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 10
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The desire to hear the songstress had become almost a national passion, and the demand for admission to the con- certs was enormous everywhere. Tremendous interest was aroused over the coming Pittsburgh concerts, not only in the city, but for a radius of a hundred miles. Thousands of people came into the city, and the auction sale of tickets was a tumultuous affair. Prices of $25 were paid for the little pieces of card board, and the house was "sold out" in a short time. Accommodations had been made to seat 1,450 people in the hall, but before the doors opened five thousand mortals were struggling to get to the entrance. The crush was tremendous, and the rough element in the crowd got rather noisy and unruly. Many more people were outside than inside of the Concert room when the programme was started, and it was quite impossible for the small police force to keep them in good order. There was a great deal of up- roar around the outside of the building, and Jenny Lind got scared. She did not sing at her best, and neither did the rest of the company. When the concert had ended, Jenny was in a state of extreme nervousness, and although her ap-
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prehensions were groundless, she refused to leave the hall by the regular exit, and was finally taken out through one of the windows and escorted to the Monongahela Hotel where the troupe were quartered. The receipts from the performance amounted to a total of $8,025, and after paying the expenses incurred, Mr. Barnum, true to his promise, handed all the remainder, over $7,000, to the mayor of Pitts- burgh to be used for charitable purposes. But there was no second concert. Jenny Lind refused tearfully, but firm- ly, to sing in Pittsburgh again, and on the following day she and her companions departed for Brownsville. Sensational and wholly untruthful reports of the occurrence were spread all over the country, and according to those wild stories, Miss Lind had been mobbed and was on the verge of being ruthlessly slaughtered. As a matter of fact, the crowd out- side was noisy because it was disappointed at not being able to hear the singer, but there was no mob outbreak at all. The day after the concert Mr. Barnum printed a card in the local newspapers in which he said:
The public is respectfully informed that the noise and confusion occasioned by the immense crowd outside the Masonic Hall last night so unnerved M'lle Lind that all entreaties and assurances from His Honor the Mayor and myself were unavailing to induce her to give another concert this evening. She would have been pleased to do so, had not the tumult on the roofs of the building adjacent to her retir- ing room, (although I am confident no harm was intended by the out- siders), thrown her into a state of excitement which she could not control.
CHAPTER IV. MASONIC HALL TOTALLY DESTROYED BY FIRE.
Masonic Bodies Occupied Hall First in 1851-2-Scottish Rite in Valley of Pittsburgh Established in Hall-More Subscription Stock Sold -Dividends Declared-New Members on Board of Trustees-Im- provements in Hall Made-Rents Agreed Upon-Notable Enter- tainments in Concert Room-Sales of Stock Cease-Deaths of Brothers Samuel Mckinley and Alexander G. Reinhart-Churches and Mercantile Associations Occupy Hall-James Herdman on Board of Trustees-Stock Selling Resumed-State of Finances- Changes in Board-First Minutes of Stockholders' Meeting-Days of Civil War-Movement for New Masonic Hall Started-$30,000 of Stock Outstanding in 1869-Death of Thomas Davage-Exten- sive Improvements in Hall Proposed-Masonic Building Totally Destroyed by Fire August 12, 1887.
T HE Masonic Fund Society entered the year 1852 with fine prospects, which however, wavered throughout the twelve months. For the time being at least the question of finances was not pressing. The new building was finished, was occupied by the brethren and was fast being entirely fitted up and furnished in the interior. The breth- ren who constituted the Board of Trustees at the beginning of the year were: President, James W. Hailman; Treasurer, James S. Hoon; Secretary, Samuel McKinley, and Brothers Shaler, Shidle, Speer and English. By the month of June, 1852, all the Masonic Bodies then in existence in the city of Pittsburgh were occupying the new edifice. The Bodies and the dates of the meetings were as follows:
Lodge 45, meeting the second Tuesday of each month; St. John's lodge, No. 219, second Thursday of each month; Franklin Lodge, No. 221, first and third Thursday of each month; Washington Lodge, No. 253, last Tuesday of each month ; Solomon's Lodge, No. 231, first and third Friday of each month; Gourgas Council, No. 1, of Pennsylvania, Princes of Jerusalem, second Tuesday of each month; Zerubbabel Chapter, No. 162, first Tuesday of each month; Mt. Moriah Council, No. 2, third Wednesday of each month. Allegheny Lodge, No. 223, met in their hall in the old city of Allegheny.
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So far as the minutes show, the meetings of the Ma- sonic Fund Society through the year 1852 were mostly of a routine character. To gather up sufficient funds, to com- plete the furnishing of the new building, to arrange for rentals were the chief matters that came before the trus- tees. As yet the income from store and lodge rentals was scarcely ample to defray the running expenses, but the ex- penses were being met and also the cost of further neces- sary work on the building. At a session of the Trustees held February 3, 1852, it was "resolved, that each Lodge be charged $2 per night for gas light;" and another entry of the minutes of the same meeting is of especial importance, as follows: "On motion made and seconded, resolved that, the Lodge of Perfection have the hall at a rent of $60 per annum, and the privilege be granted as contained in the petition of their Committee." Just what this privilege was is not on record. It was in this year that the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was established in the Valley of Pittsburgh, and as a matter of historic detail it is proper to mention here that it was in the new Masonic Hall that the first meeting of Gourgas Lodge of Perfection was held there in June, 1852. Brother James W. Hailman was the first pre- siding officer, having been elected Thrice Potent Grand Master in that month, and he continued in that office until 1857. He was succeeded by Brother James S. Hoon, another Masonic Fund Trustee, who was first elected February 4, 1857, and served until his death in 1859. He was followed in the office of T. P. G. M. by Brother Dr. Alexander M. Pollock, who was at the time a member of the Board of Trus- tees of the Masonic Fund Society. The meetings of Gourgas Lodge of Perfection were held in the Masonic Hall until the year 1872, when apartments were leased in the building known as Library Hall on Penn avenue near Federal street. The reason for this removal was that the growth of the Scottish Rite Bodies had got beyond the limits available in the Masonic edifice on Fifth avenue.
The work of disposing of additional stock in the new building was kept up indefatigably by the Trustees. One of the entries of the minutes of a meeting of the Board held February 3 is to the effect that "the Sec. be allowed
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one hundred & five dollars commission on stock collected to settlement of 1850, payable in stock." In March of 1852 Brother McKinley, who was still D. D. Grand Master, made another trip to Philadelphia to secure subscriptions. The result of his journey is shown by the following entry in the minutes of a session held April 6:
Bill of expenses of Sec. to Philadelphia, $44.65. Ordered to be paid. The Sec. reports stock sold during his stay in Philadelphia, six hundred & forty-five dollars-$645.
At a meeting May 4 provision was made to pay a semi- annual dividend of six per cent. per annum, as follows :
Resolved, that a dividend at the rate of 6 pr. ct. pr. annum be paid upon all stock fully paid from the date of said full payment until the 1st Monday of May, and amt. thus accruing be placed to the credit of each stockholder. Payable in the stock of said Society; this resolution not to apply to the stockholders in the city of Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia holders of stock were paid their divi- dends in cash, a plan adopted at the start, as has been shown. At a meeting on May 11 it was "Resolved that 3 per cent. on all stock fully paid, be declared payable in stock to 1st of May inclusive." The last meeting of the Trustees in the year 1852 was held December 27, and the record of the session is of special interest, as being the final work of Brother Mckinley as Secretary of the Board, a position he had held since its formation. At the close of 1852 he re- signed, not only as secretary but also as a member of the Board of Trustees. He was not, therefore, on the Board during the year 1853. In December, 1852, the stockholders met to elect Trustees, but there are no records obtainable of this session, nor have there been left on record any intima- tion why Brother Mckinley was not re-elected. But what- ever the reasons may have been, they had no lasting effect, as he was, as we shall find, again a Trustee a year later and continued to serve until his death. The last meeting of the Board for 1852 was thus recorded:
Special meeting of Trustees of Masonic Fund Society; met at the Hall, 5th street, Pitts., Monday, 27 December, 1852. Prest .: J. W. Hailman, James Shidle, Charles Shaler, J. S. Hoon & S. Mckinley.
On motion, Resolved that the stage in the concert room be raised 12 inches, and that Bro. Shidle be requested to carry the same into effect.
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On motion, resolved that the President be directed to have more light put into the concert room.
On motion, adjourned.
S. Mckinley.
When the Board of Trustees held their first session in the year 1853-to which period we have now reached-there was a noticeable change in the membership. This meet- ing was convened January 3, and not only was Brother Mckinley out of the Board, but the kindly face of Brother Charles Shaler was also missing. He had refused re-elec- tion as a trustee by reason of a press of professional busi- ness. But notwithstanding he was not a member of the Board, there is ample evidence to show that he kept in close touch with its affairs, and his advice and aid were often sought and always eagerly given. Brother Mckinley was succeeded as secretary of the Board of Trustees by Brother Alexander G. Reinhart, who had been chosen a member of the Board at the stockholders' meeting in December, 1852. He was a well known citizen of Pittsburgh and at this period was an alderman, having an office in the Exchange building on St. Clair, now Federal street. He was a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 219. Thus the membership of the Board for 1853 included these Masons: Hailman, Hoon, Shidle, English, Charles O. Loomis, Alexander Tindle and Alexan- der Reinhart. Brother Tindle was a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 219 and a prominent merchant. Brother Loomis was a leading attorney, with an office on Fourth street and he belonged to Franklin Lodge, No. 221.
The minutes of the meetings of the trustees during 1853 reveal that the brethren devoted their attention to getting as much revenue as possible out of their new build- ing. They felt sure of the future, and by the middle of the year ceased selling any more stock. The first minutes re- corded by the new secretary, Brother Reinhart, were those of January 3, when James S. Hailman was again chosen President and James S. Hoon Treasurer. Improvements in the new Hall claimed the attention of the Board. The "con- cert room", which was now producing an increasing revenue, was a matter of special concern. Entertainments and public lectures were being given there, and President Hailman was "authorized by the Board to confer with Messrs. Kleber &
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Mellor in relation to allowing them a certain commission for procuring patronage to the concert room." Mr. John H. Mellor and Mr. Henry Kleber were then the leading music and musical instrument dealers in the city and during a number of years they continued to interest themselves in bringing worthy popular entertainments and lectures to Masonic Hall. At this time a new departure was made. Be- cause of a lack of space in any of their past Masonic halls it had always been necessary to have recourse to the tav- erns whenever any of the Masonic Bodies desired to hold a banquet. It was decided in 1853 by the trustees to provide space and arrangements for these events in the new build- ing. In pursuance of this plan a resolution was adopted to "alter the lower rooms of the building so as to provide a supper room and kitchen at the back end, estimating the cost at about $150." At the meeting at which this action was taken, January 4, 1853, the president reported that an insurance of $15,000 had been placed on the building and $3,000 on the furniture. It was also agreed to rent the con- cert room to the Mercantile Association, an organization of well known citizens, "for $20 a night, at such times as will not interfere with more profitable arrangements." Another record of this January 4 session reads :
On motion, the Secretary was instructed to notify the several lodges, Chapter and Encampment, that from & after the 1st day of April next $25 per annum will be added to their rent, each. Except the Lodge of Perfection, which is to pay $10 additional, to cover the expense of Gas, Fuel, Water, etc."
Of course, at all times at this period money was needed. Rather expensive additions and changes were being made in the new structure, the Philadelphia shareholders had to be paid their dividends in cash and the interest on loans already made had to be, as they were, regularly met. So it is not surprising to read in the minutes of a meeting of the trus- tees, April 5, that "J. W. Hailman reported that he had bor- rowed the sum of $2,000 on his own obligation, at 7 per cent., and applied it to the payment of the 12 per cent. loan. On motion, the Board approved of the transaction and as- sumes payment of said obligation of J. W. Hailman." To borrow money at 7 per cent. to pay off a debt that was
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charged with 12 per cent. was certainly good financiering, and on more than one occasion later Brother Hailman in like manner lessened the burdens of the Society.
It had been the practice of the Trustees from the time the Philadelphia stock subscriptions had reached important proportions to appoint a brother of that city, who was desig- nated as "agent," to take charge of the payments of the dividends and receive subscriptions. For more than a year past the Grand Treasurer, Brother John Thompson, had act- ed in that capacity. At a meeting of the Board, May 3, 1853, a communication was received from him asking to be "relieved from the agency." Later another Philadelphia Mason replaced him. At this same meeting a semi-annual dividend of 3 per cent was declared "for the last six months on all stock issued, payable in cash to Philadelphia stock- holders, and in stock to home stockholders, and that the secretary forward money for that purpose to the agent in Philadelphia who may be designated by Bro. Jas. S. Hoon, to pay over the same." The Masonic Fund Society had now reached the point where the Trustees deemed it proper, according to the provision in the charter, to discontinue the further sale of stock, and we therefore find the following entry in the record of a meeting held July 5, 1853:
On motion, resolved that St. John's Lodge, No. 219, be permitted to subscribe for One Hundred Shares (additional) of Stock in Hall, after which all further sales of said stock to cease.
As far as has been discovered, none of the early reports of the treasurer of the Society have been preserved, so that we are unable to know the exact financial standing of the Society at this date. But there is in the minutes of a trus- tees' meeting held August 2, 1853, an important record which throws some light on this subject. It reads:
The following report was submitted by the Secretary, & on mo- tion, accepted & adopted, viz:
To Cash rec'd for Concert Room $1298.99
Rents 1018.75
Stock 149.00
-CR.
By Amt allowed Morrison for chairs.
$ .50
Paid postage on letters for Thompson
.03
allowed Riddle for gas pipes.
2.60
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paid Dividend to Chapter No. 3. 16.40
Counterfeit money rec'd of Cooper 11.00
Paid Treasurer Hoon 2427.21
$2,457.74
Additional information on the finances at this time is given in the minutes of a meeting of the Board, September 6, in the following words:
Bro. Hoon, Tr. (Treasurer) reported $6,215.08 rec'd, (included in which was $3165 from proceeds of notes, etc., not accruing from the revenue of the Hall.) He also reported $6027.29 disbursed, leaving a bal. in Tr'y of $187.78.
This entry cannot be considered as showing an especial- ly brilliant financial standing, but it was altogether encour- aging. It is to be remembered that only a few months had elapsed since the rental parts of the new building were oc- cupied, that the "Concert room" had only begun to be fre- quently rented, that some of the lodges were already delin- quent in rent payments, that extensive changes had been made in and about the new structure, that the interest on loans totalled a considerable sum and that some of the loans had been entirely paid off. Under these conditions the Trus- tees had a right to feel that they were reaching a satisfac- tory position. Certainly the stockholders thought so, for at their annual meeting at the end of the year 1853 they adop- ted resolutions warmly commending the work and accom- plishments of the Board of Trustees. It is probable that the statement presented by Treasurer Hoon at the meeting on September 6, 1853, was the first which showed a balance on hand. At the November 1 meeting the semi-annual 3 per cent. dividend was declared, and Brother George D. Haswell, of Philadelphia, was appointed agent of the Board to attend to the distribution of dividends in his city. He received a certain commission for the work.
The last meeting of the Trustees in 1853 was held De- cember 12. We cull from the minutes some entries which are significant as showing the attention the Trustees gave to their duties, no matter how important or how small :
On motion, the President was authorized to draw his warrant on the Treasurer for $90.00 to pay 18 mos. interest to the 1st. on $1,000, loan from the Grand Lodge.
The President appointed Wm. B. English & James Shidle a Com-
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mittee to audit the books of the Secretary & Treasurer for the past year.
On motion, resolved that when a full price is obtained for the use of the Concert room for a Ball, where it is necessary to remove & replace the seats, that the Janitor be allowed a reasonable extra com- pensation for the employment of an assistant.
On motion, resolved that a shed be erected in the back yard for the purpose of storing the seats on such occasions, and that suitable tables be procured for the Banqueting room.
With the exception of some financial adjustments, no very important transactions demanded the attention of the Board of Trustees during the year 1854. But within six months they were called upon to mourn the death of two of their most competent and popular members. In the month of June of 1854 occurred, only a few weeks apart, the tragic death of Brother Samuel Mckinley and the no less untimely demise of Brother Alexander G. Reinhart. The former was instantly killed in a railroad accident near Al- toona, Pa., and the death of the latter was caused by being thrown from a carriage on the streets of Pittsburgh.
Brother Reinhart when he became secretary of the Board of Trustees had discontinued the practice, followed by Secretary Mckinley, of noting, in more or less detail, the results of the annual elections in the meetings of the stock- holders, and this omission on the part of Brother Reinhart has rendered it somewhat difficult to keep track, with ac- curacy, of the yearly changes in the membership of the Board. We find, however, that only three of the seven trus- tees who comprised the Board at the end of 1853 were re- elected for the ensuing twelve months. These three were Brothers Hailman, Hoon and Reinhart. Those retired were Brothers Tindle, Loomis, English and Shidle, the last named being again elected two years later. In their places came back into membership the Board Brothers Charles Shaler and Samuel Mckinley, and with them came two other nota- ble Masons, Thomas Davage and William W. Wilson. Brother Davage belonged to St. John's Lodge, No. 219, and had an extensive business as a manufacturer of block and tackle. Brother Wilson was a leading jeweler and a mem- ber of Lodge 45. The Board organized at their meeting, January 2, 1854, by re-electing Brothers Hailman president.
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Hoon treasurer and Reinhart secretary. At this session the hour for meeting was changed. Since the first gathering of the trustees their regular hour had been 3 o'clock in the afternoon. In the old days before the convenient illumina- tion of oil and gas was available, when the shades of night came down, the sputtering candles were stuck up; but by the year 1854 Masonic Hall had its gas pipes and its gas, hence we read this entry in the minutes of the session of January 2:
On motion, it was resolved that the meetings of the Board shall hereafter be held in the evening at the usual hour of Lodge meetings, instead of 3 o'clock P. M., as heretofore.
By this year of 1854 the Masonic hall auditorium, known as the "Concert Room," in which Jenny Lind had figured so conspicuously, had become the leading place in the city for high class entertainments and as a meeting place for various important local organizations. The records of a meeting on July 5 announce that "the Committee on Con- cert Room was authorized to let said room for the use of Rev. Quick's congregation for the balance of the year, on Sunday, at not less than $30 per quarter." Rev. Charles Quick was pastor of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, which building was then undergoing repairs, and for several months his congregation listened to his sermons as they were preached with fervor in the Masonic edifice. At a meeting of the trustees January 3 the concert room was rented to the "Lecture Committee" of the Young Men's Mercantile Association, which came into existence as an incorporated organization in 1851. They were to have "the use of the hall one night pr. week during the winter at $15 pr. night." As a result of this rental, Pittsburgh was given its first reg- ular course of public lectures, which at once became popular and attracted large audiences. The first lecture was deliv- ered March 25, 1854, by the noted writer, George William Curtis, who was then enjoying great popularity as the auth- or of the "Potiphar Papers." The next public affair was a "grand concert," on Monday evening, March 27, given by the Pittsburgh Orchestral Society; and they later repeated the concert for the benefit of the sufferers from a disastrous fire which occurred March 19, 1854, in the village of Bir- mingham, now within the thickly populated section of the
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city of Pittsburgh. Other entertainments in Masonic hall for that year were lectures by the noted author and travel- ler, Bayard Taylor; by Count Louis Kanzinsky, an accom- plished Polish exile, and a succession of concerts by the Hutchinson Family, a popular troupe of singers who had appeared in the city at former times. Among the tenants at this time in the Masonic building was the Life, Fire and Marine Insurance Company, of which Brother James S. Hoon was president. In this year Brother Alexander Tin- dle was appointed renting agent of the concert room, to re- ceive a compensation of "five pr ct. on the gross amt. rec'd by him; and that said agent shall be accountable for all rents agreeably to the order of the Board & pay the same to the Secretary, whose receipt shall be his voucher therefor." The rent charge for the auditorium was then fixed at $20 per night, as "the minimum price for two nights consecutively or longer period." At a meeting held April 6, 1854, Bro- thers Shaler, Hoon and Hailman were appointed a commit- tee burdened with the task of looking about for the pur- chase of an organ "for the use of the Lodge rooms." They finally at a later period succeeded in their quest. The usual semi-annual dividend was declared at a session held May 22, 1854, and the following financial transaction is set down in the minutes :
The President reported that he had borrowed of Mr. Sholes, of Beaver, $1,500.00 for 12 months from 1st April last, at 8 per cent, pr. annum, for which he gave his note as President of the Board, en- dorsed by him individually; also his note for $105.00 at 9 months for same interest, and that out of said Loan he had paid $1000 of the 12 pr. cent. loan of the Society. All of which was, on motion, sanctioned by the Board.
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