The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Leigh Chapter No. 85, Order of the Eastern Star

Leigh Chapter No. 85, Order of the Eastern Star, is a fraternal organization in Avon Park, Florida, established in 1914 or early 1915 as the female and family counterpart to Poinciana Lodge No. 227 of the Free and Accepted Masons.[desoto-1915-01-14][maxwell-1976]

Founding and the Leigh Namesake

In May 1913, Connecticut visitor Harry Leigh described the community effort to establish Freemasonry in Avon Park, noting that town builders were completing a two-story commercial block to accommodate the lodge and that local women had sewn ten Masonic aprons for the new body.[nhu-1913-05-04] The Grand Lodge of Florida chartered Poinciana Lodge No. 227 on 21 January 1914.

The corresponding chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star was designated “Leigh Chapter” in tribute to the Leigh brothers. Philip J. Leigh, an equestrian director from Atlantic City, maintained a prominent winter estate and citrus grove on Lake Lotella, while Harry Leigh was an active Connecticut Freemason who invested in Avon Park commercial property, subdivided lakeside residential parcels, and supported the local fraternal founding.[nhu-1913-05-04]

Early Activities and Leadership (1915–1916)

The chapter was meeting on regular Friday evenings in the Masonic hall—located on the upper floor of Perry Haines’s Avonian Block beside the Verona Hotel—by January 1915.[desoto-1915-01-14][maxwell-1976] Regular Friday evening assemblies and social lunches continued throughout the spring.[desoto-1915-04-15]

By April 1916, the chapter was chartered as Leigh Chapter No. 85 under the Grand Chapter of Florida, Order of the Eastern Star. In April 1916, the chapter sent three delegates to Jacksonville to represent Avon Park at the annual Grand Chapter assembly: Mrs. Nathan Smith, Mrs. J. F. Caulfield, and Mrs. DeForest Canfield.[desoto-1916-04-20] Regular lodge evenings in Avon Park featured refreshments and games held in the hall library.[desoto-1916-04-20]

Meeting Places and Continuity

Leigh Chapter shared meeting facilities with Poinciana Lodge No. 227 throughout its existence. It met in the Avonian Block Masonic Temple on Main Street until the historic wooden building was sold and replaced in 1961 by a modern concrete-block temple at 939 West Main Street.[maxwell-1976] The chapter maintained its registered address and meeting location at 939 West Main Street through subsequent decades under federal group tax exemption for the Grand Chapter of Florida OES.[irs-990-leigh-85]

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. The De Soto County News, The De Soto County News (Arcadia, Fla.), 14 January 1915, page 14 (1915)
  2. The De Soto County News, The De Soto County News (Arcadia, Fla.), 15 April 1915, page 4 (1915)
  3. The De Soto County News, The De Soto County News (Arcadia, Fla.), 20 April 1916, page 5 (1916)
  4. The New Haven Union (New Haven, Conn.), Winter Scenes Down at Avon Park, Florida / Misses Japan But Lands in Florida — Harry Leigh's Fine Outing in the South, The New Haven Union (New Haven, Conn.), 4 May 1913, page 23 (1913)
  5. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (references/first-hundred-years.md) (1976)
  6. Internal Revenue Service, Order Of The Eastern Star Of Florida, 85 Leigh (EIN 59-6213794) (2024)

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