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S. B. STAMPLEY LODGE NO. 222

Roxie, Mississippi

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

January 21, 1957

PROGRAM

Opening Prayer                                               Carl Seab

Recognition of Visitors

Presentation of Gifts of the Lodge

Tribute                                                              Order of Eastern Star

Early History                                                     William Hadskey

The Middle Years                                             Carl Seab           

Contemporary History                                    Newman Scott 

Introduction of Grand Officers                      C. E. Walters 

Grand Masters Address                                  Victor Walters 

Closing Prayer                                                  C. E. Walters

Refreshments

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THE GRAND LODGE OF MISSISSIPPI

FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS

Sends Greetings to All Free and Accepted Masons: KNOW YE, That on the Application of Our Well Beloved Brethren, JACOB STAMPLEY, A.B. COMPTON,  C.C. CAMPBELL, W.M.Z. MARTIN, H. B. MAGEE, L. DROMGOOLE, Z. ROWLAND, J .M. RITCHEY, and JAMES H. STAMPLEY the said Grand Lodge does hereby consti­tute them into a . . . . . . REGULAR LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS to be opened at Mt. Carmel Church by the name of S. B. STAMPLEY # 222 Lodge, and do further on the said application and of the great trust and confidence reposed in the said Brethren doth appoint JACOB S. STAMPLEY Master: A.B. COMPTON, Senior Warden, and C.C. CAMPBELL, Junior Warden, of said Lodge.

In Full Faith and Testimony Whereof, The Grand Lodge has caused its Seal to be affixed to this dispensation and it to be attested by their Grand Secretary at Vicksburg this 21st day of January, Anne Lucis 59, A.D. 1857.

(Seal)

W. A. ROANE

Grand Master

Attest:

Frederic  SPEED

Grand Secretary

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SOLOMAN BARTLETT STAMPLEY

          Little is known of the early life of Soloman Bartlett Stampley but it is thought that he was the grandson of John Stampley, who came from Switzerland to Virginia in 1763, where he served in the Revolutionary War. John Stampley had several sons of whom John I, Peter, Richard, Jacob, and Daniel were among the number. Jacob was the father of Soloman B. Stampley. Tradition tells us that the Stampleys were German-Swiss. The original spelling of the name Stampley was Stauffley. Little is known of the early Stampleys with the exception of John I., who at one time was President of the Mississippi Territorial assembly. A bit of doggerel describes him,

"Little John Stampley,

          Fills the chair quite amply.

          From the available records one may assume, that what ever Soloman B. Stampley did, he did it in a big way. For example, we know he was married four times. He helped organize at least three Masonic lodges, and in his mercantile and business interests, he operated on a grand scale.

          It is assumed that S. B. Stampley was a Baptist, due

to the fact. that his Grandmother, Martha Curtis Stampley, was the daughter of Richard Curtis, a pioneer Baptist Preacher, and that the first Baptist Church in the State, Salem, was organized in his Aunt Mariah Stampley' s Home.

          It would appear that during his early life, Soloman Stampley lived near the Jefferson-Franklin County 'line: in the community called Stampley. He made his living as a farmer. In the 1830's, he married Mary Tullos, who owned considerable land near Rodney, Mississippi and St. Joseph, Louisiana. He went into partnership with his brother-in-­law, Charles Tullos, ran a mercantile business in Rodney, and operated a Ferry between Rodney and St. Joseph. At one time in the 1840' s, Soloman formed a partnership with David I. Stampley which proved unsuccessful. In the depression of the 1840's, Soloman and David Stampley were sued for $lO,OOO.

          Stampley owned approximately 917 acres of land in Jefferson and Franklin counties; in the Stampley neighborhood, Osceola, and other Plantations in Louisiana, and probably other lands. An interesting account shows that Jacob E. Stampley bought one 261# barrel of sugar for $16.10 and four pairs of ladies shoes for $5.00 at Soloman's store in 1837.

          Soloman B. Stampley's first wife was Julia Ann Corbett whom he married March 22. 1821. Their children were Maria, who first married a Mr. Bass, after his death she married

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EARLY HISTORY PRIOR TO 1865

          James H. Stampley, Junior Warden, was the first member of S. B. Stampley # 222 to be struck down by death. He died August 21,1858, and was buried with full Masonic Honors. Moses M. Martin, Secretary of the Lodge, and a committee of John M. Ritchey, A. B. Compton, and C. C. Campbell attested to his death.

          Masonic brethren Jacob Stampley, A. B. Compton, S. B. Rowland, C. C. Campbell, C. W. Campbell, and John K. Guice, were prominent in a movement to organize a regular 4th of July celebration at Wildwood Springs in 1857. These *celebrations took place each year with speakers, sports, concessions etc., until the Civil War. (*These celebrations are mentioned several times in the Susan Sillers Darden Diary, posted on Jefferson County MSGenWeb!)

          Usually S. B. Stampley Lodge # 222 and Thomas Hinds Lodge # 58 would celebrate St. Johns Day together in the early days of Masonry. Some times this Lodge would get a dispensation from the Grand Lodge to celebrate St. Johns Day on other dates than the 24th of June.

MEMBERS FOR THE CALENDAR. YEAR l865

In 1953, Mr. Newman Scott received a letter from H. B. Coker, the Secretary of John A. Quitman Lodge # 244 of Summit, Miss., which showed a copy of the return of S. B. Stampley Lodge # 222 for the Calendar year of 1865. Meetings were held at that, time on the third Saturdays of each month and on St. Johns Day at Mount Carmel Church.

          The names were as follows:

                   OFFICERS

                   John M. Ritchey                     W.M.

                   S. B. Rowland                        S.W.

                   M. C. ..Johnson                      J.W.

                   Aaron Herring                        Sect.

                   George C. Armstrong           Secy.

                   L. D. Dromgoole                     S.D.

                   A. B. Compton                       J.D.

                   C. W. Campbell                     S.S. Tyler

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Aaron Herring -Treasurer -- Prominent politician in District 2. He was a member of the County Board of Police, which may be compared with our present day Board of Supervisors. in 1842-44 and 1850-54 and served as president of that body in 1843-44 and 54. He owned 12 slaves in 1850 and served as an overseer of the Poor in l848.  He was probably too old for Civil War Service. Originally he was a member of Ben Franklin Lodge # 11 at Meadvil1e.

George C. Armstrong - Secretary -- married Amanda S. Guice on April 23,1843 and lived in Jefferson County.

Levi Droomgoole - S.D. -- Born 1821 in Louisiana the son of John M. and Elizabeth Alston Dromgoole. He married Zenobia A. Rowland, September 2. 1846. He joined Thomas Hinds #58 May 18, 1851. He had few advantages in his youth but was frugal and saved enough money to buy 2,000 acres of Judge Turner's Piney Woods Plantation in 1858. He served under Captain Thomas A. Magee during the Civil War and became a Royal Arch Mason soon after the War. He is buried in the Compton Grave Yard, but his grave is unmarked.

Alexandra B. Compton - J.D. -- was a school teacher and owned considerable property in Jefferson County. He was born in 1830 and died in 1912. He and his wife, Louisa, are buried in Hamburg Cemetery. At the time of his death, he belonged to Hamburg Lodge # 467, where the last Masonic Rites were performed.

Doctor Columbus Washington Campbell - S. – was the son of C. C. and Melinda C. Guice Campbell. He entered the Methodist Ministry from Mount Carmel Church prior to 1870. He married Mary Elizabeth Compton and 9 boys and 4 girls resulted from this union. Out of these children were 6 masons, and 2 shriners.

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at Knoxville. He married Annette McMillan, the daughter of C. N. McMillan and the sister of C. E., who was a bulwark in S. B. Stampley Lodge for many years. Darsey lived in District # 1. and served as a First Lieutenant in Captain Kell's State Troops during the civil War. After the war he was elected Justice of the Peace and was unsuccessful as a candidate for the State Legislature. He was an excellent farmer and. in his latter years was affectionately known as “Squire Darsey”.

Nathaniel Kennison Farr - was of Irish Descent and in his old age owned a large plantation northwest of Hamburg.  Prior to the Civil War he was appointed leader of the Patrols in District # 2 to keep negroes in subjection.  It is thought that he married the daughter of Solomon Beck, a merchant of Hamburg, in the 1830's and marriage records show that he married Emily R. Guice, January 1, 1842, and Nancy K. Long. February 4, 1844. Many descendants of this old gentleman live in this vicinity now.

William H. Freeman - lived in District 2 and had served in Company E, 7^th Regiment of the Mississippi Volunteers in the Civil War.

          Due to the fact that there were eleven Guices in the Lodge in 1865 and because many of the. other members were related to the Guices, either by blood or marriage, a short sketch of the Guice Family is presented.

          Originally the Guices were French Hugenots, who because of religious persecution, went to the German Palatinate. The first Guice who came to America was Hans (John) G. Guice,  landing in Pennsylvania in 1737. His son, Christopher, and wife Margarette were both members of the Falkner Swamp Reform Church. Their son, Jonathan, who married Anne Stump and came to Mississippi about 1792, joined the Methodist Church in Claiborne County, later they moved to Franklin County. Their family numbered 12 children and as far as can be determined, all the Guices in Missis­sippi and Louisiana are descendents of this union. Jacob Guice, their 5th son, was a Captain of Volunteers in the War of 1812 and an early election official for Franklin county. Daniel Guice, Jacob's brother, and several others built a Methodist Church in 1833 which was called "The Church of The Guices" but later was called Mount Carmel. This was the same building wherein the Masonic Lodge was organized. Jesse, another brother, was a pioneer Methodist Preacher, and at one time served in the Legislature. He also belonged to Ben Franklin Lodge # 11 at Meadville.  The majority of the Guices, who belonged to S. B. Stampley #222 in 1865, were grandsons of Jonathan Guice.

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John Grantham Guice - the son of Captain Jacob Guice and the immediate ancestor of the Guices in Oldenburg, Roxie and Meadville. He was born March 1815, and married Sarah A. Kinnison on January 16,1840. His first Masonic affili­ation was with Ben Franklin # 11 and his main political offices were as a School commissioner and Trustee. His business interests included a small plantation, a tanyard, and a l6-power sawmill, valued at $9,000, which required five men to operate.

Isaac K. Guice - was born March 18, 1813 and died January 7,1895. He, his wife, Liza Stoddart, and his entire family are buried at the old Guice cemetery. It is thought he was the son of Jonathan Guice. He served in community life, as a School Trustee and in religious affairs as a Sunday School Teacher at Mount Carmel Church and in Military affairs in various ranks in Captain Thomas K. Magee's state Troops in the Civil War.

John Kennison Guice - married Mary Carney of Tensas Parish, Louisiana November 26,1856, and during the Civil War served in Youngblood's Signal Corps. We find records where John K. Guice, Jacob Stampley, S. B. Rowland, C. W. Campbell, C.C. Campbell, and A. B. Compton, belonged to the Wildwood Spring Association in 1857.

Jonah M. Guice - served in Youngblood's Signal Corps during the Civil War, probably was , a Chaplain for he had been ordained as a Methodist Minister in 1856. Prior to becoming a minister he had lived in District #2, where he was a Justice of the Peace.

Richard M. Guice was a farmer in District #2.

Napoleon L. Guice - was a son of Isaac and Clarissa Higdon Guice. Early in his youth,-he served as Debt Constable in Hamburg, but he tired of this work and began the study of medicine at Tulane University. He became a member of S. B. Stampley # 222 in 1860. After graduation from Tulane he practiced medicine in Jefferson and Adams Counties.' As a Doctor, he was quite successful and was recognized as a leader in his field. He was President of the Mississippi Medical Association and published many medical Treatises, the most important being "Recent Advances in Obstetrics.

John D. Guice was a Civil War Veteran from District 2.

Isaac J. Guice - was the husband of Clarissa Higdon, and the son of Daniel Guice and the father of Napoleon L. Guice.

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His entire family, which included his wife and three children, were Methodist. He was a School Commissioner in District # 2 in 1851 and was a captain of the Militia prior to the Civil War.   During those years, he was also Justice of the Peace and during the Civil War he served in Withers Artillery.  He died in 1866, being 74 years old.

David W. Guice - was a farmer in District 2 who served in Withers Artillery during the Civil War. His family included a wife, the former Martha Ritchey, and one child in 1864.

George Adam B. Guice - was also a member of Youngblood's Signal Corps. Prior to the war, he owned part interest in a sawmill and from election returns we may assume he lived in Hamburg where he was a School Trustee. His family in­cluded his wife, Louiza Higginbotham, and 2 sons, George and Nathaniel.

James A. Guice - lived in District # 2 and was a member of Whithers Artillery in the Civil War.

S. P. Gilbert - married Edna F. Bullen, February 19,1856, and was a farmer in Jefferson county. He and James M. Gilbert were brothers; their mother was a Guice.

James Monroe Gilbert - married Mary D. Sizemore Nov. 14, 1866, and a farmer in Jefferson County.

John Anthony Quitman Graves - was born in District 1, Feb. 19, 1839, and grew up to be a farmer, married Siciley Darsey, sister of Francis Darsey on June 19,1859 and to their union was born five children - one Roxie Graves, had the signal honor of having the village of Roxie named after her. It is said that a group of men were discussing possible names of the town they hoped to establish, and Mr. Graves suggested that the town be named for his baby girl. Due to the fact that Mr. Graves was a popular citizen and a staunch Baptist Church Worker, and something of a war hero, the citizenry accepted his suggestion. He is buried in Union cemetery.

James G. Herring - was from District 2 and had served in the Civil War.

George W. Jones - lived in the Compton-Stampley neighbor­hood and served in Garland's Calvary.

George T. Lambright - The Lambrights were a pioneer Franklin County Family; the first George Lambright having settled near the Homochitto River in 1807. The County is also indebted to this family due to the fact that one member of it wrote a wonderful history of Franklin. George had served in Company B, 33 Regiment during the Civil War.

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Moses Miranda Martin - was one of the most successful farmers in District 2.  His Masonic records show he belonged to Thomas Hinds #58 originally but received a demit in 1854, was a Charter member of S. B. Stampley # 222 and became its Secretary in 1858. In 1864, he took the Royal Arch Degree at Fayette Lodge No. 14. Martin's family included his

wife, Elizabeth Stampley Martin, and six children, who were Irie, Elmer, Florence, Jerome, Austin, and Moses M. Martin, Jr. Moses M. Martin was kicked in the stomach by a horse and died shortly after of internal injuries in 1866. He is buried in the Guice Cemetery. .

Henry H. Middleton - Lived in District 1 and served in the Civil War. During his long years as a Mason, he served in every office of the Blue Lodge and was one of the most respected men in the Community. He died February 21,1915 and was buried with Masonic Rites the next day.

Calvin E. “Pone” McMillan - was the son .of Calvin N. and Amanda Tompson McMillan. He was reared in District 1 and as usual with the young men of his time served in the Confederate Army. During his long tenure as a Mason he was usually serving as one of the major officers of the Lodge.

          Numerous stories tell of the devotion and loyalty of “Pone" McMillan, Henry Middleton, and Francis Dorsey to their Lodge.

          On April 20. 1912 "Pone" McMillan was allowed to forfeit payment of dues, due to the fact that he was over 70 years old, had never been suspended and had been an active Mason more than 20 years.

Zebidee Rowland - he and his wife Julia A. Fisher Rowland are buried in the Roxie Cemetery. Zeb Rowland was a Charter Member of  S. B. Stampley # 222 and was another of those individuals who gave untiringly of his time and effort for the advancement of Masonry. He and his wife Julia, who was a School Teacher, raised 5 children at the old Rowland Inn. Rowland was a Shoemaker and was exempt from army service during the Civil War, due to his occupation.

Richard Skinner - lived in Jefferson County and belonged to the. R. A. M. He married Nancy Foster May 23, 1822.

John W. Scott - was a farmer in Jefferson County.

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Reuben Jackson Wright - was of German ancestry: his grand­father, Kinde Wright, came to Georgia and from there, he settled on Woodland plantation near Washington, Miss. in 1834; later he moved to Franklin County where he helped to establish Wright's Church.

          Reuben Jackson Wright was born near Wright's Church in 1834, but his family moved to Brownsville, Texas in his youth. upon gaining manhood, he came to Fayette, Miss. where he taught school for a time, and then went to Tulane University studying Medicine. He practiced Medicine in Franklin county until his death on July 24,1919: was a leader of the Probitionist Movement, and an accreditable poet. He married Sarah Tate and when she died he married Sarah Black, to each union 4 children were born. This old Gentleman was the Great Grandfather of the writer's wife.

John Clem Williams - was of Welch Ancestry. His grandfather came from Wales and settled near the Potomac River in Mary­land. John Clem's father, Electus Williams, came to Miss. in the early 1800's and was a leading light in the Methodist Church during that era.

          John Clem Williams was born June 24, 1827 and died September 24, 1909. He and his wife whom he married February 16,1853 are buried in the Williams Cemetery in Hamburg. During the Civil War he served in Captain T. K. Magee's state Troops, Co. E., 2nd Reg. and after the war was one of the most prominent farmers in the Hamburg Area.