USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > The history of the Masonic fund society for the county of Allegheny from the year 1847 to 1923; with biographical sketches of deceased members of the Board of trustees By Hiram Schock. > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30
STATE LIBRARY OF PENNSYLVANIA main,stks 366.1P386121
History of the Masonic fund so
0 0001 00402763 5
CLASS
SR 366.1
BOOK 386121
VOLUME
-
PENNSYLVANIA STATE LIBRARY Presented by Hiram School, Esquire
Digitized by the Internet Archive
This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries in 2018 with funding from
https://archive.org/details/historyofmasonic00scho
THE HISTORY
OF THE
Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny
FROM THE YEAR 1847 TO 1923
WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
IN THE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE OF OUR FRATERNITY, WE ARE A CRAFT OF WORKMEN ENGAGED IN THE SOLEMN AND SERIOUS OCCUPATION OF BUILDING A TEMPLE TO THE EVER-LIVING AND TRUE GOD, THE STONES OF WHICH TEMPLE WILL BE THE SOULS OF MEN, FREED FROM THE VICES AND IMPERFECTIONS OF HUMANITY, AND IN FRONT OF WHICH WILL STAND THOSE TWO GREAT COLUMNS-THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN.
R. W. PAST GRAND MASTER GEORGE W. GUTHRIE, 33º.
BY HIRAM SCHOCK, 32º P. M. AVALON LODGE. No. 657
PITTSBURGH, PA.
1923
COPYRIGHT, 1923 By the Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny.
NICHOLSON PRINTING CO. PITTSBURGH, PA.
1 NIA
BOARD OF TRUSTEES. LIBRARY of THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY FOR THE COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY FOR 1923:
GEORGE W. MCCANDLESS, President.
WILLIAM E. BEST, Secretary.
GEORGE W. WILSON, Treasurer.
FAGER J. SHIDLE,
ALFRED S. BISHOP,
JOSEPH E. LEWIS,
TAYLOR ALLDERDICE.
Office- Masonic Temple, Pittsburgh, Pa.
213285
6
.
Hiram Schock, ung
PREFACE
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY FOR THE COUNTY OF ALLE- GHENY :
When I first took up this work, I saw at once that in order to make it in a good measure complete and satisfactory, not only was it necessary to make a careful study of the Minutes of the Board of Trustees of the Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny from its beginning, December 25, 1847, on down, but that also research in other directions would be absolutely required. I found that I was dealing with a subject the development of which could not at all be properly achieved by confining myself to a recital and amplification merely of the minutes of the meetings of the Trus- tees. For it was, as I soon noted, a subject with many connecting ramifications, that if patiently followed up would unfold a most engaging and historically valuable series of events and personalities, which while primarily bound up in the progress and accomplishments of the Masonic Fraternity in the County of Allegheny, were also conspicuous and important factors in the development of our great city of Pittsburgh itself.
I found I was to deal with a separate and distinct Masonic or- ganization which while primarily and actually devoted to the up- building of the Craft in this community, was also an organization that had become firmly linked with the civic and material progress of Pittsburgh. For always within the membership of the successive Boards of Trustees, from the inception of the Masonic Fund Society in 1847 down to this very day, were and are men prominent and influential not only in Masonic circles but active and powerful factors in the onward march of our great municipality. And that important fact added to the noble work of the Trustees in the erection of suc- cessive Masonic Buildings, each more imposing than the other, and each enhancing the architectural excellence of the community, amply justifies the assertion that your Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny has become a truly influential Institution in both the city and the county.
Therefore, to produce a history that should to a fair extent por- tray these men and describe their monumental work would necessitate research that must extend back through at least a century. For I felt that it was not only required to tell just what the successive Boards of Trustees of the Masonic Fund Society had done throughout the long existence of the Society itself, but also to describe early Ma- sonic conditions and to set down successive developments through a period of half a century before the formation of the Masonic Fund Society.
For that Society was the result of certain conditions which had made its creation necessary.
So the first thing I did was to get at the work of research. It has not been a superficial investigation. For instance, I have not merely glanced at, but have examined page by page all the printed records of the R. W. Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania through a period of over one hundred years. I have read with minute care many old and later Masonic publications, reviews and pamphlets, and have supplemented this research by close examination of early records of Masonic Lodges, by a minute reading of the files of newspapers ex- tending back over a century and by personal interviews with Masonic brethren who still remain among us to tell of the events, the tribu- lations and the triumphs of Masonry in days gone by. From this mass of material I have taken and used what I believed would be the essentials for a history intended to unfold and illumine a grand phase of Pennsylvania Masonry, splendidly fruitful and enduringly valuable in high achievements.
Another point should be mentioned here. That is, that this work is distinctly a history of the Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny-a history created by the labors and successes of its successive Boards of Trustees down through three-quarters of a cen- tury. It is therefore in no sense, directly or indirectly, a history of any Masonic Lodge or other Masonic Body. The Masonic Fund So- ciety, with its Board of Trustees, is and always has been since its formation a distinct and separate organization, created for the per- formance of works of benevolence, and for the promotion of what may be termed the material and financial interests of the local Fra- ternity. Necessarily then, the history of any Masonic Lodge or other Masonic Body could not be made a part of this work. References are made here and there in the course of the work to various Masonic Bodies, but wherever such references occur they have been set down either to confirm, to elucidate or to amplify transactions connected historically with the Masonic Fund Society and with the activities of the successive Boards of Trustees.
It has been a delight and an honor to write this history. I am conscious of its imperfections and I cannot expect that is without errors. But certainly care, patience and devotion have guided every phase of this recital, and no detail, however small, has been set down without verification. May I be permitted to say further, that this history has not been written with the idea that it shall be of interest only today or tomorrow. It is a book intended for the future as well as for the present, and I am harboring the hope that the work will be of increasing value in coming times. I like to think that half a century and more from today it will be read with keen appreciation of the struggles and the victories of the Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny, and that it may serve as a basis for abler works of future historians who shall chronicle in their volumes the story of the high devotion of Masonry to the service of Humanity, to the perpetuation of the American Republic, and to the glory of God.
Pittsburgh, Pa., January, 1923.
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I Organization of the Masonic Fund Society 9
II Erection and Dedication of 1851 Hall 52
III Financing and Furnishing New Masonic Hall. 87
IV Masonic Hall Totally Destroyed by Fire 105
V £ Erection and Dedication of Freemasons' Hall. 147
VI Erection of the Great Masonic Temple. 189
VII Old Fifth District and D. D. Grand Masters 225
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY FOR THE COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY.
James W. Hailman 247
Samuel Mckinley
253
James S. Hoon
265
George W. Layng
269
William W. Wilson
276
John Sargent.
278
Alexander McCammon
279
James Herdman
280
James Shidle.
286
Thomas Davage
290
Judge Charles Shaler
292
William J. Davitt.
298
John Birmingham
298
Alexander Tindle
300
Alexander McC. Pollock
302
Geter Crosby Shidle.
305
Alexander G. Reinhart
309
Ferdinand E. Voltz.
311
William Noble
312
William B. English
313
Alexander Speer
314
Cyrus Orlando Loomis
316
Col. Wm. Phillips
317
George Glass.
320
Charles Christian Baer 322
William J. Anderson 324
Arthur Benjamin Wigley 325
Andrew D. Armstrong 326
William Boyer Lupton 326
William P. Thompson 327
Albert Culbertson 328
Harry Milton Landis
328
-
-1
GREAT MASONIC TEMPLE AT PITTSBURGH CORNER STONE LAID MARCH 10, 1914 IN THE PRESENCE OF 10,000 MEMBERS OF THE FRATERNITY
CHAPTER I.
ORGANIZATION OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY.
Early Influences that Lead to its Formation-Status of the Order and First Purchase of Land in 1811-Erection and Dedication of First Hall in 1811-Bodies then in Existence-Lodges and Members Buy New Site in 1828 and Erect Larger Hall-Destroyed in Great Fire of 1845-History of Famous Lawsuit-Rare Historical Record of Masonic Appeal after 1845 Conflagration-Noted Masons meet in 1847 to form M. F. S .- Details of its Organization-First Session, Charter and By-Laws-Convocations of Local Brethren-Methods of Financing Society-Selling Stock-Site Bought on Fifth Street for $10,000-Preparations for Building Handsome Hall. -
T HE history of the Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny would begin, if the recital were confined to an exact date, with the close of the year 1847. But like so many institutions of high import and great purpose, this Society was the ultimate result of a progressive ad- vance in Masonry, an advance that received its first strong impulse as far back as the year 1811. In that year the Masonic brethren secured and occupied the first ground and building, owned by the members in general in Allegheny County. And in that signal achievement will be found, as we proceed in this history, the initiative and impelling causes which were to bring about thirty-five years later the creation of a central directing organization, to which was to be entrusted in a large measure the material and financial affairs of the Masonic Brotherhood in the county of Alle- gheny. Hence in order to present here a proper and com- plete recital and to make plain the real purposes and vast benefit of the organization known as "The Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny," we shall have to go back far beyond the year 1847.
It will be seen that the Charter of this Masonic Fund Society embodies and sets forth a definite and controlling mode of action and certain great purposes. It was to be a Masonic entity; yet functioning apart from the work and ceremonies of all other regular local Masonic bodies. The aim of its founders was to hold it strictly along two plain
10
HISTORY OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY
lines of operation : First, a line of unobtrusive charitable service and fraternal helpfulness; and, secondly, a line of well-ordered practical action, which should particularly in- clude a trusteeship and supervision of Masonic property.
It is interesting, as well as gratifying, to note the fine sense of discrimination with which these two lines of action are set forth in the Charter, of date of October 26, 1849. A very few words sufficed to designate in that Charter the range of the Society's projected plans for the aid of the needy and for practically carrying out this scheme of fra- ternal generosity. In three lines the Charter announces its fundamental programme of benevolence. It declares that-
The object of the Society shall be the distribution of charity; the relief of such of the Masonic Fraternity, their widows and orphan children, as may require its aid.
United with that noble purpose were large plans for the promotion of the material progress of the Fraternity in Allegheny County. And it is certainly a pleasure, sincerely gratifying, to be able to say, as can well be said at this date so far distant from the time of the creation of the Masonic Fund Society for Allegheny County, that long before the last of its incorporators had passed from earth, there was abundant and eloquent proof of the splendid realization of their most ardent hopes.
But to carry into effect this double work of benevo- lence and practical progress, the Freemasons of Allegheny County required organization and unity of action. There could of course be formed easily enough Masonic organiza- tions for charitable purposes. But the proposed Masonic Society was to have a much wider scope, for it was to be a center from which should radiate good effects in all direc- tions. The Pittsburgh Freemasons in those early days had to overcome the usual trying handicaps that all pioneers must meet. It was a long and laborious journey to the Grand Lodge in Philadelphia in those times, and it was a much more difficult work than it is now for our world-wide Fraternity to firmly establish itself in remote districts and spread in numbers and in influence. It was even very diffi-
11
HISTORY OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY
cult for the lodges to secure abiding places. In fact, for more than half a century prior to the formation of the Masonic Fund Society the lodges had been literally "driven from pillar to post;" meeting in the upper stories of tav- erns in those pioneer days, or in rooms in dwelling houses or in the lofts of business buildings. Twice in Pittsburgh they were scattered by disastrous conflagrations and almost continually they were bothered and vexed by the problem of finding permanent locations for lodge meetings.
So when in 1847 they planned their proposed work of benevolence and practical progress, they held in view not only the necessity of securing meeting places for the Masonic Bodies then in existence in their community, but also the need of a permanent and recognized Masonic cen- ter-a central place for meetings-which should consist of an edifice devoted mainly, if not wholly, to Masonic uses. To realize that big project they had decided that they re- quired an organization with special powers and which should be invested with authority, both by the provisions of a proper Charter and by the endorsement of the breth- ren in Pittsburgh, to purchase, control and supervise such grounds and buildings as might be needed by the Order; to conduct financial transactions connected there- with, and to make adequate provision not only for the im- mediate but also for the future expansion and requirements of the Craft. It was for the distinct purpose of realizing and carrying forward these large designs that the Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny was brought into existence. And so in their Charter of 1849 they provided as follows :
The Trustees shall have power to purchase, take and hold to them and their successors and assigns, and of selling and transferring in fee simple or for any less estate, such lands, tenements and heredita- ments as shall be sold, devised, conveyed or granted to them by deed, bequest, or otherwise, and should the Society deem it necessary and proper to erect a suitable building in the city of Pittsburg as a place for meeting or for the purpose of revenue, the Trustees shall or may proceed to construct the same, and to provide the means of paying therefor.
Thus we find plainly set forth, in its Charter, the plan of the organization of the Masonic Fund Society and a re-
12
HISTORY OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY
cital of its great purposes. But naturally we do not find in the Charter a narrative of the causes which compelled the creation of the Society, nor the long series of interesting historical developments that reached their first fruition in the completion of the fine Masonic Hall in the city of Pitts- burgh in the year 1851. It is to this narrative that this chapter is devoted.
It was in the year 1811 that the Pittsburgh Masonic brethren had the fine satisfaction of possessing for the first time their own Masonic Hall. But even our justified pride in the early achievements of the local fraternity does not permit us to say that in that year they really had a "Hall," much less a "Temple." At any rate, they did get into their own building. It was probably a little structure of two stories and it cost about $500. But let us not regard with levity this actually important achievement. The sum of $500 was a goodly sum 110 years ago in the village of Pitts- burgh, and much more could be secured for that amount at that period in the way of material, labor and the necessi- ties of life than a like sum will bring in these times of the high cost of living.
But at what places in the village of Pittsburgh did our Masonic brethren hold their lodge meetings prior to the year 1811 before they had a general building in which to meet? We have no precise records with which to answer that question in satisfactory detail. But from the meagre glimpses we get of the doings of those early times, it is evident that for the most part the lodges convened in the upper rooms of local taverns. The fine old word "tavern" has now practically slipped into oblivion, as unnecessary and inappropriate. But there is still this much to say in its favor: It has left behind it a memory replete with more geniality, more cordiality and more significant historical value than our debased word "saloon" and our pretentious word "hotel" will ever leave behind them when finally they shall be cast into the rubbish heap of discarded words. Brother Charles W. Dahlinger who has delved into the past of our great city, gives this bit of information in his "Sketches of the Early Life of Pittsburgh:"
"In the taverns men used to consummate their business and dis-
13
HISTORY OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY
cuss political and social affairs. Lodge No. 45, of the Ancient York Masons, met in taverns for many years, as did the Mechanical Socie- ty. Even the Board of Trustees of the Academy held their meetings there.
Prior to March 6, 1809, when Ohio Lodge, No. 113, long ago gone out of existence, was constituted, Lodge 45 com- prised all the membership of the Masonic brethren in Alle- gheny county ; and included in that membership were most of the leading men of the community of those days. Among them were men of renown with names known beyond State lines, and they loom up large in the local history of their days. For those large-minded Americans, Masonry had a vast significance. They esteemed it as a thing apart from the hurly-burly of life, and they deemed it necessary to have, as far as was then possible, appropriate places for lodge gatherings.
About the year 1805 a brick house, built by William Irwin, a leading citizen of Pittsburgh, was completed on the southeast corner of Market and Diamond Streets. By some arrangement, details of which are no longer known, Lodge 45, that venerable pioneer lodge of Western Pennsylvania, secured the rental of a room on the third story of this struc- ture, and met there, being joined some months later by Ohio Lodge, No. 113, long since gone out of existence. Four years later, in 1809, the Masons made their first move toward securing their first exclusively owned property. The ground was bought in 1809. In that year, as is shown by a deed of date of July 26, 1809, recorded in the Recorder's Office for the County of Allegheny, Pa., the Masons bought from William McCullough and his wife Jane, a lot on Wood street near the corner of Fifth avenue, Pittsburgh, the site now occupied by the imposing First National Bank building. This conveyance of the land, which of course was an actual sale, was put in the form of a perpetual lease, with a ground rent reserved. The purchasers of this prop- erty from Mccullough and his wife, as set down in the deed, were Brothers George Robinson, James Riddle, Thomas Baird, John McDowell, James Kerwin and Henry Haslet, all members of Lodge 45. This purchase was made a little more than three months after the constitution of
14
HISTORY OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY
old Ohio Lodge, and at that time this body and Lodge 45 were the only lodges in existence in Pittsburgh. The lot on Wood street is described in the deed as follows:
Beginning on Wood street at the distance of fifty feet from the corner of Wood and Fifth streets, and running thence by Wood street towards Liberty street twenty-five feet, thence by a line running par- allel with Fifth street forty feet, thence by a line running parallel with Wood street twenty-five feet towards Fifth street, and thence by a line running parallel with Fifth street forty feet to the place of beginning.
The sale of the property was, as has been said, in the form of a perpetual lease, with the reservation of a ground rent. The lessees were to pay to Mccullough and his heirs forever an annual rental of "fifty Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof, in current or silver money," in half-yearly payments, on the first day of April and October. Another provision of the deed recites that "within the space of two years from the date hereof," the purchasers are to "erect, set up and finish upon the premises hereby demised, a good and substantial dwelling house of the value of five hundred dollars," and to pay all the "public taxes." The brethren then proceeded to create a legal Masonic ownership and title to the property. They executed and placed on record a deed of trust, in which it is set forth that the purchasers of the land are to hold it "in trust for the use of the Master, Warden and Brethren of Lodge 45, Ancient York Masons, held in the Borough of Pittsburgh under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and their successors."
The stipulation in the deed for an annual rental of "fifty Spanish milled dollars" was a common feature in con- veyances of land in this community in those early days, and for years later. It had its origin in the then very general use of Spanish coins in this country. The Act of Congress of July 6, 1785, established a national American currency, the unit being the dollar, equal at that time in value to the Spanish milled dollar. This Spanish coin continued to be in circulation throughout the States until the passage by Congress of the Act of April 2, 1792, establishing a United States Mint. So that, as all the transfers of this lot made prior to its sale in 1809 to the Masons had been made pay- able in Spanish milled dollars, naturally a like payment of
15
HISTORY OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY
the ground rent was stipulated in the deed conveying it, to' the Masonic brethren.
In accordance with the provisions of the deed of 1809, the construction of the building, apparently two stories high, was completed within the two years stipulated. The money necessary to erect it was secured by advance loans from the six trustees named above, by donations from 45 and from individual members of the Order. The struc- ture was of course small and lowly in aspect. But never- theless it was a Masonic Hall, which served its good pur- pose and should be kept in grateful remembrance by the brethren of today. But if the building had no adornments on the exterior, the hall, where the lodges met and which was on the top floor, was appropriately and artistically decorated. The ceiling was concave and painted upon it were Masonic symbols, and handsome pedestals and an altar were in place. It is not known whether or not Wil- liam Mccullough, who sold the lot to the Masons, was a member of the Craft; but certainly he was kindly disposed toward the brethren, a fact shown by the terms of an agreement put on record with the deed above mentioned. Mr. Mccullough owned a brick dwelling house on the lot adjoining the one transferred to the Masons, and in the agreement he gives permission to the new owners to "build a room against the gable end of my brick house." He also gives them the "free use of four square feet of my ground adjoining the northwest corner of the premises," sold to the Masons, "in order," as the agreement further stipulates, "that they may have the privilege of admitting light into their building."
Evidently the little Hall, which faced Wood street about fifty feet from the corner of the present Fifth ave- nue, was ready for occupancy early in the summer of 1811, for the minutes of a meeting of Ohio Lodge, No. 113, of date of June 15, 1811, give this information :
An invitation from Lodge No. 45 was read, requesting this Lodge to join them in the procession on St. John's Day in order to dedicate their new Lodge Room, which invitation was accepted by this Lodge, and Brethren Adams and Murray were directed to wait on the W. M. of Lodge 45 to inform him thereof.
16
HISTORY OF THE MASONIC FUND SOCIETY ==
And so the brethren had now a building and they had a lodge room, and they proceeded to dedicate it with due and impressive ceremonies on St. John's Day of 1811, which fell on Monday, June 24. Interesting and significant is it to know too, that on the very day of this Pittsburgh dedi- cation, the Grand Lodge at Philadelphia dedicated with im- posing ceremonies their new Hall on Chestnut street in that city. The Grand Lodge records preserve in written form ample details of their ceremonies. But of the details of the little event in the remote and distant borough of Pitts- burgh none are to be found.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.