At a special meeting of the Parke Lodge, No. 8, Free and Accepted masons, held in the Lodge Hall at Rockville, Ind., on the 24th January, 1854, after the announcement of the death of Col. Henry Slavens, the W.M. appointed David Cloud, Samuel Magill, and Samuel F. Maxwell, a committee to report resolutions suitable to the occasion; whereupon said committee reported the following, which was unanimously adopted:
WHEREAS, In the inscrutable wisdom of the Grand Geometrician of the Universe, our venerable brother, HENRY SLAVENS, has been called from labor in our body below, to refreshment in His Lodge above, therefore be it
Resolved,That by the death of our beloved brother this Lodge has lost a zealous and upright Mason, as the world has lost an honest man.
Resolved,That we do sincerely lament his departure from our midst, and that we do express our affection for our deceased brother, and testify to his many virtues as a man and mason.
Resolved,That we do sympathize with the widow and orphans of our deceased brother, and that we do assure them in their bereavement they share our sympathy and sorrow.
Resolved,That this Lodge be draped in mourning for thirty days in regard for the memory of the deceased, and that each member of the Lodge wear the usual badge of mourning for the same space of time.
Resolved,That these resolutions be spread upon our records, and that a copy thereof be presented to the widow of the deceased, and a copy furhished to the Parke County Whig for publication.
H.H. Hess, W.M.
S. Magill, Secretary.
Parke County Whig (Rockville, Indiana), February 3, 1854.