USA > Indiana > A history of freemasonry in Indiana from 1806 to 1898 > Part 36
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1895-1896.
Edward O'Rourke. Grand Master. Fort Wayne. Simeon P. Gillett, Deputy Grand Master, Evansville. Mason J. Niblack, Senior Grand Warden, Vincennes. George A. Macomber, Junior Grand Warden, South Bend. Martin HI. Rice, Grand Treasurer, Indianapolis. William H. Smythe, Grand Secretary, Indianapolis. James B. Lathrope, Grand Chaplain, Greensburg. Daniel Keefer, Grand Lecturer, Attica.
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Orlando W. Brownback, Grand Marshal, Pendleton. William Geake, Senior Grand Deacon, Fort Wayne. Robert W. McBride, Junior Grand Deacon, Indianapolis. Roger Parry, Grand Tyler, Indianapolis.
1896-1997.
Simeon P. Gillett, Grand Master, Evansville. Mason J. Niblack, Deputy Grand Master, Vincennes. Simeon S. Johnson, Senior Grand Warden, Jeffersonville. William Geake, Junior Grand Warden, Fort Wayne. Martin H. Rice, Grand Treasurer, Indianapolis. William H. Smythe, Grand Secretary, Indianapolis. Gustav A. Carstensen, Grand Chaplain, Indianapolis. Justin N. Study, Grand Lecturer, Richmond. Oliver W. Brownback, Grand Marshal, Pendleton. Olin E. Holloway, Senior Grand Deacon, Knightstown. Robert A. Woods, Junior Grand Deacon, Princeton. Roger Parry, Grand Tyler, Indianapolis.
1897-1898.
Mason J. Niblack, Grand Master, Vincennes. Simeon S. Johnson, Deputy Grand Master, Jeffersonville. William Geake, Senior Grand Warden, Fort Wayne. Olin E. Holloway, Junior Grand Warden, Knightstown. Martin H. Rice, Grand Treasurer, Indianapolis. William H. Smythe, Grand Secretary, Indianapolis. Gustav A. Carstensen, Grand Chaplain, Indianapolis. William E. English, Grand Lecturer, Indianapolis. Benjamin M. Willoughby, Grand Marshal, Vincennes. Oliver W. Brownback, Senior Grand Deacon, Pendleton. James W. Dunbar, Junior Grand Deacon, New Albany. Roger Parry, Grand Tyler, Indianapolis.
1898-1899.
Simeon S. Johnson, Grand Master, Jeffersonville. William Geake, Deputy Grand Master, Fort Wayne. Olin E. Holloway, Senior Grand Warden, Knightstown. Orlando W. Brownback, Junior Grand Warden, Pendleton. Martin H. Rice, Grand Treasurer, Indianapolis. William H. Smythe, Grand Secretary, Indianapolis. James T. O'Neal, Grand Chaplain, Jeffersonville. Robert A. Woods, Grand Lecturer, Princeton. William E. English, Grand Marshal, Indianapolis. James W. Dunbar, Senior Grand Deacon, New Albany. Charles W. Slick, Junior Grand Deacon, Mishawaka. Roger Parry, Grand Steward and Tyler, Indianapolis.
MISCELLANEOUS AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
THE committee appointed for the purpose of establishing a uniform system of work in Indiana, in 1860, was as follows :
First District-Samuel R. Dunn, Vincennes.
Second District-Thomas R. Austin, New Albany.
Third District-William C. Tarkington, Bloomington. Fourth District-Edward H. M. Berry, Milroy. Fifth District-Eleazer Malone, Centerville. Sixth District-William Hacker, Shelbyville.
Seventh District-Henry D. Washburn, Newport.
Eighth District-Harvey G. Hazelrigg, Thorntown. Ninth District-John B. Fravel, LaPorte.
Tenth District-Nelson Prentiss, Albion.
Eleventh District-William Roach, Anderson.
With one or two exceptions, all are dead.
MASONIC FUNERAL ODE.
The Masonic funeral ode which is now in universal use in the work of the third degree and at the burial of the Masonic dead was written by a brother by the name of David Vinton. He seems to have been an industrious Ma- sonic student, and for making some manuscript notes or aids to the memory of the Masonic ritual was expelled by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina. He is said to have died in great poverty near Russiaville, Ky. Following is the ode:
SOLEMN STRIKES THE FUNERAL CHIME.
Solemn strikes the funeral chime, Notes of our departing time, As we journey here below Through a pilgrimage of woe.
Mortals, now indulge a tear, For Mortality is here; See how wide her trophies wave O'er the slumbers of the grave.
(445)
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Here another guest we bring,
Seraphs of celestial wing! To our funeral altar come, Waft a friend and brother home.
Lord of all, below, above, Fill our hearts with truth and love; As dissolves our earthly tie, Take us to thy lodge on high.
LOUIS KOSSUTH.
In his history of Center Lodge, Past Master William E. English records the following, which is of interest as a mat- ter of history:
"Center Lodge had the honor of a visit, February 28, 1852, from one of the most famous among men and Masons that the world has ever known-Louis Kossuth, the great Hungarian patriot, who, accompanied by Gregory Bethlen, Paul Hajnick and Peter Nagy, all Masons, of his party, on that evening witnessed the conferring of the Master's de- gree on Rev. Abraham A. Myers. One week later, on the evening of March 1st, Dr. Louis Szpaczch, the friend, phy- sician and compatriot of Kossuth, having duly set forth in writing that he 'entertained a favorable opinion of the an- cient and honorable Fraternity,' was elected to membership and given all three degrees by Center Lodge, being granted a dimit the same evening, in order that he might connect himself with some European lodge on his return."
SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
The fiftieth year of the organization of the Grand Lodge of Indiana was celebrated on the 27th day of May, 1867. At that time there were but three members who took part in the organization living, namely, Judge Jeremiah Sulli- van, of Madison, John B. Rose, of Wabash, and Nicholas D. Grover, of Logansport, all of whom had been especially invited to be present. Brothers Rose and Grover responded in person. Brother Sullivan sent a letter of regret, in which he stated that, while for many reasons he should be gratified at meeting the Grand Lodge of Indiana on an occa- sion so full of pleasant reminiscences, it would be extremely inconvenient, if not impossible, for him to do so. Brothers Rose and Grover were invited to seats in the Grand East,
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and in response to the welcome of the Grand Master each responded, giving reminiscences of the early history of the Grand Lodge. Thereupon, on motion of Past Grand Master Sol. D. Bayless, these three surviving members and Rich- ard W. Thompson, of Terre Haute, who delivered the semi- centennial address, were made honorary members of the Grand Lodge. Grand Master Thomas Sparrow, of Ohio, and John D. Caldwell, Grand Secretary, who were present, were also made honorary members of the Grand Lodge.
The following programme of the order of exercises was adopted:
I. Invocation by Brother George B. Engle.
II. Presentation to the assembly of the surviving mem- bers of this Grand Lodge at its formation, by P. G. M. Sol. D. Bayless.
III. Introductory remarks by Thomas Sparrow, Grand Master of Ohio.
IV. Introduction by Grand Master H. G. Hazelrigg of the orator of the day, Brother the Hon. Richard W. Thompson.
V. Prayer and benediction by Brother John Leach, Grand Chaplain.
The oration of Brother Thompson covers twenty-four closely printed pages, and is the most interesting address on the subject of Freemasonry ever delivered before the Grand Lodge. The limits of this work, however, will per- mit of but a single extract. This is given to show the uni- versality of Freemasonry, and to show the orator's belief in the return of the Jews to Jerusalem and the actual second coming of the Messiah. On this subject he said:
"The Jews, amongst whom Masonry originated, were once the chosen and favored people of God. When they went down into the land of Canaan, under Joshua, the Lord said to them: 'Ye shall observe my statutes, to keep my ordinances, to walk therein. I am the Lord your God. But they kept not His statutes, and walked not in His ordi- nances, and His wrath was visited upon them. The ten tribes were separated from the House of David, and went, says Josephus, 'somewhere beyond the Euphrates,' or, ac-
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cording to Esdras, 'to a remote country where never had mankind dwelt.' They were lost, and in their loss prophecy was fulfilled. The remainder were left to be dispersed amongst the nations, and to be despised and shunned by the bulk of mankind. Cast out by Christians and persecuted by Pagans, they have wandered all over the world, without a country. For hundreds of years the Jew has found no place on earth where he could rest from persecution long enough to call any other man brother, except at the Ma- sonic altar. Here only has he been reminded of the past glory and greatness of his kindred; and here alone has he found treasured in remembrance the prominent events in the ancient history of his race. Here he has met with friendship, sympathy and brotherly love, while everywhere else he has had to encounter enmity, coldness and dislike .. When, in England, a Christian was not permitted to eat with a Jew, Masonry, in secret, defied the ecclesiastical power which fulminated the edict. And thus have the fires of affection been kept alive in the Jewish heart by the Insti- tution of Masonry, until it has come to pass that in every country of protestant Christianity the Jew is admitted to equality of rights and citizenship. He is only persecuted where the Papal and the Moslem power is triumphant. And are there not seen some manifestations of Providence in all this? Does it not betoken that the remnant of these people are preserved for the accomplishment of some wise design, and that they are once more to be gathered together at the second coming of the Messiah ? * No intelli- gent Christian doubts the final restoration of the Jews. Whether it is to be by the gradual and imperceptible prog- ress of events, or to come upon the world like a 'thief in the night,' when the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God,' remains vet unrevealed. But whensoever or howsoever it shall come to pass, they will be gathered at Jerusalem. That city will again become the city of God, and the temple will doubtless be rebuilt to signify His glory and to symbolize the universality of the Messiah's reign."
GEN. ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, the first Governor of the Terri- tory Northwest of the River Ohio, and consequently the first Governor of the territory now comprising the State of
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Indiana, was a Mason. He was elected Governor by Con- gress, October 5, 1787. He located in Marietta, O., in July, 17SS, where he began the organization of the North- west Territory under the ordinance of 1787. The little army umder his command were constantly in active service quelling Indian disturbances in various parts of the Terri- tory, until 1791, when General St. Clair determined to raise a considerable army and destroy, if possible, the Indian warriors that were constantly committing depredations in and about the headwaters of the Wabash. The army, num- bering about 1,400 effective men, moved forward on the 3d of November, 1791, and camped that night at a place where Fort Recovery was afterwards erected. At that time Little Turtle and other Indian chiefs, with about 1,200 warriors, were lying a few miles distant, waiting a favorable moment to begin the attack. Early on the morning of the 4th the Indians came stealthily upon St. Clair's army, made an attack, which created a panic and stampeded General St. Clair's army, resulting in a most disastrous defeat. St. Clair lost 39 officers killed, and 593 men killed and missing; 22 officers and 242 men were wounded. The failure of the expedition could not be attributed to the conduct of General St. Clair at any time before or during the battle. He re- signed, however, the office of major-general, and was suc- ceeded by General Anthony Wayne, whose subsequent vic- tory over the Indians and his treaty of peace at Greenville is well known to the world. Governor St. Clair died at Greensburg, Pa., August 31, 1818, leaving a family of one son and three daughters. A marble monument was erected over his grave by the Masonic Fraternity, the only one ever erected in that place by the Masons.
GEN. ANTHONY WAYNE .- A magnificent monument was erected at Stony Point, N. Y., July 16, 1857, by the Grand Lodge of New York to the memory of Brother Gen- eral Anthony Wayne. In Indiana his name and fame is perpetuated in the name of the city of Fort Wayne. Such a brother as General Anthony Wayne Masonry delights to honor.
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Several of the Governors of Indiana were members of the Fraternity, and a brief sketch of their lives is deemed appropriate here.
JONATHAN JENNINGS, the first Governor, was Grand Master. A sketch of his life will be found under head of Grand Masters.
JAMES B. RAY, twice elected Governor of Indiana, serving from 1825 to 1831, was made a Master Mason in Brook- ville Harmony Lodge No. 11, at Brookville, Ind. He was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, February 19, 1794, and, having studied law in Cincinnati, he located in Brook- ville. Ind., and began the practice of his profession, where he soon won distinction as one of the ablest and most influ- ential attorneys at the bar of that court.
In 1822 he was elected to the State Senate, of which he was chosen president pro tem., and as such served out the remainder of the term of Governor Hendricks, who had been elected to the Senate of the United States. During his term as Governor he was appointed by the President a commissioner to act with Generals Lewis Cass and John Tipton to negotiate a treaty with the Pottawattomie In- dians. The acceptance of this appointment came very near depriving him of the Governor's office, on the ground that a man could not hold two offices of trust and profit at the same time, but the matter was finally dropped and he served out his full term.
Through his exertions as a member of the commission the Indians ceded to the State contiguous sections of land from Lake Michigan to the Ohio river for the purpose of build- ing a great thoroughfare across the State from north to south. It was afterwards built, and is known as the "Mich- igan Road." It runs from the mouth of Trail creek at Michigan City to the city of Madison on the Ohio river.
Governor Ray died of cholera in Cincinnati, August 4, 1848. In person, in his younger days he was said to be very prepossessing. He was tall and straight, with a body well proportioned, and wore his hair long and tied in a queue. His forehead was broad and high, and his features
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denoted intelligence of a high order. His remains lie buried in the Spring Grove Cemetery, near Cincinnati, out- side of the State he had helped to found.
NOAH NOBLE, twice elected Governor of Indiana, serving as such from 1831 to 1837, was made a Master Mason in Brookville Lodge somewhere in the twenties. He was twice elected sheriff of Franklin county, and in 1824 was chosen a member of the Legislature, in which body he soon became quite popular and gained a State reputation. He held other important trusts, and was twice a prominent can- didate for United States Senator, but was defeated by po- litical combinations. Oliver H. Smith, who defeated him for United States Senator, said of him that "he was one of the most popular men with the masses in the State. His person was tall and slim and his constitution delicate; his smile winning, his voice feeble, and the pressure of his hand irresistible. He spoke plainly and well, but made no pretense to oratory. As Governor he was very popular, and his social entertainments will long be remembered for the genuine hospitality which characterized them."
He died at his home near Indianapolis, February S, 1844, and was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, but his remains were subsequently removed to Crown Hill Cemetery and re- buried by the side of his wife. At his funeral the closing prayer was made by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.
DAVID WALLACE, Governor of Indiana, 1837 to 1840, was an active and enthusiastic Mason, and frequently delivered addresses at the annual sessions of the Grand Lodge and on other occasions. He was born in Pennsylvania, April 24. 1799, and graduated from West Point in 1821. He served in the Legislature in 1828, 1829 and 1831, and as Lieuten- ant-Governor in 1831 to 1836, and Governor 1837 to 1840. During his term as Governor he issued the first Thanks- giving Day proclamation. The most important act of his administration, however, was his order to remove the re- maining Pottawattomie Indians from Indiana to the reser- vation provided for them by the government of the United States, west of the Mississippi. At Twin Lakes, in Mar-
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shall county, was a large village of Pottawattomie Indians,. who were governed by Chief Menominee. Treaties had been concluded with this and other bands of Pottawatto- mies, by which they ceded their lands in northern Indiana to the government, agreeing to remove to the Western res- ervation within two years from the date of the treaty. When the time came to remove, Menominee, declaring that he had never signed the treaty, refused to leave his posses- sions, and his band, following his advice, also refused to go. Disturbances between the white settlers in the vicinity and the Indians became frequent, so much so that the Governor was importuned to send troops to protect them, or remove the Indians to their reservation west of the Mississippi. Governor Wallace, in order to satisfy himself as to the true condition of the trouble, started out on horseback in Au- gust. 1838, to visit in person the scene of the reported dis- turbance. He found a dangerous state of affairs existing, and at once determined to put an end to it by heroic means. He went to Logansport, where he consulted with Abel C. Pepper, the Indian agent, and it was determined to order the raising of a company of soldiers for the purpose of re- moving the Indians. General John Tipton was given au- thority to recruit a company of one hundred militia and take charge of the removal. The company was raised in less than twenty-four hours, and before the Indians were aware of what was about to take place, they were sur- rounded by General Tipton's soldiers and disarmed. The Indians for miles around were brought into camp, and after a few days' preparation, the Indians, squaws and pappooses, old men and women, cripples and the feeble, to the number of $59, were marched off on their long journey to their future home west of the Mississippi. It was a sad and sor- rowful sight to see these children of the forest driven away from their homes like so many dumb brutes, but no other way for the protection of the white residents seemed to be available. They were sixteen days on the way to Danville, Ill., where General Tipton delivered them to William Polk, who had been appointed, by the government, removing
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agent. On the way to their destination 103 Indians, squaws and pappooses died and were buried along the road- side, and much suffering was endured by the entire caravan. This ended the Indian disturbances, and blotted out the Pottawattomies in Indiana forever.
Governor Wallace, after his term as Governor expired, was subsequently elected to Congress. He was made a member of the Committee of Ways and Means, and in that committee gave the casting vote in favor of assisting with a donation to Professor Morse to develop the magnetic tele- graph. This vote was ridiculed by his political opponents, and cost him many votes the last time he ran for Congress. But he lived to see the telegraph established in nearly all the countries of the world and the wisdom of his action ac- knowledged by all.
As an orator Governor Wallace had few equals. Jolin Coburn, in a eulogy on his life and character, after his death, speaking of his oratorical powers, said: "With a voice modulated to the finest and nicest precision, an eye sparkling and expressive, a countenance and person remark- able for beauty and symmetry, he stepped upon the speak- er's stand, in these respects, far in advance of his compeers. His style of delivery was impressive, graceful, and at times impassioned, never rising to a scream or breaking into wild gesticulations, and never descending into indistinctness or lassitude. His style of composition was chaste, finished, flowing and beautiful, often swelling up into rarest elo- quence or melting down into the tenderest pathos. His prepared orations were completed with the severest care. As the sculptor chisels down and finishes his statue, chip- ping and chipping away the stone, to find within his beau- tiful ideal, so did he elaborate his thoughts till they assumed the shape he would give them, and so will retain them for- ever."
He died suddenly on September 4, 1859, and lies buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis.
JAMES WHITCOMB, twice elected as a democrat Governor of Indiana, 1843 and 1846, was one of the most picturesque
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characters the State has ever produced. He was born in Windsor, Vt., December 1, 1795. He came to Indiana in 1824 and settled in Bloomington, where he received the Masonic degrees. In 1825 he was a member of the Grand Lodge and was elected Grand Orator. He is said to have been the first man on whom the order of Knights Templar was conferred in Indiana. This was May 20, 1848, by Raper Commandery, which was organized in his house and for some time held its meetings there. He was proud of his connection with Masonry. In his affections Masonry stood only second to his church.
He was what might be called a successful politician. He was twice elected a member of the Indiana Senate, elected to the United States Senate, twice elected Governor of the State, and in 1836 was appointed by President Jackson Commissioner of the General Land Office. However, he disliked politics. He said: "The life of a politician is not always reputable; it has so many elements of deceit and dis- honesty that it is hard to follow it and keep clean one's hands and soul."
Speaking of his intellectuality, a writer in an Indianap- olis paper regarded him as one of the most remarkable men that was ever connected with public affairs in Indiana. He said: "Governor Whitcomb was an intellectual giant. He was a man of lofty integrity. He was sans peur et sans reproche. He was a man of the people. His colossal mind grasped every problem of statecraft and mastered it. No question was too occult for his analytical powers. In the crucible of his reasoning faculties the pure gold of fact was brought forth from the dross of fiction. Sophisms were ex- posed, duplicity was throttled, subterfuges were swept away and plain people were permitted to comprehend the most intricate questions relating to their welfare."
Once, in arguing a great public question, in which the whole people were interested, Governor Whitcomb paused to say:
"The most difficult national question can be understood by any man who is able to attend to his own business with- out the aid of a guardian, if exhibited to him by a familiar
.
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example, and if he will think for himself. There are too many who are interested in veiling such questions beneath the mist of deceptive words and pompous declamation."
He was a member of the Methodist Church and an active worker in its cause. He frequently led in public prayer, and for some time was a class leader in the church. In his public utterances he always referred to the Deity, and al- ways in a reverential manner.
When he died he was vice-president of the American Bible Society, an organization he loved, and to which he contributed with his means. He willed his library to As- bury University, an institution he favored in many ways.
He died in New York, October 4, 1852, of gravel, while serving as a Senator of the United States from Indiana. His remains were taken to Indianapolis and buried in Greenlawn Cemetery. The State erected a monument to his memory, which still stands to point out the spot where lies all that is mortal of one whose influence upon public sentiment is felt even at the present day.
ERASTUS W. H. ELLIS, who died at his home in Goshen, about 1877, was a distinguished Craftsman who did much for the advancement and stability of the Masonic Institu- tion in Indiana without having attained to high official po- sition in the Order. He was for many years a member of the Grand Lodge, during which time he served on many important committees, always with great acceptability. He was one of the enthusiastic advocates of the "uniformity of work" which was adopted by the Grand Lodge in 1860, and was a warm friend and great admirer of Rob Morris, the promoter of that system of work.
In politics he was a Republican, and in 1850 was by that party elected Auditor of State, and afterwards assisted in starting the "Indianapolis Statesman," which, after a few years, was absorbed by the "Sentinel." He was appointed a member of the "Peace Congress" of the border States which met in Washington City, February 4, 1861. He, with the other members from Indiana, was opposed to any compromise, and the congress adjourned without accom-
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