Sumter Claremont Masonic Lodge No. 64 marks 170 years of service this year

Up in Sumter's Claremont Masonic Lodge No. 64's meeting chambers, the walls are lined with photos of the lodge's past masters, and outside of those chambers are display cases with old Mason memorabilia in them, antique Mason aprons and important artifacts such as the medicine bag of the lodge's first master, who was a doctor.

The lodge's halls are a physical embodiment of its history. The Claremont Lodge was first officially established in 1855, and it shows on the walls, in the cases and in the history that comes from its members' mouths.

One of the reasons the lodge has so much memorabilia to show is because of its age. The lodge, first chartered on March 6, 1855, is turning 170, marking 170 years of service to and in Sumter - a milestone that is cause for celebration. But this celebration won't just be for one day or even one month; Sumter's Claremont Masonic Lodge will use the whole year to celebrate and give back to its community.

Faith, hope and charity are the three basic pillars of Masonry, and the Claremont Lodge will be emphasizing the charity pillar this year as they prepare to celebrate their longevity. The plans, which are still in their preliminary phases, include partnering with the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Memorial Day, helping with the annual pumpkin patch at Aldersgate United Methodist Church by providing treats, having a car show on the lodge's grounds and a black-tie event at the end of the year as a big celebration for the lodge's 170th anniversary.

The lodge dedicates itself to charity and community service outside of landmark years, too. The Masons specifically do a lot to help veterans, with many of Sumter's Masons being veterans themselves. On Veterans Day, the lodge partners with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3034 to provide a free spaghetti dinner for local veterans. The lodge has also collected food for Sumter United Ministries and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and placed wreaths on local veterans' graves for Wreaths Across America.

The Claremont Lodge is one of 300 in the state, according to Wayne Jones, who is the lodge's current secretary but who has also been past master for the lodge twice. Past master is a term that refers to a Mason who was once a worshipful master, and a worshipful master is the highest-ranking officer in the lodge. The worshipful master is also the head of the lodge's business and meetings, and that title currently belongs to Brent Moore.

The Masons themselves are a fraternal group of like-minded men who uphold a moral code, such as the three basic pillars of Masonry, faith, hope and charity.

"Our biggest motto is we like to take good men and make them better - it's basically a moral guideline for leading a virtuous life," Jones said.

One of the lodge's Masons, Eric Shumpert, said he is an example of that principle. Having problems because of deployments, Shumpert said he and his speech therapist have noticed a significant difference in his condition after he began working toward becoming a Mason. This, he said, is because of the memorization and questions he had to answer during the process.

"I started being quicker, whereas before I would get in something called a loop," Shumpert said about the progression of his speech.

Masonic lodges may be known for their secrecy (or for the fact the United States' first president George Washington was among their ranks), but one of the reasons their secrets are so well kept is because all that is "esoteric", or understood by only a small group of people, is passed down orally. Because of this, becoming a Mason is a challenging ordeal that requires dedication and, of course, a great memory.

Typically, you must know a Mason to become one. While much of society depends on technology, the Masons continue to bypass it. For example, meetings cannot be held via platforms such as Skype or Zoom; instead they must be held in person.

Another staple of being a Mason is harmony. When someone wants to join the Masons, every member of the lodge must approve of the new member joining; if even one person votes against that person joining the Masons, they can't join. Potential members will also have references interviewed to gauge what type of person they are. It all goes back to the principle of making an already good man better.

"We frown upon religious or political [discourse] within the group," Jones said. "Our meeting rules is that harmony should always prevail, so anything that causes disharmony is frowned upon and shunned."

You do not have to be a Christian to join the Masons, but you do have to believe in a supreme being.

Masons also hold each other accountable. For example, certain felonies can get you investigated by the lodge and potentially kicked out, and the fraternity will intervene when they see a Mason beginning to tread down the wrong path.

The number following the lodge, 64, denotes what number lodge the Claremont Lodge is - 64 out of the 300 in South Carolina.

The Claremont Lodge did not always have its own facility. In the 1950s, a group of lodge members got together and formed the Sumter Temple Corporation, which was tasked with acquiring a building. That building still stands today at 215 Alice Drive in the City of Sumter and was constructed specifically to be a lodge, which is important because Masonic lodges are often built with King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem in mind. The city's lodge is no exception.

Though Charleston, Greenville and Spartanburg have some of the biggest lodges in the state, the Claremont Lodge has a lot of heart in it. With 149 members, only 50 are active because of limitations due to old age. The average age of the Claremont Lodge members is 73, and that older average is not exclusive to the Claremont Lodge; the average age of all Masons in South Carolina is 65.

"Hopefully [we'll] find younger men out there who want something like this to become a better man, to learn," said Moore, the worshipful master.

Though there are many reasons Masons join together, one is to have a brotherhood behind you - a group of men from various walks of life who could guide you in different areas. These days, there is a surplus of information online, and one doesn't necessarily need to go out of their way to find answers or to even have a group of like-minded individuals to chat with.

"Everybody has to come willingly; we do not recruit openly, but when we were established, of course there was no electronic communication, telephones and that kind of [thing], so this was an opportunity for like-minded people to get together and have discussions," Jones said.

Now, as the years go by, the lodge looks toward the future with its further charity work in celebration of its 170th anniversary and the recruitment of members.

"We welcome everybody to come sit down, enjoy a meal with us, talk with us," Jones said.

Claremont Masonic Lodge No. 64 meets on the third Thursday of every month and eats dinner together at 7 p.m. Reach out to the lodge by email at webmaster@scgrandlodgeafm.org.