Encircling Robert Thompson's gravestone from left are Past Masters of Coronation Lodge Tom Wills, James Little, Norman McLean, Clifford Travis and Larry Johnson.

With a little investigation, a lot can be learned.

Such is the revelation of Tom Wills after Smithville's Coronation Lodge undertook a refurbishment of an ancient gravestone. The gravestone marks the grave of a Brother Mason Robert Thompson who died in 1879.

"Visiting Union Cemetery in Smithville is a unique way to learn about the village's history and it's past citizens," said Wills. "My daughter Sarah and I had found a gravestone in Union Cemetery that was broken into two pieces and was sinking into the mud. Sarah pointed out the Square and Compass at the top of the marker."

"The stone had been neglected and forgotten for many years," said Wills. Upon further inspection, he was able to make out Thompson's name.

From there, Wills spoke to W.Bro. Clifford Travis of Coronation Lodge who also has an interest in history. Wills suggested that it would be a caring and honourable thing to restore Brother Thompson's stone.

It would be an act of Brother Masons who still care about a fallen Brother, said Wills, that would leave a memorial so that future Masons can know the past.

While Travis undertook the task of arranging the refurbishment and installation of the stone, Wills researched Thompson's past. Upon researching the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario, Canada Post, the Federal Census of 1871 and a few other sources, he discovered that Thompson was Smithville's bailiff, post master and licence issuer.

He died at his post on December 7, 1879.

Wills thanked Travis for his hard work and dedication to the task, calling him "a real asset to Coronation Lodge."

"With a little investigation a lot can be learned," said Wills. "After years of neglect I like to think we have welcomed back Brother Thompson to our midst. This is part of Masonic heritage and it's importance to our Fraternity."

The inscription on the bottom of Brother Thompson's grave reads: Our lives are ever on the wing/ And death is ever nigh/ The moment when our lives begin/ We all begin to die.

Freemasonry is the oldest and largest world wide fraternity dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of a Supreme Being.