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LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
366.1 T84r
I.H.S.
322-3375-322-3224 (res.) Paul R Stephens Rushville, All, 62681
THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF FREEMASONRY IN ILLINOIS 1783-1952
By EVERETT R. TURNBULL Past Master, Mt. Nebo Lodge, No. 76
1952 The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Illinois
COPYRIGHT 1952 THE MOST WORSHIPFUL GRAND LODGE OF ANCIENT FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Printed in the United States of America by Pantagraph Printing and Stationery Co.
FURTHER LIGHT
Hale, brothers of the Rule and Line, who work by Truth and Honor's laws;
Still striving toward the Light divine, the dayspring of our righteous cause.
The cause our ancient seers upbore, in lonely lands through darkest night;
Still keeping in their mystic Lore, the prophecy of "FURTHER LIGHT."
And further light spread Truth and Love, 'till now the world begins to know
The Fatherhood of God, above, the Brotherhood of Man, below.
And we, who caught their thought in part - how oft we met, in former time
To search for truths their "Royal Art," had woven in the "work" sublime.
And oft within the dimmest lore, of ancient writ, we sought and found
Some Jewel from their secret store - concealed of old in Holy ground;
Concealed for those who sought aright, as that Foundation Stone of yore,
"First seen in Heaven" by Holy Light, then centre of the Master's floor.
And oft we met in concourse glad, and hail our chosen rulers all,
And oft with spirits O how sad, to hear for some the funeral pall,
And oft must be, 'till all go, and none shall know that we were here,
For what is lost on earth below, is treasured in that higher sphere.
So one by one they passed the bourne, whence none returns to earthly light -
While we await the hastening morn, which ushers each to "FURTHER LIGHT."
H. P. H. BROMWELL Grand Master, 1865.
3903
CONTENTS
Chap. 1 Explanatory 1
Chap. 2 Kaskaskia . 4
Chap. 3 Western Star Lodge 8
Chap. 4 Other Early Lodges . 38
Chap. 5 The First Grand Lodge. 63
Chap. 6 Lodges Chartered by First Grand Lodge
74
Chap. 7 Lodges 1835-1840
84
Chap. S
The Second Grand Lodge. 108
Chap. 9
Illinois Lodges under Missouri. 115
122
Chap. 11 Mormon Lodges
129
Chap. 12 Ritual . 134
141
Chap. 14 The Negro Question 149
Chap. 15 The Mexican War Years. 154
Chap. 16 California Lodges . 159
163
Chap. 18 Military Lodges 165
170
Chap. 20 General U. S. Grant and Masonry.
171
Chap. 21 Education . 173
Chap. 22 Regalia and Paraphernalia 180
Chap. 23 The Chicago Fire
183
Chap. 24 Cornerstones
189
Chap. 25 Charity and Benevolence
225
Chap. 26 Funeral of Stephen A. Douglas
Chap. 27 Funeral of Abraham Lincoln 236
241
Chap. 28 John F. Burrill Defalcation.
247
Chap. 29 Fiftieth Anniversary of the Grand Lodge. 250
Chap. 30 Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Grand Lodge 253
Chap. 31 Centennial Anniversary of the Grand Lodge 254
Chap. 32 Masonic Convention 256
Chap. 33 Masonic Congress . 260
Chap. 34 Declaration of Principles 265
Chap. 35 The Book of the Law 267
Chap. 36 The Crum Case 269
V
Chap. 10 Title of the Grand Lodge
Chap. 13 The Conservators' Association
Chap. 17 Lodges Outside the State
Chap. 19 Peace Celebrations
Chap. 37 Rite of Memphis 272
Chap. 38 Lotteries and Gift Enterprises
275
Chap. 39 Grand Lodge Hall . 280
Chap. 40 Honorary Members 282
Chap. 41 Veteran Association
284
Chap. 42
King Kaulakana visits Oriental Lodge No. 33.
290
Chap. 43 An Old Apron
292
Chap. 44
War Relief Service
294
Chap. 45
Miscellaneous ..
296
Chap. 46
Membership Statistics 303 Authorities consulted 305
Grand Masters, First Grand Lodge, 1822-1826.
307
Grand Masters of Present Grand Lodge, 1840-1951 317
Index
397
vi
List of Illustrations
Facing Page
First State House, Kaskaskia.
4
Kaskaskia in 1797 8
Last Building in Kaskaskia, 1906 8
First Return of Western Star Lodge, 1806 24
Sword and 1828 Minute Book of Western Star Lodge. 32
Desk of Shadrach Bond and Gavel of Western Star Lodge 36
Where Grand Lodge was Organized, 1840 112
Cornerstone at Shawneetown, 1838. 190
Royal Arch Memorial Hospital. 222
Illinois Masonic Orphans' Home.
.226-228-230
Illinois Masonic Home 232-234
Stephen A. Douglas Petition for Degrees 240
Apron of Oliver Wolcott. 292
Shadrach Bond 309
Shadrach Bond Monument 310
James Hall
311
Rawlins Hotel Where Hall Received Gen. LaFayette 312
Guy William Smith 313
Abraham Jonas 319
Abraham Jonas Monument 320
Creiger Jewel
352
vii
Chapter 1 EXPLANATORY
From a lake in Minnesota a small stream starts on its long journey to the sea; so small that a child can cross it. It is joined by others and gradually increases in size as it continues its movement to the south. As it flows onward it absorbs other streams, both great and small until, finally, it becomes the "MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI"-the "FATHER OF WATERS" and is perpetuated in song as "OL' MAN RIVER."
In like manner Freemasonry came to the Illinois Country. At an early day a lone Mason arrived in Cahokia at a time when he was one of the only two white men who were not French. The French had a few small settlements along the river, five in number, extending from Cahokia to Kaskaskia, a distance of about sixty miles. At no place did these settlements extend more than five miles from the river. All the remainder of what is now Illinois was a primeval wilderness, the habitat of Indians and wild beasts.
The noise and bustle of civilization were yet hundreds of miles to the cast. The people were busy through the day but the silence of the night was disturbed only by the hoot of the owl and the howl of the wolf.
Returning soldiers of the Clark army told of the wonderful fertility of the soil and soon bands of emigrants were wending their way to the new Eldorado. Among them were members of the mystic craft. These soon became known to each other by well-known tests. They remem- bered the social enjoyments and fraternal welcome at their lodges and determined to form a lodge to help relieve the hardships of their new life. Only six were found but it was known that a Mason lived at St. Louis. At that time the journey to St. Louis was long and dangerous, but the needed signature was secured, and in due time a lodge was founded at Kaskaskia. For ten years it was the only lodge in the Illinois country, but Shawneetown had become the most important point on the Ohio river below Louisville, Kentucky, and when the requisite number of Masons had arrived another lodge was established. Other lodges soon followed as the stream of Masonry continued to flow
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Freemasonry in Illinois
into the country. Finally a Grand Lodge was formed, but this was no "MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI." It was a very small and unimportant organiza- tion but the individuals who composed it were very prominent in the government of the state. On its membership rolls were present and future Governors, United States Senators, Supreme Court Judges and many other state officials.
The course of the first Grand Lodge was not like that of the river. There were pitfalls, log jams and stagnant pools to interfere with its steady progress; finally outside influences, together with the necessity of many of its members to find suitable locations where they would have food and clothing, caused the Grand Lodge to close its doors and the little lodges that composed it gradually ceased to exist.
But the spirit of Masonry still lived in the hearts and minds of the brethren. Thousands of new settlers were coming into the country; larger and more permanent towns were built. Other lodges came into existence and these have continued to the present time. They organized the second Grand Lodge which grew rapidly until today the mighty Grand Lodge of Illinois sheds its influence over every village and hamlet in the state.
The need for preserving the records of the early lodges in the state was recognized in 1858 by the adoption of two resolutions:
Resolved, That the materials for a complete history of Masonry in the Territory and State of Illinois, from the organization of the first Lodge therein, together with such biographical sketches and personal incidents as may be worth preserving, ought to be gathered up, and placed in our archives, so that a historical volume may be issued.
Resolved, That the Grand Master appoint a suitable person for that service, to be styled the Illinois Masonic Historian, who shall be fully authorized to gather such materials together, and to call to his aid the service of such Masters, Wardens and Secretaries, as may be able to render him any service. All the reasonable expenses of said Historian to be paid by this Grand Lodge.
There is no record of the appointment of any such historian, neither is there anything to show that an attempt was made to collect the old records, until in 1868 Grand Master Gorin called attention to the little knowledge that was had of the early lodges and appointed John C. Reynolds to write the history of the first Grand Lodge and "rescue it from oblivion."
Right well did he do his work. His history is not written in flowery language with well rounded sentences but consists almost entirely of extracts from the early records which he, fortunately, was able to find.
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Explanatory
Without his history the story of early Masonry in Illinois would have been lost. This is the most valuable book the Grand Lodge ever pub- lished. To Brother Reynolds should go great praise. The Grand Master said:
Bro. Reynolds is entitled to the grateful thanks of the Fraternity for his indefatigable and successful labors, in bringing to light much of the history of the old Grand Lodge of Illinois which has been covered with the accumulated rubbish of many years.
Enough copies were printed to supply every lodge with one but those books are ninety years old, the paper is tender and the binding easily broken. They are not available to the average member so it was thought best to begin this history with the earliest time of Masonic activity in Illinois. The Reynolds history ends with 1850. Nothing has been written since that date. True, John C. Smith published a history in 1903 but it consists only of the proceedings of the first Grand Lodge 1822-27 and a few minutes of the Western Star Lodge in 1828-29.
This book is an attempt to cover the many important Masonic events since 1850 together with what has gone before.
Extensive research has been made and many new facts about Western Star Lodge have been found together with some other new history.
The writer is under lasting obligation to several Masonic students in other jurisdictions for valuable information, especially to Brother W. J. Paterson, Librarian of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, who has spent many tedious hours searching through the old records of that Grand Lodge.
A. E. Orton, Grand Secretary of Kentucky, has also sent many new and valuable records of the activity of that Grand Lodge in establish- ing lodges in Illinois.
The Grand Secretaries of several other Grand Lodges have fur- nished copies of their records.
With this explanation the history is offered to the craft of Illinois in the hope that it will be found of some value.
EVERETT R. TURNBULL Committee on History
Chapter 2 KASKASKIA
First Town in Illinois, First State Capitol, Home of the First Masonic Lodge
From aboriginal times Kaskaskia was a meeting place for the Indian tribes. The first white man known to have stopped there was Lieutenant Tonti, an Italian explorer with La Salle. In 1690 a catholic mission was established by the name of "The Village of the Immacu- late Conception of the Holy Virgin." A chapel was built; this in turn was succeeded by others and in 1712 a Jesuit mission was started. More French came and gradually the country was covered with farms. Ex-Governor John Reynolds said:
In olden times, Kaskaskia was to Illinois, what Paris is at this day to France. Both were at their respective days the great emporium of fashion, gaiety, and I must say, happiness also. In the year 1721 the Jesuits erected a monastery and college in Kaskaskia which, a few years afterward, were chartered by the government. Kaskaskia for many years was the largest town west of the Alleghaney mountains. It was a toler- able place before the existence of Pittsburg, Cincinnati or New Orleans. The Jesuits erected water and wind mills near the village. Kaskaskia was agricultural and extended its commerce to New Orleans and Mobile, but not north.
1732 to 1754 were the palmiest days of the French occupation. The country exhibited a scene of flourishing prosperity. From the hostility of the French and Indians no Briton ever saw the upper Mississippi until the treaty of Paris in 1763.
A great portion of the American Bottom was under cultivation; grain and stock farming principally.
There were no factories or other industries, except the water mills built by the Jesuits for grinding grain.
In 1763 France ceded the country to England. About one third of the French crossed the river to St. Genevieve, preferring to live under Spanish rule rather than that of England.
There were no courts until the British established them in 1763. The British made little effort to colonize the country, being interested
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Kaskaskia
only in trade. When the British took possession there was an immense exchange of goods with New Orleans. Dr. Snyder said (Ill. Hist. Soc. Vol. 6, No. 1):
The rich alluvial plain of the American Bottom about Kaskaskia had become in a great measure, the main source of food supply for New Orleans and its dependent military posts. Wheat and corn were of luxuriant and almost spontaneous growth. Thousands of pounds of flour, ground by the water mills along the Kaskaskia river and neighboring streams, together with quantities of bacon, venison, buffalo meat, and other local products annually floated down the great river in large home- made bateaux to the lower Mississippi metropolis.
In 1770 Kaskaskia contained only 65 resident families yet, at that time one man furnished the King's stores from his crop - 86,000 pounds of flour ( Aux Illinois - Vivier. )
In 1774 the British Parliament made the Cahokia country part of the Province of Quebec.
In 1766 Captain Harry Gordon of the British Army came to Illinois to study the best means for permanently holding the country. In his journal he wrote:
The Kaskaskia village is on the plain. It consists of 80 houses, well built, mostly of stone, with gardens and large lots to each, whose in- habitants live generally well, & some have large stocks of cattle & hogs.
Other houses were of logs set upright with clay and straw between the posts. Nearly all the houses had wide porches on three sides.
The most momentous event in the life of Kaskaskia was when the Virginians under George Rogers Clark captured the town on July 4, 1778.
Under British rule the great mercantile firms of Philadelphia es- tablished trading headquarters at Kaskaskia and shipped immense quantities of goods of all kinds there for distribution from St. Louis to Memphis.
George Rogers Clark, in a letter to Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, said:
It is situated 30 leagues above the mouth of the Ohio, on a river of its own name, five miles from its mouth and two miles east of the Mississippi. On the west side of the Mississippi 3 miles from "Kus- kuskies" is a village of (St. Genevieve) belonging to the Spaniards. The town of "Kuskuskies" contains about one hundred families of French and English; they have a considerable number of negroes. The houses are framed and very good, with a small but elegant stone fort situated but a little distance from the center of the town.
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Freemasonry in Illinois
A description of the town written in 1810 said it was:
A port town, and the chief one in Randolph county, contains 45 houses, many of them well built, several of stone, with gardens and large lots adjoining. It now contains 467 inhabitants, of whom 47 are slaves.
When the soldiers of the Clark army returned home they gave such glowing accounts of the fertility of the soil that soon large contingents of colonists were on the way to make new homes.
The first brick building was erected in 1792. It served as the Terri- torial and State Capitols until the removal of the capitol to Vandalia. The supreme court also used it. After the removal of the state govern- ment to Vandalia it was the Randolph county court house until 1848, when the county seat was moved to Chester.
The greatest social event in the life of Kaskaskia was the visit of General LaFayette on April 30, 1825. On the 29th the General visited the Grand Lodge of Missouri then in session at St. Louis. The next day, in company with Governor Coles of Illinois, Governor Dodge of Missouri and delegations representing the states of Louisiana, Miss- issippi and Tennessee, he boarded the steamer Natchez and departed at eight o'clock in the morning. The boat arrived at Kaskaskia at one in the afternoon, landing at the ferry. The company was taken to the house of General John Edgar where Governor Coles delivered an ad- dress of welcome and a reception was held. The General Assembly made no appropriation for LaFayette's visit but did appoint a com- mittee consisting of Representatives Hamilton, Moore and Webb and Senators Smith and Widen to draft an address of welcome. This was adopted and the committee was authorized to forward the address through the Executive.
The entire party of twenty-four visitors and the local committee of thirteen went to the tavern of Colonel Sweet where a banquet was served, followed by a few speeches. The party then went to the stone house of William Morrison where another reception and ball was held.
After the ball the ladies who danced with the General decided to preserve their slippers as mementos of the occasion. One of those fortunate enough to dance with him was the widow of John Guy. She spent her last years in Carlinville and told about the reception and displayed her slippers. After her death the slippers were put in a glass case and deposited in the office of the sheriff of Macoupin County where they remained for several years. They have long since dis- appeared.
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Kaskaskia
An order of nuns started a large convent in 1833 but the building was not finished until 1836. Gallahar and Harson were the contractors. It was 110 by 32 feet and four stories high; there was a wing 150 feet long and two stories high. The cost was about $30,000. Here the nuns conducted a flourishing school until 1844. That year the nuns and girls had to be taken from the second-story windows into the steam- boat Indiana and the water damaged the building so much it had to be abandoned.
In 1844 the water was seven feet deep in the town. Many houses were carried away by the flood. The water commenced to rise June 12 and began falling June 28 at five in the afternoon. All the people were taken across the Kaskaskia river to the high ground on the east side. This information is from the official report of the flood by Ferdinand Maxwell, Clerk.
Floods of 1851 and 1857 still further damaged the town and many people were forced to leave. The doomed town continued to exist but that was about all. In 1882 the Mississippi broke through into the Kaskaskia and took tracts of land as large as a quarter of an acre at a time with the houses and washed them completely away. Three weeks after the break-through the steamboats used the new channel.
Kaskaskia never was a large settlement. Old French records show that in 1723 there were 196 white inhabitants; a British census in 1767 showed 600 white men, women and children. It has been claimed that there was a large population when General LaFayette visited there in 1825.
The population in 1825 as taken by Brother T. J. V. Owen, census commissioner, showed 477 white and 140 black people. The township outside of the town had forty-one families. The United States census report shows 513 people in 1850; 326 in 18S0; 177 in 1900; in 1910, 142. There was only one house standing in 1906.
Chapter 3 WESTERN STAR LODGE
The Seven Signers to the Petition for the Dispensation
William Arundel was born in Ireland, and received a liberal educa- tion there before sailing for Quebec. He was at Little Niagara in 1778. In 1782, he was in business under the firm name of Arundel and Dawson at Sandusky, but this evidently did not prove satisfactory, as we find him the next year in a partnership in Detroit under the name of Arundel and May.
Ex-Governor John Reynolds, who was personally acquainted with Arundel, said he was in Cahokia in 1783, about sixty miles north of Kaskaskia. He was an Indian trader and fur buyer. A few years later he moved to Kaskaskia, where he became a large land owner.
He received the degrees of Masonry in Saint Andrew's Lodge No. 2, Quebec, under the Provincial Grand Lodge of Quebec. Entered Apprentice February 1, 1777; Fellowcraft February 27, 1777; Master Mason March 15, 1777. He was Master of Union Lodge in Detroit sometime between 1778 and 1783. He was the first secretary of West- ern Star Lodge at Kaskaskia. He dimitted in 1812, but affiliated in 1814.
He was a justice of the peace, and one of the three judges that held the first county court. From 1809 to 1815, he was clerk of the cir- cuit court.
His dimit is very different from those now in use.
SUMMA LAUS DEO.
In the East arose a light, and the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.
We, the Master and Wardens of Western Star Lodge No. 107, Ancient York Masons, held in the town of Kaskaskia, in the Illinois Terri- tory, under a regular charter from the Worshipful Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, do hereby certify that Brother William Arundel, who has signed his name in the margin, and unto whom we grant these letters, is a regular and duly Registered Master Mason, and has performed all his works amongst us to the entire satisfaction of his brethren. We there- fore pray all the Worshipful Lodges and all Free and Accepted Masons
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Western Star Lodge
to receive him into Fellowship wherever Providence may allow his abode on earth.
In testimony whercof, we have hereto set our hands, countersigned by our said Brother and Secretary (no seal for our lodge being yet pro- vided ), this twenty-second day of June, Anno Lucis, 5812.
P. Fouke, Master, Wm. C. Greenup, S. Warden, James Edgar, J. Warden.
Mich'l Jones, Sec'y, P.T.
Brother Arundel died in 1816.
Robert M'Mahon, a member of Staunton Lodge No. 13, Virginia, came to the Illinois country with his wife and six children in 1794, and located southeast of New Design. The next year he and two daughters were captured by Indians, bound, and forced to witness them kill his wife and four other children. He and his daughters were carried away captives, but he escaped and, after incredible hard- ships, reached his friends. The daughters were ransomed later. He was a justice of the peace, and judge of the Randolph county court, 1795 to 1803. His last years were spent on a farm south of Troy, where he died and was buried.
James Edgar was a native of Philadelphia and was initiated in Lodge No. 9, Philadelphia, January 4, 1784; was installed Master June 24, 1792 and served until December 27, 1793. He resigned in 1795. It is probable that he removed to Kaskaskia about that year. He was sheriff of Randolph County 1803-05. He was the moving spirit in organizing Western Star Lodge as is shown by his letter to Jonathan Byrd Smith who was Grand Master of Masons in Pennsylvania 1791-2.
Kaskaskia, 11th March, 1805.
Dear Sir:
I herewith take the liberty of inclosing to you a supplication made to our Grand Lodge joined by some of the Fraternity here to endeavor for the good purposes therein contained to meet as we ought to do here - in hopes of creating a number of the Elect, and will now give you the knowledge of my acquaintance with them, Robert McMahon is one of our Justices and resides at about 20 miles from this - Wm. Arundel is an acquaintance made on my arrival in this Country and has been M. of a Lodge at Detroit known by Union Lodge - Myself your acquainted with - M. Jones is here Commissioner & Register of the land office - J. Gilbreath is an Inhabitant here, M. Easton is Atty General of Louisi- ana - M. Robinson is Clk to the Commissioner on land Claims all tried and have been entered, passed and raised to Sublimity. And therefore must request the indulgent favor of you to endeavor to Give every aid
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Freemasonry in Illinois
in your power to have this business forwarded as soon as Possible and oblige most Loving and
Sincere Brother. James Edgar
Jonathan Byrd Smith.
As no envelopes were used at that time there was endorsed on the back of the letter:
Kaskaskia 19 March Paid 50. Jonathan Byrd Smith, Esquire.
Mail Philadelphia.
Kaskaskia, Ill., 1805. Letter from Brother James Edgar respecting application for a Warrant or Dispensation.
The dispensation bears the date of September 24, 1805 and names James Edgar first master. December 11, 1805 he took to his assistance Rufus Easton as Senior Warden and M. Jones as Junior Warden and duly instituted the lodge. The charter was dated June 18, 1806 and the lodge was constituted September 13 with James Edgar as Master. He was again installed Master June 24 and December 27, 1806. A dis- pensation was granted for Louisiana Lodge No. 109 at St. Genevieve, Louisiana Territory, and the lodge was constituted by Brother Edgar November 14, same year. June 23, 1816 he dimitted but re-affiliated July 5, 1817. The lodge was informed of his death November 1, 1817 and it was
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