The Magpie Mason is an obscure journalist in the Craft who writes, with occasional flashes of superficial cleverness, about Freemasonry’s current events and history; literature and art; philosophy and pipe smoking. He is Worshipful Master of The American Lodge of Research in New York; is a Past Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786; and also is at labor in Virginia’s Civil War Lodge of Research 1865. He is a past president of the lamented Masonic Society as well.
Bro. Tom discusses John Paul Jones during the research lodge’s meeting yesterday.
Great meeting yesterday for New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786.
Getting into the building turned out to be a little tricky, but everything went smoothly from then. Attendance was terrific—not huge numbers, but several faces we haven’t seen in a while, and some in a really long while. Bro. Matt, erstwhile Secretary, who still keeps a hand in things by publishing our quarterly trestleboard, was there to the delight of those of us who’d been around long enough to know him. And Bro. Sal Corelli (they traveled together) was a sight for red eyes. Plus, Bro. Paul and Bro. Jay, who don’t get to our communications often enough.
We benefitted in profit and pleasure from three presentations.
Secretary Erich Huhn reviewed the Allen Roberts book Freemasonry in American History, which is the current selection of the book club jointly run by the research lodge and Jerusalem Lodge 26. (I admit to getting a chuckle out of their announcement of this title being the club’s first choice of reading material.)
His many books have value, but Roberts was a writer of popular history, not academic research works. Huhn, who is completing a doctoral dissertation on Freemasonry in nineteenth century America, explained that for a Masonic researcher, having sources that include citations is fundamental and essential. We simply need to know where the facts originate, and maybe sometimes we need to see the sources ourselves.
Amazon
Roberts, to his credit (as far as I know), did not traffic in Templar nonsense. Among his many Masonic roles, he once was president of the Philalethes Society; was inaugural Master of Civil War Lodge of Research 1865; was a big wheel generally in Virginia; and is the namesake of that Grand Lodge’s library today. I mean, if the choices are having Masons read nothing about their fraternity, or having them read Allen Roberts, then definitely go with reading Roberts, but don’t accept all of it as verifiable truth.
Next, Treasurer David Palladino, of Jerusalem 26, explained the process of saving that 208-year-old lodge and its 1920s temple from self-inflicted ruination. Laboring in (pardon the term) five-year plans, the goals of saving both the building and the body of Masons inside it requires Heracles’ strength and Job’s perseverance. Big money from the state for historic preservation is going into the temple, and a pointed vetting process for making Masons are just the groundwork of the rebuilding. “I have not yet begun to fight!” could be a motto there, I suppose.
Success in the meantime is seen in the lodge’s activities. Outside of its meeting nights, Jerusalem hosts its Academy of the Humanities. Informed by the education encouraged by the Second Degree of Freemasonry, this project gives good and wholesome instruction in areas varying from how to organize the mind to dining etiquette to philosophy and poetry and music and more. David mentioned Observing the Craft is an inspiration.
It sounds like the lodge I’ve always wanted so, naturally, my work schedule prevents me from ever getting there.
We had one research presentation on the agenda. Bro. Tom Thurber, not a member of the research lodge, but a Past Master of Audubon-Parkside 218, visited to tell us about “John Paul Jones’ Masonic Journey.”
There wasn’t much I knew about Jones other than he famously said “I have not yet begun to fight!” and he’s an ancestor of the Led Zeppelin bassist—and it turns out neither is true! Thurber unpacked an amazing and detailed story of where Jones’ maritime career intersected with Masonic lodges and their members. I can’t imagine there could be conclusive evidence of Jones and his Brother Masons colluding in his professional advancement, but our speaker connected dots that show Jones visiting lodges up and down the American colonies and walking away with employment arrangements. It seems to me that Jones, son of a gardener, probably would not have achieved great heights without some help.
For example, he arrives at the lodge in Fredericksburg, Virginia one day in December 1774, presenting himself as a Brother in distress. He meets Bro. John Read and Bro. Robert Smith. Smith is the younger brother of the Mason who sponsored Jones’ petition at the lodge where he was made a Mason in Scotland three years earlier. What are the odds? Read, a nephew of Benjamin Franklin—and Franklin appears repeatedly in this story—gave Jones his commission in the Continental Navy when the shooting started in the American Revolution.
Jones became the first lieutenant in that navy—not a 1st Lieutenant, but the first to be ranked lieutenant in that service.
In other travels, he arrives in North Carolina where he meets Bro. Joseph Hewes (great name for a Mason!), signer of the Declaration and owner of a shipping company, who hires Jones. Incidentally, Hewes was born and died nearby in Princeton.
The Lodge of Nine Sisters in Paris, when Franklin was its Venerable Master in 1780, commissioned lodge Brother Jean-Antoine Houdon to sculpt a bust of Jones, a work that would prove useful in identifying our hero’s remains when the United States repatriated the same for final interment in 1905 at Annapolis. (A Masonic service there was not conducted until 2016.)
Did you know Jones’ frigate, Bonhomme Richard, was named for “Poor Richard,” Franklin’s pen name for authoring the beloved almanac at mid eighteenth century?
Thurber does not claim to be the first to chart Jones’ career, but to point out how the Masonic connectivity is an overlooked aspect of that history.
In other news, our research lodge will be busy in this two-year term. In September, the lovely and talented Shelby Chandler, himself of Fredericksburg Lodge in Virginia, will visit for discussion of things American Revolution. In October, we’ll visit a lodge way up in north Jersey to give talks and introduce the brethren there to what research lodges do. And a conference is being planned to delve into the history of Masons who were on the losing side of the Revolution, and who skedaddled to Canada for all the obvious reasons.
A new website is being developed, and other helpful improvements are coming together.
Next meeting: Saturday, September 13 at Freemasons Hall in North Brunswick.
And speaking of the Entered Apprentice Degree (see post below), congratulations to Stanlow Lodge 6257, under the United Grand Lodge of England, upon initiating two candidates the other day at Freemasons’ Hall in London, employing—get this—a ritual “in the style of 1759!”
I know that from a social media announcement, but what I don’t know is the source material for that ritual, but I’m a sucker for anything eighteenth century Masonic. Stick a 17 on it, and I’m there.
Stanlow 6257 is not based in London. The lodge is part of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire, which celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2025. Anyway, this edition of The Magpie Mason isn’t about anything directly Masonic, but concerns an alcoholic beverage beloved by America’s most famous Freemason.
Mention of the drink named Cherry Bounce also popped up on social media this week:
I’m not much for sweet drinks, but this sounds pretty good on account of the quantity of either whiskey or brandy one adds to the mix. The Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant has this to say:
Among the few recipes known to have been used by the Washington family is this one for Cherry Bounce, a brandy-based drink popular in the eighteenth century. It seems to have been such a favorite of General Washington’s that he packed a “canteen” of it, along with Madeira and port, for a trip west across the Allegheny Mountains in September 1784.
This fruity, spiced cordial requires a bit of work and time, but the result is well worth the effort. After pitting, halving, and mashing the cherries, be prepared to set aside the sweetened brandied juice for twenty-four hours and then again for about two weeks after infusing it with spices.
Enjoy small glasses of Cherry Bounce at room temperature and keep the remainder on hand in the refrigerator. This recipe is a modern adaptation of the 18th-century original. It was created by culinary historian Nancy Carter Crump for the book Dining with the Washingtons.
There are other recipes that look easier and are for smaller batches that sound more feasible for people like me. Seek out your favorite source of Colonial concoctions instructions.
This beverage sounds like a really good palliative, or something to serve at a table lodge or festive board, especially if you’re marking a Washington-related anniversary—or recreating a 1759 ritual. Vivat!
If you like Garibaldi Lodge’s EA°—that French Rite First Degree rendered in Italian—then you’ll love the original as conferred by l’Union Française Lodge 17, in French, and in the far more intimate setting of the French Doric Room. So be on the tenth floor of Masonic Hall at six o’clock next Tuesday evening.
No one will be admitted once the degree begins at 6:45. Be prepared to work your way into a tiled Masonic lodge room.
The ritual often is said to be Scottish Rite, and while it is similar to the A&ASR First Degree, it in fact is older than that—for example having been worked by this lodge since 1797. It features the alchemical and Rosicrucian symbolism that sets it apart from the Preston-Webb-Cross work known to the rest of us in New York.
The only question I have is will the Empire State Building be lit in the blue, white, and red of France’s Tricolour? We’ll see.
The Worshipful Master is V∴W∴ Bro. Ziad, serving another term in the East, and who you also might know as our Tiler in The American Lodge of Research. My cable tow will not allow me to be present, but you should go!
Grand Lodge’s Tenth Manhattan District is home to the lodges that work in foreign tongues. You can hear French, Spanish, Italian, and several others spoken.
The month of June was very significant in the life of Daniel D. Tompkins.
For example, he was born June 21, 1774 in Scarsdale. He was elected Assistant Grand Secretary of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of New York on June 4, 1800. Became Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge in June 1801. Was elected Grand Master in 1820 on St. John Baptist Day—while serving as Vice President of the United States!
And he died on this date two centuries ago, on June 11, 1825.
I have nothing profound to say. I’m just remembering his passing on this bicentennial anniversary.
Here are a few previous Magpie posts:
▻ A look at Tompkins’ final resting place in Manhattan here.
▻ Excerpts from his revealing writings while a student uptown at Columbia College here.
I can’t believe the year is nearly finished, but in three weeks The American Lodge of Research will host its Installation of Officers when I will be safely ushered to the sidelines where I belong. RW Bro. Yves Etienne will ascend to the Solomonic Chair; the officer team will advance; and a new face or two might join the line.
If you can get to Masonic Hall on Monday the 30th, we’ll be in French Doric on 10 at 7 p.m.
Being a research lodge, our Installations are brief, fast, and perfunctory because those involved already have been feted, at least once, elsewhere over the years, so there’s no dinner, cocktails, etc. Wait, I just learned there will be a mini-collation!
I am drafting a farewell speech that I have trimmed to a perfect forty-five minutes, and I predict there won’t be a dry eye in the room.
Returning to civilian life, my Masonic activities will be centered on my three research lodges, plus whatever occasional, annual, or sporadic events of a like nature that catch my eye.
Today was the third annual Hudson Valley Masonicon at Hoffman Lodge 412 in Middletown. Eight speakers, plus a newly fashioned degree that impressed me, being reminiscent of how side degrees once were common in lodges. On the down side, we missed Rashied, who had to cancel, but otherwise the hard work that went into planning and hosting the event paid off handsomely.
The presenters were:
➣ Pasquale Leo on “The Point Within the Circle”
➣ Magpie Mason on “Masonic Learning: Search and Research”
➣ Andrew Berry on “My Brother’s Keeper: PTSD Awareness for Freemasons”
➣ Greg McCloud on “Charity in the First Degree”
➣ John Konrad on “Climbing the Ladder”
➣ Kyle Williams on “North Star Program & Officer Development”
➣ Chris Winnicki on “The Roman Catholic Church and Masonry”
➣ Keynote Piers Vaughan on “The Purpose of Initiation in Masonry”
A slide from Piers’ lecture.
That degree was called “Lodge of Parallel Saints Degree.”
I didn’t get to see all the talks. For example, I skipped Bro. Leo’s because he and I spoke concurrently; and I had to miss Bro. Kyle (apologies, but I’ve been NorthStar certified for ages) in order to hear Bro. John’s presentation. I found it interesting how those talks I did witness all seemed to be thematically unified. Not the subject matter, although there were a few little overlaps, but the overall gist of the day was encouragement to put the lessons of Freemasonry into practice within lodge and without; to grow beyond performing rituals.
Tracing Board from the ‘degree.’
Speaking of rituals, the brethren did a great job with the “Lodge of Parallel Saints Degree.” Before anyone at Grand Lodge has a heart attack, let me explain this was an exemplification of a recently written ritual. No degree was conferred. Nothing outside or at odds with the Standard Work was introduced to the brethren. A “Lodge of Enlightenment” was opened, and the officers imparted a lesson in, I think it’s safe to say, achieving balance, using the examples of the Holy Saints John as guides. Hopefully this will become a lodge program for the Orange Rockland Sullivan District.
Vivat!
A festive board, with a tasty meal, capped off a long day. A lot of hard work undertaken by a small crew produced the success. Congratulations! I’m looking forward to next year’s.
Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of New Jersey Proceedings of 1860.
Today is the anniversary of the death in 1867 of T.I. Moses Coddington, the first Master of my Cryptic Council, Scott No. 1, in New Jersey.
I know this because I received an email earlier this week from Comp. Nick, who is researching the early days of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of New Jersey, founded in 1860. I gave him what little information I had and referred him to the Masonic Temple Library and Museum in Philadelphia to find hard copies of New Jersey Grand Council’s early books of proceedings which, I’m only assuming, it inventories. And I sent him the above snippet of the first book of proceedings, which I’ve published on this blog a couple of times in recent years. Reading it anew, I noted the names of the three Cryptic Masons representing Scott Council 12 at the convention in New Brunswick that established Jersey’s Grand Council.
Scott 12, as you can see, was chartered by Pennsylvania’s Cryptic Grand Council (it met in New Brunswick). Upon creation of the Grand Council of New Jersey, Scott 12 became Scott 1, and Companion Coddington became its inaugural T.I.M.
So I took a quick look online for any information on Coddington and, to my surprise, there is some biography. From Find a Grave:
Moses Coddington
BIRTH 8 Feb 1826
New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey
DEATH 7 Jun 1867 (aged 41)
New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey
BURIAL
Willow Grove Cemetery New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey
Moses Coddington was born 1826 in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, NJ, the eldest of 10 known surviving children (6 boys/4 girls) born to grocery clerk David Coddington and his wife, Deborah Van Derveer. He was the paternal grandson of Moses Coddington & Elizabeth Hutchins Bonney of Bound Brook, Somerset Co; and gr-grandson of David Coddington & Ann Stone of Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ.
He is a direct descendant of this family’s patriarch, Stockdale Coddington (ca. 1569-aft 1650) of Surry, England who traveled to the New World with his (1st) wife, Sarah Wood, eventually settling in Rockingham County, Vermont. This branch of the Coddingtons were later in Boston, MA until descendant John Coddington, II (1653-1715) removed to Woodbridge, NJ, where he was Constable in 1692. He was the maternal grandson Garret Van Derveer & Deborah Voorhees of Three Mile Run, Somerset County, NJ.
Moses attended public schools in New Brunswick and graduated Rutgers in 1845, after which he began his career as a bank cashier. On August 2, 1849 the 23-year old married 20-year old Caroline Amanda Runyon, daughter of Clarkson Runyon and Matilda Carman Mundy of Middlesex County. The couple would have one child: George Conover Coddington (1853-54), who died in infancy. The marriage was short-lived as Caroline died six years into the marriage. Caroline was buried in Willow Grove near her parents and infant son.
Three years later, Moses married (2nd) Emilie Mercien DuPuy, the 20-year old daughter of Episcopal Rev. Ephraim and Isabelle DuPuy. Moses and Emilie would become parents to one known child, Herbert DuPuy Coddington (1861-90). Moses and Emilie would be married just 9 years, as he passed in 1867 at age 41 succumbing to tuberculosis. He was buried in Willow Grove, but would later by joined by Emilie and his son.
Following her husband’s death, Emilie and their 6-year old son moved in with her parents, who were then in Warren County, NJ where her father was pastor of the Knowlton Church. Emilie died young as well, passing 4 years later in 1871 at age 33 in Madison, NJ, where her father had taken another post. The Rev. DuPuy and his wife then took over the care of their orphaned grandson, Herbert, who was last found at age 19 in lower Manhattan living with his grandparents, following in his father’s footsteps, working as a Bank Clerk. Herbert died in 1890 at age 28, and is buried near his parents in Willow Grove.
Grand Lodge of New Jersey 1868 proceedings, showing Union Lodge 19’s returns, notes Coddington’s death.
Thus far, it looks to me like his cemetery plot might not be locatable. More than twenty years ago, researchers with New Brunswick Free Public Library spent two summers recording the data off readable headstones, but the Coddingtons’ do not seem to be among them.
Also, apparently Coddington did not graduate Rutgers in 1845, as stated above, but entered the college then at age nineteen. This book shows him graduating with an Artium Baccalaureatus with the Class of ’48 and earning an Artium Magister in ’51:
Being from and in New Brunswick, I figure Coddington was at labor in Union Lodge 19. (Union and Scott Chapter 4 RAM and Scott 1 RSM have been kin since the 1850s, and were under the same roof then as they are now.) Sure enough, Grand Lodge of New Jersey records show him as a Past Master in 1858 of Union 19 (not to be confused with Union 11 in Orange—today’s Livingston 11). Proceedings do not show which year he presided in the East, but he was Treasurer (remember, he worked in banking) in 1861.
Royal Arch Grand Chapter records of 1860 have him as the M.E.H.P. of Scott 4 from September 1, 1859 to September 1, 1860. In Grand Council, Coddington was its Deputy Grand Master during most of its first year until new elections were held. He did not become M.I. Grand Master.
I see Coddington appears to have been a significant name in the state’s history, based on my little reading. Not because of our late Brother, who simply died too young, but likely because of his forebears. A notable number of streets in the central area of Jersey carry that moniker.
Oddly enough, the Potentate of Crescent Shrine, not far away in Westhampton, is Vincent P. “Champ” Coddington, Jr. I’ll reach out to ask if there’s a possible relation.
It’s amazing what can be found online in only a few minutes. I’ll keep looking into him, but since today is the anniversary of Bro. Coddington’s death, I just wanted to remember him in this edition of The Magpie Mason.
You are following Classical Wisdom on Substack, yes? On Monday, its founder, Anya Leonard, posed her weekly question:
At what cost are great works? Should we celebrate beautiful monuments that were constructed on pain and thievery? Is it important to know the backstories, and does that knowledge take away from their grandeur? Should we unearth these skeletons, or let the past rest in the past?
And she begins her column with a few sentences from a beloved old detective novel worth sharing here:
“Take the Pyramids. Great blocks of useless masonry, put up to minister to the egoism of a despotic bloated king. Think of the sweated masses who toiled to build them and died doing it. It makes me sick to think of the suffering and torture they represent.” Mrs. Allerton said cheerfully: “You’d rather have no Pyramids, no Parthenon, no beautiful tombs or temples—just the solid satisfaction of knowing that people got three meals a day and died in their beds.”
Agatha Christie
Death on the Nile
Not the case with King Solomon’s Temple, obviously, with its happy masons laboring for God, but what a question!
At what cost? Pain? Thievery? Skeletons? All that precludes any love for the beautiful and sublime. (Leonard’s point is to initiate a conversation about history.)
Who knows if this ever crossed any of the laborers’ minds, but they built civilizations, and we should be thankful visitors to those enduring human triumphs.
Make sure you will be available Saturday, August 23 for a full day of Masonic learning, feasting, and celebrating the life of Bro. John Skene, whose emigration from Scotland to the West Jersey colony in 1682 made him the first Mason in the New World.
The Speakers
Dr. Susan Mitchell Sommers, Professor of History at Saint Vincent College in Pennsylvania, has spent an inordinate sum of time and energy researching and writing about Freemasonry. If I’m not mistaken, she soon will publish a book on James Anderson, the subject of her talk at this conference.
Bob Cooper, retired curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland and co-host of the amazing Masonic Authors Guild International podcast, also is an author of Masonic books and frequent speaker on the lecture circuit. He is known for untwisting confusing skeins (see what I did there?) in Scottish Masonic history, from Templar nonsense and Rosslyn Chapel to modern times, and will present current scholarship on John Skene.
The opening act, inexplicably, will be the Magpie Mason. Basically, I am a holdover from last year’s conference, which was canceled because something called the Masonic Restoration Foundation chose the same Saturday to host its annual symposium just across the river in Philly. I will present my talk on Thomas Reid, which explains precisely how a key treatise of Scottish Enlightenment philosophy came to be quoted at length in the lecture of the Fellow Craft Degree employed by most lodges in America.
Magpie file photo
Plus, there will be a memorial program at the site (approximately) of Skene’s final resting place, and a cocktail hour the night before, and dinner after the conference.
I hope we can find a place to smoke too. I still have a little of the Hebrides pipe mixture I bought at John Crouch Tobacconist during the Scottish Freemasonry in America Symposium in Virginia a few years ago.
Tickets are priced according to preference. One need not attend all the events, but the symposium/dinner combo costs a very reasonable seventy bucks.
The Philalethes Society announces a way for Masonic groups to benefit their members by subscribing to its quarterly journal. No, not a copy of the printed edition that gets torn to pieces in the melee over who gets it first, but a PDF for your lodge (or chapter, etc.) to disseminate by email. From the publicity in the current issue:
Lodge and Appendant Bodies
Subscription Program
A New Program of Masonic Education for Every Lodge and Masonic Group
Since its founding in 1928, the Philalethes Society has been devoted to the promotion of the highest quality Masonic education and research. Eager to extend our mission of promoting quality Masonic education, the Executive Board of the Society is offering a Lodge Subscription Program.
As many Masons prefer electronic dissemination of materials, we would like to put the Philalethes journal into the hands of your lodge brothers or masonic group brothers who want to continue their quest for further Light in Masonry. For a nominal annual fee, every lodge can send out an electronic copy of the Philalethes four times a year via an email attachment of our journal in PDF format.
All we need is some basic contact information and payment made on a lodge or Masonic organization’s check. Here is a great opportunity to help your members be better informed and grow in their Masonic knowledge.
1. Distribution of Philalethes to your members via the Lodge Subscription Program may require the permission of your Grand Lodge or Appendant Body.
2. Recipients of Philalethes via electronic delivery will be considered “subscribers” rather than members of the Society, and may not use the initials MPS nor vote.
3. Only members of your lodge/body are entitled to this PDF copy of Philalethes.
4. A subscription is for one year (four issues) of Philalethes, which comes out quarterly.
5. All subscriptions to this program must be made on a lodge or appendant body check.
6. We invite your members to submit thoughtful and well-researched articles to our Editor for consideration.
7. This program is open to all lodges, research lodges, and appendant or concordant bodies of Freemasonry.
8. For further questions, please contact the Philalethes Society’s Secretary here.
I haven’t been able to interest The ALR in reviving Knickerbocker Chapter, so maybe this could be the way to involve the lodge in the Philalethes Society. We’ll see.
Chris Murphy, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of Vermont, announced this week his upcoming book, The Secret’s Kept Sacred, from Plumbstone. Without knowing exactly what’s between the covers, I’ll speculate his book contains the kind of research that our research lodges, grand historians, et al. should be busy producing. Namely, local history and its contexts. From the blurb:
Step into the vibrant world of early Vermont Freemasonry with this meticulously curated collection of orations, sermons, and songs from 1781 to 1811. Edited by Christopher B. Murphy, these eighteen works illuminate the philosophical and spiritual heart of the Craft during Vermont’s formative years.
From Ezra Styles’ eloquent 1781 address to Hosea Ballou’s stirring sermons, these voices reveal a brotherhood dedicated to universalism, charity, and enlightenment. Enhanced by detailed scholarly annotations and a vivid exploration of a 1798 Masonic trestleboard, this volume traces the origins and applications of Masonic traditions, symbols, and ideals, as they spread throughout the Green Mountain State.
The Secret’s Kept Sacred is an essential resource for Freemasons, historians, and anyone captivated by the enduring mysteries of the Craft in America’s early republic.
“Let this modest selection transport you to a time in early Vermont history when small groups of dedicated men sought to live by the lights of a grand experiment in which individuals pledged to unite in a way that transcended differences both petty and profound, in order to explore the path of initiation and reflect upon a symbolism that promised insight into valuable and timeless mysteries. Here, their voices offer us numerous perspectives upon the reasons why they became and remained Vermont Freemasons.”
Time to focus on Civil War Lodge of Research 1865’s meeting scheduled for next month. Celebrating its thirtieth year, the lodge keeps a busy itinerary, and the brethren will get together in Tennessee and Georgia during the weekend of July 11.
Some details are subject to change, but here’s the plan thus far:
Thursday, July 10: Brethren will begin arriving. Arrangements have been made at Hampton Inn Ringgold-Ft. Oglethorpe (6875 Battlefield Parkway) in Ringgold, Georgia.
Friday, July 11: A morning tour of Chickamauga Battlefield. Lunch at noon, possibly at Tompkins Lodge 466 in Ft. Oglethorpe. The battlefield tour will resume at 1 p.m., and at four o’clock, there may be a visit (they’re still working it out) to Gordon-Lee Mansion. Dinner (details to come) at 6:30, and then, while there’s still daylight, a trip to the Ringgold Gap Battlefield.
That sounds like a weekend itself, but then there’s…
Courtesy Brent Moore
Saturday, July 12: Arrive at 8 a.m. at Quitman Lodge 106 in Chattanooga, TennesseeRinggold, Georgia. Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 will tyle at 10 a.m. Lunch at noon. At two o’clock, everyone will gather at Lookout Mountain for a tour. Dinner at 6:30 (details to come) before capping off the weekend with a visit to Cigars International in East Ridge, Tennessee.
I wish I had freedom to travel more. I’d really love to make this trip. But if your cabletow permits, you should join in.
I’ll say one thing though: When the research lodge conference in Kentucky opens in September, I’m going to speak to the virtues of research lodges traveling and touring relevant sites. My research lodge in New York City meets on weeknights, and so is limited in what it can do. My research lodge in New Jersey meets on Saturday mornings, and so is limited in different ways in what it can do. CWLR 1865 is my other research lodge and, as you can see, it has plans for weekends. The lodge meeting is a pretty minor part of it all, time-wise. Many of the brethren are accompanied by their ladies, making these weekends more than just Masonic activities.
CWLR 1865 will meet next in October in Richmond, Virginia, and I do expect to attend that one. Hope to see you there.
It’s had quite a history these first 130 years of its existence, but it was on this date in 1890 when Grand Master John W. Vrooman laid the cornerstone of what then was called the Washington Memorial Arch in the traditional Masonic ceremony.
Today, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation calls it the Washington Square Arch, as it stands at the principal entrance of Washington Square Park at the foot of Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. That entire quad, spanning slightly less than ten acres, has an amazing past that is integral to the city’s story, but this edition of The Magpie Mason concerns that cornerstone dedication 135 years ago today.
The Craft was well represented that day, but this event was not a Masonic project. For all the obvious reasons—from the Order’s prominence in city life in 1890, to the singular appropriateness of the Masonic cornerstone-laying ceremony, our Grand Lodge leadership was key to this celebration. But first, some necessary backstory:
There had been a predecessor arch almost on the same site the previous year. New York City would not neglect the centennial anniversary of George Washington’s first inauguration as President of the United States. As you know, that axial moment in world history happened at Wall Street on April 30, 1789. As its hundredth anniversary approached, an effort was made in the Washington Square neighborhood to organize a team to raise funds, hire an architect, and erect an arch as part of the commemoration. This was to be a temporary structure; it was built of wood with a plaster skin, had garlands and laurels rendered in papier maché, and was painted an ivory white. Its design, by none other than Stanford White, was in keeping with similar architecture Washington knew in his lifetime.
On its top stood a ten-foot statue of Washington, also of wood, that dated to 1792 and had been situated at the Battery. This arch did not loom over the northern edge of the Square as does the marble arch we’re remembering now. This one stretched across Fifth Avenue about a hundred feet north of the Square. Figure its piers stood at about today’s 2 Fifth Avenue on the west side, and at Glucksman Ireland House across the street.
The arch stood 71 feet high (including that statue) and 51 feet wide. At night, it was illuminated by hundreds of Thomas Edison’s incandescent lights. Having walked that block a few thousand times, I imagine that nighttime sight was aptly spectacular for Gilded Age New York. Let me just trace the parade route to illustrate the great significance of the dedication of this early arch (and this will impress everyone who knows Manhattan):
Departing from Wall Street, up Broadway to Waverley Place, across Waverley to Fifth Avenue, and then up to Fifty-Ninth Street!And then back!
Google Maps
Google Maps says the one-way trip runs 6.4 miles and is a two-and-a-half hour walk. It would be out of the question today. It’d screw up half of Manhattan. And the whole project got done in less than two months, which also would be impossible today. But enough on this very temporary arch hardly anyone knows about.
The permanent arch with the amazing life story we know today was prompted by the first one’s success. A $100,000 budget for creating the Washington Memorial Arch was set, and when the first $60,000 was in hand, the work commenced. Ground-breaking was April 30, 1890—the first anniversary of the Washington Inauguration’s centenary. May 30, which was Decoration Day (today’s Memorial Day), was the time for the cornerstone-laying.
Thus far, I have been borrowing from The History of the Washington Arch in Washington Square, New York, published in 1896 by the Committee on Erection of Washington Arch at Washington Square, but now I quote it directly:
Imposing ceremonies attended the laying of the cornerstone on Decoration Day: May 30, 1890.
The National Guard of the City of New York, commanded by General Fitzgerald, marched between the stands which had been erected. A vast concourse of citizens surrounded the spot. Henry G. Marquand, chairman of the committee, acted as Master of Ceremonies. Bishop Henry C. Potter opened the exercises by prayer. Following this, a hymn, especially written for the occasion by Robert Underwood Johnson, was sung by the Oratorio and other singing societies, in all 200 voices led by Frank H. Damrosch.
Addresses were made by Henry G. Marquand and Waldo Hutchins, representing the Park Commission, and the chorus sang patriotic airs. The oration was then delivered by George William Curtis who concluded it with a quotation from Washington’s Address delivered in the Constitutional Convention: “Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hands of God.” These words, at Mr. Curtis’ suggestion, have been inscribed on the large panel of the attic on the south front of the Arch.
The actual ceremonies of laying the cornerstone were then conducted in accordance with the Masonic ritual by the Grand Lodge. The Rev. Robert Collyer, Grand Chaplain, used in the service the Bible on which Washington took his oath of office, and from it read the chapters of Genesis which, as he explained, had been read at Washington’s inauguration.
From Grand Lodge’s 1890 Proceedings.
A copper box containing coins, medals, newspapers, and articles relating to the Arch and the committee was deposited in a receptacle provided for it. The architect Stanford White offered the plumb, level, and square for testing the stone which was then partially lowered. Grand Master John W. Vrooman, with a silver trowel presented to him by the committee, laid the mortar above the receptacle, and the stone was then lowered into its place.
After the stone had been tested and pronounced truly laid, prayer was made by Grand Chaplain Collyer and an address delivered by Grand Master Vrooman.
This concluded the ceremonies which were witnessed from a stand erected by the committee by a number of distinguished persons including President Cleveland (then ex-President) and Mrs. Cleveland, Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Fairchild, William E. Dodge, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Watson Gilder, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cooper, Lispenard Stewart, John Jacob Astor Jr., Charles H. Russell, Mr. and Mrs. Frank S. Witherbee, Augustus St. Gaudens, Eugene Kelly, Mr. and Mrs. Butler Duncan, Theodore W. Myers, Samuel D. Babcock, Daniel Huntington, Donald McNaughton, Bishop Henry C. Potter and Mrs. Potter, Charles S. Smith, William L. Strong, John A. King, Rutherford Stuyvesant, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick G. Lee, and many others.
Several months were spent after the cornerstone had been laid in the perfecting of the final designs for the superstructure of the Arch in the preparation of specifications and in tests of marbles submitted from different quarries. The marble finally selected was from the Tuckahoe Quarry in Westchester County.
Watch this two-minute video from the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library of the Grand Lodge of New York to get a look at that silver trowel.
More details about the cornerstone ceremony, quoted from The History of the Washington Arch book:
The Masonic Ceremony
At the close of Mr Curtis’ address, the direction of the further ceremonies was turned over by Chairman Marquand to John W. Vrooman, Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, who formally proclaimed that the cornerstone of the Arch would then and there be laid in accordance with the ancient rites of Masonry. Mr. Marquand thereupon presented the Grand Master with a beautiful silver trowel suitably inscribed.
The following officers of the Grand Lodge then took their places around the stone: John W. Vrooman, Grand Master; William Sherer, Deputy Grand Master; F.A. Burnham, Senior Grand Warden; E.B. Harper, Junior Grand Warden; John J. Gorman, Grand Treasurer; E.M.L. Ehlers, Grand Secretary; F.W. Morris, Senior Grand Deacon; Edward B. Price, Junior Grand Deacon; William W. Wallace, Grand Sword Bearer; John G. Janeway, Grand Standard Bearer; and William C. Prescott, Grand Marshal.
The Rev. Robert Collyer, Grand Chaplain, then arose in the speakers box and, lifting into plain sight of the multitude a large open book, explained that he held in his hand the Bible upon which George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States. The book was then, and is now, the property of St John’s Lodge of Masons in this city. It was upon this page, said the white haired clergyman, glancing down upon the open book that Washington is said to have placed his hand while taking that historic oath. It contains portions of the forty-ninth and fiftieth chapters of the Book of Genesis. Dr. Collyer read a few verses from those chapters and then uttered a brief prayer.
The Masonic ritual proceeded. The small copper box, with its collection of medals and coins and the records of the event commemorated, stood ready to be deposited in the heart of the great granite block. Grand Treasurer Gorman announced the contents of the copper box to be deposited in the stone as follows:
• the St. Gaudens Washington Centennial medal bearing the date May 30, 1889
• a souvenir of the Washington Centennial celebration of 1889 with designs by Blashfield and Low
• a catalogue of the Centennial Loan Exhibition 1889 with portraits and relics
• a souvenir of the Committee on States of the Centennial celebration
• invitations, tickets, and circulars of the various committees on the Centennial celebration of 1889
• silver, nickel, and copper United States coins of 1889
•a United States silver coin of 1799
•a souvenir of the Centennial Judiciary banquet 1889
•a copy of the Constitution of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution
•a copy of the Constitution of the St. Nicholas Club
•the directory of the New York Board of Education
•a list of the officers of the Grand Lodge F and AМ of the State of New York
•a subscription blank for the Washington Memorial Arch
•newspapers of New York of the mornings of April 27th and 29th 1889; and May 29th and 30th 1890
•the personal card of William Rhinelander Stewart, the leading promoter of the Arch project
•the cards of the reporters present
•a silver dollar sent by Vice President Morton
The Grand Treasurer further stated that one coin, a silver dollar, and the autographs of President Harrison and Vice President Morton, contributed by a lady, had been received after the box was sealed and therefore would be placed in the aperture beneath the box.
The usual test was then applied; the box was inserted in the aperture provided for it; and the heavy stone was lowered into its bed of mortar. The impressive test and consecration of the cornerstone followed.
Stanford White, the designer and architect of the Memorial Arch, handed to Grand Master Vrooman the implements of his Craft: the square, the level, and the plumb. Each implement was applied to the stone by the proper officer of the Grand Lodge and the stone was reported to be of proper form.
The golden horn was then produced and Deputy Grand Master Sherer poured upon the imbedded stone a bit of ground corn emblematic of goodness and plenty. Wine and oil from the silver chalices were next poured upon the stone to symbolize joy and peace.
The formal surrendering of the stock into the keeping of the architect ended the ceremonies.
And what about that address delivered by The Most Worshipful John W. Vrooman, Grand Master of Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York? For that speech, we’ll turn to Grand Lodge’s 1890 Proceedings. The 109th Annual Communication was opened June 3, only a few days after the celebration at Washington Square.
Address by the Grand Master.
John W. Vrooman
Among these illustrious patrons, the revered and honored name of WASHINGTON appears upon the page of history as the ideal man and Mason.
I will briefly refer to him as a member of our Fraternity, leaving his civil and military career to the distinguished orators of the day.
Official records inform us that WASHINGTON was made a Mason in Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, on the 4th day of November 1752, at the “mature age” of twenty years, while serving as an adjutant-general in the British Army. He was chosen some years after Worshipful Master of Alexandria Lodge, No. 22, receiving his commission from Grand Master EDMUND RANDOLPH, Governor of Virginia.
The active military life of WASHINGTON as commander-in-chief seemed to inspire active Masonic labor. He encouraged military lodges, and frequently participated in their work. It was upon one of these occasions that he made General LAFAYETTE a Freemason.
The Grand Lodge of Virginia in the early days of its organization elected WASHINGTON as its Grand Master; not being eligible at the time, he was compelled to decline the honor.
If time would permit, we would gladly recall his unceasing love and loyalty to the Craft, as evidenced by his Masonic visitations, letters, and addresses.
On the 18th day of September 1793, GEORGE WASHINGTON, President of the United States, acting as Grand Master, laid, with appropriate Masonic ceremonies, the cornerstone of the Capitol of this great Republic.
On the 4th day of July 1848, the Grand Master of Masons of the District of Columbia laid the cornerstone of that mighty monument at Washington which is the wonder and admiration of a civilized world, and on the 21st day of February 1885, it was dedicated by the Grand Master of that jurisdiction, in presence of the President and Congress of the United States. It is, therefore, most fitting that the cornerstone of this Washington Memorial Arch should be laid with Masonic ceremonies, thus following a long line of precedents, and affording the Fraternity an opportunity to once more give public evidence of their loving remembrance of a distinguished brother, and of their “loyalty to the government in which they live.”
The ceremony before us—the erection of this monumental arch as an enduring token of the lasting memory of an appreciative and affectionate people—vividly recalls the wonderful Centennial celebration of a year ago, which made this occasion possible.
The Masonic Brotherhood of the Empire State was deeply interested in that great demonstration—doubly interested because the central figures in that historic inauguration were in the forefront of our beloved Institution, and among the most talented and illustrious men and Masons of that or any other age.
There stood GEORGE WASHINGTON, the pride of his countrymen, the beloved of his brethren, awaiting the oath of office.
Then appeared ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, the Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, who, as Chancellor of this State, administered the oath of office to WASHINGTON. Most Worshipful BRO. LIVINGSTON was one of the ablest statesmen and jurists this country ever produced, and our honored Grand Master for sixteen years.
A valuable aid in furthering the success of that inauguration day was JACOB MORTON, Chief of Staff, who was at the time Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of New York. Most Worshipful BRO. MORTON, a brave and accomplished military officer during the Revolution, held the office of Grand Master for five years.
Standing there as witnesses to the impressive inauguration of the first President were many of the signers of the immortal Declaration of Independence. Do you wonder that the Declaration proclaimed Freedom when you consider the great fact that fifty-two of the fifty-six signers were Freemasons?
A worthy successor to the honors of the Brethren just mentioned was found in the person of DE WITT CLINTON, one of the renowned governors of this State, who held the office of Grand Master for fourteen years.
During the War of 1812, DE WITT CLINTON, Grand Master of Masons, convened a Grand Lodge of Emergency on the first day of September 1814 in this city, for the sole purpose of volunteering for government duty, and the Brethren under his leadership were assigned by the Committee of Defense for receiving the services of the Craft on the fortifications at Brooklyn, pursuant to resolution, and they diligently labored through the day. One week later they again volunteered their services on the fortifications erecting on Brooklyn Heights, and more especially there as one of the forts had, in honor of the Craft, been called Fort Masonic.
The history of Freemasonry in this State is therefore coeval with the history of our National Government.
Then, as now, Freemasons obeyed the teachings “to be true to your government and just to your country, yielding obedience to the laws which afford your protection.”
The wise and patriotic administration of Grand Master CLINTON was followed by DANIEL D. TOMPKINS, governor of this State, Vice-President of the United States, and also the honored Grand Master of Masons for several years.
These and other eminent Craftsmen, leaders in civil as well as Masonic affairs, inspired confidence in the plan and purpose of our Institution, elevated its character, developing its growth and usefulness to such an extent that at the present time it commands the respect and admiration of all mankind.
Permit me, in passing, to make brief allusion to another matter of historic interest. The Holy Bible borne today in the Grand Lodge procession, and now before you, is the property of St. John’s Lodge, No. 1, A.Y.M., of the city of New York, and has been jealously guarded by that noble band of brethren for more than one hundred years. Upon this sacred volume, GEORGE WASHINGTON took the oath of office as first President of this nation. It is a part of our unwritten history that as the moment approached for the oath to be administered, no Bible was at hand, nor could one be secured in the building. Chancellor ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, as Grand Master, knew that every Masonic lodge-room contained a copy of the Holy Scriptures. He remembered that the Chief of Staff, JACOB MORTON, was Worshipful Master of St. John’s Lodge, No. 1, and that the lodge-room was nearby. A word to MORTON; a hastening to the lodge-room; a return with the Holy Bible; and without seeming delay the oath was taken. Thank God that the Great Light in Masonry must always have honorable place in every lodge-room!
One more brief allusion to a matter of similar interest. This medallion, accompanied by an autograph letter (the property of the Grand Lodge of New York), is said to possess the best likeness of WASHINGTON now in existence; it also contains a lock of his hair, and was presented by him, in June 1783, to Major BILLINGS, a member of his staff. At that time Major BILLINGS was Worshipful Master of a lodge located at or near Newburgh, and had frequently received General WASHINGTON as a visitor.
A gavel, which I hoped to use upon this eventful occasion, but an unforeseen circumstance has prevented, was expressly prepared for presentation to WASHINGTON, used by him as President, and also as acting Grand Master of Masons in laying the cornerstone of the Capitol of the United States. After the ceremonies, he presented it to Potomac Lodge, No. 9, F.&A.M., District of Columbia, and it has been carefully guarded by that lodge as a precious treasure since that time. It was used by the Grand Master in laying the cornerstone of the great monument at Washington; also at the laying of the cornerstone and dedication of the equestrian statue of Washington at the National Capital. It was likewise used at the laying of the cornerstone of the Yorktown Monument, and upon many other occasions in laying the cornerstones of public buildings and monuments in several States of the Union.
Fitting it would be to make the present ceremony the more interesting and memorable by using that emblem of authority once wielded by him whose memory we hold sacred and this day further perpetuate. There are now in existence twelve different medals which were struck, in the early days of the Republic, to commemorate the Masonic virtues of WASHINGTON.
At the close of his earthly labors, the lodge over which he presided as its first Master buried him with Masonic honors.
I conclude this hasty sketch by strongly commending to the Craft the following beautiful words of WASHINGTON, spoken while President of the United States.
Replying to an address from some Rhode Island Brethren, he said:
“Being persuaded that a just application of the principles on which the Masonic Fraternity is founded must be promotive of private virtue and public prosperity, I shall always be happy to advance the interests of the Society, and to be considered by them as a deserving brother.”
To the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts he said:
“To enlarge the sphere of social happiness is worthy the benevolent design of a Masonic institution, and it is most fervently to be wished that the conduct of every member of the Fraternity, as well as those publications that discover the principles which actuate them, may tend to convince mankind that the great object of Masonry is to promote the happiness of the human race.”
We are assembled here today in the presence of this vast audience to perpetuate the memory of a man who left on record such inspired words of wisdom, and while we build this Memorial Arch, which, we pray God, may be as enduring as the granite itself, we nevertheless firmly believe that the greater monument of WASHINGTON’s pure life, valiant deeds, and fraternal advice will be erected in the hearts of a grateful people, to remain spotless and perfect forever.
The officers of the Grand Lodge assembled at the residence of BROTHER the Hon. EDWARD COOPER, ex-mayor, and marched thence in procession to the site of the proposed Memorial Arch in Washington Square.
Okay, so you can see this likely was kind of a stump speech, and I won’t address its various factual errors (remember, this was 1890, when people had a folklorist approach to history).
Magpie file photo
I don’t doubt it was an awesome day for the city, and I’d bet the participants would be happy to see the Arch not only remains in place, but also is a prominent landmark in a part of the city where the buildings are short and the streets are narrow.
Ownership of the Arch was duly transferred to the City of New York, and on May 4, 1895, the completed marble Arch was dedicated. It has been an anchor in time, not flinching as the world around it ever changes.
Posts
