USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > History of the Grand lodge and of freemasonry in the District of Columbia : with biographical appendix > Part 32
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He received the Capitular degrees in LaFayette Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M., January 4 and 18, 1873, and served as Scribe in 1878.
JOSEPH SYLVESTER McCOY,
GRAND MASTER, 1880.
The subject of this sketch has to his credit more than three decades of active and valuable work for the benefit of the Fraternity. Possessed of an unusual intellectual equipment he has also ever been an indefatigable worker, and these qualities, united with a magnetic and pleasing person- ality, a courteous demeanor, a genius for executive work, and an excep-
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tional ability as a convincing speaker, gave to the administration of the many offices to which he has been called a rare degree of success. His .autobiography, amended only to the extent of several additions his modesty ignored, is of such interest that it is here quoted in extenso :
"I was born on a farm, some five miles back of the present town of New Rochelle, Westchester Co., New York, on Monday, November 18, 1839. My parents removed to New York City in 1844, and when seven years of age I entered the public schools of that city. In September, 1854, I was promoted to the grammar class, and graduated therefrom in June, 1855. Subsequently, I entered St. John's College, N. Y., and in June, 1857, concluded my sophomore year. By reason, however, of the financial panic of that year, I entered the service of the Methodist Book Concern, then located in New York City, where I remained until Sep- tember, 1857, when I secured a school. I taught school from September, 1857, until June, 1860, when I was offered a more advantageous position to teach at Montgomery, Ala. I sailed from New York in July, 1860, with the purpose of accepting the position. On arriving at Savannah, Ga., I proceeded by rail to Montgomery, but on arriving there I found that sentiment was such, at that time, that I returned to New York.
" Being desirous of trying my fortune on the Pacific Coast, and with that object in view, there being a regiment of cavalry there at the time, to which I was assured I would be assigned, I enlisted in the regular army, for the cavalry service, on the 27th of August, 1860. Instead of being assigned to the Department of the Pacific, I was assigned to the De- partment of Texas, commanded by Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs. I was assigned to Company B, 2d U. S. Cavalry, the officers of which were Edmund Kirby Smith, Captain; Walter H. Jenifer, 1st Lieut .; and Fitz- Hugh Lee, 2d Lieut. The field officers of the regiment were Albert Sidney Johnson, Colonel; Robert E. Lee, Lieut. Col .; George H. Thomas, Senior Major, and Earl Van Dorn, Junior Major. The regiment, rank and file, was considered the best and its officers the ablest in the service. For a time I was much disappointed with my assignment, but in a short time, owing to the consideration shown me by both officers and men, I became fully reconciled with it.
"My company was stationed at Camp Colorado, Coleman Co., Texas, and during the time I was there, with drill, and reading the northern papers and magazines a month old, time passed pleasantly. We learned of the election of President Lincoln a few days before Christmas, 1860, and subsequently that the Southern States had, or would soon secede from the Union. Rumor was abroad, but it was not until the military forces were surrendered by Maj. Gen. Twiggs, commanding the Depart- ment of Texas, that we realized our condition. By reason of the in- fluence of our officers and the fact that the paroling officer of the State was our own Major (Van Dorn), who had resigned from the army, my regiment alone of all the troops stationed in Texas, was not 'captured and paroled.'
"My company left Camp Colorado in February, 1861, and proceeded to San Antonio, thence to Indianola, where we embarked, leaving only
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our horses and horse equipments with the State authorities, and pro- ceeded, via Key West and Havana, for New York, where we arrived early in April, 1861. Maj. Geo. H. Thomas was at the wharf to receive us. That afternoon we left for Carlisle, Pa., where we obtained our remounts, and on May 2, 1861, proceeded to Washington, D. C., where we arrived May 5, 1861.
" On the night of May 31-June 1, 1861, under instructions from Lieut. Gen. Winfield Scott, my company made a raid on Fairfax, C. H. We lost four or five men and some horses, and regained our camp near Falls Church, Va., on the morning of June 1, 1861. On July 18, 1861, my Division (the First), Army of Northeastern Virginia, made a re- connaisance along the Confederate lines at Bull Run, and was with General Tyler, its commander during the engagement. On the 19th of July, 1861, I was one of General Barnard's escort, in his observations of the several fords along the line of Bull Run. I participated in the Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, and my company formed a part of the rear guard, at Centerville and Fairfax Court House, during the retreat of the Federal Army from the battlefield.
" I also participated in the battles of Williamsburg, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, Nelson's Farm, Glendale, and Malvern Hill, during the Pen- insular Campaign. I was wounded in the latter engagement. Subse- quently to my discharge from the army, on April 1, 1863, to accept an appointment in the office of the Adjutant-General of the Army, I served in Company A, War Department Rifles, from June, 1864, until June, 1865, my commissions being signed by Assistant Secretary of War Tucker.
"During my service in the army I held the following grades: recruit, private, corporal, duty sergeant, orderly sergeant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and captain, Assistant Adjutant-General of Volunteers.
" I received the Master Mason's degree in LaFayette Lodge, No. 19, March 11, 1867; the Royal Arch degree in Mt. Vernon Chapter, No. 20, April 22, 1867, including the Royal, Select, and Super Excellent Master's degrees, which were conferred in the Chapters of this jurisdiction in those early days. I was Master of LaFayette Lodge, No. 19, 1873-74, and after filling several of the subordinate chairs was Grand Master for the year 1880; was High Priest of LaFayette R. A. Chapter, No. 5, during the years 1874 and 1875, and Grand High Priest of this jurisdiction for the year 1878; Master of LaFayette Council, No. 1, Royal Select and Super Excellent Masters, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Council of Massa- chusetts, from 1875 until 1883; Charter Master of Washington Council, 1888 to 1890; knighted in Columbia Commandery, No. 2, Knights Templar, March 14, 1868; was Grand Lecturer of the Grand R. Chapter of the District of Columbia from December, 1873, to December, 1875, and Grand Lecturer of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia 1876. In the absence of the High Priest of LaFayette Chapter in Europe nearly the whole of the year 1873, and while King of that Chapter and Grand Lecturer of the Grand Chapter of the District of Columbia, at the request of the Grand Chapter of Canada, and as representing LaFayette Chapter, I conferred the Royal Arch degree on three actual candidates
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before the Grand Chapter of Canada, in the town hall at Kingston, Canada. I held, at various times during my Masonic career, the offices of Grand Representative of the Grand Chapter of Canada; the Grand Chapter of Nova Scotia, B. C .; the Grand Mark Lodge of England, Scot- land, and Wales, and the Colonies and Dependencies of the British Crown, and of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, F. A. A. M., which latter representation I still hold."
NOBLE DANFORTH LARNER,
GRAND MASTER, 1881-82.
Born in Washington, D. C., January 9, 1830, he received his education in private schools, and learned the "art preservative of all arts" in the printing office of his grandfather, Jacob Gideon. In April, 1861, he an- swered President Lincoln's first call for ninety-day men and served until expiration of term of enlistment. In the same year he was appointed to a clerkship in the Interior Department. In 1863 he was elected a member of the City Council, and served for three years. In 1865 he was elected Secretary of the National Union Fire Insurance Company, which position he retained until his death. In 1867 he organized and carried to a suc- cessful conclusion the project for the erection of the old Masonic Temple, and from that time until his death was Secretary of the Masonic Hall Association. He was also for many years Secretary of the Home Plate Glass Insurance Company, and prominently identified with many other business enterprises.
While a member of the City Council Bro. Larner introduced many im- portant measures, among them the bill to arch the old canal, to sewer the old Slash Run on L Street, and to arch the sewer which ran from what is now Florida Avenue, down to Eighth Street, N. W. Defeated then they were later adopted by the Board of Public Works. He was also active in the passage of the act to get a paid fire department and the establishment of a fire-alarm telegraph systen1.
Bro. Larner was made a Master Mason in Benjamin B. French Lodge, No. 15, October 19, 1863. On December 28 of the same year he became a charter member of LaFayette Lodge, No. 19, and served the lodge as Secretary in 1864, Senior Warden in 1865, and Worshipful Master in 1866 and 1867.
In the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia he was elected Senior Grand Deacon for the year 1866, Grand Secretary for five years from 1867 to 1871, and Grand Master for the years 1881 and 1882.
He was exalted in Mount Vernon R. A. Chapter, No. 3, December 25, 1865. May 24, 1867, he became a charter member and the first High Priest of LaFayette R. A. Chapter, No. 5, and presided over that body in 1867, 1868, and 1869.
He took a prominent part in the organization of the Grand Royal
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Arch Chapter of the District of Columbia, and served that body as Grand Secretary from 1867 to 1871, Deputy Grand High Priest in 1873, and Grand High Priest in 1874 and 1875.
He was present at every convocation of the General Grand Chapter from 1868 to 1900, and was elected General Grand Captain of the Host in 1874, General Grand Scribe in 1877, General Grand King in 1880, Deputy General Grand High Priest in 1883, and General Grand High Priest in 1886, serving three years in each office.
He assisted in forming LaFayette Council, R. and S. M., now extinct, in 1870, and was the presiding officer of that body in 1871. March 19, 1894, he affiliated with Washington Council, No. 1.
He was knighted in Columbia Commandery, No. 2, K. T., May 4, 1866; became a charter member of DeMolay Mounted Commandery, No. 4, February 16, 1872, and was Eminent Commander in 1878.
On the organization of the Grand Commandery of the District of Columbia, January 14, 1896, he was elected the first Grand Commander, and served in that office for the initial term ending at the First Annual Conclave, May 11, 1896.
He received the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, from fourth to thirty-second, from Grand Commander Albert Pike, in 1878.
Bro. Larner was for nearly half a century a potential force in the business, social, and religious life of Washington. He was abundantly endowed with the qualities that make for success-great moral and physical courage, sound judgment, indomitable energy, and unswerving integrity-and it was said of him that no enterprise with which he was connected was ever known to fail. He was for forty years a member of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, and it was within its sacred walls, March 19, 1903, that the great change came to him, when "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," he painlessly sank to rest.
" Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them."
EDWARD H. CHAMBERLIN,
GRAND MASTER, 1883.
Bro. Chamberlin was born in Philadelphia, Pa., May 12, 1842, and at the age of thirteen years removed with his parents to Prince William County, Virginia, where he lived until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he left the State and went to Northern Pennsylvania and volun- teered his services in support of the Union, but was denied enlistment on account of the loss of the sight of one eye. He subsequently went to New York State and made another effort to enlist, but failed from the same cause. In 1862 he took up his abode in the District of Columbia, where he continued to reside until the date of his death, September 23,
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1901. From the year 1867 to the time of his death he was engaged in the produce commission business, and established and enjoyed an enviable reputation for business probity and fair dealing.
He was initiated, passed, and raised in 1867 in The New Jerusalem Lodge, No. 9, F. A. A. M., of this jurisdiction, and served as its Worship- ful Master in 1874, and again in 1890. In 1878 he served as Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge, and successively filled the offices of Junior Grand Warden, Senior Grand Warden, and Deputy Grand Master, and in 1883 served as M. W. Grand Master. He was exalted in Columbia R. A. Chapter, No. 1, May 17, 1871, was High Priest in 1875, and served as Secretary from 1877 to 1901. He was greeted as a Royal and Select Master in Washington Council, No. 1, March 30, 1889, and was Th. Il1. Master in 1893. He was knighted in Columbia Commandery, No. 2, K. T., August 4, 1871, and served as its Eminent Commander in 1886, and as its Treasurer from 1896 to 1901, and was Treasurer of the Grand Commandery, K. T., of the District of Columbia from its organization in 1896 until his death. He was also a member of Mithras Lodge of Per- fection, Evangelist Chapter Rose Croix, Robert de Bruce Council of Ka- dosh, and Albert Pike Consistory, A. A. S. R., for the Southern Jurisdic- tion of the United States, and was Treasurer of Almas Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at the time of his death and for many years prior thereto.
His death occurred September 23, 1901, at Phoenix, Ariz., where he had gone in the hope of restoring his health which had been impaired during the previous year.
Bro. Chamberlin was a man of many noble traits of character and of a high order of natural ability and force of character. He possessed a kindly heart and never turned a deaf ear to an appeal for charity, and in his daily life faithfully and conscientiously practiced the sublime teach- ings of our Fraternity, and endeavored to do his duty to God, to his neighbor, and to himself. With an enthusiasm for the Craft that knew no bounds, he won high honors in all branches of Masonry and was a potent factor in the up-building of the Fraternity. A plain man in everything, honest and sincere, he did not hesitate to oppose what he conceived to be wrong, and to champion the cause of that which he con- ceived to be right.
MYRON M. PARKER,
GRAND MASTER, 1881-85.
Born in Fairfax, Vermont, November 7, 1843, Bro. Parker came of a martial, patriotic family, both of his grandfathers having been soldiers in the War of 1812, and his great grandfathers soldiers in the Revolu- tionary Army, as also in the War of 1812.
He was a student at Fort Edward Collegiate Institute at the breaking out of the Civil War, and in December, 1863, enlisted in Company M, 1st Vermont Cavalry, in which organization he served until the close of the war, taking part in several important battles.
THE HOUSE OF THE TEMPLE, THIRD AND E STREETS, N. W. Now known as Scottish Rite Cathedral and occupied by the local bodies of that Rite and Cathedral Chapter, No. 14, O. E. S.
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In 1865 he was appointed to a clerkship in the War Department. In 1879 he was appointed Assistant Postmaster of Washington and so con- tinued until 1881, when he embarked in private business.
Bro. Parker is a graduate of the law department of the Columbia University in the class of 1876. He was one of the organizers of the Columbia National Bank and the American Security and Trust Co .; was first President of the Board of Trade and re-elected three times; is a director in many of the financial institutions of the city; also a director in the Columbia Hospital for Women, Providence Hospital, and the Washington Home for Foundlings.
He was appointed one of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia by President Harrison; was an Aide-de-Camp with the rank of Colonel on the Staff of the Governor of Vermont, and was a member of the National Republican Committee for eight years.
Bro. Parker devoted a number of years to the real estate business, in which he was very successful, but in 1894, withdrew from that field and gave his time and attention to corporations, and in this line has very extensive connections, both local and otherwise.
He has always been an advocate of the outdoor life, and finds health and pleasure through his association with numerous hunting, fishing, and other clubs.
Bro. Parker is one of the big men physically as well as mentally in the District of Columbia, being several inches over six feet in height, and has an unusually pleasing and dignified presence. His courteous and affable demeanor has given him a wide popularity in many circles, while his executive ability, tact, and force gave to his administration as Grand Master a distinguished place in the history of the local Craft. One in- stance of his firmness and thorough conception of the dignity of the Fraternity gives this point: Near the close of the first year of his ad- ministration as Grand Master the Grand Lodge received an invitation from a Joint Committee of Congress for the Masonic Fraternity to join in the parade on the occasion of the dedication of the Washington Monu- ment, which was firmly declined by Grand Master Parker unless the Masons should have assigned them their proper part of the ceremonies. A correspondence ensued which resulted in the Grand Masonic display upon that occasion, February 21, 1885, the Government having finally conceded the point that the Grand Lodge should perform the Masonic ceremony of dedication.
He received the symbolic degrees in Warner Lodge, No. 50, of Cam- bridge, Vt., in 1864; dimitted therefrom and affiliated with Benj. B. French Lodge, No. 15, of Washington, D. C., May 4, 1868, of which lodge he was Senior Warden in 1879, and Worshipful Master in 1880. In 1881 and 1882 he served as Senior Grand Warden, in 1883 as Deputy Grand Master, and in 1884 and 1885 as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia.
In 1891 he was elected an honorary member of Myron M. Parker Lodge, No. 27, which was chartered in that year and which had adopted his name.
He received the Capitular degrees in Columbia R. A. Chapter, No. 1, in
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1868, and is a life member thereof. He was knighted in Columbia Com- mandery, No. 2, K. T., December 7, 1872; served as Standard-Bearer in 1876, as Generalissimo during the first eight months of 1878, and as Acting Commander the remainder of the year. He was elected Eminent Com- mander for the year 1879, and re-elected for 1880. He also had the honor of serving his commandery for a third term as Eminent Commander during the year 1889, having been recalled by his fraters to take the helm during that momentous year. His terms were red-letter years in the history of Columbia Commandery, having been three of the most brilliant and prosperous it has enjoyed.
In 1887 Bro. Parker was elected Chairman of the Joint Committee, composed of nine (afterwards increased to eleven) Sir Knights from each of the four commanderies, appointed to make arrangements for the entertaining of the Grand Encampment of the United States, and such commanderies as might attend, on the occasion of the Twenty-fourth Triennial Conclave, held in Washington in 1889.
Sir Kt. Parker was the Grand Sword-Bearer of the Grand Encampment, K. T., of the United States, from 1889 till 1892. He is an honorary member of Palestine Commandery, No. 18, of New York; of St. John's Com- mandery, No. 4, of Philadelphia; of Apollo Commandery, No. 1, of Chicago, and of University Preceptory, Dublin, Ireland. He is also a Scottish Rite Mason of the thirty-second degree.
THOMAS P. CHIFFELLE,
GRAND MASTER, 1886.
Bro. Chiffelle was born in Charleston, S. C., December 11, 1816, and lived in that city during his boyhood.
He was appointed to a cadetship at West Point from his native State and graduated from that institution in the class of 1836.
After a few years' service as an officer in the U. S. Army he resigned his commission, began the profession of civil engineering, and took up his residence in Baltimore, Md., and one of his monuments in that city is the Maryland Institute, the cornerstone of which bears his name as architect.
At the outbreak of the Civil War he came to Washington, where he was closely associated with his former classmate, Gen. M. C. Meigs, in engineering work on public constructions under the War Department.
A man of unusual attainments he was a public-spirited and exemplary citizen, a loving husband and father, and altho not a Mason until past the meridian of life was for nearly a quarter of a century an active and valuable member of the Fraternity.
His death occurred April 27, 1891, and his funeral was held under the auspices of the Grand Lodge April 30, on which occasion the services
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of the Rose Croix were conducted by the officers of Evangelist Chapter Rose Croix, No. 1, the Templar service by Potomac Commandery, No. 3. The interment was at Arlington and the Blue Lodge service at the grave was rendered by the officers of the Grand Lodge.
Bro. Chiffelle was initiated in Potomac Lodge, No. 5, January 3, 1870; passed April 4, 1870, and raised May 2, 1870; served as Master of his lodge, 1877-79; was J. G. Warden, 1881-82; S. G. Warden, 1883; Deputy Grand Master, 1884-85, and Grand Master, 1886.
He received the Chapter degrees December 5, 1876, and January 23 and February 11, 1877, in Potomac R. A. Chapter, No. 8, and was also a member of Potomac Commandery, No. 3, K. T., of this jurisdiction.
In Scottish Rite Masonry he had attained the thirty-second degree.
JOSÉ MARIA YZNAGA,
GRAND MASTER, 1887.
Born January 9, 1840, in the City of Philadelphia, Pa., he was given the name of his father, who was a Cuban. When but three years of age he was taken by his parents to Louisville, Ky., where he grew to manhood. He was educated in private schools and in a college in that city. He served with honor and distinction in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.
He came to Washington in 1864, and in 1869 he entered as a student the law school of Columbian (now George Washington) University, from which he graduated in June, 1871, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He entered at once upon his chosen profession and devoted himself to the practice of patent law, in which he built up a large and lucrative practice, from which he retired about five years before his death. His home was one of the notable old residences near the Capitol, with an imposing stone wall around it rising many feet above the sidewalk.
He was a devoted member of the Masonic Fraternity, and won many honors in its service. He was made a Master Mason in Abraham Lodge, No. 8, Louisville, Ky., July 1, 1861, and affiliated with Pentalpha Lodge, No. 23, of this city, February 2, 1874. He was Master of Pentalpha Lodge in 1878, and its Treasurer during the years 1885 and 1886. He was made Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge in 1883, and was regularly ad- vanced, serving as Grand Master in 1887.
He received the Capitular degrees in Louisville Chapter, No. 5, of Kentucky, and affiliated February 13, 1874, with Mount Vernon Chapter, No. 3, of this jurisdiction and served as its High Priest in 1878. He entered the official line of this Grand Chapter in December, 1881, as Grand Royal Arch Captain, and in December, 1884, was elected Grand High Priest.
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March 27, 1874, he was knighted in Columbia Commandery, No. 2, Knights Templar, of which he was Eminent Commander in 1887. He was also a devoted Mason of the Scottish Rite, the thirty-second degree of that Rite having been conferred on him in Albert Pike Consistory of this city June 2, 1887. He was also a Noble of Almas Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
His earthly labors were terminated and he entered into rest on the 11th day of April, 1909, and two days thereafter his body was consigned to the grave in Rock Creek Cemetery, the funeral service being impres- sively rendered by the officers of the Grand Lodge.
Bro. Yznaga was a baptized and confirmed member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, having been confirmed in that faith by the Rt. Rev. Alfred Harding, D. D., Bishop of the Diocese of Washington. Although a man of marked intellectual ability he was extremely modest and retiring in his disposition, but impressed every one with whom he came in contact with his splendid personality and his sturdy, unswerving devotion to all his duties as a citizen and a Mason. He was a staunch and charming friend, an uncompromising enemy to anything that would tend to lower the standard of Freemasonry, and an able and conscientious advocate of the highest claims of a clean morality in all personal and professional duties.
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