens of thousands of dollars in support for community charities ranging from support of the DARE programs in the 1990s and early 2000s to HAVEN shelter for women and children and support of various programs in local schools to assist children with supplies, food, and other needs. In addition to these local charities, the Lodge has provided more than $50,000 in college scholarships for local students.
     As the direct descendent of Oakland County’s first Lodge, Pontiac Lodge No. 21 has always prided itself on maintaining the rich history of the Lodge and has long been known for the ritualistic proficiency of its members. Often providing support to other local Lodges to help ensure impressive degrees to their new members.
     This space is not sufficient to name every Brother of Pontiac who has distinguished himself through his service to the Fraternity, Government, or to his given Profession. On the historic rolls of the Pontiac Lodge No. 21 can be found, countless distinguished members of the legal profession including Judge Augustus C. Baldwin and many founding members of the Oakland County Bar Association; dozens of Common Council members and Mayors of the City of Pontiac, State Legislators, State Senators, County Clerks, Sheriffs, former Governor Murray VanWagoner, Congressman Mark Brewer, Congressman Byron Stout, along with countless business owners, skilled tradesmen, etc.
     These Brothers were chosen for public service, not because they were Masons, but because they displayed, every day, the upright and honest living that distinguished them as great men and leaders.
     As we embarque on the next 175 years of Pontiac Lodge, we can only pray that the leaders we are creating today live up to the legacy of those giants of service that provided the path we have been fortunate to follow and that we have the passion and conviction to carry the legacy of Freemasonry in Pontiac into the next century of service!!