USA > Washington DC > History of the Grand lodge and of freemasonry in the District of Columbia : with biographical appendix > Part 9
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February 22, 1860, the Grand Lodge, accompanied by its guests, the members of Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, of Vir- ginia, and a large attendance of the Craft, proceeded, under the escort of Washington Commandery, K. T., to Washington Circle, and conducted the ceremony of dedicating the Eques- trian Statute of Washington. The President of the United States, W. Bro. James Buchanan, P. M., of Lancaster Lodge, No. 43, of Lancaster, Pa., was present as an active participant in the exercises, and delivered the dedicatory address.
At the November communication of this year an elaborate report was submitted by a special committee previously ap- pointed to enquire into the advisability of "districting" the several lodges, with a view of preventing petitioners from ap- plying to any but the lodge nearest their places of residence, and it was developed by this report that while a system of notification between the various lodges was supposed to be
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in operation it was so faulty and so carelessly operated as to be worthless, and the committee recommended a resolution con- fining a petitioner to the lodge nearest to his residence. While the Grand Lodge refused to adopt the resolution, yet the fact of its introduction serves to make understandable the vast difference between many conditions then and now. With the primitive systems of transportation and communication in vogue the various sections were practically as far apart as separate villages, and nothing like the close intimacy of the present day was possible. A citizen of the East End might apply in Georgetown, or even in the central part of the city, and in the absence of notification he would be, for all practical purposes of investigation, a stranger.
With increasing facilities of communication and the adop- tion of more business-like methods in the Secretary's office, this problem has solved itself, and is handled through the latter official in the shape of weekly bulletins, which give the greatest possible Masonic publicity to all applications and changes.
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CHAPTER IX.
THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
MILITARY LODGES -- UNION LODGE, U. D., OF ALEXANDRIA, VA .- CARE OF SICK AND WOUNDED CRAFTSMEN-CHARTERS TO HARMONY, NO. 17, ACACIA, NO. 18, AND LAFAYETTE, NO. 19 -- COLUMBIA, NO. 3, REVIVED.
" Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." -DANIEL WEBSTER.
IN 1860 THE COUNTRY was in the midst of the fierce political agitation which preceded the War of the Rebellion, and during this period, when brother was turning from brother and father from son, it is a matter of congratulation that no note of dis- cord sounded in the lodge rooms. Brethren went out from the sacred precincts to don the blue or the gray as their sense of duty impelled them, and later met upon the field of battle, perchance, yet always and ever were brethren of the mystic tie, and this brotherhood found its expression throughout the years of the great fratricidal struggle in thousands of instances of alleviation of suffering and the stretching forth of the hand to assist a worthy fallen brother, even tho his uniform chanced to be of a different hue.
All the influence of the great Fraternity was thrown toward the maintenance of peace, and while, in the providence of God, this was not to be, yet who can measure the immensity of the service wrought by the Brotherhood North and South in less- ening the horrors of war.
The spirit animating the Craft during the crucial period
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before the breaking of the storm finds adequate illustration in an address delivered by P. G. Master French before the Grand Lodge, in his capacity as representative of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, from which we quote the following brief extract :
The Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, at this political center of a mighty nation, now stretches forth her hand and grasps the proffered one from the far South, and holds it with that earnest, affectionate, and fraternal grasp, which, if translated into language, would say, " Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."
Would to God there were in these times of national trouble more of the spirit of Freemasonry animating the hearts of all. Then would "the North give up and the South keep not back;" then would fraternity, union, harmony prevail; then would this great and powerful Nation stand on the rock of ages, firm and immovable, and in vain would the ocean of political disappointment dash at its base. Now, owing to the uncircum- scribed passions of men for gain and for power, the great ship of state trembles amid the waves, and to Him alone who can say to the foaming billows, "Peace, be still," and they obey Him, can we now look for aid in this our hour of peril.
When the first gun was fired, and Washington was suddenly transformed into an immense military camp with hundreds of hospitals crowded with the maimed and dying, the local Fra- ternity were face to face with perhaps the greatest task ever forced upon a comparatively small body of men in the name of duty. Right nobly they met it, and for four years gave of their time and means to lighten the burden of sorrow pressing heavily all about them, caring for the sick and wounded, sub- stantially aiding the distressed, and giving Masonic burial to those sojourning brethren who had " Given the last full meas- ure of devotion to their country." In addition to these com- mon acts of humanity the years were crowded with instances of fellowship and self-sacrificing brotherhood of a character not proper to be written, but which may well be left to the imagination of the enlightened reader.
The subject is a tempting one, and yet must not be pursued too far, nor to the entire exclusion of the important local Masonic events which have their bearing on our subsequent history.
HAYDEN
OLD GOLD AND SILVER BOUGHT
MADE ON DIAMOND JEWELRY
ENTRANCE ..
ADVANCIS
MAUI IN
361 PA AVE.
"ODEON HALL," PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE AND JOHN MARSHALL PLACE, N. W.
First Home of St. John's Lodge, No. 11. Nos. 1 and 9 also probably met in this building for a short time.
"EASTERN EDIFICE OF THE SEVEN BUILDINGS," CORNER PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE AND NINETEENTH STREET, N. W.
First meeting place of Hiram Lodge, No. 10.
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The subject of military lodges early came before the Grand Lodge, and was met in the broad and liberal spirit which was and should be characteristic of the Fraternity; and while a large number of these lodges were formed during the war in our midst, no slightest question of jurisdiction nor trouble of any character whatever marred the perfect harmony of their relations with the local Craft.
As this is a matter of more than passing interest, and only to be grasped intelligently as a whole, the subject is adhered to at the temporary sacrifice of chronological order.
At the communication of May 7, 1861, Grand Master Whit- ing laid before the Grand Lodge correspondence with the Grand Master of Rhode Island, in which the latter advised him that he had granted a dispensation to certain Masons serv- ing in the Rhode Island regiment then stationed at Washing- ton to meet as a lodge for social intercourse and improvement, but not for work. To this communication G. M. Whiting courteously responded, commending the action and offering on his part to grant a further dispensation, upon proper appli- cation, for these brethren to do work.
At the same time the Grand Master advised the Grand Lodge that he was in receipt of an application from certain brethren of the Seventh Regiment of New York Volunteer Militia for a dispensation to open a military lodge, whereupon the Grand Lodge unanimously adopted the following reso- lution :
Resolved, That the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia advise that the M. W. G. Master grant special dispensations to such regiments or corps of volunteers of the several States now in the service of the United States, in this jurisdiction, as he may deem proper, to hold Occasional or Camp Lodges : Provided, That such dispensations shall only extend to the members of their respective regiments or corps.
Subsequently Dep. G. Master Y. P. Page, in the absence of G. Master Stansbury, issued a dispensation to Bro. Mar- shall, Lefferts, Colonel of the Seventh Regiment, National Guard of the State of New York, and seventy-two others, members of that regiment, to open and hold a camp lodge with-
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in the body of said regiment, under the name and style of " National Guard Lodge," for mutual instruction and Masonic intercourse.
On September 24, 1861, a dispensation was also granted to Col. Horatio G. Sickel and ten others, brethren of the Third Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, to open a lodge in the body of that regiment for the same purpose, to be known as " The Potomac Lodge."
January 14, 1862, G. Master Stansbury, upon the petition of a constitutional number of brethren of the Fifty-ninth Regi- ment, New York State Volunteers, granted a dispensation to enable them to open a camp lodge to be known as " Good Hope Lodge," the colonel of the regiment, Bro. Wm. Linn Tidball, being designated as W. M.
In the early part of the following year G. Master Page granted a similar dispensation to a number of brethren to open and hold a camp lodge within the Third Brigade, First Divis- ion, Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to be known as the " Lodge of the Union."
The history of one other temporary lodge, coming into ex- istence by reason of the troubled conditions at our doors, con- stitutes one of the most interesting Masonic stories of the period of the war, and is here briefly summarized.
In 1862 the loyal Masons of Alexandria found themselves, through the alleged action of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, shut off entirely from their natural Masonic rights, that Grand Lodge having, it was alleged, forbidden those working under its jurisdiction to hold Masonic intercourse with Masons ad- hering to their allegiance to the Union.
In these straightened circumstances they applied for a dis- pensation to G. Master Stansbury to open a lodge in the city of Alexandria, to be known as "Union Lodge." The situa- tion being a most peculiar and delicate one, the Grand Master deemed it expedient to convene the Grand Lodge in special session, at which special and an adjourned meeting the sub- ject was thoroughly discussed, and the conclusion reached that inasmuch as the Grand Lodge of Virginia had excommunicated
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the loyal Masons within her geographical limits they occupied the same position as residents of a territory in which no Grand Lodge existed, and therefore might with propriety apply for recognition to any jurisdiction they might elect ; and in accord- ance with this conclusion the Grand Lodge, by a vote of two to one, on February 15, 1862, signified to the Grand Master its approval of such dispensation, and under this resolution it was granted February 22, 1862, Theodore G. Palmer being named as Master, and the title, "Union Lodge, U. D.," adopted.
In reporting his action at the semi-annual communication in May, the Grand Master disclaimed any intention of en- croaching on the territory of Virginia, and intimated that when that Grand Lodge should have resumed its normal jurisdiction the dispensation would be returned, and upon his recommen- dation the dispensation was continued. The dispensation was again renewed November 4, 1862, and at the annual com- munication of 1863, the Grand Lodge, however, refusing to grant a charter ; but at the installation communication of 1864, upon the presentation of the fact that Andrew Jackson Lodge, No. 120, of Alexandria, Va., had resumed labor, the dispen- sation was withdrawn, and, in view of certain criticisms by several sister Grand Lodges of the action of this jurisdiction, a committee was appointed to examine into the whole matter, which committee reported May 2, 1865, at length, and un- covered the fact that the alleged action of the Grand Lodge of Virginia which had been the primary cause of the granting of the dispensation, i. e., that of forbidding those working under its jurisdiction to hold Masonic intercourse with Masons adhering to their allegiance to the Union, had in reality never been taken by that grand body, and that the assumption of jurisdiction was brought about through a misapprehension. The Grand Lodge immediately decided to make the amende honorable to our sister Grand Lodge, and appointed a com- mittee, consisting of P. G. Masters French and Donaldson and Bro. E. L. Stevens, to wait on that body in person and ex- plain and reconcile the matters in question.
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Accordingly, in December of that year, the committee pro- ceeded to Richmond and were most cordially received by the Grand Lodge, then in session, and, a committee of five having been appointed to confer with our representatives, an amicable adjustment of the case was reached, the Grand Lodge of the District acknowledging its error and offering to turn over all sums received from Union Lodge, and the Grand Lodge of Virginia graciously accepting the apology and incidentally the proffer of the money.
There was, however, a fly in the ointment, which yet for a short period strained the relations of the two jurisdictions. The Grand Lodge of Virginia, in its resolution of acceptance of the overtures of the District, stated that the brethren made in Union Lodge would be recognized as lawfully made breth- ren " when properly healed."
Naturally and inevitably the local body took the ground that no Mason made under its authority needed "healing," and called upon the Grand Lodge of Virginia to rescind the ob- jectionable phrase and made the payment of the promised Union Lodge moneys provisional upon such elimination. This position was such a proper one, and backed by the expressed opinion of so many of the other jurisdictions, that Virginia, at its next annual communication gracefully receded and re- scinded the obnoxious words, and this action being imme- diately followed by the transmission by this Grand Lodge of $830.85, the sum in question, amicable relations were again completely restored and have existed to the present day.
Union Lodge having during its existence occupied the hall of Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. 22, the latter lodge in 1865 made a claim against the Grand Lodge of Virginia for the sum of $550 for compensation, and this amount was sub- sequently paid them from the money received from the Dis- trict of Columbia.
By the latter part of 1862 the demands upon the local Fraternity for the relief of sick and wounded brethren became so great that the Grand Lodge was called in special session in November of that year to consider ways and means of meeting
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it, and as a result of this meeting it was proposed to the subordinate lodges that they appoint representatives to form a committee which should devise a system of relief and have entire charge of its installation. While it is not of record that this committee ever came into active existence, yet the various lodges continued the good work as it was presented to each until toward the close of the war when, St. John's taking the initiative, a concerted movement was put on foot and participated in by most of the other Masonic bodies looking to systematic relief, and this was extended to Federal and Con- federate brethren alike until the city finally resumed its normal condition.
The period of the Rebellion, while imposing great labor and responsibility upon the Fraternity, witnessed a remakable growth in numerical strength, the returns for 1863 showing an aggregate of 1,233 Master Masons, and that of 1865, 1,720. The logical effect of this increase was the formation of new lodges. First among these for the period alluded to was that of Harmony Lodge, No. 17, chartered May 5, 1863, Bro. J. W. D. Gray being installed as the first Master, Wm. Blair Lord the first Senior Warden, and E. C. Eckloff the first Junior Warden. This lodge at once took rank with the active, progressive lodges of the jurisdiction, which position it has ever since retained.
At a special meeting held June 24, 1863, an invitation to be present and participate in certain public ceremonies contem- plated for July 4, was considered by the Grand Lodge, and the committee in charge of the affair notified that, inasmuch as the Masonic Fraternity was not accustomed to make public demonstrations except to perform some Masonic labor, and it not appearing that any such duty was required of them on the occasion in question, the invitation was courteously de- clined in so far as their participation in a conventional char- acter was concerned. The attitude of the Fraternity toward participation in non-Masonic functions was thus again clearly defined, and the incident constituted a precedent which has subsequently never been departed from.
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The untimely demise of Grand Master Page, one of the most brilliant and promising Masons in the history of the jurisdic- tion. occurring September 26, 1863, the Grand Lodge attended the funeral September 28, and later, on the evening of October 3, was present as a body at a memorial service held in Naval Lodge room, on which occasion a eulogy was pronounced upon the deceased by P. G. Master French, which is preserved to us and is a classic.
December 28, 1863, witnessed the birth of twins in the rapidly increasing Masonic family, Acacia Lodge, No. 18, and LaFayette Lodge, No. 19, being granted charters on that date, the first upon the recommendation of St. John's Lodge, No. 11, and the latter being vouched for by B. B. French Lodge, No. 15. At a resumed communication December 30, 1863, both lodges in turn were instituted and their officers installed, Acacia coming first and acquiring the first number. Brothers Z. D. Gilman, J. W. Jennings, and W. H. Baldwin appear as the first three officers of Acacia Lodge, and Brothers Chaun- cey Smith, F. H. Barroll, and M. V. W. Weaver filled the corresponding positions in LaFayette.
July 20, 1864, the Grand Lodge made its only public ap- pearance for the year, the occasion being the laying of the cornerstone of the new Foundry M. E. Church, Fourteenth and G Streets, N. W., while the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington City Orphan Asylum, corner Fourteenth and S Streets, N. W., July 13, 1865, was the only public demon- stration that marked the latter year.
Columbia Lodge, No. 3, dormant for nearly three decades, at this time began to show signs of returning consciousness, but altho an application for the return of the charter was made December 28, 1863, it was not called up until the communica- tion of the Grand Lodge, November 1, 1864, and action was then still further delayed by the decision of the Grand Master that the application did not meet the constitutional require- ments in the matter of signatures. The petition being again under consideration, the Grand Master was authorized by res- olution to return the charter to any five brethren who had
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been bona fide members of No. 3 at the time of the surrender, and under this authorization the charter was restored April 12, 1865, Brothers J. R. Thompson, T. B. Campbell, and W. H. Suttan being elected and installed the first three officers the same evening. The subsequent history of this lodge is one of unbroken activity and prosperity.
At the communication of November 1, 1864, a petition was also received from Brothers E. H. Kern, Charles Herzberg, S. Furst, and eleven others, praying for a charter to form a new lodge to be known as " King Solomon's Lodge, No. 20," and presenting the recommendation of LaFayette Lodge, No. 19. Action on the petition was postponed until December 27, upon which date the prayer of the petitioners was refused, an event unique in the history of this jurisdiction. It is interesting to note in passing that forty years later the name, with another number, was appropriated by a successful local lodge.
In the latter part of this year the Grand Lodge Constitution was revised, and the care which was apparently given this important work is evidenced by the fact that its consideration occupied the Grand Lodge throughout six special meetings. This Constitution, being within the reach of every interested Mason, is not quoted in full, but the following extracts serve to show the more important changes and amendments as com- pared with the instrument approved in 1820, altho it must not be inferred therefrom that the changes noted were all new in 1864, for many of them were incorporated as early as 1828, and later in a revision covering 1847-50, and the constitution in question is only handled for comparison, as being the one in force after the first half century of the existence of the Grand Lodge, and the one in the revision of which apparently the greatest care had been taken. So well was the work done that in all essential features it remains in force to this day, with only such few immaterial amendments as the changing conditions have necessitated.
Sec. 1, Art. 1, provides that "This Grand Lodge shall be styled ' The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the District of Columbia.'"
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Sec. 2 provides for a third communication to be held on St. John the Evangelist Day, and places the hour of convening at 4 P. M.
Sec. 4 requires all members of the Grand Lodge to be prop- erly invested with their clothing and jewels before taking their seats.
Sec. 1, Art. 11, designates the Deputy Grand Master, the Senior Grand Warden, the Junior Grand Warden, the Grand Secretary, and the Grand Treasurer as " Right Worshipful;" the Grand Chaplain, " Rev. and Worshipful," and the remain- ing officers, with the exception of the Grand Tiler, as " Wor- shipful," and shows in addition a " Worshipful" Grand Visitor and Lecturer, and two Stewards.
The clause imposing a fine for non-attendance is conspicuous by its absence.
In the succeeding Articles the duties of the Grand Lecturer, the Grand Master, and the other Grand Officers are set out in substantially the same detail as appears in our present Consti- tution, while the Articles relating to subordinate lodges, dis- pensations, charters, and diplomas and standing committees are practically identical with the present law, the Committee on Work and Lectures being the only one authorized at present that was not in existence at the time referred to.
As has been fully set forth in the chapter devoted to the meeting places of the Fraternity, the movement looking to the erection of a new temple, originating in 1858, took definite shape in 1864-5, an Act of Congress incorporating the Ma- sonic Hall Association of the District of Columbia being passed April 22, 1864, and the site at the corner of Ninth and F Streets, N. W., subsequently purchased.
The accidental drowning, October 10, 1866, of Bro. W. C. Parkhurst, Senior Grand Warden and one of the brightest of our early chairmen of the Committee on Correspondence, cut off a most promising career, and was universally deplored in this and other jurisdictions where he was well known, and robbed the local fraternity of one of its brilliant and useful leaders.
WILLIAM M. ELLIS, GRAND MASTER, 1844.
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IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CHAPTER X.
-
A REAWAKENING.
CHARTERS ISSUED TO LODGES NOS. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, AND 25- CITIZENSHIP AND JURISDICTION-RECEPTION TO EARL DE GRAY-DEATHS OF M. W. BROTHERS
GEORGE C. WHITING, BENJAMIN B. FRENCH, ROGER C. WEIGHTMAN, J. E. F. HOL- MEAD, CHARLES F. STANSBURY, AND BRO. JAMES A. GARFIELD.
"Yet I doubt not thro the ages one increasing purpose runs And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns." -TENNYSON.
WITH THE CLOSE OF THE WAR a new era dawned upon the City of Washington, an era of awakening, of rapid growth, and of material prosperity, which naturally and inevitably was shared by the Masonic Fraternity. The keynote of the awakening was Hope, and it was eminently fitting, therefore, that the founders of Lodge, No. 20, which was chartered May 7, 1867, and instituted the 28th of the same month, should seek no further for an appropriate lodge designation. The spirit of enthusiasm and optimism which inaugurated the en- terprise and dictated the happy selection of a name has been characteristic of the lodge in its subsequent history and has brought it well up in the front rank of local Masonry. The petition for a charter was signed by Bro. J. C. Kondrup and thirty-five others, and the first report shows Bros. Henry V.
7
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Cole as W. M .; Samuel Houston, S. W., and William Mertz, J. W., and a slight numerical gain.
The formation of the newly created Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the District was taken cognizance of by the Grand Lodge by a resolution to attend its constitution May 23, 1867, which action is interesting in view of the wholly unwarranted attitude sometimes assumed within symbolic circles of affect- ing ignorance of all appendant Orders, which attitude, how- ever, it is a pleasure to note, has never been pronounced in this jurisdiction, the intercourse between the several allied Orders of the System being marked by a spirit of comity as unusual as it is satisfactory.
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