Section 1

BIOGRAPHY OF MRS. CATHERINE BABINGTON, THE ONLY
WOMAN MASON IN THE WCRLD

J. P, Babington

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PRICE 25 CENTS, BY MAIL, POSTPAID.

OF

MRS, CATHERINE BABINQTON,

THE ONLY

WOMAN MASON IN THE WORLD,

AND HOW SHE BECAME A

BLUE LODGE MASON,

BY

J, P. BABINGTON.

THIRD EDITION.

PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE^BY

J. P. BABINGTON,

TAYLORSVILLE, N. C,

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(iMtf . Catfi^rte ^aiimgtmu

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North Carolina State Library
Raleigli

OF

MRSo CATIMERSNE BABINQTON'

THE ONLY

WOMAN MASON IN THE WORLD,

AND H0\¥ SHE BECAME A

BLUE LODGE MASON,

J. p. BABINGTON.

THIRD EDITION.

MIIX

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A4mm

PUBLISED AND FOR SALE BY

J. P. BABhNGTON,

TAYLOR5VILLE N. C.

^L(i:>. 12)

Certificate from Lee Lodo-e No
253, A. F. & A.

Ancient, Free And Accepted Masons.
10 All Master Masons to whom these
presents shall come-Greeting-

Hall of Lee Lodge, No. 2.53. 'This is to
Certify, that Brother J. P. Babington is at
the date of these presents, a Master Mason
in good and regular standing, and has paid
all dues ana is free from all charges, and is a
member of Lee Lodge, working under the
jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of North
Carolina.

Given under my hand and the seal of the
Lodge at Taylorsvilie. this 29th, day of No-
vember, A. D. 1906, A. L. 5906.

A. C. PAYNE, Secretary.

Certificate'f rom Cleveland Lodge,

No. 202, A. F. & A. M.

To All Free a.nd Accepted Masons on
THE Face of the Globe, Greeting:

We do hereby certify that our worthy
Brother, J. P. Babington, who has signed his
name in the margin hereof has been regulary
Initiated, Passed and Raised and that he is
no¥7 a member of Cleveland Lodge, No. 202,
located at Shelby, Cleveland County, North
Carohna. Distinguished for his zeal and
fidelity to the Craft, as such we do hereby
recommend him to all Brothers wheresoever
dispersed. In testimony whereof we have
granted this certificate under our hands and
the Seal of the Lodge this the 15th, day of
July, A. D. 1881. A. L. 5881.

T, D. LATTIMORE, W. M.

R. McBRAYER, S. W.

B. B. BABINGTON, J. W.

J. C. GIDNEY, Secretary.

1906,

COPYRIGHTED BY

J. P. BABINGTON,

BOWiJNG GREEN, VA.'

1912,

COPYRIGHTED BY

J. P. BABINGTON,

TAYLOESVILLE, N. C.'

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

This book is reverently dedicated to the mer^
ory of my sainted mother.

IW;rMC9IBUC5"rC5MY

c&'saajaBi^J'-.JSESgijga.'

A number of the members of the Masonic
Fraternity, in North and South Carolina, since
the death of my mLctner, in 1886, have asked
me to write and publish a biograpical sketch
of her hfe and let the Masonic world know
how she became a Third Degree Mason. I
have deferred the v.^ork, from time to time,
thinking that perhaps I might fmd "A m.ore
convenient season. ' '

Another reason for my delay was that I
wanted to talk the matter over with my oldest
brother, B. B. Babington, of Shelby, N. C,
and get from him somiO valuable information
to aid me in the v7ork; but I received notice,
a few days ago, that he had been called from
labor to rest and I am now the only hving
m.ember of the family who can say, from a
Masonic standpoint, that my mother, ]\IiS.
Catherine Babington, v/as a Mason and knew
all of Masonry that can be obtained in the
Blue Lodge.

The m.anner in vv^hich she obtained her

6 INTRODUCTORY.

knowledge of Masonry I give to the world as
she told it to myself and others and as it was
written to my father by one of her uncles,
who was a member of the Lodge where she
obtained her Masonic knowledge. The fact
that she was bright in the First Three Degrees
of Masonry, up to the time of her death, I
know to be true. She, herself, taught me
much of my lessons when I was being made
a Mason. With these few lines of introduc-
tion I will proceed to give to the world all
that I can remember of my mother's Masonic
life and experience, together with what I have
heard my father and brother, both of whom
were Masons, say. Also many remarks that I
have heard other Masons make regarding her
knovdedge of Masonry.

Hoping that this little pamphlet may
prove interesting to the Masonic Fraternity,
and the American people in general, I dedi-
cate it to the sacred memory of my beloved
mother.

J. P. BABINGTON,

November 1st, 1908.

'MmwAjmE"^"^

The demand for the first edition of the
''Biogi^aphy of Mrs. Catherine Eabington'*
has been such as to cause the author to give
the public the second edition, in a revised
form, and embrace in it much matter that
v/as omJtted from the first.

The appendix of the first edition will be
embodied in the first pages of the regular
matter of this and all subsequent editions.

The portrait of the subject of the book
will also appear in this and all foUov/ing edi-
tions.

The author has also inserted his certifi-
cates of Lodge Membership in order that the
reader may know that the book is v/ritten by
a Master Mason, in good and regular standing,
in a regularly constituted Lodge.

At the last of the book is added Robert
Morris' famous Masonic Poem, ''The Level
and The Square,'' which Mrs. Babington lov-
ed so well and repeated, from memory, to the
author and Dr. J. C. Gidney, her physician,
a few days before her death.

Since I published the first and second edi-
tions of my mother's biography I have met
with quite a number of 'Doubting Thomases. '

Some contend that it is impossible for a
woman to get possession of the Secrets of Ma-
sonry and others have conceived the idea that
the pubhcation of the book would damage the
cause of Masonry and that it was contrary to
Masonic teachings to publish matters of that
character.

In regard to the first objection I can say
that, while it has always been supposed, by
Masons and the world generally, that no wo-
man could become possessed of the Secret
Work of Masonry, I know, as a Mason, that
my mother knew all of Masonry that can be
learned in the Blue Lodge.

As to the second objection my answer is
as foUov/s:

First. —In this book there is nothing that

THE ONE WOMAN MASON 9

is calculated to enligiiten the profane regard-
ing the v/ork of the Order.

Second. —It contains no word or sentence
that is not proper to be written.

Third.— Ever since the early ages our
brightest Masons have spent years of their
lives complying the history of the order, from
its foundation until the present time. For
more than fifty years those seekers after
Masonic History have known, or supposed
that one v/oman in the world had secured the
secrets of the order and they labored in vain
to locate her. The BiogTaphy of my mother
is nothing more nor less than a piece of Ma-
sonic History and it fills in the hnk that has
long been missing. As such I have given it
to the v/orld and I have in my possession,
letters from some of tlie best men and Ma-
sons in the United States, thanking me for the
work and some of them, who knew my moth-
er, saying I should have put the facts in book
form before I did.

V/ith these remarks and explanations I
novv^ proceed to put out the third edition and
follow it up v/ith others until the demand for
the book is fully met.

A

o

IS. LatileiiffiS ijawilftCOE

The subject of the following 'p&ges was
born on the 28th, day of December, in the
year of our Lord, One Thousand, Eight Hun-
dred and Fifteen, near Princess Furnace, in
Boyd (at that time Greenup) County, Ken-
tucky.

She was the only daughter of Charles
and Margaret Sweet. Her parents named
her Catherine, but she always answered to
the name of Kate. Her father died when she
was about six years old and she spent the
greater portion of her girlhood and young
womanhood at her grandfather's, Benjamin
Ulen, who lived but a short distance from the
place of her birth.

Her only brother, Benjamin Sweet, is
still hving at Princess, Boyd Co. , Kentucky.

She had six uncles in the Ulen family.

THE ONE WOMAN MASON. 11

to- wit: Benjamin, Samuel, John, Fredrick,
Absalom, and Hamilton.

My recoHeetion is that several of her
uncles were pliysicians and the most of them,
if not all, were Masons.

There was but one girl in the Ulen family
and she was much older than Kate, therefore
Kate gTew up the pet and companion of her
uncles. She was allowed to go and come
v/hen she pleased and usually allowed to do
about as she pleased.

Near her grandfather's residence there
had been' a two -story frame building erected.
The first, or lower, story was used for a
school house; while the second, or upper, story
was intended for a church; but it was never
used for church purposes.

The upper room of this building was se-
cured by the Masons and fitted up for a
Lodge-room. At one side of the room an old
fashioned pulpit had been erected. This pul-
pit the Masons allowed to remain as it was
and Kate's uncles told her, when she went
along to help them sweep and clean up the
Lodge-room, that they put the goat in it to
keep him from running around over the room

12 THE ONE WOMAN MASON.

when no one was riding Mm.

As Kate grew up she attended the schools
that were taught under the Lodge-room. In
playing the old game of ''hide and seek'' she,
with the other children, would often climb up
the old scaffolding, that had been left stand-
ing at the back of the building, and cravf 1
through an opening in the weatherboarding
and hide under the pulpit in the Lodge-room.
This opening was back of the pulpit and only
allowed a person to get between the floors of
the room and pulpit.

As Kate grew to young womanhood and
saw her uncles and the other Masons going to
the mieetings of the Lodge carrying their
rifles, for those were the days of Indians and
Anti-Masons, her female curiosity was excit-
ed and having discovered some cracks under
the old pulpit that would m.ake convenient
peep holes, she conceived the idea of learning
the secrets of Masonry.

In order to carry out her project it was
necessary for her to arrive at the Lodge and
enter her place of concealment before the ar-
rival of any of the members of the order, for
she was v/ell aware that if once discovered,

THE ONE WOMAN MASON. 13

precautions would be taken to prevent her
from repeating the experiment.

The communications of the Lodge were
held in the afternoon v/hich made things
favorable for her reckless, and almost dan-
gerous, undertaking.

A short timiO after Kate had fully resolv-
ed to become a Mason she heard one of her
uncles say, at dinner one day, that the Lodge
would mxeet that evening and a certain young
m.an, v/ho had, more than once, accom.panied
Kate home from church on Sunday evening,
V70uld be on hand to ride the goat and climib
the greasy pole. This was enough to work
her female curiosity up to the point of reck-
lessness and she determined to see the fun.

As soon as she could get away, after din-
ner was over, she started off in an opposite
direction, and circled around to the rear of
the Lodge where she climbed up the scaffold-
ing and hid herself under the old pulpit.

After waiting what, she said, seemed to
be almost a half day the memibers assembled,
the Lodge opened and and the fun began.

The young man appeared and Kate watch-
ed the proceedings from start to finish. He

14 THE ONE WOMAN MASON.

was duly initiated into Masonry, and the
Lodge, at the same time, unknowingly, re-
vealed the secrets of the First Degree to the
first and only female in America v/ho has
ever been v/ithin the v/alls of a Masonic
Lodge v/hile the members v.^ere assem/bled
and the Lodge at v/ork.

Time moves on and Kate says not a word
to any one regarding w'hat she had seen and
heard. Another day arrives for the Lodge to
assemible and Ivate is in her place of conceal-
ment long before the blowing of the ram's
horn. What she had witnessed a month be-
fore had only served to still further excite her
curiosity and she wTiS now* determined to see
the show to the end of its nnal or finishing
performance.

Again the candidate appeared and v/as
passed on and duly instructed in the Second
Degree of Masonry. Piate, with eyes and
ears followed the proceedings and learned as
much or more than the candidate.

Thus the secrets of the Fellow Craft, as
well as the Entered Apprentice, Mason v/as
revealed to a f em.ale.

Now Kate's uncles and the other Masons

THE ONE WOMAN MASON. 15

in the neighborhood began to talk about the
hard time that the young man would have,
managing the unruly goat and climbing the
pole, v/hen he undertook to secure the myste-
ries and secrets of the Master Mason's De-
gree, at the next meeting, a mionth hence.

The fun tbey said they would have, put
Kate on nettles. She knew that she was
hable to be discovered and yet, while she
shuddered when she thought of v/hat might
happen should her uncles discovered her, she
determmined to see the curtain run down on
the last act.

The day arrived and Kate was again on
hand. The Lodge assembled early and, not-
v/ithstanding the awful things that had been
hinted to him, the candidate appeared ready,
though looking somewhat haggard, to under-
take the task of obtaining all the secrets of a
Master Mason.

He was brought into the Lodge and none
but those who have become Master Masons
can have any idea how this young girl, only
about sixteen years old, felt as she lay under
the old pulpit and witnessed the solemn and
impressive ceremonies through which all must

16 THE ONE WOMAN MASON.

pass in order to receive the Third (Master
Masons) Degree in the Blue Lodge.

At last the curtain h run down. The
third and last act is ended. John Williams
(the author uses the name John Williams be-
cause he has forgotten the candidate's real
name) is a Master Mason and Catherine Sweet
knov/s ail of Blue Lodge Masonry.

Time moves on. The Lodge meets regu-
larly once each month. At every meeting
Kate- is a silent but close observer of all
things done or said. Y/hen there are no can-
didates for the regular degi^ees the rnem^bers
occupy their tim-e in conferring side degrees.
Kate pays strict attention and, in this v/ay
she obtains ''The Master Mason's Reliance,"
''The Trader, s Degree,'' ''Master Mason's
Wife and Daughter," "The Twelve Tall
Cedars of Lebanon" and m.any others.

In the meantime a noted Masonic Lectur-
er of the State appears and Kate gets the
benefit of his lectures and rehearsals. Thus
she becomes as familiar v/ith the workings
and secrets of the Blue Lodge as she could
have done had she been permitted to take a
seat among its members.

North Carolina State Library
Raleigli

THE ONE ¥/OMAN MASON. 17

But all thing's must have an end and
Kate,s Ma-sonie Lodge attendance came to an
abrupt end.

For more than a year she had been an
unobserved attendant at all the m_eeting's of
the Lodge. She had, on several occasions,
run some narrow escapes but a day came
when she failed in her calculations.

As before mentioned the m.embers of the
Lodge alv/ays carried their rifles when they
attended the meetings. On this fatal day
one of her uncles left his rifle in the ante-
room and had gone some distance before he
thought of it. He retraced his steps and, as
he approached the building, he saw Kate
crawling out from, her place of concealment.
She discovered him about the same time and
she knev/ that a reckoning v/as at hand.
When she reached the ground her uncle told
her to return hom^e and go to her room and
stay until he came for her.

Upon her uncle's return he called his
brothers and they went into their office.
After relating what he had seen they decided
to call Kate in and find out, if possible, v/hat
she had learned about Masonry.

18 THE ONE WOMAN MASON.

She was summoned to appear for what
she thought would be her death sentence, as
she had been led to believe that no one was
allowed to live who stole the secrets of Ma-
sonry.

It was at this time that she showed her
courage in a way that probably saved her a
vast amount of trouble.

She entered the presence of her uncles,
all of whom she knew loved her better than
they did their own lives, with a firm step and
head erect.

As soon as she was seated the eldest
brother became spokesman and the following
conversation took place:

Uncle. — * 'Kate, tell us where you have
been this evening?' '

Kate. — ' 'Under the pulpit in the Lodge. ' '

'What were you doing there?''

' 'Watching and listening. ' '

"Was this your first visit?"

"No sir."

"How long have you been doing this?"

* 'For a year and a half, or ever since
John Williams was initiated. "

' 'Have you been able to learn any of the

THE ONE WOMAN MASON. 19

secrets of the Lodge?''

''Yes sir. All of them/'

'Well tell us all you know,"