A fraternal organization whose charter in Camden was granted in 1808 — the first in northeastern North Carolina — recently celebrated its 200th anniversary by burying a time capsule to be opened 100 years from now.

Hall Lodge 53, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, held an anniversary dinner Friday evening, May 2, at the Elizabeth City Shrine Club in Camden for 150 members and guests.

PHOTO COURTESY ROGER LAMBERTSON (ENLARGE)

Brick mason Wilse Burgess puts the finishing touches on the commemorative stone that Masonic Hall Lodge 53, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina laid at their lodge in Camden County, Friday, May 2, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Lodge 53's founding.

Robert C. "Bobby" Wood, master of Hall Lodge, introduced Rodney M. Needham, past master, who gave a brief history of Hall Lodge.

The keynote address was given by David R. Cash, grand master of Masons in North Carolina.

On Saturday morning, May 3, a pancake breakfast was followed by a commemorative stone-laying ceremony at the lodge on Indiantown Road in Shawboro.

The ceremony was presided over by Cash, assisted by District Deputy Grand Master Jim Carr, District Deputy Grand Lecturer Mickey Spruill, and the following officers of the lodge: Wood, senior warden; Burnette Forbes, junior warden; Jim Tomlinson; and Chaplain Stephen Heath.

The ceremony was capped off with the setting of a marble stone commemorating 200 years of Masonry at Hall Lodge.

A time capsule containing a commemorative medallion, George Washington and James Monroe gold dollars and a picture of all officers and roster of all members, was placed behind the cornerstone, according to Roger Lambertson, secretary of the fraternal organization.

Lambertson said the local Masons support a Masonic home for children in Oxford and a Masonic and Eastern Star home for the aged.

The fraternal organization stands for friendship, morality, brotherly love and charity, according to Lambertson.