The Philalethes

Contents
 
 

 The President's Corner                                                                  Grand Lodge Recognition
 

 The Executive Board                                                                     From the Editor's Quarries
 

 Notes and Queries                                                                        Freemasonry and the Oregon Trail
 

 Roy Acuff - King of Country Music                                               Mystical and Esoteric, or Social
 

 Species Haggis Scotisorum                                                            Mystery of a Cup - The Chicago Fire
 

 In Remembrance of John J. Robinson. FPS                                    The Wages of a Masonic Traveler - I
 

 United States Freemasons: Early Members of QCCC                     Through Masonic Windows
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

the philalethes

The Journal of Masonic Research and Letters

Charles S. Guthrie, FPS Editor

1660 Normal Drive

Bowling Green, KY 42101 (502) 842-5415

FAX (502) 843-6678

OFFICERS

Wallace E. McLeod, FPS President

Victoria College - FAX 416/585-4584

73 Queen's Park Crescent - 416/585-4570

Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1K7

Forrest D. Haggard, FPS 1st Vice Preside

6815 W. 78th Terrace

Overland Park, KS 66204 (913) 642-5519

Royal C. Scofield, FPS 2nd Vice President

655 W. Maryland Ave.

Sebring, OH 44672 216/938-6240

Allen E Roberts, FPS Executive Secretary

P.O. Box 70, 110 Quince Ave.

Highland Springs, VA 23075 (804) 737 4498

FAX 804/328-2386

Henry G. Law, FPS. Treasurer

2608 E. Riding Dr. Wilmington, DE 19808

(302) 737-9083

Harold L. Davidson, FPS Librarian

The Philalethes Society 1903 10th St. W.

Billings, MT 59102 (406) 259-1552

LIVING PAST PRESIDENTS

Philalethes Society

Robert V. Osborne, FPS

Robert L Dillard Jr. FPS

Bruce H. Hunt, FPS

Allen E. Roberts, FPS

John Mauk Hilliard, FPS

Wallace MacLeod, FPS

CONTENTS

The President's Message by Wallace McLeod, FPS

Grand Lodge Recognition - How, What, & Why? by Herbert G. Gardiner, MPS

Executive Board Report by Allen E. Roberts, FPS Certificate of Membership

The Editor's Quarries by Charles S. Guthrie, FPS Notes and Queries

Freemasonry and the Oregon Trail by Melvin C. Friendly MM

Roy Acuff; King of Country Music and Freemason by Ivan M. Tribe, MM

Mystical and Esoteric or Social? by John H. Yingling, MPS A Pilgrim's Path - Your Bonus Book

The Mystery of a Cup, the Chicago Fire, and Oriental Lodge No. 33 by Hugh A Cole, MM

In Remembrance of John J. Robinson, FPS by Allen E Roberts, FPS

The Wages of a Masonic Traveler – I by Isaiah A Wiles, MPS

United States Freemasons: Early Members of QCCC by David Crockett, MPS

Through Masonic Windows by Allen E Roberts, FPS

ON THE COVER

The beautiful Ark of the Covenant featured in the Royal Arch Room of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial on Shooter's Hill, Alexandria, Virginia. This was the final scene in The Saga of the Holy Royal Arch of Freemasonry, the international award winning documentary produced by Allen E. Roberts, FPS, and featuring Jerry Rasor, who later became Grand Master of Masons in Ohio.

Courtesy of the GWMNM Association; photo by Arthur W. Pierson.

----o----

The President's Corner

by Wallace McLeod, FPS

One of the frustrating things about writing a "current" column for publication is that you have to make your plans a long time in advance. So I am writing this at the end of a very hot summer, just before Labor Day. By the time you read it, the Semi-Annual Meeting will be history, and my term as International President of the Philalethes Society will be drawing to a close. Let me just say a word or two in connection with each.

Seven years ago we held our first Semi-Annual Meeting, in Cleveland (1987). Since then, it has become a regular tradition: in the years that followed, we met in Richmond (1988), Toronto (1989), Oklahoma City (1990), Indianapolis (1991), and Rochester (1992). And this year we returned to Cleveland. I am confident that the gathering will have been a great success.

To be sure, our Annual Assembly and Feast, with the Philalethes Lecture and the Workshop or Forum, is always a fine occasion - an island of security and consistency in a quickly moving world. I hope that we will continue to hold it every year, in Washington in the month of February But our Semi-Annual Meeting, it seems to me, serves a real purpose as well. It means that we get a chance to see each other more than once a year. And it gives us an opportunity to carry the Society's message to the brothers who serve in the trenches. So it is appropriate that we should express our gratitude to Western Reserve Chapter for acting as our hosts, for undertaking the cognate duties, and generally for organizing the meeting. They had done it before, and they obviously knew what had to be done.

The topic for the meeting, "Fanning the Flame of Masonry, " was timely and appropriate. Of course we appreciate the efforts of all who took part in the program. We may perhaps venture to hope that the papers presented at the meeting may be published and made generally available. But we are especially grateful to M.W. Bro. H. Ray Evans, the Grand Master of Masons in Ohio, for consenting to address us at the banquet. We know how busy he is; and yet it seems to me incredibly important that we should maintain our close ties with the ruling officers of the Grand Lodges. So thank you, Grand Master.

I must, as always, express my appreciation to the International officers of our Society. I am grateful for the support that has been bestowed on me personally, and that has been given to our Society as a whole, by these talented and dedicated brethren; by our Vice-Presidents, Forrest D. Haggard and Royal C. Scofield; and by our Editor, Charles S. Guthrie; and, above all, by our executive Secretary, Allen E. Roberts. Thank you all, my brothers.

These have been an exciting two years for me. It is obvious, both historically and from membership statistics, that The Philalethes Society is an American institution. Of course, it welcomes members from all over the world; but most of its support comes from the United States of America. In the circumstances, it has been a great honor for me, a foreigner, to be allowed to assume this high and important station.

There is certainly lots going on. One hopes that the religious problem has sorted itself out, at least for the time being. The one good point is that it persuaded Masons, for the first time in years, to speak up, and say, "No, your facts are wrong and your conclusions are wrong." But as well, we hear reports of a number of exciting research projects that are under way, which will all produce useful publications - on cornerstones, and stained glass windows, and a great new quiz book on history. We look forward to their appearance in print. Let me close with a couple of personal observations. Some time ago, in my Philalethes Lecture for 1986, I talked about a mildly obscene poem called "The Free Masons" that was published in February of 1723. Recently I have had occasion to return to it, and will be speaking about it in England in several months. But in the meantime let me try to whet your appetite with a tantalizing new fact. Less than two years after the poem appeared, Bra. William Hogarth (1697-1764), the notable English artist, produced an engraving called "The Mystery of Masonry Brought to Light.... "

My colleague Professor Jay Macpherson points out that the picture is based upon the poem. There are too many points of similarity for it to be a coincidence. We see the Masons coming out of a tavern, clothed "With Gloves and Apron made of Leather, A Sword, LongWig, and Hat, and Feather. " We see one Brother giving the "Mason Kiss." We see Non Quizote himself, appropriately garbed, stretching forth his arm in a "Masonic gesture." In the background, we see a man holding a book. All these details are found in the poem. If you want to check, perhaps you might look at a book by Joseph Burke and Colin Caldwell, called Hogarth; The Complete Engravings (published New York, 1968), under number 51. Very interesting!

But, as well as finding new facts in history, we can sometimes draw lessons from the past. I keep coming back to the words of one of my heroes, a man who died a century and a half ago: Simon McGillivray, who was by turns a millionaire, a poor man, a traveller, a merchant, fur trader, a silver miner, a mountain climber, a newspaper publisher, the friend of princes, and Provincial Grand Master of Upper Canada. He is, as I have tried to show elsewhere, an important man, and a man of unwavering honesty. Here is a bit of advice that he wrote for the Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1832 (from a document in the Public Archives of Canada):

Stick to your principle throughout, and let your administration stand or fall with it. Let others if they like buckle or temporize, but be you firm, and you will either carry your principle through, or retire from the arena with a higher name than that of any who has filled your place before you. And is not that after all the most noble object of ambition?

(Does that inspire you to want to learn more about him? You will find an outline of his life in a collection of my papers called The Grand Design, which is available through Anchor Communications, Highland Springs, Virginia 23075-0070.)

I wish continued success and joy to the Philalethes Society and to its members. And to all Masons everywhere, I say with Bro. Simon McGillivray, "Stick to your principle throughout. "

----o----

Grand Lodge Recognition

How, What, & Why?

by Herbert C. Gardiner, MPS

We hear the phrase, "Grand Lodge Recognition" spoken by brethren, which often leads some members to ask what is actually meant by Grand Lodge recognition, how is this status obtained, and why should a Grand Lodge want Recognition?

Grand Lodge Recognition, in this essay, will be dealt with in the context of "Full Recognition" as granted by regular Grand Lodges. Limited and tiered forms of recognition will not be discussed.

Recognition of a Grand Lodge means the acknowledgment by other regular Grand Lodges of its Masonic regularity, its authority, and its territorial integrity. Simply stated, the recognition of a Grand Lodge is a categorical confirmation of its Masonic regularity and credentials.

In observance of Masonic etiquette, the newly created (junior) Grand Lodge, seeks recognition by the established (senior) regular Grand Lodges. The process is started when the Grand Lodge seeking recognition communicates its credentials documenting its regularity, to the Grand Lodges by whom it wishes to be recognized.

We now come to the meaning of regular, in the Masonic context. As Kent Henderson says in his World Masonic Guide, "Every Grand Lodge considers itself to be regular. This is a self-justified precondition for existence. " But this self-assigned status is not necessarily endorsed by the regular Grand Lodges, for they have written criteria that explicitly state what conditions must be complied with in order for them to consider a Grand Lodge regular, and subsequently grant it recognition. These criteria are similar for all regular Grand Lodges.

On September 4, 1929, the United Grand Lodge of England adopted the following Basic Principles for Grand Lodge Recognition, and a Grand Lodge that is loyal to these principles is generally considered regular:

1. Regularity of Origin; i.e. each Grand Lodge shall have been established law fully by a duly constituted Grand Lodge or by three or more regularly constituted Lodges.

2. That a belief in the G.A.O.T.U. and His revealed will shall be an essential qualification for membership.

3. That all Initiates shall take their Obligation on or in full view of the open volume of the Sacred Law, by which is meant the revelation from above which is binding on the conscience of the particular individual who is being initiated.

4. That the membership of the Grand Lodge and individual Lodges shall be composed exclusively of men; and that each Grand Lodge shall have no Masonic intercourse of any kind with mixed Lodges or bodies that admit women to membership.

5. That the Grand Lodge shall have sovereign jurisdiction over the Lodges under its control; i.e. that it shall be a responsible, independent, self-governing organization, with sole and undisputed authority over the Craft or Symbolic Degrees (Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason) within its Jurisdiction; and shall not in any way be subject to, or divide such authority with a Supreme Council or other Power claiming any control or supervision over those degrees.

6. That the three Great Lights of Freemasonry (namely, the Volume of the sacred Law, the Square, and the Compasses) shall always be exhibited when the Grand Lodge or its subordinate Lodges are at work, the chief of these being the Volume of the Sacred Law.

7. That the discussion of religion and politics within the Lodge shall be strictly prohibited.

8. That the principles of the Antient Landmarks, customs, end usages of the craft shall be strictly observed.

There are other considerations that are addressed before a Grand Lodge is considered regular and granted recognition. But the eight Basic Principles indicated above are the fundamental requirements for a Grand Lodge to be declared regular. The Constitution and Ordinances, and the type of Ritual work of the newly established Grand Lodge are also of interest to the Grand Lodges being asked to grant recognition. In some jurisdictions the term legitimacy of origin is used instead of regularity of origin; the meaning is identical.

An additional factor dealing with territorial integrity exists in the United States; it is known as the American Doctrine of exclusive territorial jurisdiction. Almost all Grand Lodges in the United States embrace this concept, which is described as follows: Basically, it means one Grand Lodge in each State, plus one Grand Lodge in the District of Columbia. More specifically, whenever there are three or more chartered Lodges in any state or territory in which no Grand Lodge exists and there is substantial unity among the Freemasons of such state or territory in forming a new Grand Lodge, they have the absolute right to meet in convention, and a majority of them, not less than three, can organize a Grand Lodge for such state or territory; and when once regularly formed, such Grand Lodge has control and government of all Masons and all Lodges within that state or territory, subject to the Ancient Landmarks of Masonry: and no other Grand Lodge can in any way interfere with its jurisdiction, establish new Lodges in such state or territory, or maintain those already established.

The American Doctrine of exclusive territorial jurisdiction applies to the United States and its territories, not to other countries, except for Canada. This concept follows Brother Mackey's definition of the territorial limits of a Grand Lodge, "The territorial limits of a Grand Lodge are determined by the political boundaries of the country in which it is placed. " In his Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Mackey took the position that the territorial limits of a Grand Lodge (in the United States) are circumscribed within the settled boundaries of that state. Nor can its jurisdiction extend beyond these limits into any of the neighboring States.

Apart from the Prince Hall Lodges, which are not discussed in this paper, the only exception to the American Doctrine of exclusive territorial jurisdiction exists with the Grand Lodges in Alaska which were originally under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Washington. In 1981 the Grand Lodge of Alaska was founded, and by mutual agreement, some of the Lodges in Alaska remained under the Grand Lodge of Washington. There are presently four Lodges located in Alaska that are constituent Lodges of the Grand Lodge of Washington. This arrangement caused some anxiety among some American Grand Lodges for a few years. However, it appears to be satisfactory for the brethren and the Grand Lodges of Washington and Alaska.

Getting back to "recognition" and "regular," in order for a Grand Lodge to obtain recognition, it must be classified as regular in the eyes of the Grand Lodges by whom it wishes to be recognized.

When mutual recognition is achieved, the Grand Lodges are in "amity" which means friendly relations. The term is frequently applied to friendship between nations. Recognition includes establishing and maintaining fraternal relations among regular Grand Lodges, which is akin to diplomatic relations between countries.

The advantages of Grand Lodge Recognition are both tangible and psychological. The members of constituent Lodges whose respective Grand Lodges are in amity have the privilege of visiting each others Lodges. Mackey's 14th Landmark states "The right of every Mason to visit and sit in every regular Lodge is an unquestionable Landmark of the Order. " However, at the present time, visiting is considered a privilege and not a right. Experience has shown that there are sound and justifiable reasons why the Master of a Lodge may wish to exclude all visiting brethren except the members of the Lodge from attending a particular Lodge meeting.

It is considered a serious offense for a Mason to visit a non-recognized Lodge; that is a constituent Lodge of a Grand Lodge not recognized by his own Grand Lodge. Technically, a non-recognized Lodge does not exist. But, as a practical matter, there are several Grand Lodges around the world that have limited, or no recognition, by regular Grand Lodges, and function quite contentedly within their own Masonic sphere of influence. An interesting example of Grand Lodges that are considered to be irregular by the vast majority of regular Grand Lodges and not recognized by the regular grand Lodges, exists in France. Presently, there are at least three functioning Grand Lodges in France. The Grande Loge Nationale Francaise, which the regular Grand Lodges recognize; the Grand Orient of France, which in 1877 deleted all reference to the Supreme Being and removed the Volume of the sacred Law from its Lodges, is considered irregular, and recognition was subsequently withdrawn by the regular grand Lodges. Next is the Grande Loge de France, which in spite of its claims to the contrary, appears to still have organizational ties to the Supreme council of France; it is not recognized by the regular Grand Lodges.

Grand Lodges that recognize each other continuously exchange information about their Masonic activities and the developments in their respective jurisdictions, by providing each other with their Proceedings, Transactions, Bulletins, special notices, Edicts, etc. Dual membership is frequently allowed which permits a Mason to become an affiliated member of a constituent Lodge in the jurisdiction of a Grand Lodge other than his own. The courtesy conferral of degrees and presentation of awards to sojourners, for each other by Grand Lodges in amity, is another tangible benefit to many candidates and brethren.

The vast majority of Grand Lodges that maintain fraternal relations with other Grand Lodges, participate in the Grand Representative Program. It is an old Masonic custom, whereby each regular Grand Lodge approves a nominee (whose name is submitted by his Grand Master) to serve as a representative and represent it at his (representative's) Grand Lodge meetings. In some instances a Grand Master will volunteer to serve as a Grand representative for a particular Grand Lodge. Since representatives are not necessarily located at the Grand Lodge, they are usually designated as being "near" the Grand Lodge.

Usually when two Grand Lodges grant mutual recognition and enter into fraternal relations, they exchange representatives. Thus, each Grand Lodge will have a representative near the other. A Commission, or certificate of Appointment, is issued to the representative by the Grand Lodge he is representing. It is usually presented to him at a Communication of his Grand Lodge. With the exception of Pennsylvania, Iowa, New Mexico, and Wyoming, almost all regular Grand Lodges maintaining fraternal relations exchange representatives.

It is believed that originally, the Grand Representatives functioned in the nature of Ambassadors; some of them still do, to a limited extent. The method of conducting transactions between Grand Lodges has changed considerably, and all business is presently conducted between the Grand Secretaries. But, the Grand Representative Program is still in place, although in most instances it operates on an honorary basis.

Psychologically, there is a certain amount of pride in knowing that your Grand Lodge has the credentials which enable it to be "recognized" as a "regular" Grand Lodge by over one hundred regular Grand Lodges around the world. As a result of this status, the brethren of your Grand Lodge will be welcomed by these many Grand Lodges.

Recognition also brings home the point of the universal appeal of Freemasonry in which your Grand Lodge has a role, and a special stake. Additionally, recognition gives a brother peace of mind in knowing that in these troubled times of political, ethnic, and religious strife, he will find brother Freemasons in many parts of this troubled world, who will "keep the faith."

Recognition is not an irrevocable condition. It is not a form of status that once granted, continues indefinitely. Recognition can be withdrawn by the Grand Lodge(s) who granted it, for it provides a means of maintaining agreed upon standards. And when certain fundamental standards are not adhered to, withdrawal of recognition is the ultimate expression of disapproval of an action taken by a Grand Lodge.

In 1952, the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America (which Hawaii became a member of in 1989) established the Commission on Information for Recognition. Its purpose is to gather, collate, and from time to time revise information on Grand Lodges in other lands, as a service to the Grand Lodges of the Conference.

The Commission neither advises nor recommends that recognition be given to any Grand Lodges, but just indicates whether or not it considers that a Grand Lodge in question satisfies the conditions of regularity

The Commission consists of six members of broad geographical origin. One new member, usually a Deputy Grand Master, is elected each year, and serves for six years.

After each Annual Meeting of the Conference of Grand Masters, the commision's report, given to and adopted by the Conference, is printed and copies sent to the Grand Secretaries and to the Chairmen of the Committees on Fraternal Relations of the Grand Lodges of the Conference.

The report of the Commission is based upon the most current information available, and in some instances, after a conference with members of some of the Grand Lodges mentioned in the report. This Commission is considered to be the best and most reliable source for information on "regularity" in North America.

R.W. Robert L. Dillard, Jr., Past Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Texas, is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Commission.

Brethren who are contemplating visiting Lodges abroad, should check with the Secretary of their Lodge and advise him of the various countries where visitations to Lodges are planned. He will contact the Grand Secretary, who will in turn provide him with the necessary documents and advise him which Grand Lodges their Grand Lodge maintains fraternal relations with, and any other pertinent information needed by the member planning to visit Lodges in foreign countries.

The study of "Grand Lodge Recognition" is another fascinating aspect of the Craft. The brethren who are interested in the history of Grand Lodges will find much to sustain their curiosity and intellect in this subject.

Bibliography

Constitution & Ordinances, Hawaii Masonic code. Honolulu: Grand Lodge of Hawaii, F. & A.M.

Henderson, Kent. Masonic World Guide, Victoria, Australia: Macoy Publishing & Supply Co., 1984.

Haffner, Christopher. Regularity of Origin, Hong Kong: Chater-Cosmos Transactions, 1986.

Hamill, John. The Craft, A History of English Freemasonry, London England: the Aquarian Press, 1986,

Dillard, Robert L. Annual Report, Commission for Recognition, 1993, Dallas, Texas.

Revised edition of Albert G. Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry.

Note: The author is Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Hawaii, F. & A.M., and also serves as Assistant Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Grand Lodge Recognition.

----o----

The Executive Board

The Executive Board Met in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 1, 1993, previous to the semi-annual meeting of The Philalethes Society. There were present: Wallace McLeod, President; Forrest Haggard, 1st Vice President; Royal Scofield, 2nd Vice President; Charles Guthrie, Editor; Allen Roberts, Executive Secretary; Nelson King was an invited guest.

The President called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m., then called on Forrest Haggard to offer a prayer.

A grant for William D. Moore! Director of the Livingston Masonic Library, for research and the compiling of a manuscript on Masonic stained glass windows in New York, was discussed at length. The Board agreed to send him a grant of $500 for this project.

The Board expressed its sorrow on the death of John J. Robinson and noted he had earlier been elected a Fellow of The Philalethes Society. A memorial will be included in the December issue of The Philalethes.

It was agreed that expenses of officers who travel on official Society business shall be reimbursed in full, if they are not paid by the inviting organization.

It was agreed that all writers of meaningful articles published in The Philalethes shall receive free dues for the following year. The Editor shall be the judge of whom these should be.

It was agreed that a certificate of membership should be made available to those members who desire one; the cost to be $5.00, which sum shall go into the Jerry Marsengill Memorial Fund (see coupon in this issue), the proceeds of which shall be disbursed only to those who can receive aid from no other source.

It was noted that the Executive Secretary will provide laminated cards for all Life Members and new Fellows of the Society.

It was agreed that the cloth covered copy of A Pilgrim's Path by John J. Robinson shall be made available as a bonus book for $10 (it will normally sell for $17.95 plus postage and handling by others). A coupon will be included in the December issue. It should be noted, this bonus offer will expire on February 22, 1994.

It was agreed that the Executive Secretary (whomever it may be) shall be reimbursed for his expenses as a member of CompuServe and its Masonic forum. This forum has knowledgeable Master Masons from all over the world. It is one of the most favorable things to happen for the benefit of Freemasonry in many years.

The next meeting of the Executive Board will be held on February 17, 1994 in the Hotel Washington (the Assembly Feast-Forum will be held on the 18th) The next meeting will be held in Louisville, Kentucky, during the semi-annual meeting of September 17, 1994. This will be followed with semi-annual meetings in Kansas City, Kansas, and Minnesota.

Respectfully submitted,

Allen E. Roberts, Executive Secretary,

----o----

Author Named

The author of the article "Thomas Paine" on pp. 84-85 of the August issue was Brother H. Edward Struble. The editor regrets omitting his name

----o----

The Certificate of Membership You requested

This two color certificate will let the world know you are a member of the greatest Masonic Research Society in the world. It measures 8 1/2" by 5 1/2" (laminated it's 9" by 6"). You may have one either way. Just let us know.

The cost, postpaid, laminated or not laminated, is $5.00. The proceeds will go into the "Jerry Marsengill Memorial Fund." This fund will be used to help individuals who can receive assistance from no other source.

You may cut out (not recommended), photo copy, or merely print out, the following, send it to:

The Philalethes Society, PO Box 70,

Highland Springs, VA 23075

Be certain to check laminate or not laminate. And PLEASE print your name so we'll insert it correctly!

Send a Membership Certificate circle one (laminated) (NOT laminated) to:

Name:

Address :

City State Zip Code

Make $5.00 check payable to: The Philalethes Society

-----o----

From the Editor's Quarries

We have had an inquiry asking that the addresses of authors be printed along with their names. The Executive Committee discussed this at the October meeting. It seems that in the past this practice led to harassing letters of one sort or another being written to the authors; consequently, it was discontinued. The Executive Committee voted to keep the practice as it now is.

If anyone wants to communicate with a writer, simply send the request to the editor, who will pass it on to the writer.

* * *

The main thing I would like to talk about this month is manuscript preparation. As always, observe the usual amenities of grammar, rhetoric, and logic (the Three Steps of the Fellow Craft Degree). Punctuate correctly. Indicate whether you are a Member or Fellow of The Philalethes Society I will not put an MPS or FPS after your name if you do not indicate it.

DOUBLE-SPACE EVERYTHING IN YOUR MANUSCRIPT. My tri-focals may tempt me to send it back for retyping if you do not.

* * *

Do not submit something that you have previously had published in another journal or magazine. We copyright each issue, but we will always grant permission to publish elsewhere after we publish your article, provided you request permission and give credit to The Philalethes, including issue and page numbers.

* * *

The Cleveland meeting was good. Allen has a good report on it in this issue. Remember, the 1994 half-year meeting will be in Louisville on September 17. We are already planning the program, and hope to have something worthwhile. Meanwhile, let's plan to be in Washington on February 18 for our annual feast. You will find details elsewhere in this issue.

Fraternally Thine, Charlie

Notes and Queries

Are you sure the clock depicted on the cover of your August 1993 issue is a Masonic clock?

What appears to be a square may be one of the many variations of a plumb/level. It is rotated 180 degrees from our traditional symbol. Note the cross bar connecting the legs. Sometimes a center line is found on the cross bar. A plumb line, attached at the corner of the square, when lined up with that center line makes the cross bar a true horizontal. Note there appears to be such a line, though I can't account for what seems to be a tasseled end. Even the square appears less than a 90-degree angle. Though plumb/levels were used by masons, they were also used by woodworkers. In any event the device is not the usual Freemason's symbol.

The position of the dividers is unusual, but even more unusual is the woodworking chisel (?) which crosses the dividers.

The long-handled picks are also unusual Masonic symbols. They look too fragile for stone work; they might be mortising axes. They appear to be implements the artist took liberty with for design purposes. It is tough to make out the sledge resting on the angel's seat. Its heft and pointed end look like a railroad spike sledge.

The side mallets are woodworkers' rather than stoneworkers'. The rest of the symbols are of such universal and artistic nature Hat they might be used by anyone. Are there any symbols hidden from view in the photo?

Though not a subscriber, I enjoy your magazine when I chance upon it. Daniel M. Semel 245 East 80th Street New York, New York 10021. Does anyone want to comment? Ed.

* * *

Thomas Paine

The article on Thomas Paine (August, 1993), begins upon a false premise. The official candidate posting material used in Wisconsin is called The Wisconsin Program. The author's reference to page 25 is in error because there is no mention whatever of "Revolutionary heroes"; rather, it discusses Masonic organization. The "Historic Introduction" for the Entered Apprentice Degree occurs on pages 98-16. Besides this, the discussion of American Freemasonry occurs in the F.C. Degree on pages 43-47. Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry are not mentioned in either section.

Clearly, then the author has not contacted anyone in our jurisdiction. If he had, he would have learned that a rough drafting of the Wisconsin Program developed in a small town called Shawano (and named the Shawano Program) did contain many errors of Masonic "romance." The revision occurred more than two years ago.....

James Twomey, MPS

7735 Fifth Avenue

Kenosha, Wisconsin 53143.

----o----

Annual Assembly/Feast/Forum

of The Philalethes Society

Hotel Washington - February 18, 1994

Lecturer: Cabell F. Cobbs, MPS, PGM, Virginia

Assembly, 6 p.m., sharp; Forum follows the Feast

The Investment: $29 for the Feast - for reservations made by February 10; thereafter $35

(Tickets will be available at $35 in the lobby until noon)

Philalethes Society, PO Box 70 Highland Springs, VA 23075

Cabell Cobbs is an attorney and a dynamic speaker. He is a knowledgeable masonic researcher and writer. He is at present serving as Senior Warden of Virginia research Lodge No. 1777, AF&AM. He is a member of The Masonic Brotherhood of the Blue Forget-Me-Not, which honors Masonic writers and educators. He is an Honorary Fellow of The Phylaxis Society of Prince Hall masons. He is also a Fellow of Virginia Research Lodge. His topic will be announced in the February issue of The Philalethes.

----o----

Freemasonry and the Oregon Trail

by Mellon C. Friendly, MM

President Thomas Jefferson was the grand architect of the "Manifest Destiny" concept. He envisioned the physical growth of his young Nation by the westward course of America's territorial expansion. In 1789 a 25-year-old trapper employed by the British North West Company operations at Lake Athabasca, Canada, Alexander Mackenzie, was dispatched to lead an expedition to open a water route to the Pacific Ocean. He descended the river which now bears his name northward toward the Arctic Ocean, reaching thereJuly12, 1789. In 1793, he led another expedition over the Rockies and descended the Fraser River and on duly 20, 1793, arrived at what later became Bella Coola, British Columbia, at an arm of the Pacific near where Captain George Vancouver (known to the Indians as "Macubah") landed. In 1799 he returned to England and wrote a narrative of his explorations entitled Voyages from Montreal which was published in 1801. He later returned to the Northwest and was killed by the Indians of Hood Canal on Puget Sound. His book described how the British could dominate the North Pacific fur trade and became the model of the Hudson's Bay Company which merged with the North West Company. President Jefferson read his book closely as it described the geography of that portion of North America.

Jefferson was not a Mason although reputed a member of Lodge of Nine (Paris) as he was not a "joiner." His father, Chaplain for William and Mary College, was also Chaplain for Williamsburg Lodge #6, under the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Jefferson's son-in-law, Governor Thomas M. Randolph, his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph and his nephews Peter and Samuel Carr, were members of Virtue Lodge #44, Albemarle County, Virginia. President Jefferson attended the Festival of St. John at that lodge.

In January 1803, Jefferson had his special envoy, James Monroe, a member of Williamsburg Lodge #6 and Kilwinning Cross Lodge #2, Port Royal, Virginia, go to Paris to assist the U.S. Minister to France, Robert Livingston, a member of Union Lodge, New York City, (where he was Master, Grand Master of New York 1784-1788) in purchasing the Louisiana Territory from French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, a member of Army Philadelphe Lodge (Paris), for $15 million. It was 830,000 square miles in area, doubling the size of the United States, costing 4 cents per acre. It was unexplored and not surveyed by any person, France just having obtained it from Spain in exchange for some land in Italy recently conquered by Napoleon. On December 20, 1803, the American Flag was raised in New Orleans, the Territorial Capital.

On January 18, 1803, while negotiating the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson laid plans for exploring the trans-Mississippi West to ascertain if there was a water communication to the Pacific Ocean. He obtained from Congress a grant of $2,500 to defray the costs of a proposed expedition to the Pacific Coast to "encourage trade with the Western Indians." In reality, he wanted to counter British claims to the Northwest Territory based on the activities of the Hudson's Bay Company in expanding its fur trade. His Secretary, Meriwether Lewis, an Army Captain, member of Widow's and Son Lodge #60, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Charter Master of St. Louis Lodge #111 (chartered 1808 by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania),and witness to the Treaty of Cession of the Louisiana Territory, was put in charge of the expedition. Lewis selected as co-commander, Lt. William Clark, a member of St. Louis #111, younger brother of General George Rogers Clark, Revolutionary War frontiersman commander, a member of Vincennes Lodge #1, Indiana, under whom Lewis served.

Jefferson instructed Lewis and Clark to acquire intelligence of a "Northwest Passage" to the Pacific Ocean and to "delineate the face of the country, to observe weather conditions, wild life, growth and vegetable production, and to befriend and study the Western Indians, their customs and culture. " Jefferson had Lewis and Clark instructed in the natural sciences by an astronomer-surveyor, botanist, anatomist, physician and mathematician, so they could be prepared to handle any "problem" arising. One of the instructors, Dr. Benjamin Rush, was a member of St. John's Lodge, Philadelphia. Jefferson stressed the need to obtain the loyal friendship of Indian tribes encountered enroute as a safeguard against activities of the British fur traders and also as an economic benefit as trading with the Indians was a major mercantile activity in the early days of this new nation.

The "Corps of Discovery" left St. Louis May 14,1804, traveled over 7,000 miles and returned to St. Louis September 23, 1806. Carpenter Patrick Gass kept a daily journal which was published in 1811. The route started up the Missouri River and in late October, 1804, reached the Mandan Indian Villages near what is now Bismarck, North Dakota. There they employed as guides a French trapper, Toussaint Charboneau and his Shoshone wife, Sacagawea, who proved invaluable as mediator with Indian tribes encountered enroute. They crossed the Bitterroot Mountains and descended to the Columbia River where they obtained canoes from the Chinook Indians. With the aid of the Indian pilots they ran the Cascades and eventually reached the estuary at the mouth of the Columbia, arriving December 3, 1805, where Fort Clatsop was constructed south of where Astoria is now located. The fort was reconstructed on the original site in 1955 by the National Park Service, the original fort having been given to the Clatsop Indian Chief Comowool, who gave the explorers supplies when they left in the Spring of 1806. The explorers experienced difficulties during the Winter at Ft. Clatsop because of the cold, rain, scarcity of wild game and pilfering by the Indians. Their relations with the Indians were good, having contacts with the Clatsop, Chinook (Lower), Cathlamet and Tillamook Tribes.

Jefferson was pleased with the results of the expedition which overcame hostile Indians, aggressive grizzly bears, crossed endless prairies, scaled rugged mountains and braved difficult rapids on the Columbia. Sacagawea gave birth to a son, Jean Baptist, whom Clark called "Pompey." Clark later sponsored his education in St. Louis. Jean later became a "mountain man" and guide to emigrant caravans and expeditions. The explorers reported that the route to the "Oregon Country" was difficult but feasible. The Missouri River had several tributaries but none connected with the Columbia. The Rockies and Cascades were formidable and could be traversed through passes. Their survey and map gave birth to the Oregon Trail, and Jefferson saw this as a basis to claim the Far West. The Journals of Lewis and Clark were published by John Allen in 1814 (edited by Nicholas Biddle) in two volumes, providing specific information about flora, fauna, rivers, climate and Indian cultures of the West.

In 1806, less than three years after the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson chose Army Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike, a member of Lodge #3, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to take an army contingent, including Lt. James Wilkinson the son of General Wilkinson, Governor of the Louisiana Territory and a member of Bristol Lodge #25, Bristol, Pennsylvania and Nova Caesarea Lodge #10, Cincinnati, Ohio; and Dr. John Hamilton Robinson, a Mason, into Colorado to establish peaceful relations with Indian tribes, and make a scientific study, and map the southwest boundary of the Louisiana Territory, which cut through the Colorado Rockies. He toured the Royal Gorge and South Park, followed the Arkansas River northwest, and crossed the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, all of which became part of the Oregon Trail. He made peaceful contacts with the Osage, Pawnee and the Comanche Indian tribes. His journals, published in 1810, aroused interest in the Colorado Territory. In 1819, a second army expedition was dispatched by the U.S. Topographical Engineers. It was headed by Major Stephen H. Long, it included topographers, map makers, a zoologist, a physician, a botanist, a naturalist, a geologist, and a landscape artist, Samuel Seymour, the first to sketch the Rocky Mountains. The expedition entered Colorado at its northeast corner, parallel to the South Platte River, which became part of the Oregon Trail. Between 1816 and 1823 Major Long led five expeditions, covering 26,000 miles, exploring and mapping the Rocky Mountains. The source of the Mississippi River was discovered in 1832 by Northeast frontier Indian agent and naturalist, Henry R. Schoolcraft, who named it Lake Itaska.

In 1821 Missouri became a State, and the U.S. territory stopped at the west boundary of that state; all areas westward were claimed by Great Britain. The next phase of the Western Movement was that of fur traders, trappers and mountain men. In 1804, the year Lewis and Clark left St. Louis on their historic expedition to the West Coast, Baptiste Leland had set up the earliest trading post in Santa Fe as part of the Missouri Fur Company. In the Spring of 1807, a Spanish fur trader from St. Louis, Manuel Lisa, led a party of trappers up the Missouri River and down the Yellowstone River to the mouth of the Bighorn River where he constructed Lisa's Fort as part of the Missouri Fur Company trading posts. One of his recruits, John Colter, a former member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, explored Wyoming, Montana and Idaho; his description of Yellowstone Park's Geysers and Hot Springs gave them the name of "Colter's Hell." Mountain men worked for fur companies and trapped streams throughout the West for beaver and otter and killed buffalo for hides. They married Indian women, who helped them trade with otherwise hostile Indian tribes; they were called "squaw men." In Summer they brought their bundles of pelts and hides to trading posts such as Bent's Fort, El Pueblo, Pasquez's, Sarpy's Lupton's and St. Vrain's, or to Summer rendezvous where Whites and Indians gathered to barter furs and hides for guns, knives, oxen, horses, cattle and food. The furs and hides were sent to New York, Boston, Paris and Berlin where the fur companies sold them for high prices.

In the Winter the mountain men built log cabins near streams and hunted buffalo, elk and deer, while the Indian wives cut up the meat of the game killed, dried and cooked it and cured and dressed the pelts and hides, making clothing and moccasins for family use. The women gathered wood for camp fires, obtained water from streams, cooked meals, and kept the cabins tidy. The men built corrals and forts, cleaned guns, and sharpened knives and axes. For recreation they put on horse races, shooting matches, wrestling, and foot races. They danced, sang, played on Jew's harps or harmonicas and played gambling games such as seven up, euchre and poker, They had to be on constant guard for Indians who stole horses and livestock at night. In 1826 fur traders composed of trappers and mountain men formed the Rocky Mountain Fur Company to eliminate middle men and sold pelts and hides to brokers directly.

Lewis and Clark's journals referred to the location of a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia to form a base for trade to the Orient. In 1806 John Jacob Astor, charter member of Holland Lodge #8, New York City, and master in 1788; and Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of New York (1798-1801) where he was also Junior Grand warden, formed the Pacific Fur Company and established an operation at Astoria (1810- 1813), followed by Captain Benjamin L.E. Bonneville and Nathaniel Wyeth (1832-1836). Astor's ship Tonquin was intended to be used to carry furs to the Orient but was lost at the mouth of the Columbia River. Astor sent Wilson Price Hunt on an overland expedition to map the Oregon Trail. Another Astor agent, Robert Stuart, left Fort Astoria June 29, 1822, to carry news of the Tonquin disaster to Astor in New York. He skirted the south end of the Wind River Range and negotiated the South Pass through the Rocky Mountains. Included in his party was a Virginia backwoodsman, John Kay, after whom the river was named. In 1836 author Washington Irving used the records of the Pacific Fur Company to chronicle these expeditions in his book Astoria. A mountain man, Jim Clyman a member of Stuart's party, had discovered the South Pass which became the gateway to thc Rockies for the emigrants on the Oregon Trail.

Trapping expeditions explored the Missouri River area: William Henry Ashley hired mountain men Jim Ridger, Tom "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick, Jed Smith, and Bill Sublette, who explored a "cutoff" west of South Pass to save 55 miles and eliminate stopping at Fort Bridger; it covered dry plains country and proved difficult to travel. In 1810, Major Andrew Henry led a brigade of the Missouri Fur Company to the Three Forks of the Missouri River near Yellowstone Park. Washington Irving immortalized Capt. Benjamin Louis Eulalie Bonneville, a French army officer who received a leave of absence in 1831 to become a fur trader and explorer of the West. In 1832 he was employed by the U.S. War Department to lead an expedition to probe the Northern Rockies and gather intelligence on the geography, geology and topography of the region, useful in event of hostilities with Mexico, Britain or Indian Tribes. His guide on this and future expeditions was Captain Joseph Rutherford Walker, a mountain man commissioned by the Army for this purpose. In 1833 they explored a trail to California along the Southern Sierras, through a pass which became known as "Walker Pass. " This became the major emigrant trail to California. In 1837 Irving published Bonneville's journals as The Pawnee Edition-Rocky Mountain Scenes, Incidents and Adventures.

Great Britain claimed the right of prior occupancy of the Oregon Country based on the explorations of Sir Francis Drake, George Vancouver, and Alexander Mackenzie. However, Great Britain was interested mainly in the fur trade carried on by the Hudson's Bay Company based at Fort Vancouver, so she was persuaded to agree to a Joint Occupational Treaty in 1818. In 1838, U.S Senator James Buchanan, Past Master of Lodge No. 43, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, made an influential speech saying it was time for the United States to claim the territory. Eight years later, when Buchanan was Secretary of State, the United States negotiated the treaty with Great Britain that settled the international boundary at the 49th parallel. In 1859, as President, Buchanan signed the bill making Oregon a state. The original Oregon Territory stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast and from California (Originally Mexican) at the 42nd parallel to 54 degrees, 40 minutes north to British Territory.

President Jefferson enlisted the aid of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, charter member of Missouri Lodge #1, St. Louis, Missouri, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, on a visit with the President at Monticello on December 25, 1824. To enhance the Manifest Destiny movement, Senator Benton had Secretary of War Joel Roberts Poinsett a member of Solomon's Lodge #1, Charleston; Past Master of Recovery Lodge #31, Greenville; Past Master of Greenville Lodge #5; and Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina (1821) commission Benton's son-in-law, Lt. John Charles Fremont, to head five expeditions of exploration between 1842 and 1853. Col. John James Abert, Chief of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, assigned Joseph Nicolas Nicollet, distinguished French geographer, and a member of the Lodge of Nine Muses (Paris), to supervise the cartographic work. In addition, Charles Preuss, a German cartographer, mapped the topography and sketched the landscape. Preuss drew detailed strip maps of the routes taken showing river forks, campsites, hot springs, passes and forts; and included narrative comments on route conditions and elevations of terrain, all of which proved invaluable to emigrant caravan leaders on the Oregon Trail.

While Fremont was called "the Pathfinder," he depended on his principal guide, Christopher "Kit" Carson, trapper and mountain man, a member of Montezuma Lodge #109, Santa Fe; Senior Warden of Bent Lodge #20, Taos, New Mexico, on four of these expeditions. Carson had a close relationship with the Chiefs of the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indian Tribes, and knew all the Indian dialects. The Indians respected Carson for his integrity and honesty and this helped Fremont. Fremont was a mathematics instructor for the Navy, surveyor and mapmaker and well-schooled in geology, botany and zoology. His journals were edited by his wife, Jessie, and widely published. He collected information for the War Department to construct a chain of forts along the Oregon Trail: Fort Kearny, Nebraska; Ft. Laramie, Wyoming; Fort Bridger, Wyoming; Ft. Hall, Idaho; Fort Boise, Eastern Oregon; and Fort Walla Walla on the Columbia River at the mouth of the Walla Walla River west of the Blue Mountains. Fremont's expeditions of 1838 and 1843 were explorations of the trans-Mississippi area of the Rocky Mountains and the West.

On May 13, 1845 war broke out with Mexico over Texas. President Martin Van Buren had Commanding General Winfield Scott, a member of Dinniddie Union Lodge #23, Virginia, commission Fremont a lieutenant colonel and C arson a captain, with an Army Detachment to further American interests in the California area. Fremont became involved in activities leading to the formation of the California Republic in Sonoma on June 14, 1846. Aided by Navy forces under Commodore Sloat, commander of U.S. Naval Forces in the Pacific. Fremont's forces defeated the "Californios" under Mexican Governor Don Jose Castro, and became Military Commander of the California Republic. General Stephen

Watts Kearny met Carson at Sicorro, New Mexico, and continued to defeat Mexicans. The Treaty of Cahuenga ceded California to the United States.

In June 1847 Fremont left military service and organized his extensive maps; the first scientific mapping of the trans-Mississippi West to the Pacific Ocean, including extensive meteorological data disclosing the extent of cultivable land in the West, an important guide for settlers desiring to farm the western valleys and plains. His reports on the appearance, habits and distribution of Indian tribes, which he obtained from Carson, were of considerable value to the Department of Indian Affairs. The plant specimens were analyzed by Prof. John Torrey, the eminent Princeton botanist, who catalogued them and had them published in 1854 by the Smithsonian Institution, which became the repository of all artifacts gathered by western explorations. Fremont's journals were edited by his wife, Jessie, and widely published in the Washington Union and other media. They were accepted by Congress and stimulated interest in the Western Movement.

In 1838 the War Department directed Navy Lieutenant Charlie Wilkes to organize an exploring expedition of six ships commanded by the Vincennes to make a scientific survey of the Pacific Coast. They surveyed 280 islands and 800 miles of the West Coast in four years, constructing 180 maps and charts. They reached Antarctica, confirming its existence as a separate continent. A party headed by Lt. George F. Emmons, included Navy geologist James Dwight Dana and artist-naturalist Titian Ramsey Peal, made an overland journey from the Williamette Valley of Oregon through the Siskiyou Mountains, locating the source of the Sacramento River and meeting the Wilkes fleet at San Francisco Bay. Joining them were 24 settlers who had come over the Oregon Trail and at Fort Hall had taken the California route southwest.

There were several factors which stimulated the Western Movement. In 1837 a national agricultural panic led to an 1842 Depression and wheat fell to 15 cents a bushel. Meat and other commodities fell in price. Abolitionists and proslavery conflicts escalated to open warfare. On December 27, 1845, John L. O'Sullivan, the principal salesman of the Westward Movement, wrote in the New York Morning News:

It is our Manifest Destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the Continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us. It was stated by various "authorities" that the settlers should move fast to overcome Britain's presence and lock up Oregon for the United States. On September 27, 1850, the Federal Donation Act was passed by Congress, giving Caucasian emigrants 320 acres for married couples (the wife having her own half of this grant) and 160 acres to single persons.

The Protestant Mission Board selected zealots to establish missions to Christianize the "heathen" Indians. The first missionary to the Oregon Country was Jason Lee, a Methodist school teacher from Quebec. In 1834 he took his nephew Daniel Lee and joined Capt. Nat Wyeth and a group of mountain men, who were interested in fishing and lumbering activities in the Willamette Valley to supply the California market, where hundreds of gold-seeking prospectors were establishing communities. Jason Lee founded a Mission south of what is now Salem and attempted to build a Methodist Community, but the Calapooya Indians of the Willamette Valley were not interested in converting to Christianity. Lee returned to New York City to raise funds and told about the excellent farming prospects in the fertile valleys of Oregon. Lee incurred the enmity of Dr. John McLoughlin, Hudson's Bay factor at Fort Vancouver. Lee founded a parochial school which later became Willamette University. He returned to Quebec where he died.

Dr. Marcus Whitman, a physician and Presbyterian missionary, and Samuel Parker, a Congregational minister from Ithaca, New York, left Liberty, Missouri May 15, 1835, with a fur caravan headed by Lucien Fontenelle. They rendezvoused at the Upper Green River where the missionaries met Nez Perces and Flathead Indians, and believed they could be Christianized. Parker traveled about the Oregon Country and returned to New London to write A Guide for Settlers and Farmers. Whitman returned to Missouri, outfitted a wagon caravan, and in 1836 started West with his wife, Narcissa Prentiss Whitman and another Presbyterian minister, Henry H. Spalding and his wife, Eliza Spalding. They joined a fur brigade headed by Tom Fitzpatrick, and went to a rendezvous on the Green River on May 9, 1836, where the Indians had their first look at white women and Narcissa and Eliza had their first contacts with Indians. At Fort Hall in July, 1836, the arrival of the Whitman party had a big political effect for Oregon's U.S. affiliation. Whitman guided a caravan of 1000 persons including the Applegates, and opened a flood gate for emigration for 30 years.

Between 1843 and 1873, over 300,000 emigrants left Missouri for the West, half of which continued to Oregon and the rest to California and Utah, but 30,000 died enroute, mainly from cholera, dysentery and influenza. The over 2,000 miles of "highway" from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon was a scene of desolation, strewn with abandoned property, the skeletons of horses, mules, and oxen. Freshly-made mounds and headboards of graves every few hundred yards told the pitiful tale of suffering too great to be endured. The Oregon Trail was marked in every mile of its course by human misery, tragedy and death. Narcissa Whitman wrote home of perilous river crossings, and of the beautiful Grande Ronde Valley surrounded by lofty timbered mountains. Her descriptive letters home were given extensive publication after the massacre. At Ft. Boise, Spalding went to his Lapwai Mission among the Nez Perces, near present Lewiston, Idaho. Whitman settled on the Walla Walla River 25 miles north of its mouth at a place called Waiilatpu (Place of Rye Grass). His efforts to Christianize the Cayuse failed; Narcissa's letters home spoke of the " toleration" by the Cayuse who depended on Whitman for medical attention. Whitman had 200 acres under cultivation and a sawmill operating on Mill Creek. He supplied provisions to 1500 emigrants passing through. He boarded Jim Bridgers daughter, Mary Ann, Joe Meek's daughter, Helen Mar, and seven Sager children, on a thriving farm.

Mormon emigrants passing through brought measles infecting the children who passed the infection to the Cayuse children, who had no immunity, and several died. The Cayuse believed Dr. Whitman poisoned them. On the afternoon of November 29, 1847, while he was conducting burial service for three Cayuse children, Indians massacred Whitman, Narcissa, ten more men, and two children. There were 59 persons at the Mission and 13 at the sawmill and all but six were taken captive by the Cayuse who burned the Mission buildings and cut down the trees in the orchard. Helen Meek died the next day from neglect. A Catholic priest, who had befriended the Cayuse, Rev. Jean B.A. Brouillet, moved in to bury the dead and pass the word to Ft. Vancouver from which the new Hudson's Bay Company factor, Peter Skene Ogden, came to arrange ransom from the Indians for the captives who were released unharmed after a month; however, one Indian, Five Crows, refused to release Lorinda Bewley, whom he had taken as "wife." Ogden gave blankets, shirts, guns, ammunition, tobacco, and flints as ransom.

Joe Meek, acting Sheriff, hurried to St. Louis and Washington, D.C. to report the tragedy to the War Department. Congress granted territorial status and dispatched Army troops which made war on the Cayuse until in the Spring of 1850 five Cayuse were surrendered to Meek. They were Chief Telokite, Clokomas, Kiamasumkin, Isiaashluckas and Tomahas. They were tried before Judge Orville C. Pratt in Oregon City, 250 miles west of Waiilatpu, who appointed Kintsing Pritchette, Secretary of the Oregon Territory, and two officers of the Mounted Rifle Regiment as defense counsel. The Prosecutor was Amory Holbrook, Territorial Attorney General. They were found guilty, and on June 3, 1850, at 2:00 p.m. Meek personally hanged each defendant (avenging the Christian Church). A Memorial Shaft was constructed on the hill above the Mission House, which was reconstructed as a Museum containing artifacts salvaged from the ruins. Ft. Walla Walla on the Columbia, built of logs by the North West Company in 1818, was used by the Hudson's Bay Company to provision emigrant caravans passing through. A volunteer force under Col. Cornelius Gilliam, veteran of the Black Hawk and Seminole Wars, failed to find any further culprits of the Whitman massacre.

The first Catholic missionary to the Oregon Country, Rev. F.N. Blanchet, arrived in 1838 from Quebec. In 1846 he was appointed Archbishop to Oregon City and his brother Augustine became Bishop of Walla Walla and Vancouver Island. Another Jesuit priest, Rev. Pierre-Jan De Smit, established a Mission among the Flathead and Nez Perce Tribes, and brought in Jesuit recruits to man the Mission. The Indians looked to the "Black Robes" to "save their souls. "

The Oregon Trail started at Independence, Missouri (also St. Joseph and Council Bluffs nearby). Emigrants usually arrived at the "jumping off" place in early April, to leave before the end of April so as to avoid the heavy rains in the Cascades and snow in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. Thunderstorms struck with suddenness in the Platte River Valley, stampeding livestock and causing chaos. The Midwestern farmers were startled by the extensive buffalo herds which provided meat, liquid and warmth from the hides made into robes. Buffalo "chips" made useful substitute for firewood on the plains where trees were scarce. After leaving the jumping off place, the Oregon Trail crossed the Big Blue River in Nebraska, continuing on the north side of the Little Blue River to Fort Kearny on the Platte River. This was Pawnee Country, but these were friendly Indians and proved helpful to the emigrants, especially aiding in stream crossings. The Oregon Trail followed the Platte River to Ash Hollow and then passed Court House and Jail House Rocks, the first landmarks on the Trail. Continuing on the North Fork of the Platte River, just before Scotts Bluff, the Trail passed Chimney Rock, described as a "big sweet potato hill with a pile of rocks on top." Scott's Bluff resembled an "old castle with a rounding top." The Trail passed through Mitchell's Pass and Fort Laramie, a former trading post called Fort William in 1834 and taken over by the U.S. Army in 1849. It was abandoned in 1890 and restored as a National Historic Site in 1960. Over 40,000 emigrants registered each year, men outnumbering women 40 to 1 and children outnumbered women 5 to 4. Wagons had four people, three oxen, two horses and a cow.

Oregon's migrations were settled by extended families who gathered from various parts of the midwest, and settled in rural areas. West of Fort Laramie were the Black Hills and Independence Rock, the "Register" of the Trail where emigrants carved names and dates, marking the mid-point of the journey, reached usually in early July. The caravans passed through the Wyoming Mountains at Devil's Gate, a 400-foot high rift with a narrow defile at a Split Rock granite barricade. After passing Willow Springs and the Three Crossings of the Sweetwater River, the Trail passed through the Rockies at South Pass. The Trail followed the Big Sandy River to the Green River and Emigrant Springs to Fort Bridger, built in 1843 by dim Bridger as a trading post with a blacksmith shop, supplies and horses. Called "Old Gabe," Bridger led military forces on Indian campaigns 1856-1866 and discovered Great Salt Lake (1824). The Mormons blazed a road from Fort Bridger to Salt Lake City, and some California-bound caravans took this route. The Trail followed the Bear and Portnuel Rivers northwest to the Snake River at Fort Hall, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post, abandoned in 1855. The caravans followed the south bank of the Snake River and at Three Island Fork crossed to the north bank. The Trail passed the mouth of the Owyhee River, crossing alkali flats to the Boise River and Fort Boise, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post 1,585 miles from Independence, Missouri.

The Trail in Oregon passed the Malheur River near where Vale is now situated and at Wamm Springs the women laundered at the hot springs. The Trail left the Snake River at "Farewell Bend. " In 1845, mountain man Stephen H. Meek, Joe Meek's brother, piloted a wagon train west through sagebrush wastes and jumbled hills to the Deschutes River; several of the party died of thirst, malnutrition and sunstroke, but the party eventually reached The Dalles. The main Trail ascended the steep Flagstaff Hill through the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and Fort Walla Walla to the Columbia River at The Dalles. It was taken over by the military in 1836 as the last outpost on the "Oregon Trail" and abandoned in 1867. It was there that emigrants left wagons and stock to raft down the Columbia to Fort Vancouver.

On October 29, 1843, the Applegate Party, headed by brothers Jesse, Charles and Lindsay, with their wives and many relatives from Kentucky and Missouri, and numerous children, gathered at the Dalles to build Mackinaw rafts to descend the Columbia over the dangerous rapids. On November 4, 1843, the party set out and one of the rafts overturned in a whirlpool, drowning two Applegate boys, Edward and Warren, and Alexander McClellan (Uncle Mac), a relative age 70 years. It was this tragedy that later led the Applegates to pioneer the "Southern Route" to avoid the risk of rafting on the Columbia River. In 1845 the Scott-Applegate train took the "California cutoff" from Fort Hall southwest through the Black Rock Desert to the Humboldt River in central Nevada, through the Surprise Valley and Modoc County in northeast California, through the Sierras and past Goose Lake; and followed the Lost River into southern Oregon west of Upper Klamath Lake, through the Coast Range past Ashland and settled in 1852, following the Rogue River Valley to the Umpqua Valley, and into the southern Willamette Valley to the Yoncalla Valley. The Applegate brothers and their sons-in-law, George Burt and J.W.P. Huntington, were Masons. The last two were Charter members of Oakland Lodge #16 (Chartered June 21, 1857). Huntington was Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon. The 150th Celebration of the "Applegate Trail" is planned for 1995.

The Clamotte and Rogue River Indians stole cattle and horses of caravans using the Southern Route and massacred small parties of emigrants. Oregon Territorial Governor George Abernathy on April 22, 1847, issued a circular warning of the dangers involved in this Southern Route. Between the Cayuse War of 18471850 and the Bannock War of 1878 there were eight Indian Wars in the Oregon Territory. The Indians of the Rogue River area of southwestern Oregon opposed the Hudson's Bay agents who trapped the beaver, used for food by the Indians; and the American emigrants killed many buffalo, the main food source. The Indians became alarmed at emigrant caravans passing through, and the Rogue River War ensued (1855-76). The Territorial Militia and Maj. Gen. John E. Wool, aided by U.S. Mounted Rifles, quelled the Indians whose numbers were depleted from 9,000 to 2,000.

In May 1855, Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens negotiated a Treaty with the Walla Walla and Yakima Indians. Their Chief Kammaiakian, objected to the terms and with the Umatillans, Klickitats, and Spokanes as allies, launched a war (1856-58) and were defeated by Militia aided by Navy detachments at Nisqually and Steilacoom. The Indians were confined on the Umatilla Reservation and some on the Warm Springs Reservation.

In 1864, Congress set aside the Klamath Reservation in Southern Oregon for the Klamath, Modoc and Paiute Tribes. The Modocs objected to ceding their ancestral land at the mouth of the Lost River near Klamath Lake. In 1852, Pit River Indians massacred an emigrant train near Alturas, California, at a site known as Bloody Point. A company of miners and settlers attacked a Modoc Camp in reprisal, massacring many women and children. Captain Jack's father, the Modoc Chief, was among those killed. Captain Jack became Chief and at a "Peace Conference" killed General E.R.S. Canby and Rev. Eleazer Thomas, both Masons, and wounded Col. A.B. Meacham, the Indian Commissioner. Both Canby and Thomas received Masonic Memorials in Portland, and San Francisco and Oregon communities were named after Canby and Meacham. Captain Jack and his tribe were captured; Captain Jack and three of his tribal leaders were tried, found guilty and hanged on October 3, 1873 at Fort Klamath, Oregon. The Modocs were transferred to Quapau Agency, Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and on November 30, 1912, the five survivors were returned to the Kalmath Agency in southern Oregon.

Snake Indians attacked emigrant wagon trains approaching the Columbia River near The Dalles. Army troops led by Col. George Wright and Lt. Phil H. Sheridan defeated them before they could attack Fort Vancouver. Settlers used river sternwheeler boats such as the Jennie Clark, designed by Jacob Kamm and operated by Capt. John C. Ainsworth (Raised Dec. 27, 1845 in Farmington Lodge #9, Farmington, Iowa; Junior Warden Eagle Lodge U.D., Keokuck, Lee Co., Iowa, and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Oregon, 1854-1856), to sail upriver to man blockhouses on the Upper Cascades.

The Nez Perce War in 1877 was probably the most memorable Indian War of that period. Led by Chief Joseph, his 600 warriors participated in 11 weeks of battles in Eastern Oregon, Northern Idaho, and Montana, engaging ten separate U.S. Military units in thirteen battles in what General William Tecumseh Sherman called "one of the most extraordinary Indian Wars of which there is any record. " On August 9, 1877, at Big Hole in the Bear Paw Mountains of northern Montana, 30 miles south of the Canadian border, the Seventh U.S. Infantry, seeking to avenge the Custer Massacre, made a surprise dawn attack on the Nez Perce encampment, killing several women and children, and forcing Chief Joseph to surrender "forever." The Bannock War of 1878 concluded the Oregon Indian Wars. The coastal Indians were placed in the Grand Ronde and Siletz Reservations.

Oregon Trail women worked out a mutually beneficial association with Native American women, trading clothing such as aprons and shirts, as well as needles and thread which they taught how to use, in exchange for potatoes, corn, and vegetables. They gave the Indians bread and pancakes for knowledge of plants, roots and herbs. The Native American women gave practical instruction on child care on the Oregon Trail. The Oregon Trail women learned how to "coexist" with Native American women despite the mutual antagonism of the men.

Life in the West was illustrated for the American public by landscape and portrait artists who traveled with explorer parties. The first artist to capture plains Indian life and customs was George Catlin who roamed the West 1830-36, visiting every Indian nation on the North American plains, painting Comanche, Kiowa and Wichita Indian Chiefs, as well as wildlife and scenery. His widow donated his 600 paintings and artifacts to the Smithsonian Institution. Alfred Jacob Miller painted scenes of the West, such as the sketch in 1837 of the rendezvous of traders and Indians in "Breakfast at Sunrise, " Indian life at Fort Laramie in Wyoming and such landmarks along the Oregon Trail as Independence Rock. A Frenchman, John J. Audubon, reported by a member of Lodge of the Nine Sisters (Paris), ranged North America in his quest for birds, mammals and other wildlife to paint, publishing Birds of America in 1839. John Kirk Townsend (Townsend's Warbler) and Thomas Nuttall (Nuttall's Woodpecker) both accompanied Astorian Wilson Price Hunt's expedition of fur traders up the Missouri in 1811, and in 1834-35 studied plant, animal and fossil specimens in Oregon, California and Hawaii. Their journals were widely published.

As an alternate trail in 1845, Samuel K. Barlow and William Rector built a wagon road around the south slope of Mt. Hood, following Indian and trapper trails through the Cascades, and guiding a train of 19 wagons, cattle and horses. Barlow started from Fort Hall in Idaho, passed Five Mile Creek, the Little Deschutes River, Tygh Valley, Laurel Hill, the Zigzag and Sandy Rivers, and the Clackamas River to Foster's farm at Eagle Creek. They reached Oregon City December 25, 1845. Barlow reported to the Oregon Legislature on the new route on December 9, 1846, and with Philip Foster, set up a tollgate charging $5 per wagon and 10 cents for each head of horses, mules and horned cattle. The road, called the Barlow Road, was 80 miles long, 65 miles through forests, canyons, creeks and rivers. The enterprise terminated November 29, 1848, 145 wagons and 1559 head of livestock having passed safely over the road, taking two weeks to travel from The Dalles to Oregon City. In 1849 a detachment of the First U.S. Mounted Rifles used the Barlow Road but a snowstorm caused them to leave 45 wagons which had a sign Government Property - Do Not Touch, " at that site where Government Camp was later constructed.

Between the Mexican and Civil Wars, the Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers surveyed and mapped every region of the trans-Mississippi West. They explored new areas, surveyed roads located and improved navigable rivers and harbors, and found subsurface water in the desert for use by farmers and ranchers. Lt. William H. Emory spent six years surveying the boundary between the U.S. and Mexico, compiling 2,000 astronomical observations, hundreds of barometric readings, and numerous illustrations. His Report contained scientific descriptions of the geography, geology, plant, animal and human life of the Southwest. It was published between 1856 and 1859 in three volumes: Botanists Dr. John Torrey (Princeton) and Dr. Asa Gray (Harvard) termed it "the most important publication of its kind."

In 1853, Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Survey Bill, and three survey parties mapped out routes for the Central and Union Pacific Railroad, completed in 1869; the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, completed in 1881; the Southern Pacific and Texas Pacific Railroad, completed in 1882; and the Northern Pacific Railroad, completed in 1883.

The work of examining and defining the West as directed initially by President Thomas Jefferson in his 1804 charge to Capt. Meriweather Lewis was fulfilled. The trans-Mississippi West had been explored; and railroad and telegraph bound East with West. John Wesley Powell, surveyor-explorer, studied the plateau Indian tribes, recording customs, myths and languages, and his Reports to Congress created the Bureau of Ethnology in 1879, which merged with the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology. Powell made a geographical and topographical survey of the Colorado Plateau, including the Grand Canyon, and published directives instructing settlers in water conservation, which could have avoided the dust bowls of the 1930s if it had been followed. The work of examining and defining the West passed to scientific specialists, including biologists, mineralogists and paleontologists. The resources were exploited by farmers, miners, loggers, ranchers and oilmen. Railroad tycoon Edward Henry Harriman, a member of Holland Lodge #8 in New York City, took the first transcontinental train to the Pacific in less than a week.

The West's resources were protected by laws promoted by conservationists such as George Bird Grinnell, Gifford Pinchot, John Muir and John Burroughs. Scenic gems such as Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon and other national parks and monuments were protected by President Theodore Roosevelt who was raised in Matinecock Lodge #806, Oyster Bay, NY, April 24, 1901. In 1908 President Roosevelt had Crater Lake, formed from the eruption of Mt. Mazama, in southeast Oregon, declared a National Park; in the same year he declared Malheur Lake in south central Oregon a National Wildlife Refuge. The creation of the National Museum of Natural History helped Indian tribes reestablish their cultures and languages. Spencer Fullerton Baird, head of the Smithsonian Institution, supervised the collection of specimens, journals, photographs, paintings and letters and made them available for research, publication, and exhibition. He followed the lead of President Thomas Jefferson in making the history of the West available for the education and enjoyment of all Americans.

Bibliography

Applegate, "Skookum" Shannon. An Oregon Pioneer Family's History and Lore. New York: Beech Tree Books, 1988.

Douthitt, Nathan. "The Hudson's Bay Company and the Indians of Southern Oregon." Oregon Historical Quarterly, 93 (1992), 25-64.

Franzqua, Gregory M. The Oregon Trail Revisited. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1988.

Friedman, Ralph. The Other Side of Oregon. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton, 1993.

O'Donnell, Terence. The Balance So Rare - The Story of Oregon. Oregon Historical Society Press, 1988.

Oregon Historical Society Northwest Area (Hill) Foundation.

The Western Shore: Oregon County Essays, 1976.

Holbrook, Steward H. The Columbia. New York: Rinehart, 1956.

Reader's Digest Association. America's Fascinating Indian Heritage. Pleasantville, New York: 1900.

Roberts, Allen. Freemasonry in American History. Richmond, VA.: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1985.

"Seeking Eden: The Challenge of Oregon," Oregon Humanities, Winter, 1992.

Sparkman, Francis. The Oregon Trail, 1849. Reprint, Rinehart, 1931.

Stone, Irving, Men to Match My Mountains - The Opening of the Far West 1840-1900. Garden City: Doubleday, 1956.

Viola, Herman J. Exploring the West. Washington: Smithsonian Institute, 1987.

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Roy Acuff - King of Country Music and Freemason

by Ivan M. Tribe, MM

The following narrative reviews the life and accomplishments of an east Tennessee mountain boy who made good. Roy Claxton Acuff rose from humble beginnings to become known as the "King of Country Music. " In a career that spanned some sixty years, Acuff performed on Nashville's "Grand Ole Opry" for more than a half century, sold millions of records, and starred in several motion pictures. Casual fans will remember him for popularizing songs like "The Great Speckled Bird," "Wabash Cannonball," "The Precious Jewel," and "Wreck on the Highway."

Born on September 15, 1903 near Maynardville, Tennessee, Roy Acuff's father was a struggling Missionary Baptist minister who later studied law and became a county judge. Grandfather Acuff had fought for the Union during the Civil War and Roy would reflect his "Mountain Yankee" and "Southern mountain Republican" values throughout his life. While he also absorbed much of the rich culture of Appalachia during his youth which would later be reflected in his own music, the young Acuff manifested more interest in baseball and other sports. When his father moved the family to the Knoxville suburb of Fountain City in 1919, Roy belatedly entered junior high and then high school, graduating from Knoxville Central High School in 1924. Athletics constituted his principal interests in those days, when he lettered in baseball, basketball, and football.

After graduation, Roy worked as a callboy for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and played semi-pro baseball until felled by a sunstroke in 1929. He spent many months recovering his health and vigor, during which time he listened to early country phonograph records and learned to play the fiddle. By 1932, Acuff had emerged from convalescence and toured for several months with the Mocoton Medicine Show. When this valuable experience ended, he formed a band - the Crazy Tennesseeans - which performed alternately over WNOX and WROL radio stations in Knoxville. The group played throughout the little towns and villages of east Tennessee but barely earned enough cash to survive in those depression days.

In October 1936, the Crazy Tennesseeans journeyed to Chicago where they made their initial twenty recordings for the American Record Corporation (absorbed into Columbia in 1938). Among these numbers was a religious lyric of obscure origins, "The Great Speckled Bird," which would ultimately become his signature song. Although none of the tunes could be classed as immediate hits, they sold well enough for the band to be recalled for additional sessions in March 1937 and November 1938. Ironically, some of the materials recorded were somewhat uptown country arrangement of pop song with various band members doing the singing, but the numbers with Roy's lead vocal and the rough-edged hard country sound went over better.

In the meantime, Roy moved his band from Knoxville to Nashville where they joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry at WSM radio. The shift would prove a wise move in terms of being in the right place at the right time. The Opry had been a popular radio show ever since it had started in November 1925, but portions of it began to be carried via a regional network in 1939, and then nationally by NBC in 1941. Furthermore, the country music scene had increasingly shifted from an emphasis on string bands and duets toward individual solo stars. Uncle Dave Macon, the reigning individual Opry star continued as a popular and revered figure, but at age 70 in 1940, was a bit elderly to capture the younger audience. Acuff - who looked younger than he actually was - could and did hold this group. Older country folk, however, found his sentimental mountain ballads, such as "The Precious Jewel," and moralistic warnings like "Wreck on the Highway" to their liking as well as the numerous sacred songs in his repertoire. By the end of 1940, he stood at the top in his field and remained there for several years thereafter.

In 1940, Roy Acuff took his band -renamed the Smoky Mountain Boys when he came to Nashville - to Hollywood for their first film Grand Ole Opry for Republic Pictures. It also starred Uncle Dave Macon, Opry emcee George D. Hay, and vaudeville veterans the Weaver Brothers and Elvira. Although generally classed as corny by most critics, light in plot, and intended primarily for rural audiences it did quite well at the box office and further spread the fame of the man baseball pitcher Dizzy Dean termed "the King of Country Music. " The same could also be said of the seven other films in which Acuff appeared during the decade of the forties. Some of these latter efforts for Columbia such as Smoky Mountain Melody and Night Train to Memphis rank among the better of their type.

During this decade of his peak popularity, Roy Acuff petitioned East Nashville Lodge No. 560 to receive the degrees of Freemasonry. Accepted for membership he was initiated as Entered Apprentice on November 29, 1943. Subsequently Acuff passed to the degree of Fellowcraft on January 10, 1944 and received the Master Mason degree on February 21, 1944. Three months later he completed the Scottish Rite degrees and was created a noble of Al Menah Shrine Temple on June 27, 1944. Beecher R. Kirby, known on stage as "Bashful Brother Oswald," a long time member of the Acuff band and comedian also became a member of these bodies. More than eleven years after his raising, on the last three days of November 1955., Roy took the York Rite degrees at Edward G. Corbitt Chapter No. 147, R. A. M.; Nashville Council No. 1, R. & S. M.' and Nashville Commandery No. 1, K. T., all in the Tennessee capital city.

In 1948 Roy, being a popular figure of Southern mountain Republican stock, was prevailed upon by Volunteer State GOP leaders to seek the governorship of Tennessee. Two persons of country music backgrounds (and also both Masons) W. Lee O'Daniel of Texas and Jimmie Davis of Louisiana had already been elected to the top office in their respective states. While east Tennessee provided solid Republican majorities, the state as a whole remained strongly Democratic and neither Roy nor his Senatorial running mate B. Carroll Reece (long time congressman, and member of Roan Creek Lodge No. 679 Butler, Tennessee and Watauga Commentary No. 25 Johnson City, Tennessee) did as well as hoped. Nonetheless, the King did rack up a record that stood for some years as amassing a record number of losing votes in a Tennessee gubernatorial contest. Although primarily an entertainer, he did participate in political causes of his choosing mostly for moderate to conservative republicans, but never again sought public office. He did win the friendship and respect of several presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to George Bush.

The decade of the fifties saw Roy Acuff decline somewhat in popularity as newer and younger country stars began pushing him out of the limelight, yet he remained a revered figure in the business. After fifteen years, he left Columbia Records in 1951, switching to Capitol, and later, Decca, MOM, and Hickory. By the end of the decade, he began approaching the legendary status in the industry that he would hold for the last three decades of his life. Like Bob Hope, he derived special satisfaction from touring foreign military bases during the Holiday season and did so many times. In 1962, Roy became the first living member of the Country Music Hall of Fame (as of this writing at least seven other Masons have also been elevated to this honor: Eddy Arnold, Gene Autry, Jimmie Davis, Tex Ritter, Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Rogers, and Hank Thompson).

Life on the road tended to be a gruelling experience and Roy barely survived an auto crash in 1965. But he mended and continued onward, although he didn't travel quite as much afterward. From the early seventies he increasingly contented himself with Friday and Saturday night appearances at the Opry, and certain special occasions. Through wise investments - including Acuff-Rose song publishing - he no longer had to work at all but chose to do so through sheer love of performing and his fans expecting it. He received numerous honors through the years, both civil and Masonic, including the KCCH on October 15,1979, and the 33rd degree on October 21, 1985.

A little more than seven years after receiving this highest of Masonic honors, Brother, Companion, Sir knight, and Noble Roy Claxton Acuff went to his reward on November 23, 1992. In order to prevent his funeral from being turned into a spectacle as sometimes happens with celebrities, he was buried within hours of his death. A memorial service was held several days later. His wife, Mildred, had passed away some years earlier. A son and daughter survived, the latter of whom had managed his business affairs in recent years. That many of his recordings remain available today or compact disc, some of them recorded more than a half-century ago, testifies to the enduring quality of much of his music.

Note: Those wishing to learn more about Acuff might wish to consult the book Roy Acuff; The Smoky Mountain Boy by Elizabeth Schlappi (Gretna, LA: Pelican Books, 1978 and 1993). In preparation of this narrative, I am indebted to the aid of the Grand Secretaries of the Grand Lodges of Ohio and Tennessee, as well as to Roger E. Van Dyke and Roger A. Wiseman.

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Mystical and Esoteric, or Social  ?

by John N. Yingling, MPS

Many English words have more than one meaning. Here, to avoid confusion, is my definition of words frequently used in this article:

Mystical - Spiritually significant, symbolical, or allegorical, relating to or teased on intuition, contemplation, or meditation of a spiritual nature.

Esoteric - Intended for or understood by only a chosen few, as an inner group of disciples or initiates, beyond the understanding or knowledge of most people.

Allegory - A dramatic representation, the apparent or superficial sense of which parallels a deeper sense.

Symbol - A material object used to represent something abstract.

Inculcate - To teach or impress by frequent repetition.

The idea that there is something mystical or esoteric in Freemasonry is viewed by suspicion, even alarm by some speculative Masons, who say ours is a social organization of men for their enjoyment and nothing else. They fear that contemplating its symbols and allegories is an innovative adventure by mystical "nuts and dreamers" who are reading into the fraternity something that is not there. They feel that to do so will bring it too close to a religion and bring down the wrath of fundamentalists of all the great religions, discouraging religious men who will scatter like quail from the danger of heresy. They feel that Masonic scholars of the past have wasted much intellectual energy researching the evolution of the religions and philosophies of the past, that have impacted Freemasonry and moral values it espouses. Some contemporary Masonic historians feel they have discredited the value of that research. But in writing history, is there no value to the spirit that animated the men who created the events historians record?

I offer for your consideration that there is a mystical and esoteric element in the ritual which inculcates enlightenment and is its most important contribution. Freemasonry describes itself as a "system of morals, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. " The ritual rests on the use of symbols, allegories, and metaphors to excite a curiosity and satisfy the all-pervasive religious sentiment by a reverential contemplation of the obscure. If Freemasonry can, by instilling a reverence for the great mystery of God, cause men to rise above the fundamentalist creeds, over which men love to kill one another, into a genuine brotherhood of men from - every theology; if it can cause men to rise above the ignorance, superstition, and bigotry that is latent in all of us and other religious men; then we can restore the light of Freemasonry that is dimming.

Symbols are resistant to the constraints of words; but their illustration that does not need to be filtered through the rational mind can be perceived without difficulty if inculcated. This was well understood by early Masonic writers. If the meaning of symbols can be explained by others, why do they use them unless there is something spiritually significant about them that makes an explanation by others superficial? If symbols cannot develop an idea, they can excite an appropriate feeling, and with their vagueness, reach what a simple and intelligible theology cannot. Freemasonry can with good conscience offer "light" to already religious men because it can add a mystical experience that provides inter-faith values without fundamentalist, doctrinal theology. Surely, the conviction of morality is as much a passionate spiritual pursuit as it is a rational one, and behavior follows conviction.

If there is nothing esoteric about the lodge, why do we dabble in secret words, grips, vows, and penalties for disclosing "hidden mysteries"? What hidden mysteries? Why do we initiate men behind closed doors with tilers guarding against eavesdroppers?

Why swear never to reveal what transpires behind doors? Why are initiates advanced by degrees to additional "light" so often promised but never articulated? Why is the ritual so ambiguous that it neither confirms or denies that Freemasonry is a religion. It says, "It's religion, if religion it may be called . . . "Well is it or isn't it? What is it that Freemasons absorb from the ritual by inculcation that makes them so loyal to the fraternity and the men in it? Is there something about Freemasonry that, if expressed in lecture form immediately upon admission, without the use of symbols and allegories, and slowly, degree by degree, coming to enlightenment, that would discourage men from allowing themselves to its exposure? Why do we give God a title instead of a name? Why do we aver there is only one living and true God while accepting into membership worshipers of Jahweh, Jesus, Allah, and others? Surely there are some profound implications in all this that requires contemplation and reasoning.

How can Freemasonry have the audacity to offer "enlightenment" through initiation to refined Jewish, Christian, and Islamic theologians who are steeped in the laws of God, His love, and submission to Him, unless it has something to offer beyond the primary introductory salvation, mental hygiene, and moral reform of those traditions?

If the dramas, symbols, and allegories are just mumbo jumbo, without significant spiritual enlightenment, why don't we abandon them? Moral behavior can be taught without them. If the only aim of Speculative Freemasonry is to find happiness, why do we call it Speculative?

I feel that contemplating not only what is expressed but also what is implied is a true spiritual adventure that can unite men in an advanced esoteric brotherhood, whose usefulness to society cannot be estimated, and this is the direction in which Freemasonry should be moving.

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A Short Genealogical History of the Species Haggis Scotisorum

by Dougal MacIntyre, MPS

[Editor's Note - in keeping with the humor expressed in previous issues concerning the Haggles, a Scottish brother presents this.]

The young wild Haggles is normally harmless, although when fully grown, he can become quite dangerous in the rutting season. That apart, he is seldom aggressive and has developed his special characteristics purely to elude the hunters who search the Scottish mountains with feverish activity - and especially in January - to lure him forth with the gentle, flattering words of Brother Rabbie Burns:

Fair fa' your honest sonsie face,

Great Chieftain o' the pudden race.

His primary evasive quality is his ability to confuse.. Being part feathered and part fur, the hunter never knows which facet is predominant. When he runs, he runs like a bird, and when he flies, he flies like an animal.

The more knowledgeable hunter traverses the mountain in a clockwise direction, hoping to come across his prey unawares, knowing that the Haggis has the utmost difficulty making his escape from this side. His left leg being shorter than his right. He is able to run with lightning speed anti-clockwise around the mountain, but can manage no better than a ponderous crawl in a clockwise direction.

Conventional hunting has little effect against the Haggis and although buckshot is occasionally used, all sportsmen believe that the honorable method is to snare the creature around his snout with a length of standard binding twine. To our knowledge, however, this method has never proved effective against the females of the species, who are virtually uncatchable, but are said to have a mellow whiskey flavor.

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Membership in the

Philalethes Society

makes a great Christmas Gift

It's easy! Send your friend's name, address

& Lodge, with $30 check to the:

Philalethes Society. PO Box 70

Highland Springs, VA 23075

He'll receive a card with your

name as the giver.

----o----

A Pilgrim's Path - Your Bonus Book

The best selling book by John J. Robinson, FPS in soft cover is now available in hard cover. The text is the same. However, the results of the anti-Masonic acts by a handful of bigots within the Southern Baptist Convention are covered in footnotes. (Brother Robinson's physical condition prevented a planned full scale report.)

For the few who haven't heard of this excellent book: It's the best answer to the anti-Masonic bigots yet written. S. Brent Morris, FPS, suggested "if you're going to buy just one Masonic book this year, this is the book for you. "

The new cloth version will sell for $17.95 plus postage. You will be able to obtain a copy (or copies) for much less. The Philalethes Society will subsidize the balance. This is offered as another benefit of membership in this International Research Society.

* This Book would make an excellent holiday gift for your Masonic friends or relatives.

To: The Philalethes Society, PO Box 70, Highland Springs, VA 23075

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----o----

Mystery of a Cup - The Chicago Fire

and Oriental Lodge No. 33

by Hugh A. Cole, MM

The Cup

Since Burley T. Cram was a boy, a cup had been secreted as a family heirloom. Burley came upon it packed among items accumulated by a family estate. Had this silver drinking cup belonged to some child in the family? It seemed too elaborate for daily use.

The cup bore a hand-engraved inscription around the cylindrical side opposite the handle:

Edward T. Cram

from

Oriental Lodge No. 33 Chicago, Ill.

April 1872.

Cram's curiosity prompted him to inquire of Brother Robert Kalb, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. Brother Kalb referred the inquiry to the author. An exchange of correspondence and telephone conversations resulted in the cup's being shipped to Illinois for examination. While the cup was in Illinois, it prompted a reunion with Oriental Lodge No. 33, AF&AM, at Chicago, Illinois.

Burley Cram had wondered if the cup had "served as an award for achievement or accomplishment; and had Edward T. Cram been a member of Chicago's Oriental Lodge?" Was the cup a souvenir or memento? The inquiry required research. The Chicago Scottish Rite Library was a logical starting point.

No Oriental Lodge history seemed to exist, but a listing of Oriental Lodge officers was found. The name Fred (Franklin P.) Cram caught my attention, but no mention of an Edward T. Cram appeared. I wondered if the two Crams were related.

William J. Cappadino, the energetic librarian and secretary for Oriental Lodge No. 33, ceased his concentration on the computer, lay back in his chair, folded his hands behind his head and furrowed his brow. "Hmmm. I wonder if we have anything in the vault that may shed light on your questions?"

Off we went to the vault.

The vault did not contain Cram's petition for affiliation with Oriental Lodge, his request for demit, nor any register book he would have signed when attending meetings. We found no petitions in the vault dating prior to 1871. Our attention was drawn to a lodge minute book from the early to late 1870s. Scanning these minutes consumed more than a few hours. After the first few pages, it seemed that they might not yield significant information. These minutes were evidently in the second volume, since Oriental Lodge was chartered on October 9, 1845. Another reference noted that Oriental Consistory of the Scottish Rite was formed twelve years later in Chicago. Was it coincidental that both lodge and consistory shared the name "Oriental?" Was it planned that the lodge acquire the number 33 on the roll of Illinois lodges - a number significant in the Scottish Rite?

A Scottish Rite history says, "A look at the names [of Oriental Consistory founders] discloses that the standards of admission were very high, since it contains the 'cream of the Masonic membership of the city. "' There follows a list of names, all of which appear frequently in the minute book of Oriental Lodge No. 33. We might now speculate that the number for the lodge was requested to be 33, and that its charter was withheld by the Grand Lodge until the numbering sequence reached the place where it could be issued. Otherwise, Oriental Lodge might have received its charter earlier, and with a lower number.

It is reasonable to conclude that the same high standards were common for the lodge and for the consistory. Unlike many lodges, Oriental had access to Scottish Rite lighting effects, musical accompaniment, elaborate costumes, scenery, and props for use in conferring degrees. The lodge acquired a reputation, often envied by other lodges for resplendent exemplification of the Masonic degrees.

Frank (Franklin) P. Cram probably received his Masonic degrees in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, before he affiliated with Oriental Lodge No. 33 on July 6, 1866. He was appointed Senior Deacon in 1867, was erected Junior warden in 1868, and Senior Warden from 1869 to 1870. Occasionally, in the absence of the Master, Frank presided over lodge meetings and conferred degrees. In the December 16, 1870, annual communication of the lodge, Frank announced that he was moving back to New Hampshire, and requested not to be considered for election to office. Had he remained, he likely would have been elected Master.

Franklin Cram was highly esteemed by his brethren, as is evident from the lodge resolution commending his participation during the years 1866-70. They ordered a "resolution to be engraved and presented to Brother Cram."

He returned to Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, and on January 16, 1871, married Helen Bowditch. On June 16, 1871, he requested and received a demit from the lodge.

The Chicago Fire

On October 4 and 5, 1871, the Grand Lodge of Illinois met in its annual communication at Chicago's Metropolitan Hall. After Grand Master Dewitt C. Cregier closed the proceedings, the brethren departed for their homes. They were fortunate in not being in Chicago on October 8, 1871, to experience the Chicago Fire.

Oriental Lodge No. 33 conferred degrees in a special meeting on Saturday night, October 7, 1871. Following the meeting, the secretary took the minute book home with him. At his leisure he could write up the minutes and bring the minute book back to the next meeting. Had the book been with other lodge records at the Masonic Temple, it would now be unavailable.

The fire started on Sunday evening, October 8, 1871, and began in the barn behind the O'Leary cottage on DeKoven Street on Chicago's southwest side. Scholars place little credence in the story that Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern in her barn to ignite the fire. Possible causes include spontaneous combustion of hay, because of a dry summer spell. The fire rapidly spread northeast from Taylor Street, through neighborhoods of wooden structures, leaped over the south branch of the Chicago River, headed northward through the downtown business district into the near north side, and up to Fullerton Avenue. Looting broke out when families fled their homes in terror.

On the night of October 8 and all day on the 9th, the huge fire, accompanied by tornado winds, engulfed 2,100 acres of Chicago. It left rubble in a path a mile wide and 4 3/4 miles long as it consumed 17,000 buildings including thirty-two hotels, forty-one churches, and ten theaters and halls. Witnesses reported seeing the hardest six-story buildings of glass, iron, and stone fused into masses of molten debris within five minutes of the fire's reaching them. Nearly 100,000 people were made homeless.

Masonic lodges, from early times, have set aside funds with which to relieve widows, orphans, and needy brethren. But the magnitude of the Chicago Fire of 1871 created needs for benevolence far exceeding anyone's comprehension. Eighteen Chicago lodges were totally burned out. Another thirteen sustained varying degrees of damage.

Grand Master Cregier responded immediately and formed a Masonic Relief Society on October 9. Each lodge's charity fund was to receive and dispense assistance. Money and goods soon began to arrive from Illinois' 222 Masonic lodges. News of the catastrophe spread far and wide to the Masonic fraternity, which responded with $90,634.50 in money and goods. The accounting for receipts and expenditures was audited and published.

Donors of large amounts received an undisclosed recognition. The minute book of Oriental Lodge fails to reveal either who was honored or the nature of the recognitions. The secretary did not, at this time, disclose the extent of fire damage sustained by the lodge and brethren. The secretary may have concluded the newspaper accounts would fully inform our generation, and that it was inappropriate to enter data in the minutes. The media of the day cited numerous accounts of heroism and described the sounds and sights of destruction. It was ultimately futile to attempt avoiding the aftermath of destruction. The brethren must have related experiences when they gathered. Was any attempt made to salvage anything from the ruins of the Masonic Temple?

The minutes for October 27, 1871, merely record that Oriental Lodge met temporarily in the hall of Cashman (?) Lodge, U.D., at Madison and Robey Streets. The Lodge next met in the hall of Cleveland Lodge No. 211 at Halsted and Randolf Streets. The lodge voted to continue meeting there for the time being. But on December 1, Oriental Lodge sought to meet in a place of its own.

Franklin P. Cram Visits Chicago Again

The fire may have prompted Frank P. Cram to visit Chicago again. He attended Oriental Lodge on April 19, 1872, and was assigned to the Junior Warden's station for this meeting. He may have bought this cup as a memento for Edward T. Cram during this visit. Was Edward T. Cram an infant who accompanied Frank to Chicago? Or was he an adult who had made a donation to the Masonic Relief Fund, the Oriental Lodge Charity Fund, or the Oriental Building Fund? The cup may have been presented in recognition of a donation. Edward T. Cram never appears in the minute book, nor have we learned he was a Mason.

The family relationship between Frank P. Cram and Edward T. Cram remains a mystery Burley Cram informs us that Frank P. Cram was born in 1842 at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. In 1861 he was an engineer, and enlisted as a private in the First Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Cavalry. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on March 19, 1864. He was discharged on July 23, 1865 because of rheumatism in his legs and ankles. He died at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, about 1905.

Excerpts from the Minutes of Oriental Lodge

On July 19, 1872, the lodge received a report from D. C. Cregier, President of the Board of the Masonic Relief Association. The report covered transactions from October, 1871, and is the first minute book entry referring to the Chicago Fire. The lodge reports having merged its charity fund into the Grand Lodge Relief Fund, and being represented on that fund's board of directors.

On October 18, 1872, Past Master Cregier invited Oriental Lodge to attend the Masonic cornerstone-laying ceremony for the Fire Monument, which was scheduled to take place on October 30 1872, in Central Park.

Oriental Hall

A committee was appointed by the Master of the lodge to contract for furnishings in a new Oriental Hall Building. The secretary was instructed to issue brethren duplicate documents for those lost in the fire. A new organ was en route to the lodge. Grand Master Hawley granted the lodge a dispensation to delay electing and installing officers until a new Oriental Hall was ready to occupy. The lodge voted to replace its working tools, Bible, officers' jewels, and desks for the treasurer and secretary, all of which were lost in the fire. Insurance coverage was sought for the new hall.

On January 3, 1873, Oriental Lodge moved into the new hall at 122 La Salle Street for its first meeting there. On January 24, 1873, the delayed annual meeting was conducted. The secretary reported that during 1872, eighteen regular and three special meetings were held. Fifteen degrees were conferred. Fees then were $10.00 with the petition, $15.00 for the Entered Apprentice Degree, $25.00 for the Fellow Craft, and $25.00 for the Master Mason. The lodge took in $6,063.50 receipts in that year.

The next year, 1873, we learn of the damages sustained by the lodge by the Chicago Fire of 1871. The secretary records that "Volume I, Record Book, was lost in the fire together with the Constitution and By-laws, all the signatures of Masons made since the lodge was chartered, the 'Black Book' of petitioners [in which data were recorded concerning rejected candidates], the Hall Fund Book, the Subscription Book, the Roll Book, and the lodge files in the desk. Volume II, Record Book, had been taken to Dr. Hunt's office in Rush Medical College for writing up the history of the lodge, and . . . probably burned in his office safe. The remaining documents and records are in the Secretary's possession. E. N. Tucker, Secretary." He also recorded that " the lodge received $1,300.00 from the insurance company for fire damage and loss sustained. " There were now 360 members of the lodge.

The new hall was dedicated on February 1, 1873. The ceremony had a Knights Templar escort, a choir, the grand officers, and brethren of many lodges for an impressive celebration and ceremony.

On April 13, 1874, it was resolved to issue script in denominations of $25.00, $50.00, and $100.00 for one, two and three year periods, thus raising $3,000. Interest was 10% per annum until paid. The sum was needed to furnish the anteroom. All unnecessary expense was to be dispensed with until the amount was paid.

Summonses were issued to members of the lodge, who were then required to appear and receive explanations of the project. Failure to appear brought a second summons and a subsequent date for appearance at the lodge. Further infraction subjected the member to Masonic discipline or trial. On June 8, 1874, the lodge considered forming a Masonic Insurance Company to sell life insurance to Masons. Subsequent minutes disclosed no result of this idea.

A Vindictive Scoundrel

The November 20, 1874, minutes of Oriental Lodge tell of receiving notice that Edward Ronayne, Past Master of Key Stone Lodge No. 639 in Chicago, was expelled for "gross unmasonic conduct. " This infamous Edward Ronayne was previously excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church. It resulted from his being embroiled in religious conflict. Surprisingly, he successfully deceived his way into Masonry. His expulsion from Masonry prompted him to write a "supposed expose" of Masonic ritual, replete with errors and falsehoods.

Ronayne lectured extensively where and when audiences were willing to pay his fee. He then sold his manuscript to the anti-Masonic National Christian Association, of Aurora, Illinois. They published it in book form. Ronayne's troubles continued for the rest of his life. He was neither the first nor the last we regret having admitted into Masonry.

A Royal Visitor

Oriental Lodge No. 33 was known far away - even in New York City - for exemplifying the degrees in a spectacular manner.

Other Illinois lodges complained to the Grand Lodge. Without the resources to match those of Oriental Lodge No. 33, they could not confer degrees to the same standard. Oriental Lodge had become accustomed to using elaborate scenery, special lighting effects, resplendent costumes, and to employing organ and choir music.

King Kaulakana of Hawaii and his royal party were touring the United States. Someone in New York City suggested to His Majesty that, as a Mason, he might enjoy visiting Oriental Lodge in Chicago while en route westward across the continent. Word reached Oriental Lodge of the intended January 15, 1875, visit. A carefully limited list of invitations was mailed. Admittance was to be restricted to those with invitations only.

His Majesty was a member of Progress of Oceanica Lodge in Honolulu, Hawaii. By eight o'clock on the evening of the visitation, over 400 Masons had filled the hall to capacity. An equal number congested corridors, adjacent rooms, and stairways. Mayor John Wentworth of Chicago attended. The Grand Master and other celebrated and distinguished Masons were present. Following conferral of the Third Degree, the King was appropriately welcomed and greeted. His remarks on that occasion generated a rousing and standing ovation. Pages 251-53 of the minute book carry a considerable account of the meeting. It must have impressed the secretary beyond his usual crisp, standardized wording. It was 11:30 p. m. before the Master was able to close the lodge.

Complaints by Other Lodges

Sufficient complaints [about its elaborate degree work] prompted the Grand Lodge to restrict Oriental Lodge. Simplicity, within the capability of the poorest lodge in Illinois, must prevail henceforth for all lodges. The effect was to diminish the affluent exemplification of degrees by Oriental Lodge. Except for costumes, Oriental Lodge continued with high standards in proficiency and neatness of appearance which distinguished their lodge from many others. However, this took place after the lodge had received its distinguished royal visitor.

Reunion for the Cup

It was not possible for the cup to have an April, 1993 reunion at Oriental Lodge. It was, however, displayed at the May 12, 1993 stated meeting. None present knew anything to contribute to the cup's engraving or offered an explanation. The relationship between Edward and Frank Cram was not resolved by any references consulted. Burley T. Cram received his Masonic degrees in Massachusetts and now resides in California. He is now exploring family avenues for information. The cup has now been returned to him in California.

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In Remembrance of John J. Robinson. FPS

by Allen E. Roberts, FPS

John J. Robinson, Master Mason, author, farmer, financial consultant, World War II Marine veteran, inventor!

Within Freemasonry Brother Robinson will be remembered as the non-Masonic author of a book that ultimately awakened the sleeping giant called " Masonry. " As no one had before, he shook up the Masonic hierarchy in the Grand Lodges and large appendant bodies. Most important, he was able to unite them in a fight against the unMasonic acts of a handful of bigots within the Southern Baptist Convention.

How did this miracle develop?

In 1989 M. Evans & Company of New York published Robinson's book titled Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry. It originally met with derision among Masonic book reviewers. Its premise was, among other things, that Freemasonry originated after the Christian Knights Templar (not to be confused with the Knights Templar of today claiming Masonic heritage). This conflicted with what many of us had been taught. Scathing reviews were prepared for publication.

After I had received a review copy I read it in two days. The opening paragraph of my review read: "This is not a good book; it's excellent. But it will be hated by many, including the Roman Catholic church, religious bigots, some Masonic ritualists, and some Masonic 'historians' who believe King Solomon brought the Craft into being.') I faxed a copy of my complete review to the publisher. Then I called some of the reviewers who had talked with me earlier about what they had written. I didn't change any minds, but most of them did ease up their venom somewhat.

About 10:30 on the evening I had faxed my review to the publisher, I received a call from the then Mr. Robinson. After we had chatted for an hour or so he told me I was the only Mason to write a favorable review. I told him I was certain it wouldn't be the last. And it wasn't. But there are still a handful of objectors.

Among other things, Robinson dared to do what the Masonic hierarchy had never done - he took on anti-Masonic writers and religious bigots. He did it masterfully. The hierarchy listened to him, as it had no one else. It praised him and supported him, something it had never done before for anyone.

Without question, John J. Robinson was the right man in the right place at the right time!

On November 29, 1992 Robinson entered Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, deathly ill. But before this happened he wrote a book called A Pilgrim's Path: One Man's Road to the Masonic Temple. He had become an Entered Apprentice in Nova Caesarea Harmony Lodge No. 2, Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 25, 1992. On what was expected to be his death bed, Robinson was made a Fellowcraft and Master Mason by Ohio's Grand Master, H. Ray Evans, MPS.

Before he was incapacitated, Robinson took on the anti-Masonic media of television, radio and print. And he did it as none other as ever been able to do. He was invited to more Grand Lodges, appendant bodies, Masonic Lodges and gatherings than anyone else ever has. (He was the only non-Mason ever to speak in Virginia Research Lodge. He and William Whalen, an opponent of Freemasonry, traded words during a semi-annual meeting of The Philalethes Society in Indianapolis, Indiana.)

John Robinson accomplished much during his 67 years, but it's doubtful that he would have been as successful without the help of his wife, Bernice. Among other things, she typed and edited every word that he wrote in long hand. She supported him in all of his endeavors. She stood beside and cared for him during his last, and other, periods of ill health.

Robinson's short, but tremendously successful life as a Master Mason, came to an end on Monday, September 6, 1993. His body has left this earthly scene, but what he accomplished and left behind, will live forever.

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The Wages of a Masonic Traveler - I

by Isaiah A. Wiles, MPS

[Brother Wiles writes, "It is my purpose to show that Masonry can accompany the soldier in war and peace, and can pay Masonic wages, even in foreign lands. "]

Having decided on a career in the U. S. Army medical Corps, with the expectation of a nomadic existence, it seemed apparent that there would belittle opportunity to develop local roots. Thus there would be little chance that I would be "invited" to join the Masons. In 1945, during World War II, while stationed in Oklahoma, an army chaplain, a Mason, noting my interest and my lack of understanding, chose to enlighten me about invitations and petitions. A petition having been submitted to the lodge in Chickasha, Oklahoma, a time of patient waiting ensued. Encouragement suddenly began to appear from Masons of both the civilian and military sectors. Masonic wages were being paid in advance!

Time passed, and on a cold and snowy night our general hospital unit entrained, we believed, for New York and eventual service in Italy in support of mountain troops. News of Masonic lodge action had not been received. No cause for worry, was the conclusion of those Masons on board. Came the dawn, the sun and the direction of our train indicated movement in a westerly direction. After staging in Camp Stoneman, we boarded one of the army's "Navy's" ships, the U.S. Grant. Winter uniforms seemed to indicate a cold climate at the destination. Alaska?

When the ship had arrived near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, mail bags were opened and there was my directive to report on a certain date, now past, for initiation by the Chickasha lodge. Reassurance, by what were to become brothers, was most helpful in this disappointing situation. After being shipwrecked and rescued we landed at Milne Bay, Papua, New Guinea, warmly clothed in winter uniforms, ready for action on the edge of an equatorial jungle, with no personal or organizational property. It was time when a friend was needed. In due time the military need was adequately supplied. Then came a dividend.

Australian and American Masons appeared to congratulate me on having been accepted to take degree work. "We have no lodge here, but we have been having informal social gatherings. We cannot address you as a brother, but since no secrets are revealed, you would be welcome as a friend. You will be helped in any way possible to advance your work. " Thus again were received wages in advance. The word got around. Aussies on ships in the harbor began recognizing me as an "aspirant," and said that they were investigating the possibility of work by "courtesy." To me this term was not clear, but it indicated more bonus wages and in a truly foreign land. Later when initiation, by courtesy, had been completed in the Philippines, an unannounced temporary duty assignment resulted in my landing in Brisbane. An Australian Mason, having learned through the grapevine of my arrival, met the plane to greet me as an entered apprentice, to wish me well and to apologize for the fact that there was presently no lodge activity in Brisbane which my first degree would entitle me to attend. Wages! Later information indicated that Major Hugh Thatcher, a physician from Indianapolis, had mentioned my impending journey to an Australian seacaptain who happened to be in the harbor and who happened to be a Master Mason.

The Leyte Campaign. What an exciting experience that was. My assignment was as Medical Chief of Civil Affairs and Military Government, Base K, Leyte. Military government didn't last long, as General MacArthur, who had landed two days ahead of us, together with the exiled President of the Philippines, had reestablished the legitimate civil government. After commanding a station hospital (500 beds), then a general hospital (1,000 beds), and later a hospital center (10,000 beds), an emergency expansion to (16,000) beds for the mainland Japan campaign proved to be unnecessary as the result of the Japanese surrender. The extra duty as the Surgeon, Base K, brought responsibility for army health in Leyte and the other islands south of Luzon. Time for Masonic activity was almost non-existent. However, many friendly civilian contacts had been made. Again, many were Masons who had hidden lodge working tools and gone underground for the duration of the Japanese occupation. It was said that those who were not deeply enough underground had that error corrected by the enemy.

Makabugwas Lodge of Tacloban, Leyte, had a desire to become active. Members had recovered the charter and working tools, but the temple building had been destroyed. Having been able to find an idle saw-mill, and some logs, local citizens and the American military working together in spare time (more available after the surrender), soon had constructed a very adequate two-story Masonic building. Makabugwas was ready to function. Meantime friends, who were later found to be brothers, had been busy helping me to receive work by courtesy. This was not easy. Makabugwas was eager to help, but the request had to be channeled through the Grand Lodge of the Philippines, the Grand Lodge of California, and the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma. This would require waiting. Meantime, there were many friendly social occasions with future brothers.

Finally the permission cleared all the hurdles, and I was notified (again) to report for work, with the stipulation that I must return on each of the three degrees. With the war ended, we began to close down and rotate personnel to the States. By the time the first degree had been returned and the Australian duty had been completed, there would be only three weeks in which to complete the second and third degrees. Could it be done?

There had been enough patient waiting, and I determined that it would be done. Help appeared from everywhere. My coach selected a secluded spot under an acacia tree as the place for instructional meetings. The acacia, held some Masonic significance yet to be revealed. We spent a couple of hours there each evening. Frequently during the day, some brother would inquire concerning the place where my travels had originated, and more instruction would follow. With all this help, it was accomplished. Having been raised to the degree of Master Mason, and having passed the return examination, I had become a Mason, traveling in a foreign land, with a good accumulation of Masonic wages.

Having assisted in the lowering of the flag of the United States, and having witnessed the raising of the Philippine flag in its place on a sunny Fourth of July afternoon, fellow Philippine citizens had become citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, with the option of choosing U.S. citizenship. In any case, I celebrated independence twice that day - mine and that of my, now, foreign friends. With no travel, I was again in a foreign land. Thanking and congratulating the new citizens of the Philippine Republic, I departed for Tacloban in 1946, to return for the first time in three years to the U.S.A. and to my wife and three children. My brothers at Makabugwas would transmit my Masonic credentials to Chicasha, Oklahoma. There, many months later, after detailed examination, I would, for the first time, sit in my home lodge.

Being assigned to the Surgeon General's Office in the Pentagon (194749), it was convenient to visit the Washington Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. That and visits to Virginia Lodge No. 22 (George Washington's lodge), were useful adjuncts to learning Masonry as practiced in my own land.

By this time, I had learned of additional sources of Masonic light. This resulted in my petitioning the Washington D. C. Scottish Rite, and in my wife's and my petitioning the Arlington Order of the Eastern Star. All petitions were approved, but - Right! I was ordered to Portland, Oregon, as Professor of Military Medicine at the Medical School. Having gone the courtesy route again, we both were pleased at the manner in which our new friends made us recipients of the light which we had requested.

The impression was so favorable that I demitted to the Scottish Rite Valley of Portland. There ensued two years' service (1949-51) as a Class Director. This was at a time when classes were of 100-150 candidates at each of two reunions per year, as is the present plan in many Valleys. There was this difference: new members were encouraged to attend a weekly meeting at which a degree would be presented. At the end of twelve months, members attending regularly would have seen every degree from the 14th through the 32nd. It was a rewarding program in which to work. There was little time for the OES. I did visit Blue Lodges in Oregon and Washington State, and became a Shriner in Al Kader Temple, Portland, Oregon. After my wounds had healed, there was an opportunity to assist the Director's Staff and to work at the local Shriners' Hospital.

After two wonderful Masonic years - war again - Korea. I was off again to Camp Stoneman, California, an overworked, under-staffed processing area for troops going to and coming back from the Far East. There was not much time for Masonic work. But the usual friendly welcome for a brother was much in evidence. There was an occasional visit to a Blue Lodge, and a few of us went to Antioch, California, to receive the Royal Arch degrees. Mount Diablo Chapter of National Sojourners and Camp of Heroes of '76 expanded the field of light. There was time for a bit of activity in the Shrine, Scottish Rite, and associated Masonic philanthropies. Monty Blue my wife's movie favorite, came from Hollywood to promote hospitals for crippled children. It became my turn to encourage others who wanted more light but had not been "invited" or encouraged. Wages were improving.

Orders again, Far East; speculation: Korea. Masons were already becoming known for their charities in that war-torn land. But on arrival in Tokyo, orders surprisingly read, " Fort McKinley, Philippine Republic. " Very interesting military duties included commanding an Army hospital in an Air Force area of responsibility. There was ample time to join military and civilian personnel in Masonic activities: Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite, Shrine. Wages? Sure! Then there was the experience of being a voluntary associate professor in the Medical School of the University of the Philippines. It was like being over-paid. There is always work for the traveler if there is the desire. Masonic Wages are automatic, satisfying.

It was a short but rewarding tour, meeting old friends and making new: military and civilian, Masonic and non-Masonic. We had supported each other, and parting was not easy.

Back to Tokyo, with assignment as Chief U. S. Medical advisor to Japanese Self-Defense Forces. It was a highlight of my military career, traveling all over Japan, working with my former enemy on the most friendly and cooperative basis. My interpreter was more like a teacher, going beyond his duty assignment to insure that I learned as much as possible of Japanese culture, customs, folklore and language. With his help, my only presentation to a Japanese audience in their own language seemed to go well. My audience would not have embarrassed me by making any show of disapproval or by pointing out any error. Attendance at the wedding and reception of Takayosha San, my interpreter, just prior to my return to the U. S. was an honor to be remembered. We still communicate and compare notes on our families.

Masonic activity in Tokyo was especially rewarding. The military nomad has little opportunity to assume a leadership role, but in the three years in Japan, the Sojourners and Shrine Club (U.S.) allowed me to preside. There was much work with the Blue Lodge and Scottish Rite. The latter was able to obtain a nice building from the Japanese government and to establish Scottish Rite bodies there. The pretender to the Korean throne, who was a guest of the Japanese, attended our meetings, where he was recognized as a brother. He was helping to translate to the Japanese language, appropriate portions of Masonic ritual, for use in Japanese lodges.

About this time my son Richard, a recent West Point graduate, was ordered to Korea, and while he was in Japan, I had the pleasure of being his coach in first three degrees. He later completed the Scottish Rite, York Rite, Shrine, and Grotto, as did my younger son, John. My son-in-law, R. Leonard Davenport, later took the York Rite and Shrine. Back to the Japanese scene, with my mission completed and my replacement in, it was Norfolk, Virginia, and six months with the Navy to earn my diploma from the Armed Forces Staff College. This was a period of strict concentration on military education.

With schooling completed for the time being, I landed at Fort Myers, Arlington, Virginia, during 1954-55 as medical chief, with responsibility for health service for the fort and much of the military population scattered throughout the neighboring civilian areas. There, again, was little time for non-duty activity. My former Scottish Rite home in Washington, D. C., was visited as were the Washington Memorial and the House of the Temple. There were some opportunities to serve the Scottish Rite, Shrine, and Sojourners. It was always good to visit old No. 22.

[The concluding portion of Brother Wiles' experiences with Masonic Wages will appear in the February, 1994 issue.]

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United States Freemasons: Early Members of QCCC

by David Crockett, MPS

This paper focuses on a list of United States Freemasons who answered the invitation to join the Quatuor Coronati Lodge Correspondence Circle in England, in 1887. All of these Brothers are listed on the original Quatuor Coronati Lodge St. John's Card in volume one of the 1886-8 Transactions.

It is possible that some of these Brothers lived into the 1920s, and I thought these names and addresses might be enjoyable for further exploration by our Philalethes brothers, indeed we may have some brothers who are relatives or who knew one of these individuals.

As a brief introduction, the original St. John's Card of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge is dated December 27, 1877. The nine English Brothers who founded the Lodge included Robert F. Gould, and I think it is fair to say that modern Masonic research based on objective analysis of the evidence to make a logical conclusion, originated during this period. In a sense it was a merciful end of the romantic school of thought.

As is well known, in the years before the Quatuor Coronati Lodge was founded, well-meaning Brothers like George Oliver, who died twenty years earlier, in 1867, had been ridiculed by non-Masonic historians because Oliver confused symbolism with documented history.

Such prejudicial thinking had to come to an end. When Robert F. Gould published his objective History of Freemasonry in the 1882-7 period, Freemasons began to learn about the documented evidence.

In fact, good argument could be made that not only did the authentic school of Masonic thought begin with the Quatuor Coronati Lodge founders, but that the Quatuor Coronati Lodge was founded because many serious scholars were interested in objectively examining the origin of speculative Masonry. We might reasonably infer that these pioneer United States supporters of this new project in England were also fascinated with more objective analysis of the evidence, using logic to seek the truth. However you read it, the romantic era of writing history was happily ending and the new approach was not only "Where is your evidence?" but "How can you infer that conclusion from that evidence? "

In any event, the thirty-five United States Freemasons who are listed on the first Quatuor Coronati St. John's Card, their date of membership, and the few vital statistics that I was able to identify from limited sources are as follows (for purposes of this list, the bracketed birth and death dates if I was able to find anything, are place under the QCCC membership date, beneath the name).

Arnold, Newton D., Providence, Rhode Island; Lodge No. 1 [May, 1887] - Grand Master of G.L. of Rhode Island.

Batchelor, James Cunningham, New Orleans; [Sept. 1887] - P.M., Grand Secretary of G.L.; G. Chap. 1818-1892 La.

Brice, Singleton Mercer, [May, 1887] - Philadelphia; Lodge No. 51, J.D.

Calhoun, Rev. S.E., Orwell, Vermont; Lodge No. 10, [Sept. 1887] - Grand Chaplain, G. Royal Arch Chap of Vermont.

Camp, Robert, Peabody, Marian Co., Kansas; Lodge No. 120, [May 1887] - P.M.

Caswell, George, Children's Home, Dayton, Ohio; Lodge No. 13 [Sept. 1887] - S.D. 32d.

Daniels, L.E., Mazon, Grundy Co., Illinois; Lodge No. 124, [May, 1887] - Chap. 31, No. 5. Com. (K.T.)

Dickey, Samuel J., Philadelphia; Lodge [May, 1887] - No. 436, P.M.; 183, P.H.P. (#59 in QCCC - ed) (b ? - 1887)

Francis, Charles King, Philadelphia; [Feb., 1887] - Lodge No. 265, P.M.

Haigh, John, Somerville, Massachusetts, P.M.; P.H.P. (R.A.M.); [Nov. 1887] - P.G.M. (R. and S. Masters); Past Deputy Grand High Priest [b. ? - 1889] of Grand Chapter of Massachusetts; P. Em. Com. (K.T.) P.G.

Stan. B. (K.T.); 33d; M.P. Grand Com. Sup. Council, A. and A.S.R., U.S.A., etc. etc., Celebrant Mass. Coll. Rosicrucians, and Hon. ix.

Hay, Thomas A.H., MA ., Hay's Court, Easton, Pennsylvania, [no date] - Lodge No. 152, W.M.; 173, (R.A.)

Henderson, Matthias H., Sharon, Mercer Co.; Pennsylvania; [no date] - Lodge No. 433, P.M.; Most Excellent Grand High Priest of Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania.

Jordan, Abraham, Philadelphia; Lodge No. 51. [Sept. 1887]

Knight, Jonah Franklin, Philadelphia; Lodge No. 271, P.M.; 52, [May, 1887] - P.H.P.; Mem, of Li (b. ? - 1889) brary Committee Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

Lambert, Richard, New Orleans, LA: Lodge No. 59, P.M.; [May, 1887] - G. Rec. (K.T.); G.R. of G. Consistory 32d of A. & A. S. R.; [1828-1915] Assistant Grand [QCCC # 75] Secretary of Grand Lodge; and Grand High Priest of G. Chap. of Louisiana.

Levey, Joseph M., New York; Lodge No. 742, P.M. and Treasurer. [May, 1887] [1820-1888]

Lyte, Joshua, L. Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Lodge No. 43 [Sept. 1887] - P.M.

MacCalla, Clifford Paul, Philadelphia; Lodge No. 67, P.M.; Deputy Grand [Feb. 1887] Master, G.L. of Pennsylvania; Editor of Keystone. [1837-1892] [MacCalla received an unusually lengthy obituary in AQC vol. 5/132-134 by R.F. Gould. MacCalla is possibly The First United States member of QCCC, he was certainly one of the three earliest members]

MacClenachan, C.T., N.Y., N.Y.; Lodge No. 271 [May, 1887] - P.M.; Representative of G.L. of Pennsylvania (Feb. 1887) at G.L. of New York. [6. ? - 1896]

MacNair, Thomas S., Hazelton, Pennsylvania; Lodge No. 242, [May, 1887] - P.M.;181, P.H.P.; Past Deputy Grand Master. [b. ? - 1901]

Meyer, Charles E., Philadelphia Chairman of Library. [Feb. 1887] - Committee of G. Lodge; Past Grand High Priest of Grand Chap.;

Mixsell, Joseph, M.D., Ph.D., Masonic Temple, Easton, (No date) Pennsylvania, Lodge No. 152; Sec., 52, 173, P.H.P.(RA.) [b. ? - 1887]

Norton, Jacob, Boston; Lodge No. 188. [Nov. 1887] [b. ? - 1896]

Patton, Thomas R., Philadelphia; Lodge No.121, [May, 1887] - P.M.; Grand Treasurer of G.L. and G. Chap. of Pennsylvania.

Pinckard, George Josiah, New Orleans; Lodge No. 72 [May, 1873 - WM.; Gen. G.M. of G.G. Counc. of Roy & Select Masters [1830-1914] of the U.S.A.; [QCCC #761 Representative of G.L. England at G.L. Louisiana

Riddiford, Henry, Newton, Kansas; Lodge No. 231, [May, 1887] - S.W., 27, (R.A.); K. Cap Gen., (K.T.); 32d.

Robiins, Rev, James W., D.D., [May, 1887] Philadelphia; Lodge No. 121, P.M.; Grand Chaplain of G.L. of Pennsylvania.

Roome, Gen, Charles, [May, 1887] - New York; Past Grand Master, G.L. of New York. [1812-1890]

Sartain, John, Philadelphia; P.M. [May, 1887]

Saunders, William John H., Grand Haven, Michigan; [May, 1887] Lodge No. 139, W.M.; T.I.M., R&S. Masters; 32d.

Simpers, Robert N., Philadelphia; Lodge No.. 493 [Sept. 1887]

Singleton, William R., Washington; Grand Secretary G.L. of [Sept. 1887] District of Columbia; 33d. [b - ? - 1901]

Smyth, James Adger, Charleston, South Carolina; Lodge No. 4, [May, 1887] - P.M .; 32d; Past Grand High Priest, G.R.A. Chap.; and Grand Master, G.L. of South Carolina.

Walters, A.H., Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Lodge No. 538 [May, 1887]

Wray, Samuel W., Germantown, Philadelphia; Lodge No. 121, P.M. [Sept. 1887]

Robert F. Gould, the famous historian, was founder of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge when the first St. John's Card was published. Gould explained the remark able progress of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge because of the Correspondence Circle interest:

"In January, 1887, we determined, and as events have proved, wisely determined, to try and extend our sphere of usefulness; to associate with us in our efforts that large band of well-wishers and inquirers after truth. . . In March our Correspondence Members amounted to thirty-seven, in June to eighty-eight, in September to one-hundred and twenty-four, in November to one hundred and fifty-five, and on 11th December, 1887, to one hundred and seventy-seven. They are now distributed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, South Africa, Ceylon, East India, Australia, South America, West Indies, United States, and Canada" (Gould, 1887 St. John's Card, pg. 4).

From the St. John's Card it appears that the three earliest Correspondence Circle members from the United States were Charles King Francis, Clifford Paul MacCalla, and Charles E. Meyer. Two other names on the list are noteworthy at this time, George J. Pinckard (1829-1914) and Brigadier General Charles Roome (1812-1890). They are each mentioned in Denslow's 10,000 Famous Freemasons.

I thought it was interesting that areas like Kansas responded to this new Masonic adventure in England so quickly 106 years ago. We might reflect on the fact that 1887 was the age of delivering mail in Canard Line steam ships, " Great Eastern, Umbria" (which crossed the Atlantic in a record six days), and then by steam locomotive from obvious shipping centers as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. The telegraph was forty-three years old and the telephone was still very primitive. The first historic long distance phone call between New York and Chicago occurred in 1892.

Brothers Camp and Ridderford, unless they received word by telegraph, did not waste any time answering the call from London. Brother Camp lived forty miles north-east of Wichita, which is on the Arkansas River. We might speculate that his mail went by wagon to Wichita, by rail to Kansas City, by Paddle Wheeler to St. Louis and New Orleans, and finally by ship 4,000 miles to London.

In closing, since Sir Charles Warren (1840-1927), one of the original founders of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge died sixty-six years ago, and since two of the present members of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge were raised as early as 1928, it is certainly possible that some reader of The Philalethes today, knew one of the original United States Correspondence Circle members.

For those who seek further light on some of the original Correspondence Circle members, the AQC obituary references which I was able to locate for this brief paper are as follow:

Batchelor: AQC 6/191

Dickey: AQC 7/47

Haigh: AQC 10/162

Knight: AQC 3/61

Lambert: AQC 29/235

Levey: AQC 1/216

MacCalla: AQC 5/132-4 (includes an illustration).

MacClenachan: AQC 10/74

MacNair: AQC 14/143

Mixsell: AQC 1/216

Norton: AQC 10/74

Pinckard: AQC 27/75

Roome: 3/111

Singleton: AQC 14/141

In conclusion, my best regards to all readers of The Philalethes and I hope this brief paper provides some enjoyable research. Even better, I hope the list of names finds a senior Brother who is a relative or associate of one of these American pioneers, and that you will tell a story about the old days to The Philalethes.

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Through Masonic Windows

by Allen E. Roberts, FPS

According to the Arizona Masonry the Grand Master is promoting a "public awareness program. " He is urging all Master Masons to wear Masonic jewelry - rings, pins, belt buckles, halo ties, caps with Masonic emblems, and so on. Then he asks: "Who do you tell about Freemasonry? Probably no one! To whom do we give literature about the Craft? Probably no one! " He wants all of his members to promote Freemasonry. "I know it's a big job to learn about Freemasonry, but we must work at it every day in order to answer the questions that we are asked about our Craft. " Something for an of us to ponder.

* * *

Fred Lamar Pearson, Jr., FPS, Editor of the Masonic Messenger of Georgia says he is relieved over the results of the Southern Baptist Convention. He warns Freemasons to not let down their guard. The anti-bigots are still around. He writes: "I am a Southern Baptist and proud of it. I am an Ordained Deacon and Sunday School Teacher and proud also to serve in these capacities. I am a Freemason and proud of it and see absolutely no conflict between my Judeo-Christian Faith and my membership in the Masonic Fraternity. " Well said.

* * *

On September 8th I sent the following note: "My first reaction on learning of the death of James Mingo was one of sadness. It is always sorrowful to learn that a good friend has left this earthly scene. But on reflection, it is ourselves we really feel sorry for, because our friend has finished his earthly labor and he has gone to join our Supreme Grand Master. " James Mingo was MISTER PRINCE HALL MASON. But above all, he was a FREEMASON. He was a friend and Brother with whom I enjoyed haying well thought out, if robust, discussions over lunch during Masonic week in Washington, DC. He loved Prince Hall Masonry, as well he should. He, as I do, favored his branch and mine recognizing the worth of each. Intervisitation he approved; amalgamation he bitterly opposed. A good friend and Brother is now with his Supreme Grand Master. He will be missed, by those of us who were privileged to walk in his footsteps for awhile we will continue to be rich in memories.

* * *

From various sources we find that the ceremony of laying the cornerstone for the United States Capitol on September 18, 1793 was a resounding success. This, as the world knows, was a Masonic event in which President George Washington played an important role. About 400 Freemasons were present for the ceremony, and an estimated 7,000 persons in the audience. Cameras of every description recorded the affair for posterity.

It is claimed the original implements used 200 years ago were used for this reenactment that was presided over by the Grand Master of the District of Columbia, assisted by about 18 other Grand Masters. The historical event wasn't dampened even though the cornerstone had not been found.

According to the account that appeared in a newspaper after the original event, the cornerstone was huge, and placed on top of a silver plate. (It was this latter statement that caused the searchers to believe the stone could be found with metal detectors.) The same news account recorded the wording to be: "The South East corner Stone, of the Capitol of the United States of America in the city of Washington, was laid on the 18^th day of September, 1793, in the 13th year of the American independence in the first year of the second term of the Presidency of George Washington, whose virtues in the civil administration of his country have been as conspicuous and beneficial, as his military valor and prudence have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in the year of Masonry 5793, by the grand lodge of Maryland, several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge No. 22, from Alexandria, Virginia."

Why couldn't the stone be found. During two centuries the Capitol has been burned, rebuilt and expanded so that the southeast corner of 1793 is now embedded somewhere inside the building. (The same problem exists with the cornerstone of Victory Monument in Yorktown - it is nowhere to be seen!)

It is interesting to note that Walter J. Stewart, Secretary of the United States Senate, was made a Mason at Sight by the Grand Master of Masons of the District of Columbia, after the Saturday morning prayer service.

* * *

Freemasonry during the American Civil War has not been forgotten many recent accounts proclaim. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on August 21, 1993 was the scene that depicted Brotherhood in action. It was the culmination of several months of work and planning by that Grand Lodge to place a monument reminding everyone for centuries to come about the love of a Mason for a Brother. Never before had a private organization been permitted to erect a monument in a national historic site. Hundreds of Freemasons participated in the two mile long parade. Among them were Masons belonging to Civil War reenactment units. (Many of the latter helped make the motion picture Gettysburg a success - see the story in the February issue.) Gasps and thunderous applause followed the unveiling of the monument. This depicted the Masonic Union Captain Henry gingham aiding the wounded Masonic Confederate General Lewis Armstrong during Pickett's charge. (Pickett was also a Mason.)