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 25
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There is a more extended account of his death given in the April, 1859, number of Moore's Freemason's Maga- zine, published then in Boston, Mass., as follows, under the caption, "Brother Hoon:"
We are pained to be called on to announce the death of this ex- cellent brother at Pittsburgh, Pa., on the evening of the third of February. He had been at the Masonic Hall to make arrangements for the public installation of the officers of the Consistory, to take place on the following day. He was apparently in better health and spirits than usual, and having completed the necessary arrange- ments, left for home. On the way he complained of a slight pain in the breast, but not enough to excite any uneasiness, and he stepped into the office of a friend for a moment, and while standing at the fire there, fell to the floor and instantly expired, says our correspon-
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dent, "with words of cheerfulness in his mouth." He was a mem- ber of great respectability, and universally esteemed for the integrity of his character as a man and Mason. His loss will be severely felt by our brethren at Pittsburgh, with whose sympathies we earnestly mingle our own.
He was buried on February 6, 1859, the funeral being a large one, a large delegation of Brother Masons and hun- dreds of citizens generally following the remains to their last resting place. Thus passed from earth, in the midst of his many activities, a highly esteemed citizen and a useful and beloved brother Mason. He was a man who attracted and held friends and in the Masonic fraternity he was an hard worker and a safe adviser.
GEORGE W. LAYNG
On the evening of Tuesday, December 31, 1848, Brother George W. Layng spoke at a public meeting in Rev. Dr. Herron's First Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh. Prim- arily this meeting had been convened to advocate a move- ment for "the better observance of the Sabbath." It was, in fact, a feature of the early agitation in behalf of what is now designated as "civic reform." This movement was in general in accord with the convictions of Brother Layng. Early in life he had entered the ministry, but after some years of service, a throat disease had prevented his contin- uance in the pulpit. He then took up the practice of law. At the date of the church meeting mentioned above he had been a citizen of Pittsburgh for about eight years. He was originally a resident of Wilkes-Barre, Pa .; then later re- moved to Harrisburg, Pa., and in the year 1841 became a resident of Pittsburgh.
As sometimes happens in our days, the ardent reform- ers of Pittsburgh in 1848 went to extremes in their contest against evil, and demanded civic conditions and practices which could not be realized. There was a "memorial" pre- sented for consideration at this meeting in Dr. Herron's
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church, which denounced "Sabbath desecration" particular- ly, and cited as one of the evils the practice of running omnibusses on the streets of Pittsburgh on Sunday. Also there was condemnation of citizens who indulged in "pleas- ure rides" in their private conveyances on that day. Sup- porters of the memorial assailed the prevalent non-obser- vance of the Sabbath and demanded the immediate sup- pression of all kinds of traffic on the public thoroughfares on Sunday, including driving for pleasure. Brother Layng, who was an ardent church member and worker, opposed the adoption of the memorial. He took the stand that where public opinion was not behind a law, such a law was not really inforceable. A newspaper of that date in a report of the meeting, has the following:
Mr. Layng objected to the adoption of the Memorial. He thought it needless to ask for other enactments on the subject, when laws already existed which would remedy the evils, if public opinion could be brought to sustain their enforcement. He was, he said, anxious to effect the object of the meeting; but thought a better plan was to enforce existing laws. Public opinion, he declared, and not the law, was at fault. Mould public opinion aright, and the law was ample to remedy the evil. Now, he continued, the carriages of worshipping Christians were to be heard rolling upon the streets before the church services were closed. Under a law a hundred years old-the Act of 1705-the nuisance had been abated in Philadelphia. If we here in Pittsburgh could not reach private vehicles, we could stop all public conveyances, for carriages let out for hire. Our public officers could enforce the laws if sustained by public opinion. The running of private carriages could not, he said, be prevented by law, but only by public opinion. By making it unfashionable, the evil could be remedied.
It was doubtless that sort of knowledge of human nature and that sort of sensible advice which had brought George W. Layng, a new-comer in Pittsburgh, into promi- nence, and which if his good and useful life had been pro- longed, would have made him an influential and conspicuous citizen. He was a man of convictions, a fact which he show- ed not only at the church meeting in 1848, but which he had more signally displayed and proved at an earlier date, when he stood up in the courts of Allegheny county and claimed the right of the negro people to the benefits of the public schools in Pittsburgh. He was one of the good men
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and strong Masons of the early days of Pittsburgh-Masons whom the brethren of our day know too little of.
George W. Layng was made a Freemason in Lodge No. 61 at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., November 6, 1826, and later was its worshipful master. Years later, (the date is not known), he removed to Harrisburg, Pa., where he was ad- mitted to practice law in the courts of Dauphin county. While a resident of that city he did not join a Masonic lodge, but took part in an effort to revive old Perseverance Lodge, No. 21, which had been constituted at Harrisburg back in 1779, but which had finally been swept under by the waves of the antimasonry troubles in 1837. On Decem- ber 28, 1840, a petition was presented to the Grand Lodge, signed by sixteen members of the Order, for the revival of Perseverance Lodge under the name of the "Keystone Lodge." To this petition the name of Brother Layng was attached, in this manner: Geo. W. Laing, Wilkesbarre Lodge." As frequently happened, his name, when he did not write it himself, was spelled in a variety of ways. This effort to bring the ancient Harrisburg lodge into be- ing, did not succeed. But later it was revived under the old name and number of Perseverance Lodge No. 21. The name of Brother Layng was not on this second and successful petition, which was acted on at a communication of the Grand Lodge on March 1, 1841. He had about that time, 1841, removed with his family, a wife and seven chil- dren to Pittsburgh, as the Allegheny County Court records show that he was admitted to the Bar there to practice law September 3, 1842. His admission was made on motion of Attorney James W. Buchanan on a certificate from Dauphin county. As a citizen of Pittsburgh he made an immediate and good impression. He soon became known as an energetic churchman, and took much interest in civic affairs. In 1846 he was commissioned by Governor Shunk as a notary public. It was not until the year 1846 that he again began to take an active part in Masonry, when we find him one of the charter members of St. John's Lodge, No. 219. In the pro- ceedings of the Quarterly Grand Communication of the Grand Lodge of March 2, 1846, is this entry :
A petition for a Warrant to be held in Pittsburgh was read,
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signed by the following named brethren, viz: Richard Cowan late of No. 45; Henry M. Smith late of No. 45; Alex. Tindall late of No. 165; Wm. J. Davitt late of No. 45; George R. White late of No. 165; S. Jones late of No. 113; James Shidle P. M. of No. 165; Geo. W. Larey P. M. of No. 61; Edw. S. Butler late Mt. Moriah, Louis., Ky .; and naming the following brethren as officers, viz: Richard Cowan, W. M .; Alexander Tindal, Sr. W .; Henry M. Smith, Jr. W .; Accom- panying the petition was a recommendation from Lodge No. 45 at Pittsburg.
It will be seen by the above record that again Brother Layng's name is sadly misspelled. It is set down as "Geo. Larey," and as such is of course not generally recognizable as the name of one of the most progressive of the creators of the Masonic Fund Society. It may be observed too that in that petition Brother Tindle's name is also spelled wrong- ly. St. John's Lodge was constituted April 8, 1846, and Brother Layng was elected its first secretary, an office that he was filling at the time of his death, about three years later. It may be readily surmised that no sooner was Brother Layng back in the Masonic fold as a member of St. John's Lodge than with characteristic zeal he started to promote Masonic interests wherever he could. His popu- larity and recognized ability brought him into prominence, and in January, 1847, he was elected a member of the Pitts- burgh Select Councils, in which body he served three years. He also continued his law practice, and his professional card in the newspapers in December, 1847, read:
George W. Layng-Attorney and Counsellor at Law and Notary Public at the corner of 4th & Wood Ste., over Sibbert & Jones' Ex- change Office.
As a bit of local Pittsburgh history, it may be noted here that Brother Layng provided the first legal controversy over the contested claim of a Pittsburgh councilman to take his seat in that body. Having been chosen as a member of Select Council from the Seventh ward, the question arose as to whether the fact that he held the office of notary public did not render him ineligible to a seat in Councils. It was alleged that a provision in the then city charter render- ed his election void under existing circumstances. Councils referred the problem to the City Solicitor, and he in turn submitted it to the courts, in the form of a case stated. In
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a written opinion Judges Hepburn and Lowrie sustained the claim of Brother Layng and he took his seat as elected.
Brother Layng's services as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Masonic Fund Society were of great and permanent value. At the convocation of the Pittsburgh brethren held December 25, 1847, at which the Committee of Seven was appointed to begin the great work of establish- ing the Society, he was named as the representative of St. John's Lodge, No. 219. Afterwards various meetings of the Board of Trustees were held at his office, and apparently both the charter and the by-laws of the Masonic Fund So- ciety were written there by him and Brother Judge Charles Shaler.
The death of this estimable Mason was peculiarly sad. He had worked hard for the organization of the Masonic Fund Society and the erection of a fine Hall for the brethren, and was looking forward with eager anticipation to the ceremonial laying of the corner stone. But the devotion of a son to the welfare of a father was, in the mind of George Layng, paramount to other important matters. And that devotion brought him to the end of his earthly career. In the year 1850 the scourge of cholera raged in many parts of the United States. At that time his father, an aged man, was living in Mobile, Alabama, where the disease had spread. Anxious for the fate of his parent, Brother Layng determined to bring him to Pittsburgh, and in a short time before the laying of the corner stone of the new Masonic building he went to Mobile. He returned to Pittsburg with his father a few days after the corner stone had been put in place on July 4th. On the night of the 10th of July he himself was stricken with the dread disease and died a few hours later at his home at No. 145 Center avenue. Addition- ally distressing was the fate of his family by the fact that three days after his death Mrs. Layng and two of her daughters were also struck down by the same terrible scourge. The widow and one daughter recovered, but the eldest, a girl, aged 18 years, was laid in her grave less than a week after the funeral of her father. Brother Layng's death was a sad blow to his host of friends and particularly his Masonic brethren and brother attorneys; and so highly
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was he esteemed that it was deemed proper to publicly recognize his worth at the meeting of the Allegheny county Bar which had been convened to take suitable action over the death of a President of the United States. President Zachary Taylor had recently died, and on July 11, 1850, a large assemblage of the members of the Pittsburgh Bar met in the Court house to give due honor to the memory of the nation's chief executive. Judge McClure presided, and various addresses were made eulogistic of the dead Presi- dent. At the conclusion of the last address, Judge McClure announced the death of Brother George W. Layng, and on motion it was decided to continue the meeting in order to pay deserved tribute to his memory. Attorneys Mahon, Samuel W. Black and George P. Hamilton were appointed a committee to draw up memorial resolutions, and in present- ing them Mr. Hamilton said:
I yesterday met Mr. Layng in the street. He appeared as healthy and as cheerful as usual. This morning the first news that reached my ears was of his death. Mr. Layng enjoyed the confidence of this court and the respect of the Bar. He was the architect of his own fortune-a self-made man. He was an industrious man, and an honest man; and in the true sense of the term, a good man. His brethren of the Bar have cause to lament his death. But we might find some consolation, did the consequences of his death cease here. Alas! He has left a helpless family-an aged father, a wife and seven children.
Judge McClure followed with a very sympathetic ad- dress, in which he said:
Mr. Layng enjoyed the confidence of this court. I last met him on the wharf some weeks ago. He told me he was about to make a tour in the South. I am told that on Tuesday he returned, in seem- ing good health and buoyant in spirits. Not one of us was prepared for a loss so sudden. When a man lingers upon a bed of sickness, we become accustomed to it, and the news of his death does not astound us. But the announcement made this morning strikes us like a pistol shot.
A beautiful tribute was paid to the memory of the deceased attorney by Brother Samuel W. Black, who said:
Our brother has died from enacting the noblest duty a man can perform. The duty of a child to a father should have a sanctified remembrance. When in the olden time, amidst the dangers of a burning city, a son was seen carrying upon his back the old citizen, Anchisas, the son's name was commemorated in song and story and he became immortal. Our friend and brother, in a transaction some-
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what similer, in bringing his aged father through the devouring pestilence safely to a sweet home, accomplished his purpose-and died. Yesterday Mr. Layng was as full of life and light as any of us. Today he is dead. So quickly do bright things come to con- fusion.
We turn aside here for a moment to reflect how singu- larly prophetic is that last striking sentence in Colonel Black's eulogy. For in times later in the midst of our great Civil War this gallant and accomplished gentleman and Ma- son was to fall fighting gloriously on the field of battle. And then again it could have been well said: "So quickly do bright things come to confusion."
At this meeting of the Pittsburgh Bar sympathetic resolutions in memory of Brother Layng were adopted, and under the caption, "The Death of a Good Man," the Pitts- burgh "Post" of July 12, 1850, said:
It grieves us exceedingly to perform the duty of announcing the death of our esteemed friend and fellow citizen, George W. Layng, Esq., a member of the Pittsburg Bar. He died on Wednesday at his residence in the Seventh ward, from an attack of that dreaded dis- ease, the cholera. The circumstances attending his death made it peculiarily afflicting. Mr. Layng had just returned from a trip to Mobile, where he had gone for the purpose of bringing his venerable father to Pittsburgh. He enjoyed good health and was in excellent spirits on Wednesday, and seemed happy in again joining his family, to whom he was devotedly attached. But in the midst of life we are in death. When his cup of joy was full to the brim-when sunshine and gladness smiled around him on every side-he closed his eyes in death. Mr. Layng was a useful and enterprising citizen. In every movement calculated to advance the interests of Pittsburg he was a prominent actor. As a member of our city councils he was untiring in his devotion to the public good. For several years past he dis- charged the duties of notary public, an office to which he had been appointed by Governor Shunk, whose confidence in Mr. Layng was unlimited. As a member of the Bar, the deceased had the reputation of being an honest and conscientious advocate. He was also active as a member of the Masonic fraternity, and it was greatly through his efforts that the work of erecting a Masonic Temple in this city was commenced.
We may properly conclude this sketch of the life of this good man and useful Mason with words from the reso- lution adopted by St. John's Lodge, No. 219, which he had aided to bring into existence:
In the death of Brother George W. Layng his amiable wife has
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lost a loving husband; his children, a kind and indulgent father; our community, a valuable citizen, and our Order a worthy member.
WILLIAM W. WILSON
Although Brother William W. Wilson was one of the seven Masons, with Hailman, Mckinley, Layng, Hoon, Sar- gent and McCammon, who organized the Masonic Fund So- ciety for the County of Allegheny, his first service on the Board of Trustees was only during the first year, 1848, of its existence. It was not until 1854, in January, that he again became a trustee. He was not a candidate for re- election at the close of 1848; but his withdrawal from this particular line of Masonic activities had become a matter of necessity. At that period not only was the business of Brother Wilson, that of jeweler, demanding his close atten- tion, but he was also widely engaged in the extension of Templar Masonry throughout Pennsylvania. He had re- ceived the Orders of the Red Cross and Temple in Wheeling Commandery, No. 1, April 25, 1847. Among his fellow candidates for those honors were two future Masonic Fund Society trustees, Brothers Samuel McKinley and James S. Hoon. Knight Wilson immediately took up the great line of Templar work, and he achieved a deservedly prominent place. In the records of the proceedings of the G. G. En- campment held in Columbus, Ohio, September, 1847, is the following from the report of the Deputy Grand Master of Pennsylvania:
On the 13th of May last I received an application from Sir Knights Alexander McCammon, W. W. Wilson, James S. Hoon, S. Mckinley and others, at Pittsburgh, Pa., praying for authority to establish in the city of Pittsburgh, subordinate to the General Grand Encampment of the United States, and confiding in the thus vouched high character of the Sir Knights of Pittsburgh, immediately on the receipt of the usual fee required by our Constitution, I made out and issued to them my Warrant of Dispensation, authorizing the establish- ment at Pittsburgh of a Council of Red Cross Knights and and En- campment, as prayed for in their petition. From the information I
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have received, I entertain the belief that this Encampment will be found worthy of the high honors confided to it.
It will thus be seen that at the time Brother Wilson had been elected one of the first trustees of the Masonic Fund Society he was busily engaged in Templar work. But he again became a member of the Board of Trustees in 1854 and was elected secretary June 12 of that year to succeed Brother Alexander R. Reinhart, deceased. On January 1, 1855, his place as secretary was taken by Dr. Alexander M. Pollock; but in January, 1856, he was again elected secre- tary. He was a regular attendant at the meetings of the trustees and was always at the front in the promotion of its interests and the good of the Craft in general.
He was admitted as a member of Lodge 45 November 1, 1844, having previously belonged to one of the other old lodges, which have long ago gone out of existence. But to which of these Bodies he belonged is not now known. He withdrew from Lodge 45 and became a charter member of Franklin Lodge, No. 221, which was constituted October 15, 1846. He was the first W. M. of that lodge and also served in that capacity through the year 1847. He was one of the charter members of Zerubbabel Chapter, No. 162, having previously been made a Royal Arch Mason in the old Colum- bia Chapter, No. 91, constituted in Philadelphia in the year 1822. He probably joined that as a Sojoiner, while living temporarily in Philadelphia. He was the first King of Zerubbabel Chapter, but did not advance to higher stations, his duties as a trustee of the Masonic Fund Society and in other Masonic Bodies taking up too much of his time to allow for Chapter work.
It was as a Templar Mason that Brother Wilson be- came most widely known. He was installed June 22, 1847, Generalissimo of Pittsburgh Commandery, or Encampment, as it was then known, and was again chosen to that position December 1, 1847, and again elected December, 1848. He was chosen as the first E. C. of that Commandery. He con- tinued in that office until 1856. At a Conclave of Pittsburgh Encampment, No. 1, in January, 1854, E. Sir Wilson announced that a State Encampment had been formed for Pennsylvania, and on March 14, of that year, he was ap-
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pointed by the Pittsburgh Encampment to represent them in the convention which established that State Encamp- ment. In 1854 he was elected Grand Commander of Knights Templar of Pennsylvania at Brownsville, Pa., and was re- elected for the next year at Pittsburgh. In a recital of his labors and accomplishments as a Knight Templar, published in the records of Pittsburgh Commandery, No. 1, is the fol- lowing tribute:
E. Sir Wilson was our first Eminent Commander and the first Grand Commander of the State of Pennsylvania, and as such we should feel a pride and loving reverence for a man so distinguished in our early history. The records show that he was faithful in his obligations, missing but few of the Conclaves and was well thought of by his Fraters, as they continued him in the high office of Com- mander for years. At this late day there is no one to tell of his per- sonal characteristics; but we can honor him for his great service to No. 1 Commandery in particular, and Freemasonry in general.
The life of this useful and eminent Mason ended Decem- ber 1, 1865, at his home in Pittsburgh.
JOHN SARGENT
Although Brother John Sargent was one of the original seven Masons who comprised the first Board of Trustees of the Masonic Fund Society, he served through a period of only a year and a half. He was named as trustee at the convocation held December 25, 1847, and remained on the Board until 16th of May, 1850. The minutes of the meet- ings of the Trustees on that date state that "Brother John Sargent having announced that he was about to remove from Pitssburgh, he could not therefore serve any longer." Thereupon his resignation was accepted. At the same meet- ing Brother J. C. Cole, who had been elected a trustee six months before, also resigned, and his resignation was also agreed to. Tese vacancies were filled by the election of Brother James Shidle and William Noble.
Apparently shortly after his retirement from the Board
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of Trustees in May, 1850, Brother John Sargent removed from Pittsburgh; but there seems to be no information ob- tainable as to the place of his new abode. He had prior to his departure been a druggist in old Allegheny City. He was a member of Franklin Lodge, No. 221, and was one of the first members of Zerubbabel Chapter, No. 162, consti- tuted December 30, 1846. The minutes show that he was admitted to the Chapter in company with Companion Shep- ley R. Holmes, John Birmingham, James D. Torbett and several others. He was also a member of Pittsburgh Com- mandery, No. 1, K. T., having been knighted October 6, 1847.
ALEXANDER McCAMMON
Brother Alexander McCammon, who was made a Free- mason in Lodge 45 January 27, 1841, was a trustee of the Masonic Fund Society through the year 1848 and again during the year 1851. At the memorable convocation of the Pittsburgh brethren on December 25, 1847, when the first seven trustees were designated, he was one of the seven chosen. At this period, Brother McCammon was a wholesale and retail shoe dealer in Pittsburgh, his place of business being at No. 12 Market street. He was for a num- ber of years active in Lodge 45 and was their W. M. in 1846- 47. His name occurs frequently in the minutes of that lodge and we read that at a meeting held September 26, 1845, "on motion of Bro. McCammon five members of Lodge 45 be elected, who shall be styled the Trustees of Charity, and shall serve until the November election; whereupon, the following brethren were duly elected: A. McCammon, Cowan, Zimmerman, Mckinley and Rodgers." In those days it was customary to present diplomas to past masters and it is carefully recorded that at a meeting of the lodge on March 26, 1851, a committee was appointed "to procure a diploma, to be by Lodge 45 presented to P. M. Brother
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