‘Masonic Hall Monitors at The ALR’

    

Thomas Smith Webb by Travis Simpkins.

What better way to commemorate the anniversary of Thomas Smith Webb’s birth in 1771 than to attend your research lodge for a dive into the history of Freemasonry’s ritual literature?

Actually, I guess initiating a candidate with Webb’s ritual might have been better. And passing him would have been good. And, sure, raising him could have been a great commemoration, but we don’t make Masons in The American Lodge of Research. We educate them.

The program Tuesday night in the French Doric Room at Masonic Hall was “Masonic Hall Monitors,” for which three experts united for discussion of the history and evolution of ritual ciphers, monitors, and exposures.

In truth, Webb’s birthday was the following day. Regardless, we think we arrived at the reason why exoteric ritual books are commonly called monitors: Because Webb titled his The Freemason’s Monitor; or, Illustrations of Masonry: In Two Parts, and the moniker “monitor” stuck.

etymology.com

The origin of the word “monitor” shows it derives from the Latin for “one who reminds, admonishes, or checks,” also “an overseer, instructor, guide, teacher,” according to etymology.com, so the term is apt, and seems to have become the aptonym many grand lodges use to title their books of exoteric Masonic rituals (charges, funerary ceremony, cornerstone dedication, etc.). Others call them manuals. How boring.

Anyway, we welcomed RW Sam Kinsey, Chairman of Grand Lodge’s Custodians of the Work; RW Michael LaRocco, Executive Director of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library upstairs on 14; and RW Ben Hoff, Past Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 and Past Grand Historian in Jersey. In concert, they gave a thorough review of these books, from Masonry Dissected, printed in London in 1730, and which gives the first known look at a Third Degree, to the forthcoming New York Monitor, due before the Grand Lodge Communication next May, and therefore just in time to provide our lodges the bona fide Installation of Officers ritual.

Wonderbook

1942 GLNY Monitor

In the Grand Lodge of New York, the Custodians of the Work is the team that maintains the integrity of the ritual our lodges use. I’d say the gist of Sam’s presentation is: Ritual changes over time. Sometimes, things need clarification or correction. Other times, the sensibilities of the present day might necessitate an addition or a deletion.

Sam Kinsey

Whatever the case, it is wrong to believe that Masonic rituals are the same from place to place, and that they have not been altered since 1717. Equally important is to view your ritual as more of a script to a performance than as holy writ that demands a rigid, unfeeling delivery. When appropriate, use inflection; watch your timing. Know the vocabulary. Remember you are educating someone.

Michael LaRocco

Bro. Michael followed Sam’s talk, wheeling a booktruck laden with antique and other vintage New York ritual texts into the room for a show-and-tell exhibit—including an original, from 1797, copy of Webb’s Monitor. This and the other books came from the Livingston Library’s archives and stacks; collectively, they illustrated Sam’s talk on how rituals change over time, requiring new printings to impart the ritual to new generations of Masons. The most recent publication of the Standard Work and Lectures came in 2019, shortly after a panicked grand secretary had discovered that the inventory of ritual books had dwindled to a single copy. The latest monitor, however, dates way back to 1989. That book is not current today, and the long anticipated update is coming, as noted above.

Bro. Ben was last to speak on account of his research paper “Monitors and Ritual Ciphers” spanning twenty-six pages. His specialty is forensic examination of Masonic rituals, and he owns an impressive collection of eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century ritual books—official and otherwise—on which he bases his theses.

He started us with a look into the Edinburgh Register House Manuscript from 1696, which shows us how short and simple Masonic ritual had been while also exemplifying how the structure has changed. What we today call a lecture is a long monolog delivered from memory by (hopefully) a gifted orator, but in a seventeenth and eighteenth century lodge, a lecture was a conversation. It was question-and-answer format, which actually lives on today. Think lodge Opening.

Between 1696 and today, embellishments were added to give literary depth to the symbolism. Most of these arose in the late 1700s from the books of three English authors. A Candid Disquisition, by Wellins Calcott (1769); The Spirit of Masonry, by William Hutchenson (1775); and, especially, William Preston’s Illustrations of Masonry, various editions of which began appearing in 1772. These authors get the credit for much of what we say today in lodge.

It really is remarkable how much of their prose basically remains intact. I’ve written about these books before, and I urge you to seek them out for your edification.

What we today know of ritual from between the 1720s and 1770s comes from ritual exposures that were printed without authorization (ergo exposures), but were bought anyway by Masons in need of handy ritual references. Masonry Dissected is a great source for seeing how fundamental lodge rituals were in 1730. The candidate is prepared, admitted, introduced, obligated, charged, and fed.

It also was not unheard of for brethren to handwrite their rituals for personal use.

Regarding monitors, Ben explains:

Ben Hoff

The key thing to remember about all Masonic monitors is that they were not exhaustive ritual guides. The two key characteristics of a monitor that distinguish it from a ritual are the absence of any traditionally secret ritual material, and the inclusion of such other supplemental material as would be useful to running the lodge. This supplemental material included items such as procedures for installations, lodge consecrations, funeral services, cornerstone layings, recommended procedures for petitions, interrogatories, and similar matters. As for ritual material, only openly published illustrations included as expansions of the lectures, prayers, and similar non-controversial material are included.

Getting back to Webb, it was he who adapted Preston’s Illustrations for American use, making changes to ritual structure that comprise his Monitor. In his day, grand lodges in the United States didn’t have official standardized rituals, and they definitely were not publishing ritual books (remember what happened with William Morgan in 1826), so Webb made a career of traveling the states and imparting his version of the work to lodges.

Later still came the artistic renderings of our symbols by Jeremy Ladd Cross. His book, True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor, is whence the familiar sketches we know of Craft and Royal Arch symbols came.

In addition to all these, were other authors’ coded ritual books of varying complexity and weirdness.

It wouldn’t be until the twentieth century that grand lodges in America would publish their own authorized ritual texts. In New Jersey, Ben explained, this was because some other guy was profiting from selling such books, so the grand lodge decided in 1967 to make the money for itself.

The hour was late—some of the brethren had to excuse themselves to catch their trains—so I had to end the meeting. I think everyone present got their money’s worth, and I feel good about it all. (I’m a fairly anxious Worshipful Master.)

Macoy Masonic Supply Co.

I had planned on giving a fourth talk on the subject of Macoy Masonic Supply’s reprinting of Robert Macoy’s 1867 Masonic Manual, but it seems the 750-book run has sold out, and I didn’t want to promote something the brethren cannot buy. It’s pretty cool, though.

Under business, we elected to Corresponding Membership a dual New York and California Mason who also has been a professor and lecturer at several universities, including Columbia. He has submitted a paper already!

The American Lodge of Research will meet again in early 2025. We will hit the road on February 19 for a joint meeting with Dunwoodie 863 in New Rochelle. We’ll be back in the French Doric Room on March 31 for a French-themed program involving both Lafayette and Tocqueville. I’m working on arranging Zoom sessions too, but more on that later.

     

‘Possible Bunker Hill project’

    

The October trestleboard of The American Lodge of Research is out, and in its pages is a pitch to the lodge to assume as a side project the resurrection of New York City’s defunct chapter of The Grand Order of the Sword of Bunker Hill.

The Grand Order was founded in Illinois in 1912 “to perpetuate the principles of American liberty, and to indelibly impress upon the minds of each generation the sacrifices made by our Masonic forefathers in forming and establishing the United States of America,” says its website. The founder was Bro. Frank G. Taylor, superintendent of schools in Oregon, Illinois. It confers the Order of the Sword (an order, not a degree), which refers to the sword of Gen. Joseph Warren, Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts, who was killed in action during the Battle of Bunker Hill.

The Grand Order’s local chapters are known as Orders, and New York City’s former Order was named for Robert Livingston. That was founded in 1951, by Taylor’s son, Frank, Jr.

So The ALR proposes to its members the task of reviving Robert Livingston Order to give the lodge one ritual activity, and one that carries some historical meaning too. It also is possible to create a new Order, but the website says reviving a dormant Order is feasible.

There is a ritual online, unofficially, but I don’t know if it’s a current version. If it is, it’s not difficult work.

Our next meeting will be October 29, and maybe the brethren will express some interest in the idea.

Also mentioned in this trestleboard is a proposal to reorganize Knickerbocker Chapter of the Philalethes Society, which I wrote about here.

     

‘The Compasses, Quadrant, and Sun’

    

My new ALR Past Master apron from Macoy.

I rarely treat myself to material gifts, figuring I have reached the age when it’s best to stop accumulating things, but I couldn’t resist an apron to commemorate my recent ascent to the East of The American Lodge of Research. As Masonic office-holding goes, this is my last stop.

I’ve been deliberating deeply this year on what my future labors in the Craft ought to look like (i.e., what makes me happy versus what leaves me wanting), and I believe I will limit myself to my three research lodges, unless I join a fourth, while quietly easing away from other Masonic commitments. After twenty-seven years of ceaseless hyperactivity, I am burned out, and there are too many responsibilities that drain my time but bring me little pleasure.

Twenty years ago, I was out of the house seventeen nights a month for this and that meeting; this dropped off steeply long ago but, after I leave the East, it will become more like seventeen per year. The pursuit of happiness for me spells quality over quantity. So, I’m looking at three or four meetings a year of The ALR; four at New Jersey’s research lodge; and maybe one or two with Virginia’s Civil War Lodge of Research, provided it sojourns north of 38° latitude. Plus, it goes without saying, there’ll be time for the occasional lecture here, conference there, the odd symposium, etc.—not to mention table lodges and festive boards. And I want to jumpstart Knickerbocker Chapter of the Philalethes Society. Maybe I’ll stick with AMD. So, possibly, not even the seventeen experiences total each year.

Well, you have to look sharp when you’re that particular, ergo my acquisition from Macoy Masonic Supply Co. shown at top.

Member apron.

Macoy fashions The ALR’s aprons. Not only our officer aprons, but also a smart design for members in good standing. Plus, as of now, because this is the first to be produced, our Past Master apron. They worked with us as we sought to recreate The ALR’s regalia from generations ago, using Harold V.B. Voorhis’ PM apron as a starting point:

Harold V.B. Voorhis’ ALR Past Master apron.

Having this inaugural piece made required patience on both ends of the transaction because I had to be perfectly exact in describing how it must look, and they had to be able to decipher my specs. I thought it would be easy to just request the standard Grand Lodge of New York Past Master design, but rendered in the brilliant colors of the unique materials of The ALR collection—except there seems to be no standard GLNY PM design!

I mean, there are rules—this isn’t Nam—such as how purple and gold are reserved for grand rank (that combo is a bit opulent for my taste anyway), and the Compasses, Quadrant, and Sun may not be joined by the Square (as that composition represents our DDGMs), but the rest seems ambiguous.

Publicity’s PM apron.

The apron presented to our new Worshipful Masters at Publicity Lodge, for example, sport the wreath of laurels surrounding the Compasses, Quadrant, and Sun, but other lodges’ PM aprons do not have the wreath. These aprons are white, with blue trim, and the symbols in silver. Grand Lodge’s law book isn’t demanding on this subject—and that’s good—unless I’m missing it because the tome is hard to navigate.

The ALR Tiler apron.

Also, The ALR has a Tiler this year, so I had to buy him an apron too.

For myself, I prefer the cord & tassel over the elastic belt. I hardly think William Preston wore Spandex!

The process of procuring this apron got me wondering how the Compasses, Quadrant, and Sun combination came to be. Sometimes questions like this can be answered by the Book of Constitutions devised upon the uniting of England’s two grand lodges more than two centuries ago, but it’s not so easy this time. You probably know how, in the end, the English adopted the Square with the 47th Problem of Euclid as their Past Master symbol (Pennsylvania uses it too) but, before that, this C-Q-S design was used for Past Master jewels.

Leicester research lodge’s transactions, Vol. 8.

W. Bro. John T. Thorp, Secretary of Leicester Lodge of Research 2429, presented “The Jewels of the Worshipful Master and the Past Masters” at that lodge’s fortieth meeting on May 28, 1900. Delving into the various official and unofficial literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, he found how different rituals, constitutions, illustrations, and other sources document what such jewels supposedly looked like. Several select excerpts:

Here, Thorp quotes the ritual exposure Jachin and Boaz.

And the exposure Mahabone.

And Three Distinct Knocks, obviously.

About that line or string of cords: It surprises me Bro. Thorp was uncertain about this, but then, he didn’t have search engines, but a cord in geometry is “the line segment between two points on a given curve,” according to dictionary.com. Today it is spelled “chord.”

In geometry, the quadrant can give an understanding of the earth’s circumference. In architecture, it is used, for example, in medieval building to add decorative flourishes to already complex designs.

In one understanding of Masonic symbolism, a speech delivered in 1863 puts it beautifully. On November 3 of that year, at Hampden Lodge in Massachusetts, W. Bro. E.W. Clark, upon presenting a Past Master jewel and collar to W. Bro. F.T. Merrick, said, in part:

There is an old adage that “actions speak louder than words.” Accept then, my Brother, this Jewel, not for its intrinsic worth, but as a token of our esteem for you, and when you wear it, may it call to your mind many of those valuable lessons in which you have so often instructed others.

The compass extended on a quadrant will remind you that your sphere of usefulness in this life is only bounded by your ability to perform. Let the Square remind you, although not the symbol of your office, yet God has made all things square, upright, and perfect. And the Sun, in the center of that great light which God has given us to lead us through life, and when you shall have done with life, and shall have passed to your reward, then may that beautiful passage of Holy Scripture be made manifest to you, which says:

‘The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.’

(See The Freemasons’ Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, January 1864, for the entirety of that great speech.)

Worthy of a Grand Master, yet fits beneath the driver seat. It’s a ‘half-size’ apron case. Holds an apron or two, writing supplies, cigars, flask, smallish pistol, and sundry items.

Naturally, one needs a case befitting so grand an apron, and I found the above recently via eBay. Sixty-five bucks! Fuhgettaboutit.

So, when you see me in my circumscribed Masonic travels, don’t be surprised if I show off my new regalia. (Andrew says bring your apron to the MRF for the MacBride EA°.) See you around.

     

‘It is done’

    

Or maybe I should say “Now I’ve done it!”

Last night, The American Lodge of Research convened its Annual Meeting for elections and installation of officers, plus other regular and constitutional business. In addition to officers moving up, we have new faces in the officer line. Bro. Erich, who happens to be the secretary of New Jersey’s research lodge, is our junior deacon. He also is a Ph.D. candidate, specializing in nineteenth century Freemasonry, at Drew, and is a Masonic book dealer. A good guy to have around. Bro. Ziad, who presented a fascinating paper last year on Princess Lamballe, is our “Master Mason without,” observing the approach of you-know-who. RW Michael Chaplin joins our trustees team because serving as DDGM of the First Manhattan isn’t that demanding after all. Who knew?

Yours truly is the new Worshipful Master.

How I’ll always remember it.

I joined the lodge’s officer line so long ago I actually was still Master of New Jersey’s research lodge. Sixteen years ago. Feels like about fifty. Since I had a captive audience, I harangued the brethren with my inaugural paper, “It’s Just Common Sense: Thomas Reid and the Fellow Craft Degree.” This is an explanation of how one of the most important philosophical writings of the Scottish Enlightenment, that concerning the Five Physical Senses, came to be incorporated into what we today call the Middle Chamber Lecture.

It’ll come across better in print—if I ever get the book finished—than in my oral presentation, but for example, here’s a whiff of New York’s Middle Chamber Lecture:

Smelling is that sense by which we distinguish odors, the various kinds of which convey different impressions to the mind. Animal and vegetable bodies, and indeed most other bodies, while exposed to air, continually send forth effluvia of vast subtlety, as well in a state of life and growth, as in the state of fermentation and putrefaction. These effluvia, being drawn into the nostrils along with the air, are the means by which all bodies are distinguished. Hence it is evident that there is a manifest appearance of design in the great Creator’s having planted the organ of smell inside of that canal, through which the air continually passes in respiration.

And here is a puff of Dr. Reid’s thoughts circa 1764:

University of Glasgow

Dr. Thomas Reid

Natural philosophy informs us, that all animal and vegetable bodies, and probably most other bodies, while exposed to the air, are continually sending forth effluvia of vast subtlety, not only in their state of life and growth, but in the states of fermentation and putrefaction. These volatile particles do probably repel each other, and so scatter themselves in the air, until they meet with other bodies to which they have some chemical affinity, and with which they unite, and form new concretes… But that all bodies are smelled by means of effluvia which they emit, and which are drawn into the nostrils along with the air, there is no reason to doubt. So that there is manifest appearance of design in placing the organ of smell in the inside of the canal through which the air is continually passing in inspiration and expiration.

Reid was not a Freemason, as far as I can determine.

Looking ahead, The American Lodge of Research will shift gears for this 2024-25 term. For our Stated Communications, we’ll have meetings organized around themes.

Tuesday, October 29

That’s a fifth Tuesday

“Masonic Hall Monitors” will be our theme. Our keynote speaker, RW Ben Hoff, Past Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786, will present his new paper on the origins, evolution, and diversity of Masonic ritual ciphers, monitors, and exposures. Also, RW Samuel Lloyd Kinsey, Chairman of the Custodians of the Work, will visit to discuss the research that went into Grand Lodge’s latest ritual book and the upcoming monitor (the first monitor since the 1980s). RW Michael LaRocco, Executive Director of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library, will exhibit choice samples of such books—the antique, the rare, the odd.

Macoy Masonic Supply Co.

The new Macoy Monitor reprint with bookmark.

And the Worshipful Master will conclude the evening with a very brief explanation of the newly published reprint of the Macoy Monitor of 1867.

Monday, March 31, 2025

That’s a fifth Monday

“A Night for the Marquis and the Count” will be the theme. RW Chris Ruli of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, and author of the upcoming book Brother Lafayette, will discuss the Masonic aspects of the Marquis de Lafayette’s farewell tour of the United States in 1824-25. Bro. Huhn, Junior Deacon, will discuss Alexis de Toqueville’s thoughts on Freemasonry, as gleaned from his tour of America in 1831-32.

This meeting will be a small part of New York Freemasonry’s commemoration of Lafayette’s tour.

Monday, June 30, 2025

A fifth Monday

Annual Meeting. RW Yves Etienne to become our next Worshipful Master!

In addition, we will hold a meeting on the road, possibly at New Rochelle. Also, a series of Zoom sessions, bringing together our members wherever dispersed about the face of the earth, is conceived. Plus, there’s always time for a Festive Board! (Bro. Chris planted a most intriguing idea in my head last night for the Festive Board.)

My thanks to MW Bill Sardone, who took charge as Installing Officer; to W. Michael, who invested us with our jewels as Installing Marshal; and to W. Conor, who guided us spiritually as Installing Chaplain.

Congratulations to W. Bro. Michael on completing his year in the East. He made sure we revived our tradition of hosting a Festive Board, and he continued our practice of co-hosting an event with another Masonic group. A good year.

And best of luck to my brother officers. We are in for good times.

     

‘Sizing up the Master’s Chair’

    

Most of the class today at Masonic Hall.

Today I completed the suite of classroom instruction available to lodge officers in the Fourth Manhattan District of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York. Or at least I think I’m done. I’m not aware of anything else.

Since January, I have enjoyed four Saturdays for the Protocol class, Road to the East (two days), and today’s Master’s Chair course. Having taken these in fairly rapid succession, I can say there is much overlap and redundancy in these three. I went through the Masonic Development Course in 2015 and, honestly, I don’t recollect much except it makes a good introduction to the fraternity—but these three could use some restructuring. Or maybe that’s intentional because not everyone will enroll in all the courses.

RW Rochie comfortably assuming his Staff Officer duties.

Anyway, the Glorious Fourth’s new Staff Officer, RW Bro. Rochie Santos, expertly guided us through the more than four hours of instruction and comprehension tests. For clarity, I’ll explain that I am going into the East of The American Lodge of Research next month. I did the Craft lodge bit nearly twenty years ago—and I ain’t doing that again, despite knowing Publicity Lodge would be far easier to govern than was my previous lodge.

Truly, Masters of research lodges do not require this kind of instruction. These lodges do not confer degrees or become involved in the ceremonial formality that demand so much care. We open; we close; we ballot. That’s the ritual workload. Official Visits do not occur. Meetings are few. It’s pretty stress free. (Well, to me it is. I’ve done this before also: a unique thirty-month stint as Master of New Jersey’s research lodge many years ago.)

The Master’s Chair class is heavy on etiquette and protocol, just like the aptly named Protocol class. And, unsurprisingly, Master’s Chair also delves into law and customs, just like Road to the East. But it is good and wholesome instruction, and it probably is beneficial to receive it outside one’s own lodge, where familiarity and casualness might dull the senses.

A few things I learned today:

• If the District Deputy Grand Master opts to close the meeting of his Official Visit, he is to be addressed as Worshipful Master. I think this is the opposite of what I learned long ago in New Jersey, where he would be addressed by his full grand lodge title. I think.

• If seeking dispensation to form a new lodge, no fewer than seven petitioners are required. In my day in Jersey, that number was forty, but I think I heard it was reduced in recent years, resulting in an Observant lodge being launched.

(Seven?! I think my lifelong ambition of starting Don Rickles Lodge just advanced one big step.)

• The Master and Wardens of a lodge may demit. While in office. Wow. Another contradiction from New Jersey’s law—otherwise, I’d have done it!

The American Lodge of Research will meet Tuesday, June 25 at 7 p.m. in the Empire Room for its elections and installation of officers, the new Master’s inaugural paper, and whatever necessary business. That paper will be “It’s Just Common Sense: Thomas Reid and the Fellow Craft Degree.” It’s drafted in my head. I just have to sit down and write.

The Stated Meetings of the coming year:

Tuesday, October 29

‘Masonic Hall Monitors’

A multifaceted review of Masonic ritual ciphers, monitors, and exposés. My old friend RW Bro. Ben Hoff, who succeeded me in the East of New Jersey’s research lodge, has written a new study of these texts, and tells of their history, diversity, and why they are essential reading.

Also, RW Sam Kinsey, our Custodians of the Work chairman, will talk to us about both New York’s latest ritual book and the upcoming monitor—the first since the ’80s. And RW Michael LaRocco, executive director of the Livingston Library, will exhibit a collection of antique, exotic, and otherwise notable ritual books. Oh, and yours truly will briefly discuss the newly reprinted Macoy Monitor from 1867.

Monday, March 31, 2025

‘A Night for the Marquis

and the Count’

As part of New York Freemasonry’s celebration of the Lafayette bicentenary, we will host Bro. Chris Ruli, author of Brother Lafayette, soon to be published, for a discussion of the Masonic aspects of the great man’s farewell tour of the United States in 1824-25. Also, Bro. Erich Huhn, who will be Junior Deacon of the lodge by then, will discuss Alexis de Toqueville’s thoughts on Freemasonry, gleaned from his own tour of the U.S. in 1831-32.

Monday, June 30, 2025

The blessed event!

RW Yves will be installed Master of The ALR.

Those are the mandatory constitutional meetings. We also will go on the road for a Special Communication, likely to New Rochelle. There probably will be a collaboration with New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786. There might be something with another jurisdiction’s research lodge. There will be Zoom meetings to bring together our members wherever dispersed about the face of the earth. And maybe more opportunities I haven’t thought of yet.

Who knows? I’m a strange guy.

     

‘Dennis Daugherty, R.I.P.’

    

Just days before Grand Lodge’s Annual Communication comes the sad news of the death of RW Bro. Dennis Daugherty yesterday. There will be better informed and more personal eulogies than I can offer, but I can say without any hesitation, mental reservation, etc. that Dennis was for many of us the embodiment of how Masons ever should meet, act, and part. Always an understated role model, for sure, but inspiring nonetheless.

Dennis affiliated with Publicity Lodge 1000 in 1991, and served in the East in both the 1997-98 and 2010-11 terms. Although he resided in Utica in recent years, Dennis still attended Publicity’s Communications until the pandemic, riding Amtrak five hours each way. He also was a Corresponding Member of The ALR for many years.

From the Office of the Grand Secretary:

SAD TIDINGS

RW Bro. Dennis A. Daugherty

Has Laid Down

His Working Tools 

New York - 2 hours ago 

Dear Brethren and Friends,

It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the passing of Right Worshipful Dennis Allan Daugherty, the Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of Kansas near the Grand Lodge of New York. R.W. Dennis Daugherty was a 63-year member of the Craft with plural memberships in Bestor G. Brown Lodge 433 in Wichita, Kansas; St. John’s Lodge 1 in New York City; Publicity Lodge 1000 in NYC; Kane Lodge 454 in NYC; and The American Lodge of Research.

R.W. Brother Dennis was Initiated on December 6, 1960; Passed on January 31, 1961; and Raised on February 28, 1961 in Bestor G. Brown Lodge 433.

He faithfully served our Grand Lodge on several committees, including the Credentials of Members & Returns of Lodges Committee, the Publications Committee, and the Masonic Hall Tours Committee.

R.W. Brother Dennis was a Senior DeMolay, having actually met and served with Dad Frank Sherman Land the founder of the Order of DeMolay in Kansas City, Kansas.

R.W. Bro. Dennis was 85 years young and he presently resided at the Masonic Care Community in Utica.

We will provide information pertaining to funeral arrangements as soon as they are known. 

Ted Jacobsen photo

MW Bill Sardone, Dennis, and Grand Master Kessler at Grand Lodge last May.

Our Grand Master, MW Richard J. Kessler; Grand Secretary and Senior DeMolay, RW Richard T. Schulz; and the Past Grand Master of DeMolay, MW William M. Sardone, PGM, share in their expressions of sympathy and sadness on behalf of all of our Brethren and DeMolay for this great loss.

May our Almighty Father welcome our dearly departed Brother into His celestial home above. Amen.

     

‘Grand Lodge of Finland celebration’

    

Worshipful Master Michael, right, presents Grand Secretary Richard Schulz with a handsome parting gift for being The ALR’s keynote speaker in our table lodge last night.

Last night was the long awaited table lodge hosted by The American Lodge of Research to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Grand Lodge of Finland.

You’d be excused for wondering why a lodge in New York City would commemorate a Finnish birthday, but there’s a good reason: It was the Grand Lodge of New York that reintroduced Freemasonry to the Land of a Thousand Lakes after that nation regained its independence from Russia.

The ALR commemorated that centennial anniversary specifically on March 26 because it was on that very date in 1924 when New York’s lodges in Finland petitioned our Grand Lodge for permission to organize their own sovereign grand lodge.

Right Worshipful Brother Richard T. Schulz, Grand Secretary, recounted much of that history in his keynote address amid the many toasts and fires during the evening. He explained how Freemasonry arrived in Finland during the eighteenth century, but was suppressed by Russian rule following that country’s seizure of Finland in 1809 after victory over Sweden in war. After the chaos of the fall of the Russian Empire in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia’s exit from World War I, Finland was free, and the new republic was safe for Freemasonry.

Masons residing in Finland, who held memberships in American grand lodges, were joined by other prominent Finnish citizens who were made Masons by a delegation of New York brethren led by Most Worshipful Arthur S. Tompkins, Grand Master. On August 14, 1922, Dispensation was granted to establish Suomi Lodge in Helsinki. Other lodges soon were organized and Right Worshipful Toivo H. Nekton of Greenwood Lodge 569 in Brooklyn, a native of Finland, was appointed District Deputy Grand Master for the new Masonic territory. (Parenthetically, I’ll add how Nekton published a paper in The ALR’s Transactions. See “Highlights in the History of American Freemasonry in Finland 1922-1929” in Volume 6, Number 1 from 1953.)

On March 26, 1924, these lodges requested leave “to form an autonomous sovereign Grand Lodge, which shall have power to issue dispensations and charters to, and constitute subordinate lodges, conferring the three degrees in Masonry within the Republic of Finland; and to exercise a grand and competent jurisdiction over such subordinate lodges and the brethren forming the same.” That request was granted by Grand Lodge, and a delegation from New York returned to Helsinki in September to constitute this newest Grand Lodge.

Grand Lodge has been publicizing the trip to Finland since last year. This display is found in Masonic Hall on the ground floor.

RW Schulz brought the brethren up to modern times, discussing his visit to Finland in 2019 for their ninety-fifth anniversary, and displaying commemorative souvenirs he received. Of course he apprised the lodge of the upcoming centennial anniversary celebration and of the travel arrangements being made for New York Masons to visit for an extensive program of events scheduled for September 2-11 of this year.

Junior Warden Yves Etienne procured coffee mugs for everyone to take home.

RW Steven A. Rubin, Deputy Grand Master, concluded the brevities of the evening with praise for the singular purpose of research lodges, and of the quality output of The ALR particularly, noting how the Masons who undertake the labor of researching and writing about our fraternity’s past help guide today’s Masons in their journeys.

The ALR will meet next in June, probably late in the month after St. John’s Weekend, for its Installation of Officers.

      

‘Table Lodge: Freemasonry in Finland’

    

Finland Embassy

The American Lodge of Research is reviving our tradition of hosting a table lodge annually, so plan to join us Tuesday, March 26 as we begin New York’s hundredth anniversary celebration of the Grand Lodge of Finland.

Richard T. Schulz

Come to Masonic Hall’s French Ionic Room at 7:30 p.m. Right Worshipful Richard T. Schulz, Grand Secretary, will deliver the keynote, discussing Grand Lodge’s role in re-establishing Freemasonry in Finland after that nation secured its independence from Russia following World War I because. . .

March 26 will be the hundredth anniversary of the request by New York’s lodges in Finland for permission to organize their own sovereign grand lodge.

The dining fee is only $60 per person. Click here to book your seats.

Click here.

The Grand Lodge of New York will celebrate the centenary of the Grand Lodge of Finland mightily this year, including with a lengthy trip to The Land of the Thousand Lakes in September. I like to think of this ALR table lodge as the kick-off of New York’s salute to Finland.

I’ll bring the aquavit (and, no, you can’t mix it with anything).

     

‘African initiations and Kabbalistic interpretations’

    

In honor of Thomas Smith Webb Chapter of Research, the Library displayed various artifacts, including this set of Grand Chapter jewels from the nineteenth century.

I should have clocked it, but I’ll state unequivocally that The American Lodge of Research set a new speed record in Opening, Balloting, and Closing last night, having done it all between 6:15 and 6:50 p.m., or thereabouts. No trophy for ritual excellence, but it was a lot of fun.

That was all we had to do because the main event started at seven upstairs in the Livingston Library. Congratulations to all our new Corresponding Members, including RW George Filippidis, Bro. Alex Vastola from the Library, and Bro. Jussi from Finland! And to new Active Members, including Dan Kemble from Kentucky! Plus, we finally seated a team of Trustees, which you wouldn’t think would be so difficult, but it took a while. (One must be a legal resident of New York, and it seems many of the brethren live elsewhere.)

And we elected a Fellow, but I think I’m not supposed to say who yet, pending notification of next of kin.

We packed our gear back in storage, and headed to the fourteenth floor just in time for the joint ALR-TSW lectures. Representing Thomas Smith Webb Chapter of Research was Bro. Americo (of Aurora Grata-Day Star Lodge 647), who discussed “African and Afro-Diasporic Initiatory Structures and their Interaction with Masonry,” which opened our eyes to a number of things. Not only the ritual elements common to all kinds of initiatic rites, but some specific things known to Freemasons that appear in some African systems. Next up was Bro. Michael, Master of The ALR, who explained the Kabbalistic side of the three Craft degrees. When many speakers attempt to delve into this sort of topic, their enthusiasm outpaces their knowledge, but Michael nailed it. Unfortunately I had to exit before he finished, but I saw his audience was loving it.

(I’ve known Michael for years and I’ve never heard him talk so much, but let him speak on Kabbalistic content in the degrees and he’s Billy Graham!)

This event was available via Zoom, and I’m hoping it will be uploaded to the Library’s YouTube channel, and I’ll provide the link if it becomes available.

     

‘The ALR & TSW to meet’

    

Portrait artist extraordinaire Travis Simpkins noted on Facebook this afternoon how today is the anniversary of the publication in 1797 of The Freemason’s Monitor; or Illustrations of Masonry by Thomas Smith Webb.

Thomas Smith Webb by Travis Simpkins.

Royal Arch Masonry’s newly revivified Thomas Smith Webb Chapter of Research in New York is maintaining an active schedule these days, including a special event next month.

Hope to see you there.