USA > Washington DC > History of the Grand lodge and of freemasonry in the District of Columbia : with biographical appendix > Part 8
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At the installation meeting held December 27, 1845, the petition for a charter for a lodge to be known as St. John's Lodge, No. 11, was received and the charter ordered to issue, Bro. George C. Thomas being named as the first master, Jos. F. Brown as S. W., and John W. Williams as J. W., with an additional charter list of seven names.
This was quickly followed, in May of the following year, by the granting of a charter to National Lodge, No. 12, which had been working under dispensation for a short time, the officers named in the petition being Bro. (Gen.) James Shields as Master, Bro. John McCalla as S. W., and Bro. Hilary Langtry as J. W. The first-named was Commissioner of the General Land Office at this time, but later resigned that office and took a command in Mexico, where he greatly distin-
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guished himself. He had the honor on his return of being received at a specially convened session of the Grand Lodge January 3, 1848.
While the usual public appearances were still kept up and a number of cornerstones laid during these latter years, the next affair of importance in this line was the laying of the cornerstone of the Smithsonian Institution, May 1, 1847, by that noted Mason M. W. Brother B. B. French, the Grand Master of the District, assisted by the officers of the Grand Lodge, and having present with him as aides the Grand Master of Pennsylvania and the Grand Master of Maryland. The procession preceding the event was a notable one, and embraced a large concourse of distinguished Masonic individ- uals and delegations from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vir- ginia. Among those present at the ceremonies were the President of the United States, Brother James K. Polk; the Vice President of the United States, Brother George M. Dallas ; the Regents of the Institute, Past Grand Masters, and others.
The apron worn by the Grand Master was the historic one originally presented to Gen. Washington by the Grand Lodge of France through Gen. LaFayette, and worn by the former on the occasion of the laying of the corner-stone of the Capitol, and had been for years in the possession of and zealously guarded by Mt. Nebo Lodge, No. 91, of Shepherds- town, Md., and loaned for this occasion. The gavel was the already famous Washington gavel.
It may be worth while to note in passing that while the Grand Lodge had until this time convened at 10 A. M., the meeting hour in 1847 was changed to 4 P. M., a most incon- venient hour we are prone to conclude, but doubtless adopted with good reason.
On July 4, 1848, the cornerstone of the Washington Monu- ment was laid by the Grand Lodge, M. W. G. M. B. B. French presiding, and again was gathered an unusual con- course of Masons, when the inadequate means of transporta- tion of the day are considered, including delegations from the Grand Lodges of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania,
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Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas.
A brilliant oration was delivered by M. W. Brother French on the life and character of Washington as a Mason, while the general address was made by Hon. R. C. Winthrop, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Among the Ma- sonic relics on the stand was the chair used by Brother Wash- ington when Master of his Lodge, Alexandria-Washington, No. 22, of Virginia, and his apron and sash; the ancient records of Fredericksburg Lodge, showing the entrance of Brother Washington into Masonry, and the gavel used at the Capitol cornerstone laying. The paraphernalia which had once been the property of the Revolutionary hero and dis- tinguished Mason, Gen. Joseph Warren, was also in evidence on the person of a representative from Boston.
In 1848 the remarkable attack of gold fever which drew so many adventurous souls to California broke out with con- siderable virulence in Washington and caused quite an exodus to the coast. Among the number were some of the Fra- ternity, and on November 9, 1848, the Grand Lodge on proper petition granted a charter for a lodge to be known as Cali- fornia Lodge, No. 13, to be held in the town of San Fran- cisco, Upper California, and named Samuel Yorke AtLee as Master, Wm. VanVoorhies as S. W., and Bedney F. Mc- Donald as J. W. On December 27, 1848, Brother AtLee having in the meantime resigned, the Grand Lodge confirmed the action of the Grand Master taken during the interim of appointing and having properly installed as Master Brother Levi Stowell in his stead. The latter brother, with the charter in his possession, it was reported, had proceeded to his destina- tion. This lodge, the pioneer in the State, continued in its alle- giance to this Grand Lodge until 1850, when it united with other lodges to form the Grand Lodge of California, becoming No. 1, and furnishing the first Grand Master and Grand Sec- retary. Its separation from this jurisdiction was in the best of feeling, and the local Fraternity has noted with pride its continued success and prosperity.
In 1849 an unusual memorial was received from certain
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citizens of Bogoto, New Grenada, addressing themselves to this Grand Lodge as " the centre of light," for the purpose of obtaining " the favor of being constituted a regular lodge in due and ancient form." The memorialists were evidently entirely unfamiliar with the organization, rites, and require- ments of Masonry, but were so unmistakably sincere in their desire for light that the Grand Lodge was at considerable pains to inform them of the regulations and prerequisites of organization, and expressed the hope that a sufficient number of Master Masons might be found within their borders to take the proper initiative. Nothing further came of the agitation, however, and the incident closed.
July 17, 1849, was commenced the movement to procure a memorial stone for the Washington Monument, and this was accomplished by subscription and the stone placed in the following year. It is located on the third landing, or first stop, of the elevator, and is of white granulated marble. Its face is six feet by two feet three inches, and bears the inscrip- tion "Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. Our Brother, George Washington." In the center of the inscrip- tion are the square and compasses, all in raised work, and within and protected by a heavy molding. In an aperture of the block there were placed a list of the contributors and the last printed proceedings of the Grand Lodge. "Thus," in the language of Grand Master French, "have the Free- masons of this jurisdiction presented their offering at the holy shrine of patriotism."
December 27, 1849, one of the earliest public installations took place, the Grand Lodge, under the escort of the Knights Templar, proceeding to the Unitarian Church, where the M. W. Grand Master, B. B. French, was installed, and upon assuming his station was " saluted according to custom," and delivered one of his eloquent addresses. The subordinate Grand Officers were then installed, as were also the "R. W." Masters-elect of the subordinate lodges. This custom, while observed at intervals until well toward the latter part of the century, has fallen absolutely into disuse, and probably will come as a revelation to many of the younger readers.
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CHAPTER VIII.
THE DAWN OF PROSPERITY.
CLOSING YEARS OF THE HALF CENTURY-CORNERSTONES OF CAPITOL EXTENSION AND SMITHSONIAN INSTITU-
TION-LODGES 14, 15, AND 16-LODGE
OF MUTUAL BENEVOLENCE-THE LIBRARY-PUBLIC FUNC- TIONS-NOTES.
" The secret of success is constancy to purpose."-DISRAELI.
THE OPENING of the second half of the nineteenth century found the Fraternity, while still numerically weak, the aggre- gate membership in 1850 amounting to a little less than 300, entering upon an era of comparative prosperity.
As an instance of our cordial relation with sister jurisdic- tions it is noted that on February 22, 1850, on invitation of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, Grand Master French, attended by a number of the brethren of the District, visited Rich- mond and participated in the ceremony of laying the corner- stone of the Washington Monument at that place, and was treated with the utmost cordiality and consideration.
That the more modern conception of the function of the Masonic Fraternity, which deprecates a public appearance ex- cept for the performance of Masonic duty, was now begin- ning to assert itself is shown by the fact that, at a special communication held June 18, 1850, the Grand Lodge voted to decline the invitation of the local Washington Monument
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Association to take part in a procession and other ceremonies to be held July 4 of that year, " regarding all public displays of the Order as improper which are not necessary to the performance of the duties enjoined upon it."
On May 6, 1851, there was received from sundry citizens of Monrovia, Republic of Liberia, including the President, a petition for a charter for a lodge to be called " Restoration Lodge." This petition did not receive as much consideration. apparently, as the one a few years before from Bogota, New Grenada, but was rejected in a terse resolution of eight words. Had the Grand Lodge acted otherwise, the mind is lost in speculation of what further complication might subsequently have been injected into the troublous question of the standing of lodges of African descent which was soon, and for many years, to plague this jurisdiction.
June 24, of the same year, the Grand Lodge, accompanied by a number of brethren from this and adjacent territory, made a pilgrimage to the Tomb of Washington, and listened to an address by Grand Master French, and on July 4, fol- lowing, laid the cornerstone of the extension of the Capitol, the latter event being made the occasion of an imposing mili- tary and civic display in addition to the Masonic exercises. President Millard Fillmore, in his capacity as the Chief Ex- ecutive of the Country, was present and took part in the exercises, examined the stone, pronounced it laid, and said : " The Most Worshipful Grand Master of the District of Columbia will now please examine the stone and see that it is well laid." This active participation by President Fillmore is especially interesting in view of the fact that some years before, at the beginning of the anti-Masonic excitement, he was a most bitter arraigner of the institution, which he had characterized as " organized treason." After the usual cere- monies Grand Master French made one of his magnificent addresses, and was followed by the Hon. Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State.
On September 2, 1852, a dispensation was granted by the Grand Master authorizing the establishment of a lodge, to
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be known as " Centennial Lodge, No. 14," in the old Seventh Ward, better known as the "Island," and now the "South- west." This Lodge met for a number of years in Island Hall. in that section, but subsequently moved to the central part of the city, leaving the section above referred to without a local Masonic body, in which condition it remains to this day. a remarkable state of affairs when the size of the population and peculiar isolation of the Southwest is considered. The charter issued November 2, 1852.
On December 29, 1852, the M. W. Grand Master, in con- formity with the precedent established a few years earlier, declined an invitation on behalf of the Grand Lodge, to be present at the "inauguration" of the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, for the reason that no Masonic duty was required, and it may relieve the tedium of the narration to inject the fact that B. B. French, chairman of the Committee on Arrangements, signed the invitation, and B. B. French, Grand Master, courteously declined to consider it.
The cornerstone of the Baptist Church on Thirteenth Street was laid by the Grand Lodge July 21, 1853, and that of the Sixth Presbyterian Church August 10, following.
December 27, 1853, the family of lodges was further en- larged by the granting of a charter to B. B. French Lodge, No. 15, a lodge which rapidly gained in popularity, and is now one of the strongest numerically in the District.
During the year 1854 the cornerstone of three churches were laid : the Western Presbyterian, August 2; Metropolitan Methodist, October 23, and the New Methodist, Georgetown, November 1.
As compared with the growth of previous years the in- crease in membership was now to become quite marked, the returns for 1854 showing 419 Master Masons, a very sub- stantial gain.
November 7, of this year P. G. Master French, on behalf of twelve Master Masons, presented the Grand Lodge three silver cups, for corn, wine, and oil, which were accepted with thanks, and the Grand Secretary ordered to have one of the
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cups fire-gilded (later changed to " otherwise gilded"), and the three marked " Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia." These cups are used to this day on all proper occasions.
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At the same communication the first active step toward the formation of a Masonic Library, previously authorized by constitutional amendment, was taken by the appropriation of $50 for the purchase of books. This appropriation was fol- lowed by similar annual appropriations, and by the latter part of 1855 the Library was in existence and a set of rules for the government thereof adopted. At the outset additions were limited to works of a Masonic character, but this limitation was of short duration. The Grand Secretary was in attend- ance one evening in the week and the Grand Tiler the others, for the purpose of issuing and receiving books. Thus was born that feature of our local Masonic institution which has grown to such stalwart and satisfactory proportions, and in order that the subject may be treated connectedly the story is at once pursued to date.
While comparatively successful for a brief period, the Li- brary soon fell upon evil days, and languished until 1872. when steps were taken looking toward rehabilitating it, and in the new scheme the subordinate lodges were invoked to take an active interest and contribute to the support of the pro- ject, the latter, indeed, being made compulsory by the levying of a tax of one dollar annually on any brother who desired to make use of the Library. In addition, donations of books were requested, and in response to this P. G. Master R. B. Donaldson at once presented fifty very valuable works.
In 1873 the Library was enriched by having placed to its credit the sum of $775, which had been returned by the Chicago Masonic Relief Committee to the Grand Lodge of the District as their share of the unexpended balance of the fund placed in its hands for the relief of the sufferers by the great fire, and with this sum was created the "Chicago Fire Return Library Fund," $500 being immediately invested, and $275, together with interest from investment, made available for the proper equipment of the Library and the purchase of
A
ROBERT KEYWORTH, GRAND MASTER, 1840, 1841, 1843.
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books. This scheme, however, did not work out with any great degree of smoothness, entailing a continuous three- cornered wrangle between the Committee on Accounts, the Committee on Library, and the Grand Lodge, and in 1878 another appeal was made to the subordinate lodges, this time to secure a general donation of works of a miscellaneous char- acter. By this time, however, the books already in stock num- bered 2,843, showing a healthy growth, despite the discour- aging conditions surrounding the scheme of maintenance.
In 1878 the Library, having been previously located with the Grand Secretary's office in one of the upper rooms of the Temple at Ninth and F Streets, was moved with the latter to the ground floor, and in 1880 to the room which for thirty years thereafter was to be its home. At the outset of this new tenancy the various lodges outside of the Temple were requested to pay $2 a month each to assist in paying the rental of the new quarters. All declined with the exception of Hiram, No. 10, which at once consented, and sent six months of its pro rata in advance. The Library Committee, as will be seen, was working at great disadvantage. The annual ap- propriation of $50, before alluded to, not always materializing ; the Committee had at their disposal frequently only the interest accruing from the invested Chicago Fund, which amounted to $50, and with the increasing growth of the Library and the necessity of meeting this with the proper cases as well as the services of additional help in the issuing and receipt of books, the items of light, heat, etc., this sum was grossly inadequate. One way and another, tho, the enterprise eked out its exist- ence and grew. A reorganization of the Library, begun in 1880, resulted in the following year in the culling out of a vast number of undesirable public documents and the reduc- tion of the accumulation of works to a rational basis. This cut the aggregate of volumes almost exactly in half, and left 1,582 valuable volumes on the shelves, a handsome nucleus for the projected library, which has become the pride of the jurisdiction. By 1882 the number had increased to 1,820.
In 1883 the Chicago Fire Return Library Fund, amounting
6
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to $500, which had been invested upon real estate security, and had been yielding an annual interest of 10 per cent., ceased to exist, the trustee of the fund reporting in that year that failure to meet the interest for some years had forced him to sell the property securing it, and no bid being received suffi- cient to cover the investment it had been bought in by a friend and subsequently deeded to the trustee. Unpaid tax bills, re- pairs, and bad tenants had caused an outlay greatly in excess of the income, and, the opportunity presenting itself, the property (a frame building on Twenty-second Street) was sold for $650, which left, after deducting expenses of sale and sums advanced by the trustee, $524.50 to the credit of the fund, which sum the trustee recommended be turned over to the Library Committee for the purchase of books. This rec- ommendation was amended by inserting the amount $349.50, and in this shape was approved by the Grand Lodge, which at the same time repealed the resolution of January 8, 1873, creating the fund. Just what disposition was made of the re- maining $175 deponent saith not. The fund thus made avail- able was judiciously used, and resulted in the rapid enlarge- ment of the Library, the following year showing 2,109 vol- umes ; 1885, 2,238; 1886, 2,269; 1887, 2,350; 1888, 2,472; 1889, 2,486; 1890, 2,559; 1891, 2,637; 1892, 2,725; 1893, 2,741; 1894, 2,819; 1895, 2,941; 1896, 2,990; 1897, 2,990; 1898, 3,140; 1899, 3,123; 1900, 3,253; 1901, 3,410; 1902, 3,410; 1903, 3,911; 1904, 4,160; 1905, 4,338; 1906, 4,688; 1907, 5,038. Since the latter date the number has increased rapidly, and now approximates 10,000 volumes.
While the actual duties of the Librarian were for many years discharged by the Grand Secretary, the work finally be- came of such proportions as to necessitate the employment of an assistant, and in 1901 the late Bro. John N. Birckhead, of Dawson Lodge, No. 16, was appointed. Upon his death, which occurred November 22, 1903, Bro. Paul Neuhaus, P. M. of Hope Lodge, No. 20, a trained and experienced librarian, filled the position until 1906, and upon his demise, during that year, Bro. Armat Stoddart, of Columbia Lodge, No. 3, was ap- pointed, and has most acceptably filled the arduous position
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and has practically completed a long-needed card-index cata- log of the contents of the shelves. To the executive ability of the chairmen of the Library Committee, notable among whom may be mentioned the late M. W. Bro. Noble D. Larner, of many years' service; M. W. Bro. Lurtin R. Ginn, and Bro. Wm. L. Boyden, also Librarian of the large Scottish Rite Library and the present incumbent since 1903, is largely due the present carefully selected and well regulated library, which compares favorably with the best of such institutions in the country.
August 13, 1855, the cornerstone of the German Reformed Church, D and Four-and-a-Half Streets, S. W., was laid by the Grand Lodge, which also, in the fall of the same year, attended the dedication of the Masonic Temple in Philadel- phia, on which latter occasion a large number of the brethren from this jurisdiction were present.
June 24, 1856, witnessed a most notable celebration by the Fraternity, an imposing procession being formed in connection with Columbia R. A. Chapter, No. 15, and, under the escort of Washington Encampment, K. T., proceeded to the Smith- sonian Institution, where, in the presence of a large concourse. one of the most eloquent Masonic orations ever listened to was delivered by the late Bro. Byron Sunderland, D. D., for many years a prominent Presbyterian divine and active Mason of this city. Among those present was the late Bro. Gen. Lewis Cass, who occupied a seat on the right of the M. W. Grand Master.
At the communication of May 5, 1857, a charter was granted to Bros. Amos T. Jenkes, P. E. Wilson, E. G. Guest, and nineteen others, to form a lodge to be known as Dawson Lodge, No. 16. This lodge, named after P. G. M. Wm. C. Dawson, of Georgia, well and favorably known in the District of Columbia, has had a most successful career and ranks as one of our flourishing lodges.
The first Past Grand Master's jewel was presented to P. G. Master Charles S. Frailey, March 31, 1857, just two months prior to his death. Owing to his protracted illness the formal
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presentation had been postponed from time to time, and was finally made in his sick room. When it was planned to have the presentation made at a meeting of the Grand Lodge the brother to whom the duty was assigned, P. G. Master French, was considerate enough to allow P. G. Master Frailey to in- spect not only the jewel but the draft of the remarks he pro- posed to make on the occasion, about two weeks before the date set. These were the days of great care and formality in speech-making. Thus was inaugurated what, in the course of time, became a custom, now for years unbroken, of fittingly decorating each retiring Grand Master.
The public appearances of the Grand Lodge for the year 1857 included a pilgrimage to Mt. Vernon on June 24, accom- panied by Masonic representation from Richmond and Alex- andria, and the laying of the cornerstone of Ebenezer M. E. Church, in East Washington, July 31, the Grand Lodge being conveyed to the latter function in omnibusses.
A resolution introduced at the annual communication of this year granting permission to any brother present at the taking of a ballot in a lodge to vote, the only stipulation being that he must be a member in good standing in some lodge in this jurisdiction, was decisively defeated.
February 22, 1858, the Grand Lodge, escorted by a large number of the brethren, made a trip to Richmond, Va., and took part in the ceremonies attending the "inauguration" of the Equestrian Statue of George Washington in that city, and on August 19 laid the cornerstone of a new hall for Potomac Lodge, No. 5, in Georgetown.
In the same year the proposition of a so-called Mt. Vernon Ladies' Association to purchase and preserve for all time the estate of the late Gen. Washington was actively taken up by the Grand Lodge of this, as well as other jurisdictions, and to their material aid is due the ultimate success of this patriotic undertaking. In addition to the encouragement given to the en- terprise by the local Fraternity, $121 was turned over to the Association by the lodges of the jurisdiction-a goodly sum when the limited membership is considered.
GRAND MASTER, 1842.
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The pressing need of burial sites for indigent Masons dying here without relatives or friends resulted at this time in the purchase of sixty sites in the Congressional Cemetery for that purpose.
October 10. 1859, the cornerstone of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church was laid with imposing ceremonies. This edifice, after the lapse of more than half a century, is still in active use, and is a model of the architecture of that early period.
The reports of the Grand Secretary and Treasurer for this year are notable in that they, for the first time, report "great prosperity" in the jurisdiction, and felicitate the Craft on the skill, competency, and fidelity of the officers in charge of the subordinate lodges.
On November 1, 1859, a charter was granted to a so-called " Lodge of Mutual Benevolence," on the petition of the Mas- ters of the several lodges. This organization was experi- mental, and designed to handle cases of need, but failed of its purpose and surrendered its charter two years later. No num- ber had been assigned to this unique lodge, and as a conse- quence its demise left no gap in the numerical sequence.
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