‘Civil War Lodge to take Monterey Pass’

    

Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 will return to Pennsylvania next month to visit the site of the Battle of Monterey Pass.

I admit this campaign has been unknown to me, possibly because it is overshadowed in history by Gettysburg, only about twenty miles northeast, and fought days earlier. As the Monterey Pass Battlefield Park & Museum website puts it:

After three days

of battle at Gettysburg…

...both sides had taken substantial losses. Robert E. Lee’s 50,000 remaining troops of the Army of Northern Virginia needed to withdraw from 80,000 remaining Union troops in George Meade’s Army of the Potomac. Where did they go?

Monterey Pass was the site of a battle that would determine whether Lee would be able to retreat and fight another day. Sixty miles of wagons, loaded with supplies needed to sustain Lee’s army, headed for the river crossing at Williamsport, Maryland to escape to Virginia. Twenty miles of those wagons made their way via Monterey Pass. During the night of July Fourth, 5,000 Union troops, including George Armstrong Custer, attacked this retreating wagon train in the middle of a raging thunderstorm.

The Monterey Pass Battlefield Park and Museum is a 125-acre natural, cultural & historical park located in Washington Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The park and museum preserves a portion of Pennsylvania’s second largest Civil War battle.

The battle included the Toll House, site of the fiercest part of the battle where the Union broke the Confederate line. The Toll House still stands and is privately owned and occupied, though negotiations are underway to bring it into the Park. The Park includes miles of trails with magnificent views of the area….

The lodge, one of six research lodges at labor under the Grand Lodge of Virginia, will meet at Acacia Lodge 586 in Waynesboro on Saturday, July 18 at 10 a.m. After lunch, we’ll leave for the battlefield site.

Cashtown Inn

For dinner on both Friday and Saturday, we will gather at Cashtown Inn, itself at the center of the wartime storm.

Read about that here.

Looks like another great weekend with the lodge—my only Masonic appointment for July, and then I’m off duty until the John Skene Masonic Conference at the end of August in New Jersey. (Unfortunately, that will coincide with the Official Visit of MW Matthew Szramoski to Virginia’s research lodges, scheduled for Haymarket Lodge 313, on August 29. Listen, I can’t do everything.)

      

‘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.

     

‘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.

     

‘Szramoski is new E.D. of GWMNM’

    

Matthew T. Szramoski

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial has a new executive director. From the announcement:

ALEXANDRIA, VA—The George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association is delighted to announce the appointment of Matthew T. Szramoski as its new Executive Director. Szramoski, a distinguished leader with a profound dedication to non-profit fundraising and historic restoration, will assume his new role effective immediately.

Mr. Szramoski was most recently the Director of Development for the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in Washington, D.C., and formerly the Youth Programs Manager for the National Rifle Association. With over three decades of experience in organizational leadership and development, Mr. Szramoski brings a wealth of knowledge and a deep passion for the mission of the Memorial. He has demonstrated a strong commitment to preserving and promoting the legacy of George Washington and the principles of Freemasonry.

“Matt Szramoski’s extensive experience makes him the ideal choice to lead the Memorial into its next chapter,” said the Memorial Association’s President Kenneth G. Nagel. “His leadership is expected to usher in a new era of growth for the Memorial.”

Szramoski’s appointment comes at a pivotal time as the Memorial embarks on several ambitious initiatives aimed at expanding its educational outreach and enhancing visitor experience. Under his leadership, the Memorial will further engage the public and foster a deeper understanding of George Washington’s life and the impact of Freemasonry on the founding of the United States.

Read all about it here.