People
LEWIS WILSON OLDS
Born at Youngsville, Pennsylvania, March 30, 1865. Died at Corry, Pennsylvania, August 5, 1930. A well-balanced existence in which duty to God and duty to fellow man were not forgotten in achieving a due measure of success for self, terminated on August 5 when Ill. LEWIS WILSON OLDS, 33°, was called from labor to refreshment by the Great Architect of the Universe. His church, his lodge and his business constituted his interests outside the home, and to each he gave loyal service and attention.
Brother Olds was a native of Youngsville, in Warren county, Pennsylvania, the date of his nativity being March 30, 1865. His father, Mason Oel Olds, born in Belle Valley, Erie county, Pennsylvania, became a successful manufacturer of wooden pumps. The mother, Eliza Mead, came from an old and highly regarded Pennsylvania family.
Completing his studies at Corry High School, Lewis Wilson Olds entered Erie Business College, to prepare himself for active participation in business, graduating therefrom in 1884. The following year he went to work for the Climax Manufacturing Company as bookkeeper. Later he became the principal stockholder and in 1904 was elected President of the company. He was also a director of the National Bank of Corry. The substantial quality of his citizenship was attested by his election as Councilman of the city from 1903 to 1907 and as City Commissioner in 1915, 1916, and 1917. He was Vestryman of Emmanuel Episcopal church at Corry, and in addition to his other fraternal contacts was a member of Jonathan Lodge No. 685, I. O. O. F., and Corry Lodge No. 769, B. P. O. E.
In the Masonic fraternity Brother Olds found delightful fellowship and opportunity for unselfish service. He was raised in Corry Lodge No. 365, F. and A. M., September 5, 1893, and was its Worshipful Master in 1898. He was initiated in Columbus Chapter No. 200 on June 20, 1894, and in Clarence Commandery No. 51 on May 7, 1895.
On November 13, 1905, he received the degrees from the Fourth to the Fourteenth in Presque Isle Lodge of Perfection at Erie. Five years later on December 1 and 2, 1910, the remaining degrees were conferred upon him by the bodies of the Rite at Coudersport. He served as Most Wise Master of the Chapter of Rose Croix there in 1915. The high honor of the Thirty-third degree and Honorary Membership in the Supreme Council came to him on September 20, 1921.
Ill. Brother Olds was married on May 13, 1884, to Nellie Gale Raymond, daughter of Murray M. Raymond of Corry, and they had two children, of whom Murray Raymond Olds survives.
Source: Transcription from the book, Proceedings of the Supreme Council Sovereign Grand Inspectors-General of the Thirty-third and Last Degree Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America, published in 1930; located on the website, Google Books (http://books.google.com), accessed 5 March 2026.