USA > Illinois > The rise and progress of Freemasonry in Illinois, 1783-1952 > Part 30
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Brother Ames died on February 12, 1898.
WILLIAM BARTON WARREN
Grand Master 1853
Born March 1, 1802
Died April 1, 1865
Brother Warren was born in Georgetown, Kentucky on March 1, 1802. After graduating from Transylvania University he began practic- ing law in his home town. The Warren family was descended from the nobility of England. The heraldric motto of the family was "Be just and fear not." Warren was a slaveowner but he freed his slaves and came to Jacksonville in 1833. Brother Warren at once became active in public affairs and in 1839 was elected town trustee. In the same year he was a delegate to the Whig convention with Abraham Lincoln. He was appointed clerk of the Supreme Court in 1845 and, after the Constitution of 1848 was adopted, he was elected clerk of the second division of the Supreme Court, which office he held until 1855 when ill health forced him to resign. He was appointed Major of the State Militia. In 1844 when the Mormon trouble became acute Warren,
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Hardin and Baker were directed by the Governor to organize a mili- tary force and preserve order in the western counties where the Mormons resided. After the "Mormon War" was ended Warren, with a small force, was left to preserve order and so well was this duty carried out that he was highly praised by Governor Ford.
When the Mexican War broke out Warren and Hardin were the first to raise a regiment of which Hardin became Colonel and Warren Major. Hardin was killed during the battle of Buena Vista and Warren became commander of the regiment. Warren was made military gov- ernor of Saltillo. Again his services were so satisfactory that the citi- zens of the town presented him with a set of silver plates and the Roman Catholic Monks, in token of their appreciation of his services and protection, presented him with a silver rosary and cross long enough to reach his feet when suspended from his neck. The Legisla- ture voted him a sword for gallantry in the war.
He was a member of Mt. Vernon Lodge No. 14 at Georgetown, Kentucky and the earliest record of any activity was in 1829 when he was Junior Warden. On October 3, 1837 he was one of 13 signers to the petition for a dispensation for Harmony Lodge No. 24 at Jacksonville, chartered by the Grand Lodge of Missouri, and became the first Senior Warden, later he was Master and Secretary. On November 30, 1838 he acted as proxy for the Deputy Grand Master of Missouri and constituted the lodge. He was also the first Master of Jacksonville Lodge No. 120 in 1852.
At the convention held in Jacksonville on January 29, 1840 he was appointed one of a committee to correspond with the lodges to ascer- tain their views on the organization of a Grand Lodge. The answers were favorable and on April 6, 1840 the Grand Lodge was organized and Warren was elected Grand Secretary and served seven years. In 1853 he was elected Grand Master but ill health prevented active service.
He was a member of Georgetown Chapter No. 13 and was Master of the First Veil in 1824, High Priest in 1830 and in 1831 was chairman of the committee on Chapter Mark Lodges. He issued the call for the delegates to meet in Springfield on April 9, 1850 to form the Grand Chapter and was elected first Grand High Priest. At Alton in 1848 at a previous attempt to form a Grand Chapter he was elected Grand High Priest but that movement was not successful.
William B. Warren Lodge No. 209 was named for him. His is the first name on the dispensation issued on March 25, 1853 to form
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Belvidere Commandery No. 2 at Alton. There is no record of his at- tendance at any of the meetings of the Commandery, neither is it known where he received the Orders of Knighthood.
He also signed the petition for the dispensation for Beaumanoir Commandery No. 9 at Decatur. He probably signed both petitions to help those commanderies get started.
He was a member of the Episcopal Church and his home was always open for church activities. He had the finest law library out- side of Chicago and it was in constant use by lawyers.
When the Civil War broke out Jefferson Davis offered him a com- mission as Brigadier General in the Confederate service but he de- clined as all his sympathies were with the north.
On April 1, 1865 he died and was buried in the East Cemetery at Jacksonville. His resting place is marked with a monument of Quincy granite 3 feet high and wide and 1 foot and 3 inches thick set on a base 3 feet 6 inches long, 1 foot 6 inches wide and 1 foot 3 inches high.
JAMES L. ANDERSON
Grand Master 1854
Born December 20, 1809
Died August 13, 1865
The subject of this sketch was born in Aberdeen, Scotland on De- cember 20, 1809. At the age of 14 he came to this country and settled in Virginia. When he reached the age of 21 he was accepted as a mem- ber of Greenbrier Lodge No. 49 in Virginia. He served that lodge three years as Master. He was the father of seven sons and one daugh- ter. In 1838 he located in Rushville where he lived the remainder of his life. He served for a time as county judge. A long experience with legal affairs and his intimate acquaintance with county affairs and land titles induced him to study law and practice that profession.
He was the first Senior Warden of Rushville Lodge No. 9. The dis- pensation was granted by Grand Master Jonas in 1842. He served Rushville Lodge as Master in 1843-44-45 and in 1847, 1850, 1852, 1856, 1860 and 1861, nine years in all, making a total of 12 years as Master of two lodges. His first appearance in Grand Lodge was in 1845, at which time he acted as Senior Grand Warden. That year he was
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elected Grand Treasurer and served for two years. In 1852 he was Junior Grand Warden. The next year he was elected Deputy Grand Master. Brother Warren, the Grand Master, was unable to serve on account of ill health. This left Brother Anderson in charge of the busi- ness of the Grand Lodge, which business was conducted in a way satisfactory and pleasing to all. He was elected Grand Master in 1854 and served for one year. It was through his suggestion that the Grand Lodge library was started. After retiring from office he served on various committees to the great benefit to the Craft. He refused several applications for permission to advance candidates in less than legal time. His opinion on this subject was:
The ready facility with which candidates are admitted into our Lodges is, in my opinion, the greatest danger to which our institution is exposed. I am strongly impressed with the belief that the interest and permanency of the Order would be greatly advanced by a total abrogation of the dispensing power.
He issued dispensations for 23 new lodges, one to work in the German language.
It is not known where he received the Chapter degrees but in the first return of Stapleton Chapter No. 9 he is shown as Scribe. He served as Grand Secretary of the Grand Chapter in 1850 and Grand Scribe in 1853 but was not High Priest of his Chapter until 1859. He received the Orders of Knighthood in Belvidere Commandery No. 2 at Alton while he was Grand Master. He died at Rushville on August 13, 1865 at the age of 55 years, 7 months and 23 days.
WILLIAM BENTLEY HERRICK
Grand Master 1855
Born September 20, 1813
Died December 31, 1865
Among the prominent members of the medical profession in Chi- cago a hundred years ago was Dr. William B. Herrick, who was always prominent in all that was either beneficial for the medical fraternity or the public health. His name became a household word in many of the first families of Chicago. He was well known as the possessor of rare personal and professional qualities, demonstrated during the years of his career in Chicago.
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William Bentley Herrick was born on September 20, 1813 at Dur- ham, Maine. Raised on a farm, he taught school at the age of 16 to help finance his medical courses at Bowdoin and Dartmouth Colleges, graduating from the latter as an M.D. in 1836.
Prior to coming to Chicago in 1844 he practiced medicine at Louis- ville, Kentucky and Hillsboro, Illinois. Almost immediately after his arrival in Chicago he became a member of the faculty at the open- ing of Rush Medical College. His practice of his profession and teach- ing at Rush continued until 1857, briefly interrupted by army service in the Mexican War.
Brother Herrick was appointed assistant surgeon of Colonel Har- din's First Illinois Volunteers at the outbreak of the war and was in charge of the hospital at Saltillo until the illness caused by the ex- posure and fatigues of the campaign necessitated his resignation on May 24, 1847.
He was one of the originators and President of both the Illinois and Chicago Medical Societies, and a prominent member of the Editorial Staff of the Chicago Medical Journal, and co-editor of several other medical journals.
Brother Herrick's Masonic life was equally active; raised to the de- gree of Master Mason on January 29, 1842 in Hillsboro Lodge No. 33 under charter of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, now Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 51 of Illinois, he became the first Senior Warden of Oriental Lodge No. 33 of Chicago and served as Master in 1854.
He was elected Grand Master of Illinois Masons in 1855, his first appearance at a Grand Lodge meeting. Dispensations for 37 new lodges were issued during his year, including William B. Warren Lodge in Chicago. He was largely responsible for the revision of the Constitution and By-laws of the Grand Lodge, which were adopted in 1857 after considerable discussion and numerous amendments.
Dr. Herrick moved to Portland, Maine, in 1857 in an attempt to restore his health and after eight years of suffering as a helpless in- valid he died on the last day of 1865 and the New Year dawned for him in that house not built with hands, eternal in the heavens.
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JAMES H. HIBBARD
Grand Master 1856
Born in 1827
Died May 14, 1866
Brother Hibbard was the only son of Elias Hibbard, who was De- puty Grand Master in 1851. He was born in Mississippi in 1827 but was educated in Upper Alton. For several years he was engaged in the book and paper business. He was city clerk and alderman and an active member of the fire department.
In 1852 he married a niece of Judge Bailbache and left her and three children to mourn his untimely death.
He was raised in Piasa Lodge No. 27 on July 22, 1851, served as Master in 1854, 1858 and 1859. Was elected Grand Master in 1856, being the youngest member to hold that office. Hibbard Lodge No. 249 at Brighton was named for him. Several years ago his son and daugh- ter presented the lodge with his Templar sword which is still in use by the lodge.
He was exalted in Howard Chapter No. 8 in 1851, dimitted from No. 8 in 1855 to become High Priest of Franklin Chapter No. 15, and re-affiliated with Alton Chapter No. 8 in 1856. He was elected Deputy Grand High Priest in 1856 and Grand High Priest in 1857 and again in 1862.
He received the Council degrees in Springfield Council No. 2 and was the first Deputy and second Master of Alton Council No. 3. He was one of the delegates to the convention that organized the Grand Council in 1853 and was the first "Grand Puissant" in 1853-54. He issued a dispensation for the first Council in Iowa, located at Musca- tine. T. S. Parvin rode from Muscatine to Alton in an open wagon in December to get the dispensation.
He received the Orders of Knighthood in Belvidere Commandery No. 2 at Alton in 1858 from Grand Commander Blaney during the session of the Grand Commandery in that city. He was Commander of Belvidere Commandery in 1861-62 and Deputy Grand Commander in 1863.
It was during his first administration as Grand High Priest that the trouble between Galesburg and Knoxville came up. During his second
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administration he issued the dispensation for Asboth Military Chapter, the only military chapter ever established.
He continued active in the local bodies of which he was a member, filling various stations at nearly every meeting. He was fully qualified as a ritualist in all the bodies. His death occurred on May 14, 1866 after a short illness.
The members of his obituary committee, all of whom were well acquainted with him, said:
He adorned every station which he held. In every station which he filled in all the Degrees and Orders of Masonry he was a master work- man. In readiness, grace and accuracy in work he had no superiors.
In person rather compactly built, with a fine expression of counte- nance, and a quick easy motion in all his movements, no one enjoyed the confidence of the craftsmen to a greater extent than Sir Knight Hibbard.
The people of Alton placed him in several offices, which he filled with uncommon ability.
At the age of 39 he was suddenly prostrated, and after a brief and violent illness expired May 14, A.D., 1866, surrounded by his father, mother, wife and three children.
HARRISON DILLS
Grand Master 1857
Born May 13, 1812
Died November 1, 1899
Brother Dills was born in Parkersburg, Virginia (now West Vir- ginia) on May 13, 1812 and came to Illinois in 1832. He spent his first two years in Danville and in 1834 moved to Quincy; here he lived until 1881, when he moved to Kansas. Soon after he settled in War- rensburg, Missouri.
He petitioned Bodley Lodge U.D. on July 2, 1836 and received the Entered Apprentice degree on August 6; Fellowcraft on November 5; Master Mason on February 4, 1837. He was elected Senior Warden June 24, 1839 and Master June 3, 1842. He was elected Senior Grand Warden in 1856 and Grand Master in 1857.
He was exalted in Quincy Chapter No. 5 in 1854 and held some office nearly every year thereafter. He was King and acting High Priest in 1857 but was never elected High Priest.
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On February 8, 1861 he received the Templar Order in Beauseant Commandery U.D. (No. 11), being one of the first class. This was three days after the commandery dispensation was issued.
He was elected Grand Treasurer in 1862 and served for eleven years.
He died in Warrensburg, Missouri on November 1, 1899 at the age of 87 years. He was a delegate to the convention that formed the Grand Lodge and thus had been a member of that body for 59 years.
He was buried with Masonic honors at Quincy, Illinois.
IRA ASH WOOD BUCK
Grand Master 1858-59-60
Born in 1817 or 1818
Died October 12, 1886
This distinguished brother was born in Plattesburg, New York in 1817 or 1818. Upon leaving school he clerked in his father's store and afterwards learned the baker's trade. He moved to Buffalo, New York and carried on his business there until he came to Illinois and located at Little Rock, Kendall County, where he worked on a farm with his father. He then studied medicine and commenced practice in Aurora. He was an original Abolitionist and corresponded with Owen Lovejoy, and was one of those brave men who were stationed on the "Under- ground Railroad" which conveyed slaves to Canada. In 1856 Governor Yates appointed him one of the State Prison Commissioners at Joliet.
His Masonic career is rarely equalled. He was raised in Jerusalem Temple Lodge No. 90 at Aurora on September 24, 1850. Eight years later he was elected Grand Master and served during the years 1858-59-60, being the only member who was elected for three terms as Grand Master.
He was exalted in Euclid Chapter No. 13 at Naperville in 1851. In 1854 he became the first High Priest of Aurora Chapter No. 22. He was elected Grand High Priest in 1855. He was prominent in the General Grand Chapter, being elected General Grand King in 1859 and Deputy Grand High Priest in 1865. He was the first Captain General of Aurora Commandery but never served as commander. He was in charge of the Masonic funeral services of Stephen A. Douglas.
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His last years were spent in Chicago. The Grand Lodge voted him a jewel which was presented the week before he died. The Grand Chapter also voted him a jewel, which had been neglected, and pre- sented it to his widow. He passed away in Chicago on October 12, 1886.
FERGES MCLAIN BLAIR
Grand Master 1861-62
Born in 1817
Died September 29, 1869
Brother Blair was born in Ohio in 1817 and joined Lebanon Lodge No. 26, where he received the degree of Entered Apprentice on Oeto- ber 11, 1845; Felloweraft on December 13, 1845; Master Mason on December 15, 1845. The lodge did not meet from 1833 to 1842 and Brother Blair joined when the membership was less than 25. He served as Secretary from December 26, 1846 to December 27, 1848. He paid dues late in 1855 for 1856 and the last entry is "Dimitted." No date is given for the dimit.
The next record is when he was admitted to Prairie Lodge No. 77 at Paris, Illinois, on November 29, 1855. He was Master during the years of 1856-57-58 and 1861, representing his lodge in Grand Lodge. He was elected Junior Grand Warden in 1856, Senior Grand Warden in 1857-58, Deputy Grand Master in 1858-59-60 and Grand Master in 1861. He presided over the Grand Lodge in 1862-63. These were the critical years of the war. In 1862 he issued dispensations for eight new lodges and five for military lodges. In 1863 he issued dispensations for 18 new lodges and 6 military. In 1863 the question of ritual came to a head. This is explained under the head "Conservators' Association" and need not be repeated here.
He called a special session of the Grand Lodge in Chicago in August but the meeting was prevented by an injunction issued by a judge. In 1863 his remarks about the ritual which were of a personal nature were deleted by order of the Grand Lodge. After retiring from office he never again attended the Grand Lodge. In 1867 he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, and commenced publishing the Masonic Home Advocate. In May, 1868 he was elected an honorary member of the Grand Lodge of Indiana.
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He died on September 29, 1869 at Indianapolis.
The report of the Grand Master of Indiana, Maring H. Rice, in 1869 reads:
Amid the busy hum of active life, and while our brother was in apparent health, the messenger of death came without warning of his approach. His remains were borne to the tomb with all the honors due the exalted stations he had filled, and to me was assigned the mournful duty of performing these last sad rites. The large procession of brethren on the occasion spoke, more than words can express, their sorrow and esteem.
THOMAS JOHNSON TURNER
Grand Master 1863-64
Born April 5, 1815
Died April 4, 1874
Thomas Turner was born in Trunbull County, Ohio, on April 5, 1815. At the age of 18 he came west and settled first in Chicago, then a small village, but finding no inducement for advancement went to Indiana where he spent about three years. He then went to the lead mining district of northwestern Illinois. There he built bellows and other masonry for furnaces. In the spring of 1836 he came to Stephen- son County and, being a wheelwright, engaged in building mills. In 1837 an election was held to organize Stephenson County. Brother Turner was elected one of the judges of the election, his first office. In December, 1837 he entered into a contract to build a County Court- house and log jail. This contract was fulfilled in 1838 and the court- house stood until 1870. In later years he gained his brightest laurels as a lawyer in the same building he had erected.
In the spring of 1840 he was admitted to the bar and the next year was elected Justice of the Peace and Probate Justice. Governor Ford appointed him State's Attorney, in which capacity he vigorously prose- cuted all offenders and convicted a band of robbers that had infested that district. He was elected to Congress in 1846 and in December 1847 established the first newspaper in the county. This paper is still published as the Freeport Bulletin. When the village of Freeport was incorporated he was elected president of the Board of Trustees. In 1854 he was elected to the House of Representatives and became
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Speaker of the House. In 1854 when Freeport was incorporated as a city he was elected first Mayor.
He was a member of the Peace Conference held in Washington in 1861. Upon his return home he was commissioned Colonel of the Fifteenth Illinois Volunteers. Not being strong enough to stand field duty he was appointed commander of a camp of instruction at Alton and later was made Commander of the First Division of the Army of the West. Ill health obliged him to resign in 1862. In 1863 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention and was recognized as the leader of that body. His counsel shaped many articles in that constitution and he took an active part in having it adopted by the people.
In 1871 he was again elected to the House of Representatives and was the Democratic candidate for United States Senator against John A. Logan. He opened a law office in Chicago and was twice candidate for the office of State's Attorney but was defeated both times.
On February 22, 1873 the new courthouse was dedicated at Free- port. Brother Turner was selected to deliver the dedicatory address. In that address he reviewed the history of Stephenson County. Having been identified with nearly every change and act in the history of the county he told of many incidents and reminiscences of which today there is no other record.
In February, 1874 he went to Hot Springs, Arkansas for the hoped for benefit to his health, but it was not to be. He died there on April 3, 1874 just two days before his 59th birthday. When his death became known Governor Beveridge sent Adjutant General Higgins to receive the body and escort it from St. Louis to Chicago. There it was met by a delegation of Templars from Freeport Commandery and escorted to Freeport, where it was placed in the Circuit Court room and lay in state from ten o'clock Monday morning until two in the afternoon. The funeral took place on Tuesday afternoon, April 8, two o'clock. The procession was formed at the courthouse as follows: band, Masons, hearse with escort and pallbearers, mourners, city council, members of the Bar, and citizens. A sermon was delivered at the Presbyterian church, after which the body was deposited in the city cemetery with the last honors of Masonry.
MASONIC
The records of Lebanon Lodge No. 7, Free and Accepted Masons, at Washington, D.C. read "Thomas J. Turner, E.A. May 12, 1848;
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F.C. June 9, 1848, M.M. June 16, May 1848. Dimitted June 4, 1850." He was appointed Senior Warden of Excelsior Lodge U.D. at Freeport in 1851 and became Master in 1854. He attended the Grand Lodge the year of the great debate over the Conservators' Association. At the election of officers he was elected Grand Master by a vote of 644 over John C. Baker, Deputy Grand Master and Chief Conservator who re- ceived 263 votes. Brother Turner was elected from the floor, never having served as Deputy Grand Master or Grand Warden.
By his wise and diplomatic action he was able to dispel the violent prejudices that followed the abolition of the Conservators' ritual and restore peace among the Craft.
He petitioned Freeport Chapter No. 23 on December 1, 1853 and was exalted on January 6, 1854.
He was knighted in Freeport Commandery while it was No. 5 un- der the Grand Encampment charter. He never held any office in either Chapter or Commandery.
Here ends the record of one who was indelibly connected with the history of northwestern Illinois and of much of the state. He came to Freeport in advance of civilization and made his home there while it was yet part of the almost unbroken prairie. His biographer said of him:
He was a man of an intense public spirit and any enterprise or project that promised advantage to the public found in him a zealous advocate. As a public officer he was faithful to every trust. As a hus- band, as father, as friend, as citizen, he has walked blamelessly; and in regard to all public and private virtues, no stain of dishonor rests upon his character. He was always unselfish, philanthropic, and noble in all the high purposes and deeds of a true life - a life that can be said to have been conspicuously successful, true not in the accumulation of great wealth but in the position he had attained for doing good to his fellow- men.
HENRY PELHAM HOLMES BROMWELL
Grand Master 1865
Born August 26, 1823
Died January 9, 1903
Read the record of his life as told by Joseph Robbins:
There are few men in this body - perhaps less than half a dozen - who remember Brother Bromwell when he first appeared before the
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Grand Lodge of Illinois. Tall, gaunt, straight as an arrow, with face almost aboriginal, and eagle eye and hair of quite aboriginal blackness, talking in parables clad in quaint speech, fluent yet measured as be- came his subject - such is the picture which stands out in my memory of the Grand Orator of this Grand Lodge in 1862.
The same figure mounted upon a chair, alive all over, with tongue of fire and volubility of a Niagara denouncing as treason to Masonry and the uses therefor as foresworn, the cipher which played so prominent a part in the fierce conflict which raged over the subject of work in the early sixties - stands out as one of the dominant forces of the stormy convention at Bryan hall in 1863.
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