C “TO ALL BRETHREN THROUGH THE WORLD”:
American Masonic Traveling Certificates Freemasons
have long
used words, grips, and tokens to identify themselves to other members of the Fraternity. For nearly three centuries, Brethren have also carried official documents to further prove their Masonic membership when they are far from home. Masonic lodges in the American colonies began issuing credentials to members and new initiates in the mid-1700s. These documents, when presented at another lodge, helped demonstrate that the holder was a Mason in good standing—a Brother entitled to a warm welcome, hospitality, and, in some cases, charity. Until the end of the 1700s, Masonic certificates were not issued as a matter of course, but only if requested. Recognized by their fellow lodge Brethren, members did not need a certificate to attend meetings at their home lodge. A Masonic Brother who relocated or who was traveling might want a certificate to help him verify his status as a Mason. Certificates from the handful of lodges that met in North America in the mid-1700s, if issued at all, were handwritten, rather than printed, documents. They could be folded up into a small rectangle – about the size of an index card – that could fit in a pocket or pouch. The oldest Masonic certificate in the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library’s collection was originally issued to James Harding by Philadelphia Lodge
12
srmml.org
Master Mason certificate issued to James Harding, 1756. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gift of the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, A1990/036/001. https://digitalvgw.omeka. net/items/show/881
No. 2 in 1756. Measuring approximately 11 x 14 inches, the certificate’s fold lines indicate that it was once folded into a rectangle about 3 x 5 inches, easy to tuck away when traveling. Samuel Derby carried a certificate that was issued forty years later, in 1796. Derby’s certificate is a printed document. It proclaimed “To all Brethren through the world” that he had received the Master Mason degree at Essex Lodge in Salem, Massachusetts. This certificate’s design reflected Essex Lodge’s many seafaring members’ interest in the world; the four allegorical figures at the bottom represent the continents of Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. Lines show that Derby’s certificate was folded into eighths. During the 19th century and into the 20th, many Freemasons continued
to carry traveling certificates. In some cases, such as Arthur Anton Pearson’s Master Mason certificate, issued by the Grand Lodge of Maine, the certificates were pasted into a pocket-sized cover so that they could be protected and easily carried. For years, many members of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction were issued both a large presentation-style certificate and a portable traveling certificate. Many members, including the Valley of Toledo’s Wayne Edwin Stitcher, carried their traveling certificates with them and asked fellow Scottish Rite Brothers to sign them. Stichter’s certificate, dated 1930, functioned not only as a way of identifying himself as a Scottish Rite Mason, but also as a personalized souvenir of his participation in Masonic activities.
The Northern Light
