The town itself was named "Meyers’ Creek" after its founder, Captain John Meyers, who coincidentally was also the founding Master of Thurlow Lodge No. 17. (Thurlow is a township in Hastings County.) It became Belleville Lodge No. 17 in 1819 and the creek was renamed the Moira River. The name of the river became the name of the lodge in the 1850's when Thurlow Lodge moved under the jurisdiction of The Grand Lodge of Canada. The warrant in the lodge today has an empty space where the number should be. When switching jurisdictions Moira held out for number four but the GRC assigned a later number. So it was left blank.

My visit to Moira Lodge was a step into the past as they held a traditional "table lodge".

In the olden days, brethren came long distances, often by horseback. They’d finished a day’s work, they were hungry, and it was easier to feed them sooner than later. Food came first for these knights of the square table, after which the debris would be removed, the chairs turned around, and lodge business would open. Moira, for a time, met on the full of the moon so that rural members could find their way home by horseback, which was another reason for eating early.

Going back to basics, the Master, Steve Dafoe, received dispensation to move the meeting from the upstairs lodge room to the banquet hall and to hold a table lodge. Some of the more elderly brethren had been having trouble with the stairs to the second storey and this temporary change brought the lodge closer to them. The event attracted a full house.

The banquet tables formed an open quadrangle with the Master and head table in the east. The senior warden, flanked by a deacon and steward, looked lonely in the west. The north and south tables were crowded. In the centre was the altar, two wands, and the book of faith which remained closed during the meal..

It was under these conditions that I became acquainted with a Past Master of Moira Lodge. A lawyer, Abraham Diamond was an asset and an embarrassment, a faithful worker, and a treasure to the lodge that he entered under tangled circumstances.

The investigating committee couldn’t agree amongst themselves, so they were disbanded. A month later their replacements recommended that Abraham be accepted. He was admitted along with another Belleville lawyer, Nathaniel Baldwin Falkiner.

Abraham got to wear his Master Mason’s regalia early while he was still an Entered Apprentice, thanks to Alfred Campbell, the District Deputy Grand Master. The DDGM gave dispensation for all Masons in his district to dress up for the Feast of St. John, a big and public event for all the lodges in Belleville. .

Being a lawyer, Abraham was asked to aid The Craft by using his professional skills. Like the time when the Moira secretary said the cash on hand was $222.53 and treasurer reported a balance of $32.50 and when a law suit was being threatened over the premises. Bro. Diamond was appointed to a committee to "redeem or dispose of the Masonic Hall" and to "check the finances of both Moira and Belleville Lodges." Heavy stuff for a newly admitted member. Three years later when the courts hit a hall trustee with a penalty for decisions on behalf of the Temple, Abraham protected that brother’s personal assets by having Moira and Belleville lodges split the levy. When he had been in the lodge only five years, he was co-sponsor of a bylaw amendment establishing two black balls rather than one "to reject". And the lodge sent him to the Grand Lodge as their representative.

Eight years after initiation he was installed as Master, a year after Nathaniel Falkiner. During his term he practiced some fiscal innovations. When a brother repaired the Temple furnace, no fee was paid. Instead, the brother’s account was credited.

Considering his attention to rules and deadlines, it’s surprising that Abraham had trouble with dues. Moira Lodge and Bro. Diamond rode an 18 month roller coaster over his obligations. It started in February when his suspension was recommended for non-payment of dues. In March the secretary was instructed to tell him he was suspended. That was all for that year.

The following year his name was read out, again in January, and since the lodge had a balance of $21 cash on hand, it was evident that everyone’s dues was needed. In April he was formally suspended.

Almost.

Abraham appealed the suspension to the DDGM, stating he forgot he was suspended the year before, and said he had not been properly informed.

He had too, said the lodge. He’d been both informed and dunned for the balance but he ignored warnings.

That June, the DDGM ruled that Bro. Diamond had not been given notice "according to the constitution of Grand Lodge" (a nicety a lawyer would appreciate) and ordered the suspension lifted.

So he was back in, but still owing dues..

In July the Board of General Purposes summoned Abraham to the August meeting to explain why he shouldn’t be suspended. That same month he promised to hand over a cheque for ten dollars and asked the lodge to delay its action, which it did.

In August Bro Diamond attended the regular meeting to plead his inability to pay back dues. He asked if the lodge would accept a ten dollar cheque made out in July to square the account. The lodge agreed and, after 20 months, the matter was settled for ten dollars. That same night he moved one motion and seconded another, showing not only was he back, but active as well. .

Bro Abraham Diamond became a more quiet member for the 11 months following his reconciliation with Moira Lodge. Unfortunately, the following August he missed his train at Napanee and decided to walk the track to Belleville. He was killed on a railway bridge by a single engine. He was 77 years old and 17 years a Mason.

It could have been yesterday, but Brother Diamond was born in 1795, was initiated in 1861, and died in 1878. His story is kept alive in Moira Lodge’s bicentennial history written by Dr. Paul Foster and published by Templar Books. The information was gleaned from the minute books. Through such works, our lodge historians keep yesterday alive today for tomorrow, so we can meet more Abraham Diamonds.

You recall Nathaniel Falkiner, the man initiated along with Abraham Diamond and served as Master the year before? He died in 1905, but you can still visit his home. It’s the Shrine Club in Belleville. It’s still a Masonic town.

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