All of North Carolina:
Montfort Medalists organize to perform more deeds of fraternal kindness
During their year in office, NC Grand Masters are granted the opportunity to honor three brothers for exemplary service to the fraternity.

In elegant ceremonies the three are usually surprised to be plucked from the crowd to be the newest recipients of the Joseph Montfort silver medal. These awards occur after the Grand Master has had the opportunity to witness personally the outstanding services to Freemasonry that deserve Montfort medals, considered the highest honor in NC Masonry.

Cast in silver, each medal reminds recipients that they were named for the only Mason ever to be empowered to head all Masons in the new world. The title of Provincial Grand Master came in 1771 from the Duke of Beaufort in England. It essentially made Brother Montfort the first, last and only Grand Master of Masons in colonial America.

Not surprisingly, in the first decade of Montfort awards, 23 of the first 30 medals were presented to NC Past Grand Masters.

On April 14, 2007, recipients organized as the Montfort Medalists to continue their record of service to their fraternity. They assembled first at the Joseph Montfort grave in Halifax, then inside Royal White Hart 2 lodge, with PGM Thomas Warren Gregory in charge. NC Chief Justice James Exum, guest of honor, delivered his new Montfort biography.

At 2007 Grand Communication in Winston-Salem, Medalists again assembled to dine together and plan to work to restore the endangered historic lodge building of Royal White Hart 2.

Here are the names of all Montfort Medalists, both living and eternal:

1940: Melvin Maynard Johnson, John Huske Keanderson, Thomas Joshua Harkins
1941: Raymond Cromwell Dunn, Charles Bailey Newcomb, John Edward Allen
1942: William Mosley Brown, Alexander Boyd Andrews, William Ritchie Smith
1943: Herbert Claude Alexander,Watson Newberry Sherrod, Charms Patterson Eldridge
1944: Hubert NcNeill Poteat, James Giles Hudson, Creasy Kinion Proctor
1945: John Henry Cowles, Edgar Walter Timberlake, F. W. Moody White
1946: John Wallace Winborne, James Edward Shipman, Julius C. Hobbs
1947: Carl Harry Claudy, George Richard Bennette, Wilbur Leroy McIver
1948: John Raymond Shute, Roger Keith, Maxwell Ellis Hoffman
1949: Luther Thompson Hartsell, Jr., William James Bundy, John Rufus McCracken
1950: James Walker Payne, Frank Mullen Pinnix, Oliver Franklin Hart
1951: Fred Clinton Kinzie, Hugh Williamson Prince, Enoch Dorran Flowers
1952: Wallace Everett Caldwell, Harrison Kauffman, Samuel Newman Boyce
1953: Herbert Miles Foy, Edwin Walker Gates, James Noah Hillman
1954: William Henry White, Rudolph Reynolds Cooke, Claude Babington Squires
1955: Edwin Turlington Howard, A. D. Leon Gray, John Edward Rooker, Jr.
1956: John H. Parker, A. J. M. Wannamaker, Robert Lee Pugh
1957: Charles Harrison Pugh, Henry Fitzhugh Collins, Charles McClenaghan
1958: John Catlett Vance, Frank S. Land, Leon Godown
1959: John Irving Smith, Adam Andrew Husman
1960: Luther A. Smith, James Guy Johnston, Norwood Price Parker
1961: Percy Clifton Stott, Haywood Sherrill King, Sr., Berl Maurice Kahn,
Thomas Milton Funk, Charles Anderson Harris
1962: Harvey Ward Smith, Garren Robbins, Harry S. Truman,
Richard Harvey Lucas, James J. Gilbert
1963: Thomas Earl Doss, James Woodrow Brewer, Herbert Noble,
Reuben Barnitz, Lloyd Woolley
1964: Charles Carpenter Ricker, William Eli Hand, Andrew J. White, Jr.
1965: William Edward Burrier, Raymond W. Rideout, Marion Tillet Ross,
Herbert Delno Holland, John D. Cunningham
1966: Louis Philip Guigou, Early Winfred Bridges, Harry Miller Bryant, Sr.
1967: James Paul Kelly, Edgar Floyd Dunn, Samuel Andrew Hennis, Jr.
1968: Reynold Slade Davenport, Charles Taylor Potter, Edward Paul
1969: Emery B. Denny, Edward Denny Austin, Alfred Albrecht Kafer, Jr.
1970: Arnold J. Koonce, Fred F. Harding, Robert P. Dudley
1971: Ira Boyd Hopkins, William Arthur Hooks, Thomas Gorbell Slate
1972: A. C. Honeycutt, William T. Hatch, Maurice E. Walsh
1973: Kedar D. Pyatt, William W. Mims, Jr., Earl M. Noe
1974: Nelson B. Banks, William K. Price, Russell G. Laughridge
1975: Louis W. Shrier, Emett D. Chandler, Wilbourne M. Smith
1976: James Earl Watson, William Edmund Fulmer, Jesse Richard Laughinhuse
1977: James W. Stubbs, Joseph W. Gilbert, Karl M. Linville
1978: S. Frank Noble, Leslie H. Garner, Marvin D. Wilson
1979: Richard Joseph Parker, Jr., Kolen Flack, Robert Lee Winston
1980: William L. Mills, Jr., William A. Langley, John E. Herschleb
1981: Nathaniel C. Dean, William B. Bellois, William S. Aldridge, Jr.
1983: Cecil J. Liverman, Charles E. Scott, Jr., Otto Neustadt
1984: Albert E. Hill, Tyree J. Callihan, David Ford
1985: Eddie P. Stiles, Jr., Allen G. Colenda, Frederick G. Speidel
1986: Everett Stansil Aldridge, Jacob Claude Goodman, Jr., Dewey James O’Kelly
1987: Robert Weldon Adams, Durwood Scott Weston, James Beauford Kiser
1988: David Bryan Sentelle, Travis Bryan, Tommy Leon Jones
1989: Herbert Lloyd Wilkerson, Thurman Bruce Boyette, Jack Griggs White
1990: Gerry Theodore Smith, Sr., Delmas Tharrington Williams,
Charles Thomas Robbins, Jr.
1991: Harold Clayton Gibson, James Monroe Joines, Jerry Gordon Tart
1992: Shields Jolly, Jr., Albert Bennett Gobble, Francis McMordie
1993: David Ronald Grissom, Norburn Creighton Hyatt, Edwin Paul Martin
1994: William T. Cope, C. James Weisel, Jr., J. Allan Suther
1995: Earle Rupert Purser, Donald Lawrence Sizemore, Robert Lloyd Young
1996: Edward Douglas Hartsell, Robert Lafayette Martin, Lee Roy Thomas, Jr.
1997: Hubert Vernon Massengill, Joseph Charles Saunders, Ray Comer
1998: T. Walton Clapp III, Ottis R. Jefferson, Jr., Bunn T. Phillips, Jr.
1999: William Franklin Meacham, Dwight Blackburn, Richard Edward Carter
2000: Walter Julian Klein, John Sutton Miller, Jr., James Grubbs Martin
2001: David Lee Hargett, Ray Norris, Carl McCracken, Starkey Shaw, Ralph Weaver, Ronnie Stewart
2002: Clifton White Everett, Jr., Douglas E. Moore, Jesse A. Helms
2003: William H. Simpson, George F. Jones, William L. Mills, III
2004: Daniel Paul Weatherington, Thomas Warren Gregory, Dallas Herring
2005: Charles A. Lewis, Joseph John Vale, Alvin Leonard Hardy
2006: William B. Brunk, William G. Mathis, Clarence Eugene Jernigan
2007: Charles Edward Cathey, D. Allen Surrat, Dennis Lee Cook






Produced by the public relations committee of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Masons in North Carolina,
2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27628 MMVIII
Author/editor: Walter J. Klein wklein(at)carolina.rr.com