The Arizona Keystone Scientia Coronati Research Lodge #4 F. & A. M. Newsletter
JUL – SEP 2012 A.L. 6012
Volume 5, Issue 3
COLONIAL FREEMASONRY
The Arizona Keystone Volume 5, Number 3 Jul - Sep 2012 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Boyd Robertson, Master MANAGING EDITOR Keith Rosewitz, Secretary The Arizona Keystone is an official publication of Scientia Coronati Research Lodge #4 F. & A. M. and printed quarterly. Unless otherwise noted, articles appearing in this publication express only the private opinion or assertions of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of Scientia Coronati Research Lodge #4 F. & A. M. or the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Arizona. Articles are subject to editing and submittal grants Scientia Coronati Research Lodge #4 F. & A. M the right to publish and the authority to allow permission to reprint. Ownership of any article, photographs, or other materials remains with the author. No compensation is allowed for any article, photographs, or other materials submitted for publication. Permission to reprint articles will be granted upon written request to the Editor. When reprinted, articles should note “Reprinted with permission of The Arizona Keystone (Month, year).”
CONTENTS FEATURES 5 Colonial Masonry Begins 3. MASTER’S NOTES
6 The Medals of the Colonial
War 4. PEN AND PAPER
7 Pen and Paper
10 Colonial Impressions
SECTIONS
3 Master’s Notes 4 Scriptorium
Please direct all correspondence to: Editor: The Arizona Keystone 1908 Larchwood Cir. Prescott, AZ 86301
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M as te r ’s N otes My Brothers, Can you believe that we are already into the third quarter of the year? So how is your research going? I may be checking up on you at the next stated meeting in September. As always we need brothers to step up and volunteer to do a presentation. Brother Stan has graciously accepted the challenge and will be presenting on the Principles of Masonic Law. It should be a very interesting presentation and I hope to see all of you there. There is also some important work to be done in September. We will be establishing the dues for the upcoming year as well as electing new officers. So your attendance is needed to help the Lodge move forward into the new year. Your attendance and input are vital to the continued growth and high expectations of our great research lodge. With that in mind I am sending out a challenge to all of you. I want you to contact a brother from your blue lodge that has not been to one of our meetings and invite him to attend with you. It will be a great opportunity for fellowship as well as education and showing him what the research lodge is all about. Maybe he has a paper or research that he has done on his own that he would like to present at a future meeting. And who knows, maybe he will even join us as a member of Scientia Coronati Research Lodge #4. In closing I would like to thank the brethren of Sy Harrington #70 for the warm welcome and interest at our meeting there in June. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. Remember, keep studying, learning and growing!
Sincerely & Fraternally,
Boyd Robertson
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S CRIP TO RIU M My fellow Researchers or Custodians of Truth, At the outbreak of the Revolution, Masonic Lodges in America were few and feeble.
The oldest of them
had existed less than half a century and the membership was exceedingly small.
But what was lacking in
members was more than supplied in quality. The Freemasons of that period included the flower of colonial citizenship and their very fewness was a source of strength.
In a
small lodge all could know and trust each other; all felt the need of absolute secrecy in deliberation — of solidarity in action.
There-
fore, it is not surprising that some of these colonial lodges became the center of revolutionary propaganda. (Source:
Masonic Enlightenment,
By Michael R. Poll)
Bookshelf 1. Masonic Enlightenment— by Michael R. Poll 2. History of Military Lodges— A paper presented by H. Lloyd Wilkerson, Major General, USMC (Ret.)
3. Freemasonry in the Thirteen Colonies—by J. Hugo Tatsch 4. The Faiths of the Founding Fathers— by David L. Holmes
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S
COLONIAL MASONRY BEGINS...
tarting in 1730, the Modern Grand Lodge appointed Provincial Grand Masters in the Colonies. The first Provincial Grand Master in America was Daniel Coxe, appointed for New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in 1730. There is no record of his performing any actions as a Grand Master. The Modern Grand Lodge also warranted lodges throughout the colonies starting with St. John’s Lodge in Boston in 1733, and in that same year, Henry Price was appointed Provincial Grand Master for North America. He opened the St. John’s Grand Lodge in Boston, and issued warrants to lodges in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and elsewhere. The Grand Lodge of Scotland warranted lodges throughout the colonies starting in 1756 with St. Andrew’s Lodge in Boston and Blandford Lodge in Virginia. They also appointed Capt. John Young as Provincial Grand Master in 1757. Joseph Warren was appointed in 1769 to have authority “at Boston and within 100 miles of the same.” In 1773 this was expanded to cover the “continent of America.” As Grand Master he opened the Massachusetts Grand Lodge and issued warrants for lodges in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York. Ireland warranted a number of traveling lodges with the Army in America. These lodges initiated colonists who later became members of other early lodges. The initiation of Prince Hall and 14 others into an army traveling lodge near Boston in 1775 was an event that continues to have ramifications in Masonry today. Kilwinning Lodge in Scotland, which claims to be the oldest active lodge in the world, issued warrants to other groups to make Masons on behalf of the Mother Lodge. The first of these was issued in 1677 to Cannongate Kilwinning which still meets in Edinburgh on St. John Street, near the Cannongate. Although Kilwinning Lodge joined in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1725, a dispute over their proper place on the list caused them to break away in 1743 for a period of over 60 years. In this period they warranted other “Kilwinning” Lodges, including now extinct lodges located in Virginia at Tappahannock and Falmouth, and perhaps also our KilwinningCrosse #2-237 and Fredericksburg #4.
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THE MEDALS OF THE COLONIAL WAR
T
he Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest award that is still given to members of the U.S. military, the only earlier award being the obsolete Fidelity Medallion. The Badge of Military Merit is considered the first military award of the United States Armed Forces. Although the Fidelity Medallion is older, after being issued to three soldiers for a specific event in 1780 it was never awarded again, so the Badge of Military Merit is often considered the oldest. The Purple Heart is the official successor decoration of the Badge of Military Merit. The Badge of Military Merit was first announced in General George Washington's general orders to the Continental Army issued on August 7, 1782 at the Headquarters in Newburgh. Designed by Washington in the form of a purple heart, it was intended as a military order for soldiers who exhibited, "not only instances of unusual gallantry in battle, but also extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way.
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PEN A N D PA P ER
A
merican Union Lodge No 1. has an interesting story during the colonial period in our history. It is considered the first Ohio Lodge set up within the Northwest Territories, as it was called. General Rufus Putnam led a group of Revolutionary veterans to settle the land in 1788. "These American Pioneers to the Northwest Territory arrived at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, on April 7, 1788, and established Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory. Putnam went on to serve as a Supreme Court judge for the Northwest Territory. Brother Putnam established American Union Lodge No 1 in Marietta, but American Union Lodge did not start out in Ohio. Since this was a military Lodge, it was chartered in Boston Mass. in 1776 and by virtue of the warrant the brethren met on February 16th, an Entered Apprentice Lodge having been opened, proceeded to elect the following subordinate officers: John Parks, Senior Warden; Thomas Chase, Junior Warden; Jonathan Heart, Secretary, and Samuel H. Parsons, Treasurer. "And each accepted and took their seats with the usual ceremonies." Jacob Dickerson was appointed Tyler during the Lodge's pleasure and a committee of three named to prepare a "body of laws for the regulation of this particular Lodge." Four persons were proposed to be made Masons, three of whom were elected to receive the Entered Apprentice degree. On February 20, the organization was completed and the first Masonic work was done. The Lodge was opened in due form with the officers in their proper stations and eleven members and three visitors present. The Entered Apprentice degree was conferred and "the committee having made a report and the laws read, they were agreed to and ordered to be entered," and a Masonic body destined to experience every vicissitude of fortune in the Revolutionary Army and finally to light the torch of brotherly love and service anew in the great Northwest was launched on its career. These were the times that tried men's souls. The Army was before Boston, which was held by 10,000 British troops, well equipped and well supplied, while their ships commanded the ocean.... "Gen. Washington was obliged to present a bold front but was unable to undertake any active movements or explain the reason for his inaction." At any moment they might be attacked by the enemy and none could tell what the final outcome was to be. Amid these conditions the American Union Lodge was born. February 20 to April 2, 1776 meetings were held in Roxbury, Massachusetts. On March 28, Grand Master John Rowe was present. In April, 1776, the Army, having moved to New York City, a meeting was held on April 23 At Bridgewater Hall. Eleven subsequent meetings were held between that date and August 15. The Battle of Long Island brought to an end the series of convocations. Two of the brethren were killed and nine others, including the Worshipful Master, Joel Clark, were captured. February 15, 1779, Secretary Heart issued a call for a meeting at Reading, Connecticut, April 7. Joel Clark had died in prison, and Gen. Samuel H. Parsons was chosen as Worshipful Master.
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A meeting was held at Nelson's Point, New York, June 24, 1779 at which Gen. George Washington was present. It was during this second sojourn in New York that Brother Rufus Putnam, afterwards leader of the pioneer settlement to Marietta, and eventually the first Grand Master of Ohio, was initiated, passed and raised. Brother Moses Cleaveland, who was one of the leaders of the Connecticut pioneers to northern Ohio, was made an Entered Apprentice. During the Army's occupation of New Jersey in the winter of 1779-80 a few meetings were held in Morristown. The meeting of December 27, celebrating the festival of St. John the Evangelist, was the largest in numbers, thirtythree members and sixty-nine visitors, including General Washington. No record of meetings in 1781, but meetings were held at different places in New York. The last meeting was held April 23, 1783. From now on the meetings of the Lodge were very irregular and but little Masonic work was done. The war was over and the soldiers returned to their homes to take up the duties of peace. The Lodge had come into existence while the conflict was in its infancy and had continued to its close. Her first Master had died a prisoner. Her second, General Samuel H. Parsons, had rendered distinguished service to his country, attained the rank of Major General and was a member of the military court which had tried Major Andre. Major Heart, the third Master, enlisted in time to take an honorable part in the battle of Bunker Hill and continued in the army until he met a soldier's death striving to rally Gen. St. Clair's troops in the West. The members came from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia.... More than once disaster had brought the Lodge to the brink of destruction, but it had survived and, though the brethren knew it or not, in the providence of God it was destined to light the fires of Masonry in a land which they had not seen. An interval of seven years elapsed and when the Lodge again assembled, it was to find a permanent home on the banks of the Ohio.
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The little band of pioneers who landed at Marietta on April 7, 1788, and those who come after them, contained members of American Union Lodge and others of the fraternity who were anxious to erect an altar of Masonry in the wilderness. Soon this came to pass and the wandering of the Lodge had ceased. Here it was to remain, a powerful influence for good in the settlement for generations yet to come. In the words of Brother Martin R. Andrews: "The year 1790 marks the beginning of a new era in the history of American Union Lodge." For five years it continued to be in reality a military Lodge, receiving and initiating recruits as they passed on their way to conflict. Yet the Lodge had found a permanent home. She stood at the portals of the great Northwest, and at the altar many a pioneer halted long enough to light a torch which he could bear far away into the wilderness. This, then. was the Golden Age of our history, not because it was free from trials and cares, for the whole period is full of struggles and perils. Rest is not the ideal of men who meet for the purpose of learning how to labor for the good of others. The period was truly golden in the opportunities it afforded the little group of brothers on the frontier to make their influence felt throughout a vast empire and into successive generations."... Jonathan Heart, third and last Worshipful Master of American Union (Army) Lodge, was mustered out of military service in December, 1783. Two years later Brother Heart, as a captain in the army raised for the protection of the western frontier, brought the Warrant of American Union Lodge to the west. In November, 1785, a detachment of troops under Major and Brother John Doughty had been sent to the mouth of the Muskingum River and there erected Fort Harmar. Under the leadership of General Rufus Putnam the Ohio Company of Associates - New England veterans of the Revolution - landed at the mouth of the Muskingum, opposite Fort Harmar, April 7, 1788, and began the settlement of Marietta, the "Plymouth Rock of the West." Log cabins were built and a stockade, called Campus Martius, was erected as a refuge against the Indians. Such was the beginning of the first permanent settlement planted within the limits of the Northwest Territory. On May 21, 1792, a letter was received from the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania which read in part: "It was with equal surprise and pleasure the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania received intelligence of the formation of a Lodge in the midst of the immense wilderness of the West....As the account which you have given of the origin of your warrant is perfectly satisfactory and as the succession to the Chair has been uninterrupted, your authority for renewing your work appears to be incontestable." Thus were the Brethren assured of the right to carry on the work of the Craft in their new land. On March 24, 1801, fire destroyed the Lodge hall and with it were lost its Warrant, furniture, jewels and implements. On November 7, 1803, W. Bro. Putnam reported that he had received a Charter from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, "renewing the rights, privileges and precedence of this Lodge as heretofore established." Thanks to http://www.mariettamasonicbodies.com/au1history.htm for some of the Historical information. 9
COLONIAL IMPRESSIONS "Flattering as it may be to the human mind, and truly honorable as it is to receive from our fellow citizens testimonies of approbation for exertions to promote the public welfare, it is not less pleasing to know that the milder virtues of the heart are highly respected by a Society whose liberal principles must be founded in the immutable laws of truth and justice. To enlarge the sphere of social happiness is worthy of the benevolent design of a Masonic institution; and it is most fervently to be wished that the conduct of every member of the Fraternity, as well as those publications that discover the principles which actuate them, may tend to convince mankind that the great object of Masonry is to promote the happiness of the human race." George Washington ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER HISTORICAL GEM AT GEORGE WASHINGTON’S FARM-7/4/08
Excavations at Washington’s Boyhood Home Uncover Vital Piece of Presidential History ... Found in one of the cellars, the pipe bears a clear Masonic crest; Washington joined the Fredericksburg Lodge of the Masons in 1753. .. 10