‘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.

     

‘Boston cops: Paul Revere’s tombstone vandalized’

    

Lowell Sun

Boston Police said a homeless man was arrested during the morning of Sunday, November 26, after a lengthy vandalism spree victimizing a number of properties—and gravesites, including that of Founding Father and Freemason Paul Revere.

“Around 10:44 a.m., officers responded to the Granary Burying Ground, located in the area of Tremont Street and Bromfield Street, for a vandalism report,” a police report stated. “Officers were advised that multiple tombstones on the property had been vandalized, including Paul Revere’s. A total of fourteen tombstones were vandalized by being pulled from the ground or broken into pieces.”

(I have been unsuccessful in finding a photo from local media of Revere’s headstone. I’ll update this if I find one.)

Boston Herald

Lawrence Hawkins

For reference, that’s less than half a mile from Grand Lodge.

A man identified as Lawrence Hawkins, age 46,  described as homeless and said to have a history of mental illness, drug abuse, and arrests, was arrested. The suspect allegedly smashed the windshield of a police car, broke a window at the New England Holocaust Memorial, and damaged several businesses. Between the Granary Burying Ground and the King’s Chapel Burying Ground, a total of twenty headstones were damaged, many from the Colonial period. Police say one stone had been “pulled from the ground or broken into pieces.”

Lowell Sun

Hawkins was charged with multiple counts of destruction of property, and destruction of a place of worship. He was arraigned Monday on three of the alleged incidents, WCVB (local channel 5) reported. “A judge set bail at $7,500 for each of those three incidents he heard Monday morning, and ordered Hawkins to be seen by a doctor for a dangerousness hearing. In court it was revealed that Hawkins previously spent time at Bridgewater State Hospital. Hawkins at times during Monday’s arraignment was swearing, talking about the FBI and had to be told several times to listen to the allegations against him. Hawkins’ defense attorney said after court that Hawkins client suffers from psychiatric and substance abuse issues, which makes it difficult for him to speak with Hawkins.”

Of course he pleaded not guilty.

Three other acts of the alleged vandalism involved federal properties, and Hawkins will be arraigned for those incidents separately.

This sad news comes weeks before the city’s and the fraternity’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.

Bro. Paul Revere served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts from 1794-97. Thursday was the 253rd anniversary of his installation as Worshipful Master of St. Andrew’s Lodge (that’s St. Andrew’s Day).

Boston, founded in 1630, is today at the mercy of woke politicians, like District Attorney Kevin Hayden, who does all he can to keep criminals on the streets, employing “restorative justice” and other tactics to promote the interests of criminals.

     

‘Freemasonry Night at Old North’

    

Saturday the 19th will be Freemasonry Night at the gloriously historic Old North Church in Boston.

A lot is going on in the Bay State, history-wise. July 30 was the 290th anniversary of Provincial Grand Master Henry Price officially introducing Freemasonry to the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Currently the Grand Lodge is establishing the position of District Historian, and providing training for those who would serve as such. The brethren are raring for the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. (God, I hope it’ll be a re-enactment!) This year is the 300th of Old North Church. At Massachusetts Freemasonry Night, the play Revolution’s Edge will be performed at the church—of “one if by land, two if by sea” fame—followed by a tour of sacred site. From the publicity:

Revolution’s Edge is a gripping historical drama set on the afternoon of April 18, 1775, hours before the signal lanterns would shine from Old North’s steeple. With war on the horizon, Old North’s Loyalist rector, the Rev. Dr. Mather Byles, Jr., is pushed to resign his post. As Byles and Cato (an African man enslaved by Byles) prepare to leave the church for the final time, they encounter Capt. John Pulling, Jr., a prominent member of the church congregation, ardent Patriot, and friend of Paul Revere. These three men share a faith, but have very different beliefs concerning the right path ahead for themselves, their families, and the colonies. Their conversation explores the intersection of faith and freedom on the edge of the American Revolution.

Pulling was a Mason at labor in Philanthropic Lodge in Marblehead. It was he who signaled to Revere by lantern.

Seating at five o’clock. Curtain at 5:20. The performance runs approximately 45 minutes. Tickets cost $20 for adults and $10 for guests under 18. Attendance is capped at 100. Click here. The play is recommended for those 12 and up.

If you can’t make it, the play will continue its run through September 19.

     

‘Everybody smiles’

    

Keeping things lighthearted to start the year, you can’t get much more easygoing than making everybody smile, can you?

Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts has on exhibit one of those rare sets of silver jewels for lodge officers crafted by Paul Revere.

All photos courtesy Morning Star Lodge AF&AM.

Revere was born January 1, 1735. He was initiated in St. Andrew’s Lodge, a Scottish lodge in Boston, in 1760. He served five terms as Worshipful Master there (plus four in another lodge), and was a Grand Lodge officer for many years. These pieces were made in 1793, two years before he became Grand Master, for the newly instituted (their term) Morning Star Lodge in Worcester.

As you can see, both Deacons’ jewels are inscribed with “Omnibus Arridet,” Latin for “everybody smiles.”

I don’t know what the motto might mean for the lodge. Was it designated to the Deacons because they are the messengers, and a happy countenance is preferable when attending to alarms? Although…

Paul Revere is known to history as an American patriot and as both an artisan silversmith and an artist engraver—but as a young man he became a dentist! During lean economic times in 1760s Boston, the peacetime following the French and Indian War, Paul Revere was in troublesome debt. To get by (and keep his house), he needed what the kids today call a “side hustle,” and so he learned how and then advertised his services as one who could fashion false teeth, at least for the front, using animal bone and ivory. “Everybody smiles” would be a smart tag line for a dentist’s ad campaign.

Seriously though, there is a Latin saying wrongly attributed Marcus Aurelius:

Mors nobis omnibus arridet, homo omnis hoc risum lenem redeuntem facere potest.

Or (maybe):

Death smiles at us all, all man can do is just smile back.

It seems these are good times for Morning Star Lodge. One of the Past Masters was installed Deputy Grand Master last week, and one of their own is the new DDGM. I bet they’re all smiling.

The collection of jewels is on long term loan, as part of a broader exhibit of Revere’s silversmithing, so there’s no need to rush today (although admission is free on first Sundays). Find them in the American Decorative Arts Gallery on the third floor.

WAM is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m to 4 p.m. 55 Salisbury Street in Worcester.

The most important jewel,
even if they do spell it ‘Tyler.’

Click here to see King Hiram’s Lodge’s Revere jewels.

     

‘Masons in Marblehead’

Many thanks to J.L. Bell at Boston 1775 for alerting The Magpie Mason to this exhibit at the Marblehead Museum & Historical Society.

The Masons in Colonial Marblehead

Through early May

The Freemasons are an international fraternal order dedicated to charity and fellowship. The Marblehead Lodge, originally known as St. John’s Lodge was chartered in 1760, and is the third oldest Masonic lodge in the Massachusetts. The organization’s name was changed to Philanthropic Lodge in 1797, when Paul Revere was Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts. Since the 18th century, Masons have assembled at various locations throughout Marblehead.

“America’s Revolution was led by people from many backgrounds, but it is notable that both nationally and locally, many Revolutionary War leaders were Masons,” said Pam Peterson, museum director. “This year, Marblehead’s Masonic Lodge celebrates its 250th anniversary, and MMHS celebrates the early Marbleheaders among them who contributed to our nation’s freedom.”

Eighteenth century punch bowls decorated with Masonic symbols are pretty common sights in museum exhibits of Masonic items, especially in the original 13 states.

If, like me, you are not from the area, but plan to attend the symposium next month on the Scottish Rite campus in Lexington, maybe I’ll see you here too.