by Martin P. Starr, PM
In 1860, at the dawn of the Civil War, the Worshipful Master and Brethren of Oriental Lodge No. 33, had the forethought to purchase graves for their fraternal dead in the newly formed Rosehill Cemetery, located in what was then called the village of Lakeview, Illinois. The cost was $50.00 and for this the Lodge purchased the rights of internment in the entirety of Lot 16 in Section O, one of the earliest sections to open in Rosehill; many other Masonic bodies, including the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Chicago, also purchased graves in the same area, near the Ravenswood Avenue entrance.
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Member of Oriental Lodge No. 33 & La Fayette Chapter No. 2
Captain Joseph Nicholson, one of the stalwart old-time lake mariners, is now a prominent citizen of Detroit, Michigan. He was born September 25, 1826, near Kilkeen, County Down, Ireland, about half a mile from the Irish Channel. The Captain has been superintendent of the House of Correction in Detroit some twenty years, and notwithstanding his mature age, is full of vitality, taking an active, public-spirited part in the municipal affairs of the “City of the Straits.”
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The year was 1833. Only 15 years after Illinois became one of the United States of America, a small town was incorporated from the trading center that had grown up around Fort Dearborn. Named after an Indian word meaning "wild onion," the town of Chicago had less than 350 residents, yet Chicago was already a small but thriving trading center. It is even at the beginning of Chicago that Oriental Lodge No. 33 has its roots.
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