USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of Saint John's Lodge of Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as shown in the records of the First Lodge, the Second Lodge, the Third Lodge, the Rising Sun Lodge, the Masters' Lodge, St. John's Lodge, Most Worshipful Grand Lodge > Part 13
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Jonathan Belcher was born in Boston in 1681 and graduated at Har- vard in 1699. He was made a Mason in London in 1704, was afterwards present at a Grand Lodge held at the Devil Tavern, Temple Bar, the Earl of Strathmore, Grand Master, presiding, and so far as is known was the earliest Master Mason resident upon this continent. At this time he was retiring from the office of Royal Governor, and the lodge voted "that next the G.M. the Late Governor of this Province is to be toasted in the following manner, viz: To our Rt. W. Bro. the Honble. Mr. Belcher, Late Governor of N. E. with 3-3-3=9." When he was ap- pointed Governor of New Jersey a committee was chosen "in behalf of the Lodge to send a letter of congratulation to our Hon. Bro. Belcher upon his advancement to, and safe arrival at his Government of the Jerseys."
To avoid any imputation of partiality a committee was appointed to wait "on his Excellency Governor Shirley to congratulate him on his ad- vancement to the Government of this Province;" and he in return as- sured them "that their loyalty and fidelity to his Majesty will always recommend the Society to my favor and protection."
Tuesday, March 6th, 1743, "Bro. Tim. McDaniel presented our Rt. Worshpfl. Bro. Thos. Oxnard, Esqr. with a Deputation from the Rt. Honble. Rt. Worshipful the Ld. Barron Ward Grand Master of Eng- land constituting and appointing him our Gd. Rt. Worshl. Bro. Thomas Oxnard, Provincial G. Master of North America." It may be there is an error in the date of this record as subsequently it appears: "The Right Worshipful Thomas Oxnard having received a deputation dated London Sept. 23rd, 1743, from the Rt. Hon. and Most Worshipful John Lord Ward, Baron of Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, Grand Master of
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Masons in England, appointing him provincial grand master of Masons in the room of the right worshipful Grand Master Tomlinson deceased; which being communicated March 6, 1744, he was properly acknowl- edged, invested, installed and congratulated."
Wednesday, May 25, and Wednesday, June 8, 1743, the lodge was favored by a visit of Bro. Benj. Franklin of Philadelphia.
August 24, 1743, Brother Hall presented a "letter from the Lodge in Minorca which was generously Received and the Brethren remembered in due Order, when a Letter in Answer was ordered to be wrote and sent by the hands of Brother Hall, which was done accordingly, with a Token of 10 Galls. of Rum as from the Lodge, though it was really the present of Brother Hall."
December 24, 1746, "At the pettition of Sundry Brethren Residing in Newfoundland Our Rt. Worshl. Grand Master Granted a Constitution for a Lodge to be held there;" and it was named St. John's Lodge of St. John's, Newfoundland.
The years 1749 and 1750 were years of Masonic activity. February 15, 1749, a charter was granted to the Second Lodge of Boston, and March 7 to the Third.
December 27. "At the Pettition of Sundry Brethren Residing at Newport on Rhode Island Our Rt. Worshl. Bro. Thos. Oxnard, esq., Grand Master, Granted a Constitution" for St. John's Lodge to be held there.
Wednesday, Dec. 17th, 1749. "Being the Festival of St. John the Evangelist the Brethren attended Divine service at Christ Church where was a sermon preached by our Reverend Bro. Charles Brockwell very suitable to the occasion, after which they repaired in procession to Bro. Stones and celebrated the day in an elegant manner, with true masonic decorum and order."
July 19, 1750, "at ye Request of sundry Brethren at Halifax, a consti- tution was granted to hold a lodge there and His Excellency Edw. Corn- wallis, Esqr." was appointed their first master.
August 12, "At the Pettition of Sundry Brethren at Annapolis in Mary Land Our Rt. Worshl. Grand Master Bro. Thos. Oxnard Esqr. Granted a Constitution for a Lodge to be held there."
On the same day "At ye Pettition of sundry Brothers of Newhaven in Connecticut " a constitution was granted for Hiram Lodge to be held there.
Monday, June 24th, 1751. "Being the Festival of St. John the Baptist. The Brethren went in the morning in Regular Procession to the House of Mr. Richardson in Cambridge (Mr. Price's Houseat Menot-
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omy being incumbered by sickness) where Our Rt. Worshl. G.M. held a Grand Lodge."
During the succeeding year the Masters' Lodge and the Second Lodge removed to the Bunch of Grapes Tavern. On Wednesday, June 24th, "Lord Colvill D. G. M. summoned the Brethren to attend him at the Grey Hound Tavern in Roxbury" where he held a Grand Lodge by vir- tue of a deputation from the Provincial Grand Master.
January 12, 1753, "At the Petition of Sundry Brethren Residing att New London in the Colony of Connecticut Our Right Worshipfull Bror. Thos. Oxnard, esqr. G. M. Granted a Constitution for a Lodge to be held att New London," and February 4, 1754, St. John's Lodge of Mid- dletown, Connecticut, was granted a charter.
Subsequently, upon the petitions of these lodges it was "Voted that the Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master & Grand Wardens shall be impowred & hereby are impowred to dispence with the said Lodges Con- forming to the Vote passed in January last with regard to the Masters being Thirty Years of age they being Young Lodges are incapable of Complying."
At the Quarterly Communication of October 11, 1754, in Concert Hall, Henry Price in the chair and Benjamin Franklin present, a com- mittee was appointed "to draw a Petition to the Grand Master of Eng- land for a Deputation for a Grand Master of North America." The pe- tition is signed by the lodges in Philadelphia, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Antigua, Annapolis in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Rhode Island, Halifax, Annapolis in Maryland, and New London, Middle- town and New Haven in Connecticut. The brother nominated for this high honor was Jeremiah Gridley, commonly called Jeremy Gridley, an honored member of our lodge and then its Worshipful Master, who graduated from Harvard College in 1725, studied theology and occa- sionally preached, studied law and was admitted to the bar, and who later won a distinguished position, and was called by his associates "Father of the Boston Bar."
June 24, 1755, "Our Right Worshipful Bro. Benjamin Hallowell, D.G.M. summon'd the Brethren to attend at the House of Mr. John Gratons in Roxbury to celebrate the Feast of St. John the Baptist and the day was celebrated with decency and mirth."
August 21, 1755, "By virtue of Our Right Worshipful Grand Master Summons" a Grand Lodge was holden in the Royal Exchange Tavern. Jeremy Gridley informed Grand Master Price that he had received a Deputation appointing him "Provincial Grand Master of all Such Prov- inces and Places in North America and the Territories thereof of which
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no Provincial Grand Master is at present appointed." Bro. Price ordered the secretary to read and record it in the Grand Lodge Book.
October 1, 1755, at a Grand Lodge Communication held Jeremy Grid- ley, "appointed Grand Master of Masons in North America by the Right Worshipful, the Marquis of Carnavron, Grand Master of Masons, was installed in the presence of a great number of brethren from the three lodges in Boston and the Master and Wardens of the Portsmouth Lodge in New Hampshire."
The following year Richard Gridley, a brother of Jeremiah, a famous engineer and artillerist of Colonial and Revolutionary times, who then was the engineer of the army with General Winslow at Crown Point, was appointed by the "Grand Master of the Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons of all such places in North America where no Grand Master is appointed to congregate all Free and Ac- cepted Masons in the present expedition against Crown Point, and form them into one or more Lodges, as he shall think fit." Accordingly Lake George Lodge was constituted May 13, 1756. Richard Gridley was apt in such authority, as in 1745 he had granted "a Deputation to a number of Brothers to Hold a Lodge in His Majesty's Twenty-Eighth Regiment of Foot at Louisburgh." Upon his return to Boston he became Master of First Lodge, and later was with Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham and at the capture of Quebec in 1759. He became a major general in the Revo- lutionary Army and commander of the artillery, laid out the defence at Bunker Hill the night before the battle and narrowly escaped capture, and constructed the fortification upon Dorchester Heights which caused the British to evacuate Boston March 17, 1776.
John Gerrish and "Sundry other Brethren of the Ancient and Honor- able Society of Free and Accepted Masons residing in Providence " made application to be constituted into "a Regular Lodge that Masonry may increase and Flourish in these Parts," and January 18, 1757, a charter was granted to St. John's Lodge of Providence, and "Our Right Worshipful and well beloved Brother Capt. John Burgess" was ap- pointed to be "the First Master of the Lodge at Providence aforesaid." At a meeting January 31, 1757, "The R. W. G. M. informed the Lodge that the occasion of the meeting was to make Capt. Harry Charteris, Capt. George McAdams, aide de camp, Dr. Richard Husk, and Mr. John Appy, secretary to the Earl of London, with Mr. John Melville, Masons (who came to town from Marblehead with Dr. Lowell on purpose to be made a Mason), which the Lodge unanimously agreed to. Our R.W.G.M. appointed Bro. Richard Gridley (the Master of the First Lodge) to make the above five gentlemen Masons."
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November 13, 1758, a charter was granted to Louisburgh Lodge in Nova Scotia, March 20, 1759, to Masters' Lodge in Newport, and April 13, 1759, to Crown Point Lodge upon Lake George, where the brethren had been congregated, by virtue of a deputation to Abraham Savage, he and they being part of the expedition against Canada.
March 25, 1760, a charter was granted to Philanthropic Lodge in Marblehead, April 8, 1761 to Hampshire Lodge, on the same day to Surinam Lodge in Dutch Guiana, and March 20, 1762, to another army lodge at Crown Point.
"A Petition was read, from Sundry Brethren living at Falmouth in Casco Bay, Praying for a renewal of the Deputation formerly granted to Alexander Ross Esqr. now deceased, on which Account they reccommend William Tying Esqr. High Sherriff of the County of Cumberland for their Master; After a proper enquiry into the Circumstances of the Peti- tioners it was agreed that the Prayer of said Petition be granted."
July 21, 1762, we find the brethren in the British Coffee House, which was kept by Mr. Ballard on the site now numbered 66 upon State street, and in which the Second Lodge generally held its meetings. The preced- ing day having been Commencement Day in Cambridge the record states there was not a sufficient number present to open the lodge.
The following year there was brought to the attention of the lodge the matter of a building for the meetings of Masons, and a letter from Mr. Stephen Deblois, the owner of Concert Hall, being read, "it was unani- mously determined to proceed upon the subject matter of said letter. The question being put whether it be the mind of this Lodge to purchase Concert Hall provided the sum of £600 sterling be raised it passed in the affirmative. The question being put whether this Lodge will give their stock towards the above purchase it passed in the Negative. The Question being put whether it be recommended to the Grand Lodge to call a General Lodge of Masons to see what subscription can be obtained towards the purchase of Concert Hall, it passed in the affirmative."
Friday, October 28, 1763, the Grand Lodge being opened, "It was Voted unanimously that Concert Hall, in which the Brethren are now Assembled, be Purchased, for the Honour, Benefit & Convenience of Free Masons at the Rate of Twelve hundred Pounds Sterling, and that a Sub- scription be immediately put about, to raise the said sum, towards Pur- chasing, Furnishing, and otherwise Accommodating the Fraternity for the Future.
But Mr. Stephen Deblois notwithstanding the Foregoing Vote and a Consequent agreement with him, sold the House to Mr. Nathl. Wheel- wright the next Day, whereby the Subscriptions made for the Purchase
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aforesaid became Abortive. To the Great disappointment, as well as Charge of the Brethren in their Meetings about it."
December 27, 1764, there dined with the Brethren of St. John's Lodge John Rowe, who was our Worshipful Master in 1749 and then was Deputy Grand Master, a merchant importer, for whom Rowe's wharf is named, and who later, at the mass meeting in the Old South Church, when the tea party was assembled, first suggested the disposition of the obnoxious tea by his question "Who Knows how tea will mingle with salt water?" The idea was received with great laughter and approval. He was an ardent Mason and patriot, and afterwards was Grand Master and colonel of the first Boston regiment in the Continental Army.
That often it was most difficult for the subordinate lodges to be repre- sented in Grand Lodge is apparent, and sometimes we have evidence of it in the records, as for instance:
Right Worshipfull
"Middletown Augt 21st 5765.
We received Brother Quincys of the 22d July last by your Worships Order, desiring Our Attendance at the Grand Lodge or Quarterly Com- munication; at Boston the fourth Friday of October next, but the dis- tance we are from you is so great as to render it prejudicial to Our Several Employs to attend at Quarterly Communications, have thought proper to appoint our Worthy Brother Edmund Quincy Junr. to represent us at them which doubt not your Approbation of to whom We have Sent our Charity for the Relief of Poor Brethren by Brother Sage.
We are Right Worshipful with the Greatest Esteem your Worships Most Obedient & most Huml. Servts."
July 26, 1765, a charter was granted to Harmony Lodge of Waterbury, Connecticut, October 25, 1765, to St. John's Lodge of Princeton, New Jersey, July 27, 1766, to St. John's Lodge of Newburyport, October 24, 1766, to Barbadoes Lodge in the West Indies, and on the same date to Norwich Lodge in Connecticut, Salem Lodge in Massachusetts, St. Christopher Lodge in the West Indies, and Virginia Lodge in Virginia.
These charters from 1733 to 1766, so many in number for that early day, show how eagerly the opportunity, offered by Freemasonry, of be- coming acquainted with other people was embraced by our seaport towns. If we were to search the records of these lodges in Salem, Nan- tucket, Newburyport, Beverly, Marblehead, Gloucester, Charlestown, and Provincetown, we should see that most of their early members were sailors, shipowners, and merchants, whose business relations brought them into contact with foreign nations, and who desired that to their business relations should be added the Masonic ties of social intercourse,
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good fellowship, and brotherly aid. With that bond of Masonry our mer- chants and our shipowners and our sailors traversed the whole world and brought back the rich treasures of every country, and wherever they might be, they found themselves in the presence of friends who would see that they were not wronged.
August 18, 1767, Concert Hall again had come into the possession of Mr. Deblois, and he sent the following letter to Jeremy Gridley, the Grand Master:
"Sir
Since I had the pleasure of waiting on you & Mr. Rowe respecting the sale of Concert Hall, the House is Entirely Cleared and is now kept Lock'd up to wait for the Consideration and Determination of the So- ciety of Free Masons, of which you are the Head: Therefore I now take the Liberty to give You the Lowest Terms that said Building can be Sold on, which you'l find on Foot hereof; The greatest improvement is made from September to June, and I would only Mention that some Per- sons stand ready to hire the Hall to the Amount of 40 Pounds Sterling and another wants the Small Tenement which would let at 5 Pounds more, -therefore You'l be kind enough to cause the Affair to be deter- mined as soon as possible which will much oblige them and Sir,
Your most humble Servant Gilbert Deblois."
A meeting was held to consider the advisability of purchasing but the conclusion was that the lodge was unable. The Hall remained standing many years after the Grand Lodge had established itself in quarters of its own and many will remember it as a somewhat famous restaurant.
The Grand Master, for the first time in our Masonic history, died in office; and upon Saturday, the twelfth day of September, 1767, he was buried with great honor, the procession being described at length in the lodge records.
The remaining charters granted by St. John's Grand Lodge are those of May 1, 1769, to Compass Lodge of Wallingford, Connecticut, May 27, 1771, to Union Lodge of Nantucket, July 10, 1771, to Guilford Lodge in Connecticut, July 24, 1772, to Rising Sun Lodge in Boston, February 15, 1776, to American Lodge with the army in Roxbury, and March 23, 1780, to Union Lodge of Danbury, Connecticut.
October 5, 1768, a committee from the Grand Lodge, Brothers Richd. Gridley, Jenkins, and Cutler, presented the "Commission of the M't. W'l. Henry Somerset, Duke of Beauford, Grand Master of England,"
WINTHROP HOUSE (SITE OF PRESENT TEMPLE) 1860-1864
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appointing John Rowe, Grand Master of North America. November 23, 1768, he was Installed by Henry Price in Concert Hall, with the ceremony which has been followed ever since. He writes in his diary: "This was a very solemn ceremony. After the Installation the whole fraternity pro- ceeded in order and marched in procession from Concert Hall round the Town House, accompanied with two bands of musick the 59 & 64 Regi- ments, to Trinity Church. The Revd. Mr. Bass of Newberry preached from the 21st Chapter of St. John & part of the 20th Verse-the Disciple whom Jesus loved-After service wee returned in procession to Concert Hall & dined on an elegant entertainment provided by a committee ap- pointed by the Grand Lodge, there were One hundred and thirty-four Brethren present. Wee spent the afternoon very cheerfully & in good order, which did honour to the Craft. I came home at eight of clock in the evening."
It is hardly to be supposed that many Masonic meetings were held in Boston while it was occupied by General Gage; and, when evacuation took place, Brother Thomas Brown, the Grand Secretary of St. John's Grand Lodge and Secretary of the Second Lodge, seeking refuge in Halifax, took with him his records, which rightly he valued highly, and they were not returned until 1787. But our lodge was not dead, nor dormant. It sent its representatives to the Grand Lodge, it worked the degrees, and it issued diplomas. There also are newspaper reports of meetings of the lodge in 1780; and on the eleventh of December of that year, at "a meeting of the Second Lodge of St. John's held at Concert Hall" five brothers were made members.
We find also in the unpublished diary of John Rowe the following in- teresting letters:
"Philadelphia, August 19th, 1780. Sir:
I do myself the honor to address you, by order of the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons, regularly constituted in the City of Philadelphia. This Grand Lodge has under its jurisdiction in Pennsylvania and the States adjacent, thirty-one different regular Lodges, containing in the whole more than one thousand Brethren. Enclosed you have a printed abstract of some of our late proceedings, and by that of January 13th last, you will observe that we have, so far as depends on us, done that Honor which we think due to our illustrious Brother, GENERAL WASH- INGTON, viz. electing him Grand Master over all the Grand Lodges, formed or to be formed in these United States, not doubting of the con- currence of all other Grand Lodges in America to make this election effectual."
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"Boston, September 4th, 1780.
Sir:
Your agreeable favor of the 19th ult., I duly received the 31st, covering a printed abstract of the proceedings of your Grand Lodge.
I am well assur'd that no one can have any objections to so Illustrious a person as General Washington to preside as Grand Master of the United States, but at the same time it will be necessary to know from you his prerogative as such; whether he is to appoint sub-grand or Provincial Grand Masters of each State; if so, I am confident that the Grand Lodge of this State will never give up their right of electing their own Grand Master and other officers annually."
In 1783 the members of the First and Second Lodges asked permission to unite, and this was granted by Grand Master Rowe. The by-laws then were revised as follows:
"This Lodge of St. John under the jurisdiction of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, shall not exceed forty members, officers included, all of whom shall be Master Masons.
The Secretary shall fill a summons for each member and deliver them sealed to the Toiler two days before the Lodge meets, under penalty of forfeiting his fees every evening he is deficient.
The Toilers shall call on the Secretary at least two days before the meeting of the Lodge for the summons and shall leave one at the dwelling house of each member the day before the Lodge meets."
The next meetings of the Grand Lodge, of which we have records, were February 17, 1787, at Brother Samuel Dunn's house, August 4 at Bunch of Grapes Tavern, July 29, 1790, at Concert Hall, Nov. 25, 1791, at Bunch of Grapes Tavern, Jan. 18, 1792, at Brother Colman's, March 2 at Bunch of Grapes Tavern, and the memorable meeting of March 5, 1792, when the union of the two Grand Lodges was consummated, also held at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern.
At the Grand Lodge of St. John, held at Bunch of Grapes, in Boston, November 25, 1791, a petition was received from the Rising Sun Lodge praying to be united with St. John's, and the Grand Lodge taking the same into consideration, it was voted to grant the prayer of the petition. At the Special Grand Lodge of St. John, called at Brother Colman's Jan. 18, 1792, R. Wp. John Cutler, S.G.W., in the chair, it was "Voted that a Committee of seven, be choose to Confer with the Committee from Massachusetts Grand Lodge & Promote the proposed Union, provided it can be done on true Masonic principles."
Under the authority of a commission from the Most Worshipful George Earl of Dalhousie, Grand Master of Scotland, appointing a
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Grand Master of Masons in Boston, New England, and within one hun- dred miles of the same, General Joseph Warren, master of the Lodge of St. Andrew, organized the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, December 27, 1769, in Mason Hall, in the Green Dragon Tavern, the property then and now of the Lodge of St. Andrew. The two wardens who assisted in form- ing the new Grand Lodge were captains in the 29th Regiment and mem- bers of Lodge No. 322, Ireland, in that regiment, then located in Boston. The withdrawal of these military lodges was supplied March 2, 1770, by a charter to Tyrian Lodge, Gloucester, and May 13 to Massachusetts Lodge, a branch of the Lodge of St. Andrew, the petitioners, without an exception, being members of it. A charter also was granted to St. Peter's Lodge, Newburyport, March 6, 1772. These are the only charters which bear the name of General Warren as Grand Master.
The two Grand Lodges, St. John's Lodge and the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, on the 5th of March, 1792, "by their Committee of Con- ference, duly appointed, having deliberately considered the present state of Masonry, and being desirous to promote the benevolent designs of this Antient Fraternity, do mutually agree in a Complete Union of the Grand Lodges aforesaid," under the title of "The Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
John Cutler of St. John's Lodge was the first Grand Master of the new Grand Lodge. One of his first official acts was to prepare a letter to St. Andrew's Lodge announcing "that a Complete Union of the Two Grand Lodges, formerly held in this State, is happily effected," and gently hint- ing, rather than urging the lodge to lend its aid to promote the laudable design to remedy " the deranged state of Masonry."
The Lodge of St. Andrew was not ready to accept the invitation of the Grand Lodge, and preferred to retain its connection with the Grand Lodge of Scotland. But December 11, 1809, the Grand Marshal in- formed the M.W. Grand Master that St. Andrew's Lodge had taken seats for the first time as a member of the Grand Lodge.
Upon the union of St. John's Grand Lodge with Massachusetts Grand Lodge its special and intimate connection with St. John's Lodge ceases; and the history of the latter thenceforward is single and direct, like that of our sister lodges. Before proceeding with it, however, let us turn to a brief consideration of its sixty years of history, not as of a distinct date or place, and without separation of its several parts, but a composite picture as it were.
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