USA > Indiana > A history of freemasonry in Indiana from 1806 to 1898 > Part 28
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After much reading and reflection in regard to the an- tiquity and importance of the Masonic system, he arrived at this conclusion :
First. That there is an invisible, supreme, self-existing intelligence termed God; a spirit to whom adoration is due from man through his intellectual powers, and that all true worship or reverence was direct from man's intellect to God, without any intermediate agent or image.
PHILIP MASON.
WILLIAM SHEETS.
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Second. That the several degrees of Masonry teach all the moral obligation of man, are symbolized in conferring the degrees, and taught in the Masonic ritual.
Third. That the cultivation of the arts and sciences are indispensable to a correct knowledge of nature and of God.
Fourth. That the necessary conclusions to which the fore- going brings us is that man is a social being and mankind should be a band of brothers.
To these conclusions he added: "I know of no associa- tion or institution of men, outside of a well-regulated insti- tution of learning, where a young man could be better trained for the active duties of social life than in a well- conducted Masonic lodge."
He died at his home in Connersville, Ind., in 1869, the particulars of which appear on the records of the lodge in that place as follows:
"Brother Philip Mason, deceased Sunday eve, April 25, 1869, at half-past 5 o'clock, at his residence in Connersville, Ind. He was born December 10, 1793, and was at the time of his death 75 years, 4 months and 15 days old. He was initiated an Entered Apprentice in Warren Lodge No. 15, F. & A. M., December S, 1820, passed to the degree of Fellow Craft December 26th, and raised to the sublime de- gree of Master Mason February 2, 1821. IIe was buried by the brethren on Wednesday, April 28, 1869, at 2 o'clock p. m., Past Grand Master H. G. Hazelrigg and Brother Thomas Newby, assisted by Deputy Past Grand Lecturer (of Ill.) Brother F. M. Blair, of Indianapolis. The pro- cession was large and presented a very impressive appear- ance, escorted by the Connersville Silver Cornet Band."
WILLIAM SHEETS, then of Madison, later of Indianapolis, was elected Grand Master in 1831, and served until the annual meeting in 1832. He was made a Mason in Solo- mon Lodge at Madison in 1824, and represented that lodge in the Grand Lodge in 1829. He was present again in 1830 as Grand Secretary, and was elected Deputy Grand Master. In 1831 he presided. as Grand Master, and was · elected to that position, but did not attend the meeting of 1832. He was not a very regular attendant at the sessions
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of the Grand Lodge until 1847, when he was elected one of the trustees to superintend the purchase of the grounds and the erection of the Masonic Temple at Indianapolis. Nearly the entire labor of that task devolved on him, and for nineteen years he devoted almost his entire time and energies in the prosecution of the work, and it is not too much to say that to him alone the Grand Lodge of Indiana is indebted for the very valuable and handsome property it now possesses. The action of the Grand Lodge in dissolv- ing the Board of Building Commissioners, of which he was chairman, thus removing him from any further control of the property, he took very much to heart, and it undoubt- edly hastened his end. Grand Master Rice, in his address, referring to his death, said: "His last illness was attended with but little bodily suffering, and his death seemed to be the result of a gradual wasting away of an overtaxed sys- tem more than of disease."
He was born in Birkitt county, Virginia, in 1803, where . he resided until 1817, when he removed to this State and located at Madison. In the year 1832 he was elected to the office of Secretary of State, and removed to Indianapolis to assume the duties of that position. He was again elected to that office in 1840, thus holding it in all eight years. He died at Indianapolis, March 4, 1871, aged 68 years. Thus passed away one of the most devoted and useful men the Grand Lodge has ever had among its membership.
WOODBRIDGE PARKER, of Salem, was elected Grand Master October 3, 1832, and served one term of one year. He was born in Essex county, Massachusetts, on the 12th day of July, 1796. He was trained to the business of a boot and shoe maker, and removed to Indiana soon after attaining his majority. He first settled in Charlestown, Ind., but afterwards removed to Salem, where he was engaged in mercantile pursuits for many years. While a resident there he was elected Grand Master. Subsequently he removed to New Albany, where he died March 5, 1842. He was married to the second daughter of Henry P. Thornton, a delegate to the convention which organized the Grand Lodge and first Grand Secretary elected after its organiza-
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DANIEL KELSO.
JAMES L. HOGAN.
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tion. He was at one time a member of the Indiana Legis- lature. In all the walks of life he was a most worthy man and Mason. He is said to have been a fine ritualist and distinguished as a Masonic lecturer.
DANIEL KELSO, of York, Switzerland county, was elected Grand Master December 10, 1834. At the annual meet- ing, 1835, he was elected Grand Secretary, and re-elected in 1836. While acting in the latter capacity he failed in the performance of his duties, as is noted in charges pre- ferred against him at the session of 1839 for "failing to attend the meetings of the Grand Lodge in person or by agent; failing to pay over the moneys in his hands to the Grand Treasurer; failing to make his returns to the Grand Lodge; failing to hand over to his successor the books and papers in his possession." At the next annual meeting the committee made a full report, which see.
The same year he was chosen Grand Master he was elected a member of the Legislature from the county in which he lived (Switzerland), and served in the nineteenth session of that body, and was a member of the important committees of judiciary, education and military affairs. In politics he was a Whig. It was during this session that Oliver H. Smith, also a Whig, was a candidate for re-elec- tion to the Senate of the United States. David Hoover, of Wayne county, a known Democrat, in order to secure his election as a member of the House (as is learned from "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches," by O. H. Smith, page 354), pledged himself to vote for Smith for re-election to the Senate. Kelso, being a Whig, also pledged Smith to vote for him. The first vote showed 74 votes for Tilgh- man A. Howard, precisely what he should have received. and 72 for Smith, four less than the party vote with Hoover added. Kelso voted for Ned Hannegan, a Demo- crat, and Hoover, knowing that without Kelso's vote Smith could not be elected, voted for him. Hoover did not again vote for him, and at no time during the voting did Kelso vote for Smith. On the last ballot Edward A. Hannegan received 76 votes and was elected, both Kelso and Hoover voting for him: Smith received 69 votes, and there were 4
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scattering, and Senator Smith, as he states in the work above referred to, "was sacrificed by the treachery of David Hoover, of Wayne, and Daniel Kelso, of Switzerland." In closing his sketch of the above episode, Mr. Smith said: "Kelso and Hoover have lived to feel as comfortable in the presence of those who once respected them as General Ar- nold did when introduced in England to the friends of Major Andre."
JOHN B. MARTIN, of Vincennes, was elected Grand Mas- ter December 16, 1835, and served one year, being suc- ceeded in 1836 by James L. Hogin. The date or the place of his birth are unknown. It is thought he was born in Rutland, Vt. He was a tailor by trade. In stature he was very tall and erect, and carried himself with more mili- tary grace than any other man of his time. He was for many years captain of the "Vincennes Blues," a fine mili- tary company that existed in Vincennes for thirty years. It was composed of the bon ton and wealthy young men of the place, and always appeared in splendid uniform. It was a necessary concomitant of all public meetings and large social gatherings in the place, and the splendid uni- forms of its members attracted the admiration of all, and of course Captain Martin, in his coat of blue with gold but- tons, and sword and buckler attached, was the "observed of all observers."
In politics he was a Whig and took an active part in the interest of his party. He was elected a justice of the peace, and was serving as such when he died in Vincennes in 1848.
JAMES L. HOGIN, then of Indianapolis, was elected Grand Master December 14, 1836, and served until December 13, 1837. He was the organizer of and the first Master of Danville Lodge.
He was born in Kent county, Delaware, March 7, 1801. His father was of Scotch-Irish ancestry and his mother Eng- lish. Both families were strong patriots during the Revo- lution, and several of them bore arms in the cause of the colonies. He received but a limited education in early life, and during his minority learned the shoemaking trade,
CALEB B. SMITH.
ISAAC BARTLETT.
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at which he worked for many years. But he was always a diligent student, and was noted as a lover of books. Even when poor and earning a scanty living, he was continually adding to his stock of historical and standard works, and in after years possessed one of the finest libraries in the country.
In March, 1819, he came to Indiana and settled in Brookville, where he worked at his trade for a number of years. He afterwards engaged in mercantile pursuits at Indianapolis and Danville, Ind., and Sigourney, Ia., where he located in 1850. Here he made his home and passed the remainder of his life, enjoying the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. Although shrinking from public no- tice, his friends pressed him into the political arena, and he was elected to the Towa State Senate in 1854, and served with distinction in two regular and one special session.
But it was in Masonry that he was especially distin- guished, having taken a deep interest in the Order from the time he connected himself with the Fraternity. He held prominent offices in two States, being elected Grand Master of Indiana in 1836 and Grand Master of Iowa in 1854.
He was one of nature's noblemen, and passed away "like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams," at his home in Sigourney, Ia., December 7, 1876.
CALEB B. SMITH, of Connersville, and later of Indianap- olis, was elected Grand Master December 13, 1837. He was not present at the next annual meeting, his office being filled pro tem. by Philip Mason. He was present at the meeting in 1839, and was noted as Past Master, acting as Deputy Grand Master pro tem. He was a regular attend- ant afterwards on the meetings of the Grand Lodge, and in 1845, after the installation ceremonies were concluded, it is stated, "he delivered the charge most impressively," and the Grand Orator being taken suddenly ill, the audience and brethren (the installation being public in the Methodist Church) were addressed by Brother Smith in a thrilling and eloquent manner in defense of Masonry."
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In announcing his death, which occurred January 7, 1864, Grand Master Hacker, among other things, said:
"In 1834, when he first entered the Grand Lodge, al- though our subordinate lodges at that time numbered thirty-six, but four chartered lodges and one under dispen- sation were represented. So fearfully had the anti-Masonic persecution prevailed that men of the stoutest hearts quailed, and but few were found bold enough to come for- ward and manfully contend for the truth. Among that honored few none was more prompt or combatted more fearlessly the error that was then running rampant over our fair land, withering and blighting all within reach of its fearful ravages, than did our honored and much-lamented Brother Smith."
The following sketch from "Early Indiana Trials." by Oliver HI. Smith. 1858, is a vivid pen picture of Brother Smith in his early life:
"Few men in the West have filled a larger space in the public eye than the subject of this sketch. One day I was sitting in my office at Connersville, when there entered a small youth, about five feet eight inches high, large head, thin brown hair, light blue eyes, high, capacious forehead and good features, and introduced himself as Caleb B. Smith from Cincinnati. He stated his business in a lisping tone. He had come to read law with me, if I could receive him. I assented to his wishes, and he remained with me until he was admitted to practice, and commenced his pro- fessiona! as well as his political career at Connersville. He rose rapidly at the bar: was remarkably fluent, rapid and eloquent before the jury : never at a loss for ideas or words to express them. If he had a fault as an advocate, it was that he suffered his nature to press forward his ideas for utterance faster than the minds of the jurors were prepared to receive them : still he was very successful before the court and jury. He represented his county in the Legislature of the State: was Speaker of the House: twice elected to Con- gress from his district: stood high in that body as a member and eloquent speaker. He was one of the most eloquent and powerful stump speakers in the United States: a warm and devoted Whig; was on the commission after he left
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Congress with Corwin and Payne under the Mexican treaty."
Afterwards he was a member of President Lincoln's Cab- inet, being his Secretary of the Interior. Later he was ap- pointed United States District Judge for Indiana, which office he was filling at the time of his death.
Oliver H. Smith closes his sketch as follows:
"I saw him a few days ago in fine health, but how changed! Age had marked him visibly ; his head was bald; his cheeks furrowed; his eyes sunken, covered with glasses."
Brother Smith was made a Mason in Warren Lodge at Connersville by Philip Mason, Past Grand Master, being initiated April 18, passed April 24 and raised April 29, 1829. He was elected and installed as Master of the lodge September 8, 1832, and finally reached the Grand Master's chair in 1837. In 1852 he removed to Cincinnati, dimit- ting from his lodge to join a lodge in that city. This was the end of his Masonic career.
ISAAC BARTLETT, of Logansport, was elected Grand Master May 29, 1845, and served as such until the annual meeting in 1846, when he was succeeded by Johnson Watts.
It is supposed that he received the degrees of Masonry in Washington City, as he was in possession of them when he located in Logansport. His first appearance in the Grand Lodge was in 1839, at which session he served as Junior Grand Warden, on the Committees on Grievances and For- eign Correspondence, and was elected Deputy Grand Mas- ter, and re-elected in 1840-1-2-3-4, and elected Grand Mas- ter in 1845. He located in Logansport in 1848 and affili- ated with Tipton Lodge No. 33, of which he was for many years Secretary. In 1854-5 he became involved with mem- bers of the lodge, and charges were preferred against him. During the trial Grand Master Lawrence appeared and stopped further proceedings, out of which grew trouble that caused the irate Grand Master to declare the lodge clan- destine. An appeal from his action was taken to the Grand Lodge, which restored the charter and ordered the lodge to proceed with the trial. The accused was thereupon tried and expelled. He appealed to the Grand Lodge, but the
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sentence of expulsion was confirmed. A short time before he died the Grand Lodge restored him, and September 10, 1867, he was buried with Masonic ceremonies in the pres- ence of a large concourse of citizens. As to the merits of this case, there was room for honest difference of opinion. Grand Master Hazelrigg, who had known him long and in- timately, in announcing his death to the Grand Lodge, spoke of him in these flattering words:
"Ile was ever ready and faithful in the discharge of every duty devolving upon him. He took delight in communi- cating of his well-earned store of knowledge to all who ap- plied to him, being well versed in the ritualistic teachings, living in obedience to the laws of God and man, illustrating in a happy manner the benign influences of Masonry, in which he so much delighted."
He was a collector and insurance agent, and for a long time secretary of the Cass county fairs. He was trustee of Eel River township at the time of his death. He was stoop-shouldered, and was generally familiarly called "Daddy Bartlett."
JOHNSON WATTS, of Versailles, Ripley county, was elected Grand Master in 1846. At that time he was Master of Versailles Lodge No. 7. He was born a few miles from Lexington, Ky., July 7, 1794, at a place called Bryant's Station. When only two years old his father removed into Boone county, of that State, almost directly opposite Au- rora, Ind. When eighteen years old he went into the army in the war of 1812, was wounded and taken prisoner at the defeat of Winchester, and did not return home until 1813. In 1814 he was married to Elizabeth MeLain, and a year later removed into Dearborn county, Indiana.
Ile was made a Mason in Rising Sun Lodge No. 6, 1817, and was a member of that lodge until it ceased to work on account of the Morgan excitement, which spread all over the country, causing a cessation of work in nearly all the lodges in this jurisdiction, as well as elsewhere in the United States. During this time a few zealous Masons, including himself, procured a dispensation, opened a lodge at Ver- sailles, and worked under the same for two years. A char-
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JOHNSON WATTS.
مكس
ELIZUR DEMING.
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ter was then granted, and he was elected the first Master. He was elected Senior Grand Warden in 1844, Deputy Grand Master in 1845, and Grand Master in 1846.
ELIZUR DEMING, of Lafayette, was born in Great Barring- ton Park, Mass., March 4, 1798, and was reared to manhood in his native State. After completing his collegiate and medical course, he went to Ohio and first located at Milford, and later at Chillicothe, where he successfully practiced medicine. In 1834 he settled in Lafayette, Ind., and soon gained a front position among his brethren of the profes- sion. For three years he filled the chair of materia medica in the medical college at La Porte, Ind.
In 1852 he was appointed professor of general pathology and clinical medicine in the State University of Missouri, which position he filled until his death, which occurred February 22, 1855, in the meridian of life and usefulness.
While a resident of Milford, O., he received the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry, and shortly after locating in Lafayette was elected Master of Perry Lodge and re-elected for many years following. He received the Chapter de- grees and presided as High Priest. He received the orders of Christian Knighthood in Raper Commandery, at Indian- apolis. He was elected Grand Master of Masons in In- diana in May, 1847, re-elected in 1848, 1849 and 1850. It was during his term as Grand Master that the Grand Lodge records, which had been lost for twenty-seven years, were discovered and brought to light. His administration as Grand Master was exceedingly popular, and few men ever retired from that responsible office more universally be- loved.
During the great Harrison campaign for President, in 1840, when General Harrison was carrying all the country, and Indiana in particular, like a whirlwind, Dr. Deming came suddenly forth as a brilliant orator; to the surprise of everyone. The year following, 1841, he was elected to the Legislature by the Whigs of Tippecanoe county. He soon became prominent as an abolitionist, and in 1843 was nom- inated for Governor of Indiana by the Liberty and Free Soil party, headed by Martin Van Buren.
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His character and ability in all the walks of life are well portrayed by his intimate friend, Hon. Schuyler Colfax, in the South Bend "Register," of which he was at that time editor. Upon hearing of the death of Dr. Deming, Mr. Colfax wrote as follows:
"We write of the deceased with the partiality and esteem which our long acquaintance with him created; but we be- lieve we speak the voice of all others who knew him well when we rank him as one of nature's noblemen-manly, conscientious, benevolent-of warm and generous sympa- thies, faithful to every conviction of duty at whatever cost, and thoroughly unselfish in his whole life and his every act. Long ago he felt it his duty to connect himself with the Free Soil party, small as it was in number and prejudiced as the great mass of the people were against it; and his advo- cacy of its doctrines became more and more earnest and eloquent, as the prejudices against it intensified, in its dark- est hours, despite the injury to his practice, and the per- sonal opposition which it evoked, he was boldest in the pub- lic enforcement of its principles; and ever with a light heart and a buoyant hope looked forward confidently to the ultimate recognition of his patriotism. And at last, when the great wrong of 1854 stirred the consciences of the masses of the North, he was the first to advocate the hearty fusion of all parties and to insist against the adoption of any platform that would hazard the success of that popular uprising for which he had so long looked. Himself the favorite candidate for a post which he would have adorned, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, he refused to assent to the programme which would have given, on the 13th of July, two of the candidates on the State ticket to each of the old parties and the fifth to himself, declaring that the triumph of principle was dearer to him and his as- sociates than the honors of office, and insisting that that position should be given to the gentleman who now fills it. This is but a single instance of his disinterestedness, but is a fair type of his whole life and character. We must not omit to add that such were his merits in his profession that, despite his outspoken anti-slavery sentiments, the Governor and other trustees of the medical college of the slave State of Missouri selected him in 1853 for one of its prominent
ALEXANDER C. DOWNEY.
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Edu Hadcon
BAKER-RANDOLPH LO PRID.
HENRY C. LAWRENCE.
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professorships, which he held till his death. Such a man must, of course, have been universally mourned by the com- munity in which he lived and died. And it did not surprise us, therefore, to learn that no building in Lafayette was large enough to contain the throng of citizens who attended his funeral obsequies. Services were held in two churches simultaneously, and all felt that a good and a great man had been gathered to his fathers. The Masonic Fraternity, of which he had been for many years the chief officer in this State, feel and attest the greatness of their loss by the resolutions passed in nearly all their lodges; and the I. O. O. F., of which he was also a valued member, join them in their sympathy for his deeply bereaved family."
ALEXANDER C. DOWNEY, of Rising Sun, was elected Grand Master in 1851-2-5-6-9 and 1860, serving in that office full six years. He was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, Sep- tember 10, 1817. He removed with his parents to Indiana a few years afterwards, where they became residents of that part of Dearborn county which now forms Ohio county. His early education was such as, added to self-culture, could be acquired in the common schools, and afterwards attend- ing the county seminary at Wilmington, then the county seat of Dearborn county. He commenced the study of law in 1840, and was soon after admitted to the bar. In the fall of 1844 he removed to Rising Sun, where he continued the practice of law, and in 1850 was appointed by Governor Joseph A. Wright as judge of the circuit in which he lived, and was elected by the Legislature at. the next session to the same position, which he held until 1858, when he re- signed. During the time he was judge he held the position of professor of law in Asbury University, at Greencastle, and in appreciation of his services to that institution the faculty conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. He was elected to the State Senate from the counties of Ohio and Switzerland, and served in that body in the sessions of 1862 to 1866, in which position, the Senate being tied. he gave the casting vote in favor of ratifying the amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolishing slavery.
He was one of the commissioners of the House of Refuge in 1869, and in 1871 was elected, as a Democrat, one of the
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judges of the State Supreme Court, serving until 1877, when he again retired to the practice of the law, and later was elected as judge of the Circuit Court, which position he filled with marked ability and satisfaction to all parties in- terested.
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