‘The smallest lodge room I’ve ever seen’

    

Truly, if I already hadn’t known this was a research lodge meeting, I’d have assumed it was a beauty pageant—with seventeen Masons having to share one crown! April 11 at Mt. Jackson Lodge 103 in Virginia.

Still catching up on reporting recent events, and today it’ll be last month’s meeting(s) of Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 in Virginia. We sort of enjoyed two lodge communications for the price of one on April 11 in that we opened at Magnetic Lodge 184 in Stanley; we went out to lunch; and then resumed labor and closed at Mt. Jackson Lodge 103, about twenty miles away, in Mt. Jackson. Unorthodox, but we had the necessary dispensation.

We transacted the regular and constitutional business at hand, like electing four new members plus awarding Honorary Membership to Grand Master Szramoski. Those of us who noticed it were perplexed by the appearance of one blue ball inside the box amid the usual white and black ballots.

MAGNETIC EAST—The Master’s station in Magnetic Lodge 184 in Stanley.

But that wasn’t the only notable trait at Magnetic Lodge. The room itself is memorable. Well, the building is small, so you have to expect a little lodge room, but it isn’t until you enter that you can appreciate such an intimate sacred retreat. I guesstimated the square footage, but didn’t write it down, and I’ve since forgotten, but the room is about the size of the budget hotel room I booked.

I failed to capture in a photo the smallness of Magnetic Lodge’s meeting space, but that dining room table at right is squeezed into the West of the room! That’s our Junior Warden, Bro. Alan, in the foreground. The tables and chairs are removed for the meetings.

Best address in town!

While at labor, it was asked whence came Magnetic Lodge’s name but, unfortunately, no one knew, even Jeff and Kenny from the lodge. Afterward, I poked around online, but didn’t find anything conclusive. My best guess is the founders were connected to the mining industry. Magnetic 184 was chartered December 15, 1876 to meet in Marksville (Page County) on the Saturday night after the full moon each month. That area was renowned for mining iron and other minerals throughout the nineteenth century. Furthermore, the Virginia Department of Energy says magnetite, the most magnetic mineral on Earth, has been among the major sources of iron in the Commonwealth. Perhaps lends deeper meaning to divesting the candidate of all minerals and metals!

For lunch, we stopped at the Hawksbill Diner which, simultaneously, looks like nothing remarkable, while obviously being the place preferred by local citizens for their morning and midday meals, to wit:

They also serve RC Cola, which I haven’t had since I don’t know when, but have been seeking since that day. (Yes, I remember John’s of Bleecker Street has it on draught, but these were bottles!)

“Being half past high twelve,” as Worshipful Master Bill Hare phrased it, we settled into our “second meeting” at Mt. Jackson 103 for the work of the lodge. We were treated to a trilogy of Civil War tales, little pertaining to Freemasonry, unfortunately, but stories about local wartime events that, while colorful, don’t seem to have made the history books or the movies. The most detailed narration given concerned the fate of Confederate soldiers executed for horse-theft. It actually was on this date—May 22—in 1865 when Capt. George Summers, age 22, and Sgt. Isaac Newton Koontz, age 20, with others, committed the thefts. A month later, the two were executed without trial at New Market (site of my diminutive hotel accommodation), for the crime, despite already having been forgiven. Please read about this here.

We need another Northerner in the East of CWLR 1865 soon for equal time.

Another history was related by one of our Honorary Members, MW Bro. Kenneth S. Wyvill, Jr., Past Grand Master (2015-16) of the Grand Lodge of Maryland. He spoke of his grandfather, Dr. Wyvill, a physician in Maryland who also served as a courier for the Confederacy. 

On the not quite research side of things, we also heard about a legend dating to the Battle of Gettysburg when the Right Worshipful Grand Master of Pennsylvania arrived on the scene and allegedly opened a lodge where soldiers of both armies met on the level. I can’t recall the name of the brother who shared this account, but he said he’s still trying to find evidence of that lodge meeting and is encouraged by proof he found that Grand Master David C. Skerett, a doctor from Philly, in fact was at Gettysburg.

I love these lighting fixtures. I think this was an exterior light on the lodge’s previous building.

The current light. Somehow not the same.

Speaking of Gettysburg, Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 will meet next on July 18 at Acacia Lodge 586 in Waynesboro—which was constituted on this date—May 22—in 1891. Our Civil War focus that weekend will be the Monterey Pass Battlefield Park and Museum, located only about twenty miles west of Gettysburg.

Everyone stops to photograph the reproduction Gulf station at 6023 Main Street in Mt. Jackson. Read about that here.

Let me again send best wishes to Bro. Bennett Hart, who is both our Secretary and our DDGM, as he recovers from an injury and couldn’t be with us last month. I look forward to shaking his hand soon.

After closing, we dispersed into the late afternoon, not having a group visit to any historic site planned. I headed back to my hotel, where nearby are both the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park and the Virginia Museum of the Civil War. Closing time for both was near, so I had to hustle. Bumped into Bro. Alan inside the museum. Some photos:

Stonewall Jackson greets you outside the museum.

And T.J. inside.

Self-portrait of Julian A. Scott, renowned artist...

…and heroic 16-year-old soldier. Click here.

The Bushong House.

This rustic pile
The simple tale will tell
It marks the spot
Where Woodsons Heroes fell.

The obligatory cannon shot.

     

‘Research lodge to visit Shenandoah Valley’

    

On this date—and at this hour—in 1862, a lesser known, but nevertheless consequential, clash raged in the Shenandoah Valley during the U.S. Civil War—so that’s were the research lodge is headed next month.

Civil War Lodge of Research 1865, chartered by the Grand Lodge of Virginia in 1995, will meet Saturday, April 11. Odd thing: We will open at one location, but close at another. No Mackey Landmark nor Schrödinger theory is a factor.

Mt. Jackson 103

Specifically, we will meet Saturday morning at ten o’clock inside Magnetic Lodge 184’s home in Stanley. I don’t know the meeting agenda, but after it’s tackled we’ll go on refreshment, have lunch there, and then travel a few minutes north to Mount Jackson Lodge 103, in Mount Jackson, to close.

The night before, we will gather for dinner at Southern Kitchen in New Market, but the customary extracurricular activities (visits to historic places, Saturday supper) are not pre-planned this time, which is disappointing, but we’ll think on our feet.

The recommended sites to see include:

➣ Strayer House Museum

➣ New Market Battlefield

➣ Virginia Museum of the Civil War

➣ Bushong Farm and Battlefield

➣ Mount Jackson Museum

➣ Union Church

I doubt I’ll have time for all those, but I’ll see what the brethren prefer and go with them.

The Battle of Kernstown? The lodge trestleboard informs us:

Intelligence Failures

and the Road to Kernstown

Nathaniel P. Banks

By March 1862, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s command in the Valley had dwindled to fewer than 4,000 effective soldiers due to illness and reassignments. Facing a Union force of nearly 20,000 under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, Jackson was forced to retreat forty miles south of Winchester to Mount Jackson. Believing the Confederates were no longer a threat, the U.S. War Department ordered Banks to move most of his command east to support Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign.

James Shields

On March 21, Confederate sympathizers observed Union troops leaving Winchester but failed to notice that Brig. Gen. James Shields’ division remained nearby. This faulty intelligence led Jackson to believe he faced only a small rear guard. Eager to prevent Union reinforcements from reaching McClellan, Jackson marched his exhausted division northward to strike.

The Battle for Pritchard’s Hill

On March 22, a skirmish broke out south of Winchester. During the fight, General Shields was wounded by shrapnel, leaving Col. Nathan Kimball in operational command. Despite Shields’ orders to chase the Confederates, Kimball held the high ground at Pritchard’s Hill.

The main battle began at nine the following morning. Jackson, still operating under the belief that he held the numerical advantage, conducted a brief reconnaissance and decided to attack. In reality, Kimball had roughly 7–9,000 troops available, significantly outnumbering Jackson’s 4,000 men.

 

The Fight for Sandy Ridge

Finding the Union center at Pritchard’s Hill too strong, Jackson moved his infantry and artillery westward toward Sandy Ridge to attempt a flanking maneuver. By 3 p.m., Confederate artillery on the ridge had successfully suppressed the Union guns on the hill.

The tide turned when Union Col. Erastus B. Tyler’s brigade counterattacked. The fighting centered around a shoulder-high stone wall, where Confederate infantry under Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett held their ground with desperate tenacity. For more than an hour, the two sides engaged in a blistering musketry duel at close range. By late afternoon, the Confederate line began to buckle. Jackson’s troops were running dangerously low on ammunition, and Kimball had funneled fresh Union reinforcements into the fight. Seeing his flank being turned and his men exhausted, Garnett ordered a retreat near sunset to save his command.

Kernstown Battlefield Association

Kernstown Battlefield will be open today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for tours, etc. to mark the 164th anniversary of the first Battle of Kernstown.

Aftermath and Strategic Impact

The Battle of Kernstown ended after ten hours of combat. The casualties were heavy relative to the size of the forces:

• Confederate: 733 killed, wounded, or captured (22 percent of the force).

• Union: 575 casualties.

Though Jackson lost the battle—his only defeat as an independent commander—he achieved his primary goal. The intensity of the attack convinced Washington that Jackson had a much larger army. Fearing for the safety of the capital, the War Department pulled 20,000 Union troops away from the Peninsula Campaign and sent them back to the Shenandoah Valley. This diversion weakened McClellan’s advance on Richmond and allowed Jackson to begin the series of victories that would make him a legend.

Is there a Masonic link to all this? I guess we’ll find out when a paper is presented in lodge.

Our next meeting will be July 18 at Monterey Pass, Pennsylvania, not far from Gettysburg. On October 10 we’ll be back in Virginia at Fort Monroe.

Get well wishes to Bro. Bennett Hart, our Secretary and our District Deputy Grand Master. I hope we’ll see him there in three weeks.

     

‘Happy birthday to Civil War Lodge 1865’

    

Most of the group yesterday at Civil War Lodge of Research 1865’s Installation of Officers at Babcock Lodge 322 in Highland Springs, Virginia. Bro. Keith Hinerman holds a photo of the lodge’s founders in commemoration of our thirtieth anniversary.

I enjoyed the weekend with Civil War Lodge of Research 1865, which marked its thirtieth anniversary, in Virginia.

The East of the lodge room.

CWLR is one of six(!) research lodges in the Commonwealth, having been set to labor on November 14, 1995 with Allen E. Roberts as its inaugural Master. We met Saturday at Babcock Lodge 322 in Highland Springs; this lodge building is the home of this research lodge, although CWLR travels about and outside Virginia in pursuit of its research into Freemasonry’s connections in the history of the War Between the States.

Membership in CWLR is open to Masons outside Virginia—ergo my presence—which makes for a diverse group (with sometimes a babelic approach to ritual!), but also can inhibit attendance due to the cable tow’s limits. So, for our anniversary celebration, I thought participation wasn’t what it should have been, although we elected four to membership—two of whom, Bro. Michael and Bro. Tommy, immediately joined the officer line as our Stewards!

A close-up of that photo of CWLR’s founders.
Sorry for the glare.

No papers were presented yesterday, but we installed our officers for 2026. Bro. Bill Hare of Maryland is our new Worshipful Master. Our new Wardens are RW Clifton White in the West, and Bro. Alan Hawk, of Maryland, in the South. In addition, Secretary Bennett Hart was invested with his jewel and warrant of office as the new DDGM of Grand Lodge’s Research District. (With six research lodges, it makes sense to organize them into a district.) Yours truly even had a small role as I served as the proxy for the installation of Bro. Gary Laing, of Delaware, as Tyler. The installation was conducted by Past (1997) Grand Master Alan Adkins, with the help of Bro. Keith Hinerman (our second WM back in 1996) and RW Hart.

Get well wishes to outgoing WM Creighton Lovelace, of North Carolina, who, with his wife, is out of commission due to COVID.

Civil War Lodge’s next communication will be a little different. On Saturday, April 11, we will open at Magnetic Lodge 184 in Stanley, Virginia; then visit New Market Battlefield; and then close at a second lodge (yet to be determined). We’ve been assured this can be done legally, even if it is odd.

Babcock Lodge’s home is a venerable Masonic temple in a residential neighborhood. Bro. Keith showed me around after discovering me inside the library. The main section of the building went up in 1914 and an addition in ’64. For whatever reason, it was easy for me to sense the memories of past glories inside. You can just tell there were momentous memorable occasions there—whether Masonic meetings and affairs or community gatherings. When I came to the door overlooking the parking lot, I half expected to see it full of early sixties Fords and Chevys. I’m sorry to report the lodge is nearing the end of life. There are too few members, many of whom are past age seventy, and there is real talk of selling the property. A sign of the times.

Souvenirs!

Better times are captured in the pages of The Diamond Years, a history of the lodge compiled by Allen Roberts and published in 1985. Babcock isn’t just another local lodge. Its namesake is Bro. Alexander Gulick Babcock (1835-94), the founder of the Masonic Home of Virginia. He was born in Princeton, New Jersey. At age 27, he was initiated, passed, and raised in the former Hohenlinder Lodge 56 in Brooklyn (now St. Albans 56). He moved to Virginia in 1864 (he sympathized with the wrong side in the Civil War) and affiliated with a lodge in Richmond, and then demitted from Hohenlinder in 1866.

He is shown here in a painting that hangs inside the lodge room. When Babcock vacates the premises, I hope the portrait finds a new home.

Where the Confederate fortifications stood
at the Battle of Cold Harbor.

After lodge, we visited Cold Harbor, a nearby National Battlefield Park. I got separated from the group, but I followed behind through the three key stops at the site. In late fall, with leaves covering the ground, there isn’t much to look at, frankly, and the dreary raw weather made it more drab. What impressed me is the small space. To think tens of thousands of soldiers blasted each other to pieces here—the Union side lost 12,000 men—is incomprehensible. I’m sure the present day park is much smaller than the land where they fought, but the preserved battleground looks like it could fit in a small college campus. Read some of the details here.

Yesterday was a long day, with brethren arriving at the lodge at eight in the morning and leaving the battlefield site at 3 p.m., so I wasn’t surprised to find myself alone at the restaurant at dinnertime. The food at Mexico in Sandston was okay. I had “street tacos” (steak) and a grande glass of cerveza (Dos Equis Amber). The group dinner Friday night at Roberto was far superior, especially for those of us who ordered the ribeye. Everything for the weekend—the hotel, the lodge, the restaurants, the historic site—are in close proximity and very easily reached, even for me with my ignorance of the area and hapless sense of direction.

Bro. Keith gave me the gift of a copy of The Diamond Years, one of many inventoried in Babcock’s library. If you’re a Masonic history buff, you have encountered author Allen Roberts’ approach to historiography: kind of like playing noncompetitive darts. Here is one of his gems, found on Page 157:

Yikes.

Keith also sent me home with a copy of Emessay Notes from June 2018 which tells of MW Dwight Smith, Grand Master in Indiana in 1945. Assuming I’d never heard of Smith, Keith enjoyed telling me about him. Usually terrible at sober conversation, I had fun reciprocating by telling Keith a little about the Knights of the North and our cultic devotion to Smith and his writings.

In related news, the Magpie Mason congratulates Bro. Andy Martinez of Maryland, who served as Master of CWLR for the 2020 and 2021 terms, upon his election as Worshipful Master of Maryland Masonic Lodge of Research 239. (Honestly, I thought I was the only one weird enough to serve in the East of two research lodges!) No word yet on a date of the installation, but I think it might be Saturday, January 17.

     

‘Civil War Lodge’s plans’

    

Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 has its designs upon the trestleboard for next month and the ensuing year.

Matthew Szramoski

First, the big news: At the annual communication yesterday, Grand Lodge elected and installed MW Matthew Todd Szramoski into the Grand Master’s chair. The name probably rings a bell; he is in charge at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. And the Research District has a new DDGM: CWLR’s very own Secretary, RW Bennett Hart! Congratulations to everybody on the leadership team for 2026.

Civil War Lodge will meet Saturday, December 6 at Babcock Lodge 322 in Highland Springs, Virginia for our own installation of officers. Our thirtieth anniversary arrives this Thursday, so the Stated Communication will be an extra celebration. As you know, CWLR meetings typically are built into a weekend of activities (I encourage all research lodges to incorporate this idea into your schedules) so there will be Friday and Saturday things to do outside the lodge room, to wit:

Friday, December 5

Dinner at 6:30 p.m.

Roberto Italian Restaurant in Sandston

Saturday, December 6

Babcock Lodge 322 in Highland Springs

Open Lodge at 10 a.m.

Installation at noon.

Lunch at one o’clock.

Cold Harbor Battlefield

in Mechanicsville at 3 p.m.

Dinner at Mexico Restaurant

in Sandston at 7 p.m.

Plans for next year (meetings will be in Virginia except where noted) are:

April 11: New Market Battlefield

July 18: Monterey Pass, Pennsylvania

August 29: Grand Master’s Research Lodge Official Visit at Hay Market Lodge 313

October 10: Fort Monroe

December 5: to be determined

I think all these are close enough for me to attend, so hopefully I’ll see you around.

     

‘Finally got to visit Masons’ Hall’

    

The view of Masons’ Hall in Richmond, Virginia from across East Franklin Street.

Last weekend, I finally got to visit Masons’ Hall in Richmond, Virginia—add it to your Masonic bucket list. As fraternal destinations go, it’s one of those places that creaks with history and embraces you in a certain atmosphere that defies description. (And long deceased lodge brethren are known to inhabit the building, if you know what I mean.) Attentive readers of The Magpie Mason have noticed a link, along the left side of the page, that has been alerting you for many years to the fundraising effort to maintain this singular historic site.

Most of the brethren present for CWLR’s communication last weekend.

Anyway, about twenty of us were in attendance for Civil War Lodge of Research 1865’s Stated Communication last Saturday, the 11th. The lodge holds its meetings around Virginia and beyond, thanks to dispensations, to pair our gatherings with visits to historic sites relevant to the U.S. Civil War. The capital city of the Commonwealth of Virginia certainly is an apt choice for such a calling, but rather than delve into the saga of that conflict, this time we celebrated this engrossing building with a detailed tour and an in-depth discussion of what has happened within its walls.

It is the home of Richmond Randolph Lodge 19. The brethren describe it as “America’s oldest continuously used Masonic lodge room in America’s oldest continuous Masonic lodge building.” Richmond Lodge 10 was chartered in 1780. Five years later, the cornerstone of Masons’ Hall was laid to become the meeting place of both the lodge and the Grand Lodge of Virginia. So, you know how, in early America, Masonic lodge buildings served their communities by doubling as town halls, court houses, post offices, schools, etc., and that was true in this case.

The Randolph in the lodge’s name memorializes Founding Father Edmund Randolph, member of Richmond Lodge 10, delegate to the Continental Congress, first U.S. Attorney General, etc. However, I think the biggest name associated with No. 19 would be John Marshall, also of Richmond 10, who was a building trustee, kept his law office inside, and presided over the court that convened there. He became Chief Justice of the United States in 1801, and served in that capacity until his death in 1835. The lodge performed his Masonic funeral service at nearby Shockoe Hill Cemetery. George Washington? There is no record of him visiting the place, although it is believed to be very likely that he, as U.S. president, had been there on government business during the 1790s.

One hero very much documented visiting was the Marquis de Lafayette, who made a stop in 1824 during his farewell tour of the country. The lodge commissioned a portrait, which normally is on display inside, but currently is on loan to the governor for exhibit as part of the America: Made in Virginia celebration. Click here.

Even Edgar Allan Poe appears in the lodge’s story. While not a Freemason, he became part of Lafayette’s entourage, so he was on hand for the dignitary’s visit. His mother, an actress, is known to have performed at the lodge shortly before her death in 1811 at age twenty-four. In 1860, the Prince of Wales—the future King Edward VII and future Freemason—toured the lodge building. You have to expect these things when you’re situated for centuries at the crux of so many notable persons and events, and the stories of the lodge’s brethren deserve their own recounting.

The East of the lodge room.

I think it was said this was acquired in the 1920s.

 

There’s a chapter room
on the second floor.

My thanks to both Bro. Joyner, for the post-meeting in-depth guided tour, and to Bro. Crocker, for the pre-meeting look around. It is an amazing place which I hope to visit again.

Apron of Thomas U. Dudley, 1834.

I have many more photos and memories, but blogging takes too much time. Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 will meet again Saturday, December 6 at our home lodge, Babcock 184, in Highland Springs to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary. See you there.

Watch this on YouTube.