The Mayor of Mono Centre
A stonemason by trade and Freemason by association, Archie McQuilkin stepped into the realm of local politics and left his mark on the local community.
When Archie McQuilkin posed for this photo in about 1910, he was in his mid-30s and clearly wished to portray himself as a gentleman of substance. Wearing a three-piece suit, a white shirt with a starched collar, and a carefully knotted tie, he also carried a bowler hat, a symbol of sartorial sophistication. But the pièce de résistance was the long, elegant coat, with its ample fur collar.
At the time, Archie, a stonemason by trade, was already a force in Mono Centre, the Dufferin County village where he was born and grew up. By his late 20s, he had joined the Freemasons, becoming a member of Orangeville’s Harris Lodge No. 216. Acceptance into this fraternal organization was often considered a mark of status in the community.
Freemasons are expected to behave ethically, though not all, of course, live up to this standard. They are also dedicated to self-improvement and to honouring the organization’s long history and secret rituals, as well as to supporting one another and their community, often through charitable works.
Archie took these commitments seriously. Throwing his hat into the political ring, he was elected deputy reeve of Mono Township in 1922. After taking a break from politics, he was persuaded to return in 1931 and served on the township council till he retired in 1939, perhaps because he was already suffering from the illness that caused his death in 1940.
By then, he was known affectionately as “the mayor of Mono Centre,” and his fulsome obituary in the Orangeville Banner noted “his faculty of making friends and holding them.” These friendships “extended far beyond the confines of his home community and his township.”
Not surprisingly, then, Archie’s funeral was attended by luminaries from Mono and farther afield. His interment in the Burns Cemetery was conducted with full Masonic honours, and as a final tribute, his many friends made sure a headstone – proudly inscribed with Freemasonry’s traditional symbols – commemorated this man whose life had left an indelible mark on his community.
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