A history of freemasonry in Indiana from 1806 to 1898, Part 14

Author: McDonald, Daniel, b. 1833
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Indianapolis : By authority of the Grand Lodge
Number of Pages: 614


USA > Indiana > A history of freemasonry in Indiana from 1806 to 1898 > Part 14


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on Accounts reported in favor of allowing district Deputy Masters the sum of $204.60 for services, which was allowed, and also offered for adoption the following:


"Resolved, That the Grand Secretary draw his war- rant on the Grand Treasurer in favor of Brother Morris for one hundred dollars."


The vote having been called for by lodges, resulted 100 in favor of the allowance and 54 against! This was the first and only test vote for and against the adoption of the Webb work as taught by Rob Morris. Those who voted for the allowance were those who favored the new ritual, and those who voted against it were those who opposed the adoption of the work agreed upon by the deputies, which was what they called the "Rob Morris work." Thus ended a memorable struggle, and so uniformity of work was estab- lished-the grandest and most important achievement of the Grand Lodge since its organization.


The question of uniformity, although finally settled by the action taken as stated, continued to "bob up serenely" at every session until along in the seventies, when the oppo- sition to its introduction finally ceased. Grand Master Rice, in his address to the Grand Lodge in 1869, referred to the much-mooted question in this way: "I should feel that I had performed only a part of my duty should I not call your attention to the subject of work and lectures. There is, perhaps, no subject on which some decided action by the Grand Lodge is so much required at the present time as that of uniformity of work in our jurisdiction. Finding a great diversity of opinion in regard to what action has been had heretofore, I have taken the trouble to examine the proceedings on the subject." He then went on to give a detailed history of the legislation on that subject, and con- cluded by recommending that definite action be taken to settle the matter at that session.


The Committee on Jurisprudence, to whom the question was referred, reported that they had duly considered the matter and were of the opinion that the Grand Lodge had already adopted what was known as the Webb work, and


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that it was then the authorized work of the State, and they believed that system was then being worked by a majority of the lodges in the jurisdiction. "But," they added, "a difference of opinion having arisen as to what is the true Webb work, and the authorized work of the State, your committee therefore offer the following resolution and rec- ommend its adoption :


"Resolved, That the authorized work of this State is de- clared to be the Webb work, as taught by Thomas Smith Webb to John P. Barney in 1817, it being the ritual and ceremonies as adopted by the district Deputies in 1860 and approved by this Grand Lodge in 1862."


Past Grand Master Hazelrigg moved to amend the report by striking out of the resolution the words and figures to- wit: "As taught by Thomas Smith Webb to John P. Bar- ney in 1817." This, it is stated, gave rise to a lively dis- cussion, which was participated in by Brethren Hazelrigg, Fravel, Manson and others, after which the amendment was agreed to, and, as amended, the report was concurred in and the resolution adopted. So the Grand Lodge by that action (May 27, 1869,) settled emphatically the question of work by adopting the resolution as amended, as follows:


"Resolved, That the authorized work of this State is de- clared to be the Webb work, it being the ritual and cere- monies adopted by the district Deputies in 1860 and ap- proved by this Grand Lodge in 1862."


In line with the spirit of this resolution, the committee recommended the adoption of a rule in regard to the dissem- ination of the work, as follows:


"Resolved, That subordinate lodges in this jurisdiction are strictly prohibited from receiving instructions in the esoteric and ceremonial ritual from anyone not a member of that particular lodge, without express permission and authority from the Grand Master on certificate of qualifi -. cation from the Grand Lecturer, and any brother so offend- ing shall be deemed guilty of a Masonic offense, and may be reprimanded, suspended or expelled."


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Without stopping to debate the question at any consider- able length, the proposition was somewhat unceremoniously laid on the table!


At the session of the Grand Lodge in 1872 a member offered a resolution setting forth that it was essentially nec- essary that there should be uniformity in the work and lec- tures of the first three degrees of Masonry, and believing an exemplification of the work before the representatives of the Grand Lodge would be for the good of Masonry, and recommended that the Grand Officers be requested to ex- emplify the work in the three degrees during the session. The resolution was adopted, but the exemplification did not take place, for the good and sufficient reason that a Grand Lodge Hall is never properly arranged for working the de- grees.


During this year the Grand Lecturer was called upon to visit a prominent lodge in the central portion of the State for the purpose of settling a dispute among the members in regard to the ritual, and teaching them the pure, unadulter- ated Webb work, as authorized by the Grand Lodge. There were patriarchs in that lodge who were sure they were in possession of the genuine work, whatever that might be, and the younger members, who were learning the work through the means supplied by the conservators' organiza- tion. were making changes in the time-honored customs of the Fraternity that the patriarchs did not approve, and so the interposition of the Grand Lecturer was solicited.


The Master and other officers of the lodge were called together, the general condition of affairs discussed, and a programme for the week's work blocked out. The Master, who was in hearty accord with the advanced movement, was thoroughly drilled in his duties, then the Wardens and other officers, and to all others who came in during the day the lectures were rehearsed, and before the week was out there was a revival of Masonry in that place such as the oldest Mason had never dreamed of as possible.


A well-posted brother from among those opposing the in- troduction of the new work was detailed to catechise the


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Grand Lecturer and propound knotty questions on certain mooted points, and the aforesaid official, being able to an- swer promptly and satisfactorily all the questions submitted, was thus enabled to disarm further opposition, and so the work went bravely on. The daytime was occupied in re- hearsing the work and lectures in the several degrees, and the evenings in schools of instruction, in which the opening and closing ceremonies were thoroughly gone over with a full corps of officers, the conferring of degrees exemplified, business transacted, and other matters attended to pertain- ing to the work in hand. The interest increased from day to day, and by the time the closing evening came around the entire membership of the lodge had become sufficiently interested to turn out and hear and see what was said and done. The hall was crowded to its full capacity. All the officers had learned their duties so that their parts were per- formed with ease and grace. The third degree was exem- plified with the full ceremonies, and rehearsal of the lec- tures followed at the close. The progress that had been made in one short week was astonishing and most gratifying to both factions of the membership, the olive branch of peace was laid upon the altar, and from that day to this harmony prevails and every moral and social virtue cements them.


In his address to the Grand Lodge in 1874 Grand Master Fetta, in referring to the action of the Grand Lodge in establishing a uniform system of work, and recommending that a copy be preserved in the archives for reference, said :


"This subject, in view of the action of the Grand Lodge heretofore taken, is an important one, yet in determining as to what the work is, as agreed upon by the district Deputies in 1860 and adopted by the Grand Lodge, no one outside of the district Deputy Masters can now tell."


This part of the address was referred to the Committee on Jurisprudence, which, through its chairman, Past Grand Master Rice, reported as follows, which was concurred in:


"The subject presented under this head is the duty of the Grand Lodge to preserve an official copy of the work adopted for the use of subordinate lodges. While your


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committee appreciate and admit the importance of uniform- ity in the ritualistic ceremonies of Masonry, they are of the opinion that, upon careful reflection, it must be apparent to every well-informed Mason that the suggestion could not with propriety be complied with."


That was the last action of the Grand Lodge in the fifteen years' struggle for uniformity of work.


THE CONSERVATORS' ASSOCIATION.


T "HE Conservators' Association, reference to which was made in connection with the struggle for uniformity of work, was the creation of Rob Morris, and its sole object was the introduction and dissemination of the Webb work. When that was accomplished it was to be dissolved at the end of five years, in accordance with the plan of the organ- ization. It had a grip, sign and pass-word, by which mem- bers were enabled to make themselves known to each other, but they were of little use and were soon forgotten.


The emblem of the degree was the sword and trowel. It was stamped on the cover of all the numerous editions of "Morris's Miniature Monitor," published between 1860 and 1865. The Monitor was arranged as a hand-book to accompany the Mnemonics or cipher ritual, and contained, as the author always stated with emphasis, the exoteric rit- ual prepared by Thomas Smith Webb, without elaboration or modification by him or anyone else. They contained all the monitorial work in the several degrees, and were so arranged by means of small squares, in which were printed words indicating the subject, and figures corresponding with numerals in the esoteric work so perfectly that the two "dove-tailed" together with perfect exactness. In addition to the ceremonial ritual used in conferring degrees, the Monitor contained the funeral ceremonies and the installa- tion services. It was the most simple and concise work, so far as it went, that had been published up to that time, and, if followed strictly in conferring degrees, it is generally con- sidered to be the most satisfactory Monitor that has yet been published. In later editions, since the death of Brother Morris, the funeral ceremony has been somewhat elab- orated; the ceremonies for the laying of corner-stones and


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the dedication of Masonic Halls have been added, making the work complete and indispensable to every Master of a lodge who believes that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.


The origin of the Conservators' Association grew out of what appeared to be at that time an absolute necessity for a uniform system of work and lectures. Like all great movements of a national character, the scheme was con- tined to a few in a given locality, but the total number at the time it ceased to exist was about three thousand, scat- tered all over the country. It was formulated after the society organized by William Preston, whose ritual Webb introduced into the United States, and which he called the "Grand Chapter Herodim." The lectures of the chapter, as Preston stated in his Illustrations, included every branch of the Masonic system, and represented the art of Masonry in a finished and complete form. Different classes were established, and particular lecturers restricted to each class. The lectures were divided into sections, and the sections into classes, and these were assigned to the different officers of the society. Such companions as by assiduity became pos- sessed of all the lectures were called lecturers, and out of these the Grand Director was always chosen. The whole system seems to have been admirably adapted to the pur- poses of Masonic instruction, and was intended for the prop- agation of the Prestonian system of lectures.


Webb, about the year 1797, undertook in a similar way the dissemination of the Preston work, with some changes, additions and modifications that experience had demon- strated were necessary. Webb was not a member of a Grand Lodge until after he had promulgated his ritual, nor at any time a Mason who, up to that time, had attained to any special prominence among the Fraternity. He was a printer or publisher, and afterwards a paper manufacturer. He published the "Freemason's Monitor," and by instruct- ing intelligent men as lecturers, and by much personal travel, achieved a great success.


It was on these lines that Brother Rob Morris organ- ized and prepared the system called the "Conservators."


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The only pledge in its covenants was that of secrecy. It rehearsed the objects had in view, alluded to the conflicts and triumphs of truth, and depicted the better day coming, when all Masons would harmonize upon the platform of uniformity. Means of learning the work were furnished each member, which was vouched for as "the ancient and genuine work and lectures of the first three degrees of Ma- sonry as arranged by William Preston and taught by Thomas Smith Webb." The members were instructed to discountenance all changes and innovations and errors of every sort introduced into the first three degrees after the death of Webb in 1819. The building up of schools of instruction in every lodge, in which the same work and lec- tures should be taught that were taught everywhere, was enjoined, and instructing intelligent and ardent Masons for the work and responsibility of lecturers.


As might have been expected, a great deal of opposition grew up against the organization, principally on account- of jealousy, and especially among those who did not under- stand its aims and objects. In Masonry the excitement ran so high that Brother Morris was censured by name by the Grand Lodge of Missouri, and all the members collectively as an organization. In Illinois it partook almost of the nature of a rebellion, and an edict was passed, or attempted to be passed, providing that, in case the Conservators re- fused to sever their connection with the organization, they would be censured or declared subject to suspension from the privileges of Masonry. The writer was present at one of the Chicago lodges in 1865, when Deputy Grand Master Cregier, afterwards Grand Master, was asked to renounce "Conservatism" before he could be permitted to participate in the work-a request which he promptly and emphatically declined to comply with, stating that he did not recognize the right or authority of the Grand Lodge to dictate to him what society he should or should not belong to! So far as Illinois was concerned, the association, by an agreement made with the Grand Lodge, was dissolved; but, notwith- standing, the work went bravely on! In a fly-leaf of the


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"Voice of Masonry" for March and April, 1863, speaking of the obstructions to the progress of the society, Rob Mor- ris, then editor, made this somewhat caustic statement:


"We should have still gone on quietly in our good under- taking, had it not been for a little clique of four or five Grand Secretaries, who, fearing their craft was in danger, opened attacks upon us from the so-called Masonic press, and charged us with every species of fraud and deception which their own bad hearts could conceive. The result in nearly every case has been beneficial to us (the Conserva- tors), for, upon inquiry, the purity and lawfulness of our course have been perfectly substantiated. Among the thirty-nine Grand Lodges that have examined this matter with more or less thoroughness, none, save four, have found fault with it, nor would they had the evidence we proposed to offer them been asked for. Ex parte evidence, manipu- lated by selfish men, can be distorted to prove anything. My object in alluding to the matter here is simply to say that all this slandering is unmasonic, unfounded and ma- licious, and its effects are to render ridiculous and con- temptible the men engaged in it."


On June 24, 1865, that being St. John's Day, he ad- dressed the following to the members of the Conservators' Association :


"BRETHREN: This day terminates by limitation the Soci- ety of Conservators. By the original Constitution of the organization, founded June 24, 1860, the term of five years was set as the period to which the society should be ex- tended. In taking leave of the large and intelligent mem- bership over which he has presided so long, the undersigned cannot restrain an expression of his pleasure at the large progress made in disseminating those correct principles of ritualism for which we have been banded together. What- ever we may have failed in, we have accomplished more in five years than all other agencies combined have done in forty; and whatever opposition we may have encountered, we have exhibited in the operations of our society the best instance of harmonious combination of three thousand Ma-


Thomas J. Heth


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sons for a term of years that the history of the Masonic Order presents. We have no regretful memories associated with our connection with the Conservators' Association.


"Fraternally yours, in a zealous bond, "ROB MORRIS, " Chief Conservator."


This ended the most exciting, far-reaching in its good effects, and important contention within its own ranks of which the history of Masonry gives any account, and it is a somewhat remarkable coincidence that it began and ended almost exactly with the civil war between the North and South, 1861-5.


THOMAS SMITH WEBB.


Indiana having adopted the ritual whose author is known to be Thomas Smith Webb, it is proper in this connection to give a brief sketch of his life and Masonic career as being inseparably connected with the action of the Grand Lodge in the great struggle for uniformity of work.


At the first session of the Grand Lodge after it was or- ganized, the following resolution was adopted:


"Resolved, That the Illustration of Masonry published by Thomas Smith Webb be adopted for the government of this Grand Lodge, and that they be recommended to be adopted by all the subordinate lodges of the State for the government of the same."


At the meeting of the Grand Lodge the year following, 1819, Brother Webb having died in the meantime, the fol- lowing resolution was adopted :


"Resolved, That as a feeble testimony of the high and heartfelt veneration in which we hold the memory of our late lamented and useful Brother Thomas Smith Webb, the members of this Grand Lodge wear crape on their left arm for thirty days."


He was born in Boston, October 30, 1771, his parents emigrating from England and locating there a few years previously. After acquiring such education as was af-


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forded in the schools at that time, he was apprenticed to a printer in his native city. This proved a congenial occu- pation, and, having finished his apprenticeship, he removed to Keene, N. H., where he worked at his trade, and later made application to the Masonic lodge in that place for the degrees. ITis application was successful, and the first three degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry were conferred upon .him. This was in December, 1792. He at once engaged with earnestness in the study of Masonry as a system, laying broad and deep the foundation of that grand and noble structure which he lived to complete and adorn.


A short time after he received the degrees he removed to Albany, N. Y., where he established a paper-staining manu- factory, which he carried on successfully for a period of seven years. During these years, in his researches into the hidden mysteries of Masonry, he found the lectures im- perfect, disjointed, and with little or no system in their dis- semination. In the year 1797 he published the first edition of his Monitor, which at once placed him at the forefront as a Masonic ritualist and author. It was a small volume of 284 pages. The certificate of the copyright reads as follows:


"District of New York .- Be it remembered that on the 12th day of September, in the 22d year of the independence of the United States of America (1797), Spencer and Webb, of said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right of which they claim as proprietors in the words following, viz .: 'The Freemason's Monitor, or Il- lustrations of Masonry, in Two Parts,' in conformity to an act of Congress of the United States of America entitled 'An act for the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of maps, charts and books to the authors and pro- prietors of such copies during the time therein mentioned.' "


In the preface the author said that, although chiefly in- tended for Masons, it was also calculated to explain the na- ture and design of the Institution to those who might be desirons of becoming acquainted with its principles, whether for the purpose of initiation into the society or merely for the gratification of their curiosity.


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Where he obtained the "work" he explained in this para- graph :


"The observations upon the first three degrees are prin- cipally taken from Preston's 'Illustrations of Masonry,' with some necessary alterations. Mr. Preston's distribu- tion of the first lecture into six, the second into four, and the third into twelve sections not being agreeable to the present mode of working, they are arranged in this work according to the general practice."


It was the Preston system which was early introduced into this country, and which, greatly modified and thor- oughly revised by Webb, has been the basis of all lectures taught in the lodges of the United States.


The publication of the "Freemason's Monitor," which had an extensive circulation among the Craft, and which was followed by many revised editions, successively en- larged and improved by the author, placed him at once in a prominent position as an accomplished teacher of Masonry, thoroughly familiar with its ritual and its principles. He traveled through the Eastern States, imparting information to his brethren, introducing changes and reforms, and every- where inspiring zeal by his earnestness, and diffusing light and gladness by his presence and genial ways. He also re- vised and perfected the work of the Chapter and Command- ery, and by his skill and zeal in disseminating the rituals of these orders placed them at once on a sure foundation.


HIe removed to Providence, R. I., in 1801, and in 1813 was elected Grand Master. He was instrumental in start- ing the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United States, and was holding the office of Deputy General Grand High Priest at the time of his death, July 6, 1819. He was traveling to the West, and on the morning of his arrival at Cleveland, O., he ordered a conveyance, in- tending to drive into the country. The conveyance re- maining at the door some time, a servant was dispatched to his room, and on entering found him extended on the bed, senseless, and he died soon after without manifesting any knowledge of what was passing around him. He was


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buried with Masonic honors at Cleveland, but his remains were removed the year following to Providence, R. I., where they "sleep the sleep that knows no waking."


ROB MORRIS, PAST GRAND MASTER.


No Mason in this country, during the past forty odd years, kept himself so prominently before the Masonic Fraternity as did Rob Morris. He was better known per- sonally to the Masons of Indiana, although not a member of the Fraternity in this jurisdiction, than any of our own distinguished brethren. Within a period of ten years, be- tween 1858 and 1868, he visited nearly all the lodges, and came in personal contact with nearly all the brethren; therefore, a brief sketch of his somewhat eventful career as a Masonie author and lecturer may not be without interest to those who knew him well, and especially to those who may have become connected with the Institution since he passed away to another state of existence.


Hle was born in Mississippi, August 31, 1818, and was made a Mason in Oxford Lodge, that State, in July, 1846. He became interested at once in the study of the principles and literature of the Order, and devoted all his spare time in preparing himself for whatever duties might devolve upon him as a student and teacher of Masonry. In his youth he received a liberal education, and fitted himself as a geologist, but was unable to establish himself in that oceu- pation, and followed other pursuits. In 1850 he failed in business, and all his hopes for the future were blighted. The immediate cause of the disaster which overtook him, as related by himself, was on account of a crisis of monetary affairs of the country, short crops, bills payable that must be paid, and bills receivable that could not be collected, false friends and-bankruptcy. He gave up all, and with a large family, clean hands and a resolute heart he set out to find a spot in which to connnence life anew. After trying various things without success, he decided to become a Ma- sonic lecturer. From that date on until his death his entire time, talents and energies were devoted to the preparation and dissemination of the Webb ritual, the compilation and




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