Washoe
#2
Washoe City NV
Editor's note: This is the "condensed" version of the History of this Lodge ... if you would like to read the longer version, click on "Torrence's History of this Lodge" on the Lodge List page.
Washoe Lodge #2 was located in Washoe City, Washoe County, Nevada. It was originally chartered by California as their #157 with a dispensation being granted July 25, 1862 and chartered May 14, 1863. At the Stated Meeting of the Lodge in July 1862, a committee was appointed to investigate the possibility of forming a Grand Lodge in Nevada. For some reason this subject was dropped for the time being.
Washoe Lodge’s Worshipful Master, Senior and Junior Warden’s were present and accorded seats at the meeting of January 16, 1865 in the city of Virginia City, NV, when the Grand Lodge of Nevada was formed and, being the second senior lodge present, was granted the number 2 on the registry of the new Grand Lodge.
At this meeting, Brother Henry B. Brady was the senior Master present and presided over the election of the Grand Lodge Officers. As no other Grand or Past Grand Master was present, he was invited to install the newly elected Grand Master. W. Brother Brady was elected and installed as Right Worshipful Senior Grand Warden of the new Grand Lodge.
W. Brother Brady served a second term as R.W. Senior Grand Warden and was replaced by W. George Robinson who served as Grand Master in 1870 and 1871.
Washoe # 2 was one of the many Moon Lodges of the day, in that the date of meeting was specified as "the Saturday next preceeding the Full Moon". Lodge membership in 1867 was 45, and 1878 shows 87 members.
In 1888, Washoe 2 membership slipped to 23 members, and the Lodge was not represented in Grand Lodge that year.
At the Grand Lodge in 1889, Washoe Lodge #2 ceased to exist with the simple statement in Grand Master William McMillan’s message "there was a decrease of twenty nine members, twenty three being lost with the surrender of the charter of Washoe Lodge #2". No further explanation was offered and nothing is shown in the proceedings to the reasons of surrender of its charter. However, later editions of the Proceedings show that the charter was noted as having been "officially" surrendered in 1915.