The Freemasons are primarily a fraternal organization, concentrating on religious beliefs and philanthropic efforts. (The Shriners you see in parades driving funny little cars and wearing a fez actually do a lot more -- these guys bust their rears raising money to build hospitals and such. The Shriner's Burn Institute is one of the finest in the country.) Many of our nation's founding fathers, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and others were Masons.
My father, his father, his grandfather and so on were Masons. I had an invitation to join the Rainbow Girls when I was 12, but my mother discouraged me because some of the girls had a reputation for being "fast."
I'm not going to say some of the rituals, ceremonies and such these guys practice aren't flaky -- they are. However, they've gotten a reputation for being much more far out and omnipotent than they actually are. Whenever you have a "secret" society, you have people outside of it who are going to be fearful -- it's human nature. These guys are not Satanists, or anything remotely like that. They are obsessed with symbolism and have a lot of mystical beliefs; but, for the most part, these are a bunch of harmless old men. These guys are also supposed to have pretty strict requirements on the morality of their members. I've known of several philandering husbands who have been turned down for membership.
My mother was not wild about the Masons, but for a very different reason -- in the old days, they did not allow minorities, and Catholics to join. Keep in mind, this was the 1950's, my mother was way before her time. Most organizations back then did not allow minorities to join.
Affiliated with the Klan? No way. Some members of the Masonic Lodge may have been members of the Klan, just as some Klansmen may be in the local garden club. The groups are in no way, shape or form affiliated. If I'm not mistaken, the Reverend Jesse Jackson is now a member of the Masons.
As for the particular Masonic home you speak of Treneay, if I'm not mistaken, I have read about the place before. However, I'm afraid the story about the child-murdering matron is for the most part a fabrication; more than likely invented by some local who was suspicious of the Masonic Lodge (or couldn't get in).
I don't doubt that abuse went on there -- any home for children in those days did not have a lot of government control and screening the help was unheard of. It is entirely possible that some children were abused and that some lost their lives. Previous eras have not been very protective of the rights of children, and ideas of discipline have changed greatly. I believe it is also correct that the place primarily became a home for orphaned Native American Children.
Haunted? I don't doubt it. Anytime you have a place where that many people come and go, you have a cornucopia of human emotions and experiences. Deaths happen, tragedies happen; it is entirely plausible that the place witnessed events that are soaked up and contains one or more resident ghosts.
Check out the local library the next time you go back to visit. If the alleged bloodbath took place, it would have been in the papers. Even small towns can't entirely erase an event like that. If you don't find the information, chalk it up to being a legend. These type of tales have a tendency to get wilder and wilder after a few decades. The place could very well be haunted, but I would take some of the wild stories with a grain of salt.
[ March 14, 2005, 10:50 AM: Message edited by: Carrie ]