Some of the drug's effects in the body include: 1  Reducing anxiety. 2  Causing sleepiness. 3  Relaxing muscles. 4  Stopping seizures. 5  Impairing short-term memory.
As a result, they began to take in non-masons as patrons. This led, in the 17th century, to large numbers of. speculativeor non-working-masons entering the masonic âlodges.â By the end of that century, Masonic lodges. were almost wholly speculative, made up of Masons who never touched chisel to stone. Freemasons kept the old traditions.
In 1867, the first such national organization was formed. Led by Oliver Kelley, the Patrons of Husbandry, also known as the Grange, organized to address the social isolation of farm life. Like other secret societies, such as the Masons, Grangers had local chapters with secret passwords and rituals.