‘Greenwich Tea Time, 250 Years Later’

    

An interesting item in the September trestleboard of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 ties together history and current events.

Greenwich Tea Time,

250 Years Later

On Saturday, October 5, the Cumberland County Historical Society will commemorate the semiquincentennial anniversary of the Greenwich Tea Burning, a local pre-Revolution act of rebellion against the Crown that has a Masonic connection.

History remembers how on the night of December 22, 1774, twelve months after the Boston Tea Party, colonists in Greenwich, New Jersey expressed such disdain for British taxation that they burned a cargo of tea owned by the East India Company, the same victim as in Boston on account of its tea monopoly in British North America. Boston had the inundation; Greenwich the conflagration.

Frank D. Andrews, author of The Tea-Burners of Cumberland County, printed in Vineland in 1908 to memorialize the dedication of the tea-burning commemorative monument (fourteen feet of granite with Corinthian columns front and back) in Greenwich, writes:

“With the beginning of the year 1774, the agitation regarding the rights of the colonists and the unjust and tyrannical course of the British Parliament became a subject of general discussion throughout the country. At Greenwich, many sided with the king and condemned any opposition to his authority. Others there were, with an ardent love of liberty who freely discussed the political situation, taking sides with the Boston patriots, commending their action in destroying the tea in Boston Harbor, and giving with a liberal hand toward the relief of the sufferers from the Port Bill which Parliament had decreed as a punishment.”

The action, in short, was the ship Greyhound, bearing tea to Philadelphia, was warned off that port due to a potential Boston-like reception. Seeking a safer landing, the captain diverted into the Cohansey River to reach Greenwich. Amid as much secrecy as possible, the cargo was unloaded and placed inside the cellar of the Market Square home of Mr. Dan Bowen. A group of liberty-minded area men organized and headed to this house. Again, from Mr. Andrews:

“At Market Square, they halt before the building in which the tea is stored, speedily effect an entrance, and soon we may see the boxes passed from hand to hand into the neighboring field where the broken chests and contents form a goodly pile.”

It wasn’t long before it all was set ablaze.

As with Boston, anonymity of the rebels was essential because capture would mean brutal punishment, including death. In time, of course, that jeopardy expired, and partial credit for the raid since has been given to Andrew Hunter, Jr.

revolutionarywarnewjersey.com

The side of the Greenwich monument bearing Hunter’s name.

Born in 1752, Andrew was the son of David Hunter, a retired British Army officer settled in Virginia. David’s brother Andrew, for whom the boy was named, asked David to send young Andrew to him in New Jersey to receive an education. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1772 and soon was licensed to preach. Following that uncle’s career, he was attached to the Presbyterian Church at Greenwich.

During the Revolution, he served with distinction in both militia and the Continental Army as a chaplain, even receiving public praise from Gen. George Washington.

njcincinnati.org

Andrew Hunter also was an original member and the first Secretary of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey.

Andrew Hunter, Jr. was a Freemason, according to RW Joseph H. Hough, author in 1870 of Origin of Masonry in the State of New Jersey and a longtime Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey. In this book, he explains how the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania had issued a warrant on September 2, 1782 to Masons serving in the Continental Army’s New Jersey Brigade, and thus Rev. Andrew Hunter became Worshipful Master of Lodge 36.

After the Revolutionary War, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1784 recalled all warrants it had issued to traveling military lodges. No. 36 complied and ceased to be.

There is no evidence of anyone from No. 36 participating in the organization of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey at New Brunswick two years later, but Hunter reappears in 1787 in Grand Lodge’s records. At the Grand Lodge Communication of December 20, it was ordered that Hunter be invited to give a sermon the following St. John the Baptist Day in New Brunswick, as part of the first Grand Lodge installation of officers celebration. It doesn’t look like he attended, but Hunter’s name is on the roll of visiting brethren at the January 13, 1802 meeting of Grand Lodge at Trenton. Later that year, he was appointed Grand Chaplain.

He was appointed chaplain to the U.S. Navy in 1810, and so made Washington his home until his death in 1823.

Should any brethren find themselves at Gibbon House (960 Ye Great Street in Greenwich) for this 250th anniversary bash on October 5, be sure to raise your glass to the memory of our historic Masonic ancestor.

They’ll be burning tea at three o’clock too!

     

‘Make St. Alban’s Day great again’

    

Catholic Online

St. Alban

Another very pleasurable Saturday at The Cranbury Inn is in the books.

A group of us from New Jersey’s research lodge are making an annual tradition of this. Last June, St. John the Baptist Day was nice enough to land on a Saturday, so to celebrate that and the 300th anniversary of The Constitutions of the Free-Masons—more commonly known as Anderson’s Constitutions—being published, we gathered for lunch at this historic eatery. Today, being St. Alban’s Day, we did it again.

About The Cranbury Inn from its website:

In the mid-1600s in the center of the colony of New Jersey by Cranberry Creek, a mill town began to develop along an old Indian trail that had widened into a road. This road connected the colonies and was becoming a main thoroughfare for colonial travelers. In 1697 Cranberry Towne received its charter from England. With increasing development, a need arose in central New Jersey for a place to eat and drink, get fresh horses, and spend the night; thus, in the mid-1700s (1750 and 1765) our taverns were built to meet these needs of the travelers passing through this area. After the colonies declared their independence from the motherland this business officially established itself in 1780. What is now The Cranbury Inn has been functioning as a place to eat and drink since the 1750s.

We ate, we drank, but it’s a shame you can’t smoke in the place. Conversation remained in the orbit of Masonic history, particularly how one event in the 1800s gave shape to much of what we do today. That discussion just might develop into a conference, so I’ll sit on the details there.

But, St. Alban! I was asked in advance to provide the postprandial remarks, so the brethren patiently listened to “Make St. Alban’s Day Great Again.” I kept it short, but this is my pitch to elevate June 22 to its rightful place on the Masonic calendar on account of this saint having a historical connection to the masons of the building trades.

John the Baptist? No connection to the masons of medieval times. Read as many of the Gothic Constitutions as you please, but you won’t find any mention of John the Baptist. Or of the Evangelist, for that matter. But there is our true patron, St. Alban, in the Cooke Manuscript from the 15th century.

Excerpted, starting at Line 602:

And soon after that came Saint Adhabell into England, and converted Saint Alban to Christianity. And Saint Alban loved well masons, and he gave them first their charges and manners first in England. And he ordained convenient [times] to pay for the travail.

Another document, known as the Grand Lodge Manuscript, that is said to date to 1583, illustrates more:

England in all this time stood void of any Charge of Masonry, until St. Albans’ time, and in his days the King of England, then a pagan, did wall the town that is now called St. Albans. And St. Alban was a worthy Knight and Steward of the King’s household, and had the government of the realm, and also of the walls of the said town; he loved and cherished Masons right well, and made their pay right good (according the standing of the realm), for he gave them 2 shillings 6 pence a week and three pence to their cheer [food and drinks]; for before that time, throughout all the land, a Mason took but a penny a day and his meat, until St. Alban amended it. He procured for them [the Masons] a Charter from the King and his Council, to hold a general council together, and gave it the name of Assembly; and after having himself [become a Mason], he helped to make men Masons, and gave them a Charge, as you shall hear afterwards right soon.

So, personally, I believe St. Alban endeared himself to masons through the act of improving the food and drink allowance!

He is the patron saint of torture victims, so if you ever endured one of my talks, Alban is your saint.

For a smattering of hagiography, see the Catholic Encyclopedia here.

      

‘History by type and as ritual’

    

The Spirit of Masonry, essential reading, figures in Ben Hoff’s upcoming paper.

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 will meet Saturday. Two weighty papers are scheduled. From the trestleboard:

“Classifying History Writing by Type” by Bro. Donald Elfreth. This admittedly subjective short essay attempts to fit various types of history writing into four broad areas. There are no firm divisions of these areas, and each may have, to some extent, elements of another. The presenter does not expect all to agree with his analysis, and he looks forward to a lively discussion at the conclusion of his presentation.

“Monitors and Ritual Ciphers” by Distinguished Laureate Bro. Ben Hoff. A survey of history and development of Masonic Monitors and Ritual books, both coded (ciphers) and uncoded, along with their influence on the expansion of our ritual, particularly lectures.

I have read Ben’s well researched paper, and will host him at The American Lodge of Research in October to present it again as part of a multifaceted review of such books. You’ll hear about that when autumn approaches.

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education meets at 9:30 a.m. in Freemasons Hall, home of Union Lodge 19, in North Brunswick. Light refreshments are served before, and a catered lunch ($20) after for those who booked in advance.

Now is still spring, and I will have to miss this meeting of LORE 1786 because it will coincide with the Grotto Supreme Council Session.

     

‘Call for papers: The Scottish Enlightenment’

    

A productive and eventful meeting of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 yesterday morning. I can’t even complain about the commute, which passed without much aggravation—a singular occurrence! Two very engaging papers were presented, both of which successfully threaded the needle of speculative theses supported by research.

Before all that, though, was a lengthy conversation in support of an initiative unique to New Jersey Freemasonry. For several years, brethren of the research lodge, acting independently, have been memorializing John Skene, the seventeenth century Scottish Mason from the lodge in Aberdeen, who emigrated to West Jersey in 1682, becoming the first Mason in the New World. (Click here to learn about the first such event in 2022.)

Last year, the Skene celebration matured into an academic conference (click here). This year, the conference will continue, and the call for papers went out just days ago. From the publicity:

Conference Theme: The Scottish Enlightenment

Date: Saturday, August 24

Location: Crescent Shriners, 700 Highland Dr., Westampton, New Jersey

Submission via email: click here

Subject Fields: American History/Studies; Atlantic History/Studies; British History/Studies; Cultural History/Studies; Humanities; Immigration & Migration History/Studies; Intellectual History; Philosophy; Religious Studies and Theology; Social History/Studies

Call for Papers: John Skene, the conference’s namesake and first known Freemason in the New World, arrived at a time of great intellectual change. The 2024 John Skene Masonic Conference theme is “The Scottish Enlightenment” and seeks to investigate the links between the Scottish Enlightenment, the Atlantic World, the American Revolution, and the Enlightenment more broadly. With the 1707 Acts of Union, Scottish elites followed the power to London, leaving space for the emerging middle class to take the cultural, political, and social reins. The intellectual movement that resulted included key concepts that would come to have an underappreciated impact on the modern world. Key to understanding this is the concurrent growth of Freemasonry, emerging in 1717 as English Freemasons established the first Grand Lodge.

Deadline: Friday, May 3.

Our annual conference seeks to explore the ways in which the Enlightenment in Scotland brought new ideas to the forefront and expanded the movement more broadly. Freemasonry’s concurrent expansion provided a network that shared a common cultural and intellectual lineage. How did these two movements interact? How did the Enlightenment in Scotland spread during the Scottish diaspora? And how did Freemasonry draw from Scottish intellectual roots to become a center of cosmopolitan colonial life in British North America?

Specifically we are looking for proposals that will fit into panels on:

▸ The Scottish Enlightenment

▸ The Scottish Enlightenment in America

▸ The Enlightenment in America

Magpie file photo

With this broad theme we hope to explore the connections between the Enlightenment and Freemasonry, and the Scottish Enlightenment as a specific movement spread by the Scottish diaspora. While papers dealing directly with Freemasonry are encouraged, the committee is seeking out speakers on broad topics of the Enlightenment in these contexts, particularly if the papers touch on prominent Masons/Masonic Lodges/networks.

Papers may be published in a possible joint volume of conference transactions.

The committee is looking for broad/introductory research on the following areas: Scottish Enlightenment, the Scottish Enlightenment in America, New Jersey and the Enlightenment.

Conference Mission: The John Skene Masonic Conference is an annual event crossover conversation between Masons and those who study our gentle craft. Held in commemoration of John Skene, the first known Freemason in the New World, who settled in West Jersey at the end of the seventeenth century. Along with a memorial held at Peachfield, his plantation home outside Burlington, New Jersey, the conference aims to serve as an annual venue for research and conversation on the broader historical role Freemasonry has played within the New Jersey, colonial, American, and Atlantic contexts.

Regarding publication of the papers presented, part of the long conversation at our meeting yesterday culminated in the agreement to share these papers in the lodge’s book of transactions. In fact, the research lodge will serve as a sponsor of the August 24 event to help clear the legal, financial, etc. hurdles of organizing a complicated day. Of course, The Magpie Mason will keep you updated, including a notice when tickets go on sale.

But about the research lodge meeting: Bro. Glenn presented The Meaning of the Three Ruffians, which explored psychological, etymological, and other facets of the identities of You Know Who. Bro. Howard returned to the lectern in his usual style with Who Was the Widow’s Son? A Discourse on Confusion, which also delved into word origins, plus Biblical and ancient histories, excursions to Greece and Graceland, and even a mention of Groucho Marx. Well done!

      

‘Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?’

    

Click to enlarge.

Lunch is on me if you are able to research, write, and present an essay on the Brother Freemason mentioned in the newspaper story above.

This offer is open to members in good standing of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786, and the offer expires December 31 of this year. Expected is a biographical accounting of Rev. Sheville within and without Freemasonry. Original writing, thousand words minimum, proper citations as endnotes.

The newspaper clipping comes from the Thursday, August 13, 1873 edition of the Lawrence Daily Journal in Kansas.

After our meetings, we retire to a steak house around the corner for lunch, so a steak meal is on me. If you’re a vegetarian, have chicken or something. I don’t know.

     

‘Recap of Night from this morning’

    

‘Night’ by William Hogarth tells a story of the politics between the two English Masonic systems in the 1730s.

As advertised last night, New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 hosted RW Bro. Andrew Farleigh via Zoom this morning for a discussion of “William Hogarth: The Hidden Secrets of ‘The Night.’” Our speaker is an experienced researcher and presenter of topics Masonic, and is Provincial Grand Orator at the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex in the UGLE. The talk was recorded, and I hope it is somehow made available to an audience wider than the fifteen or so of our members who heeded the late call.

Bro. Farleigh led us on a tour of a London street late one night where chaos, replete with an overturned carriage, flames, and other misery, abounds as two pairs of Freemasons head toward each other.

From Bro. Farleigh’s presentation.

Bro. William Hogarth’s “Night” often is mischaracterized as mocking Freemasonry, but Farleigh delves into the symbols and details that tell the actual story. At left, facing us, is Bro. Thomas de Veil, a magistrate “renowned for corruption,” and with him is Bro. Andrew Montgomery, Grand Tyler, described as being not very smart. Both were Moderns, and are seen exiting the Rummer and Grapes. Approaching them on the right, with their backs toward us, are two Antient Masons, one dwarfish and therefore ineligible for membership in the Moderns, and the other a tradesman, equally undesirable to the elites who comprised the Moderns’ lodges.

From Bro. Farleigh’s presentation.

The rest of the scene merits insightful decoding, but I leave that to you. To book Bro. Farleigh for a talk, please feel free to email him here. Enjoy.

Bro. Andrew’s current topics for discussion (but he’s always adding more).

     

‘Tomorrow: Zoom meeting on Bro. Hogarth’

    

‘This is tomorrow!’

Sorry for the short notice—not my fault!—but New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 announced tonight how it will host a Zoom meeting at 10:30 in the morning starring a guest speaker from England. From the nick-of-time publicity:

New Jersey Lodge

of Masonic Research

and Education 1786

Presents Andrew Farleigh

on William Hogarth:

The Hidden Secrets

of “Night”

Click here

William Hogarth was a high quality English artist and Freemason from the first half of the 1700s, and his drawings and paintings of the time just before the merger of the two grand lodges really were eye-opening commentaries on the rival Masonic factions and on London life in general. 

There is a lot of history regarding the fractious nature of the divide between the Moderns and the Antients that is never publicized and rarely is discussed. We usually hear about those Masons wishing to retain the “old traditions” and those who wished to “modernize and streamline” the Order, but with little insight into why, what it really meant, and the “class snobbery” prevalent at the time.

Hogarth included much Masonic imagery into his work–mostly hidden with very clever technique. Hogarth’s work was brilliantly technical, very accomplished, and highly satirical; he did not worry about who he insulted, sometimes in brutal fashion. His particular skill was to incorporate images into his pictures, in plain view, that was unremarkable to the untrained eye, but once aware of his hidden messages and images, his works change completely.

Being a Freemason, he used his unique skills to comment not only on ordinary life in London, but also the personalities and goings-on at the Grand Lodge. No one was spared from his wit, cunning, and brilliance, and he developed a massive following and interest in his work as a result.

Meeting ID: 871 7318 8836

Passcode: 179859

     

 

‘An encouraging word to spread the Light’

    

RW Bro. Rich was our lone presenter yesterday at New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786. He will be appointed Grand Historian in November.

A quick, but enjoyable, meeting of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 was the highlight of my yesterday. We had just one presenter, Bro. Rich, who is to become his grand lodge’s grand historian come November. His talk wasn’t a paper on history, however, it was what one would categorize as speculative. Titled “The Shammesh Candle and Freemasonry: How One Candle Can Illuminate the World,” his discussion was inspired by Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen’s bestseller My Grandfather’s Blessings.

I’m not familiar with it, but the publisher says, in part:

Dr. Remen’s grandfather, an orthodox rabbi and scholar of the Kabbalah, saw life as a web of connection and knew that everyone belonged to him, and that he belonged to everyone. He taught her that blessing one another is what fills our emptiness, heals our loneliness, and connects us more deeply to life.

Rich applied the book’s concepts to Masonic thought, illustrating his points with the candles on a small menorah (after switching off the lights). The shammash (there are various English spellings of the word) candle is that center taper in the nine-branch menorah. The Chabad branch of Hasidim says:

Each of us has the potential to be a shammash. We all have a responsibility to become teachers and impact the lives of others. Just as the shammash is usually placed above the other candles, a person who serves others, a teacher, becomes great because he or she is using a set of superior skills to make others great too. Following the shammash, the path to elevation is not through pushing others down, but by sharing with them and coaxing out the flame they carry within.

There was a little post-meeting grumbling because the presentation was not a tried-by-the-square research paper, but this research lodge, per its by-laws, makes time for other than academic studies. I liked it. It’s ideal for lodge or AMD council. I hope Rich continues to bring it to the brethren.

A large group of us then retired to a local steakhouse. Somehow, I spent fifty bucks on lunch! A cheeseburger, two Oktoberfests, and the worst onion rings known to man. Well, it’s right around the corner, so…

The research lodge will meet next on Saturday, December 9, for which I am to arrange a visit by the author of a historical novel that tells of early Freemasonry. More on that to come.

     

‘In the pages of the summer ESM magazine’

    

ESM magazine

Speaking of White Plains Lodge (see post below), the Immediate Past Master has an article published in the new issue of The Empire State Mason magazine that includes a familiar photo.

It’s weird seeing New Jersey guys in New York’s magazine, but W. Bro. Stephen Petty included this shot from New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786’s meeting of February 19 at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. A very special occasion attended by brethren from around the country and beyond. (Click here for a recap.) The article is about the White Plains Lodge brethren’s enjoyment of the various attractions that wonderful weekend in Alexandria, Virginia.

     

‘Thrice in 24 hours’

    

In some places, the tide might ebb and flow twice in twenty-four hours, but what can you do when you have three Masonic meetings in the same period? If you’re like me, meaning you have nothing better to do, then you attend them all.

This is the only weekend this year when my Cryptic council, research lodge, and AMD council have stated meetings on top of each other. Hectic, but enjoyable.

Scott Council 1

R&SM

If you followed the travails of Scott Council 1 these past eight or so months, you might recall we were marked for euthanasia. Long story. Today, the prognosis is improved. Big challenges remain, like in personnel, but with committed leadership and help from Grand Council, there’s a good chance the situation will continue to improve.

No, we typically do not serve cake. It was our District Deputy’s birthday.

The help Friday night came in the form of a Council of Instruction. The MIGM himself guided us through a relaxed (casual attire!), but informative, exploration of the RM Degree. I’ve never been a ritualist in the Cryptic Rite, so this was more valuable to me than it may have been to the others. We dissected the ceremony and examined the floor work section by section, posing questions throughout. A very positive experience. Fun, even.

We expect to confer the degree a few meetings hence, which could be next February.

LORE 1786

Saturday morning, it was time for New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786. Three speakers were scheduled, but we wound up with four.

First, Bro. Harry, a Past Master of historic Brearley Lodge 2, presented his findings on the dues and fees structure of his lodge during its earliest years. In short, it cost a man dearly at Brearley to receive the degrees of Freemasonry in the 1790s, and to remain a member in good standing, and even to cover the fines levied for unexcused absences, whereas none of that is true today, resulting in a neglected lodge building and other familiar headaches. Oh, and the brethren meet in the lodge’s original building from the 1790s.

Naturally, being a Knight of the North, I could not be more sympathetic; and, hearing Brearley 2 is increasing its dues and fees, I couldn’t be happier for them. Harry, however, made it sound like it may be too late.

As an editor, I’ll correct the writer in his many conversions of eighteenth century money to our current worthless currency. No such calculations are possible. Not only was the Federal Reserve not even a spark of a nightmare in Thomas Jefferson’s psyche, but American money itself was in its infancy. The average guy on the street was walking around with coins minted by states, or even by private hands, plus money from Britain, France, and Spain. (If you ever wondered why the New York Stock Exchange, founded 1792, denominated shares in eighths of a dollar, it’s because of pieces of eight.) But his point is well taken.

Brearley Lodge is named for David Brearley, a Founding Father, first chief justice of New Jersey, and first grand master of the grand lodge there. Yesterday was the anniversary of his birth in 1745.

Bro. Glenn discusses Psalm 133 while Senior Deacon David looks on.

Next, Bro. Glenn, our Tyler, delved into the meaning of Psalm 133. I know not every grand lodge’s rituals employ this song of King David in the First Degree, but many of us do, and Glenn enchanted his listeners with explanations of ointments, beards, Hermon, and even a certain postulate concerning divine energy passing downward through the body. Nicely done.

Thirdly, Bro. Jim of Hightstown-Apollo 41, encouraged us to seek the elusive book The Early Masonic Catechisms by Knoop, Jones, and Hamer. If you are the one in 10,000 Freemasons interested in the embryonic years of Freemasonry, then this book is for you—except you probably will have to be content with an online version, as printed copies are rare and consequently very expensive. (I don’t have a copy. I’ve been getting by for fifteen years with photocopied pages in a binder that Bro. Franklin gave me.)

It’s essential reading. Check out the second edition here.

Bro. Jim alerts the brethren to the existence of a rare book we need to read.

Things that Jim found intriguing were the citation of cassia, a variety of cinnamon, once placed at a certain burial site to camouflage foul odor, where we today would place acacia; and the various ritual practices that were discarded over the years as the Grand Lodge of England gave shape to the three-tier initiation system.

A final presentation was not on the meeting agenda. Bro. Jay, of Livingston Lodge 11, had a clipping from a trestleboard from the eighties, when his father was Master of his lodge, from which he read short essay titled “An Estate.” Perfect for our meeting before Fathers Day.

The lodge wants a new ‘logo,’ and solicited designs from the brethren. I think about a dozen were submitted. All had our name worded incorrectly.

J. William Gronning

Council 83

Finally, on Saturday night, it was time for the Allied Masonic Degrees. J. William Gronning Council 83 is where I’ve been for more than two decades. I was Master there in 2003, but I’m really doubting I will continue my membership for much longer. There’s not much going on there. We had one presentation that a) was not original writing; b) had nothing to do with Freemasonry; and c) started with a few paragraphs that made some of us twitchy.

I’m twenty-six years into this fraternity, and I foresee myself soon specializing in my Craft lodge and two research lodges only. The rest can be nice, but I don’t find any of it compelling any longer. Selah.

     

‘Graham and guns: another day at LORE’

    

After driving fifty-something miles into New Jersey, I’m three minutes from the lodge when I find myself stuck on an off-ramp for a half-hour thanks to the unconventional driving skills of an unknown motorist who succeeded in a one-car collision. No injuries, as far as I could tell, but after our meeting, an identical snafu confounded some of the brethren headed home.

Two research lodges in five days? That’s my kind of week! It was The ALR last Tuesday (see Wednesday’s post below) and yesterday was a rescheduled meeting of New Jersey’s research lodge.

Known colloquially as LORE, New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 meets quarterly on the second Saturdays of March, June, September, and December. Our March 11 meeting was postponed to yesterday on account of the funeral of our Brother Byron.

Providing the historical insights were two of our early Past Masters: Ben Hoff (2008-10) and myself (2006-08). Ben is the real talent. I was added to the agenda merely to leaven the meeting after the heavy information Ben unleashes.

Reprising a paper he presented more than a decade ago, he spoke of the Graham Manuscript and the clues he believes it provides into the evolution of the Master Mason, Past Master, Mark, and Royal Arch Mason degrees. The Graham MS, from 1726, is little known about the apartments of the Temple. The few who are aware of it know it for the ritual raising that foreshadows the action in the MM Degree we work today, but instead of the Grand Masters at KST, the Graham version involves Noah and his sons.

Before discussing the manuscript, Ben walked us through the necessary fundamentals: differences between rituals and degrees; the gradual development of the MM Degree; a timeline of many of the manuscripts that contain legends and ritual elements; and a description of the Masonic grand lodges of the eighteenth century, to clarify who was doing what in the degree department. Then there was a walkthrough of the other manuscripts and ritual exposures, illustrating how they differ when it comes to important aspects of our ritual work. Painstaking research that surely required a lot of time.

Then it was the star attraction: Bro. Thomas Graham’s manuscript from 1726. It wasn’t brought to modern light until 1936 when a clergyman in Yorkshire, recently initiated, produced the document, which had been in his family’s possession, for review by English Masons.

Among the notable sights in the manuscript are these terms, making their first appearances in early Masonic letters:

• initiated, passed, and raised by three successive lodges
• coming from a lodge of St. John
• an allusion to a hoodwink
• a ceremony of raising
• there is a Word, but not for the purpose we use
• and a good bit more

Ben’s paper is dense with details, and I can’t reproduce it here. The brethren received it with appreciation and some awe. Ben’s overall point is that before domineering grand lodges standardized ritual practice (or tried to), Masons in diverse locales had their own ways and manners—which didn’t always make sense, but the brethren made do.

Then it was my turn at the lectern to tell the story of how the Irish Republican Army waged war on Irish Freemasonry in 1922. You can read the gist of that here.

LORE will meet again on Saturday, June 10 in Freemasons Hall in North Brunswick.

     

‘Illustrations of William Preston’

    

The brethren in lodge assembled last Sunday.

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education reached a milestone last Sunday when our members gathered in the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia for our first Emergent Communication held outside New Jersey.

LORE, as it has become known, was opened in due and ancient form inside the South Lodge Room, home of Alexandria-Washington Lodge 22, with thirty-two brethren present, hailing from jurisdictions around the United States, including Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In addition, Bro. Robert L.D. Cooper of Scotland and Bro. David Chichinadze of the Republic of Georgia were present too.

GWMNM photo

Symbolic replica of the cornerstone.

In fact, hundreds of Masons were in Alexandria that week to join the centenary celebration of the Memorial’s cornerstone-laying ceremony, which was re-enacted the following day. Related activities included the annual meeting of the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons of North America and the City of Alexandria’s George Washington Birthday Parade, which terminated at the Memorial this time.

Two presentations were heard that afternoon from our own Bro. Howard Kanowitz and from a very special guest speaker.

Bro. Kanowitz reprised his poem “Redemption at Gettysburg,” which he delivered for the first time at LORE’s inaugural Stated Communication. (Look for it in the pages of our first book of transactions.) The six-part epic tells of Freemasonry’s civilizing influence extending even into the horrors of combat during the Civil War.

The headliner was Bro. Shawn Eyer, a native of Academia Lodge 847 in California who has been in residence at the Memorial, serving as Director of Education. He also is Editor of The Philalethes, the quarterly periodical of the Philalethes Society, the independent historical and literary society, itself reaching its 95th anniversary this year. Bro. Eyer presented a research work titled “Holy Symbols, Infinite Wisdom: Freemasonry’s Mystical Ground Plan in Prestonian Thought.”

Worshipful Master Craig thanks Shawn
for the valuable Masonic research and education.

William Preston was the author of Illustrations of Masonry. First published in 1772, and reprinted numerous times in the ensuing years, Illustrations is widely thought to be the source material for much of the ritual we today use in our lodges, but he has not been celebrated universally. Nineteenth century writers, like Albert Mackey and Albert Pike, derided Preston, Eyer explained, alleging his ideas on Masonic rituals and symbols lacked any sophistication, particularly anything that could nourish a spiritual appetite. Eyer vindicated Preston’s writings by bringing to light texts that are supplemental to Illustrations.

etymonline.com

Illustrations does not mean only pictures.

The long-forgotten writings, called the “Syllabus,” provide what Mackey and Pike most desired, as well as the thesis for Eyer’s eye-opening discussion that day. Suffice to say there was more to Preston’s thinking than architecture and physical senses.

Two Georgia Masons:
Danny from the state and David from the country.

LORE’s rental agreement for the room stipulated a limited time, so it was necessary for GLNJ’s Senior Grand Warden to close the lodge in ample form before the brethren exited into the hallways for chats and selfies. The LORE contingent divided into separate dinner parties headed for several restaurants in the area, with all the brethren doubtlessly feeling fraternally satiated by our meeting.

     

‘An opportunity for enlightenment’

    

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 now meets in the home of Union Lodge 19 in North Brunswick. 

Just a quick Happy Anniversary greeting to my first research lodge. On this date in 2002, New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 was constituted at the Trenton Masonic Temple by grand lodge officers led by MW David A. Chase.

“This was placed high on my objectives as Grand Master,” said Chase to the grand lodge during its annual communication in Atlantic City on April 24. “This lodge is intended to be a means of educating ourselves through research in Masonic history, with an emphasis on New Jersey. I encourage the brethren of New Jersey to look for meeting notices, [and] attend and participate. Consider this an opportunity for enlightenment.”

It hasn’t exactly become the most popular activity in the jurisdiction. Research lodges everywhere, as best as I can determine, are obscure. The Freemasons who enjoy reading and writing about Freemasonry comprise probably the tiniest of Masonic minorities. And that is nothing new. Mackey and Pike wrote despairingly a century and a half ago of the problematic dearth of curiosity about Freemasonry among Freemasons. I’ve been pretty outspoken about this myself because I never could understand how men can put years of their lives into this fraternity without ever feeling any appetite for learning about its endlessly intriguing history, or about what it all means.

Okay, not everyone will author a book (I won’t), but how about wanting to know the stories of this fascinating and busy institution?

“LORE,” as this lodge came to be nicknamed, does its best. Only a handful attempt the labors, and that “emphasis on New Jersey” hardly ever is emphasized, but to our credit, we have maintained a quarterly meeting schedule, minus the pandemic months, for twenty-one years, always with something worth hearing.

We’ll do it again March 11 at 10 a.m. in Freemasons Hall in North Brunswick. And we just enjoyed a fantastic meeting Sunday in the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, which I’ll tell you about in the next edition of The Magpie Mason.

     

‘Monday’s parade info’

    

Bullwinkle Studios/Jay Ward Productions

The Order of March of Alexandria’s George Washington Birthday Parade has been posted—and my group is in the rear.

Looks like we’re ahead of a certain NYC lodge.

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786, that is. That’s okay. Somehow we’re way ahead of A-W 22, so go figure. Desperately, I tried to court the organizers with a certain picture of Washington—if you catch my meaning—but to no avail. Grand Marshal is George Seghers, by the way.

This will be great. The Grand Architect is taking care of the weather: sunny and 61 degrees forecast. (For the record, I am all for climate change!) There is a new parade route this year, from what I understand.

Normally I’m not a fan of Masons in parades for some reason, but this is very different. There will be hundreds of the brethren, in our regalia, in procession, like it’s 1923 or something. The line-up includes 30 grand lodges, 33 lodges, and other Masonic groups and individuals and “Masonic overflow.” (The Bulgarian grand lodge isn’t even recognized yet. They will make their case before the grand masters conference on Sunday.)

Later in the afternoon, we’ll assemble outside the George Washington Masonic National Memorial to celebrate its centenary cornerstone re-dedication ceremony.

And, hey, if you’re going to be there the day before—on Sunday—please bring your apron to our research lodge’s meeting at 4:30 in the Memorial. Shawn Eyer will be our speaker. (What else are you doing at 4:30 on a Sunday?)

Click to enlarge.

     

‘Jersey research lodge to host Shawn Eyer at Washington Memorial’

    

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 sent a delegation to Princeton Lodge 38 Monday night to demonstrate to the brethren there what a research lodge is and does, and our next meeting as a lodge will be an emergent—out of state!

We have rented a lodge room at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Virginia for a meeting on Sunday, February 19 at 4:30 p.m. as part of the Memorial’s cornerstone centennial and Washington’s Birthday celebrations. Our speaker will be Bro. Shawn Eyer, the Memorial’s Director of Education and the editor of The Philalethes magazine.

Shawn Eyer by Travis Simpkins

He will discuss “Holy Symbols, Infinite Wisdom: Freemasonry’s Mystical Ground Plan in Prestonian Thought.”

Shawn says:

William Preston (1742-1818) and his brethren devoted decades to the cultivation of the Masonic ceremonies and catechisms which underlie the common degree workings as they are now generally performed in English-speaking lodges. Despite the ubiquity of Preston’s work, many know little of Preston himself, nor of the specific characteristics of his style of Freemasonry. The Prestonian concept of Freemasonry will be explored in this talk, providing a new way to appreciate the common Preston-Webb lectures.

If you are a Master Mason in good standing in the area, please come visit and profit from this revealing presentation. (Bring Masonic identification and your apron, and be prepared to work your way inside a tyled Masonic communication.)

“LORE” will continue in the celebrations on Monday the 20th by marching as a unit in the City of Alexandria’s 2023 George Washington Birthday Parade, followed by the Memorial’s cornerstone ceremony re-enactment for its hundredth anniversary. Please feel free to march with us in the parade, and definitely don’t miss the cornerstone ceremony at the Memorial.

Other than that, New Jersey LORE will meet again on our regular schedule on Saturday, March 11 in our new meeting space at Freemasons Hall in North Brunswick, home of Union Lodge 19. Hope to see you at all the above.