USA > Washington DC > History of the Grand lodge and of freemasonry in the District of Columbia : with biographical appendix > Part 25
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The Grand Chapter formed in 1814 seems to have flour- ished for some years, but, the membership in the District hav- ing in a few years assumed respectable proportions and the inconveniences of travel between Baltimore and Washington being very trying, the spirit of independence soon asserted itself, and in May, 1822, the Companions of the District were called together in convention to consider the propriety of
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forming a Grand Chapter for the District of Columbia, and in response to this call the representatives of Federal, No. 3, *Union, No. 4, and Potomac, No. 8, assembled at that time, and after several adjourned meetings, on July 16, of that year, adopted a constitution and appointed a committee to attend the next meeting of the Grand Chapter of Maryland and the District of Columbia, to present thereat an attested copy of the proceedings of the convention, and authorized to receive the proportion of funds due to the chapters within the Dis- trict of Columbia.
At a meeting held September 10, 1822, a formal dispensa- tion to form a Grand Chapter in the District of Columbia was received from Hon. DeWitt Clinton, G. G. H. P. U. S. A., dated at New York City.
Thus came into existence the first independent Grand Chap- ter of the District, altho from lack of proper representation the actual formation was not effected until February 10, 1824, at which date the representatives of Federal, No. 3, Union, No. 4, Brooke, No. 7, and Potomac, No. 8, met and organ- ized by the election of the following officers : Comps. William Lambert, Grand High Priest; Amos Alexander, Dep. G. H. P .; Marmaduke Dove, Grand King; Thomas Corcoran, Grand Scribe; Chas. T. Chapman, Grand Treasurer, and Joseph Ingle, Grand Secretary, and the readoption of the former constitution.
At an adjourned meeting, held March 9, 1824, Potomac, altho having up to this time taken an active part in the forma- tion of the independent Grand Chapter, signified her intention of withdrawing therefrom, and subsequently applied to the General Grand Chapter for permission to retain allegiance to the Grand Chapter of Maryland, which was granted. Three chapters still remaining loyal the local Grand Chapter con- tinued, Federal Chapter assuming the name and number of Washington R. A. Chapter, No. 1, Union became No. 2, and Brooke, No. 3.
* Probably identical with Washington Naval, No. 4. See history of unique relations between Naval and Union Lodges, in sketch of latter in Chapter XV.
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The Grand Chapter of Maryland consented to the forma- tion of the new Grand Chapter and also gave Potomac Chap- ter permission to remain under its jurisdiction, still retaining, however, the title of Grand Chapter of the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia, and thus was presented the un- usual condition of two separate Grand Chapters claiming jurisdiction over the same territory. This state of affairs naturally led to considerable dissatisfaction, but was finally adjusted by the Grand Chapter of Maryland dropping the words " District of Columbia" and relinquishing all jurisdic- tional rights in the section except so far as related to Potomac Chapter.
The first recorded visitation of the Grand Chapter to a subordinate chapter occurred April 6, 1825, to Brooke Chap- ter, and in general form the proceedings were identical with those of similar occasions today, altho the opportunity was frequently taken advantage of to install the officers elect, and, a condition precedent at this time and for a number of years thereafter to the installation of a High Priest being his pos- session of the rite of the Order of High Priesthood ( Anointed High Priests ), that degree was also conferred upon him the same evening, the Chapter being temporarily purged for this purpose of all who had not as yet received said degree.
In 1826 W. W. Seaton succeeded Win. Lambert as Grand High Priest, and continued as such until 1831, being in turn succeeded by John A. Cook, who was occupying the chair when the Grand Chapter expired in 1833 or shortly thereafter.
At the annual convocation of January 9, 1827, a charter was granted to Comps. Wm. Hewitt, P. Mauro, William Cooper, W. W. Seaton, and nine others to form a chapter to be known as Temple Chapter, No. 4, and this chapter appears to have been an active member of the little family until the anti-Masonic wave swept the Grand Chapter and most of the subordinate chapters out of existence.
February 25, 1828, a special meeting of the Grand Chapter was held for the " purpose of evincing its sorrow for the sud- den and lamented decease of our late Comp. De Witt Clinton,
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M. E. G. G. H. P. of the G. G. R. A. Chapter of the U. S., and of adopting measures to testify its profound respect for his memory," and was followed, March 29, by the formation of a procession composed of the Grand Lodge, followed by the Grand Chapters of the District and of Maryland, escorted by the " officers and members of Washington Encampment (K. T.) clothed in the habiliments of their Order," which pro- ceeded to St. John's Church and attended a special memorial service in honor of the distinguished dead.
The Grand Chapter at this early day led a nomadic exist- ence and met in the various chapter rooms in this city, George- town, and Alexandria, the hour of meeting being 10 A. M., as the difficulties of night journeys at that time were prac- tically insurmountable.
A rather peculiar feature of the meetings, and one we have also had occasion to note as marking the meetings of the Grand Lodge, was the transaction of much of the routine business by the Dep. G. H. Priest, the High Priest not appear- ing until after the meeting was well advanced, and being re- ceived with considerable ceremony.
On April 3, 1830, occurred in Washington the installation of Hon. Edward Livingston, G. G. H. Priest elect, and Hon. Joel Poinsett, Dep. G. G. H. P. elect, the ceremony being con- ducted by a Grand Convention of the Grand Chapters of the District and Maryland, with G. H. Priest W. W. Seaton presiding.
The last available record of this Grand Chapter is found in the minutes of the meeting of January 8, 1833, at which meet- ing Washington, Union, Brooke, and Temple Chapters were represented, and adjournment was had until the fourth Satur- day of the month. Subsequent to this, the anti-Masonic move- ment reaching its height, the Grand Chapter ceased to exist.
Potomac Chapter alone is known to have continued active through this period until 1838, when Columbia Chapter ap- plied to and received a charter from the Grand Chapter of Maryland. This action was considered improper, as it was held by some authorities that the District, upon the death of
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the local Grand Chapter, was unoccupied territory, and hence under the General Grand Chapter. The latter body, however, through the Dep. G. G. H. Priest, Stapleton, legalized the charter in 1842, by placing the two chapters under the juris- diction of Maryland.
In November, 1847, the Maryland Grand Chapter granted a charter to Washington Chapter, No. 16, and in 1856 the title of the governing body was again changed to " The Grand Chapter of the State of Maryland and the District of Co- lumbia."
In 1864 a charter was granted to Mt. Vernon Chapter, No. 20, of this city, and two years later, the aggregate member- ship of the four local chapters exceeding that of the entire State of Maryland, the desire for independence again took form in the preparation of a memorial by Columbia, Wash- ington, and Mt. Vernon to the Grand Chapter asking for a dissolution of the connection between the Maryland and Dis- trict R. A. Masons, and the formation of a Grand Chapter of the District of Columbia, which was signed by the following Companions : L. G. Stephens, John Lockie, R. H. Boswell, Andrew Glass, William Middleton, A. T. Longley, C. W. Hancock, Noble D. Larner, and Chauncey Smith.
This resolution having been referred back by the Grand Chapter to the local chapters, they resolved to insist upon a separation, Potomac, however, again declining to join the movement. G. H. Priest James G. Smith, a member of Co- lumbia Chapter, alleging this insistence on the part of the three chapters to be an act of rebellion, refused to have the matter further entertained by the Grand Chapter, and declared the charters of the three chapters suspended, and the elective officers thereof suspended from the rights and privileges of R. A. Masonry.
In this dilemma the High Priests of said chapters called a convention for the purpose of taking steps to form an inde- pendent Grand Chapter, at which convention, the intimation being authoritatively given, as from the G. H. Priest, that upon request he would convene the Grand Chapter of Mary-
HENRY S. MERRILL, GRAND MASTER, 1894.
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land and the District of Columbia in special session to con- sider the matter, and, this recognition appealing to the con- vention, a resolution embodying such a request was drawn up and presented to the G. H. Priest, who accordingly called the Grand Chapter in special session in March, 1867, when the surrendered charters were returned and the separation agreed to by the Grand Chapter.
In April of the same year delegates from the three chapters, as also from Potomac, met and adopted a constitution and elected officers. Soon after this meeting G. H. P. Smith called another meeting of the Grand Chapter to lay before that body what he considered the insubordination of the local chapters in forming a Grand Chapter without the consent of the first four officers of the General Grand Chapter. This contention being based upon a misinterpretation of the law and being quashed by a communication from the G. G. H. Priest, John L. Lewis, a resolution was passed in the Grand Chapter de- claring the dissolution complete.
Potomac Chapter, altho having taken an active part in the convention of a few weeks before, now voted against this resolution, and upon its passage requested permission to re- main under the jurisdiction of Maryland. G. H. Priest Smith refused to entertain the request, as Potomac was in the newly created jurisdiction, and stating that as a member of Columbia Chapter, of Washington, he was no longer eligible for the position of G. H. Priest, turned over the gavel of authority to the Deputy.
On May 23, 1867, Comp. J. E. F. Holmead was installed G. H. Priest, and Comp. L. G. Stephens Dep. G. H. P., at Wall's Opera House, the event being made the occasion of a most notable Masonic gathering and procession. The Grand Lodge and the Fraternity generally participated in celebrating the day as marking a new era in Capitular Masonry in the District. The two commanderies then in existence were called out as an escort for the Grand Chapter, which body was com- posed of representatives from all the local chapters except Potomac, and the ceremony of installation was performed by
19
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M. E. Comp. A. G. Mackey, P. G. G. H. P. of the G. G. Chapter of the U. S., while P. G. G. Scribe B. B. French acted as Master of Ceremonies, upon the conclusion of which the Grand Chapter returned to its hall and opened in ample form.
Thus auspiciously came into existence the present Grand Chapter, but the early days were not without trouble, for the better understanding of which chronological order is tem- porarily abandoned and this feature of the story pursued to the end. Soon after the formation of the Grand Chapter P. G. H. Priest Smith, having in the meantime affiliated with Potomac Chapter and joined the dissatisfied members of that body in refusing to recognize the authority of the new Grand Chapter, was summoned to appear before that body to show cause why he should not be disciplined for such conduct, and upon his failure to do so was suspended.
Potomac Chapter still persisting in her opposition was, at the same time declared clandestine and irregular, whereupon said Chapter and Comp. Smith laid their greivances before G. G. H. Priest Lewis, who completely reversed his former position and upheld both complainants in their contentions, and declared the so-called Grand Chapter of R. A. Masons of the District of Columbia to have " no valid existence and therefore and hence to be irregular and clandestine," etc.
The General Grand Chapter, however, at its triennial con- vention in 1868, by resolution recognized this Grand Chapter as regular and its officers entitled to seats in that body, and at the same time passed another resolution permitting Potomac to remain under the G. G. Chapter, " but without territorial jurisdiction over candidates for the capitular degrees."
This unsatisfactory condition of affairs at once led to over- tures from the Grand Chapter, and an expression of willing- ness to consider any proposition that Potomac might have to offer in regard to becoming a constituent member of the local Grand Chapter was embodied in a certain resolution, which, being read in Potomac Chapter, was promptly referred to the " Grand Chapter of Maryland and the District of Columbia,"
that title being still, in spite of its act of separation, held by
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the Maryland Grand Chapter until November, 1869, when finally relinquished, since which time the relations between the two bodies have been most amicable and fraternal.
This action of Potomac also repudiated the jurisdiction of the G. G. Chapter and served to still further complicate the peculiar tangle which continued until November 30, 1869, when said chapter addressed the Grand Chapter and expressed a desire to resume fraternal relations with the R. A. Masons of the District, which communication being favorably re- ceived, Potomac, at a special communication January 5, 1870, formally applied for and was granted a charter, and accord- ing to its request was given the No. 8, the same as its old charter, altho No. 7 was still vacant. After the adjustment of some unimportant differences of opinion between the new Chapter and the Grand Chapter in relation to the efforts of the G. Visitor and Lecturer to secure conformity with the District " work," Potomac Chapter, at last and for all time. became a full-fledged and active member of the local capitular family, and has been an honor to the jurisdiction ever since.
Returning now to the starting point of the digression, we find that at a resumed communication, May 24, 1867, the fol- lowing day after the first meeting of the Grand Chapter as such, charters were granted to Eureka Chapter, No. 4, and LaFayette Chapter, No. 5, the first named with Comp. C. Smith as H. P .; Comp. A. Buchly, King, and Comp. E. B. Mac- Grotty, Scribe, and the latter with Comps. N. D. Larner, N. P. Chipman, and J. B. Will in the corresponding offices in the order named. Both chapters were instituted June 1, 1867, and at once took front rank in the renewed activity of the period, and remain two of the largest and most influential chapters in the District.
At the May meeting charters were also issued to Columbia, No. 1, Washington, No. 2, and Mt. Vernon, No. 3, all of which have had unbroken careers of usefulness and pros- perity.
The aggregate membership under the jurisdiction of the Grand Chapter in 1867 was 424, since which time there has
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been a healthy and practically continuous growth, the aggre- gate in 1910 exceeding 3,600.
January 30, 1869, G. H. Priest B. B. French issued a dis- pensation to form a new chapter, to be known as Washington Naval Chapter, and to be located in the Navy Yard section, and at the semi-annual communication May 10, 1869, a charter was granted to said Chapter and the No. 6 assigned to it, with Comps. Andrew Glass, John A. Foos, and Jos. E. Porter named as H. P., King, and Scribe, respectively. This chapter was instituted May 26, 1869, and, being planted on Capitol Hill and somewhat isolated from the " down-town" bodies, at once became popular in the Eastern section, and altho more than forty years have elapsed, its territory has not been invaded, and it remains a healthy, active, prosperous chapter, and one of the notable Masonic institutions of that part of the city.
On August 12, 1870, P. G. H. Priest B. B. French, prob- ably without a peer in this jurisdiction as a Masonic organ- izer, writer, jurist, and orator, passed away. His life is treated of elsewhere in these pages, and the perusal thereof is recommended to every companion.
November, 1872, a charter was granted to Mt. Horeb, No. 7, thus reversing the chronological value of the numbers, No. 8, as shown above, having been assigned to Potomac nearly two years before. The new chapter was instituted with con- siderable ceremony December 4, 1872, with Comps. Wm. R. Singleton as H. P .; George A. Abbott, as King, and L. D. Wine, as Scribe, and continues to this day as one of the most energetic, prosperous, and socially inclined chapters in the District.
It is worthy of note, as an encouraging indication of the standing of our local companions at the period, that in 1873 the Grand Chapter of Canada extended an invitation to La- Fayette Chapter of this city to visit that jurisdiction and ex- emplify the work of the R. A. degree, which invitation was accepted, the trip made, and the degree conferred, it goes with- out saying, in an eminently satisfactory manner.
1
GRAND MASTER, 1895.
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October 19, 1876, occurred the death of the first G. H. Priest of the jurisdiction, M. Ex. Comp. James Edward Fris- bie Holmead. As G. Master in 1864 and G. H. Priest in 1867 he served the Craft with conspicuous ability, and stands out as one of the bright particular Masonic stars in the his- tory of this jurisdiction. A detailed sketch of his life ap- pears elsewhere in this work, and should prove an inspiration to the thoughtful reader.
Albert Gallatin Mackey, the eminent Masonic writer and jurist, P. G. H. P. of South Carolina, and P. G. G. H. P. of the G. G. Chapter of the United States, passed away in this city June 20, 1881, and was interred in Glenwood Cemetery. While his death was a serious loss to the Fraternity wherever dispersed, it came as a personal bereavement to most of the companions in this city, where for years he took an active part and interest in Capitular Masonry, and was personally well known.
P. G. H. Priest George B. Clark, who served the Grand Chapter as its presiding officer in 1876, departed this life De- cember 10, 1883. His active service in all branches of Ma- sonry rendered his death an appreciable loss to the local Craft.
February 21, 1885, the Grand Chapter, with M. Ex. Comp. George E. Corson, the present G. G. King of the G. G. Chapter, as G. H. Priest, joined the Grand Lodge in proces- sion and assisted in the ceremony of dedicating the Washing- ton Monument.
November 5, 1886, M. Ex. Comp. James Gozzler, G. H. P. of the Grand Chapter of Maryland and the District of Colum- bia from 1858 to 1862, died in Georgetown, at an advanced age; and on January 10, 1889, M. Ex. Comp. James G. Smith, another veteran of the same Grand Chapter, serving as G. H. P. in 1866, at the time of the formation of the local Grand body, and who played an important part in the troubles inci- dent thereto, passed away, and a page in the annual proceed- ings was devoted to his memory.
September 25, 1890, G. H. Priest Edwin S. Holmes, granted a dispensation to form a chapter at Brightwood, D.
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C., and at the succeeding annual convocation a charter was ordered to issue to Brightwood Chapter, No. 9, naming Comps. Henry Yost as first H. P .; John Miller, as King, and J. Enos Ray, Scribe. The institution took place January 7, 1891, G. H. Priest Alexander McKenzie conducting the cere- mony. Lying well out toward the northern boundary of the District, this chapter has drawn not only from the local field but from the nearby Maryland territory, through the reci- procity agreement between the jurisdictions, has had a grati- fying growth and has fully justified its formation.
Death was particularly active in the ranks of the distin- guished members of the Grand Chapter in the next few years, the following P. G. H. Priests passing to the Great Beyond : Joseph Daniels (G. H. P. 1872), April 12, 1892; James P. Pearson (1882), December 7, 1893; Abner Townsley Long- ley (1873), February 23, 1896; Robert Ball (1889), March 23, 1897; Isaac Larue Johnson (1877), December 28, 1899; Jeremiah C. Allen (1883), October 2, 1900; Noble Danforth Larner (1874-5 and P. G. G. H. P.), March 19, 1903; Wil- liam G. Powers (1887), July 20, 1905; Charles H. Smith (1897), January 5, 1906 ; Thomas F. Gibbs (1892), January 30, 1906. George Harold Walker (1894), May 5, 1906; John Lockie (1871), May 14, 1907; James F. R. Appleby (1898), September 27, 1907, and José Maria Yznaga (1885). April 11, 1909, while the same period included the deaths of R. E. Comp. Lewis Guillam Stephens (P. Dep. G. H. P. and G. Sec. for twenty years), May 17, 1896; Ex. Comp. Joseph Brummett (author of " Brummett's Masonic Manual"), No- vember 15, 1896; Ex. Comp. William Reynolds Singleton (Chairman of Committee on Correspondence 1886 to 1900), February 23, 1901; R. Ex. Comp. William H. Collins (P. Dep. G. H. P.), January 25, 1903, and R. Ex. Comp. Nathan- iel B. Fugitt (G. Scribe 1908), June 10, 1908.
At the annual convocation of the Grand Chapter December 14, 1892, a petition in due form was received from, and a charter ordered to issue to, certain companions to form a chapter to be known as Hiram Chapter, No. 10, with Comps.
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Martin R. Thorp, A. S. Taber, and Ira W. Hopkins as the first three officers, in the order named. This chapter, formed largely from the Mt. Horeb Chapter membership, had pre- viously petitioned G. H. Priest Thomas Gibbs for a dispensa- tion, which had been refused on the ground that such a defec- tion would seriously affect the latter chapter. The primary cause of the formation of the new chapter being simply a desire upon the part of the petitioners to remain at their old location, Nineteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W., and thereby keep in more effective touch with Hiram Lodge, with which the majority were affiliated, as opposed to the ac- tion of Mt. Horeb in seeking new quarters, was not a differ- ence of such a character as to long strain the relations be- tween the two bodies, which soon became of the most pleasant character, and the wisdom of the movement was at once dem- onstrated by both chapters entering upon an era of prosperity. The new chapter was formally instituted January 9, 1893.
At a special convocation held September 14, 1897, a charter was ordered to issue to sundry companions in the Northeast- ern section of the city to form and open a R. A. Chapter, to be known as Capitol Chapter, No. 11, to be located near the corner of Twelfth and H Streets, N. E., with Comps. Francis J. Woodman as the first H. P .; James A. Wetmore the first King; and Charles T. Caldwell the first Scribe. The chapter was duly instituted November 6, 1897, and at once entered upon a prosperous and useful career in a large, rapidly grow- ing, and otherwise unoccupied territory.
At the annual convocation held February 11, 1903, a charter was granted to twenty companions to form a Chapter to be known as Anacostia Chapter, No. 12, the first three officers named being Ex. Comp. Adolphus Gude and Comps. Robert Cook and Julius W. Tolson. The new chapter was instituted February 23, 1903, G. H. Priest George C. Ober officiating. and has continued to the present in a prosperous condition. Occupying, as it does, the lodge room of Anacostia Lodge, and being without competition in one of the largest of the suburbs, its growth and prosperity have been assured from the be- ginning.
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The local Capitular family as thus constituted remains to this day. The peculiarly compact nature of the jurisdiction, bringing all allied Masonic bodies in unusually close touch with each other, has given to R. A. Masonry the opportunity to be a valuable helpmeet to the Symbolic branch in Washing- ton in all the activities of Temple building and organized char- ity that have marked the last half century, and the relations between the two Grand bodies have always been of the most intimate and amicable character and of great mutual benefit.
GEORGE W. BAIRD, GRAND MASTER, 1896; CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON CORRESPONDENCE.
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CHAPTER XIX.
CRYPTIC MASONRY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
GEORGE E. CORSON,
RECORDER OF WASHINGTON COUNCIL, NO. 1, ROYAL AND SELECT MASTERS, FOR TWENTY-THREE YEARS; PAST GRAND HIGH PRIEST; GENERAL GRAND KING, GENERAL GRAND CHAPTER, U. S. A .; PAST GRAND COMMANDER K. T., D. C., AND PAST J. G. W. OF THE GRAND LODGE.
THE CRYPTIC DEGREES are first mentioned in the history of Masonic degrees in the District of Columbia in the records of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, which was organ- ized in 1822. At the semi-annual convocation of the Grand Chapter, held June 9, 1829, the report of the Committee on Correspondence referred to a circular letter that had been sent by the Grand Chapter of Maryland to each Grand Chapter in the United States. This letter stated in effect (it is too long to quote in full here) that the unsettled state of the degree of Select Mason was a subject deemed of sufficient importance to claim the attention of the several Grand Chapters; that it was not recognized by the Grand Chapter of Maryland until the year 1824, when, it appearing evident that the Select de- gree had not only an intimate connection with, but was in a measure necessary, as preparatory to and elucidatory of that of the Royal Arch, it was required to be given by their sub- ordinate chapters in its proper order, immediately preceding that of the Royal Arch; that they had learned with regret that
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