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History of Fulton Lodge 830

On July 25, 1903, Fulton Elks Lodge No. 830 was instituted as a subordinate lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The Charter was granted to Fulton and delivered to Frank Towse, the first Exalted Ruler. The other charter officers were: Leading Knight, Fred G. Spencer; Loyal Knight, Charles J. Bacon; Lecturing Knight, Wilbert F. Hill; Secretary Lynn A. Richardson; Treasurer, Walter J. Boomer; Tiler, John Pomphret; Esquire, John Mclntire; Inner Guard, Clarence Patrick; Chaplain, Frank C. Fox; Trustees, George Johnson, Oscar Hannis and Maurice H. Conley.

The Lodge had sixty charter members on the date of installation and all are now deceased. The sponsoring lodge was Syracuse No. 31 and the original installation of officers was held in the main ballroom of the Clark House which is now the Clark Hotel. The first meetings were held in the Waldhorn Block and the O'Brien. Block which is now occupied by Roy's furniture Company.

In 1908 the present home was purchased from Cora Lewis Construction on this building was started in 1849 and completed in 1854. Soon after the purchase of the present home renovations were made to provide a lodge room and club facilities. Photos of the rooms in the building are now hanging in

Text Box: Exalted Rulers 1903-04 Frank J . Towse 1904-05 Frederick G. Spencer 1905-06 C. Earl Foster 1906-07 Frank M. Cornell 1907-08 Orin S. Bogardus 1908-09 L. E. Taggart 1909-10 John E. Boland 1910-11 George M. Fannin 1911-12 L. A. Richardson 1912-13 Edward P. Cole 1913-14 Louis F. Cornell 1915-16 John W. Stevenson 1917-18 John Painter 1918-19 Claude E. Guile 1920-21 Frank E. LaPorte 1921-22 John W. Pratt 1922-23 William E. Cameron 1924-25 Clinton H. Hulett 1925-26 Edward K. Sullivan 1926-27 Charles C. Bennett 1927-28 Harry M. O'Brien 1928-29 Floyd L. Boynton 1929-30 Leland A. Palmer 1930-31 Edward G. Eckstedt 1931-32 Eugene F. Sullivan 1932-33 G. Willis Gaebler 1933-34 Parker VanBuren 1934-35 John A. Buell 1935-36 James E. Lannigan 1936-37 J. Joseph Carroll 1937-38 John D. Donovan 1938-39 Robert L. Storms 1939-40 Thomas F. McCollum 1940-41 Byron A. Smith 1941-42 John B. Lincoln 1942-43 Saul S. Alderman 1943-44 Joseph Schneider 1944-45 Rudolph Foster 1945-46 Roland Quade 1946-47 Francis Quirk 1947-48 Joseph Fistick 1948-49 Harold Phelps 1949-50 Loren Flick 1950-51 Leo Bidwell 1951-52 Stanley Springer 1952-53 James Hanlon 1953-54 Fenton Smith, Jr. 1954-55 Morton Tramblay 1955-56 Fenton Smith, Sr. 1956-57 Andrew Michaud 1957-58 Maurice Shapiro 1958-59 Robert Quade 1959-60 Floyd Hallenbeck 1960-61 William Prashaw 1961-62 Nicholas Hopman 1962-63 Donald Halliday

Fulton Elks Lodge 830 1916 (Article & Photo from Thomas Tryniski fultonhistory.com)

In 1916 the Fulton Elks 200 strong attended the Elks State Convention in Troy, New York. In the above photo are the Fulton members attired in white suits who participated in the

association's parade. The Fulton Elks band was in the Line of March. The large Elk on the left in the photo was purchased by John W. Stevenson, front, right, who was the Exalted Ruler from 1915 to 1917. This Elk was on display at the Plaza on Oneida and South First Streets.

This Elks contingent was well received in Troy and they participated in many local patriotic parades. Every Elk was required to purchase a white suit 60 years ago. (Photo by James B. Hanlon, P.D.D.)

ELKS HOME— The Fulton Elks home, pictured , was under construction from 1849 to 1854. The local Elks lodge purchased the property from Thomas D. Lewis in 1908. Mr. Lewis' son, Victor Lewis later became mayor of Fulton. The home has been the scene of many civic activities over the past 55 years. It is expected that over 300 Elks will be in attendance when Grand Exalted Ruler Ronald J . Dunn visits the lodge on Monday, Sept. 16, for the concluding event in the lodge's 60th anniversary four-day program. —Photo by Blandino

the hall near the front entrance.

In 1915 the Elks' New York State Convention was held in Fulton and all business establishments were highly decorated for the occasion. John Stevenson, Exalted Ruler and Mayor of Fulton, purchased a large Elk that was displayed on The Plaza. Mr. Stevenson organized the Elks Band and all lodge members were outfitted in white flannel suits with hats

and canes. The local Elks made a fine showing as they marched in parades all over New York State.

In 1918 Mr. Stevenson made an unsuccessful bid for the office of Grand Exalted Ruler at a National Convention held in Boston, Mass. From 1922-1945 the lodge was very active in civic and community" affairs. The Elks Old Time Minstrel Shows always packed the Quirk Theater several nights each year.

In 1949 the Order of Elks instituted Youth Activities as one of its major programs. All 2,000 lodges in the nation were asked to promote youth projects for children of all ages and stations in life. Fulton Lodge No. 830 was one of the first in New York State to start a Youth Program Promotion. The first project was a Junior Baseball Team. Each year the program was expanded to cover their needs of more children and, in 1955, the Fulton Lodge was sponsoring 20 Youth Projects. That year Fulton was given an award as having the best Youth Program in the state. Fulton received this same honor seven times. Fulton Lodge in the past decade has received 37 National Awards for Youth Activities, Community Service and Americanism Programs. On July 19th of this year, Fulton Elks Lodge received four National Awards at San Francisco during the Elks National Convention. Three First Place Awards were for Over-all Youth Program, Elks Youth Day and Community Service. One Second Place was for the Lodge's Annual Memorial Services. Fulton Elks Lodge has kept abreast with the times and over the past few years the lodge building has been improved.