Day The War Stopped June 7, 2025
A rare piece of history (Photo by Scott Clause/Video by Chris Melton)
On a hot June day in 1863, Union soldiers under the flag of truce came searching for fellow masons in St. Francisville to bury their commander with masonic honors. Confederate masons, put aside their differences and stopped the war for a short time to honor the higher calling of brotherly love. (read full story here)
On the second Saturday in June, Feliciana Lodge #31 along with St. George's Lodge #6 of Schenectady, NY re-enact this poignant moment of the Civil War.
One must imagine what it was like,...you are in enemy territory, under a flag of truce, asking to bury a union soldier on confederate ground. And on the other side, you are a confederate soldier allowing a sworn enemy to not just be buried in a town that was decimated by union gun boats, but you are going to give him your burial plot. Somehow, the call of masonic brotherhood gave courage to those who needed it and the Day the War Stopped was born.
In 1997, WB and Judge, John R. Rarick of Feliciana Lodge #31 and Frank Karwowski of St. George’s Lodge #6, with the assistance of a few folks in the lodge and town recreated this event for the first time in St. Francisville and the event has grown each year attracting Masonic Brothers and Civil War Buffs from around the country.
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SATURDAY • JUNE 7 - Schedule time TBA
DOWNTOWN(St. Francisville, Louisiana)
Throughout the Day Lodge Tours
Feliciana Lodge #31 Prosperity Street
9 AM National Anthem and Welcome Address
Feliciana Lodge #31 Prosperity Street
9:30 AM Day the War Stopped Play
Jackson Hall Grace Episcopal Church
10 AM Historical Reenactment and Graveside Histories
Beginning at the corner of Prosperity and Ferdinand Streets and into Grace Episcopal Cemetery
11 AM - 1 PM 7th Annual Jambalaya Cookoff
Courthouse Grounds across from lodge
11:15 AM - 12:45 PM Lagniappe Historic Dance and Pastime Society
and Kitchen Session Band of Baton Rouge
Jackson Hall, Grace Episcopal Church
1 PM - 2 PMJambalaya and Raffle Winners
Feliciana Lodge #31 Prosperity Street
2 PM Closing of the Lodge
UPDATE Gala Saturday Night
7 - 9 pm at the Mag Courtyard
Catered by the Francis Smoke House
Food and drinks - Tickets $50 - Contact Brendan Rush at mayosligo@yahoo.com for tickets.
Want to be a street vendor see our application at the bottom of the page.
Our Brothers from New York
Each year we welcome the return of our Masonic Brothers from St. George Lodge Schenectady New York - Commander Hart's Lodge.