Kansas Mason - WINTER 2022

What was in the box?

Submitted by Patrick Carr, Master of McPherson Lodge 172

I love history. There, I said it. I am glad I was able to make that public finally. I love to save history from being tossed casually into landfills whenever and wherever I can. I am even more resolute to save the items when it comes to Masonic history. One thing I have come to understand about our Craft is the brethren are willing to throw out their old books and mementos. We rarely give them much thought and discard them for the sake of newer items. This is how I have gained many pieces for my personal masonic library. Lodges cast out things they no longer need, and they end up in my collection.

Sometimes this happens through an auction website such as eBay. There is the occasional individual who purchases items from an antique store or pawn shop and decides the item has more value than what they had initially paid. When this occurs, the item ends up on one of the many retail sale sites on the web. I was fortunate to purchase one such item many years ago. This item bridged my love for masonic history with United States history. These types of items have been rare for me to find. While many masonic antiquities are for sale, few genuine American history pieces come up for sale.

I was fortunate to discover a piece on eBay several years ago. It was advertised as a masonic gavel made from wood taken from the United States House of Representatives. I must admit, I was quite skeptical of the supposed provenance of the gavel. I examined the photographs of the gavel and the items which accompanied it with great scrutiny. The gavel appeared to be genuine, but I was still not sure. The price of the gavel and the other included items ended up at $400 and both I, along with another masonic brother, decided to split the cost and gamble on the piece. We had no idea what we had purchased until it was delivered.

The gavel was delivered in a wooden box constructed to house the gavel and the other items. The other items included were a Holy Bible, a newspaper article, three programs from a masonic gathering in Pennsylvania in 1928, a metal one-piece square and compasses, and the artwork used to create the square and compasses. The Holy Bible was inscribed to the Fellowship Club of Master Masons and presented by Bro Samuel A. Mooers in December 1928. The newspaper article was from the Thursday, October 31, 1997, edition of The Washington Times and was entitled "The Mystique of the Masons" and chronicled the Scottish Rite House of the Temple in Washington, D.C. One program was from the 75th anniversary of Juniata Lodge No. 282 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on December 8, 1928. The second program was entitled "History of Juniata Lodge No. 282," which told the history of that lodge. The third program was dated December 29, 1930, and included the officers from the several Blair County masonic lodges who met jointly for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. None of these programs had any reference to Brother Mooers who had donated the Bible to the Fellowship Club of Master Masons.

The included artwork was for the various sizes for the Fellowship Club of Master Masons logo design. The chrome emblem had a small hole in the middle for hanging the logo device on a door or other location. It listed the number of the club as being No. 182. None of these items were much help in understanding what the Fellowship Club of Master Masons was and where it existed.

Chrome Emblem of the Fellowship Club of Master Masons No. 182

The gavel was by far the most important piece in the box, and which is what had caught my attention in the original offer for its purchase. The gavel appeared to be made of mahogany and had a round brass piece inlaid in the bottom of the head of the gavel. A silver plate on the front of the gavel details the gavel's provenance. The plate is heavily engraved, and the square and compasses are engraved behind the inscription. The inscription reads, "The mahogany from which this gavel is made was brought from Honduras in 1804 and made into doors for the U.S. Capitol, when the British set fire to the Capitol in 1814, doors partially destroyed – piece of metal in end of gavel is from bronze doors, east front, House of Representatives Presented to Fellowship Club, M.M. by Brother Arthur E. Cook."

At approximately 8:00 p.m., on the evening of August 14, 1814, British troops under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cockburn and Major General Robert Ross defeated the American Forces at Bladensburg, Maryland, and marched into Washington, D.C. (AOC Curator, 2012). British troops set fire to most of the city, and on August 24, 2012, they set fire to several significant rooms in the Capitol building. The White House and other distinctly American buildings in the city were burned by the British as well. In the Capitol's south wing, the British used gunpowder to ignite the Hall of the House of Representatives, which is now known as National Statuary Hall (AOC Curator, 2012). Some parts of the building survived the fire and parts of the doors from the House of Representatives were ultimately salvaged from the ruins.

Brother Arthur E. "Gus" Cook was an assistant to the Architect of the Capitol. He started his career at the U.S. Capitol in 1896 as a laborer and worked for several different Architects of the Capitol throughout his tenure in Washington (Bytes of History, 2015). Brother Cook was the assistant to David Lynn from 1897 until 1954 and for J. George Stewart from 1954 until he died in 1959. Brother Cook had served the administration of President Coolidge and President Eisenhower during his time as the Assistant Architect of the Capitol. It was during these years Brother Cook was tasked with supplying gavels for various individuals in the United States government. We can only assume Brother Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the second person to hold the position of Architect of the Capitol, was able to save portions of the wood after the Capitol suffered its devastating fire due to his directive to conduct repairs on the building (Nichols, 2010).

This gavel is a magnificent piece of United States history. There have been three such gavels produced from the Honduran Mahogany doors. One is in the collection of the library of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, FAAM. Another made its way to a private collection. Neither of those gavels had been constructed with the care which had gone into the making of the Fellowship Club of Master Masons' gavel. This is not only a piece of American history but one of masonic provenance as well. The Fellowship Club of Master Masons was one of several affinity organizations formed under the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia starting in 1908. These clubs afforded Master Masons a place to gather during work and to practice their craft in these government buildings away from the prying eyes of the public. The Fellowship Club of Master Masons was founded in 1911 and was confined to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The chrome logo was hung on the door leading into the rented room, which would signify to all the club was operating in the room during the time the logo was on the door.

Little is known about the production of the gavel other than what has been engraved upon the silver plate on the head of the gavel. Brother Master Masons have been affiliated with the United States government for many years. Many of the founding fathers were members of our ancient art. These men have strived to continue democracy at all costs. It is not unusual for an important piece of history to be crafted and donated to the brethren for their use. How fitting it must have been for Brother Cook to present the gavel to a club of Master Masons who met in one of the most important buildings in the Capital. The Bureau of Engraving Printing is tasked with printing security documents and currency (U.S. Treasury Department, 2010). This same security of currency continues to guarantee both the government and the economy.

The Gavel tied to the Story of our U.S. Capitol

The gavel has been used twice since it was purchased ten years ago. When Brother Jarrod Adkisson, the brother who split the purchase cost with me, was installed in Little Rock as Grand Master of Arkansas, F&AM, in 2015, the gavel was presented to him to preside. The gavel was again used when I was installed as 2022 Master of McPherson Lodge No. 172 here in Kansas. I will not only use the gavel to preside but to teach more about the history of our beloved Craft to those who see the gavel in use in the Lodge during the coming year as we focus on masonic education and masonic history.

We do not know why the Fellowship Club of Master Masons inevitably ceased to operate as an affinity club within the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. Likewise, we do not understand how such a beautiful and important part of American history was ultimately made available for purchase. What we do know is Masonic and American memorabilia from our history is important and should continue to be protected and saved from being destroyed or forgotten by the Craft. These items continue to tie all masons back to the formation of our government and to those men who bled and died to protect our freedom to assemble and our freedom to associate with organizations such as Freemasonry. This is the ultimate lesson learned from the collection of masonic history. We must continue to study our history as it relates to our nation and understand how our nation's history relates to our fraternity. If you have the opportunity to visit McPherson Lodge No, 172 in 2022, you will see the gavel still being used to preside over a lodge meeting. You will also witness masonic education being offered from learned brothers from across the region. Come and visit when you have the chance and take the time to learn a little bit more about our history. I hope by doing this, we can encourage as many brothers as possible to learn to love our masonic history and save it from the many eBay auctions, antique shops, and dumpsters our items end up being consigned to.

REFERENCES

AOC Curator. (2012, August 22). The burning of the U.S. capitol during the War of 1812 | AOC. Retrieved from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/blog/ most-magnificent-ruin-burning-capitol-during-war-1812

Bytes of History. (2015). Arthur E. (Gus) Cook. Retrieved from http://bytesofhistory.com/Cemeteries/ DC_Congressional/Obits/C/C_PDF/Cook_ArthurE.pdf

Nichols, K. (2010, May 3). Hawke's Bay research lodge No.305. Retrieved from https://www. mastermason.com/hbresearch/pages/lecture28.htm

U.S. Treasury Department. (2010, December 1). Bureau of Engraving & Printing (BEP) overview. Retrieved from https://www.treasury.gov/about/ organizational-structure/offices/Treasurer-US/Pages/ bepoverview.aspx