“I feel like I am on the set of National Treasure 3!” I said as I watched the men from Shiffler Builders and Owen Masonry try to extract a copper coffin from the center of a cornerstone in downtown Naperville. Using a saw, drill and small jackhammer, face bricks were carefully removed under the careful eye of Masonic officers, Jerry Yingling, Andy Siedelmann and Tim Ory. The cornerstone was set with Masonic ritual and ceremony a hundred years ago on Saturday, September 9, 1916. It was carved and donated by the Arthur Beidelman Monument Co. with a cavity about the size of a shoebox. Inside was placed a small copper box or time capsule sealed with mementos of the Lodge and Naperville. What secrets does the time capsule hold?
The Euclid Lodge No. 65 was organized in 1848 by Aylmer Keith, Joseph Naper, Nathan Allen, Lewis Ellsworth, Nahum Loring, Calvin C. Barnes and John S. Kimball and granted a charter on October 2, 1849. Prior to 1916, the Lodge met in six different locations throughout downtown Naperville; the Lyman Building, the Naper Building, the Naper Academy* (now Naper Grade School), the Hunt Building* (now Catch 35), the Schultz Building (now Starbucks and Li’l J’s Bohemia), and the First National Bank (now La Sorella di Francesca). The buildings with asterisks were torn down.
When the bank moved to another location in 1916 an agreement was made whereby the old bank building would become Naperville City Hall and the Euclid Lodge would build their own building a few doors west. At a cost of $30,000 (about $370,000 today) the current large brick building at 34 W. Jefferson was built for retail operations on the first floor and lodge rooms on the second. Since 1917 there have been a variety of stores in the building including the Naper movie theatre from 1935 – 1977.
Members of the Euclid Lodge No. 65 will open the copper box and reveal its treasures some time before the 100 year re-dedication of the Temple building on Saturday, September 10, 2016. A sample of pre-1916 Masonic artifacts in Collection 108 at Naper Settlement included invitations to Masonic Festivals, Installation of Officers, and a Life Membership certificate.
What will the time capsule contain? Naper’s Gold?!
