Our First Exalted Ruler
Thomas A. Tracy
Thomas A. Tracy served as the first Exalted Ruler of Bristol Lodge No. 1010 when the Lodge was established in 1906.
Born in Bristol in 1873, Tracy graduated with honors from Yale in 1896. He went on to a career in journalism, working for the Bristol Press.
Tracy remained active in Bristol civic life and later ran for mayor of Bristol in 1923.
His connection to Lodge 1010 came full circle 120 years later. While preparing the City's proclamation recognizing the Lodge's 120th anniversary, Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu recognized Thomas A. Tracy as her great-uncle—connecting a present-day Bristol mayor directly to the Lodge's first Exalted Ruler.
First Esteemed Leading Knight
Roger S. Newell
Roger Samuel Newell served as Bristol Lodge No. 1010's first Esteemed Leading Knight when the Lodge was established in 1906.
Born in Bristol in 1867, Newell graduated from Yale in 1889 and Yale Law School in 1891 before beginning his law practice in Bristol. He became the first clerk of the Borough of Bristol, was elected Judge of the Town Court in 1895, and Judge of Probate in 1896.
Newell's place among Lodge 1010's founding officers reflects something we continue to find in the Lodge's earliest history: its founders were deeply involved in the civic life of the growing Bristol community.
He remained a Bristol resident throughout his life and died in 1942.
First Esteemed Loyal Knight
James F. Gleason
James F. Gleason served as the first Esteemed Loyal Knight of Bristol Lodge No. 1010 when the Lodge was established in 1906.
Gleason was also part of Bristol's early funeral business. His funeral home would continue serving the Bristol community long after his time, eventually becoming Dunn Funeral Home.
The history of the funeral home provides a remarkable connection across generations of Bristol Elks. Although the business has passed through several different owners, its later owners included Joseph R. Cavallaro and Jeffrey F. Meyer, both members of Bristol Lodge No. 1010.
More than a century after Gleason helped establish Lodge 1010, the business he was associated with continues in Bristol under the leadership of another Bristol Elk—a unique connection between the Lodge's founding generation and its members today.
First Esteemed Lecturing Knight
William J. Malone
William J. Malone served as the first Esteemed Lecturing Knight of Bristol Lodge No. 1010 when the Lodge was established in 1906.
Born in Bristol in 1879, Malone graduated from Bristol High School and continued his education at Yale University and Yale Law School, where he earned his law degrees and won the Kent Club prize for debate. He was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1900.
Malone became deeply involved in Bristol's legal and civic affairs, serving as Town Attorney for Bristol, Town Attorney for Plymouth, Assistant Borough Attorney for Bristol and Judge of the Town Court. He also held leadership positions with several Bristol businesses and financial institutions.
His public service extended to the Connecticut General Assembly, where he represented Bristol and chaired the Committee on Cities and Boroughs. In 1909, he was a candidate for Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives.
Like the founding officers before him, Malone's story shows how closely the beginnings of Bristol Lodge No. 1010 were intertwined with the civic leadership of early Bristol.
First Secretary
F. Clinton Stark
F. Clinton Stark served as the first Secretary of Bristol Lodge No. 1010 when the Lodge was established in 1906.
Stark was also connected to Bristol's manufacturing industry. By the early 1920s, he was serving as Secretary of the Turner Heater Company, a Bristol manufacturer of heating equipment.
His role as the Lodge's first Secretary placed him at the center of Bristol 1010's earliest records and organization, while his professional life tied him to the industrial growth that was shaping Bristol during the early twentieth century.
First Treasurer
Charles R. Riley
Charles R. Riley served as the first Treasurer of Bristol Lodge No. 1010 when the Lodge was established in 1906.
Riley built his career during an era when Bristol was becoming an important manufacturing center. He rose to become General Manager of the Horton Manufacturing Company, one of Bristol's distinctive manufacturers, best remembered for producing fishing rods and reels. In that leadership role, Riley was involved in the company's expansion, including the acquisition of the B. F. Meek Company, another respected name in American fishing-reel manufacturing.
His involvement in Bristol extended beyond the factory. Riley later became associated with the North Side Bank & Trust Company, where his path again crossed with other members of Lodge 1010's founding generation.
During World War I, Riley was also among a small group of Bristol men who participated in the local American Protective League, reflecting the civic involvement that characterized so many of the Lodge's earliest members.
From manufacturing and banking to community service, Charles R. Riley was part of the generation helping shape Bristol in the early twentieth century. At the same time, as Lodge 1010's first Treasurer, he helped build a new organization that would become part of that community for generations.
Founding Trustee
DeWitt Page
DeWitt Page served as one of the first Trustees of Bristol Lodge No. 1010 when the Lodge was established in 1906.
Page came to Bristol in 1891 and began working as a shipping clerk at New Departure. From that beginning, he rose through the company to become its president and general manager and later became a vice president and director of General Motors.
He married May Rockwell, sister of New Departure founder Albert Rockwell, and together DeWitt and May Page left a lasting mark on Bristol.
Perhaps their most familiar legacy is Page Park. The Pages gave the land and substantial funding that helped create the park for the people of Bristol. Their generosity also reached Bristol Hospital and Muzzy Field. During the difficult years of the Great Depression, Page personally backed a $500,000 note for the City of Bristol, helping support the community during one of its most challenging periods.
Page also shared an interesting connection with another Lodge 1010 founder. His Bellevue Avenue home would later become the home of William J. Malone, the Lodge's first Esteemed Lecturing Knight.
DeWitt Page's life took him from a shipping clerk in a growing Bristol factory to the leadership of one of America's largest corporations, but his legacy remained firmly rooted in Bristol. More than a century later, families gathering at Page Park are still enjoying a gift to the community made possible by one of Bristol Lodge No. 1010's founding Trustees.
Founding Trustee
Patrick H. Condon
Patrick H. Condon served as one of the first Trustees of Bristol Lodge No. 1010 when the Lodge was established in 1906.
Condon was a familiar figure in Bristol at a time when horses and carriages still moved the city. He operated P. H. Condon & Co., a livery and transportation business that carried people and goods throughout Bristol and beyond.
His business took on some impressive work. In the late 1890s, Condon was hired to haul thousands of tons of iron pipe for New Britain's Roaring Brook water project, a massive undertaking in the days before modern trucks and highways.
He also lived through one of the most dramatic moments in early Bristol history. During the devastating flood of 1896, rising water swept through the area around his livery stable. As the water poured in, Condon worked to get his horses and carriages out of the building and to safety.
Ten years later, Condon helped begin another chapter in Bristol history as one of the founding Trustees of Bristol Lodge No. 1010.
Today the horses, carriages and livery stables of Condon's Bristol are gone, but the Lodge he helped establish remains. His story gives us a glimpse of the city our founders knew and the people who helped build both Bristol and Lodge 1010.
Founding Trustee
D. Brainard Judd
D. Brainard Judd served as one of the founding Trustees of Bristol Lodge No. 1010 when the Lodge was established in 1906.
Together with DeWitt Page and Patrick H. Condon, Judd was entrusted with helping guide the new Lodge during its earliest days. The three Trustees were part of the small group of Bristol men who took an idea for a new Elks Lodge and helped turn it into an organization with a future.
Their work succeeded. More than 120 years later, Bristol Lodge No. 1010 remains part of the community they helped build.
Judd's name has stood alongside his fellow founders since 1906, and his place in the beginning of Bristol Lodge 1010 remains part of our history.