USA > Indiana > A history of freemasonry in Indiana from 1806 to 1898 > Part 16
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"While some Grand Lodges hold that these army-made Masons shall all be held as clandestine, others suggest a healing process. Now, I can't subscribe to the position of either. Those made in army lodges are either Masons or they are not. If they are, they should be treated as such and need no healing: if they are not, there is nothing to heal! Old fabric manufactories used to have a kind of cloth they called 'shoot-about.' It mixed up colors and threads in such a way that it was hard to distinguish what was the predominating color or substance. It was a bastard affair, about such as I think this healing process would pro- duce."
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The Grand Lodge, however, did not seem to have deemed the question to be of much importance, as no action was taken. Whatever became of the army-made Masons will probably never be known. The Grand Lodge had become so thoroughly sick of the military lodges and their work that-
Whither they went and how they fared Nobody knew, and nobody cared.
THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION.
T HE temperance question, or, more properly, the use and abuse of spirituous liquors by lodges and the men- bers of the Fraternity, has attracted the attention of the Grand Lodge since shortly after the organization took place in 1818. In the beginning it was made a part of the duties of the Grand Steward and Tyler to furnish refreshments for the members at the annual meetings. Of what these refreshments consisted the records do not show, as no item- ized statement by the Steward was rendered to the Grand Lodge. At the meeting at which the Grand Lodge was or- ganized in the town of Madison, January 12, 1818, the bill for refreshments amounted to $22.623. In those days when lodges were called to "refreshment" it meant some- thing more than cessation from labor. The refreshments were in addition to the regular bill of fare three times a day at the "tavern," and it is quite likely that they consisted mostly of beverages, such as whisky, brandy and sugar, applejack, egg nog, Tom and Jerry, and the like!
In the early times, that these refreshments might be eas- ily obtained without unnecessary delay, lodges, almost with- out exception, held their meetings in the bar-rooms or halls of taverns or inns, as they were then called. Taking a lit- tle something for the stomach's sake was then considered a part of the regulations of the Ancient and Honorable Insti- tution that could not well be dispensed with. Brother Bobbie Burns, the world's poet of Scotland, a devout mem- ber of the Order, in his farewell to his brethren of St. James' Lodge, Tarbolton, referred to this custom, which was prevalent in those days, when he said:
Oft have I met your social band, And spent the cheerful, festive night.
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And especially in his "Auld Lang Syne" did he refer to this custom when he sang:
And here's a hand, my trusty fiere, And gie's a hand o' thine. And we'll tak a right guid Willie-waught For auld lang syne!
But the evolutions that time have wrought have changed all that, and, instead of countenancing the use of refresh- ments of that sort by lodges, they are now prohibited by the rules of the Order from the use of spirituous liquors, under penalty of having their charters arrested.
It was ten years after the Grand Lodge was organized before anything was presented for action on that subject. At the session of 1828 it was recommended that the several subordinate lodges use their utmost influence to suppress the use of ardent spirits by members of the Fraternity and others, and the several District Masters were directed to en- force, by argument and precept, the morality and practice of this step.
At the meeting of the Grand Lodge in 1843 the Commit- tee on Foreign Correspondence gave it as their opinion that the use of distilled spirits in the lodge rooms at the meetings of the lodges was undeniably of evil example, and might be productive of evil effects; and it was urgently recommended by the committee that in this State the use of such liquors should be expressly forbidden under any pretense whatever. The recommendation was concurred in and adopted, and from that time to the present, now more than half a cen- tury, no liquors have been provided as a part of lodge re- freshments. This recommendation was followed at the an- nual meeting of the Grand Lodge in 1844 by the adoption of the following preamble and resolution:
"WHEREAS, The excessive use of spirituous liquors as a beverage among many of our brethren has heretofore been the means of bringing reproach upon Masonry; and
"WHEREAS, The intemperate use of spirits is forbidden by the divine law and the rules of morality, and therefore grossly unmasonic, and draws in its train a thousand vices which have a tendency to subvert the principles of our
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Order and bring disgrace upon the Fraternity; therefore, it is
"Resolved, By this Grand Lodge that we recommend to the subordinate lodges throughout the State the propriety of discountenancing, both by precept and example, the use of spirituous liquors as a beverage among Masons."
Up to this time, and until 1859, all the resolutions and action in regard to the use of intoxicating liquors related to intemperance and the excessive use of intoxicating liquors, and lodges were recommended to discountenance it by pre- cept and example. In 1853 the following was adopted:
"It is the especial duty of each and every subordinate lodge to correct the evils of intemperance in any of its members as speedily as possible, and if, upon the first and second offense and admonition, the brother does not reform, to suspend or expel him promptly."
At the same session it was declared to be highly unma- sonic for any member of the Fraternity to be engaged in the manufacture or traffic of intoxicating liquors as a bev- erage. This was the first positive declaration on this branch of the subject.
In 1859, the select committee, by its chairman, John B. Fravel, to whom was referred so much of the Grand Mas- ter's address as referred to the subject of temperance, made a lengthy report, showing the legislation that had been enacted by the Grand Lodge up to that time, and continued as follows:
"These, in connection with others that might be referred to, do most clearly indicate the feelings of the Grand Lodge for the last thirty-five years in reference to this fearful enemy of men and Masons. All these resolutions passed by this Grand Lodge, though good in themselves, and breathing a high tone of moral excellence, have not as vet checked the march of this desolating scourge: his triumphs are still seen in the desolated home, the tears of the widow, and the poverty of the helpless and friendless orphan; and we do most confidently believe that the time has come when our time-honored and beloved Institution should take a bold and decided stand and say, 'Thus far hast thou come, but further thou canst not go!' In view of all the forego-
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ing facts, and further, that the Legislature of the State of Indiana has legalized the sale and traffic of ardent spirits as a beverage by license, which, perhaps, some thoughtless member of the Fraternity may plead as a justification of his acts, we offer the following resolutions, and do most ar- dently desire this Grand Lodge to concur therein:
"Resolved, That the subordinate lodges within this juris- diction are hereby unconditionally prohibited from confer- ring the several symbolic degrees upon any applicant who is habitually intoxicated, or who makes it his business to man- ufacture or sell the same to be used as a beverage.
. "Resolved, That every Master Mason, member of a sub- ordinate lodge, or now affiliating within the jurisdiction of said lodge, who is in the practice of habitual intoxication, or engaged in the manufacture or sale of spirituous liquors to be used as a beverage, as a business, shall, upon charges being preferred and sustained, for the first offense be repri- manded in open lodge by the Worshipful Master, and for the second offense suspended or expelled, as a majority of the members present in their judgment may determine.
"Resolved, That the moral law of Masonry, founded upon the first great light in Masonry (the Holy Bible), is the highest moral law known to man, and that it is not in the power of any legislative body to so legalize that which is morally wrong as to make it proper or morally right for any Mason to practice the legalized wrong."
Which, after considerable discussion, was concurred in and the resolutions adopted.
In 1870 a code of laws, rules and regulations, which had been prepared by a special committee appointed for that purpose, incorporated therein the following sections.
"Section 108. The use of intoxicating liquors as a bev- erage, or the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors to be used as a beverage, is a Masonic offense; and if the brother persists therein, after being admonished by the lodge, it is the duty of the lodge to suspend or expel him.
"Section 109. Every lodge is prohibited from confer- ring any of the degrees of Masonry upon anyone who is in the habit of becoming intoxicated, or who makes it his busi- ness to manufacture or sell intoxicating liquors to be used as a beverage."
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These rules were supposed to be broad enough and suffi- ciently explicit to cover every case that might grow out of their enforcement, but such was not the case. In 1873 Grand Master Fetta was asked this question:
"A man is superintendent of a brewery, where they man- ufacture ale; he has no interest in the concern. Is he eligible for the degrees, or would the rules of the Grand Lodge prevent him?"
Grand Master Fetta decided that his admission would be an infringement upon the spirit and meaning of the law. Past Grand Master Hazelrigg, chairman of the Committee on Jurisprudence, to whom the question was referred, re- ported that the Grand Master's ruling was "a decision that the committee would prefer not being called upon to de- fend, nor do they wish to attack it."
The report was concurred in, and, although a quarter of a century has elapsed since then, Brother Fetta is still in a quandary as to whether his decision was concurred in or rejected !
In 1874 it was again deemed advisable to revise the rules and regulations, and a committee of five was appointed for that purpose. This committee reported a revised code in 1875, which was referred to the Committee on Jurispru- dence, of which Brother Hacker was chairman, and the writer, with others, a member. The chairman reported that the matter came into the hands of the committee at so late an hour that it had been impossible to give the subject that consideration its importance demanded, but, having confidence in the ability of the committee on revision, rec- ommended the adoption of the code of rules as revised. In that revision Sections 108 and 109 (now Số and 86), above quoted, were left out, without any reason being given by the committee on revision or the Committee on Jurispru- dence for so doing. They believed that Section 104, which preceded these sections, covered the whole ground, and was all that was necessary on the subject. That section reads as follows:
"Section 104. Whatever is a breach of good morals, contrary to the precepts of the Holy Scriptures, or a viola-
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tion of the laws of this State, or of the United States, is an offense against the principles of Masonry, and must be promptly dealt with."
They reasoned, further, that whatever was a Masonic offense in Indiana must necessarily be a Masonic offense wherever Masonry is dispersed around the globe, and as few, if any, of the other jurisdictions had enacted such reg- ulations, "the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage" in Indiana was a Masonic offense, while in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, etc., they hav- ing no regulations to that effect, it was no offense to "take a little something for the stomach's sake." The committees believed that nothing should be declared a Masonic offense in Indiana that was not an offense wherever Masonry ex- isted. But the "blue ribbon" excitement on the question of temperance ran high at that time, and when the Grand Lodge assembled the next year a motion to re-adopt and re- instate these omitted sections prevailed by a vote, by lodges, of 344 to 64, and there they have remained ever since.
Our Grand Lodge was soundly excoriated by many of the Grand Lodges in America and elsewhere for our action in "turning the Institution into a total abstinence society." An extract from New York, the largest Grand Lodge in this country, will suffice as an illustration. In noting the action of our Grand Lodge in reinstating these sections, and the ruling of Grand Master Fetta, the committee said- which was concurred in by the Grand Lodge:
"From this action we wholly dissent. It is not Masonic law. Nor has the Grand Lodge of that jurisdiction any right, nor the Grand Master any right, to enforce any such rules. The Institution of Freemasonry teaches the virtue of temperance, and punishes the offense of intemperance and excess. Our rituals are filled with exhortations forbid- ding the abuse of strong drinks, but their use as a beverage is nowhere forbidden. This new crusade is not warranted by the rules or traditions of Ancient Craft Masonry, and cannot be sustained as lawful Masonic action. The at- tempt to turn the Institution from its ancient paths and pursuits into a persecuting total abstinence society will
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wholly fail, or else Ancient Craft Masonry will cease to exist in that jurisdiction."
For a period of twenty-two years no further attempt was made to change the regulations on this subject. At the session of the Grand Lodge in 1897 a proposition was sub- mitted to insert before the words "use of intoxicating liquors" the words "excessive and habitual," "to conform the law to existing fact," as stated by the mover of the proposition. The committee, through its chairman, Past Grand Master O'Rourke, reported: "Your committee feel constrained to report that they cannot recommend that the proposed amendment be made, but, on the contrary, are firmly convinced that such proposed amendment, if adopted, would work incalculable harm to the cause of Free- masonry." The recommendation of the committee was adopted, and so the regulations stand practically as drafted by Brother Fravel and adopted by the Grand Lodge in 1859.
THE MORGAN EPISODE.
W HAT was known as the Morgan abduction case, and the excitement, both social and political, that grew out of that unfortunate episode, severely tested the stability of the Masonic Institution all over the country, causing many lodges to cease work, some to surrender their char- ters, and even overthrew some of the Grand Lodges, Illinois and Michigan in the West being among the number. In- diana came near surrendering her charter, and probably would have done so had it not been for the loyalty and elo- quence of Caleb B. Smith, Grand Master a few years later, who defended the Institution in public and in private, re- gardless of consequences. Twice the Grand Lodge met without a sufficient number to transact business, and ad- journed until a later date in order to "drum up a quorum."
The "Morgan excitement" occurred in 1826, but it did not become generally known throughout the Western coun- try until two years later-1828. Out of thirty-two lodges in this State at that time, but nine were represented at the meeting in 1828. The same number were represented in 1829, six in 1830, seven in 1831, seven in 1832, five in 1833, three in 1834, eleven in 1835, and seven in 1836, ten years after the occurrence took place.
In an admirable history of Center Lodge, written by its Master, Hon. Will E. English, will be found the following passage, which pictures so vividly the condition of things at that time that it is inserted here in full. He says, page 19: "The dark days of Masonry were now upon the Fra- ternity, not only in Indiana, but throughout the nation. The so-called 'Morgan disappearance' had aroused a spirit of persecution which spread like wildfire all over the land. At many places members of the Craft were socially ostra-
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cised, Masonic ministers were forbidden to occupy their pulpits, and mobs broke into lodge rooms, destroyed lodge property and assaulted the assembled members. So strong was this movement at the time that the anti-Masonic polit- ical party was formed, which polled a large vote in some States and carried Vermont in the presidential election of 1832. In Indiana they placed a ticket in the field during this campaign, headed by ex-Supreme Judge James Scott, of Clark county, for the office of Governor.
"In the great State of New York, where five hundred and two lodges had existed, but seventy-two remained, four hundred and thirty having disbanded as a result of this wave of fanaticism. In Vermont at one period not a sin- gle lodge continued to work, and in the State of Maine the Grand Lodge assembled with no lodge representatives pres- ent and but a few of the Grand Officers; and it will be a surprise to many of this generation to learn that even in the Grand Lodge of Indiana a movement was at one time sug- gested looking to a surrender, as is shown by the proceed- ings of December 9, 1834, when Caleb B. Smith, Grand Master in 1837 (and Secretary of the Interior in President Lincoln's Cabinet), Grand Master-elect Daniel Kelso, Grand Treasurer John Walker and W. M. Shepherd Whitman, of New Albany Lodge, were 'appointed a committee with in- structions to enquire into the. expediency of this Grand Lodge surrendering its charter, and if such surrender should be deemed advisable, to report such resolutions as may dispose of the property of the Grand Lodge and that of the subordinate lodges as may seem just and expedient.'
"After due deliberation, this committee on the following day, through its chairman, Caleb B. Smith, made a report, which was read and coccurred in, which is not given in full in the published proceedings. That it was strongly against the idea is self-evident, as the Grand Lodge of Indiana, not- withstanding its struggles and trials, held together and weathered the storm; but that it was even for a moment proposed shows how generally prevalent were the baleful influences of that period.
"Masons in many other parts of the country than those previously mentioned either abandoned their meetings for the time being, or met in secret at rare intervals in private houses and out-of-the-way places. Many weak-kneed broth-
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ers entirely abandoned the organization in the face of this crusade of calumny and persecution, but 'Freemasonry, not- withstanding, still survived,' for there were enough of the tried, trusted and true, in whose faithful breasts' the 'mys- teries of Masonry were safely lodged,' to still maintain the good work and 'preserve the reputation of the Fraternity unsullied,' for 'no motive could make them swerve from their duties, violate their vows, or betray their trusts.' "
The cause of this great commotion was the alleged ab- duction and subsequent disappearance of a man by the name of William Morgan, who resided at the village of Batavia, N. Y. The facts in regard to this case, as they have been obtained from various sources supposed to be re- liable, from books and newspaper articles, private letters, etc., are briefly condensed in the following sketch.
The man in whom all this popular frenzy centered was, so far as is admitted by friend and foe alike, about as small a character as circumstances ever raised to the rank of a martyr. He was a stonemason who seldom did any work, was in the habit of becoming intoxicated, and was generally a worthless, indolent sort of fellow. How he ever became a Mason no one could ever find out, as it would have been a strange lodge membership. that would not have blackballed him. He had a very excellent wife, as all accounts agree in stating, and for her sake the Masons took care of Morgan for years, not only providing him with work when he was sober, but giving him money for his family.
Morgan was said to have been born in Culpepper county, Virginia, in 1796, where he learned the trade of a stone- cutter, afterwards opened a store in Richmond, and finally, after staying short periods in different places, located at Batavia, N. Y.
In the summer of the year 1826 it was currently rumored in Batavia and the adjacent country that Morgan, in con- junction with a printer by the name of David C. Miller, was about to publish a book disclosing the secrets of Ma- sonry. The knowledge of this intent created excitement among the members of the Masonic Fraternity, and efforts were at once made to suppress the book. A stranger was
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introduced to Miller, under pretext of desiring to purchase an interest in the work, in order to procure the manuscript. Shortly afterwards the printing office took fire in a way that pointed to an incendiary.
On the 12th of September Miller was arrested at Batavia, conveyed in a carriage to LaRoy, and on the way at various points riotous demonstrations were indulged in and de- mands made of Miller for the manuscripts which he was supposed to have, but all to no effect. Nothing being found against Miller, he was released and returned to Ba- tavia. On the night of this same day William Morgan dis- appeared. On the 10th, two days previous, he had been arrested on a charge of theft of a shirt and cravat. On the trial of the case he was found not guilty, but was immedi- ately rearrested in a civil suit for the recovery of the sum of two dollars upon an alleged tavern bill. He was tried on this charge, was found guilty, and immediately impris- oned in the jail at Canandaigua. Unknown to his friends in Batavia, he lay closely confined until 9 o'clock of the night of the 12th. While the jailor was absent that night, as the story goes, his wife was approached by the parties who had procured his arrest, and the representation made to her that the judgment against Morgan had been paid, and advised her to discharge him. This she at once did, and Morgan walked out a free man.
In the security of that September evening he was seen to enter a carriage in company with several others, and the evidence elicited afterwards on the trial of some of the al- leged abductors showed that it was driven to Rochester, and thence west on the ridge road. The carriage proceeded on to Lewiston, and thence to Fort Niagara, where he was con- fined in the Magazine until the morning of the 19th. He disappeared from the Magazine on the 19th of September, 1826, and not one of those sworn on the trials, and who answered, were present at the Magazine when he was taken out of it, knew anything about his fate.
The seventy years that have passed since that time have contributed nothing to the solution of the great mystery. Rumors from over the sea have come that he was seen
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alive and well at Smyrna, in Asia, and elsewhere; and there were, and are yet, no doubt, a class of people that believed that he was himself a willing party to the whole mysteri- ous transaction.
Some fifteen months after his disappearance a dead body was brought ashore on the strand of Lake Ontario, in the vicinity of Fort Niagara, and, although the action of the elements had denuded it of clothing and changed the feat- ures beyond recognition, scores of witnesses came forward and identified it before a coroner's jury as the corpse of Morgan. There were hundreds who remembered a strik- ing physical peculiarity of the missing man-the presence of a double row of teeth in the lower jaw, which these re- mains were found to exactly reproduce. The evidence of physicians, however, disclosed the fact that only the early indications of putrefaction appeared, and that the general condition of the remains showed conclusively that they had not been in the water more than two months, while it was claimed that Morgan had been murdered more than a year before this man could have been drowned. In defiance of this evidence the jury found that the body was that of the missing Morgan, and it was interred as his! A very short time elapsed, however, before it was exhumed and posi- tively identified as that of a man well known to his friends who had been lost in the river above the falls some weeks before. This was the individual that the anti-Masonic po- litical party, which had sprung up on the disappearance of Morgan, said was "a good enough Morgan until after the election !"
The fate of Morgan is unknown and can only be conjec- tured, and now, at the end of three-quarters of a century, it is not probable that any new light will be thrown on the much-mooted question. Nor is the mystery worthy of fur- ther serious investigation, only as a matter of history. It was a dastardly piece of business, for which those immedi- ately concerned in it can alone be held responsible. Ma- sonry, as an institution, can no more be held accountable for Morgan's abduction and murder, if he was murdered, than can the Presbyterians be held responsible for the burn-
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