Contents
Interview with a Young
Mason
Whither Indeed Are We Traveling
Conference of Grand
Masters 1980
Mr. Justice William O. Douglas
The Lincoln Legend
From Time Immemorial
Made A Freemason in Jail
Signals of Distress
Books of interest to Masons
For What It’s Worth
Jerry Marsengill, F.P.S. Editor
2714 Park Place
Des Moines, Iowa 50312
Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S. Life Assoc. Editor
237 Millbridge Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
John Black Vrooman, F.P.S. Life
Editor Emeritus
P.O. Box 402
St. Louis, Missouri 63166
OFFICERS
Dwight L. Smith F.P.S. President
157 Banta Street
Franklin, Indiana 46131
Robert L. Dillard Jr. F.P.S. First Vice Pres.
P.O. Box 1850
Dallas, Texas 75221
Bruce H. Hunt F.P.S. Second Vice Pres.
P.O. Box 188
Kirksville, Missouri 63501
S. Brent Morris, F.P.S. Executive Secretary
5449 Ring Dove Lane
Columbia, Maryland 21044
John Mauk Hilliard, M.P.S. Treasurer
535 West 110th Street, Apt. PH2
New York, New York 10025
LIVING PAST PRESIDENTS
Philalethes Society
Lee E. Wells
Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S. (Life)
Dr. Charles Gottshall Reigner, F.P.S.
Judge Robert H. Gollmar, F.P.S.
William R. Denslow, F.P.S.
Robert V. Osborne, F.P.S.
Eugene S. Hopp, F.P.S.
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY EMERITUS
Carl R. Greisen, F.P.S.
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
A Candid Interview with a Young Mason
Whither Indeed Are We Traveling
Conference of Grand Masters 1980
Mr. Justice William O. Douglas Freemason
Desoms
The Fall of Charleston - Benjamin Lincoln
From Time Immemorial
Made A Freemason In Jail
Signals of Distress
Books of Interest
For What It's Worth
Correction
April Philalethes, page 21 first column first paragraph the following was omitted: called for the others to follow. Boone commanded the left, Stephen Tring the center and Todd the center, while in front was Major Silas Harlan with an advance force of twenty-five men."
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A Candid Interview with a Young Mason
Jerry Robinson has been a Mason less than a year. He is now serving as chaplain of his lodge. He has learned a large amount of ritual, has offered to work on any and all committees and is always in attendance at meetings. Robinson works as a lieutenant on the sheriff’s department of Polk County. He is a licensed pilot, an insurance salesman, and is in his senior year at Drake University. He belongs to a number of civic and other organizations.
Home Lodge No. 370 holds an educational meeting for the officers and craft at Ieast once each month. At the March meeting, a number of questions were propounded and Brother Robinson’s answers to these questions and the depth of thought which he seemed to give to the problems of the fraternity impressed those present. This interview, in the words which Robinson used, grew out of that educational meeting.
Philalethes: I know you have been studying Masonic books and have been trying to read your way through the Masonic Iibrary. Here are a few preliminary questions. I may not agree with your answers but just answer them the way you did at the meeting. How old is Freemasonry? What is the oldest documentary proof? Do you believe this and if so why? If not, why?
Robinson: The ideas and the rituals stem from sometime between the 900s and the 1600s, during a period of cathedral building. At that time, Masons or stoneworkers formed associations called guilds in various European cities and towns Freemasons were just another group of stoneworkers who traveled from community to community. Their organizations were called Iodges. They probably became purely social in the 1600s at the decline of the cathedral building era.
Philalethes: Let's get a little more specific on some things. How long has the Grand Lodge system existed in Freemasonry? Would this be considered "an innovation on the body of Freemasonry?" In your opinion is this a good or a bad innovation?
Robinson: In 1717 four old lodges which may have possibly been originally founded as Mason's organizations united under the title Grand Lodge of England." This is considered by many historians to be the formation and beginning of our society. It was definitely an innovation on the body of Freemasonry. It was probably intended to be a good innovation and if it were to keep all lodges under it informed of the problems and advances made by other lodges, fine. But it should not turn out to be a dictatorship over all other lodges. The Grand Lodge should be a tool to be used by all the lodges. All the lodges should not be merely tools of the Grand Lodge.
Philalethes: I think you have stated the case fairly well here. The fraternity has a number of other problems and strange and wonderous ways in which to try to solve them. For example Freemasonry loses members each year. In your opinion is this good or bad for the fraternity? If good, why? If bad, why? What can be done to reverse this trend? Would your ideas help or hurt Freemasonry?
Robinson: Losing members is bad for any fraternity. It should always be a growth process with new members coming in at an increasing rate above the loss ratio. No organization can long endure if it keeps losing members. The more members we lose, the more duties are placed on the few remaining members, until the back of the organization will eventually be broken.
I believe it would be in the best interests of Freemasonry to make the very intelligent decision to preserve the fraternity. That, my brother, requires change! Let's stop playing ostrich and pull our heads out of the sand. This is not the 1600s nor the 1800s. There are thousands of service clubs, fraternities and organizations out there, taking the best men into their organizations before the man ever knows there is anything called "Masons" or "Freemasonry." The "cream of the crop" is being diverted from Freemasonry, mostly, I believe, because of no publicity.
I am probably a little bitter myself, that I wasn't good enough to join before I was 39 years old. What happened to all the rest of my productive years since becoming of age? I never knew what "Masons" were except as far as I knew of cement masons. That is due to someone's old adage or stubbornness, or maybe just outright ignorance.
I also know that many of the most knowledgeable able bodied, intelligent men in our society are so busy in other areas, including their occupations, families, colleges and other things that, like myself, they are too busy to seek out other interests.
Are we, or is our organization so righteous, that we cannot solicit new members from the "cream of the crop" before they are either tied up in other groups or organizations, or before they are past their prime of life?
Most of the members, it seems, are middle aged or beyond. We need more young blood in the organization than we have. If we don't do something, no one will.
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Whither Indeed Are We Traveling ?
The Necessity for new Directions
For Masonic Education in the 1980’s
By William Stemper, M.P.S.
If Masons knew more about the history of the Fraternity they would be better Masons has long been a dictum of Masonic educators and an aim of Masonic education. Books have been written, research lodges founded, and lectures endowed and given as a result of this principle, and the Craft has become culturally richer as a result. Yet, today, the vast number and percentage of Freemasons remain uninformed about the real history of the Craft, and while they suspect its antiquity and venerable tradition is a great one, few lodge members have a sense of its genuine value, or how to appropriate it for Masonic and personal purposes, that is, to make their Masonic and personal experiences richer and more meaningful.
Much has been written about valuable and lasting education being intimate and personal. (1) Knowledge at its best and most effective is not absorption of inert data, facts, and events It is, rather, the transmission of information in a context which transforms both the person educated, and the educator within an environment which is hospitable to both. Further, it utilises a specific method which understands the dynamic of the educational process to be one of 'shifting perception' or 'receding horizon', not, by contrast, an idea grasped as 'true' or 'false', once and for all. Knowledge, at its best, then, is intuitive, and deals with changing arrangements of available data, even more than it does new information, data, or ideas. (2)
Relatively few Masons and non-Masons realize the immense intellectual and educational significance of Freemasonry in this regard Freemasonry is not only the oldest, nonreligious (in the formal sense of religion) moral tradition in the west, preserving certain basic concepts and ideas of biblical, classical, medieval, 16th/17th Century occult (3), and enlightenment periods and thus of general significance in the history of ideas, it is also a method of education which is both intimate and personal in character, and loyal to a dynamic of 'shifting perception' and 'receding horizon.' In content, and method, it is a tradition of great potential value to those who properly understand, and use it.
Masonic education and scholarship, including the writing of Masonic history, should be more effective, and could contribute, to the over-all revival of the Craft in the future.
We should understand the obstacles to such a process. Every institution has been subject to the natural process of becoming less aware of the purposes for which it was founded. Freemasonry is no exception. Today's Masonic fraternity has become laden with an outdated honors system, a large and cumbersome system of homes for the aged, temples, and a multitude of appendant bodies, all of which tend to obscure the original purposes reflected in the Grand Lodge "revival" of 1717 and before. Even our best talents and minds come to be deflected by the pursuit of honors, or the responsibility of administration.
Another obstacle to revitalizing the process of Masonic education is the fact that few Freemasons are aware that the fraternity does contain a venerable tradition derived from the history of western ideas and the origin of western consciousness. They are not aware of its possibilities, and specifically, they are not aware of its unique structure and nature as both an institutional and structural reality of the highest sophistication: the degree system alone, and its relationship to certain principles in the history of ideas (forms of neo-Platonism, eg, "The Great Chain of Being") for example; nor are they aware that this objective and external structure is itself related to certain subjective and interior realities, which themselves are linked to the whole history of the collective human experience as it has been recorded in research in anthropology and the history of religions. (4)
Another obstacle to vital Masonic education is our relative unawareness of the cultural milieu surrounding the development of Freemasonry. Masonic "history" has, largely, been the chronicling of the history of Masonic institutions, without broader reference to the world around those institutions. Lodge histories are rarely more than digests and summaries of minutes; just as Masonic research is mostly antiquarianism or local history. Only lately have non-Masonic historians begun to take the history of the Craft seriously, and this as yet has not filtered in and through Freemasonry. (5)
The two major schools of Masonic writing in the past century and a half, although they have made unique and valuable contributions to our understanding of the Craft, have in their own ways intimidated members of the Fraternity as a whole from emulating their examples. The first such school, - not a 'school' in the sense of having been founded by one person, but rather by similarity of approach to its subject matter, is typified by Albert Gallatin Mackey (1807-1881) and Albert Pike (1809-1891), who although, a physician and lawyer/jurist respectively, were more or less professional Freemasons interested in the more occult and arcane side or the craft. Pike, especially, was convinced that one could not, or should not, attempt to understand Freemasonry without reference to its rites, symbols, and ideas which pre-dated the institution's actual history, which his Morals and Dogma (1871) reflects. As has been pointed out, this effort was not without its modern value, (6) and it no doubt assisted Pike in the building of the Supreme Council, AASR, SJ which has become one of the great and influential Masonic institutions of the present day. Yet, the sheer enormity of Pike's linguistic and mythological erudition has made his work one of the greatest unread works of our time, especially among Scottish Rite Masons.
The other major school, modeled after the work of Robert Freke Gould (1836-1915) and William James Hughan (1841-1911), to a lesser extent, has likewise not been a major stimulus to Masonic education at large. Since the publication of Gould's History of Freemasonry (1885) and the foundation of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076 in London (1886), this school, and those influenced by it in the United States, eg, Henry Wilson Coil, Alphonse Cerza, and Ray Denslow, have contributed greatly to the fund knowledge about Freemasonry qua separate tradition and single institution. It has also dispelled many myths and false notions about the Craft innocently touted by earlier writers, eg. The Rev'd George Oliver (1782-1867), Mackey, and others, fostered the founding of other eminent research lodges throughout the world (American Lodge of Research, Missouri Lodge of Research, Research Lodge No 2, of lowa, Research Lodge of Otago, New Zealand, et al) which have attempted similar goals. Yet, the ordinary Freemason remains largely unaffected by the technical approach to Masonic scholarship, and the vast amount of information produced by "QC" and others, has not been put into effective teaching modes within lodge systems of Masonic education.
Such obstacles should not discourage the political and intellectual Ieadership of the American craft from attempting a more vital program of lodge education. Rather, if they are accurately and clearly understood, they can provide important insights about the past from which we might learn for the future. More significantly, and perhaps ironically, as the numbers of Masons decreases, as is the present trend in the United States and Canada, resistance to trying new forms and approaches should also decrease as the leaders of the fraternity become more concerned about, and committed to the Masonic education of the individual Freemason.
Of what might a new approach to Masonic education and history consist? Upon this question, depends in large measure the future vitality and promise of the Fraternity, and indeed the survival of Freemasonry as a vital element in Western culture.
As has been recently demonstrated in Washington, February 15, 1980, there is no substitute for reinstituting the festival of the Common Board into the process of Masonic Education.
Such obstacles should not discourage the political and intellectual leadership of the American craft from attempting a more vital program of lodge education. Rather, if they are accurately and clearly understood, they can provide important insights about the past from which we might learn for the future. More significantly, and perhaps ironically, as the numbers of Masons decreases, as in the present trend in the United states and Canada, resistance to trying new forms and approaches should also decrease as the leaders of the Fraternity become more concerned about, and committed to the Masonic education of the individual Freemason.
Of what might a new approach to Masonic education and history consist? Upon this question, depends in large measure the future vitality and promise of the Fraternity, and indeed the survival of Freemasonry as a vital element in Western culture.
As has been recently demonstrated in Washington, February 15, 1980, there is no substitute for reinstituting the Festival of the Common Board into the process of Masonic Education. The 1980 meeting of the Philalethes Society, under the direction of the president Dwight L. Smith. (7) FPS utilized the format of an "Annual Assembly and Feast" to present, in table lodge form, the concept of the ideal lodge, a combination of toasts and responses designed to illuminate the significance of the Masonic tradition and within a socially convivial context. If other groups, lodges, and bodies attempted similar events, the Masonic educational process would be greatly enhanced.
It is increasingly important for lodges to indicate to their new and present members that the Masonic institution is a result of the whole history and development of western ideas and consciousness, and not just another fraternal organization that engages in charitable and social practices. Freemasonry bears the imprint of several climates of ideas, forms of perception, states of consciousness and awareness, all of which is reflected in its symbolism
structure of a lodge or other local body should reflect an effort to use men for what they can do best for their own development and for the lodge at the same time. Ritualists should do the degree work; good public speakers and managers should direct the affairs of the lodge, especially the greeting of new members, and the care and retention of present members. Those interested in ideas should teach about the Craft in all of its aspects. The Lodge which draws its Masters and Wardens from among men who excel in each of these three aspects will grow and be strong.
Secondly, sound and practical ways for Masons to live their obligation to support and care for one another should be discussed and implemented. Fraternal love cannot, of course, be ''engineered" as part or a process of Masonic education. Yet, open and frank discussions of both the problems and opportunities of active fraternalism should be on the agendas of lodges. What is the role of material support and relief? How can men spend creative and supportive time together with one another in a society which makes competition a social norm? What role does mentorship play in Freemasonry, ie, an older adult male encouraging a younger adult male in his career and life development? What are the practical ways men might cooperate in enterprises and projects which foster a "win/win", rather than a "win/lose" mentality? How might the lodge become an active and genuine community of men in a given city, suburb, and town, especially recalling that the "Craft" in actual terms is more in and about in the world then it is in lodge communications.
Thirdly, and lastly, as part of an active and vital process of Masonic Education, lodges would take the life experience of the individual Freemason seriously, and in specific terms, use it as the point of departure for the whole process of educating, orienting, and assimilating the Mason into lodge life. A man should be called upon at some point in his Masonic experience to reflect upon, and if possible to write about the important experiences in his own life. In time, he should be encouraged to relate these experiences to the Craft; its aims, purposes, and meaning.
Personally, it was of deep importance to my own Masonic education to reflect on the various stages of my commitment to the Fraternity. Further it was useful to group these into steps along the way to active involvement in particular Masonic activities. As a youthful DeMolay, Master Councilor, Illustrious Knight Commander, and State Master Councilor I was impressed with the idealism of Masonic tradition, and wholly and somewhat uncritically appropriated it. Later as a college and graduate student of the late sixties, engaged in the crises and causes of the era, I temporarily and cynically rejected the Craft for the contradiction between its ideals and it practices (a tension which I still hold in mind). Lastly, and perhaps not conclusively, I worked toward a more realistic and constructive commitment to Freemasonry which resulted in the founding of The Goose and Gridiron Club of New York, and the recruitment of a number of young men to active; or more active involvement in the process of Masonic revitalization. I am sure that my Masonic experience along the way would have been richer and more complete if an educational process had existed which recognized and affirmed this essential process of maturing commitment to a style of life, and to the institution which promotes it. (10)
In conclusion, let me say that the future survival and growth of Freemasonry depends decisively on the educational process within it. This process must be essentially personal in approach, taking seriously the obstacles involved to its implementation, and it should recognize the inherent value and richness of the Masonic tradition itself. It should reflect sound lodge management, and avoid the tendency to specialize Masonic learning and scholarship beyond the reach or interest of the member. Most importantly, it must take the life-story of the individual Freemason with great seriousness, and use this story as the point from which his journey to the Light begins along its life-long path.
References
1. This view is reflected in Alfred North Whitehead's Aims of Education, and in the work of Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge. See especially Richard Gelwick, The Way of Discovery: An Introduction to the Thought of Michael Polanyi, New York: Oxford University Press, 1977, pp. 48-49. Also, Polanyi, Personal Knowledge, Chicago, 1958 Chapters V, Vl.
2. Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press, 1970, makes this point persuasively. See Chapter IV, passim. Cf., especially Masonic concepts of 'being brought to light', 'approaching the East in due and ancient form' and the passing of the veils ceremonies in the American Royal Arch to Kuhn's use of changing paradigms of scientific knowledge.
3. See Frances Yates, "Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry", The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, Boulder: Shambhala, 1978, pp. 206-233.
4. See various works by Mircea Eliade, Lionel Tiger, and Victor Turner, for the general direction of this form of study. Also, Abner Cohen, "The Politics of Ritual Secrecy", Man: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, September, 1971, Vol. 6, pp 427-418, for a comparison of Freemasonry with tribal initiation and secret societies in Sierra Leone.
5. Yates, work cited, and The Art of Memory, The University of Chicago Press, 1966. Also, J.M. Roberts, The Mythology of Secret Societies, New York: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1972.
6. Robert B. Watts, "Feed the Hungry", Washington: The Supreme Council, 33d, A.A.S.R., 1978.
7. Dwight L. Smith, "Why this Confusion in the Temple", and "Whither Are We Traveling", Washington: The Masonic Service Association of the United States, in addition to numerous editorials in The Indiana Freemason, has spoken eloquently to the need for Table Lodges, and other means to return to the first principles of Freemasonry.
8. See Daniel J. Levinson, et al, The Seasons of A Man's Life, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978.
9. For this insight I am grateful to Dr. Glen Nygren, Dean of Students, Lehmann College, City University of New York, through his assistant, John M. Hilliard, M.P.S.
10. Kenneth Keniston, in Youth and Dissent: The Rise of A New Opposition, New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich, 1971, and other works, argues that we do not know enough about the stage of life between adolescence and full adulthood, and thus our institutions have been unable to adapt to stresses and requirements placed upon them.
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Conference of Grand Masters 1980
by William B. Stanbury, Jr.
The 1980 Conference of Grand Masters returned to Washington, DC February 17-20, 1980. The theme was "Preparing for the New Decade" which the Keynote speaker, Edgar N. Peppler, New Jersey used in a brilliant address marking the opening of the Conference.
Officers for 1980 are William M. Koenig, Chairman; Warren D. Lichly, Jr., Vice Chairman; and David L. Batchelder, Conference Committee Chairman. The committee was composed of be following: Hoyle W. Clanton, Perry A. Lester, Barber L. Shelton, William B. Bellois, Paul A. Burkhardt, Jr., Leslie L. Farmer, Harry R. Hesse and William B. Stansbury Jr., Exec. Sec. Treas., Ex Officio. Chaplain was Rev. Arthur H. Melanson. The address of welcome by Perry A. Lester and response by William N. Love.
Sister Jurisdictions represented at the conference were Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, England, Italy, China, Australia (New South Wales) and Brazil.
The topics were:
The District Deputy Grand Masters
System - by Joseph E Trate, Pennsylvania Masons at Sight - by Perry A. Lester, District of Columbia
Advancement of Candidates through the Degrees - by Norman R. Buecker, Illinois How to wake up Masons and improve our lmage, Participation and Effectiveness
Leslie L. Farmer. Tennessee Leader: Sam E. Hilburn, Texas, Reporter
Masonry and the Younger Generation
Robert E. Bass, Leader; Francis D. Hess, Montana, Reporter
Masonry's Response to Today's New Morality – Gerald M. Skogley, North Dakota, Leader; Clarence K. Jones, Nevada, Reporter
Retention of Interest in Blue Lodge by Members and by Blue Lodge and Grand Lodge Officers upon completion of terms in office - Norval R. Richards, Ontario, Leader; Barber L. Shelton, Kentucky, Reporter.
The Tuesday evening Annual Banquet was held with between 700-800 in attendance and featured a humorous address by Brother W.S. "Stan" Finch, member of Wm. G. Hill Lodge 218, Raleigh, North Carolina, and was sponsored by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina.
The Conference opened with a fine reception, and on Monday morning attended the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, with a luncheon for members of the Conference and their ladies, after which the Masonic Service Association held its meeting at the Hotel.
The Conference of Grand Secretaries held its annual Banquet with its Grand Secretary, Royal Davis Crowell of Nevada presiding, and with Stanley R. Maxwell, Sov. Gr. Com. of Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction, as its speaker. Among the guests, in addition to the Grand Masters of the several jurisdictions, was Sir James Stubbs, the Illustrious Grand Secretary of the G.L. of England. The newly elected President was Dean Settle, G. Sec. of Colorado and Hon. G.M.
At its conclusion, most of those present at the conference visited the House of the Temple as luncheon guests of Henry C. Clausen, Sov. Gr. Com. Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction.
The 1981 Conference will meet on February 15-18, 1981 at Orlando, Florida, and will return in February, 1982 to Washington, DC, when the 250th Birthday of Bro. George Washington will be celebrated.
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Mr.
Justice William O. Douglas
Freemason
by Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S.
The passing of Brother William O. Douglas, who served the United States in many ways, but who was the longest person in time of service as an Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, brings to mind that he was a member of Adams Lodge No. 277, of Yakima, Washington.
In his work on the Supreme Court he was classified as a liberal and he often was outspoken in the advancement of his views. He was always the advocate of the under-privileged, fair treatment for all, and a conservative in upholding the fundamental rights established by the United States Constitution. He once stated that "Free speech has occupied an exalted position because of the high service it has given to our society. Its protection is essential to the very existence of a democracy." He espoused the view that the First Amendment gave absolute protection to freedom of thought and speech and prohibited government censorship of any kind. He was a strong adherent to the proposition that the First Amendment erected a strong wall of separation between church and state. In his autobiography, published in 1974, he stated that "The struggle is always between the individual and his sacred right to express himself on the one hand, and on the other, the power structure that seeks conformity suppression, and obedience. At some desperate moment in history, a great effort is made for the renewal of individual dignity. And so it will be from now to eternity."
He was also a strong advocate of the right of a person to determine with whom he will associate. In a case involving the right of a Moose Lodge, which held a liquor license, to refuse service to a colored friend of a member who was a guest of a member of the lodge, he ruled (in a dissenting opinion) that the guest could not be barred because the Moose Lodge had a license from the state and several other factors, even though he stated the general rule that everyone has the right to select his associates, joins a private club, and used the following language: "My view of the First Amendment and the related guarantees of the Bill of Rights is that they create a zone of privacy which precludes government from interfering with private clubs or groups. The associational rights which our system honors permit all white, all black, all brown, and all yellow clubs to be formed. They also permit all Catholic, all Jewish, or all agnostic clubs to be established. Government may not tell a man or woman who his or her associates must be. The individual can be as selective as he desires. So the fact that the Moose Lodge allows only Caucasians to join or come as guests is constitutionally irrelevant, as is the decision of the Black Muslims to admit to their services only members of their race."
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Supplied by John M. Cunningham
The Order of Desoms (Deaf Sons of Master Masons) was founded in 1946 in Seattle, Washington by Brother Hugo Holcomb. During WW II Brother Holcomb was employed by a Masonic Temple in Seattle as a maintenance worker and developed a strong interest in the Masonic Fraternity. With the assistance of the Lodge where he was employed and the Grand Lodge of Washington he developed the Order of Desoms. The ritual he promulgated was very near that used by Masonic Lodges. In 1949 a second Lodge of the Order of Desoms was established in Los Angeles, CA and in subsequent years three other Lodges were established in San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C. At the present time Brother Holcomb is 95 years of age and is partly blind. He can see well enough to read sign language and watch TV but cannot read. Otherwise he is in good health considering his age. He served as Grand Master of Desoms until 1960.
In 1960, being unhappy with the status of the Order of Desoms in the Masonic Fraternity, Brother J. Duncan Fea, who was Deputy Grand Master of Desoms, considered changing our status. The Order of Desoms was recognised by the Grand Lodge of Washington but on the level of the Order of DeMolay. Brother Fea felt that we deserved better than that and with the support of Los Angeles Lodge promulgated the Premable and Declaration which changed the Order of Desoms to the Ancient Delta Guild, F. & A.M. of N.A. The Washington Grand Lodge promptly withdrew recognition. Brother Fea served as Grand Master until 1970 at which time, as at a stated Grand Lodge Communication held in Los Angeles, Brother Francis Roberts was elected Grand Master. Brother Roberts was the founder of the Golden Gale lodge No. 2 (San Francisco). Stated Grand Lodge Communications have been held triennially since 1970. Brother Roberts passed away before his term was completed and was succeeded by Brother Elmer Long who was Deputy Grand Master. Brother Long was elected to a full term at our next Stated Communication held in Wichita, Kansas and was succeeded by Brother Earl Norton of Golden Gate Lodge No. 2 at our Staled Communication held in Alexandria, Virginia. Brother Norton was succeeded by Brother Ray F. Stallo of Los Angeles Lodge No. 1 at the Stated Communication held in San Francisco in 1979.
The Ancient Delta Guild derived its name from the fact that the word Delta stands for the letter "D" in Greek and the letter "D" denotes Deaf to us. We call our Craft "Ancient" for it is a known fact that some deaf men were engaged in the ancient craft of Operative Masons. Due to the communication barrier between the Deaf and Hearing it is reasonable to assume that the Fraternity as a whole will be benefited more by a separate organization of Deaf men. Also, since the Deaf population is in a minority we feel that our Grand Lodge should have jurisdiction over all of North America, in relation to the Deaf only, of course.
It is true that some Grand Lodges in the East have permitted their subordinate Lodges to accept Petitions for the Degrees from Deaf men. However, many Grand Lodges interpret the "Whole in Body" Landmark as making Deaf men ineligible. Still, two of our members have been admitted into the Scottish Rite upon the strength of their membership in our Guild.
As of this date no Grand Lodge has recognized the Ancient Delta Guild as true Masonic. We are therefore considered as "clandestine", a situation which we deplore. Brother Fea and others who are high ranking members of our Guild have given much study of Masonic ritual and have developed our Labor accordingly. Our Labor is conducted in the Sign Language used by the Deaf. We earnestly hope that we will some day gain recognition as a valid part of Freemasonry and are working toward that end. Any help, suggestions or other assistance will be very much appreciated.
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Benjamin Lincoln
Article XLVIII
By Norman C. Dutt, F.P.S.
"Solid" Ben Lincoln, * when he left the Continental service, was commended for his activity, fortitude, perseverance, competency and fidelity. No one was more deserving of such enconium. He was a native of Hingham, Massachusetts, where he was born January 24, 1733, just a few months before organized Freemasonry came to that colony. He was the son of a well to do farmer and received a good education for those times. Naturally he followed the footsteps of his father in agriculture and was successful. He was to follow the field of farming until the advent of the revolution.
As a young man he became interested in the local militia unit, and bought military books from Henry Knox * the bookseller in Boston. During his visits to buy books he sometimes with Knox discussed military problems with various British Army officers who also frequented the shop.
Lincoln served one year in the Massachusetts legislature, 1772-1773. The later part of 1773 saw him becoming more active and interested in the training of the militia unit at Hingham. He proved to be an excellent field officer and became Adjutant of the regiment. His abilities soon became well known to the legislature and he was made a Major General of the Massachusetts militia in 1776.
After the battle of Hong Island, Major General Lincoln started for New York with 4200 troops as replacements and reinforcements for General Washington. A British force of some 3,000 regulars was sent to intercept him, the information of Lincoln's disposition being supplied by a Trumpet Major who deserted just before the Battle of Long Island. Lincoln was successful in evading the British Expeditionary force, and joined Washington * the later part of September. He was to become one of Washington's most trusted Generals. In March of 1777 Benjamin Lincoln was promoted to Major General in the Continental Army. The same orders included Lord Stirling (William Alexander), Thomas Mifflin, Arthur St. Clair * but Benedict Arnold * was omitted, which brought about his resignation, highly offended at the Continental Congress.
General Lincoln with a sizeable force on his way to Saratoga paused at Manchester, Vermont, with orders for John Stark * from General Schulyler to report for duty with the Continental Army. Stark refused to comply and Lincoln was unsuccessful in trying to induce him to reconsider and comply with Schuyler's orders.
Shortly before Lincoln and his troops joined General Gates at Saratoga, a possible retreat had been considered by the overall commander in the field. Upon the receiving of intelligence that General Lincoln was on his way and that he had made successful operations in the vicinity of Fort Ticonderoga, capturing outposts, several gunboats, and almost four companies of the 53rd Regiment, the Shropshires. He had, in fact, so disrupted and impaired every facility for retreat of Burgoyne upon which the British control of Lakes Champlain and George depended, was now almost impossible.
The second phase of Saratoga took place October 17, 1777, at Bemis Heights, and General Lincoln incurred the wrath and displeasure of General Gates by backing General Arnold in his statement that Colonel Morgan must be reinforced, as in that area was where the initial attack on the Continental army took place. Lincoln was severely wounded in the action that day, rendering him unfit for duty for a short time, and causing him to limp slightly the rest of his life. Ten days after the battle Burgoyne surrendered to terms which Congress found most unacceptable.
Major General Benjamin Lincoln was designated by Washington to supersede Brigadier General Robert Howe in command of the American Troops in the south. Lincoln arrived the 1st of December 1778 in Charleston, South Carolina, and assumed command of the Southern Department. The command consisted of 1121 Continentals and a militia force of some 2500 troops.
Governor Rutledge of South Carolina held a conference with General Lincoln, and both were convinced that the recovery of Savannah and also the rest of Georgia was in the best interests of South Carolina. An appeal was dispatched to the Count D'Estaing * of the French Navy to employ his fleet in an expedition against Savannah. D'Estaing was most receptive to the plan as he had recently captured Granada. He sailed immediately for the American coast with two fifty gun frigates, twenty ships of the line, fifteen smaller frigates with 6,000 troops and anchored off the bar near Tybee Island.
Washington, upon learning that Sir Henry Clinton was embarking troops aboard transports, and believing the destination was either Georgia or South Carolina, ordered the North Carolina regiments to march to Charleston to be followed by the Virginia line. Then after those orders were posted the rest of the Continental Army went into winter quarters.
General Lincoln was kept informed of
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An Appreciation by an Admirer
With only a common school education and making a living as a farmer in his native town of Hingham, Massachusetts until he was forty years of age, Benjamin Lincoln * provides a good example of how an individual endowed with God given common sense, and the wit to use it, could go far in the world.
As a youth he had to serve in the train band, and by 1776 had worked his way up from the racks to the grade of Brigadier General in the militia of the colony. In the few years preceding, he had been a member of the General Court, and when the independence minded Provincial Congress was organized, he was chose a member and served some time as Secretary.
After the British garrison evacuated Boston March 17, 1776, some of their war vessels lingered just off the water front. Lincoln had been active in the Siege of Boston and now, moving his artillery from one harbor island to another, drove off the blockaders. Then, with Massachusetts state troops he joined the main army and took part in the maneuvering around New York city and in the fighting at Harlem and White Plains.
Popular with the common soldier, a good administrator, and successful in training the raw recruits, Lincoln's performance was so satisfactory to Washington *, that in February 1777 he recommended the Massachusetts militiaman for a direct commission as Major General in the Continental army.
Leading his command northward in the following summer, Lincoln and General John Stark * (with New Hampshire militia) cut Burgoyne’s line of communication and supply as the British moved nearer Saratoga. In the fighting at Bemis' Heights on October 7th Lincoln was severely wounded and could not rejoin the army until August 1778. It was just in time to be sent into the Carolinas and Georgia, to do whatever was possible after the dismal failure of Gates to make any progress.
Combined operations with landing forces off d'Estaing's fleet were poorly coordinated, and an unsuccessful attempt to recover Savannah from the British was a severe set back. Lincoln has mixed success with his mostly irregular force in numerous lesser encounters. Taking over the defence of Charleston, he deferred to the wishes of the civil authorities, remained in the city, and as a result was forced to surrender to Cornwallis. The terms of the capitulation were not magnanimous, in fact degrading.
He was paroled and went home to await exchange. In Boston he was given a fine Christmas present when on December 25, 1780, in Saint Andrews Lodge, he was "complimented with the degrees this evening."
Rejoining the Main Army in June 1781 he was engaged with the French in harassing the outposts of the British main base at New York city. When Washington suddenly decided to make a dash towards Yorktown, where Lafayette had Cornwallis cornered, Lincoln went along, now the senior Major General in the expedition and the second in command.
After the surrender on October 19, 1781. Cornwallis sent O’Hara, his second in command, to hand over his sword to the victor. O'Hara first offered the token to a fellow European and professional soldier. But Rochambeau * motioned him along to Washington, the Commander in Chief. Refusing to accept the sword from a substitute and subordinate, Washington waved O'Hara towards Lincoln, who must have taken it exultantly, in a sort of retribution for the humiliation imposed on him by Cornwallis at Charleston.
Congress now appointed Lincoln as Secretary of War and he served for two years until the war ended with the occupation of New York city, and he could go back to his farm. Highly respected in his community, he resumed his quiet Ieadership and responsibilities in civil, church and militia affairs. His influence was considerable in persuading the Massachusetts convention to accept and ratify the Federal constitution of 1787.
That same year the militia was called out to suppress a revolt of small farmers in the western part of the state, against exorbitant land taxes, unrelenting mortgage holders, and greedy lawyers. Resort to arms by the rebels called for strenuous control measures, the whole incident becoming known to history as "Shay's Rebellion", so called after the most prominent leader. While politics may have no place in Masonry, Daniel Shays * was expelled from his lodge for "infamous conduct.'' He was later pardoned by the Commonwealth and restored to gold standing in the fraternity.
Ben Lincoln was familiar with the plight of the dissident farmers, and in sympathy with their resistance, but not the violence. Generals Hull *, Paterson * and Shepherd * were leaders of the punitive forces in the field, with Lincoln in overall command. His attitude cost him support of voters in the eastern part of the state when he ran for elective office. President Washington came to his rescue and appointed him Collector of the Port of Boston, a post he held until just before his death. He also served on a number of commissions to settle Indian affairs, as he was known to be a successful negotiator and conciliator.
As the most highly regarded among members of the Order of Cincinnati in Massachusetts, he was the first state president, and held the office for life, or until it came to an end in 1810 at the age of 77. His contemporaries hailed him as "honest" and "solid", expressive and complimentary terms of those times - seldom earned or applied to public office holders today.
* Indicates Freemason
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enemy movements and it soon developed that Savannah was the objective. That city fell to the British December 29, 1778, and shortly thereafter they took Augusta easily. The decision of the British being those cities were in a region that held a large number of loyalists, and by their conquest it would induce others to return to the Crown.
The combined American-French forces were unable to retake Savannah, a deserter informed the British of the Allies battle plans, and the armistice agreed to by D'Estaing enabled the defenders to bolster their defences. A slave also led British troops through a little known path that outflanked a wing of the attacking forces. Brig. Gen. Pulaski received mortal wounds leading a futile cavalry charge against the defences and died a few days after the battle. The Allies suffered heavy casualties, the Americans alone some 800. D'Estaing was wounded and gave up the fight, embarked his troops and sailed for the West Indies, and General Lincoln retired to Charleston to recuperate and rebuild his battered army.
Clinton was heartened by the taking of Savannah and Augusta, the defeat of Lincoln and decided to use a major force to conquer the south. The base at Newport, Rhode Island was to be abandoned and on December 26, 8,000 troops sailed for the south with the objective, Charleston, once more.
General Lincoln was kept informed of enemy movements, and soon there was no doubt that Charleston, South Carolina, was the objective. The effective garrison of that city consisted of some 2200 Continentals, and 1200 to 1400 militia, not nearly enough to defend the town. The proclamation of Governor Rutledge failed to bring forth any large number of defenders, which was most disappointing to Lincoln. Also Lincoln was called upon by various guerilla leaders, their advice was to divide the army into smaller units and take to the interior their reasoning being the British would be forced to move large units or stay confined to the city. However, the politicians lied their way, and Lincoln was to defend the city which was almost impossible with the troops he now commanded. The British slowly and surely cut his communications, they also had enough ships to punish the small number of Continental ships, and established an effective naval blockade. Lincoln refused to surrender on the 10th of April, but had to capitulate under honorable terms May 12, 1780. Major General Lincoln was a prisoner of war until November when he was exchanged and granted leave returning home to rest and recuperate. He petitioned the Lodge of St Andrew in Boston for the degrees of Freemasonry and received the Entered Apprentice degree, December 25, 1780, and was passed to the degree of Fellowcraft January 11, 1781, and received the Master Mason May 4, 1781. He returned to duty shortly after the conferral of the Master Mason degree, and marched south to Yorktown.
When Cornwallis surrendered General Lincoln was designated to receive the sword of the British Commander, and it was delivered by Brig. Gen. Charles O'Hara. Lincoln retired from the army, served as Secretary of War, became the Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1787. He was appointed Collector of the Port of Boston and served twenty years. He passed away at his bottle in Hingham May 9, 1810 and was buried in its cemetery.
Brigadier General Robert Howe whom Lincoln relieved in the south was a member of Hanover Lodge, one of the extinct Lodges of North Carolina. After he reported to Washington he was promoted to Major General becoming the highest ranked officer of North Carolina.
John Stark was made a Mason in Master's Lodge at Albany, New York in 1778. As Brig. Gen. he served on the Court Martial that tried Major John Andre.
Lord Stirling, (William Alexander) is believed to be a member of the Craft. A card in the Grand Secretary's files of the Grand Lodge AF & AM of Massachusetts shows one of this name a member of St. John's Lodge in Boston. It is also reported that he received the Fellowcraft degree in Scotland.
Arthur St. Clair was one of the petitioners for a charter for Nova Caesera Lodge No. 10 at Cincinnati, Ohio. The warrant for this Lodge was issued by the Grand Lodge F & AM, New Jersey September 8, 1791. It is believed that General St. Clair was made a Mason in one of the Military Lodges in the British Army. He served under Wolfe at Quebec, as a member of the 60th Regiment of Foot. He was also on the court martial of Major Andre.
Major General Henry Knox was made a Mason in an army lodge, and during the first winter of the Continental army spent at Morristown, New Jersey. It is a known fact that he visited many Lodges having signed their registers.
* Identified as Masons
References
John R Alden, A History of the American Revolution (1969)
John R. Alden, The Revolution in the South, 1767-1789. (1957)
Henry Lee, The American Revolution in the South. (1869)
Troyer S. Andersen. The Command of the Howe Brothers During the Revolution. (1936)
Paul Lewis, The Man Who Lost America. (1973; p. 111-178)
H.B. Carrington, Battles of the American Revolution, 1775-1781. (1877)
Howard H. Peckham. The War of lndependence. (1958)
George A. Billias, George Washington's Generals. (1964)
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SPECIAL NOTICE READ THIS PLEASE!
It appears that, about once a year, it is necessary to inform everyone who does what in the society. If you have manuscripts mail them to the editor. If you send them to Alphonse Cerza, John Vrooman, or Brent Morris they only have to spend fifteen cents to forward them to me. Send them where they belong. If I am going to use your material, it will be better if I get it in the mail from you when you send it, not when someone else gets around to it.
Also, if you have any news, deadlines for the magazines are 45 days in advance of mailing. For instance, any material for this issue was due in my hands not later than April 1. It takes me about 30 days to get it typeset, designed, and printed. In addition I like a little lead time just in case something goes wrong. I mail the June issue on May 15, the August issue on July 15 etc. I want your material for the August issue by June 1st. This applies to all news, pictures, announcements and columns.
We are starting a new bookkeeping system. Everything, including mailing labels for the magazine, will be on computer. We will probably have a few problems. If you don't get a particular issue of the magazine, drop S. Brent Morris a note at the address in the magazine. Do not, and I repeat do not, do as one of the officers of the society did and write to the printer. He didn't know what to do with the letter of complaint, laid it on his desk and I got it about two months too late. If any complaints about magazine delivery arise, contact S. Brent Morris.
Finally, if you want something published, send it to the editor. Don't do as some have done and send it to an officer of the society. If I am going to print your material, I will print it if it is sent to me. If I am not going to print it, sending it to an officer in hopes that he will put pressure on me will not work. All you will do in this case is make more work for the officers and they have enough to do already.
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by C.W. Coons, M.P.S.
315 Forrest Avenue
Woodstock, Ill. 60098
Concepts are not good just because they are old; they are old because they are good.
What is Masonry?
How do you answer this question?
The following has been found effective (1) for answering the exploratory questions of a potential candidate, (2) as a prelude to studying an intender program, (3) for the candidate to read while he is waiting to be called to the preparation room, or (4) as a short exposition before a group of non-Masons.
Pompous statements about ''hidden mysteries" and concepts "veiled in allegory" tend to confuse or even repel would-be Masons. What they want is a short-form explanation with some clear, clear, simple facts.
Could the following be made into an effective elementary introduction/instruction tool? What should be added or subtracted to make it so?
Backgrounds of the Modern Masonic Lodge
The members of a Masonic Lodge have sworn to endeavor to act by moral and ethical standards, both toward their Masonic brothers, and toward the rest of the world. By joining the Lodge, they have emphasized their belief in the Golden Rule, in tolerance, in family virtue, and in charity.
Masonry, although it requires that a candidate have a belief in a deity (for the purpose of taking an oath,) is not a religion - unless you hold that morality and ethics are the sole elements of a religion. Furthermore, Masonry does not ask its members what religion they practice; they may be Baptists, Mormons, Catholics, Jews, Mohammedans, Shintoists, or of any other religion.
As any Mason's wife will tell you, joining a Masonic Lodge does not automatically make a man either sage or saintly, although many fine men have been Masons. These have included men like Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, outstanding clergymen of all faiths, and at least a dozen United States Presidents, from Washington to Ford; also, unfortunately, there have been a few other famous, or perhaps we should say infamous, Masons such as Benedict Arnold.
Men of character, in spite of the last named, continue to ask admittance to the fraternity because of a predilection to morality and ethics.
It has been said that, "Masonry does not make men of character, but men of character make Masonry."
Masonry, contrary to popular belief, is not a "secret" fraternity. Its members wear their pins and rings openly - and proudly - for all to see. The so-called "secret oaths" of the order stem, as do all other of its elements and practices, from the training rituals and practices of the builders' brotherhood, reaching back through the Medieval guilds into antiquity before the invention of alphabets.
Morality was an economic necessity for the building craftsmen. As builders of major edifices, they simply had to be right, because the very masses of the materials they used were lethal. A collapsing roof or a falling cornice would kill people, with the result that the chapter of builders guilty of any faulty construction would get no more work offers.
Consequently, the builders' guild was most careful about who was allowed into its fellowship, and how these men were trained, and how much and what kind of work they were allowed to do - even after seven years of apprenticeship, followed by seven more years spent developing some specialty ranging from building piers to sculpting statues.
Internal guild discipline was, of necessity, exacting and self-regulated. The man who rose to Project Master in such a system had to be a man of great character as well as ability.
The business ethics of the guild, in dealing with a monarch, a municipality, a priesthood, or a commercial cartel, were just as strictly regulated.
This control extended, with equal severity, to inter-chapter requests and agreements. Because there never were enough builders to satisfy the worldwide demand, the guild could and did maintain an international and even intercontinental monopoly. There is much evidence in stone, and some in writing, of the inter-areal movement of individuals or whole chapters of guildsmen extending back 10,000 years or more.
Another situation affecting the guild members was the fact that they built temples for all religions. Thus they were continually influenced by the thinking of the shepherds, the priesthoods, of all ancient societies. In fact, many priesthoods, from antiquity through the Renaissance, from Amunists of Egypt through the Dominican or Franciscan orders of monks in Europe, sponsored chapters of the builders’ guild, or maintained them as integral parts of their orders.
The builders' guild had often found that it was a good policy to make an honorary member of a noble, or the mayor or the cleric in charge of the area in which they were working. Richard the Lion Hearted, according to a tradition quoted by Mackay, was an honorary grand master, and there are oral and written traditions of some of the English Kings Edwin and a few of their princes and nobles being entered as non-operative members.
During the period of the religious reformation, many "men of character," both nobles and commoners, became impatient with the hesitancy of religions to add stronger moral and ethical tenets to the existing Christian concerns for the souls of men. These men requested membership in the mason's guild, not as builders, but as believers in their socially uplifting tenets. After some soul-searching, some of the lodges of Freemasons (operatives) in London calling themselves the "Moderns" permitted non-builders to affiliate, beginning in 1717, under the classification of "accepted" or "allowed" masons; we now refer to them as "speculative" masons. Thus were born the lodges of Free and Accepted Masons, F & AM, and Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, AF & AM. The "Antients" (note the use of t instead of c in the word in the spelling of that day) were chapters of English, Irish, and Scottish operative or "free" masons brought to London to rebuild after the great fire.
The "Antients" objected to the way the "Moderns" had revised the ceremonial rituals to a shorter form for the benefit of the new non-operative members. Although there never was any disagreement about basic masonic principles, this argument resulted in separate branches of the "brotherhood." Both branches chartered chapters of (Speculative) Masons in the American and other colonies until after the American Revolution. Their differences were resolved in the 1800's.
However, we still have differences in designations such as F & AM, AF & AM, and others in the various state jurisdictions, but there is little difference between them except in the order of the presentation of the parts of their rituals. There are absolutely no barriers against a Mason visiting a lodge in another of the United States, or indeed, in a foreign state.
It is fortunate that Speculative Masonry developed when it did, because the operative guilds faded from the scene of history in the last century (with the introduction of new building materials), leaving the (Speculative) Masonic Lodge to carry on its tenets.
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by Harold V.B. Voorhis
The following item appeared in the Quarterly Bulletin of The London Grand Rank Association of November 10, 1965 (Edited by Arthur Buddell, then Grand (HON) Secretary:
John Wilkes, 1727-1797
The City Press of 15th November, 1924, reported as follows: "This November witnesses the 150th anniversary of the election as Lord Mayor of London of John Wilkes, reformer and patriot. His career was strangely akin to that of the stormy petrel. By the public he was adored as an idol and, by the State Party, denounced as one who placed himself completely beyond the pale. In his delightful book on the notorious Alderman of Farringdon Without, the late Sir William Treloar sums up the many-sided character of Wilkes in a few trenchant sentences. 'By some', says Sir William, 'he was regarded as a great blackguard and a thorough humbug and by many others as a reformer and patriot. Certainly he was a bad husband and a dissolute man but, on the other hand, he undoubtedly has come down in history as a good father. In his day Wilkes was expelled from the House of Commons and a resolution recording the fact found a place on the records. Before he died, Wilkes had the satisfaction of seeing that record expunged'".
But what has this somewhat sordid story to do with the pages of Masonic Histories? Pro. E. Newton, the Assistant Grand Librarian, continues the story.
"On 2nd February, 1769, while in prison, Wilkes was initiated in the Jerusalem Lodge No. 44 by Dispensation signed by the Grand Master, in the presence of Thomas French the Grand Secretary. Also while in prison he joined the Society of Beefsteaks, was made an honorary member of the Bucks and initiated into the Ancient Family of Leeches. Earlier, in 1768, he was expelled from the Society of Friends" (quote ends).
History does not relate what progress this extraordinary fellow made in the Craft out there are accounts of many startling events in his life. As an example of the rough and tumble of political life in those distant days the following is recorded from a recent review by Robert Carvel of a newly-published book which appeared in the columns of a London evening paper: "To the Earl of Sandwich's prediction about a century and a half ago that John Wilkes would either die on the gallows or of V.D., Wilkes retorted: "That depends, my lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."
In various accounts of this happening two different dates are given. The one in the above article - February 1, 1769 - and one by A.M. Broadley, a Masonic author - February 18, 1769. The latter date is vouched for by the late Brother Sir John Monckton, P.G.W., who noted it in an address he delivered in Jerusalem Lodge No. 197 of London at their hundred year celebration. He stated that he had the minute books for 1769 before him when he prepared the address in 1971.
This old Jerusalem Lodge was constituted on December 12, 1731 as No. 83. In 1740 it became No. 72; in 1756 it was No. 41 in 1770 it was No. 38; and on April 12, 1780 it was erased.
In 1759 it met at St. John of Jerusalem Tavern on St. John's Street, Clerkenwell, London, where it continued to meet for several years.
The Dispensation to make Wilkes a Mason was given by the issuer, I assume, without consideration that he was or had been in prison. The Grand Master at the time being Henry, 5th Duke of Beaufort.
The record says that the officers of the lodge, and possibly some of the members, met within the precincts of the jail and that Thomas French, the Grand Secretary, was present. The Year Book of the United Grand Lodge of England lists French as the Grand Secretary 1768 and James Heseltine holding the office 1769-80. However, he may leave been Grand Secretary until April 1769 when the Grand Lodge held a meeting. He may have died but the Grand Lodge lists no date of his death. It is even possible that because of his presence at the Wilkes ''making" he was replaced as Grand Secretary. We have no way of determining if the Dispensation was to make Wilkes a Mason or just for the Lodge to meet in Special Session (possible in Kings Bench Prison where the Lodge was held).
In February, also in 1769, Wilkes was elected to the House of Commons (one of several times) and shortly thereafter obtained a verdict of four thousand pounds ($20,000) against Lord Halifax for false imprisonment. Four years later he became Lord Mayor of London after having been elected Sheriff in 1771. At his death in 1797, Dr. Johnson remarked "his name has been sounded from pole to pole as the Phoenix of Convivial Felicity. "
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By George S. Mann, M.P.S.
In the April 1968 issue of The Philalethes appeared an article "Freemasonry in Italy" written by Brother Bruno Guglielmi, MPS at that time WM of Giuseppe Mazzini Lodge No. 98, Sanremo, Italy. Brother Bruno was kind enough to send me an autographed copy of a pamphlet printed in Italy, containing this article as well as some pictures of the interior of his lodge.
In the May 1968 issue of The Masonic Philatelist published by the Masonic Stamp Club of New York, Guglielmi had an article entitled "Giuseppe Garibaldi and the Spedizione dei Mille". Translated to English it means "Giuseppe Garibaldi and the Expedition of the Thousand.'' This related the successful military occupation of Sicily on May 11, 1860, a Masonic undertaking.
In April 1968, Bruno wrote me. He had selected my name from rosters of both of the above Masonic organizations, of which I am also a member. I to had decided that since I live in Houston near the Lyndon Johnson Space Center, I would be the most likely to send him stamps and "First Day Covers" or anything else from Texas related either to NASA or Masonry. I supplied him with both mint and FDC of the 5 cent Sam Houston Commemorative stamp issued here in Houston on January 10, 1964. I mailed him covers with cachets from the recovery of space flight capsules.
He sent me FDC on Masonic events in which he was personally involved. Some were not only Italian in origin, but also English as well as some from the United States.
Saturday. October 18, 1975, my wife and I drove to Kountze, a short distance north of Beaumont, Texas. There, in the Hardin County Court House, a testimonial was held that day in honor of Archer Fullingim, editor-publisher of the Kountze News one of the last country weekly newspapers. He was one of the outstanding champions of the cause for the "Big Thicket" area and noted as an outspoken critic of politicians whom he did not favor, such as Richard Nixon.
That afternoon when we arrived home we received an urgent cablegram from Bruno. He said a young Italian mother and her four year old son were flying from Alassio, Italy, to Houston. Little Marco was to be a patient of Dr. Denton Cooley, for possible heart surgery. His father was not a member of the craft, but his grandfather was. Would we please meet the plane, as they spoke no English and would have trouble getting to the hospital? Well, we speak no Italian! So what to do? Of course, we would meet the Plane. At Houston International Airport we bought a paper back Italian-English dictionary.
We waited outside of the US Customs with a hand made sign with their names and ours printed on it. As the passengers came through the door there was no response. I asked the immigration officials, but they did not have Annalise and Marco Malpezzi listed. Returning home, we called the hospital. Yes, they had the boy entered. We went to the Texas Children's Hospital and met them for the first time, both of them such nice people. We had little trouble making ourselves mutually understood, either by use of the dictionary or by sign language. They had come by another flight, which explained why we had missed them.
Incidentally, Dr. Cooley, who speaks some Italian as I have been given to understand, has two outstanding heart surgeons on his team, Dr. Robert Leachman and Dr. Paolo Angelini, both of whom speak it fluently.
Halloween was near at hand. The floor on which Marco's room was located had lots of pumpkin and witch decorations hanging from the walls and scotch-tapped to doors and windows at the nurses' stations. Nine young Italian patients, boys and girls, were waiting for diagnosis and possible surgery to have their heart defects corrected. Some would ride tricycles up and down the hallways, always in sight of their mothers who maintained a constant chatter in their native dialect.
Several days later we were told that it had been definitely decided that Marco would undergo surgery the next day, to repair an opening in his heart. The other eight children would also have surgery performed. The following evening when we went to visit them, Marco's Mother greeted us with tears in her eyes. "Marco, solo-Marco, solo," she repeated. Of all the children, only little Marco had survived the ordeal and was being well cared for in the intensive care unit. Eventually gaining enough strength, he was allowed to stay with us to recoup his health before they could fly back to Italy.
I do not know how the trip and the operation were financed. I do know that Bruno wrote me that he was a member of the "Committee of Charity" as was another Masonic Brother, Carlo Tomagnini, MPS from Alassio. I know that a loan from an Italian bank was secured and that the "Committee of Charity" had assisted. I believe that this committee was from his local lodge. I do know that Brother Bruno was the Master of Ceremonies of the Grand Lodge of Italy in 1972. I personally solicited some aid from my own Houston Consistory of the Scottish Rite Bodies. Some help was given.
Annalise and Marco stayed at our home for about two weeks while he regained his strength and stamina and watched TV. Just from watching "Sesame Street" he could count in English from one to ten and could say a few English phrases. Whenever my wife asked him what he wanted to eat, he usually replied, "Spaghetti e gelati." "Spaghetti and ice cream!" He could usually manage both. From time to time, he would come into the kitchen and make signs to my wife that he had a little empty corner in his tummy for a cookie or two.
At that time, our daughter Georgia, was in high school. Every now and then one of her young boy friends would come by to visit with her. Marco would sit in a corner and pout, because when he and she were by themselves, why she would play with him. He resented any lack of attention.
Finally he reached the point where the doctors released him, so he and his mother flew home. He is doing beautifully and growing up as any normal boy his age. We recently had a Christmas note from Annalise who writes that all is well and that Marco is going to school and is perfectly fine. Our story does not end there. I could go on to relate the honors that accrued to Brother Bruno, but unfortunately, he died suddenly on March 17, 1976. He was succeeded as Venerable Master of his lodge by Venerable Master Renato Boeri, MPS. He now has a lodge named after him, Bruno Guglielmi Lodge No. 966 in Palermo, Italy. Between Tomagnini and Boeri, they have picked up the good work where Bruno ceased.
Towards the end of July 1978, we received a most urgent telephone call from Brother Carlo, advising us that there were two more Italians flying to Houston from Alassio. Would we please meet them at the airport? Of course we would. This time it was two men, brothers-in-law, one of whom was to be another of Dr. Cooley's patients. We did meet them on a Saturday afternoon, after they had passed through both immigration and custom officials we introduced ourselves to Sasso Gianfranco and Pio Bellini. They understood and spoke absolutely no English. While my wife waited with them near a door where there would be no climbing of stairs, I went to get our car. We felt that this would eliminate the possibility of Pio having to climb steps and raise his blood pressure. But this was a false hope. He didn't have to! No sooner had I reached my car, when a most severe thunder storm occurred, with lots of imbedded hail. The gusts of wind were so vehement that they blew directional signs off posts, and pieces of plastic signs were scaled by the wind, crumbling into pieces. A rather large piece of plastic hit the roof of the car, but fortunately, no damage. I pulled up by the electronically controlled exit door through which they were to emerge, and as difficult as it is to believe, though the doors open outwards automatically, the wind forced them inwards! Poor Pio was frightened out of his wits. Everyone finally made it into the car, but as the rain poured down and the wind blew in terrible gusts, they repeated to each other, "Quale temporale! Quale temporale!" "What a storm! What a storm!'' Indeed they were right. We had no sooner driven about a mile from the airport, towards Houston, than the heavens became blue and the sun shone brilliantly once again. What a welcome they received from the weather.
They spent Saturday night and Sunday with us. On Monday morning, we drove them to St. Luke's Hospital so that Pio could be admitted. Once in his room, he was examined by Drs. Leachman and Angelini. It was eventually determined that he would require a by-pass operation. This was performed about two days later and after about two weeks more in the hospital, he was told that he could fly back to Italy. Sasso remained with him in the hospital until they finally checked out and spent a few more days in a nearby motel, which offered free convenient transportation to and from the hospital. On a Sunday morning, when I picked them up to take them to the airport for their return flight, Sassa handed me a white paper bag.
I didn't open it until I returned home, thinking that it was a book or some such token gift. It was actually his Master's Collar and Jewel and Apron from his Masonic Lodge, Loano Lodge in Albenga. They are magnificent. The front side of the rayon material is blue and red interwoven with golden threads are three stars, the three great lights and two sprigs of acacia. Worked in below the acacia, in golden threads, are the Square and Compasses with the letter "M" in the center. Below that are the letters "J.’.B.’." the meaning of which I do not know. Close to the bottom of the collar is a rosette in the Italian colors of red, white and green. Suspended from the collar are the Square and Compasses in highly polished brass. The reverse of the collar is made of black rayon, on the right side of which are a skull and crossbones, apparently made from a light metallic substance, such as aluminum, stitched on. The apron is white rayon with a bolder of reel rayon, On the flap is the red Iettering "M. .B.'. " The reverse is all black rayon. Obviously, the collar and the apron are worn reversed during a "Lodge of Sorrow." Sasso was Venerable Master of his Loano Lodge. So much for our second patient.
On October 17, 1979, we received another call from Brother Tomagnini in Alassio. Still another heart patient was on his way for possible surgery again to be performed by Dr. Cooley. These patients have all informed us that such surgery and post-operative care is not possible to be found in Italy. What these people tell us about the treatment in their hospitals, is not encouraging. It leaves a lot to be desired. When they tell you about the nurses making their rounds with medications for the patients, they may or may not receive what has been prescribed for them, nor with any degree of being sterile.
This man's name was Giuseppe Polacco. His wife's name was Antonia and his brother-in-law was Roberto Fioravanti. Would we please meet them at the airport? We were given the airline and the night number. That Sunday night we were once again at the airport with our small hand-made sign, Giuseppe's name and ours. We held it up as the passengers deplaned. No Giuseppe. We waited for two more plane arrivals, figuring that there could have possibly been a delay in New York. Still no Italians. We left about midnight and came home. The next day we found them at the hospital. They had arrived via another airline. We went at once to visit them, again with our Italian dictionary in hand. Giuseppe could understand English, having studied it in school, but could not speak it. Antollia and I got along quite well by conversing in French. Roberto spoke English quite well, so we had no trouble talking with them.
Giuseppe underwent a by-pass operation and recovered well enough so that they were able to return to Alassio within two weeks. We recently received a Christmas card from Giuseppe and Antonia saying that he is doing real well. As far as I was able to determine, neither Giuseppe nor Roberto had any Masonic affiliation.
All of these events occurred only because Bruno read my name in The Philalethes and The Masonic Philatelist. Both have their respective merits.
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Al Cerza Reviews Books of interest to Masons
For some years our officers have become aware of the need for Masonic education aimed at the candidate and the new member beyond the ritualistic work. Many Grand Lodges have created Committees on Masonic Education for this purpose and these committees have prepared material to be used in the lodges for this purpose. For lodges that do not have such material available the Masonic Service Association has prepared a digest entitled "Tried and Proven" with the sub-title "A Lodge System of Masonic Instruction."
The digest explains the purpose of the program and how it should be implemented. An explanation of four meetings to be held with the candidate is given one preceding the first degree, and one after each degree has been conferred. In order to make it easy for the lodge members who are delegated to implement the program the digest presents topics on fundamental subjects for each meeting suitable to be read to the candidate. The suggestions and topics are excellent and merit a wide use in lodges that have no local material to use in an educational program.
Available at $1.84 a copy postpaid, from the Masonic Service Association, 8120 Fenton St., Silver Spring, Md. 20910.
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With the universal use of cassettes since they have become reasonably priced, the Research Lodge of Oregon No. 198 had about one hundred talks on Masonic subjects placed on cassettes and is making them available at reasonable cost. This may be the answer to the search by some lodges in search of programs to present as most lodges will have at least one member with a cassette recorder which can be used to present the cassettes. Tapes are also available if these are preferred. The subjects covered are varied.
A list of the tapes with the prices, ranging from $3.50 to $5.00 each depending on the length, is available from Sanford Schlesinger, 1443 S.E. 55th Ave., Portland, Ore. 97218.
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The Masonic Service Association, 8120 Fenton St., Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, has replaced several catalogs of material with one unified booklet listing all its material. It is available free on request. There is also a "Bargain Basement" section of many basic and interesting items.
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There has been published for the members of the Texas Lodge of Research a "Concise Index to the Transactions of the Texas Lodge of Research," covering the material in the first fourteen volumes. It will be a useful tool to locate material in these fine volumes. A few extra copies are available to non-members. Inquires about the Index should be sent to Brother Plez A. Transou, 10463 Coleridge, Dallas, Texas 75218.
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Lodge histories are always of great interest to the members of the lodge and rarely do they attract much attention outside the area the lodge meets. Occasionally a lodge history that merits careful reading and attention because of some special aspect of the book appears. Such a book is "Amoy, The Port and the Lodge," written by Brother Christopher Haffner, the able and respected researcher and writer of Hong Kong who wrote "The Craft in the East" a few years ago.
This book tells the story of Corinthian lodge No. 1806, E.C. and was published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the lodge. It contains 32 pictures of banners, scenes, buildings, certificates, documents, etc. making the book a treasure house of original material. All the pertinent facts about the geography of the area of Amoy, a place in China opposite the island of Taiwan, are presented. How the lodge was started, how it developed, suspended work during turbulent times, but somehow survived. The ninth chapter of the book is a splendid "How To" guide on how to prepare and present a hundredth anniversary program. They started by writing to Roy A. Wells for suggestions and his letter is reply is set forth in full. Then step by step what they did to prepare the program and what took place is explained. The book has a list of the members of the lodge, a bibliography, and an Index.
Available at $8.00 a copy from Corinthian Lodge of Amoy No. 1806, Zetland Hall, 1, Kennedy Road, Hong Kong.
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The 1974 Proceedings of the Midwest Conference on Masonic Education has the following papers: An Officers' Workshop, by Homer L. Zumwalt; Educating the Non-Mason, by Denman G. Kramer; Masonic Educational Goals; report of each state on their Bicentennial Plans for 1976; Suggestions on working in the Masonic Educational Quarries, by Charles T. Jackson; list of Bicentennial books; and list of subjects for Bicentennial Speakers.
A few copies are still available at $2.50 each from Dr. Dawson Grim, Wrigley Building, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401.
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The 1975 Proceedings of the Midwest Conference on Masonic Education has the following papers: An inspirational keynote address by Louis L. William; Having a Masonic Lodge Night, by Lester C. Noerr; Planning for the East, by Richard H. Sands; Research Groups - Their Use and Abuse, by Jerry Marsengill; Making Good Men Better; Show and Tell, by Royal C. Scofield, being an examination of the Masonic Educational programs in Ohio; the Art of Communication, by Wes Cook; Putting Together a Film Catalog, by Howard L. Knapp; and Masonic Leadership Training in Minnesota, by Clyde E. Hegman.
A few extra copies are still available at $2.50 each from Dr. Dawson Grim, Higley Building, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401.
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by Jerry Marsengill, Editor
Received a note from Alex Horne who wrote about the "New Member from West Africa." He says: "It is gratifying to note that a similar application has just been received from a brother in Natal, South Africa, which I have similarly had the pleasure to recommend. It is good to see our membership thus spreading to far places outside the U.S."
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Roy A. Wells, well known English Freemason, and former Editor of QC 2076 is Visiting the United States for the first time this year.
Wells is a Past Grand Standard Bearer, Supreme Grand Chapter, England and Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies, United Grand Lodge of England. He will be at the Lodge of Research, Bridgeport, Connecticut at the Masonic Temple, 131 Beach Road, Fairfield, and will be the next recipient of the Lodge's James Royal Case - Medal of Excellence for outstanding Masonic Research. He will remain in that area from May 15th until May 29th and will speak at the following places:
MAY 19th: JOSEPH ANDREWS No. 46 R.A.M., Masonic Temple, 304 Center St., West Haven. TOPIC: JERUSALEM AND THE SUCCESSIVE TEMPLES at 7:30 for Master Masons. Collation.
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MAY 21st: DELTA No. 51 R.A.M., Masonic Temple, 25 East Main St., Manchester. Topic: THE TYLER OR OUTER GUARD FOR Master Masons. Dinner at 6:30, reservations $5.00 thru STANLEY STEINER, 72 Fleming Rd. Manchester 06040, TEL: 643-8400
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MAY 22nd: UNION LODGE No. 31, Masonic Temple, 11 Union St., New London. Topic: PURE ANTIENT MASONRY for Master Masons at 7:30, collation.
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MAY 23rd: MASSACHUSETTS CHAPTER of RESEACII (Royal Arch Masons) Masonic Temple, 1950 Massachusetts Av., Cambridge. Topic: ROYAL ARCH MATTERS for Companions Dinner at 7:00, reservations $5.00 thru LORENZO CARR, 8 Gardner Rd., Cambridge 02139 TEL: 876-6964.
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MAY 27th: FAITH LODGE, Masonic Temple, 1950 Massachusetts Av., Cambridge. Topic: PURE ANTIENT MASONRY for Master Masons. Dinner at 7:00, reservations $5.00 thru LORENZO CARR, 9 Gardner Rd., Cambridge 02139, TEL: 876-6964.
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MAY 28th: SPRINGFIELD LODGE, Masonic Temple, 339 State St., Springfield. Topic: PURE ANTIENT MASONRY for Master Masons. Dinner at 6:30, reservations $5.00 thru ROBERT BULLIVANT, 107 Winton St., Springfield 01118, TEL: 783-5547.
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MAY 29th: ST. JOHN'S No. 4, Masonic Temple, 201 Ann St., Hartford. Topic: PURE ANTIENT MASONRY for Master Masons and LADIES. Dinner at 6:30, reservations $6.00 thru HOWARD SACK, 5 Camelot Dr., Bloomfield 06002, TEL: 242-1809
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MAY 31st: BLUE LODGE COUNCIL, at lONIC Masonic Temple, East St., Rt. No. 19, Stafford Springs. Topic: GEORGE CLARET (1783-1850) RlTUAL PRINTER for Master Masons. Dinner 7:00 reservations $5.00 thru HAROLD PEASE, Sr., Box El, Vernon 06066, TEL.: 664-1175.
Avail yourself and a brother/companion the rare opportunity to see, hear, meet and question this outstanding exponent of our Craft at one or more of his enlightening lectures
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Otis V. Jones, of North Carolina, was recently awarded the rank and distinction of Knight Commander of the Court of Honor by the Supreme Council A&ASR SJ. Otis is one of the hard working sparkplugs, not only in the Scottish Rite but in every body of Freemasonry to which he belongs. We congratulate Brother Jones on a well deserved and much appreciated honor.
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Keith Arrington, F.P.S. has recently been given that honor. He doesn't yet have his Fellow's certificate. With the cooperation of Iowa Research Lodge No. 2, a special evening will be held Saturday, July 12 at the Home Lodge Temple, 603 East Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa and Keith will be presented his certificate as a Fellow of the Philalethes Society. Dinner with the ladies will be served. The dinner will be served at 6:30 P.M. and the entire program will be conducted in the dining room. For those of you who wish to honor Keith, the price of the dinner tickets is $3.00 and reservations can be made by calling 244-6011 or by writing to J.E. Marsengill, Room 401, Masonic Temple building, 1011 Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309. I hope we have an overflow crowd to honor this outstanding student and craftsman.
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I need some really good articles. I am getting some in, and a number of younger brethren and first timers are writing, but I can always use more. Normally, I like for any article to be not over eight typewritten pages, double spaced, and approximately 60 characters to each line. That makes it a little easier to edit.
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Find something of general Masonic interest in your area, write about it and send it to me. If it is for general consumption, you can be certain that it will eventually be printed. I have heard some complaints that the same people always seem to write for the Philalethes. This is true. They write for the Philalethes. If you want to get an article in the magazine, the process is simple. Just write it for me and send it to me. I don't want any of these Masonic travelogues if I can help it. I put them in the same category as an evening spent viewing the slides somebody took on his vacation.
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Charles T. Jackson, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Iowa and, by virtue of the office, Grand Librarian, has retired. R.W. Tom Eggleston, who has been Deputy Grand Secretary for a number of years has been appointed in his place. Brother Tom brings to the office of Grand Secretary a lot of ability and enthusiasm and will serve the craft in Iowa and Masonic students throughout the nation well.
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If you haven't seen the last issue of the Maine Mason, try to get a copy. M.W. Brother Glassmire, the editor, has a story on his trip to Israel and has illustrations which he took. It is a fascinating glimpse at the land which is the legendary cradle of Freemasonry. It is also a well written and well researched article.