THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605080177
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
JAMES M. BAILEY celebrated his 21st birthday by asking to become a Mason, a member of Portsmouth Naval Lodge No. 100, A.F. & A.M. That was in 1926, when Portsmouth was a city small enough to be easily walked and horse-drawn wagons shared the streets with trolleys and early automobiles.
Last week, Bailey, now 91, was presented with his 70-year Masonic emblem, joining two of his Waterview neighbors, Paul Stokley, 97, and Charles Gay, 98, as the lodge's only 70-year members.
``As far as I know, they are the only 70-year Masons in the district,'' which is the city of Portsmouth, said Robert Crawford, the lodge's Worshipful Master.
Bailey, a former diesel operations supervisor for the Seaboard Railroad, was born and raised in the Newtown section of Portsmouth. He can still name most of his buddies from the old neighborhood.
Pulling a small stack of sepia-toned snapshots from his pocket, Bailey recently recollected how he and other teenage daredevils - clad in knee-length, tank-top bathing suits - used to dive 30 feet off the roofs of riverside buildings into the Elizabeth River, which was a lot cleaner then. Other photos show a crowd of young women, dressed in equally modest black bathing costumes, watching admiringly.
``Very few people had cars back then, and on Saturday night everyone would walk downtown to talk and visit,'' Bailey said. ``Portsmouth used to be a wonderful city.''
Gay, also a Portsmouth native, grew up downtown and went to Portsmouth High School on Washington Street, which later became Woodrow Wilson High. Gay left school to work in a Norfolk wholesale candy and tobacco firm.
``All the men and owners there were members of the Masonic Lodge, and I wanted to join, too,'' said Gay, who joined the Portsmouth Naval Masonic Lodge in 1920. He later went on to establish his own firm, the Gay Cigar and Candy Co. in Norfolk.
Stokley, a native of Mount Dora, Fla., came to Portsmouth when he was 17 to work in the meat-packing industry. He joined the lodge in 1922.
Stokley worked his way up in the packing business to the presidency of T.O. Williams Inc., a position he held for more than 30 years until he retired in 1979. Stokley was named First Citizen of Portsmouth in 1972.
Portsmouth Naval Lodge, the first and oldest of the city's seven Masonic lodges, was organized in 1814 under the leadership of Navy Lt. Walter G. Anderson, the first Worshipful Master. Ten years after its founding, the lodge entertained the French Gen. Lafayette - whose help in the Revolutionary War was crucial to the American victory - and he became an honorary member. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MARK MITCHELL
James M. Bailey, 91, has just received the 70-year Masonic emblem
from the Portsmouth Naval Lodge No. 100. Bailey, a former diesel
operations supervisor for the Seaboard Railroad, joined the lodge in
1926.
Charles Gay, 98, at left, and Paul Stokley, 97, at right, are the
only other 70-year members in the Portsmouth district. Gay owned the
Gay Cigar and Candy Co. in Norfolk and Stokley was president of T.O.
Williams Inc., a meat-packing business.
by CNB