Newtown Masons Honor Their Founder

Several members of Hiram Lodge No. 18 in Sandy Hook, gathered at the Newtown Village cemetery on Sunday to participate in a wreath laying ceremony in honor of their first Master of the Lodge, the late Peter Nichols.

Two hundred twenty years after the group's founding in Newtown, the lodge’s current Master William G. Hillman presided over a ceremony at the grave of his predecessor 111 times removed. 

“As master of the Lodge I felt it would be appropriate to celebrate its 220^th birthday in this way,” Hillman said.   

The content of Sunday’s ceremony touched on both the enduring philosophy of the Masons and their history of service to the local community.  

After an opening prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, Marvin Self, who has been a member of Hiram Lodge for 56 years, recited a portion of the Master Mason Lecture, which uses the metaphor of an hourglass to reflect on the fleeting nature of human existence, and the importance of doing good deeds in one’s life. 

“Behold! How swiftly the sands run, how rapidly our lives are drawing to a close,” Self read. “We cannot without astonishment behold the little particles which are contained in this machine; how they pass away, almost imperceptibly.” 

Kevin White, a member of Danbury’s Union Lodge 40, attended the ceremony both to support his fellow Masons in Newtown and to receive a personal acknowledgement.

A hobbyist gravestone conservator, White straightened Nichols' gravestone on Saturday, having received permission to do so by the Newtown Village Cemetery Association.  

White estimates that Nichols’ gravestone, a simple memorial that has taken on a dark brown earthen hue over the centuries, is the original stone that was installed upon his interment.  

“A lot of the older stones around this section have been replaced,” he said, “but this one I’m almost sure is original.”  

After delivering a brief history of Lodge No. 18 and a biography of Nichols, Hillman turned the ceremony over to Dan Nichols, who bestowed a wreath on a stand next to the gravestone. Nichols, a member of St. Peter’s Masonic Lodge in New Milford, is a descendent of a cousin of Peter Nichols.  

Also in attendance was Robert Hall, a Newtown attorney who is a direct descendent of deceased honoree. 

“It is a great honor to have my ancestor remembered in this way,” Hall said. “It’s a pleasure to be here today.”

As well as honoring the patriarch of their Lodge, Hillman wanted the ceremony to emphasize the tradition of civic leadership that has always emanated from Lodge No. 18, which began during Captain Nichols’ lifetime and continues today, he said.

For instance, during the past few months, the Lodge conducted a fundraiser to raise $500 for a scholarship to be awarded to a graduating Newtown High School senior in the class of 2012. Additionally, Lodge member Sam Smith was an honorary co-chair of Relay for Life last Saturday, and he and his team Wings of Hope raised more than $6,500 for cancer research.

“We’ve been an integral part of the fabric of Newtown throughout its history, and we’re continuing to take good men and make them better,” Hillman said.

To learn more about the history of Hiram Lodge #18, read this article: .

Correction: Marvin Self's last name was incorrect in an earlier version of this article.