About Friend Lodge

A Society of Friends and Brothers

Friend Lodge has been helping the community and making good men better in Ozark and throughout Christian County for over 145 years. We strive to be as relevant to the men of today as the Lodge was back in 1870. We work to extend brotherly love and affection, not just inside our walls but in the daily lives of our members and in the eyes of our critics.

We are a growing and active group with a membership of around 110 men with a wide range of ages and professions. We work to educate our members in the valued lessons of freemasonry every time we meet. We try to gather a group every week to practice and perfect our ritual and share in fellowship. We share the events of our week with our fellow Brothers and engage in candid discussions. Our Lodge is truly a group of friends that work and have fun together as equals, and as Brothers. We do our very best to exemplify the wisdom of "A Brotherhood of Men, Under the Fatherhood of God."

THE HISTORY OF FRIEND LODGE

William Friend was a freemason from Virginia and had belonged to the same Lodge as George Washington. He had served in the Continental Army and was one of the very first settlers in the area. There is little doubt that he was a man of high ideals and had passed this on to his descendants. Brothers Elias and Hiram Friend had followed in the footsteps of William to become freemasons. They then desired to bring the institution to Ozark by forming a Masonic Lodge. They petitioned the Grand Lodge of Missouri and in due time received a Charter authorizing them to duly open Friend Lodge #352 for work in the Degrees of Freemasonry. Friend Lodge received its official charter from the Grand Lodge of the State of Missouri dated October 13th, 1870.

The Charter members of the Lodge were:

Brother J. L. Robberson, Charter Worshipful Master

Brother B. A. Stone, Charter Senior Warden

Brother William Gardner, Charter Junior Warden

Brother John Hornbeak

Brother E. G. Friend

Brother Hiram Friend

Brother George M. Ray

Brother John W. Walker