The Working Tools July 2011 by Cory Sigler

July 2011 Issue #43

The Founding Fathers and Freemasonry www.twtmag.com

Summer Fundraiser To Help TWT Brethren the first issue of TWT came out January 2006. Since then there has been 43 monthly issues of Masonic education and information. I’ve poured countless time and resources into this project out of my own pocket. I’m still using the same hardware and software as I did when I first started, which as you know becomes outdated very quickly. It is now necessary to purchase new equipment if I want to remain productive. I’ve fought off a near hard drive failure, multiple viruses and I’m working with a PC that just no longer can not handle the desk-top publishing and video editing programs I need to do to continue making this a top notch publication.

So what am I asking for? A suggested donation of $0.99 for the current issue. (Of course you can give more than a buck if you want to.)

Win an Autographed copy of Bro. Howie Damron’s CD Everyone that donates will be put into a drawing to win! (Drawing August 31, 2011)

Premium Donations Give-away’s $10.00+ All past issues of TWT on a CD mailed to you (U.S. Only). $25.00+ All past issues of TWT & over 4 Gigs of Masonic PDF’s on a DVD mailed to you (U.S. Only).

How to Donate A Paypal account is available on the TWTMAG.com website. This is the easiest and safest method.

What If you don’t want to donate? No need to send me any emails asking if it is necessary to give me anything to download the issue (past or current). This is on a voluntary basis only.

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Welcome Welcome my brothers to the July 2011 edition of The Working Tools Masonic Magazine. You will see some changes to the format, look and feel throughout this issue. I’m experimenting with the way I layout everything. I’m constantly tinkering and working out the rough edges. You might say I’m trying to find my perfect ashlar. (Nothing funnier than Masonic humor!) Since coming back last February with new issues of TWT, the number of downloads, adds to the mailing list and emails sent to me have been staggering. Thank you for the support you have shown me, it really makes the difference. A special “Thank you” to Bro. Chris Dubuisson who reached out to me and told me how much he enjoys reading TWT. He asked me if I could do something relating to History of the Founding Fathers in Masonry. As you can see from the cover I was happy to oblige.

You might have noticed the donation appeal on the preceeding page. I know that everyone does not get TWT directly by downloading it from the website themseleves but through someone emailing them the PDF. If this is the case please consider going to www.twtmag.com and clicking on the donate button to help out if you enjoyed the magazine.

I hope you and your family all have a safe and happy 4th of July holiday.

Until next time...

Cory Sigler Cory Sigler, PM Hawthorne Fortitude #200 Find me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/corysigler & facebook.com/twtmag

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Contents

This Month’s Issue Includes:

Pg 13 Masonry in Pop Culture

· · · · · · · ·

Pg 27 Bio: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Pg 41 Cover: Founding Fathers & Freemasonry

Old Tyler Talks- Pg.16 Word of the Month- Pg.18 Widows Son Masonic Riders Assoc.- Pg.21 Noah and Freemasonry- Pg.24 Masonic Pride Music Tour - Pg. 32 In The News - Pg.34 New Publications - Pg. 50 Lodge Education - Pg. 54

The Working Tools is published monthly by Corsig Publishing & Cory Sigler, It is not affiliated with any Grand Lodge. Letters or inquiries should be directed to Cory Sigler, Editor, at E-mail: Corsig3@yahoo.com All letters become the property of the Working Tools. Photographs and articles should be sent to the attention of the Editor. Every effort will be made to return photographs but this cannot be guaranteed. Please include a self-addressed stamped envelope. The Editor reserves the right to edit all materials received. www.twtmag.com

MAIL BAG Brother, I have enjoyed reading your magazine for many months now and was glad to see your bio on brother Buzz Aldrin. There are a few more points of interest about brother buzz I would like to share with you . I am the JW at Clear Lake Lodge #1417 in El Lago, TX - when the astronaut program began many Masons from around the country were moved to the clear lake area and the closest lodge was in la Porte Texas, so The NASA employees/Masons asked for dispensation to create a new lodge closer to NASA. in 1966 Clear Lake Lodge 1417 was born and Buzz Aldrin was among the charter members... another very little known fact is that he took items to the moon for our lodge and they are displayed in our lodge room, I would be happy to email you a picture of the items which include, a small American flag, a hand sewn square and compass made by the WM’s wife and an Apollo 11 patch. Most masons only know of the Scottish Rite flag which you had a picture of in the June issue. S&F AJ Garcia

Bro AJ– Awesome email!!! I would love to see the pics and thank you for sharing these other not as known Cory: I am about to be the Junior Warden of my lodge in Texas ( I removed Brother Name and Lodge info—Cory ). While there are over 850 Lodges in Texas, and 90,000 dues paying brothers, I would say with full confidence that less than 25% of those brothers are truly active. I have been a Mason for three years. In that time my Lodge has only initiated four men, with only one of them becoming a Master. I have had the opportunity to visit Lodges in Western Canada, Singapore, and London. Although their individual Lodge Membership numbers are much smaller than in (Town removed) (75 brothers as opposed to an average of 250 in (Town removed) Lodges) these smaller Lodges routinely draw 50% of their members to Stated Meetings, and bring in a healthy 10% growth (or more) on an annual basis. I read with great interest the article in the June Working Tools Newsletter regarding the Grand Master's Library, and immediately subscribed. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Recruitment and Revival Document was quite telling. In 2001 the brothers of Massachusetts decided to take action. Sadly, here in Texas we drift further away from even sustaining membership due mostly to living WELL in the past. For instance, we still teach mouth to ear, 100% of the time. There is no legal code book in Texas. Even the word "recruitment" is shunned. I have attended a number of Grand Lodge events in Waco, TX. I have personally witnessed a number of young enthusiastic brothers being shouted down and scorned by old timers. Its quite sad to watch this craft wither away.

Brother Bob, Thank you so much for sending me this email and letting me know about this situation in TX. It seems that while some states are surviving and thriving others are out there not doing as well. The reason I do TWT every month is to keep the education alive that we do not always find in our own Lodges. It is up to ALL OF US to take action and try to make a difference no matter how small. Do what it takes to make it known you want to make Masonry strong again in TX and ask what you can do and follow it up with action not merely words. I will do what i can do to help you in any way possible. Cory

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This Month in History

July 1st- On this date in 1964, Roscoe Pound, a Masonic scholar and the Dean of Harvard Law School, died. 4th- On this date in 1781, Robert Burns received his 1st degree. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

6th- On this date in 1830, the Grand Lodge of Florida was formed 8th- On this date in 1789, the Grand Lodge of Connecticut was formed 19th- On this date in 1901, Sir Winston Churchill received his 2nd degree in Studholme Lodge #1591, London. 21th- On this date in 1758, the Grand Lodge of Scotland granted a charter to Fredericksburg Lodge in Virginia, the lodge that had conferred the Masonic degrees on George Washington in 1752 and 1753. 21st- On this date in 1875, the Grand Lodge of South Dakota (Dakota) was formed 27- On this date in 1818, the Grand Lodge of Mississippi was formed 30th- On this date in 1971 Freemason and all around good guy Cory Sigler was born in Brooklyn NY. The world has never been the same.

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WEOFM.org July 2011 Lectures “The Worldwide Exemplification of Freemasonry”

07-09-11 Albert Pike and the Five Civilized Tribes , Robert G. Davis, PM 07-16-11 A Visit with General Albert Pike, James T. Tresner, PM 07-23-11 The Largest & Most Beautiful Masonic Temple in the Entire World , John R. Snider, PM 07-30-11 Journeying Eastward , Ravi S. Kudesia, MPS

http://weofm.org www.twtmag.com

Ebook Portal

Over 1,800 Free E-books Available For Your Collection

I was contacted by Bro. Keith Carpenter who has informed me about his collection of Ebooks that has been amassed throughout the years. Most of the documents are in PDF format for easy reading on the go. A tremendous â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thank youâ&#x20AC;? to Keith for taking time to categorise this for us and sharing this with us.

https://www.4shared.com/dir/21405406/2601a395/sharing.html

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Grand Lodge Spot Light

Grand Lodge F & AM of Alabama http://www.alafreemasonry.org/ 341 Monument Drive Millbrook, Alabama 36054 Phone: 334-290-0961 Fax: 334-290-0965 Office Hours 8:00am - 4:30pm M-F The Grand Lodge of Alabama was established in Montgomery on June 11, 1821, with Thomas Wadsworth Farrar as its first Grand Master. Previous to the Grand Lodgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s formation, Masonic Lodges existed in the state under charters from the Grand Lodges of Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The creation of the Grand Lodge of Alabama provided unity and guaranteed that a common ritual was being performed during the degree work.

Current Grand Master M.W. Ronald G. Andress

Former Grand Masters of Alabama include Governors Rufus Cobb (1881-2) and Russell Cunningham (1900-1) and U. S. Senator John H. Bankhead (1883-4). There are currently 311 active Lodges, with a total membership of over 32,000.

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Masonry in Pop Culture

“Hidden Masonic Symbolism in the Green Lantern” By Martin Faulks (youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE8JqnM5zgA) As a huge comic book/superhero fan especially the DC Comic universe I was happy to stumble upon this video comparing The Green Lantern to Masonry. I’m not sure of the creator of The Green Lantern ever intended to have any similarities between the two or if it was purely coincidental. In all superhero stories you will find the good vs bad and light vs dark mythologies so it might be a stretch to look for a link but I certainly enjoyed watching it . Bottom line is take this with a grain of salt and just have fun with it.

Ebook Portal

I break down the video to show you the highlights, the full video will be loaded on the TWT MAG Facebook page.

0:04 sec “Could the Green Lantern Contain Hidden Masonic Symbolism” 0:09 sec “Take note of the lantern symbol on his chest”

0:29 sec “When turned on its side it becomes a Masonic Symbol, its called the point in the circle”

0:45 sec “The Order of Emerald Knights admit noble men no matter where they were born”, “The same is true of Freemasons”

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Masonry in Pop Culture Green Lantern Continued...

1:02 sec “The both use rings with mystic symbols”

1:14 sec “Some Masonic Lodges use “magic Lanterns” to project Masonic symbols”

1:36 sec “The Freemasons and the Green Lantern, Do you believe there is a link? ” 1:53 end. Watch the full video to see all pics and symbols

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Masonry in Pop Culture This month’s feature film is titled “Hidden Masonic Symbolism in The Green Lantern ” Run time– 1:52 minutes Click Screen to view movie (on-line only)

Also found on the TWTMAG Facebook page for viewing

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Old Tyler Talks

“Hep Hep”

by Carl H. Claudy

“Thank you for tiling," smiled the Old Tiler, as he resumed his sword after a trip for ice water. "What are they doing in there now?'' "Fighting like a lot of snarling puppies!" Responded the New Brother disgustedly. ''My idea of Masonry is not a red-hot discussion every meeting, as to whether or not Jim Jones is or isn't, or we ought or ought not, to spend eleven dollars for something or other." "Go on, tell me what your idea of Masonry is!" The Old Tiler's voice was sardonic.” The New Brother had crossed swords with the Old Tiler before. ''Not much I won't, and have you blow my ideas full of air holes!" he retorted. "But you tell me why some lodges pull so well together, have such harmonious conception of their goal, and others, like ours, are always fighting. " ''Did you ever see I do-fight, with only one dog?" asked the Old Tiler. ''Did you ever see a boiler explode without too much steam and not enough water in it? Did you ever see a team of horses take a heavy load uphill all pulling different ways? "A lodge can't fight unless it has something to quarrel about. We are having a series of floor fusses because we have about three or eleven alleged brothers who don't know anything about military drill! If they had heard an old drill sergeant say, ‘hep, hep, hep,’ a few thousand times, they'd get 'hep' to themselves. At first they'd be like the soldier son of the proud old Irish mother watching her boy parade and saying, ‘Ah, do yez moind, they is all out o’ step but him!’ After a while they'd learn that they couldn't keep in step by going as they pleased -- they'd learn to watch the fellow to the right and the chap to the left.” "In a lodge there are brothers who won't stay in step, not because they can't, but because they are too busy watching their feet to see the other fellow's shoes.” “Take Biggsby, now; Biggsby is the big fellow with the overgrown grip on a nickel, who is forever and always blocking business by insisting on a detailed explanation of every appropriation. He isn't in step. Our lodge is rich enough to spend some money without worrying. Biggsby thinks that if we don't pinch ten cent pieces until they coppers, we are going to the Masonic Home! "Isn't it right to have someone watch the appropriations?" interrupted the New Brother.

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Old Tyler Talks

"Watch 'em by all means," answered the Old Tiler, "and kick if anyone tries to slip something over. But watching is one thing and objecting to the wishes of the majority because of private beliefs regarding the sacredness of two-bit pieces is another. No one cares if Biggsby wears out a dollar's worth of shoes saving a ten-cent car ride. They are Biggsby's shoes and that's Biggsby's business. But in lodge he should get in step and not object to lodge expenditures on personal grounds.” "There should be no politics in Masonry, but there never was a lodge that didn't have politics in its elections. If Jim Jones lobbies trying to get Bob Smith elected, and Frank. Robinson spends time and effort to get Bill Brown elected, no special harm is done, unless they keep up their fight after it is won and lost. 'Some people never know when they are licked' is not always a compliment. In a lodge with real spirit, Bill forgets after he loses his fight and works for the successful candidate. In a lodge where Bill isn't 'hep' to his Masonry or himself, he carries a grouch, tries to make the successful chap unhappy, gets in the way of the machinery and generally stirs up trouble. "You are just beginning in Masonry. You have joined a good lodge. What’s happening in there is just a phase. Those fellows will learn, in time, that when ten or forty or four hundred men form a real Masonic lodge, as a body they are something bigger and better than ten or forty or four hundred times the bigness and goodness of the individuals. A true lodge spirit provides a lot of give and not much take. When every member is ‘hep’ to the other fellows’ ideas – when every member makes a distinction between conduct for himself and what his organization should do – when each of us thinks of his fellow-member as his brother in heart as well as in organization, then your lodge develops real lodge spirit and stops foolish fighting." "I see," answered the New Brother. "A lodge, like a piece of machinery, squeaks if it isn’t well oiled. If any part of it is out of order, the whole suffers. And because Masons are human beings, we are not perfect and so no lodge is ever perfect. But we can make our lodges better by sinking individual desires for the good of the organization." "Well, well!" said the Old Tiler. "Almost do you persuade me you have the makings of a real good . . . " But then there were three raps, and the New Brother is still wondering what the Old Tiler meant to say "fellow" or "Mason" or "officer!"

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Word of the Month

Masonic Symbolism & Words Brought to you by Www.masonicdictionary.com This Month’s Word is

“Five Points of Fellowship” The Five Points of Fellowship, as every Master Masons knows, contain the essence of the doctrine of brotherhood. But many a new brother asks, pertinently, “why are they called “Points?” In the Old Constitutions, as explained in the Halliwell or Regius manuscript, are fifteen regulations, called “points.” The old verse runs: “Fifteen artyculus there they soughton And fifteen poyntys there they wrogton.” Translated into easy English, this reads: “Fifteen articles there they sought And fifteen points there they wrought.” Phillips “New World of Words,” published in 1706, defines “point” as “a head, or chief matter.” Moreover, an operative Masons “points” the seams of as wall by filling in the chinks left in laying bricks or stone, thus completing the structure. In older days of the Speculative Art there were “twelve original points” as we learn from the old English lectures, done away with by the United Grand Lodge of England at the time of the reconciliation of 1813. They were introduced by the following passage: “There are in Freemasonry twelve original points, which form the basis of the system and comprehend the whole ceremony of initiation. Without the existence of these points, no man ever was, or can be, legally and essentially received into the Order. Every person who is made a Mason must go through these twelve forms and ceremonies, not only in the first de-

gree, but in every subsequent one.” The twelve points were: Opening, Preparation, Report, Entrance, Prayer, Circumambulation , Advancing. Obligation, Investure, Northeast Corner and Closing; and each was symbolized by one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel for ingenious reasons not necessary to set forth here. The twelve original points were never introduced into the United States, and are now no longer used in England, although the ceremonies which they typify, of course, are integral parts of all Masonic rituals. Our Five Points of Fellowship are not allied to these, except as they are reflected in the word “points.” We also find this relationship in the Perfect Points of our Entrance, once called Principal Points. Dr. Oliver, famous, learned and not always accurate Masonic student and writer (1782-1867) sums up the Five Points in his “Landmarks,” as follows: “Assisting a brother in his distress, supporting him in his virtuous undertakings, praying for his welfare, keeping inviolate his secrets and vindicating his reputation as well in his absence as in his presence.” by which it will be seen that in Oliver’s day the Five Points were not exactly as they are with us now. Strange though it seems, a change was made in the symbolism of the Five Points as recently as 1842, at the Baltimore Masonic Convention. Prior to that time, according to Cole, the Five Points were symbolized by hand, foot, knee, breast and back. After 1842, the hand was omitted, and the mouth and ear tacked on as the fifth. Mackey believed that:

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Word of the Month

“The omission of the first and the insertion of the last are innovations and the enumeration given by Cole is the old and genuine one which was originally taught in England by Preston and in his country by Webb.” Some curiosities of ritual changes, though interesting, are more for the antiquarian than the average lodge member. Most of us are more concerned with a practical explanation of the Five Points as they have been taught for nearly a hundred years. For they have a practical explanation, which goes much more deeply into fraternal and brotherly relations than the ritual indicates. A man goes on foot a short distance by preference; for a longer journey he boards a street car, rides in an automobile, engages passage on a railroad or courses through the air in a plane. Service to our brethren on foot does not imply any special virtue in that means of transportation. The word expresses the willingness of him who would serve our own pleasure and refuse to travel merely because the means is not to our liking would hardly be Masonic. We assist our brethren when we can; also we serve them. The two terms are not interchangeable; we can not assist a brother with out serving, but we may serve him without assisting him. For a wholly negative action may be a service; suppose we have a just claim against him and, because of our Fraternal relations, we postpone pressing it. That is true service, but not active assistance, such as we might give if we gave or loaned him money to satisfy some other’s claim. How far should we go “on foot” to render service? Nothing is said in the ritual, but the cabletow is otherwise used as a measure of length. That same Baltimore Masonic Convention defined a cabletow’s length as “the scope of a brothers reasonable ability.” Across town may be too far for one, and across a continent not too far for another. In better words, our own conception of brotherhood must say how far we travel to help our brother. Mackey expressed thus: “Indolence should not cause our footsteps to halt, or wrath

to turn them aside; but with eager alacrity and swiftness of foot, we should press forward in the exercise of charity and kindness to a distressed fellow creature.” The petition at the Altar of the Great Architect of the Universe before engaging in any great and important undertaking is sound Masonic doctrine. To name the welfare of our brother in our petitions is good - but not for the reasons which the good Dr. Mackey set forth; the great Masonic student’s pen slipped here, even as Jove has been known to nod! He Said: “In our devotions to almighty God we should remember a brother’s welfare as our own, for the prayers of a fervent and sincere heart will find no less favor in the sight of heaven because the petition for self intermingles with aspirations of benevolence for a friend.” Apparently we should pray for our friends because God will look with favor on an unselfish action on our part - which is un Masonic and selfish! Cole, writing years before Mackey (1817) said of his Third, our Second Point: “When I offer up my ejaculations to Almighty God, a brother’s welfare I will remember as my own, for as the voices of babes and sucklings ascend to the Throne of Grace, so most assuredly will the breathings of a fervent heart arise to the mansions of bliss, as out prayers are certainly required of each other.” This seems to be interpretable as meaning that we should pray for our brethren because we love them, and because, knowing our own need of their prayers, we realize their need of ours. Anciently, it was written “Laborare est orare,” - to labor is to pray. If indeed prayer is labor, then to pray for our brethren we may labor for our brethren, which at once clarifies the Second Point and makes it a practical, everyday, do-it-now admonition. To work for our brother’s welfare is in the most brotherly manner to petition the Most High for him. We often associate with the idea of a “secret” something less than proper; “He has a secret in his life,” “He is secretive.” “He says one thing but in his secret heart he thinks another” are all expressions which seem to connote some degree of guilt with what is secret. We keep our brother’s secrets,

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Word of the Month guilty or innocent, but let us not assume that every secret is of a guilty variety. He may have a secret ambition, a secret joy, a secret hope - if he confides these to us, is our teaching merely to refuse to tell them, or to keep them in the fine old sense of that word - to hold, to guard. to preserve. The Keeper of the Door stands watch and ward, not to keep it from others, but to see that none use it improperly. Thus we are to keep the secret joys and ambitions of our brethren, close in our hearts, until he wants them known, but also by sympathy and understanding, helping him to maintain them. Even without this broad interpretation, the keeping of a brother’s confidence has more to it than mere silence. If he confides to us a guilty secret, since to betray him may not only make known that which he wishes hidden, but places him in danger. To betray a trust is never the act of a brother. In ordinary life an unsought trust does not carry with it responsibility to preserve it; in Freemasonry it does! No matter how we wish we did not share the secret, if it has been given us by a brother, we can not suffer our tongues to betray him, no matter what it costs us to remain silent, unless we forget alike our obligation and the Third Point. “Do you stumble and fall, my brother? My hand is stretched out to prevent it. Do you need aid? My hand is yours - use it. It is your hand, for the time being. My strength is united to yours. You are not alone in your struggle - I stand with you on the Fourth of the Five Points, and as your need may be, so “Deo volente,” will be my strength for you.” So must we speak when the need comes. It makes no difference in what way our brother stumbles; it may be mentally; it may be spiritually; it may be materially; it may be morally. No exceptions are noted in our teachings. We are not told to stretch forth the hand in aid “If,” and “perhaps,” and “but!” Not for us to judge, to condemn, to admonish . . . for us only to put forth our strength unto our falling brother at his need, without question and without stint. For such is the Kingdom of Brotherhood. More sins are committed in the name of the Fifth of the Five Points than in the name of liberty! Too often we offer counsel when it is not advice but help that is needed. Too often we admonish of motes within our brother’s eye when our own vision is blinded by beams. What said the Lord? (Amos VII, in the Fellowcraft’s Degree.)

Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.” “In the midst of my people Israel” - not in the far away land; not across the river; not up on the mountain top, but in the midst of them, an intimate personal individual plumb line! So are we to judge our brethren; not by the plumb, the square or the level that we are each taught to carry in our hearts, but by his plumb, his square, his level. If he build true by his own tools, we have no right to judge him by ours. The friendly reminders we must whisper to him are of incorrect building by his own plumb line. He may differ from us in opinion; he may be Republican where we are Democrat, Methodist where we are Baptist; Wet where we are Dry; Protectionist where we are Free trade; League of Nations proponent where we are “biter enders” we must not judge him by the plumb line of our own beliefs. Only when we see him building untrue to his own tools have we the right to remind him of his faults. When we see a brave man shrinking, a virtuous man abandoning himself to vice, a good man acting as a criminal - then is his building faulty judged by his own plumb line and we may heed the Fifth of the Five Points and counsel and advise him to swing back, true to his own working tools. And finally, we do well to remember Mackey’s interpretation of the Fifth Point: “. . . we should never revile a brother’s character behind his back but rather, when attacked by others, support and defend it.” “Speak no ill of the dead, since they can not defend themselves” might well have been written of the absent. In the Masonic sense no brother is absent if his brother is present, since then he has always a champion and defender, standing upon the Fifth Point as upon a rock. So considered - and this little paper is but a slender outline of how much and how far the Five Points extend - these teachings of Masonry, concerned wholly with the relations of brother to brother, become a broad and beautiful band of blue - the blue of the Blue Lodge - the True Blue of Brotherhood. - Source: Short Talk Bulletin - May 1931

“Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people www.twtmag.com

Special Interest Groups

http://www.widowssons.com/ The Widows Sons Masonic Riders Association is an International Association which is open to all Masons who enjoy the sport of motorcycling and have a desire to ride with and associate with their fraternal brothers. Our goal is to: 1. Introduce the sport of motorcycling to our Masonic Brothers 2. Raise Masonic Awareness in the world of sport motorcycling 3. Contribute to the relief of our Widows & Orphans 4. Support the Blue Lodge through regular attendance, and assisting with or attending lodge events.

About the Widowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sons While we wear identifying patches or regalia, the Widows Sons are not a gang, MC, 1% Club. We are required to represent the fraternity in a positive light at all times. The Widows Sons serve as a Masonic Booster Club by helping to raise Masonic Awareness while we attend public motorcycling events, and by supporting our Blue Lodges in whatever capacity we are able. Widows Sons chapters have helped to increase Masonic membership through our presence and visibility during public motorcycle events and rallies. In every location where we have a chapter, the Widows Sons have proven themselves to be a positive asset to the fraternity. Many of our chapters are proud to have current and past Grand Masters as members. We regularly attract new members to the fraternity, and several of our chapters have their own Degree Teams or volunteer in doing Masonic work whenever possible. Each Widows Sons chapter sponsors or participates in local charity runs or events. In all cases, we strive to present a positive image of Freemasonry and our Association to the public. The Widows Sons was conceived of and founded by Brother Carl Davenport PM, in the year 1999. Today we have active chapters throughout many States in the USA, Canada, and abroad. If you are interested in joining the Widows Sons, we would be happy to hear from you. Please see our page on Joining to find out how to join or form a chapter of your own.

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Special Interest Groups

Administration & Chapter Support

The International Association is comprised of individual Grand Chapters and their constituent chapters. Each Grand Chapter is autonomous or governs themselves according to what best insures their continued success. Each Grand Chapter is responsible for the formation of constituent chapters within their state or country. They also determine what the policies are in regards to membership requirements, dues (if any), and all matters pertaining to the Widows Sons in their area. We have modeled ourselves in a similar fashion to Masonic Grand Lodges who determine the rules and By Laws of their jurisdictions, membership requirements, types of ritual used, etc. Each Grand Chapter is required to adhere to certain landmarks or the "spirit" and purpose of the Widows Sons Masonic Riders Association. Association-wide policy was set during our formation, and any future adjustments would come only if approved by the unanimous consent of our Grand Chapter representatives. In order to facilitate the formation of new Grand Chapters, we have brothers appointed who work as voluntary representatives in order to assist brethren in setting up new chapters. We offer guidance and advice in getting new chapters set up, then issue charters and facilitate them in ordering patches or Widows Sons regalia. Once a Grand Chapter has been chartered, our oversight of them ends. Each Grand Chapter is required to submit a copy of their By Laws and contact information to their respective Representative. Grand Chapters must maintain annual contact with the Association.

The Patch or Logo

Our original patch or logo is the "Widows Logo" which was designed by Brother Carl Davenport. The original logo is used by many of our founding chapters, as well as some of our more recent chapters. The reason we have more than one logo is because as the organization started to grow, some brethren and Grand Lodge officers within Freemasonry requested that we introduce an alternative logo which would be more symbolically representative of Freemasonry. In response to this we introduced the "Modern Style" patch, and also a "UK Patch" which is being used by our brethren in England & Scotland. The UK Patch or logo was requested by the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England and prominently displays the Masonic Square & Compass to illustrate to the public that Freemasons can also be "regular guys" who ride motorcycles and are not necessarily "elitist" which is a popular misconception in Europe. Below are a few photos of variations and styles of patches worn by Widows Sons. The important thing to note is that it is NOT which patch or logo we wear that unites us Widows Sons, but the Masonic Square & Compass. As you travel the world, you will see Widows Sons using variations of the patches depicted below. . Continued on next page www.twtmag.com

Carl Davenport's "Black Widow"

Tennessee Grand Chapter

England

Hiram's Wheels Chapter- Florida

Special Interest Groups

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Brother Submitted

Centuries ago, there were other legends associated with Masonry besides the current legend of Hiram Abiff. At one time, Noah was considered one of the early Grand Masters of Freemasonry. This may be discounted by those who are not familiar with the Bible. How can the guy who built the big boat be comparable to the guy who planned the Temple of Solomon? Noah had an enormous task before him, to make an ark of gophar wood. He was provided guidance in this by the direct order of God, much as the Temple was constructed with specifications similar to that of the Tabernacle Moses erected in the desert to protect the Ark of the Covenant. Capt. George Smith, in The Use and Abuse of Freemasonry, published in 1783, says that the Masons, after the Flood, were known as Noachidae, and afterward, sages or wise men. According to Albert Mackey, “Before the Flood, there was a system of religious instruction which from the resemblance of its legendary and symbolic character to that of Freemasonry, has been called by some authors “antediluvian Masonry.” This system was preserved by Noah, and after the deluge was com-

municated by him to his immediate descendents. This system was lost at the time of the dispersion of mankind, and corrupted by the pagans in their Mysteries. But subsequently it was purified, and Freemasonry, as we now have it, was organized by the King of Israel at the time of the building of the temple. (1) Another great building is related to Noah. The descendents of Noah, about 101 years after the Flood (2) , contrived to build the Tower of Babel, in the Valley of Shinar, that they could make for themselves a name. Fifty-three years was spent in this construction, before the language of the builders was confused, and they were scattered throughout the world, the dispersion mentioned by Mackey. Nimrod, king of Babylonia and Assyria, was the Grand Master at this time, and had many cities constructed after this dispersion, and the science of Geometry was preserved in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates, by the Magi. According to the York Constitutions, likely written after Anderson’s, the descendents of Noah brought their construction skills and sciences to all the nations of the world after this dispersion. Mackey compares the two legends here by reducing that of the Tower of Babel, from the source of Freemasonry, to the confused state of darkness an initiate Continued on next page

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Brother Submitted

finds himself in before seeking light, at the building of the Temple of Solomon, as in our current legend. He does not agree with this characterization himself, as the Babylon of the Tower of Babel was indeed the birthplace of the sciences and architecture. The cities of Assyria, according to legend, were built under the guidance of Nimrod, and under the direction of Ashur, the son of Shem and therefore grandson of Noah. This was the legend used in Freemasonry until the beginning of the 18th century, perhaps coinciding with the formation of the Grand Lodge in 1717. Anderson did not believe that Ashur was a proper name, but was instead a reference to the building of the cities of Assyria. These earlier legends may have had some basis in fact, as was confirmed by the discovery of fragments of cuneiform covered tablets unearthed in the ruins of the cities of Babylon in the late 19th century. Anderson, in his Constitutions, first published in 1723, called a Mason “a true Noachida” or Noachite, as it was believed that Noah and his three sons were all Masons, which terms were still in use at the time of Mackey. Shem, one of Noah’s sons, and the source of the term “Semite” for his descendents, cultivated the art of Masonry. Abraham, the head of one branch of Shem’s descendents, learned in Geometry and the other sciences in his Chaldean homeland, communicated that knowledge while in Egypt, and to his descendents, the Israelites. The children of Ham, another son, carried the knowledge of Masonry to Canaan, and also to Egypt, where it was brought by

his son Misraïm. The third son, Japheth, is supposed to have sent his sons to Europe, although nothing is known of their deeds as regards Masonry. George Oliver, Doctor of Divinity, was another proponent of the Noachite legend as the source of Freemasonry. Preston, one of the authors whose work was adopted by most of the Grand Lodges in the United States did not accept this legend, which is why the Noachite legend is little known among American Freemasons. This name survives in the modern Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, where the 21° in the Southern Jurisdiction is titled Noachite, or Prussian Knight, and Patriach Noachite in the Northern Jurisdiction, although the current ritual itself is only about Prussian Knights. The former ritual discusses how Noachite Masonry is far older than the era of Hiram, or Solomonian Masonry, and in fact, it was not originally necessary to be a Master Mason to attain this Degree, as Knights of many different orders were initiated along with the Masons descended from Hiram, while on Crusade(3). This Degree was originally part of the Rite of Perfection, formed by the Council of Emperors of the East and West, in France, about 1758. As it abandons the Hiramic legend completely, to focus on the building of the Tower of Babel, when revising the ritual, Albert Pike based his revision on the medieval German secret tribunal known as the Vehmgericht. The Graham Manuscript of 1726 refers to the three sons of Noah venturing to their father’s grave, to retrieve a secret. On reopening the grave, the sons attempted three times to raise the body, each using one

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Brother Submitted of the methods and grips as in the current version of the Master Mason Degree, including the five points of fellowship, although not named as such. The sons made comments on the condition of the body, the first exclaiming that there is still marrow in this bone, the second saying it was just dry bone, and the third exclaiming “it stinketh.” The expression that there is yet marrow may figuratively mean that there is goodness or the vital part or the essence and that even though Noah was dead and buried, his bones retained his righteousness. It may also be a metaphor for concealing the secret of Freemasonry, that is, as marrow is hidden in the bone, so also should the fellowship of Masonry be hidden within the Mason(4) . One suggestion for the replacement of this legend with that with which we are now familiar is that the story of Hiram Abiff contains elements that the death of the patriarch Noah lacks – betrayal, violent death, martyrdom, and revenge (5).

half-brothers, and may have been the same person. Many of the names in the Bible are not actually proper names, but are titles or epithets describing a person. Tubal-Cain instructed the artificers of brass and iron. Noah instructed his three sons in the art of Masonry, preserving the Craft. According to Rashi, the medieval commentator on the Bible, Noah was the inventor of the plow. Footnotes 1. Mackey, Albert. “History of Freemasonry” 2. Anderson’s Constitutions 3. Blanchard, John. “Scotch Rite Masonry Illustrated: The Complete Ritual of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite” 4. A lecture by Brian K. Wright, Launceston-Lawrie Abra Memorial Lodge, Tasmania, Australia, retrieved at http://www. llaml.org/merton/legends.htm 5. W. Bro. Chakravarthy Sampath Madhavan, “The Hiramic Legend: Whence and Wherefore”. Lodge Jyothi #253, Salem, Grand Lodge of India, from http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/MADHAVAN_HiramicLegend.html

The legend of Noah is still within our current ritual, although it may be indirectly. His father was Lamech, possibly the same Lamech who was the father of Tubal-Cain, the first instructor of artificers in brass and iron. These men were probably at least

The sacrifice of Noah by Michelangelo

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Biography

Biography: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.

Early life

Arthur Conan Doyle was born the third of ten siblings on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, Charles Altamont Doyle, who was born in England of Irish descent, and his mother, born Mary Foley, who was Irish, had married in 1855. Doyle’s father died in 1893, in the Crichton Royal, Dumfries, after many years of psychiatric illness. Although he is now referred to as “Conan Doyle”, the origin of this compound surname (if that is how he meant it to be understood) is uncertain. The entry in which his baptism is recorded in the register of St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh gives “Arthur Ignatius Conan” as his Christian name, and simply “Doyle” as his surname. It also names Michael Conan as his godfather. Conan Doyle was sent to the Roman Catholic Jesuit preparatory school Hodder Place, Stonyhurst, at the age of nine. He then went on to Stonyhurst College until 1875. From 1876 to 1881 he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, including a period working in the town of Aston (now a district of Birmingham) and in Sheffield. While studying, Conan Doyle also began writing short stories; his first published story appeared in Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal before he was 20. Following his term at university, he was employed as a ship’s doctor on the SS Mayumba during a voyage to the West African coast. He completed his doctorate on the subject of tabes dorsalis in 1885. Continued on next page www.twtmag.com

Biography

Origins of Sherlock Holmes In 1882 he joined former classmate George Budd as his partner at a medical practice in Plymouth, but their relationship proved difficult, and Conan Doyle soon left to set up an independent practice. Arriving in Portsmouth in June of that year with less than £10 to his name, he set up a medical practice at 1 Bush Villas in Elm Grove, Southsea. The practice was initially not very successful; while waiting for patients, Conan Doyle again began writing stories. His first significant work, A Study in Scarlet, appeared in Beeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887. It featured the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes, who was partially modelled after his former university teacher Joseph Bell. Conan Doyle wrote to him, “It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes. ... [R]ound the centre of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up a man.” Future short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes were published in the English Strand Magazine. Robert Louis Stevenson was able, even in faraway Samoa, to recognise the strong similarity between Joseph Bell and Sherlock Holmes: “[M]y compliments on your very ingenious and very interesting adventures of Sherlock Holmes. ... [C] an this be my old friend Joe Bell?” Other authors sometimes suggest additional influences—for instance, the famous Edgar Allan Poe character C. Auguste Dupin. While living in Southsea, he played football as a goalkeeper for an amateur side, Portsmouth Association Football Club, under the pseudonym A. C. Smith. (This club, disbanded in 1894, had no connection with the present-day Portsmouth F.C., which was founded in 1898.) Conan Doyle was also a keen cricketer, and between 1899 and 1907 he played 10 first-class matches for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). His highest score, in 1902 against London County, was 43. He was an occasional bowler who took just one first-class wicket (although one of high pedigree—it was W. G. Grace). Also a keen golfer, Conan Doyle was elected captain of the Crowborough Beacon Golf Club, East Sussex for 1910. He moved to Little Windlesham house in Crowborough with his second wife Jean Leckie and their family from 1907 until his death in July 1930.

Death

Conan Doyle was found clutching his chest in the hall of Windlesham, his house in Crowborough, East Sussex, on 7 July 1930. He died of a heart attack at the age of 71. His last words were directed toward his wife: “You are wonderful.” The epitaph on his gravestone in the churchyard at Minstead in the New Forest, Hampshire, reads: STEEL TRUE BLADE STRAIGHT ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE KNIGHT PATRIOT, PHYSICIAN & MAN OF LETTERS Continued on next page www.twtmag.com

Biography

Undershaw, the home near Hindhead, south of London that Arthur Conan Doyle had built and lived in for at least a decade, was a hotel and restaurant from 1924 until 2004. It was then bought by a developer, and has since been empty while conservationists and Conan Doyle fans fight to preserve it. A statue honours Conan Doyle at Crowborough Cross in Crowborough, where Conan Doyle lived for 23 years. There is also a statue of Sherlock Holmes in Picardy Place, Edinburgh, close to the house where Conan Doyle was born. (Wikipedia)

As a Freemason Initiated: January 26, 1887 Passed: February 23, 1887 Raised: March 23, 1887 Demitted: 1889 Rejoined: 1902 Demitted: 1911 Phoenix Lodge 257, Southsea Hampshire

(http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/doyle_ac/doyle_ac.html)

Refereneces of Sherlock Holmes And Freemasonry (Bro. Robert T. Runciman wrote an article (by the same title) that was published in Vo/. /04, Ars Quatuor Corollarum for the Year ]991. This STB was taken from that article.) Found on themasonictrowel.com Two examples of references to Freemasonry in Conan Doyle’s work: THE ADVENTURE OF THE MUSGRAVE RITUAL (The Strand, 1893) Reginald Musgrave, an acquaintance of Holmes, asked him to apply ‘those powers with which you used to amaze us’ to something strange and inexplicable in his ancestral home in Sussex. The butler who had been given his notice of dismissal for prying into family affairs had disappeared without a trace and Holmes was retained to find him. During the investigation Holmes took possession of a ritual which had been in the Musgrave family for generations. He used it to locate both the missing butler and an ancient crown of the King of England (Charles 1). The document which Holmes took into his possession was described by its owner as ‘the strange catechism Continued on next page www.twtmag.com

Biography

to which each Musgrave had to .submit when he came to man’s estate’. He read out the questions and answers: Whose was it? His who is gone. Who shall have it? He who will come. Where was the sun? Over the oak. Where was the shadow? Under the elm. How was it stepped? North by ten and by ten, east by five and by five, south by two and by two, west by one and by one, and so under. What shall we give for it? All that is ours. Why should we give it? For the sake of the trust. Professor Jay MacPherson of the University of Toronto is of the opinion that this catechism had its origins in Freemasonry. Barrett G. Potter, in his ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Masonic Connection’ also believes that the ritual had its roots in masonic catechisms used for the instruction of the brethren. THE VALLEY OF FEAR (The Strand, 1914) This full-length novel was written by Conan Doyle three years after he resigned his membership of Phoenix Lodge. In it Holmes was called in to investigate the death of John Douglas and his wife at Birlstone Manor, Sussex. Among the clues were a card with the symbol V.V.341 scrawled upon it and a brand mark on the deceased’s arm. The V.V.341 referred to the Ancient Order of Freemen, the ‘Scowrers’ of Vemmissa Lodge No. 341. In the course of the story lodge proceedings are discussed and the following ensues with reference to Birdy Edwards (alias John McMurdo): ‘John McMurdo’, said the voice, ‘are you already a member of the Ancient Order of Freemen?’ He bowed in assent. ‘Is your lodge No. 29, Chicago?’ He bowed again. “Dark nights are unpleasant’, said the voice. ‘Yes, for strangers to travel’, he answered. ‘The clouds are heavy.’ Continued on next page www.twtmag.com

Biography

‘Yes, a stomm is approaching.’ ‘Are the brethren satisfied?’ asked the Bodymaster. There was a general murmur of assent. ‘We know, Brother, by your sign and by your countersign that you are indeed one of us’, said McGinty. ‘We would have you know, however, that in this country and in other countries of these parts we have certain rites, and also certain duties of our own which call for good men. Are you ready to be tested’?’ This is a catechism somewhat similar to that in ‘The Musgrave Ritual’. Other stories with Masonic references are: A STUDY IN SCARLET ( 1887) A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA (The Str (md, 1891) THE ADVENTURES OF THE REDHEADED LEAGUE (The Strand, 1891 ) THE STOCKBROKERS CLERK (The Strand, 1893) THE ADVENTURE OF THE YELLOW FACE (The Strand, 1893) THE ADVENTURE OF THE NORWOOD BUILDER (The Strand, 1903) THE ADVENTURE OF THE RETIRED COLOURMAN (The Strand, 1927)

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The Masonic Pride Music Tour

Many of you know Bro. Howie Damron from his music CD’s and concerts. Songs such as “I’m a Noble of the Shrine” and “Hiram’s Call” are well known throughout Masonry and played in many Lodges. Howie reached out to me and asked if I would help spread the news about his accident and retrurn to playing music again for the craft. Bro. Damron is a beacon of light and is a friend to TWT. Here is his message. Cory To All my Brethren throughout the world It’s been a long recovery from the accident in which did major damage to my left shoulder but after a long bout with therapy I’m back doing what I love and that’s music and performing and promoting Freemasonry. I’ve retired twice but it’s my duty as a Mason to continue. We now have a fantastic and well forged program for performances and easy fundraisers using the new album “My Masonic Legacy”. This album was many years in the making and it’s a collection of all my written songs about our Craft and all of our bodies. I ask for your attention for a short while and allow me to explain why I’m doing what I’m doing for Freemasonry. We have a simple program that we’d like to share with you. I’m no longer using a Nashville booking agency so therefore I’m counting on each of you for your involvement. Let’s do some shows. Every Blue Lodge, DeMolay Chapter, Shrine Temple, Scottish Rite Valley and most all the rest has at least 10 or 20 members within the group who will dedicate and commit to this program. Each one asks for a $20 donation for the event and fund raiser from existing Brethren and family members and then after they do the donation then they get a free CD. We then do a 50-50 split on the profits. To Book a performance date simply order 200 CDs and then have the 10 or 20 Brothers help distribute them. Of course the more that’s distributed the better the margins. Selling tickets at the door helps pay for my expenses of travel and generates more funds for the event as well. It’s that simple. Brothers, my Dad can move 40 CDs per month and he’s 76 years old but he refuses to slow down. So if there are 20 dedicated Brothers then

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The Masonic Pride Music Tour

the numbers should far exceed 200. The Brothers who participates with the distri bution is recognized from me during the show. Brothers I have given my all for the Masonic Pride Mission and I’ve dedicated and committed my heart to these songs for a very special reason. I have long known that music reaches areas where speeches and lectures will not. A well placed message in a musical composition gives simple understanding to the listener and I’ve personally witnessed hundreds of young men ask to Petition our lodges after hearing these songs. After the song “The Masonic Ring” was written, I performed it in one of my country shows. The song brought numerous new petitions after the performance. I knew right then and there that it was my duty as a Freemason to use it for all of Freemasonry to be able to use as a new working tool for our craft. I am asking every Brother Mason out there to make the new commitment of reestablishing there Activity levels to introducing Freemasonry to every potential new member they can possibly reach. Brothers we can grow again in massive numbers but understanding Freemasonry’s introduction is the key. Simplicity is made easy after they hear a song. I know this for fact. I was in a parking lot and heard my music playing somewhere. I looked over and saw my Dads truck with the doors open and there was a crowd of young men and middle age men gathered around him. He had “I’m a Master Mason” song cranked up and then he played “The Masonic Ring”. He started a wave of them asking for Petitions in that parking lot. He was not trying to bring fame or fortune to his son. Do you have this desire to want to introduce our Brotherhood to others? Do you realize how the wisdom of Freemasonry can save young lives and keep them from drug addictions and other pitfalls? This may be harsh my friends but are you part of the generation that must die out before Freemasonry can grow again? In my heart I strongly believe that the secrete were all looking for is in new membership growth and not driving existing members crazy always asking for money and commitment. Remember the Pride you had during your EA, Fellow craft and Master Masons Degrees? I’m committed my Brothers and I’m asking you to be as well. I ask for your help and involvement in our program and I’m overly excited that Brother Albert McClelland of www.WEOFM.org has joined me in helping to introduce “The Masonic Pride Music Mission” to Masons all over the world. Please feel free to contact him at hdproductions1@live.com for fundraising and stocking dealer inquiries. May the Great Creator send new Creativity into each of you to better all of Freemasonry. Brother Howie Damron Waterloo 532 Ohio Lodge Grand Ambassador Masonic Music

Cdamron1@aol.com www.MasonicPrideProductions.com www.twtmag.com

TWTMAG

Brother In TheSubmitted News

TWT

“MASONIC LODGE IN ORANGE HAD BEGINNINGS BEFORE THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES” David Ball The Orange Leader http://orangeleader.com ORANGE — Their names read straight out of Texas history books — Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, William B. Travis, James Bowie, David Crockett, James Bonham, Ben Milam, Mirabeu Lamar, James Fannin and Lorenzo de Zavalla. But in addition to being the Founding Fathers of Texas, these men also had something else in common. They were all Masons. Texas Masons have a long and rich history in Texas, even predating statehood. Masons in Orange are no exception. Hugh Ochiltree (1820-91), George A. Pattillo (1796-1871), and other leading citizens organized this lodge on April 30, 1853. Col. Ochiltree had come to Texas in 1839, fought in the Mexican War, and helped develop the town of Madison (now Orange). Pattillo settled in the county in 1830, was a local official of the Mexican colony of Texas, a Republic of Texas Congressman, and a veteran public leader. The lodge was chartered under the name by which the town of Orange was known from 1842 to 1858. Officer for the first year were William Smith, Worshipful Master; Pattillo, Senior Warden; Ochiltree, Junior Warden; A.H. Reading, Secretary; L.H. Hutchins, Treasurer; S. Fairchilds, Senior Deacon; N. Smith, Junior Deacon; Charles Saxon, Tiler. Madison Lodge sponsored the town’s first public school, 1854-1879, providing housing on the ground floor of the lodge hall — where church services were also held for a number of years. In 1865, a hurricane destroyed the original lodge building. A second was erected in 1878. The present building, with banquet room, offices and other appointments, was completed in August 1926. This historical marker was moved from the second lodge site at 5th and Elm Streets after the sale of the property to new, but continuing, location of original Madison Lodge #126, A.F. & A. M. www.twtmag.com

In The News

“Vandals cause £100k of damage to Masonic temple for £50 worth of tiles” http://www.scotsman.com/news/Vandals-cause-100k-of-damage.6785331.jp By VICTORIA RAIMES

A HISTORIC Masonic hall has suffered damage costing more than £100,000 after vandals trashed the roof - to steal lead tiles valued at only £50. The Dalkeith Kilwinning Masonic Lodge, which is believed to be the oldest operating Masonic temple in the world, was badly damaged after thieves ripped the lead slates from the roof. The vandals also damaged a children’s nursery next door when they hacked newly-planted trees in half. Club treasurer, Alex Turner, said a caretaker had discovered the extensive damage last Wednesday morning while he was inspecting the fire exits. Mr Turner, who lives in Dalkeith, said: “I don’t know why somebody would do this, are people getting that desperate in this economic climate? They’ve ripped away around four yards of lead that isn’t even worth too much. “In doing that, they’ve damaged the roof and the bricking and tiling. Police told me the lead was only worth about £50. The nursery next door was meant to be having a graduation ceremony in the hall that day.

Thieves ripped off lead tiles from the roof of the Masonic temple

“The caretaker let them in and he was showing the teachers around the fire escapes when he realised one of the doors was awkward to open. It was being blocked by a piece of masonry that had fallen from the roof. “Part of the building dates back to 1766 and it is the oldest operating Masonic temple in the world. The lodge is an impressive building and it has a lot of history attached to it. “It’s clear they’ve done a lot of damage because they didn’t know what they were doing, they’ve just ripped at the lead.” President Samuel Mitchell added: “As I understand it, this is quite a widespread practice. The lead will be worth something in the scrap metal industry.” It has been estimated that repairing the damage will cost around £100,000 due to the age and construction of the building. Katrina Weir, manager at the Happy Days nursery, said they had been “disappointed” to find their new trees chopped in half. She said: “They vandalised three of our trees. We’d just planted them but they cut them in half. The building next door is unused and it seems they gained access from there.” There have been a number of lead thefts across the Capital in recent months. Damage costing thousands of pounds has been caused to properties across Leith after buildings including the Citadel Youth Centre, Leith Theatre, South Leith Parish Church and the former Bonnington Primary School were targeted for their lead. A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: “We are investigating after tiles were stolen from the roof of a property on Dalkeith High Street. The theft took place some time between 12pm on June 7 and 8am on June 8. Anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area and can assist with our inquiries should contact the police immediately.” www.twtmag.com

In The News

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Flood appeal's heavenly songâ&#x20AC;? BY DOMINIC CICONTE http://www.knoxweekly.com.au/news/local/news/general/flood-appeals-heavenlysong/2201785.aspx Don't tell Matt Tennant that music can't make a difference. Having penned a song dedicated to Australia's flood victims, the Knoxfield musician is set to open Freemasons Victoria's Victoria Flood Appeal concert on Friday. After learning of the charity concert through a friend, Tennant immediately put pen to paper and struck a chord with the Freemasons after they heard his song, Heaven's in Me. Tennant said the song was about lending a hand and helping out those Victorians the floods affected.

On song: Matt Tennant is putting in some last-minute practise ahead of his performance for the Freemasons' Victoria Flood Appeal.

"Writing the song was the least I could to do for such a wonderful cause," he said. "I watched the floods unfold on the news and I wanted to help out in some small way as I knew in my heart that, should the situation be reversed, there would be plenty of people in country Victoria standing up to help us out in Melbourne." Organisers hope the concert will raise $30,000 for the flood appeal, launched in February, which has raised $50,000 so far for flood-affected families. The appeal will close on Friday evening. "I am so excited to be given this unbelievable opportunity," said Tennant, who operates a small recording studio, Chill Room Studios, to help new and up-and-coming local song writers find their unique sound. "I have aligned myself with very talented musicians from the Knox area to produce Heaven's in Me. "My grandfather was a Freemason and I hope we do him - and all Victorians - proud."

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In The News In The News

“Museum of African-American Freemasonry opens today at Prince Hall Grand Masonic Temple in Fort Worth”

“We have records of membership applications,” he said. “The applicants would have to tell everything about their families. For some of them, there’s no other record that thorough.” The Lodge Room displays ornate furnishings and ritual items used by Prince Hall members for more than 60 years. The collection includes an 1876 charter for San Antonio Lodge No. 1, the first lodge in Texas. Along one wall are massive portraits of past grand masters. Smaller portraits depict such lodge members as William “Gooseneck Bill” McDonald, the first African-American millionaire in Texas. “Gooseneck is probably the reason that the Prince Hall Grand Lodge is in Fort Worth,” Coleman said. African-American Freemasonry was born when Prince Hall received a charter in 1776 from the Grand Lodge of England and established the first lodge, in Massachusetts, Jackson said.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram. com/2011/06/24/3178429/museum-of-african-american-freemasonry.html#ixzz1QIkNJYAh By Terry Evans

tevans@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- Treasures from the 136-year history of African-American Freemasonry in Texas will be unveiled today with the grand opening of the Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum.

The museum in the Prince Hall Grand Masonic Temple, 3433 Martin Luther King Freeway, opens at 9:15 a.m. with a ribbon cutting. For more than a year Curtis, the lodge’s grand master, led the effort to create and fill the museum, said Frank Jackson, the lodge’s grand junior warden. “Everyone who wants to preserve artifacts from their Texas lodges can send them here,” Jackson said. Plenty of people have, said Willie High Coleman Jr., chairman of the lodge’s charitable foundation. Some of it is genealogical gold.

“He was the first leader of African-American Masonry,” he said. Freemasonry is a fraternal organization with charitable endeavors, said Burrell Parmer, senior warden for San Antonio Lodge No. 1. “But it’s for the individual person to look into their heart and decide whether they want to exemplify the principles of Masonry: relief for widows and orphans, morality and being a stand-up individual and brotherly love,” he said. For all of its existence in Texas, Freemasonry has also been a rallying point for men and women of character, Jackson said. “Preachers, teachers, lawyers, doctors and bankers who helped develop communities and led their neighbors during catastrophes,” he said.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram. com/2011/06/24/3178429/museum-of-african-americanfreemasonry.html#ixzz1QIlyrmwB

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In The News

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Freemasons celebrates brotherhood day with open dayâ&#x20AC;? The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Freemasons-celebrates-brotherhood-daywith-open-day/articleshow/8980930.cms NAGPUR: Freemasonary is often misconstrued as a secret society, with mystery surrounding its meetings. On Friday, to mark Universal Brotherhood Day, the Masonic Lodge in the city was thrown open for all. At a public meeting in the evening, Rajeev Khandelwal, Regional Grand Master of Regional Grand Lodge of Western India, tried to demystify Freemasonary and said it was no more than an organization engaged in charity and attempting to help its members to be good human beings. "Universally, its modes of recognition are of interest only to Freemasons and are, therefore, not revealed to nonMasons. They are akin to passwords of Internet or credit card users to prevent misuse. Unfortunately, Freemasons have been portrayed as conspirators in books like Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code' and 'The Lost Symbol' and the movie 'National Treasure' starring Nicolas Cage. But the truth is far less entertaining," he said. Universal Brothrhood Day is observed to commemorate the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, when Freemasonry in its present form took shape some 300 years ago, in 1717. Lodges hold closed sessions mainly to teach ecumenical ethics, codes and raise money for charity.

gorical guides. Its avowed objective is to make good men better," explained Salim MJ Chimthanwala, Assistant Regional Grand Master. The universal symbols of Freemasonry are the square and compasses. As non-operative, but speculative or figurative masons, the working tools used by masons for construction of buildings are applied by Freemasons to their morals. The square used to prove right angles symbolizes the square conduct expected to be followed by Freemasons at all times. The compasses, which are used to measure limits and proportions of the plan of the building, represent the limits of good and evil within which Freemasons are always expected to act. The plumb line used to prove uprights and perpendiculars is symbolic of the uprightness of actions to be borne in mind by Freemasons at all times. The level used to prove horizontals represents equality. Other working tools also teach similar lessons. The universal motto of Freemasonry is 'Brotherly love, relief and truth'. Charity is the predominant characteristic of every Freemason. Freemasonry teaches the practice of the virtues of temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice as well as that of faith, hope and charity. Virtue, honour and mercy are its distinguishing aspects. It is committed to extend the hand of fellowship, providing relief to those in distress. It inculcates obedience to God and laws of the country, Chimthanwala stressed.

Today, Freemasonry has spread throughout the world and is practised in over 190 countries with a total membership of over 5 million. "It is the largest and the oldest fraternal organization in the world. It is based on the principles of fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man, concerned with moral and spiritual values. Its percepts are taught by a series of rituals, which follow ancient forms and stonemasons' customs, tools and allewww.twtmag.com

InInThe TheNews News

“Writer who finds facts for another’s fiction” http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/the-arts/ books/writer_who_finds_facts_for_another_s_fiction_1_3501441 Many say he’s the model for Dan Brown’s hero, Robert Langdon but he is also a best-selling author. Virginia Mason talks to Robert Lomas. Picture: Bruce Rollinson. HALIFAX-based author Robert Lomas has an alter ego – Hollywood actor Tom Hanks. Well to be exact it’s Dr Robert Langdon, one of the roles made famous by the movie star. Langdon, of course, is the creation of novelist Dan Brown whose best-selling books including The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons and The Lost Symbol have been bought in their millions. But behind the fantasy is fact, and Brown has acknowledged using a number of Robert’s well-researched factual and scientific books as a basis for spinning his fictional tales. And it’s more than just a rumour that his main protagonist, symbologist, Langdon is partly based on Calderdale’s own Mr Lomas, who manages to fit in his writing alongside his day job as a lecturer at Bradford University’s School of Management. “Well, we’re both interested in symbolism and we both teach at good universities,” says the 62-year-old who is an authority on the history of science. As a result Robert has developed a friendly relationship with the American novelist – the pair even share the same publisher (Simon Thurogood at Transworld). They email each other, keeping a close eye on each other’s work and when The Da Vinci Code author brings out

a new thriller based on Robert’s meticulous research, Robert admits he feels a tad of satisfaction. “I must admit I enjoy seeing how Dan takes my facts and spins them into thrillers and in the process taking liberties I don’t dare to,” he laughs. “And of course it gives me a lot of street cred with my students.” Now Robert admits perhaps he is the one this time around to have taken liberties. “Dan usually writes his novel after I have published my factual book but this time, my book has come about as a result of me following up on Dan’s writing,” he says. “This is the fact if you like, behind the fiction in Dan’s The Lost Symbol.” Robert is referring to his latest book, The Lost Key, which once again is centred around one of Robert’s main passions – Freemasonry. A Freemason himself, he was initiated into Ryburn Lodge, Sowerby Bridge before becoming a member at Headingly, the world’s leading lodge for the study of Masonic ritual and philosophy. “It was Mark Booth, my old friend and mentor (who recently launched the Coronet imprint with publishers Continued on next page www.twtmag.com

In The News

Lomas Cont. Hodder and Stoughton) who encouraged me to tackle the book. The ideas in it have haunted me for many years but I have always hesitated to get started on a project I thought too ambitious for me.” The Lost Key contains revelations that only an initiate of the highest orders of Freemasonry is in a position to make. Its thrilling narrative follows a candidate for initiation as he rises through the different grades of initiation, taking part in ceremonies that are sometimes terrifying. Dramatic episodes include the re-enacting of a murder from 3,000 years ago in full, gory detail, lowering the candidate into a dark vault under the floor of the temple, holding a dagger to the candidate’s naked breast and making the candidate attend his own funeral. It will thrill fans of Robert’s books, which like Brown’s, have sold in their millions, books such as The Hiram Key, which Brown used as inspiration for The Da Vinci Code and Invisible College, which gave the American the basis for Angels and Demons. The pair became friends after Robert offered to testify in the 2006 plagiarism case (later thrown out) brought against Brown by Michael Baigent, author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail. “I supported Dan when he asserted his right to create fiction from published facts because he does make a distinction and besides, he always credits his sources and Dan used just as much of my work as Michael’s,” explains Robert. As a result there is now a friendly banter (if not rivalry) between Robert and Brown.

Like Brown’s books, Robert’s attract followers from all over the world but where The Da Vinci Code was translated into 44 languages, Robert can boast being published in 54 – he recently broke into the Ukrainian market. He is often asked if he minds his research being used and adapted by Brown and he is quick to answer: “Not at all. Whenever Dan brings out a book it does wonders for the sale of my back copies. He is very good at giving my books a plug too and he has been known to hide secret codes within them – in The Lost Symbol there were little clues about my book The Hiram Key. On one page he has Langdon recognising and describing its front cover.” Robert now hopes his fans will enjoy his latest book, partly inspired he reveals while driving to Queensbury one night during a terrific thunderstorm. “I had some kind of experience which filled me with dread,” he says before going on to explain about lightning charges, stars, the cosmos and electrical fields. He is now busy working on his next project which for the first time might really test his friendship with Dan Brown, “I’m thinking of writing a novel. Fiction is something I have been wanting to get into for a while.” Brown had better watch out. * The Lost Key by Robert Lomas is published by Coronet and is available at most bookshops.

When Brown announced the working title for his latest novel was going to be The Solomon Key, Robert, who had already proposed a non-fiction book about the influences of the building of Washington DC, entitled Turning the Solomon Key, had to rush and get his version into print. www.twtmag.com

Cover- The Founding Fathers & Freemasonry

Founding Fathers and Freemasonry

In celebration of the 4th of July we are going to take a look at the Founding Fathers who were Freemasons. The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some other key contribution. Within the large group known as the “Founding Fathers”, there are two key subsets: the “Signers of the Declaration of Independence” (who signed the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776) and the Framers of the Constitution (who were delegates to the Federal Convention and took part in framing or drafting the proposed Constitution of the United States). Most historians define the “Founding Fathers” to mean a larger group, including not only the Signers and the Framers but also all those who, whether as politicians, jurists, statesmen, soldiers, diplomats, or ordinary citizens, took part in winning American independence and creating the United States of America. (wikipedia) Out of the 56 men that signed the Declaration of Independence it is known that 9 are in fact Masons. Between 9-13 signers of the Constitution were Freemasons depending on the source, At least 33 (of 74) generals in the Colonial Army were Freemasons. This is a tremendous number of men who helped shaped this great country. No matter how you slice and dice these figuers it is a fact to be proud of. To put this in perspective here is a short list of the various founders and what part they played.

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• Arthur St. Clair - General, Revolutionary War • Benedict Arnold - General, Revolutionary War • Benjamin Franklin - Signer: U.S. Constitution; Signer: Declaration of Independence • Benjamin Lincoln - General, Revolutionary War • Daniel Carroll - Signer: U.S. Constitution • David Brearley - Signer: U.S. Constitution • David Wooster - General, Revolutionary War • Edward Hand - General, Revolutionary War • Elias Dayton - General, Revolutionary War • Frederick W.A. von Steuben - General, Revolutionary War • George Walton - Signer: Declaration of Independence • George Washington - Signer: U.S. Constitution; General, Revolutionary War • George Weedon - General, Revolutionary War • Gunning Bedford, Jr. - Signer: U.S. Constitution • Henry Knox - General, Revolutionary War • Hugh Mercer - General, Revolutionary War • Israel Putnam - General, Revolutionary War • Jacob Broom - Signer: U.S. Constitution • James Clinton - General, Revolutionary War • James Hogun - General, Revolutionary War • James M.Varnum - General, Revolutionary War • James McHenry - Signer: U.S. Constitution • Jethro Sumner - General, Revolutionary War • John Blair - Signer: U.S. Constitution • John Dickinson - Signer: U.S. Constitution • John Glover - General, Revolutionary War • John Greaton - General, Revolutionary War • John Hancock - Signer: Declaration of Independence • John Nixon - General, Revolutionary War • John Paterson - General, Revolutionary War • John Stark - General, Revolutionary War

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

John Sullivan - General, Revolutionary War Jonathan Dayton - Signer: U.S. Constitution Joseph Frye - General, Revolutionary War Joseph Hewes (Howes) - Signer: Declaration of Independence Marquis de LaFayette - General, Revolutionary War Mordecai Gist - General, Revolutionary War Nicholas Gilman - Signer: U.S. Constitution Otho H. Williams - General, Revolutionary War Peter Muhlenberg - General, Revolutionary War Richard Montgomery - General, Revolutionary War Richard Stockton - Signer: Declaration of Independence Robert Treat Paine - Signer: Declaration of Independence Rufus King - Signer: U.S. Constitution Rufus Putnam - General, Revolutionary War Samuel H. Parsons - General, Revolutionary War William Ellery - Signer: Declaration of Independence William Hooper - Signer: Declaration of Independence William Maxwell - General, Revolutionary War William Paterson - Signer: U.S. Constitution William Thompson - General, Revolutionary War William Whipple - Signer: Declaration of Independence William Woodford - General, Revolutionary War

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Cover- The Founding Fathers & Freemasonry As children we learned in school about the more public men like George Washington, Benajamin Frankin, John Jay, Paul Revere and James Monroe but what about the lesser known names that equally deserve to be mentioned? What about Isreal Putnam, Jethro Sumner or John Greaton. They also were signers of the Declaration of Independence or Generals in the Revolutionary War. These are the Freemasons we will be learning about today. William Whipple, Jr. (January 14, 1730 – November 28, 1785) was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire. Whipple was born at Kittery, Maine, and educated at a common school studying how to be a merchant, judge, and a soldier until he went off to sea. He became a Ship’s Master by the age of twenty-three. In 1759 he landed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and in partnership with his brother established himself as a merchant. He married his first cousin Katherine Moffat some time around 1770 to 1771. In 1775, he was elected to represent his town at the Provincial Congress. In 1776 New Hampshire dissolved the Royal government and reorganized with a House of Representatives and an Executive Council. Whipple became a Council member, and a member of the Committee of Safety, and was elected to the Continental Congress, serving there through 1779. In 1777, he was made Brigadier General of the New Hampshire Militia, participating in the successful expedition against General Burgoyne at the battles of Stillwater and Saratoga raising and commanding a brigade (9th, 10th, 13th and 16th) of New Hampshire militia during the campaign. In 1778, General Whipple

led another New Hampshire militia brigade (4th, 5th, 15th, Peabody’s and Langdon’s) at the Battle of Rhode Island. His slave, Prince Whipple, followed the General to war and served with him throughout. After the war he became an Associate Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. He suffered from a heart ailment and he died by fainting from atop his horse while traveling his court circuit. He was buried in the Old North Burial Ground in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In 1976, in conjunction with the American Bicentennial, his headstone was replaced with a new memorial by a local historical association. Arthur St. Clair (March 23, 1737 - August 31, 1818) was an American soldier and politician. Born in Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office. During the American Revolutionary War, he rose to the rank of major general in the Continental Army, but lost his command after a controversial retreat. After the war, he was elected to the Confederation Congress, where he served a term as president and was appointed governor of the Northwest Territory. Disputes with Native Americans over land treaties resulted in the Northwest Indian War. In 1791, General St. Clair led an expedition against the natives that resulted in the worst defeat the United States Army would ever suffer at the hands of Native Americans. Although an investigation exonerated him, St. Clair resigned his army commission. He continued to serve as territorial governor until 1802, when he retired to Pennsylvania. Died in poverty.

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Cover- The Founding Fathers & Freemasonry Rufus King (March 24, 1755 – April 29, 1827) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress. He also attended the Constitutional Convention and was one of the signers of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented New York in the United States Senate, served as Minister to Britain, and was the Federalist candidate for both Vice President (1804, 1808) and President of the United States (1816). Jacob Broom (October 17, 1752 – April 25, 1810) was an American businessman and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Annapolis Convention (1786) and served in the Delaware General Assembly. He was the father of Congressman James M. Broom and grandfather of Congressman Jacob Broom. His father was James Broom, a blacksmith turned prosperous farmer, and his mother was Esther Willis, a Quaker. In 1773 he married Rachel Pierce, and together they raised eight children Joseph Hewes (January 23, 1730 – November 10, 1779) was a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was born in 1730. Hewes’s parents were part of the Quaker Society of Friends. Immediately after their marriage they moved to New Jersey, which became Joseph Hewes’s home state. Hewes was formally educated at Princeton and after

college he became an apprentice of a merchant. After finishing his apprenticeship he earned himself a good name and a strong reputation, which would serve him well in becoming one of the most famous signers of the Declaration of Independence for North Carolina, along with William Hooper and John Penn. After a few years as a successful merchant, he became very wealthy. Hewes moved to Edenton, North Carolina at the age of 30 and won over the people of the state with his charm and honorable businesslike character. Hewes was elected to the North Carolina legislature in 1763, only three years after he moved to the state. Second to the delegates of Massachusetts, Hewes was a pioneer of independence who influenced his state to be more rebellious during the years leading up to the revolution. After being re-elected numerous times in the legislature, Hewes was now focused on a new and more ambitious job as a continental congressman. John Dickinson (November 8, 1732 – February 14, 1808) was an American lawyer and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. He was a militia officer during the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman from Pennsylvania and Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, President of Delaware and President of Pennsylvania. Among the wealthiest men in the British American colonies, he is known as the “Penman of the Revolution” for his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania; upon receiving news of his death, President Thomas Jefferson recognized him as being “among the first of the advocates for the rights of his country when assailed by Great Britain” whose “name will be consecrated in history as one of the great worthies of the revolution.” He is the namesake of Dickinson College and Penn State University’s Dickinson School of Law. Continued on next page www.twtmag.com

Cover- The Founding Fathers & Freemasonry William Paterson (December 24, 1745 – September 9, 1806) was a New Jersey statesman, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, who served as the 2nd governor of New Jersey, from 1790 to 1793. Nicholas Gilman, Jr. (August 3, 1755 – May 2, 1814) was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and a signer of the U.S. Constitution, representing New Hampshire. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives during the first four Congresses, and served in the U.S. Senate from 1804 until his death in 1814. His brother John Taylor Gilman was also very active in New Hampshire politics, serving as Governor of New Hampshire for 14 years, as well as a principal benefactor of Phillips Exeter Academy. Daniel Carroll (July 22, 1730 – July 5, 1796) was a politician and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a prominent member of one of the United States’ great colonial Catholic families, whose members included his younger brother

Archbishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States and founder of Georgetown University; and their cousin Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who signed the Declaration of Independence. Daniel Carroll was one of only five men to sign both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States. Carroll was a planter who supported the cause of American independence, risking his social and economic position for the Patriot cause. As a friend and staunch ally of George Washington, he worked for a strong central government that could secure the achievements and fulfill the hopes of the Revolution. Carroll fought in the Convention for a government responsible directly to the people of the country. Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben (born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as the Baron von Steuben,was a Prussian-born military officer who served as inspector general and Major General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is credited with being one of the fathers of the Continental Army in teaching them the essentials of military drills, tactics, and disciplines.He wrote the Revolutionary War

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Cover- The Founding Fathers & Freemasonry

Drill Manual, the book that served as the standard United States drill manual until the War of 1812. He served as General George Washington’s chief of staff in the final years of the war. James Otis, Jr. (February 5, 1725 – May 23, 1783) was a lawyer in colonial Massachusetts, a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, and an early advocate of the political views that led to the American Revolution. The phrase "Taxation without Representation is Tyranny" is usually attributed to him. However, the phrase had been used for more than a generation in Ireland. He was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts. He was the second of thirteen children and the first to survive infancy. His young adoptive cousin Mercy Otis Warren, his brother Joseph Otis, and his youngest brother Samuel Allyne Otis also rose to prominence, as did his nephew Harrison Gray Otis. In 1755 James married “the beautiful Ruth Cunningham,” a merchant’s daughter and heiress to a fortune worth 10,000 pounds. Their politics were quite different, yet they were attached to each other. Otis later “half-complained that she was a ‘High Tory,’” yet in the same breath “she was a good Wife [‘Ruthy’], and too good for him.” The marriage produced three children (James, Elizabeth and Mary). Their son James died at the age of eighteen, and their daughter Elizabeth, a loyalist like her mother, married Captain Brown of the British Army and lived in England for the rest of her life. Their youngest daughter, Mary, married Benjamin Lincoln, son of the distinguished Gen. Benjamin Lincoln.

Speaking of James Otis, John Adams said, "I have been young and now I am old, and I solemnly say I have never known a man whose love of country was more ardent or sincere, never one who suffered so much, never one whose service for any 10 years of his life were so important and essential to the cause of his country as those of Mr. Otis from 1760 to 1770." CONCLUSION This was certainly an eye opener for me as I hope it was for you to find out more about these lesser known Brothers/founding fathers. I honestly was not aware that we considered those who participated in The Revolutionary War, or were signers of Constitution, in the catagory known as the “Founding Fathers”, All my life I strickly focused on the Declaration of Independence. What does that say about our History lessons in school? I only had space to discuss only a handful of Brethren who helped shape our country. I urge you to go back to the list of names provided here and research the others. See what role they played, what state they came from, what impact they made and what they gave up to further our rights and liberties. I’m very proud of our heritage and what the Craft has done for America. Happy 4th of July.

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Books

The Devil Colony: A Sigma Force Novel Let me start this right off the bat by saying that I am very very very biased in adding this book into this issue’s articles. I love all of James Rollins books and the fact that he added a symbol to resemble a Square and Compass into the title art made it easy for me to promote his work. I’m glad he did though bacause now I have a reason to put it in a magazine about Freemasonry. Granted without even reading it yet (Book release June 21). I’m sure that Masonry has little to do with the larger story. Using the S&C has been the go-to thing ever since “The DaVinci Code” when you want to add conspircy and world take over into your storyline. If I know James Rollins though I would say that he wouldn’t have made the symbol so closely resembling the Square and Compass if it didn’t somehow tie it alltogether by the end. Knowing that the Founding Fathers play a role in the story almost ensures it to be. Now let me go on record and say that if it doesn’t play out that way it’s still going to be a really fun read so be glad you found out about it. Here’s some detail provided by Amazon.com Product Description From New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes a novel of boundless imagination and meticulous research, a book that dares to answer a frightening question at the heart of America: Could the founding of the United States be based on a fundamental lie? The shocking truth lies hidden within the ruins of an impossibility, a lost colony of the Americas vanished in time and cursed into oblivion. A place known only as The Devil Colony. Deep in the Rocky Mountains, a gruesome discovery—hundreds of mummified bodies—stirs international attention and fervent controversy. Despite doubts about the bodies’ origins, the local Native American Heritage Commission lays claim to the prehistoric remains, along with the strange artifacts found in the same cavern: gold plates inscribed with an unfathomable script. During a riot at the dig site, an anthropologist dies horribly, burned to ashes in a fiery explosion in plain view of television cameras. All evidence points to a radical group of Native Americans, including one agitator, a teenage firebrand who escapes with a vital clue to the murder and calls on the one person who might help—her uncle, Painter Crowe, Director of Sigma Force. Continued on next page www.twtmag.com

Books

To protect his niece and uncover the truth, Painter will ignite a war among the nation’s most powerful intelligence agencies. Yet an even greater threat looms as events in the Rocky Mountains have set in motion a frightening chain reaction, a geological meltdown that threatens the entire western half of the U.S. From the volcanic peaks of Iceland to the blistering deserts of the American Southwest, from the gold vaults of Fort Knox to the bubbling geysers of Yellowstone, Painter Crowe joins forces with Commander Gray Pierce to penetrate the shadowy heart of a dark cabal, one that has been manipulating American history since the founding of the thirteen colonies. But can Painter discover the truth—one that could topple governments—before it destroys all he holds dear? A Q&A with Author James Rollins Q: There are some pretty fantastic settings in The Devil Colony, all pretty much right here in the good ol’ US of A. Was it nice to be able to set a book mainly in America? Were you able to visit the stunning locations in the book, such as the Arizona desert and the Rocky Mountains? Rollins: I had great fun researching this novel set in my own backyard (so to speak). For the past decade, I’ve been fielding questions from readers about setting a Sigma novel within the United States. But I knew it had to be the perfect story, a novel thrilling enough to justify coming home. I’ve been searching for that story for about five years, and when I finally discovered it, the book still took me a full two years to write. It’s one of the biggest and most shocking of my novels. It took me trekking across the country and back, from Washington, D.C. and Fort Knox out east, to Salt Lake City and Yellowstone National Park out west. I interviewed Mormon scholars, read scientific and historical abstract, and studied ancient petroglyphs. It is a story never told—but one that needs to be finally revealed after two hundred years of secrets. Q: Thomas Jefferson—while he never appears in this story—plays a significant role. Why Thomas Jefferson? What intrigues you about him? Rollins: Everyone knows Thomas Jefferson as the architect of the Declaration of Independence. Volumes have been written about the man over the past two centuries, but of all the founding fathers of America, he remains to this day wrapped in mystery and contradictions. He was both politician and scientist. For instance, it was only in 2007 that a coded letter, buried in his papers, was finally cracked and deciphered. It was sent to Jefferson in 1801 by a colleague who shared a passion for secret codes. Jefferson was fascinated to the point of fixation on Native American culture and history. At his home in Monticello, he put together a collection of tribal artifacts that was said to rival museums of the day (a collection that mysteriously disappeared after his death). Many of these Indian relics were sent to him by Lewis and Clark during their famed expedition across America. But what many don’t know is that Jefferson sent a secret message to Congress in 1803 concernContinued on next page

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Books ing Lewis and Clark’s expedition. It revealed the true hidden purpose behind the journey across the West. In The Devil Colony, you’ll learn that purpose—and so much more about the founding of America. And it has nothing to do with freemasons, Knights Templar, or crackpot theories. The truth is as illuminating as it is disturbing. Q: Your books often include high-concept scientific theory. While not wanting to spill any secrets about the plot of The Devil Colony, what are some of the breaking-news scientific concepts laced through the pages of this book? Rollins: The science in this novel addresses the next big leap in scientific research and industry. It can be summarized in one word: Nanotechnology. In a nutshell, it means manufacturing at the atomic level, at a level of one billionth of a meter. The nanotech industry is exploding. It is estimated that this year alone $70 billion worth of nanotech products will be sold in the U.S. alone: toothpaste, sunscreen, cake icing, teething rings, running socks, cosmetics, and medicines. What’s the downside of such a growth industry? These nanoparticles can cause illness, even death. It’s a new and wild frontier. There is presently no requirement for the labeling of nano-goods, no required safety studies of products containing nanoparticles. But there’s an even darker side to this industry. This technology has a history that goes back further than the twentieth century—much further. The Devil Colony explores those dark roots of this “new” science. Q: As a reader, it’s a huge treat to re-connect with the Sigma Force team, all of whom are such beloved characters. As an author, is it a similar experience for you to write about them? Do you feel like you’re visiting with dear friends? Rollins: Definitely. I’ve been living and breathing these characters for going on a decade. We’ve seen them grow, have children, face the challenge of balancing work with family, and deal with losses. While the Sigma team is chocked full of talented and dedicated people, they are still people with real-life challenges alongside the worldspanning adventures. In this book especially, those two worlds collide in a harrowing manner for one of my characters. To me, that’s what makes these characters feel so alive in my heart. They are not a static team who run into adventure after adventure. Instead, they change, they mature, they get life-altering injuries—and yes, they also die. It’s that fragility, that mortality, that breathes life into a character.

Editor Note: I reached out to Mr. Rollins vie his facebook page on his interest in Masonry and “Secret Socities” in his books. I will share any information I receive in future editions. Cory

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New Publications

Masonic Magazine’s Past & Present I know it’s hard to believe but TWT wasn’t the first magazine that shared Masonic news and info with the Craft. There have been publications for hundreds of years that gave the brethren the latest and greatest literature and stories of their day. Keep in mind that they did this all without the help we have today like printing on demand and the internet for research at your finger tips. As a way of introducing you to the newest kid on the block I’m going to show you a publication from the 1800’s to show you just how far we’ve come.

The Past 1846- The Masonic Trestle Board by Charles W. Moore. This work is subtitled “Adapted to the National System of Work and Lectures as revised and perfected by the United States Masonic convention at Baltimore, MD “ This obviously is in reference to the Baltimore Convention (see TWT MAG May 2011 issue). While I can’t say its the most eye pleasing book I’ve ever read it is incredibly filled with priceless information. (find this and many other books from the link I provided on page 11 in this issue). The Baltimore Convention is thought of as a turning point in American Freemasonry and I’m sure this was a big seller.

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New Publications

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New Publications

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New Publications

The Present

http://www.livingstonesmagazine.com/

A new magazine was released this month called “Living Stones Magazine” It is created by Bro. Robert Herd and features well known Freemason authors like Cliff Porter, Timothy Hogan and John Nagy. All of these masons are accomplished writers who are worthy of your time. The 1st issue features “The Relevant Mason”, The Coaches Coach” and “The Traveling Man”. The showcase article for June is “Three Prominent Mason’s who were Alchemists” I know first hand how difficult it is to get a new publication off the ground so let’s give The Living Stones Magazine a boost and help out a Brother who wants to further educate the Craft. A digital copy can be downloaded for $5.50/issue or $50.00/yearly subscription. The Working Tools wishes them well on their new publication.

Cliff Porter

Timothy Hogan

John Nagy

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Lodge Education

“What is the difference between AF&AM and F&AM Lodges?” by Roger M. Firestone After the foundation of the first Grand Lodge in England in 1717, a rival Grand Lodge arose less than two decades later, calling itself the Antients (or Ancients), whereby it intended to assert greater authenticity than the rival “modern” Grand Lodge. The Antients were also known as the Athol Masons, from their first Grand Master, the Duke of Athol. Some authors (e.g., Carl Claudy) say the Antients were schismatic--i.e., had split off from the “modern” Grand Lodge; others (e.g., Allen Roberts) of more recent vintage say that the Antients were founded independently by Lodges deriving from Scottish and Irish traditions who were excluded by the English “moderns.” These competing English Grand Lodges, along with Grand Lodges established in Scotland and Ireland, issued charters for Lodges in the American colonies into the latter half of the 18th century, until the American Revolutionary War led to the ties between the colonies and the mother country being severed. Long after that event, in 1813 (when the two countries were again at war, in fact), the rival English Grand Lodges amalgamated to form the United Grand Lodge of England, which is the governing body of English Freemasonry to this day. Meanwhile, in the new United States of America, Grand Lodges were organized separately in each state, some as offspring of Provincial Grand Lodges and some as self-declared independent Grand Lodges (e.g., Virginia). These Grand Lodges comprised Lodges whose charters had been issued by both the Antient and “modern” Grand Lodges in England (as well as a few Scottish and Irish constitution Lodges). The designation of whether a Grand Lodge was Free and Accepted or Ancient Free and Accepted was therefore almost an arbitrary choice, based perhaps on who had a bit more political power when the new Grand Lodge was formed.

In particular, one cannot conclude anything significant about the nature of the ritual used by a Grand Lodge as to its Antient or “modern” content, based only on the designation as F&AM or AF&AM. Many Grand Lodges use an amalgamation of the forms, and it would take detailed study (never having been done to my knowledge) to determine the precise provenance of each American Grand Lodge’s ritual contents. It does appear that Pennsylvania may adhere most closely to the work of the Antients, while a northern tier of states, running from Connecticut through Minnesota and perhaps farther west, preserves the “modern” ritual most closely. In those states where a ritual cipher is permitted, which seems to be more a characteristic of the “moderns,” the incorporation of changes to the ritual occur with much lower frequency (a fairly obvious observation). An example is the phrase “any be due,” which is synonymously rendered “aught be due” in the apparently “modern” jurisdictions: The substitution of a common word (“any”) for an archaic one (“aught”) is a natural evolution of an oral tradition, while the reverse substitution virtually never occurs in oral transmission. The states with a printed ritual cipher have maintained “aught,” while “any” has appeared in those states eschewing such written aids. Incidentally, there are two jurisdictions which use neither F&AM nor AF&AM: The District of Columbia uses FAAM, and South Carolina uses AFM. Again, these are distinctions without any real difference. Various suppositions are made about “four-letter” Lodges vs. “three-letter” Lodges and relationships to Prince Hall (PHA) Masonry and issues of recognition, but these are entirely unfounded.

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Lodge Education

“Empty chairs in lodge room” Author Unknown

We are familiar with the game of “Musical Chairs” in which those playing march around a group of chairs, one chair less than the number of players and when the music stops, the person that is unable to find a seat is out of the game. As the game progresses, a chair is removed so that there is always one chair less than the number of players. The winner of the game is the last person to be seated in the remaining chair. The Wrecking Crews of Shrine Temples have dreamed up many versions of it, as well as other groups and organizations. How different is the game of life and the “Empty chairs” in our Lodge rooms and Masonic temples,. Instead of not enough chairs for the players, there are not enough players for the chairs. At times this is true even of the officer chairs. This sad fact is not confined to the Lodges with a small membership, many of their members being more faithful in attendance than members in larger Lodges. Of course if all of the membership of any Lodge were to be in attendance at a meeting, there would not be enough chairs for each. This would really be something to see and a pleasure to any Worshipful Master and his officers to be faced with this type of problem.

Recently, while attending a Scottish Rite Society Chapter meeting, it was necessary to set up another table to accomodate all in attendance. The chapter president, being nervous about the small confusion and delay that resulted, started to apologize. We told him that he was to be congratulated. We Continued on next page www.twtmag.com

further advised him that instead, this is considered a sign of a successful meeting regardless of the planned program or even the food that would be served. It is definitely deemed a measure of succes when more tables and chairs are needed to accommodate those present. Often there is an abundance of food, especially when ladies of the O.E.S., Amaranth, or White Shrine are in charge of the dinner. Many things contribute to the “Empty Chairs” in our Lodges. Pressing business in this modern day and time causes Brethren to want to stay at home and relax at the end of their day in the business world. Many are prevented by health, distance and other obligations from being in attendance. Some are just, shall we say, lazy. Some, we feel, never learned the lessons of seeking more light in Masonry when they receive their degrees. Perhaps this is due to the manner in which the degree was conferred. Others have become disinterested for various reasons. Attendance at meetings of Lodges can be increased in many ways. Often we hear the expression that “They don’t do anything; just the same old open and close and pay the bills.” Doesn’t this give your Lodge officers an idea? One of the best ways to encourage enthusiasm is through the example set by officers of a Lodge; not only in their prompt attendance, but by good (creditable) performance in their stations and places. The officers should also know their duties and work in the degrees, performing their functions in a dignified and impressive manner so that the beautiful lessons of our beloved Fraternity are fully exemplified and taught to the candidates. Many Brethren sitting on the sidelines have never heard the complete sections of the degrees given. Recently it was my pleasure to hear the second and third sections of the Master Mason degree given perfectly in a most profound manner to three newly raised Master Masons. As often as this writer has heard them and even given them myself in the past, I was duly impressed and considered my time well spent by being present for the lectures as well as the degrees. If degree work is not scheduled, we suggest that you plan your meeting so that there is something of interest for everyone. A short talk on the Constitution and Code, our Masonic law, would be informative and interesting to many of the members, especially new Brethren. Also, short talks on subjects that are not associated with Masonry. How about sports, current legislation, schools, programs, of civic clubs and other fraternal organizations, films on recreation and related subjects, unique businesses. The list is unlimited if you really search. State agencies have speakers and films available on nearly everything. Do the unusual and watch the results. We can fill those “Empty Chairs” if we really try. Always plan so that there is no conflict with Masonic laws and customs in doing the unusual.

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