Members of Consuelo Lodge No. 325 in Escondido were thrilled when Bro. Earl Evans and his wife donated beautiful Masonic jewels and artifacts to their lodge. The pure silver artifacts are the kind of thing that would be considered a major find on The History Channel’s “Pawn Stars,” but for Masons, they carry a far more significant value than monetary – they represent a lodge’s history and identity.

With a bit of research, and thanks to a hand-written note that had been passed down along with the jewels by generations of family members, it was determined that the jewels have a unique and intriguing backstory: not only are they over 150 years old, but they were in fact stolen from a lodge 1,800 miles away during the Civil War.

According to Bro. George Tegart of Consuelo Lodge, a Union army regiment from Kane County, Illinois, occupied a Louisiana lodge building as its barracks toward the end of the war. Prior to returning to their home state, the Union soldiers took a few items (pictured above) with them.

The details as to how exactly the artifacts got to California remain unknown. Research done by members of Consuelo Lodge – and later confirmed by members of St. Helena Lodge No. 96, in Louisiana – determined that the jewels belonged to St. Helena Lodge.

The brothers of Consuelo Lodge, knowing the importance of the jewels, made arrangements to personally return them to Louisiana on August 21st.