‘New research DDGM and lodge for Virginia’

    

And, speaking of research lodges (see post below), a transition of authority in the Grand Lodge of Virginia will be achieved in a few hours. Not only will there be a new Grand Master, but with a new administration there will be a new District Deputy Grand Master for the Research District also.

RW Shelby Chandler completed his tenure yesterday, and will be succeeded by RW Jason “Jake” Trenary. The Magpie Mason sends his best wishes to all, and aims to continue serving as this weird distant unofficial publicist.

Shelby circulated the following valedictory statement a few days ago:

Greetings my Brethren,

First off, I wish to say thank you to each and every one of you for making my time as District Deputy Grand Master a cherished memory; I truly enjoyed working with each and every one of you. Because of our work together, every Research Lodge is now getting more attention than ever before, not just in Virginia, but throughout Masonry world-wide like it never has before.

The idea of having a Research District is not just innovative, but is appropriate for us and other jurisdictions. Masons can identify Research Lodges as not just educational, but as resources that can be both geographical and themed-oriented to the needs of Freemasonry. And others are considering usage of such a district elsewhere.

I can say that, like my predecessors, I am very blessed to have had an opportunity to help mold this awareness of the potentials of having both Research Lodges and a Research District. Understand, that between Right Worshipful Brothers Marc Hone, Brian Croteau, myself, and now Jake Trenary, there has been a slow process, not just to standardize and make uniform the operating procedures of each Research Lodge, but to develop a culture and familial relationship among all Virginia Research Lodges. And we have made much progress and have been doing well in this endeavor, but remember my Brothers, it takes each and every one of you to make such a family.

Another point to make is that we, as Research Lodge members, focus on ourselves and our ability to produce research papers, but let us not forget that, as Masons, it is our duty to continue to help the outside world as well. So let us, as Research Lodges, work to support other charitable programs within Masonry as well, because everyone has a claim upon our kind offices.

Here in Virginia, these opportunities to shine our Masonic Light in a new ways would have not been possible without the brilliant vision of two men: Most Worshipful George Chapin, who first envisioned a Research District back in 1999; and Most Worshipful William Hershey, who was Chapin’s Administrative Aide in 1999 and re-introduced the idea of a Research District during his time as Grand Master in 2019. I bring this to your attention because last week, Lady Constance “Connie” Chapin was laid to rest, and today I received word that MW Hershey also laid down his working tools yesterday. So please keep MW George Chapin and Lady Michele Hershey, and their families, in your prayers and let us send to them and their families all the love we can offer to them. And as both these dear Brothers were patrons of our Research District, let us as a district remember, “whence we came.”

Finally my brethren, you will have a new District Deputy Grand Master in Jake Trenary, and a new sister Research Lodge in what is to be the Blue Ridge Lodge of Research No. 1738, out of Blacksburg, Virginia. Please welcome both into your Research Lodges and into your hearts and give them all the support and kindness that you have shown me. Let us wish them all the best and all happiness, and let us give our new Grand Master and his Grand Lodge officers, the very same love and support as well.

I wish each of you all the best and I pray for the success and happiness of every Research Lodge in Virginia. Thank you for all your good works and every cherished moment with each of you. You are each in my memories and in my heart.

May the Great Architect watch over each of you.  

Fraternally,

Shelby Chandler,

DDGM-Research

That a sixth research lodge is chartered in the Grand Lodge is amazing. Located in Blacksburg, Blue Ridge Lodge of Research will serve the western part of the Commonwealth.

Bro. Shelby, you have been a terrific ambassador for research lodges and research Masons. I look forward to seeing your coming adventures in the Craft.

     

‘1764 MM° in November’

     

This sounds like a great day!

I don’t think I’m familiar with the “Book of Hiram.” A ritual exposure, I’ll guess.

I’ll see if Ben mentions it at The ALR on Tuesday.

     

‘Devotional: The Still, Small Voice’

    

It’s been more than a year, but I haven’t gotten used to being a Virginia Mason. Usually, joining a research lodge does not make one a Mason in that lodge’s grand lodge, but the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Virginia sees that differently, and so my affiliation with Civil War Lodge of Research means I’m a Virginia Mason. Still, it doesn’t come to mind until I receive some communication from the Grand Lodge, whether it’s the quarterly print magazine (look for my article on CWLR in the new issue!) or something in my inbox.

As Grand Chaplain, RW Thomas Lee Varner, Jr. emails the brethren occasional essays in which he explores the various Biblical references in Craft ritual. (Virginia’s is very similar to New York’s.) The following is Thursday’s Devotional and is shared here with the kind permission of its author.

This monthly devotional has been approved by the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Jack Kayle Lewis. It is the latest in a series discussing Biblical references in our ritual.

The Still, Small Voice

In both the Entered Apprentice and Master Mason degree lectures, we learn that there was not the sound of any tool of iron heard in King Solomon’s temple while it was being built. Why was that? We know that the stones and timbers were cut and prepared elsewhere using iron tools, so the issue was not that the iron was unclean or that it polluted the temple. The scriptures are silent on this point, but perhaps it was that, because the workmen were building the house of God, that a holy and reverent silence needed to be observed. The only sounds were the low commands of the overseers, the whispering of the ropes as they lifted the stones into place, and the tapping of the wooden mauls as they set the timbers upright. They were guided by “that reverential awe which is due from a creature to his Creator” as expressed in the Entered Apprentice degree charge, and were exercising “those truly Masonic virtues, silence and circumspection” as noted in the emblem of the sword pointing to a naked heart in the Master Mason degree lecture. The reverent silence was also needed for them to hear when God spoke to their hearts any additional commands needed for the building.

We say that we were first prepared to be a Mason in our heart, and since we are engaged in the building of our own spiritual temples, it is important for us often to observe a holy and reverent silence to do that work. Psalm 46 instructs us to “Be still and know that I am God.”  A favorite story is that of Elijah in 1 Kings who, after defeating the prophets of Baal and receiving a death sentence from Jezebel, fled to Mt. Horeb, the same mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments. God told him to stand and watch, and then sent a mighty windstorm, a tremendous earthquake, and finally an enormous fire, but He was not in any of them. He then spoke to him in a still, small voice, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” And that is how God often speaks to us, not in extraordinary miracles or immense demonstrations of power, but in gentle murmurs to our soul. As Masons, what are we doing here? Our ritual suggests that we are here to make each other better, to extend brotherly love and support to each other and our families, to be moral examples to our community, and to uphold the traditional American values of love of God, love of country, and love of family. In our daily lives filled figuratively with the deafening banging of drums and clashing of cymbals, it is often difficult to hear God’s voice and what He wants us to do. But we know that the Bible contains His still, small voice, and we would do well to set aside quiet time and prayer to make ourselves familiar with it. I assure you that when you seek God, He will not fail you. As it says in the Entered Apprentice lecture, “Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you.”

My thanks to our Grand Chaplain for his Devotionals, and for allowing me to share this one here.

     

‘Retired Senator made Mason on Sight’

     

Bro. Pat Roberts, retired U.S. Senator in white apron, and MW Jack Kyle Lewis are flanked by four of the Grand Lodge of Virginia’s District Deputy Grand Masters after the Grand Master made Roberts a Mason on Sight last Wednesday at Andrew Jackson Lodge 120 in Alexandria. (I nicked this photo off Shelby’s Facebook.)

A longtime reader—there literally are several of those—saw the post the other day about Naval Lodge, and took the opportunity to tell me about something novel in the Grand Lodge of Virginia.

Last Wednesday, the sixteenth, Grand Master Jack Lewis exercised a prerogative very rarely seen in the jurisdiction by “Making on Sight” retired U.S. Senator Pat Roberts a Mason. He is a member of Andrew Jackson Lodge 120 in Alexandria. This lodge, now in its 170th year, meets inside the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.

Sometimes it is called “at Sight,” and it is found among Mackey’s Landmarks, although not every grand lodge permits it.

There was no mention of this on the Grand Master’s schedule, and I don’t see anything official about it. I was able to find a few mentions on Facebook. I guess we’ll have to wait for the next issue of The Herald. All I know about Sen. Roberts is he represented Kansas in the Senate from 1997 to 2021, and served in the House of Representatives for sixteen years beforehand.

Congratulations to all involved!

The Grand Annual Communication is a few weeks away. Richmond is too far for me, but I hope to attend someday.

     

‘A big anniversary and a St. John’s Day procession’

     

Williamsburg Lodge 6

Williamsburg Lodge 6 in Virginia has a great day planned to mark both St. John’s Day and the lodge’s semiquincentennial birthday. Next month, the brethren, bolstered by the presence of Grand Master Jack Lewis, will open a public meeting of the lodge before heading outdoors. From the publicity:

Williamsburg Lodge 6 AF&AM

233 East Francis Street

Williamsburg, Virginia

Saturday, June 22

Join us in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Williamsburg Lodge and St. John’s Day.

Most Worshipful Jack K. Lewis, Grand Master of Masons in Virginia, will be in attendance.

9 a.m. – coffee and fellowship

9:30 – open lodge (all are welcome) with presentation by RW Don Moro, Grand Organist

10:30 – procession to Bruton Parish Church led by fifes and drums

11 – church program, prayer, and presentation of an eighteenth century Masonic sermon

11:20 – recession to the lodge for lunch and open house

Formal dress for lodge officers with full Masonic regalia. Coat and tie for brethren.

I would love to get down there for one of these events. Can’t make this one, as I’ll be speaking at a Masonic luncheon in New Jersey. June 22 is St. Alban’s Day, which coincidentally will be my topic. Visiting Williamsburg 6 is on my list though!

      

‘Researchers to visit North Carolina’

    

Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 will meet this month, taking it on the road to North Carolina. The lodge, now in its twenty-eighth year, is chartered by the Grand Lodge of Virginia AF&AM, but it has dispensation to travel outside the Commonwealth in its pursuit of historical facts concerning the U.S. Civil War, especially where Freemasonry’s history intersects.

Bingham 272

On Saturday, April 13, the lodge will meet at Bingham Lodge 272 in Mebane, North Carolina. Worshipful Master John Butler chose the location for its proximity to Bennett Place, a short drive east to Durham. It was there where the Confederate commander, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, and U.S. Gen. William T. Sherman met in a little farmhouse and negotiated surrender terms in April 1865, coming to an agreement on April 26. (The U.S. Civil War did not conclude with one single surrender of Lee to Grant. Commanders in four different theaters about the country negotiated surrenders eventually disbanding the Confederate States Army.)

It’s a little too far for me, so I’ll miss this one, but the lodge has a solid weekend plan including Friday night dinner in Burlington; the lodge meeting, followed by lunch on Saturday; the visit to Bennett Place afterward; and a Saturday night dinner yet to be worked out. This edition of The Magpie Mason is intended to encourage Masons in the area to attend the meeting and other stops. Bingham Lodge 272 meets at 309 East Center Street in Mebane. If I’m not mistaken, North Carolina Lodge of Research is no longer at labor, but there is the North Carolina Masonic Research Society, and hopefully they’ll get the word and come to our meeting.

Coincidentally, that weekend will be the anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter.

I’ll be with the lodge again on July 13 when we’ll meet in Delaware.

     

‘Library-museum seeks new director’

    

The Allen E. Roberts Library and Museum of the Grand Lodge of Virginia seeks a new Executive Director. (God, I’d love to be Executive Director of the Allen E. Roberts Library and Museum!) From the publicity:

GL of Virginia

Executive Director of the Allen E. Roberts Library and Grand Lodge of Virginia AF&AM Museum will be a scholar and manager active in all aspects of the Library and Museum and an integral and essential member of the team. The Executive Director will ensure the Virginia Masonic family and generally the world Masonic community is aware of and able to access the collections associated with this endeavor.

Incumbent will report to the Board of Directors of the corporation.

Application deadline: March 1, 2024.

Resumes can be forwarded to:

The Grand Lodge of Virginia

4115 Nine Mile Road

Richmond, VA 23223-4926

or emailed here.

Position

Executive Director of the Allen E. Roberts Library and Grand Lodge of Virginia AF&AM Museum.

GL of Virginia

The Executive Director will be a scholar and manager active in all aspects of the Library and Museum and an integral and essential member of the team. The Executive Director will ensure the Virginia Masonic family and generally the world Masonic community is aware of and able to access the collections associated with this endeavor.

Purpose

GL of Virginia

The Grand Lodge of Virginia Library, Museum and Historical Foundation, and the Allen E. Roberts Masonic Library and Museum of Virginia, Inc. is seeking a vibrant, enthusiastic and dynamic person to direct, organize and curate the Allen E. Roberts Library, the Grand Lodge of Virginia, AF&AM Museum and assist in the curating of such other Virginia Masonic collections as may come under the purview of the Corporation.

Responsibilities

Report to the Board of Directors of the corporation.

Approve, catalog and document all acquisitions including books, ephemera, recordings, furnishings and other items.

GL of Virginia

Create policies, including accession and declination policies, for the Library and Museum, including the preparation of such forms as may be necessary for such purposes, for review and approval by the Board of Directors.

Ensure that Library and Museum holdings are available for Masonic and scholarly use.

Assure proper stewardship of all Library and Museum materials and holdings.

GL of Virginia

Employ proper conservation techniques and methods to preserve and maintain all collections to make the same available for the longest possible time.

Represent the Library and Museum where necessary and as requested by the Board of Directors.

Increase engagement with members of the Masonic Fraternity.

Establish clear goals for the collection and share the same with the Board of Directors.

Deepen fraternal and public awareness of the Library and Museum and publicize its holdings to encourage use.

Serve as a visible and articulate spokesperson for the Library and Museum.

Assist in fundraising matters on individual initiative and at the request of the Board of Directors.

GL of Virginia

Supervise docents, interns and volunteers and manage the scheduling of such persons.

Prepare a budget and discuss budgetary matters with the Board of Directors.

Manage special use and restricted funds.

Assist in planning major purchases and capital expenses of the Library and Museum.

Prepare and oversee Library and Museum publications.

Manage the physical integrity and security of all Library and Museum spaces.

Grow the holdings of the Library and Museum.

GL of Virginia

Salary Range

$46,500 to $68,500

Requirements

GL of Virginia

A strong commitment to historical preservation, research and scholarship.

A strong commitment to working with a team and a Board of Directors.

Bachelor’s Degree in library science, history, museum science, related field or equivalent experience.

Ability to work independently.

A passion for history.

Ability to use Past Perfect computer software.

     

‘Masonic Research District meeting’

    

Sunday afternoon brought the long-anticipated Zoom meeting of the Grand Lodge of Virginia’s Masonic Research District hosted by District Deputy Grand Master Shelby Chandler.

Virginia has five lodges of Masonic research (with a sixth on the way), and they were grouped into one district several years ago rather than each remaining an oddball within its geographical district. The purpose of this meeting, very prudently, was to allow the District Deputy to present his DDGM program once to all these lodges to avoid taking time away from their chosen presentations during his individual Official Visits. (My lodge, Civil War Lodge of Research 1865, will receive RW Chandler at our July 13 meeting at Jackson Lodge 19 in Delaware, likely the only lodge meeting I’ll be able to attend this year.)

The Grand Master’s Official Visit to the Masonic Research District will be February 3 at George Washington Lodge of Research 1732 at Fredericksburg.

Chandler’s discussion yesterday consisted of a detailed introduction of MW Jack Kayle Lewis, the new (and 178th) Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, including his very impressive resume of academic and professional achievements, plus his family life and other notable points, including his ambitious plans for his term. If you were wondering about the police badge design of Lewis’ Grand Master pin, it is inspired by his many decades in law enforcement.

Then came the designs upon Chandler’s trestleboard. I won’t cover it all, but here are some of the slides he displayed during his talk:

Click to enlarge.

Sorry for the blur.

I am starting to see the wisdom of us New Yorkers having our own DDGM for our four research lodges. (There is interest in starting a fifth in the Hudson Valley.) It is wise to have an ombudsman representing the research lodges to the Grand Lodge, bringing assistance when needed.

Of course we have our own festivities planned for New York, but if you’re in Virginia, get to this one.

I know it’s far off, but add to your calendars the Grand Lodge of Virginia’s Lafayette Bicentennial Gala on October 5.

     

‘Great news for researchers in Virginia’

    

The Masonic research domain is expanding under the Grand Lodge of Virginia, the jurisdiction with—I’d bet anything—the most lodges of Masonic research of any grand jurisdiction in this country. Currently, the brethren have five research lodges on the rolls, with another soon to be granted dispensation to begin its labors.

The reasoning behind having so many of these unique groups is twofold: spreading them around allows the brethren great access to education; and having a variety allows each to pursue a specific study.

If you’re not familiar, a Masonic research lodge is a combination historical society and literary society, but with a warrant from a grand lodge. Members are regular Freemasons from their respective Craft lodges, and they delve into history and write their findings for presentation to the research lodge, which hopefully publishes a book of these papers annually, or otherwise periodically.

In Virginia, those five research lodges at labor are:

George Washington Lodge of Research 1732 (at Fredericksburg Lodge 4), chartered in 2012, it focuses on Scottish Freemasonry, American Colonial Freemasonry, and Masonic military history.

Peyton Randolph Lodge of Research 1774 (at Williamsburg Lodge 6), chartered in 2007, its focus is dispersed on matters historic, philosophic, and even the practical aspects of the Craft.

Virginia Lodge of Research 1777 (at the Babcock Masonic Temple in Highland Springs), chartered in 1951, it is the eldest of Virginia’s research lodges and it looks into almost any Masonic subject.

Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 (at Babcock Temple also), chartered in 1995, its brethren concentrate on the U.S. Civil War’s intersections with Masonic history. I’m a member of this one, and I think it’s safe to say CWLR does most of its work on the road, traveling to Civil War historic sites in Virginia and beyond.

A. Douglas Smith, Jr. Lodge of Research 1949 (at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial), chartered in 1983, it is named for one of the top scholars of his day. The lodge studies the philosophical and the practical sides of Freemasonry.

And what about this sixth research lodge?

This will be named Blue Ridge Lodge of Research. You might guess from the name it will be located in western Virginia, and it in fact will meet at Hunter’s Masonic Lodge 156 in Blacksburg. Its field of study will be the history of Freemasonry in that very beautiful part of the Commonwealth. Maybe Virginia Tech has Masonic materials in its library and archives?

Six lodges of Masonic research, each doing its thing, and dispersed about the face of Virginia. It is important work they do. There has to be an outlet for the Masons who have the drive and talent to pursue facts, however obscure and elusive, and piece them into narratives that can be shared with others.

Most Masons don’t get it. Because research lodges do not confer degrees, these lodges go overlooked or even forgotten among the many moving parts of a grand jurisdiction.

RW Chandler on Facebook last week.

“We make papers, not Masons,” said RW Bro. Shelby Chandler. He was kind enough to spend more than half an hour on the phone with the Magpie Mason Friday night to explain these things. He is uniquely situated to know too, as he has been appointed District Deputy Grand Master of the Masonic Research District in Virginia, looking after the well being of all those lodges.

“We are real lodges. We open and close tiled meetings,” he added, “but because we are nerd-oriented, we are seen as a red-headed stepchild.” (He was preaching to the choir. I’m a Past Master of New Jersey’s research lodge, am Senior Warden of New York City’s, and recently joined CWLR under his jurisdiction in Virginia.) Another distinction that baffles many of the brethren is a research lodge’s lack of voting ability at Grand Lodge.

Such distinctions hardly separate research lodges from the mainstream of the fraternity, Chandler also said. Every Mason is charged with learning and sharing his knowledge, and the lodge of research is the ideal forum for that. For the brethren who prefer these activities, maybe to the exclusion of others, the place for education can unlock possibilities. “Have you reached your potential?” he asked hypothetically. “If not, maybe you’ll find it here.”

Furthermore, Chandler continued, these lodges serve myriad purposes. They often are custodians of ritual. They are the places to find experienced writers and editors. (I can tell you how H.L. Haywood, one of Freemasonry’s top educators a century ago, was lured to New York to launch our Grand Lodge’s first magazine—and he soon was made a Fellow of The American Lodge of Research.) Similarly, but maybe more importantly, research lodges provide skilled public speakers who can visit lodges and other groups to lead discussions of all kinds of subjects. And, essential today, research lodges are where we find the talent in communications technologies—video conferencing, social media, and even just plain websites—to organize Masonic thought and share it.

Virginia’s Masonic Research District was created four years ago. For management purposes, the research lodges were separated from their geographic districts and were grouped together because of their singular but shared purpose.

Not a bad idea for us larger jurisdictions!

Here in New York, we are fortunate to have four research lodges at labor. (There used to be a fifth.) I am told there is desire for another in the Hudson Valley. I’m sure there’s room for one on Long Island. The possibilities are endless. Someone tell the guys on the seventeenth floor!

     

‘Williamsburg Lodge plans St. John’s Day procession and church service’

    

Happy 250th anniversary to Williamsburg Lodge 6 in Virginia, which reached that amazing milestone last Monday, the sixth of November. Looking ahead to next month, the brethren have a great tradition to uphold: a proper Masonic procession to and from church for St. John the Evangelist Day (albeit a little early). From the publicity:

Williamsburg Lodge 6

Please join us for St. John’s Day, December 16, at Williamsburg Lodge.

Williamsburg Lodge 6

March through the streets of historic Colonial Williamsburg, led by fife and drums and Masons in Colonial-period attire. The procession will go to the historic Bruton Parish Church for an almost two-centuries-old St. John’s Day proclamation. The lodge will open at 2 p.m., followed by the procession at 3:45. The church service usually lasts thirty minutes, then the procession, with fife and drums, back to the lodge for refreshments.

Williamsburg Lodge 6

See our priceless Master’s Chair, a gift to the lodge from [Lord Botetourt,] the Colonial Governor of Virginia.

See Bruton Parish Church decorated for Christmas.

One of the best ways to highlight Freemasonry to large crowds of the public.

Williamsburg Lodge 6

     

‘Research lodge 2024 dates’

    

Civil War Lodge of Research apron.

The call for 2024 dues for Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 has gone out, and the meeting schedule has been published. One of the Grand Lodge of Virginia’s five lodges of Masonic research, CWLR is the one that travels outside the Commonwealth to visit places significant to Civil War history.

There are two meetings to go in 2023: Saturday, October 21 at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; and Saturday, December 2 at Farmville, Virginia.

Next year, plans are being made for:

April 13 at Bennett Place in North Carolina;

July 13 at Fort Delaware in Delaware; and

October 12 at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.

The meetings are held in nearby lodges, and then the brethren regroup at the historical sites. Sometimes plans change—in fact, I’m hoping that October date could be reconsidered someway because that’ll be Yom Kippur—so keep watch on the website. I definitely will attend the Delaware meeting.

     

’The minutes of history’

    

Tuckahoe Lodge 347 in Richmond, Virginia shared on social media an activity that sounds really interesting and productive. It was just a few sentences with a humdrum (no offense) photo posted on its Faceypage about a month ago:

Tuckahoe Lodge 347

Several of us have been meeting before practice to review old minutes from the past hundred years. It has been a lot of fun uncovering unique events and programs, special dates, familiar names, and more. Plus, the time together is incredible as well!

Just throwing it out there.

     

‘Scottish Freemasonry Symposium, Part I’

     

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 was very well represented last month at the Scottish Freemasonry in America Symposium hosted at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. Two of our Past Masters, Bob and me; our incoming Secretary, Erich; one former Tyler (Jersey spelling), Michael; and other New Jersey Masons (Paul, David, Ray) enjoyed the three-day celebration of the historical and cultural significances Scotland and its Freemasons have impressed on the United States.

Things started Friday, November 4, the 270th anniversary of the initiation into Freemasonry of George Washington in The Lodge at Fredericksburg. The lodge then met inside John Jones’ tavern, located around the corner from the current Fredericksburg Lodge 4. The brethren are at home in a charming brick structure dating to 1816. As one would expect, the lodge building could serve as a destination Masonic museum, its walls and square footage displaying all kinds of story-telling treasures, from framed aprons and portraits to furniture and many mementos.

Presented to Fredericksburg 4

by George Washington 285

in NYC on November 4, 1920.

Two lodge rooms are housed inside. The one typically in use is downstairs in an addition to the building dating to the 1950s; the other, used only once annually to keep it legally in Masonic use, is upstairs. Ascending the staircase is like traveling back in time. The Old Lodge Room at the top of the stairs is intimate, creaky, and antique in a way that would make even the most frivolous “knife and fork Mason” pause in appreciation for its atmosphere. In the northwest corner is a wall safe outfitted with a glass facade to allow viewing of artifacts, but they have been removed for preservation. (Nothing precious, really. Just that Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington reproduced on the dollar bill.) On November 20, 1824, Lafayette visited and was made an honorary member inside this room. The floors are said to be imbued with the blood of Union soldiers from when the building was commandeered for use as a military hospital during the Civil War.

One very notable connection to New Jersey is the lodge’s reverence for Bro. Hugh Mercer, a native of Scotland who served under Washington as a general in the Revolutionary War. He died from wounds suffered during the Battle of Princeton, and the County of Mercer and Mercer Lodge 5 are among his namesakes. He was a Mason of The Lodge at Fredericksburg, and not far from the lodge stands the General Hugh Mercer Monument, a larger-than-life bronze atop a massive stone plinth, erected by the federal government in 1906, memorializing him. We sojourning Masons walked in a procession to this statue where W. Bro. Shelby Chandler, now the lodge Tiler (Virginia spelling), presented a detailed biography of the hero to whom our nation owes so much.

‘You Masons are all goin’ to hell!’ hollered one woman
driving past us, prompting much laughter.

En route to the statue, we stopped at the oldest Masonic cemetery in the Western Hemisphere. Established by the lodge in 1784, it is the final resting place of approximately 270 Masons and their families. It is very much part of Fredericksburg Lodge’s life, and although many of the headstones show their age through worn, illegible inscriptions and broken pieces, the cemetery is not a neglected graveyard, and the grounds are maintained by the brethren themselves.

Presidents Washington and Monroe in miniature portraits.

Back at the lodge, our large party was seated for a sumptuous feast to restore our strength before a special communication of the lodge. 

A word about lapel pins: We guests were presented with two by our hosts at Fredericksburg Lodge. Big ones. On the left is the lodge’s 270th anniversary (1752-2022) pin. The design is half the Scottish flag on the left with half the Fredericksburg flag on the right. The pin at right is—well, I guess I know what I’ll be wearing on Washington’s birthday! It unquestionably is the largest lapel pin I’ve ever owned; in length and width it exceeds a U.S. dollar coin. Not the lame Sacagawea coin, but, like a Morgan silver dollar! It’s hard to get a good photo of them.

It was the Official Visit of Most Worshipful James Winfield Golladay, Jr., Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Virginia. As such, it was a long meeting thanks to numerous introductions and greetings of many individuals and groups of eminent Masons. When the Left-Handed Past Grand Pursuivants were asked to present themselves west of the altar, I attempted to sneak out the Outer Door. Alas, the lodge was closely tiled (New York spelling).

Printed in 1668 in Cambridge, this KJV is the Bible
in use when Washington took his obligations.

In case you were wondering, yes, the King James Bible on which Washington placed his hands for his Masonic obligations was present. Printed in 1668 in Cambridge, England, it is safeguarded by the lodge and is displayed, open to Ecclesiastes 12, inside a translucent case. No flash photography is permitted; fortunately our smart phones feature cameras that can capture images almost regardless of lighting conditions.

All of that would have sufficed for a full Masonic weekend, but the conference that drew us to Virginia began the following morning. More on that to come in an upcoming edition of The Magpie Mason.