‘Peninsula’s 20th anniversary’

    

Magpie file photo

I close the Magpie month of April with happy anniversary wishes to my old lodge, Peninsula 99 over in New Jersey. It was on this date in 2003 when the “grand lodge of New Jersey” issued a warrant to the last of its remaining lodges in the City of Bayonne.

Peninsula was an amalgamation of Bayonne 99 and Menorah 249 (where I had been at labor). Masonic lodges have been active in the city, if I recall correctly, since 1857.

I had the tough job of presiding in the East in 2005. Didn’t have to be difficult. I could have upheld the practice of initiating every vaguely curious man who could fog a mirror and pay a nominal fee, but I recognized the futility of that, and tried to practice what the EA Charge said about considering prospective members. (I was NorthStar ages before the program.)

It didn’t go over well.

But, on the plus side, the “district deputy grand master” threatening me with eviction from the Solomonic Chair led to my induction into the Knights of the North, that unsung think tank that did so much to clear the head of this fraternity. And then KOTN became the Masonic Society, and the rest is Masonic history.

(True story: On the night my successor was installed, the “ddgm” was to present me some kind of certificate of congratulations from the “grand lodge.” Well, he did that, but as he and I stood before a large audience of Masons and families and friends, and as he explained to the crowd what the award was about, he crushed the bottom left quarter of the diploma so it would be crumpled if I framed it. I guess so I’d have something to remember him by. I don’t remember his name, and I didn’t keep the certificate.)

Magpie file photo

Great building. Dedicated in, I think, 1925, with thousands of Masons in procession, it stands prominently in the neighborhood.

Anyway, happy twentieth anniversary to Mighty Peninsula 99! I hope I made a positive contribution. (Something more than the “Mighty” nickname.)

     

‘Weird Fact Wednesday: The oldest Masonic Bible?’

     

Magpie file photo

The oldest Bible in Masonic use in the United States? I believe so. This is a Koberger, printed in Nuremberg in the 1470s. It is owned by mighty Peninsula Lodge 99 in New Jersey, which displays it on its altar for its installation of officers every December. I served as Master of Peninsula in 2005, and placed my hands upon the pages of this VSL when being obligated.

Something in a 1921 issue of The Builder magazine caught my attention a few weeks ago. It’s just a blurb shoehorned into the corner of a page:

THE OLDEST MASONIC BIBLE

Blair Lodge, Chicago, which is a representative body in the Fraternity and very successful in the administration of its affairs, owns one of the earliest imprints of King James’ version of the Bible, printed in 1615. It is asserted, according to the Illinois Freemason, that no Masonic lodge in America has an older Bible. During the tercentenary celebration of its translation a few years ago, this Bible was read from in several of the most prominent Chicago churches.

This Bible is nearly fifty years older than the one on which George Washington was initiated in Alexandria-Washington Lodge in Virginia, which latter was also used at the laying of the cornerstone of the national Capitol building in Washington. Up to about ten years ago, the tiler of Alexandria-Washington Lodge had represented to visiting Masons that theirs was the oldest Bible owned by any lodge in this country. None had disputed its honor until Brother Elmer E. Rogers of Blair Lodge brought him to further light.

Setting aside the glaring blunder of where America’s most famous Freemason had been initiated, this reads like a perfectly acceptable bite of Masonic trivia. It seems Blair Lodge is no longer extant, so I don’t know where this 1615 KJV is kept today. (I have an inquiry into Illinois Lodge of Research, and will update this post if I receive the info.)

Of course Washington was initiated in 1752 in the Masonic lodge at Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Bible used is owned to this day by Fredericksburg Lodge 4. It is a King James Version printed in 1668 (so The Builder erred also in its age, since it is 53 years younger than Blair Lodge’s KJV).

And you surely know of the other “Washington Bible,” that on which Washington took his first presidential oath of office in 1789 in New York City. That is a 1767 KJV, printed in London.

Reaching back in time to 1899, but coming closer to home, the Grand Lodge of New Jersey reported in its Book of Proceedings for that year that a Bible of even greater longevity was in Masonic use.

When this grand lodge held its 112th Annual Communication in Trenton on January 25-26 of that year, there was open upon the Masonic altar a very unusual Volume of Sacred Law. I don’t have that New Jersey Book of Proceedings, but thanks to the works of the Correspondence Committee of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, the story from Trenton is told in that Book of Proceedings of 1899:

An interesting episode took place during the session of Grand Lodge. The Bible used upon the altar was one furnished by Brother George B. Edwards, and said to have been printed before the discovery of America by Columbus, the date being November 10, 1478. The presence of this remarkable book was the means of calling out the Grand Chaplain, whose few remarks are in excellent keeping with the antiquated volume.

You’re probably thinking it’s a Gutenberg, but it is not. This Bible is a product of Germany, but its printer was one Anthony Koberger (sometimes Koburger or Coberger), born circa 1445 and died 1513, of Nuremberg.

It was on this Bible that my hands rested while being sworn during my installation as Worshipful Master of Peninsula Lodge 99 one chilly night in December 2004. The Bible is owned by this lodge. Bro. George Edwards was a member of one of Peninsula’s ancestor lodges, but I do not know which. A number of lodges from in and around Hudson County, New Jersey came and went since the mid nineteenth century before Peninsula was formed in 2003—to be the last one of that family tree.

Perhaps he had no heirs, but for whatever reason, Edwards had arranged for this fifteenth century Bible to be safeguarded by the grand lodge, which had it tucked away in storage for about all of the twentieth century. A past grand master, who was a member of Peninsula, nudged the lodge to take possession of it, possibly in advance of my installation, but maybe a little earlier—I just don’t recall—and so we did. Peninsula does not display this VSL on regular meeting nights, but I’m sure the brethren still use it for the annual installation of officers.

It’s a strange Bible, as compared to what we all are used to. It is bilingual: Latin and the German of that period, and it does not contain all the books of the Holy Bible. It’s been so long, I just don’t remember which books were included. Unlike Koberger Bibles you’ll see on the web, this edition has no art in its pages, so, throughout, the pages are all text in two columns. The lettering is Gothic, making it tough on the eyes. The impressive color woodcuts were added to printings of later years.

But the age is legit. While I do not recall seeing this specific date November 10, 1478 printed in this Bible, I do remember the 1478. Before Columbus. Before Luther. Before King James. Amazing.

One can’t help but wonder at the possible dollar value of such a piece, and I remember seeing an advertisement in the Sunday New York Times Books section, somewhere around 2005, that listed a Koberger at $40,000, but I don’t know the year or condition of that item.

I’m no longer a member of mighty Peninsula (I became a New York Mason in 2015), but I was its Master in 2005. A pretty rough ride, frankly. I still keep in touch with a bunch of the brethren; they are very kind to remember me because I ceased being active there practically the minute the Master’s collar was lowered onto my successor’s shoulders on another cold December night in 2005. By that time, I was enjoying myself in various lodges in Manhattan—a visitor not attached to any problems that may have been fermenting behind the scenes.

Courtesy Travis Simpkins

MW Gregory Scott

The current MWGM of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, Greg Scott, is from Peninsula Lodge, and that is the Koberger Bible seen in his official portrait, rendered by the talented Bro. Travis Simpkins.

Catholic Encyclopedia offers a useful write-up on the printer and his various Bibles. Koberger made Bibles into the sixteenth century. This Masonic lodge Bible is an early specimen of his, and later editions would improve in design and beauty over the years.
     

‘The Magpie is back’

     

Well, I certainly didn’t think I’d be away for that long! A number of profound interruptions have rocked my life this year. I’ll just say 2019 has been the worst year of my already grim life. It cannot end fast enough for me. (The year, that is, not the life.)

I know I already have said thanks personally to the brethren who have been looking out for me in a time of bereavement and other staggering tempests—my lodge brothers’ efforts to keep me stable are beyond what reasonably might be expected—but allow me to say publicly here how grateful I am for Masonic friendship. It is humbling to be on the receiving end this time, but it also is exalting. I won’t forget.

In other sad news, let me belatedly say goodbye to RW Bro. Bernie Cohen, Past Grand Chaplain in the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, who served as Junior Warden both of Mt. Nebo Lodge 248 and of Peninsula Lodge 99—the first time when my grandfather was in the East in 1976, and the second time when I was in the Solomonic Chair in 2005. He was a tireless laborer in the quarries of Freemasonry for 71(!) years, and was one of the kindest souls one could be lucky enough to know. My condolences to his family.

The Worshipful Master is flanked by the Junior and Senior Wardens of Mt. Nebo Lodge 248 in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the Installation of Officers in December 1975.
From left: Bernie Cohen, my grandfather, and Arthur Simon.

Also, we lost Bro. Tim Wallace-Murphy last month. He let us know this was coming long ago. Having seen the best of the best on the Masonic speaking circuit for many years, I say without mental reservation, etc., etc. that Tim was one of the most engaging lecturers in the business, such was his zeal and skill for sharing what he knew about the medieval Templars, Rosslyn Chapel, Islam, and other subjects Masons ought to know about. He performed real research. Primary research. In the field. Read his books! He was 89 years old.

Regular Magpie Mason posting resumes now. I’ve been looking at the analytics of this website to see how badly readership has plummeted. Evidently the drop-off has been insignificant. Considering I’ve been absent for nine months, I don’t know if I should interpret that as a compliment, but thanks for reading the old Magpie posts. It is really odd in some cases to see which posts attracted a lot of traffic, but I’ll take what I can get.
     

‘(Just Like) Starting Over’

     
(With apologies to John and Yoko.)

The radio today won’t let you forget how on this date in 1980 John Lennon was murdered outside his home in the Dakota. Only two months past his fortieth birthday and about three weeks after the release of Double Fantasy, the LP that returned him to public life after the better part of a decade of domesticity and scaled down celebrity. (This was so long ago that a rock legend could walk around Manhattan unmolested, except for the occasional autograph or photo.) In promotional interviews, Lennon explained this new record of his and his wife Yoko Ono’s was a message to the fans who had come of age listening to his music, basically saying Hey, I’m still here. Forty years old now, and doing well. Hope you are too.

Lennon was not a Freemason but, when a younger man, was one of the Quarrymen.

Hearing the signature song from that record, “(Just Like) Starting Over,” put me in a mood to share this belated update of my recent Masonic exploits, the biggest of which concerns my exit from New Jersey Freemasonry in favor of New York Masonry. I have preferred the latter for many years, and in fact wanted to make this change more than a decade ago. If you know me, you may have realized I sometimes procrastinate. Also, it was hard deciding on a lodge where I should affiliate. Anyway, I think I reported somewhere previously on The Magpie of my being elected to membership in Publicity Lodge 1000 in Manhattan about two years ago, but this is my first mention of leaving my original lodge, Peninsula 99 in Jersey.

© The New Yorker

It is misunderstood by some at Peninsula that my defection reveals a dislike of the brethren there. This is wholly untrue (except for one old timer). Peninsula Lodge is one of the strongest lodges among the hundred or so constituent to the Grand Lodge of New Jersey; its membership—again, except for that one—are the friendliest Masons you’ll meet. It is true the lodge does not provide what I personally require to enjoy a Masonic cultural experience, but this is not why I quit the lodge. I could have continued as a dual member of both Peninsula and Publicity. I had no particular desire to leave Peninsula. In fact, I’ll be there tonight for the installation of officers.

My demit simply was an escape from the grand lodge. Many of you know why, but if you don’t, ask me next time we meet and I’ll tell you.

But that is the ugly past, and for me, it is a distant past. I requested my demit from New Jersey on April 29 (the day after Grand Master Montuori left office); the lodge balloted on my request May 12; and I received the demit (New Jersey incorrectly spells it “dimit”—figures!—see Mackey’s Encyclopædia, etc., etc.) on June 3. I’m supposed to surrender this certificate to Publicity’s secretary, but I haven’t been able to let it go. It makes me feel good. I never had my 33° patent framed, but I want to have this matted and framed in gilded oak. Except I can’t. I have to give it to my lodge secretary. And I will. Eventually.

I’m having a great time assimilating into Publicity Lodge and New York Masonry. At the earliest opportunity, I qualified for NorthStar certification. That’s the future of Freemasonry, thanks to its basis on ideas obviously gleaned from the Knights of the North, the Masonic Restoration Foundation, and maybe a few other outspoken thinkers. I also passed the Masonic Development Course—and I received parchments in both these things! I want to get them framed too, and I never saved stuff like that. As your faithful blogger, I’m really looking forward to the Digital Square Club’s Webmasters Conference at Masonic Hall next month. At lodge, I’m especially grateful for being able to join this group of cheerful, hardworking Masons. Our Worshipful Master’s enthusiasm is infectious. The dedication of the officers is inspirational. Attendance at meetings is encouraging. About twenty Masons have been made in the past year, and a number of them are active in lodge life. They made me Tiler of the lodge on Monday. You read correctly. The original Tiler had to give it up for some reason, and the Master nudged me to take the job. I would have promised and sworn on a stack of VSLs that my officer days were over, but there I am, alarming at the outer door when the latecomers arrive.

I go to Square Club meetings.

The Magpie Mason is a member of the Square Club. The district’s Square Club! No Masonic education. No esoterica. No philosophy. No mindfulness exercises. No frankincense. Not a single beeswax votive anywhere. They plan parties and stuff. Golf outings. I go to these meetings. Me. There’s one next Wednesday.

As justifiably jaded as I am, starting anew in New York Freemasonry is (just like) starting over.

(God, I just heard Greg Lake has died.)


     

‘The Hidden Business of Masonic Building’

     

No, this isn’t about a dodgy trustees meeting. Earnest Hudson, Jr., Worshipful Master of Joseph Warren-Gothic Lodge No. 934 in the Seventh Manhattan District, will visit New Jersey next week for a speaking engagement.

 Magpie file photo

A Matter of Geometry:

The Hidden Business

of Masonic Building

Peninsula Masonic Lodge No. 99

888 Avenue C

Bayonne, New Jersey

Lodge to open at 6:30

Dinner & Lecture at 7:30

Open to Masters and Fellows

RSVP here

I’m really looking forward to this.
     

‘Prince Hall visit to Peninsula’

     

Flanked by Peninsula’s Wardens, the Worshipful Master welcomes the delegation from neighboring Omega Lodge No. 64, PHA. From left: Senior Warden Bill, RW Bro. Angelo, Peninsula Worshipful Master Omar Morris, Omega Worshipful Master Ronald, RW Bro. Benjamin, and Junior Warden George.

A great night Thursday at (mighty) Peninsula Masonic Lodge No. 99 in Bayonne, New Jersey, thanks to Worshipful Master Omar Morris’ invitation to Omega Lodge No. 64, our Prince Hall neighbors down the street, to visit and teach the brethren about PHA Masonry. RW Bro. Benjamin, his son RW Bro. Angelo, and W. Bro. Ronald, Master of Omega Lodge, arrived in their resplendent regalia. The visit was reciprocal; just two weeks earlier, a delegation of Peninsula brethren visited Omega for the occasion of Omega’s annual rededication ceremony—a tradition that reinforces the brethren’s oaths and obligations.

In his remarks from the East, RW Benjamin told his audience about that rite, emphasizing a Freemason’s need to remember his vows and to recommit himself to his lodge. “That oath tells you what to do,” he said. “Sometimes we drift away, but these are the things you swore to do.”

He also spoke at length on the life and times of Bro. Prince Hall, and about the history of the Masonic fraternity that evolved in his name after his death. If you are a regular reader of this website, you should have some knowledge of these facts, so I won’t offer them here—and there are better places on the web to learn about them—except to point out how Bro. Benjamin noted that on that very date in 1770, Prince Hall was emancipated from slavery. A choice coincidence.

I hope our two lodges continue to visit each other, strengthen the bonds, and labor together for the city’s benefit. As Bro. Benjamin said, “The work is in the street—in our community. We all took that oath.”

The current issue of the Masonic Stamp Club of New York’s periodical.

     

'Coming attractions'

  
The Magpie is attracted to bright, shiny things, so there you go.

Upcoming events in and near New Jersey

Friday, February 17 at the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York: historical program in commemoration of the bicentennial of Prince Hall Masonry in the State of New York. 454 West 155th Street in New York City. Open to the public.

Sunday, February 19 at DeWint House in Tappan, New York: Bro. Mark Tabbert, Director of Collections at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia to deliver the keynote speech at this Grand Lodge of New York celebration of George Washington's birthday.

Wednesday, February 22 at Sons of Liberty Lodge in Secaucus: Bro. Mohamad Yatim, Past Master of Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge, will speak on "Freemasonry and the Mystic Schools of the East."

Thursday, March 1 at the Scottish Rite Valley of Rockville Centre
28 Lincoln Ave., Rockville Centre, NY

"Pillars of the Porch: The Duality of the Masonic Experience"
By Ill. Steven Stefanakos, 33°
and
"The Frontispiece of the 1611 King James Bible from a Masonic Perspective" by SP Oscar Alleyne

8 p.m. Open to Master Masons.

RSVP to valleyofrvc(at)gmail.com

Saturday, March 10 at Advance Masonic Temple in Long Island City, New York: Quest XXXII. (See post below.)

Thursday, March 15: Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2's annual Wendell K. Walker Lecture delivered by W. Bro. David Lindez, titled "That Which Wendell K. Walker Held Most Dear." 7 p.m. in the Empire Room, 12th floor, of Masonic Hall. 71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan. Open to Apprentices and Fellows. Attire: business suit.

Collation to follow at Aleo restaurant, 7 W. 20th Street. Fixed price menu at $60 per person. Reservations no later than 5 p.m. on March 9 are required. Contact Bro. Charles Henry George at charlesgeorge252(at)earthlink.net

Friday, March 16 at Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge in Westfield: Bro. Andrew Hammer, Past Master of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 in Virginia, will speak on "Observing the Craft," the thesis of his book of the same name.

Saturday, March 17 at NJ Lodge of Masonic Research and Education, being hosted by Palestine Lodge in Princeton. Papers to be presented. 10 a.m.

Monday, March 19 at Fidelity Lodge in Ridgewood: Book Club and Discussion Group to review Laudable Pursuit by the Knights of the North. 7:15 p.m.

Thursday, March 22 at Peninsula Lodge in Bayonne: Bro. Andrew Hammer, Past Master of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 in Virginia, will speak on "Observing the Craft," the thesis of his book of the same name.

Thursday, March 22 at Alpine Tilden Tenakill Lodge in Tenafly: Bro. Mohamad Yatim, Past Master of Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge, will speak on "The Chamber of Reflection - V.I.T.R.I.O.L."

Saturday, March 24 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania: program TBA.

Thursday, March 29 at The American Lodge of Research, at Masonic Hall in New York City: Bro. Conor Moran on "Freemasonry and the Holocaust." 8 p.m.

Thursday, April 12 at Peninsula Lodge in Bayonne: Bro. Mohamad Yatim, Past Master of Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge, will speak on "The Myths Behind Who Killed Hiram Abiff."

Saturday, April 14, hosted by St. George's Lodge (GLNY) at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, New York: symposium featuring four accomplished Masonic educators.

Thursday, April 19 at Mountain View Lodge in Haledon: lecture on "The Emblem of a Pure Heart: The Pot of Incense as a Masonic Symbol."

Thursday, April 26 at the Scottish Rite Valley of Central Jersey: the Magpie Mason to address the Past Most Wise Masters Dinner.

April 27-29 at three locations: New Jersey Symphony Orchestra to perform a program of Mozart's Masonic funeral music, and similarly themed pieces by other composers.

Saturday, April 28 at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library at Lexington, Massachusetts: 2012 Symposium on American Freemasonry and Fraternalism.

Monday, April 30 at noon at Federal Hall, New York City: the annual re-enactment of the first presidential inauguration of Bro. George Washington on this, the 223rd anniversary of that historic moment. Naturally, the George Washington Inaugural Bible will be on hand.

Monday, April 30, hosted by Shiloh Lodge (GL of Pennsylvania) at the William Penn Inn in Gwynedd: the fifth annual Bernard H. Dupee Memorial Lecture, presented by RW James W. Daniel, Past Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England.

Saturday, May 5 at a restaurant to be announced: The American Lodge of Research's dinner-lecture, hosting W. Bro. Adam Kendall of the Henry Wilson Coil Masonic Library and Museum in San Francisco.

Saturday, May 19 at the Valley of Central Jersey in Bordentown: Scottish Rite Symposium featuring Ill. Robert G. Davis of Oklahoma; Ill. Christopher Hodapp of Indianapolis; and Ill. Brent Morris of Washington. $50 per person. More info TBA.

'Mohamadmania'

Bro. Mohamad Yatim is on tour. Catch him at any of these New Jersey dates:

Tuesday, January 24 at Olive Branch Lodge No. 16 in Freehold.

Topic: Freemasonry and the Mystic Schools of the East.


Wednesday, February 22 at Sons of Liberty Lodge No. 301 in Secaucus.

Topic: Freemasonry and the Mystic Schools of the East.

Thursday, March 22 at Alpine-Tilden-Tenafly Lodge No. 77 in Tenafly.

Topic: The Chamber of Reflection - V.I.T.R.I.O.L.


Thursday, April 12 at Peninsula Lodge No. 99 in Bayonne.

Topic: The Myths Behind Who Killed Hiram Abiff.

OPENING ACT: Foghat!
  

Magpie Mason on the road in MMX

“Merry New Year!”

The Magpie Mason’s speaking tour for 2010 is shaping up. Here are the dates for the first half of the new year. All are in New Jersey, unless noted otherwise.

Tuesday, January 19 - Northern New Jersey Council Princes of Jerusalem in Lincoln Park. Through the kind offices of SP Rajaram, I will help Scottish Rite Masons make sense of Dan Brown’s new bestseller “The Lost Symbol,” decoding the accuracies, the obvious inaccuracies, and the bizarre references.

Wednesday, January 27 - Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange. Through the kind offices of W. Bro. Kevin, I will discuss The Masonic Society as part of a kind of “show and tell” program on things Masonic.

Wednesday, February 10 - George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. (Not speaking, but helping organize an amazing event that day. Details to come!)

Thursday, February 25 -  St. John’s Commandery No. 9 in Rahway. Through the kind offices of EC Franklin, I will speak on “What the Rule of Saint Benedict Means to Templars and Freemasons.”

Friday, March 5 - Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge No. 10 in Westfield. Through the kind offices of W. Bro. Mohamad, I will speak on “The Lessons of Atlas and Pythagoras.”

Monday, March 15 - Trinity Commandery No. 17 in Westfield. Through the kind offices of EC Mario, I will speak on “What the Rule of Saint Benedict Means to Templars and Freemasons.”

Wednesday, May 26 - Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange. Through the kind offices of W. Bro. Kevin, I will speak on “Death: Why I’m Looking Forward to It!”

Monday, June 14 - Kensington-Kadosh Commandery No. 54 in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. Through the kind offices of EC Makia, I will speak on “What the Rule of Saint Benedict Means to Templars and Freemasons.”

Saturday, July 10 - Annual Voorhis Ingathering in Freehold. Gronning Council No. 83 of Allied Masonic Degrees again hosts the Ingathering. Papers will be presented, and the Degree of St. Lawrence the Martyr will be conferred. More info to come later this year.

DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED - Nutley Lodge No. 25 in Nutley. Through the kind offices of W. Bro. Dalton, I will speak on a topic to be announced.

In addition, on the first Thursday of each month, I will endeavor to lead a class at Peninsula Lodge No. 99 in Bayonne. This study group, dubbed The Architects, will explore Masonic ritual and symbol by reading classic and contemporary texts, and discussing what the speculations therein mean to each of us.

Wait, there’s more! I certainly will do my best to support my research lodges, AMD council, etc. Let’s see how many innocent Masons I can bore to tears before they file charges!

I especially am looking forward to:

• Masonic Week in Virginia in February;
• The National Heritage Museum symposium in April on New Perspectives on American Freemasonry and Fraternalism;
• Scottish Rite Supreme Council in Philadelphia in August;
• Masonic Library and Museum Association in Virginia in October; and
• Rose Circle conference in Manhattan in October.
• Plus, Scott Council No. 1 reaches its sesquicentennial, and Columbian Council celebrates its bicentennial this year.
• And The Initiated Eye: Secrets, Symbols, Freemasonry, and the Architecture of Washington, D.C. is on exhibit at Lexington through January 2011.
• Furthermore, there is the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge, the Joseph Campbell Foundation New York Chapter, and more!

I’m exhausted already.

2010 is going to be a wonderful year! I’ll see ya around.

‘Rededication and remembrance’

   

The only image of J.J.J. Gourgas extant is this portrait by F. D’Avignon in New York City, a lithograph on paper c.1850.

From the collection of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington.

The gravesite memorial marking the burial place of John James Joseph Gourgas was completely rehabilitated during the course of many months. Earth was moved; intrusive trees and vegetation were removed; eight headstones were returned to their original placements; the monument was sandblasted to look like new; brickpavers were laid; and curbstones were set. Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery in Jersey City also is home to dozens of Masons, including five Grand Masters of New Jersey, and several notable Scottish Rite figures.

More than a year in the making, yesterday was the occasion of the rededication of the gravesite memorial where John James Joseph Gourgas was laid to rest in 1865.

Known as the “Conservator of the Scottish Rite,” it was Gourgas who safeguarded the rituals and records of the AASR during the darkest days of the scandal following the “Morgan Affair.” Spanning from 1826 to about 1840, this period saw the AASR go dark, and most grand lodges nearly collapse, as the American public rejected Freemasonry, fearing it was ruling the country from the shadows. Gourgas, as Sovereign Grand Commander, personally took charge of keeping administrative matters current and maintaining contact with Masonic leaders around the world until whenever the controversy finally would end.

A brief biography of Gourgas was researched and written by Ill. Mike Lakat, 33° of the Valley of Southern New Jersey. Excerpted:

His Masonic life began when he became an Entered Apprentice on May 19, 1806 at Lodge L’Union Francaise No. 14 (now No. 17) and was listed as member No. 207 on the lodge rolls. He received both his Fellowcraft and Master Mason degrees on June 9, 1806 and in 1807 became Custodian of the Seals and Records for the lodge. On May 16, 1808 he demitted, and there is no further record of his membership in any lodge. This situation was not uncommon at the time insofar as lodge records were not maintained as they are today. Regardless of his status with the lodge, he was recognized as an active and full-fledged Mason. In fact, in tribute to his Masonic career in 1864 his lodge elected him to honorary membership.

On July 26, 1806 he was initiated into the Sovereign Grand Chapter of Rose Croix d’H-R-D-M of Kilwinning at New York City and became the Chapter’s secretary. On August 4, 1806 he was elevated by Antoine Bideaud, 33° to Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret 32°. Two days later Bideaud established the Sublime Grand Consistory 30°, 31°, 32° and Gourgas was named its secretary. On November 12, 1808 John Gabriel Tardy appointed Gourgas Deputy Inspector General of the Rite of Perfection. According to the register of Abraham Jacobs, published in Folger’s The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (1881), Gourgas also received the degree of Select Masons of the Twenty-seven and the Dublin Royal Arch.

On May 1, 1813, Emanuel De La Motta, of the Supreme Council at Charleston, initiated J.J.J. Gourgas and Sampson Simson into the 33°. Then, on August 5, De La Motta, acting as the Grand Commander in a “special sitting,” initiated four others, and the Grand and Supreme Council of the Most puissant Sovereign Grand Inspectors General of the Thirty-third Degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States was organized. Daniel Decius Tompkins was chosen first Sovereign Grand Commander. Within seven years Gourgas went from Master Mason to a coroneted 33°. On that day, he was also named the first Grand Secretary and served in that position until 1832.

On March 7, 1832 the second Sovereign Grand Commander, Ill. Bro. Sampson Simson, resigned and Gourgas became the third Most Puissant Sovereign Grand Commander, a position he held until September 4, 1851....

Ill. Bro. Gourgas died in New York City on Tuesday February 14, 1865 and was buried in New York Bay Cemetery (now Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery) in Jersey City. He was buried by his family with little or no notice or recognition from his brethren. Since his death he rested in virtual anonymity along with seven other members of his family. The gravesite was neglected, but was rediscovered and rededicated by Supreme Council in 1938 during the 125th anniversary year of Supreme Council.

This shot of the top of the monument was taken

on a sunny day recently, before the restorative sandblasting.

Why bury the New York City resident across the Hudson in Jersey City? One brother of the Valley of Northern New Jersey discovered why:

In 1852, the Common Council of New York City, then consisting solely of Manhattan Island, passed a resolution that banned further burials within the city limits in response to public fears stemming from cholera epidemics in 1832 and 1849, which were believed to have contaminated the well water supplying the city. Entrepreneurs quickly bought up land in Queens, the Bronx and New Jersey to establish new cemeteries. The New York Bay Cemetery was a scant six miles from the Bedford Street home of Ill. Gourgas. Maps from that era show how it would have been a short ride from St. John’s Chapel to the waterfront, where the coffin would be loaded onto a ferry bound for Paulus Hook on the Jersey side of the Hudson River, to be transported a few miles overland to Greenville and the cemetery overlooking the bustling harbor of New York....

St. John’s Chapel was built as an uptown annex by Trinity Church in 1803 to serve those parishioners who moved from crowded lower Manhattan to more fashionable residences near today’s Washington Square Park and Canal Street areas. The Gourgas residence on Bedford Street would have been located about one half mile north of the chapel. Having worked in lower Manhattan in my younger days, I knew that no such church existed on Varick Street. I later learned that the chapel had been razed in 1918 for the widening of Varick Street and for the construction of the Holland Tunnel. The entrance to the tunnel, in fact, occupies the land where St. John’s had stood.

I always wondered why there is a St. John’s Lane right outside the Holland Tunnel near Canal Street. St. John’s Lodge used to meet way downtown, in today’s Financial District, but not really near this St. John’s Lane.

This ceremony of rededication was very impressive. The NMJ Deputy for New Jersey, MW William H. Berman, Grand Master of New Jersey (and 33°), and Ill. John William McNaughton, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction all consecrated the monument with the ritual elements of Corn, Wine, and Oil, respectively.

Elements of consecration – Grand Master Berman, left, pours the wine. Grand Commander McNaughton, right, pours the oil.

Memorial wreaths bearing the inscriptions Deus Meumque Jus (God and My Right) and Spes Meo in Deo Est (My Hope is in God) flanked the monument. These are the mottos, respectively, of the 33° and 32°.

Awarded only 35 times previously in its 71-year history, Grand Commander McNaughton presented the Gourgas Medal to the New Jersey Scottish Rite brethren, the first time the honor was conferred upon a group. (We are going to take turns wearing it!)

SP Mike Porter contributed much to the solemnity
of the ceremony.

Before the ceremony, Supreme Council opened at Peninsula Lodge No. 99 in nearby Bayonne. Here Thurman Pace, left, greets Mark Tabbert of the George Washington Masonic Memorial. (Peninsula is the Magpie Mason’s mother lodge.)

Here is one of the prize possessions of my lodge. This is a Koberger Bible. A generation after Gutenberg revolutionized communications with his printed bible, Anton Koberger (sometimes Korberger) started printing his own bibles in Nuremberg. It is bilingual, with text in Latin and German, and dates to the 1470s. This has been in the lodge’s possession since 1901, and has been the VSL on which Masters of Peninsula are obligated.

SP Moises Gomez, 32° researched the Masonic VIPs interred at this cemetery.

MW Bro. Roland Joseph Behrens (1907-1986) – Grand Master of Masons in 1964; Trustee of the Masonic Home of New Jersey and the Masonic Charity Foundation of New Jersey; and Assistant Manager of the New York Stock Exchange.

MW Bro. Herbert Rupert Cruse (1879-1949) – Grand Master of Masons in 1927; coroneted 33° in 1928; Trustee of the Masonic Home of New Jersey in 1928; Active Member of Supreme Council, AASR-NMJ in 1943.

MW Bro. William Louis Daniels (1862-1927) – Grand Master of Masons in 1919; coroneted 33° in 1920; Director of George Washington National Masonic Memorial in 1921; namesake of William L. Daniels Lodge No. 269, warranted in 1927.

Bro. Edward I. Edwards (1863-1931) – U.S. Senator and 37th Governor of New Jersey.

Ill. Allen H. Fish (1897-1944) – Coroneted 33° in 1938; Commander-in-Chief of New Jersey Consistory, 1940-44; also served as Treasurer-Secretary of the Valley of Jersey City.

Ill. James W. McCarthy (1872-1939) – Commander-in-Chief of New Jersey Consistory, 1924-39; U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, 1928.

Bro. Arthur Harry Moore (1879-1952) – U.S. Senator and three-term Governor of New Jersey.

RW Bro. Jacob Ringle (1835-1917) – The “Father of the Masonic Home,” and District Deputy Grand Master of the 11th Masonic District.

Ill. John Sheville (1824-1882) – Founded Jersey City Lodge of Perfection in 1866; Deputy for New Jersey in 1866 and again 1870-76.

MW Bro. Fred Emory Tilden (1860-1930) – Grand Master of Masons, 1913; Grand High Priest of Royal Arch Masons, 1924-25; coroneted 33° in 1913. Son of MW Thomas West Tilden, and his father’s successor as Superintendent of this cemetery.

MW Bro. Thomas West Tilden (1838-1905) – Grand Master of Masons, 1891-92; Grand Commander of Knights Templar, 1884-85; namesake of Tilden Lodge No. 183, warranted in 1906; father of MW Fred Emory Tilden; Superintendent of this cemetery.

York Lodge No. 197, F&AM, State of New York – The lodge purchase burial plots for its brethren, accounting for a great many of the Masonic headstones in this cemetery.



Chronology of events
c.1650 – Gourgas family flees religious persecution in France, settling near Geneva, Switzerland.

1717 – Revival of Freemasonry in London, founding of Premier Grand Lodge of England.

1737 – Ramsay’s Oration introduces the idea that “Higher Degrees” exist, involving knighthoods and Templar lineage. In the next two decades, more than 1,100 Masonic degrees proliferate in France alone.

1740 – Loge la Française (French Lodge) constituted in Bordeaux. This lodge made Stephen Morin a Mason, and was among the first Craft lodges to begin working the “Scottish Degrees.”

1758 – Rite of Perfection, a system of 25 degrees, established by Chapter of Clermont in Paris.

1761 – Morin travels on business (he was a wine merchant) from France to the West Indies.

1762 – Morin introduces Rite of Perfection degrees to the West Indies.

1767 – First Lodge of Perfection forms in the Americas at Albany, NY.

1770 – Various rites consisting of 33 degrees proliferate in France and are exported elsewhere.

1777 (May 23) – J.J.J. Gourgas born at Lake Geneva.

1786 – Grand Lodge of New Jersey formed at New Brunswick.

1786 – Grand Constitutions of 1786 published in Prussia. Attributed to Frederick the Great, this founding document establishes the system of Supreme Councils recognizable today.

1801 – Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite formed at Charleston, SC.

1803 – Gourgas emigrates to the Boston area.

1806 – Gourgas initiated Entered Apprentice (May 19) at Lodge L’Union Française No. 14 (now No. 17) in New York City. Passed/Raised June 9.

1806 – Gourgas initiated into the Sovereign Grand Chapter of Rose Croix d’H-R-D-M of Kilwinning at New York City and became the Chapter’s secretary. On August 4, 1806 he was elevated by Antoine Bideaud, 33° to Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret 32°. Two days later Bideaud established the Sublime Grand Consistory 30°, 31°, 32° and Gourgas was named its secretary. On November 12, 1808 John Gabriel Tardy appointed Gourgas Deputy Inspector General of the Rite of Perfection.

1807 – The Cerneau Supreme Council is formed. This is another of several Supreme Councils that would vie for authority over the Scottish Rite in the northeastern United States.

1813 – The 33° conferred upon Gourgas by the Mother Supreme Council. Northern Masonic Jurisdiction created by a patent issued by the Mother Supreme Council. Daniel D. Tompkins, governor of New York, named Sovereign Grand Commander. Gourgas named Secretary, and serves in that capacity until 1832, when he becomes Sovereign Grand Commander.

1826 – Capt. William Morgan abducted and presumed murdered at Batavia, New York.

1826-40 – The “Morgan Affair,” the fear of Masonic conspiracies to rule America via a shadow government of Freemasons, nearly destroys the fraternity. In New Jersey, by 1840 only eight lodges remained (down from about 60), with a combined membership of approximately 40 brethren, essentially returning to the original size of 1786.

1845 – Northern Masonic Jurisdiction recovers sufficiently to issue a patent to the Ancient and Accepted Rite in Britain (with appended document urging the British to reserve the 18° and above to Trinitarians).

1851 – Gourgas retires as Sovereign Grand Commander.

1865 – (February 14) J.J.J. Gourgas dies in New York City. He was buried in a nondescript grave at Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery in Jersey City, New Jersey. Hardly any recognition from the brethren.

1867 – The Northern Masonic Jurisdiction we know today is formed upon the consolidation of several competing Supreme Councils.

1938 – Supreme Council dedicates the Gourgas gravesite memorial on the 125th anniversary celebration of Supreme Council’s founding.

2009 – NJ Council of Deliberation re-dedicates the gravesite memorial.



What is the Gourgas Medal?
Prompted by the first memorial service to Gourgas in 1938, Sovereign Grand Commander Melvin M. Johnson secured Supreme Council’s approval for the establishment of a special decoration to be known as the Gourgas Medal, which could be awarded by a vote of Supreme Council, or on the individual initiative of the SGC, upon any Scottish Rite Freemason of any Jurisdiction, for “notably distinguished service in the cause of Freemasonry, humanity or country.” The award was not given for several years thereafter, but in 1943 was voted to Senator Harry S. Truman, who did not actually receive the Medal until November 21, 1945, by which time he had succeeded to the Presidency of the United States. Recipients of the Medal are:


1945 Harry H. Truman
1946 Melvin M. Johnson
1949 His Majesty King Gustav
1952 Kaufman T. Keller
1952 Roscoe Pound
1953 Winfred Overholser
1954 Mark Wayne Clark
1956 George E. Bushnell
1959 Christian A. Herter
1963 Edward W. Wheeler
1964 Richard A. Kern
1968 George A. Newbury
1971 John W. Bricker
1973 Norman Vincent Peale
1974 Gerald R. Ford, JR
1975 Robert P. Taylor
1978 Stanley F. Maxwell
1978 George E. Gardner
1980 Robert H. Felix
1981 Louis Williams
1982 John H. Van Gorden
1983 Edmund F. Ball
1984 Warren N. Barr, Sr.
1986 Raymond C. Ellis
1988 Thomas F. Seay
1989 Francis G. Paul
1990 Charles E. Spahr
1995 Richard B. “Red” Skelton
1998 Carl H. Lindner, Jr.
1998 Robert O. Ralston
1999 John H. Glenn, Jr.
2002 W. Clement Stone
2003 Samuel Brogdon, Jr.
2006 Walter E. Webber
2006 Ronald A. Seale
2009 New Jersey Council of Deliberation

N.B. On Monday, November 9, the Valley of New York City will assist the U.S. Daughters of 1812 in unveiling the restored gravesite of the first Sovereign Grand Commander, Daniel D. Tompkins. 131 East 10th St., Manhattan.