CHAPTER XVIII

1744
1744, March 28, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Brother Benjamin Hal- lowell admitted. O.R.; A.B.
1744, April 4, Antigua.
Francis Byam, D.D., Master and in behalf of Court- House Lodge, Antigua, petitioned the Grand Lodge in London that as they had built a new Lodge-room sixty feet long and thirty feet wide, with a small room ad- joining, the said new built Lodge might be entered on the Register as ‘“The Great Lodge of St. John’s.” The petition was granted with the alteration that the name should be “The Great Lodge at St. John’s in Antigua.”
Entick 242.
Preston (Portsmouth 1804) 192. Pi) (2nds bnp de) ele a: 1738, November 22, supra.
1744, April 6, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R.; A.B. 1744, April 11, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. OTe ALG:
284
1744 285
1744, April 25, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. ORS A:B: 1744, May 4, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R.; A.B. 1744, May 9, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Richard White made. TDA Si) eed Basia tal ob 1744, May 23, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B. 1744, May 29, Boston.
Grand Secretary Peter Pelham certified a copy of Thomas Oxnard’s commission as Provincial Grand Mas- ter of North America.
See page 279.
1744, June 1, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. Brothers Jonathan Pue, Henry Johnson, and Timothy McDaniel raised. OU) alia: A-B.
1744, June 13, Boston.
Meeting of the First Lodge. Election. Brother W. Starkey admitted. Daniel Plaister and Samuel Winslow made.
Ones Pie ALB,
286 FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA
1744, June 26, Boston. Celebration of the Festival by the Grand Lodge. O.R. and A.B. of First Lodge.
1744, June 27, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B. 1744, July 6, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. Election. OM ies 8} 1744, July 11, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B. 1744, July 25, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B. 1744, August 2, Boston.
The Boston Weekly News Letter publishes an account of the burlesque procession by the mock Masons which we reproduce as follows:
From the St. James’s Evening-Poft. LROUNE DORN aViayvicn
ESTERDAY the Cavalcade of Scald Miferable- Mafons, went in Proceffion from the Place of Meeting thro’ the Strand to Temple-Bar, and on returning back to meet the Free and Accepted Mafons, they were put into Diforder near Somerfet- Houfe, by the High Conftable of Wef{tminfter, attended by a large Body of inferior Officers, who prefs’d Dag A—e
1744 287
Jack, Poney and feveral others, to the Number of 20, whom they fecur’d in St. Clement’s Church and Round Houfe, for his Majefty’s Service. A Key to the Proceffion of the Scald-Miferable Mafons. eee eaD by our Manifefto of laft Year, dated from our Lodge in Brick-Street, we did, in the mof{t explicit Manner, vindicate the ancient Right and Privileges of this Society, and by inconteftable Argu- ments evince our fuperior Dignity and Seniority to all other In{titutions, whether Grand-Volgi, Gregorians, Hurlothrumbians, Ubiquarians, MHiccubites, Lumber- Troopers, Hungarians, or Free-Mafons; yet neverthelefs, a few Perfons under the laft Denomination, {till arro- gate to them the ufurped Titles of Moft Antient and Honourable, in open Violation of Truth and Juftice, {till endeavour to impofe their falfe Myfteries (for a Premium) on the Credulous and Unwary, under Pre- tence of being Part of our Brotherhood, and ftill are determin’d with Drums, Trumpets, gilt Chariots and other unconftitutional Finery to caft a Reflection on the primitive Simplicity and decent Oeconomy of our An- cient and Annual Peregrination: We think therefore proper, in Ju({tification of Ourfelves, publickly to Dif- claim all Relation or Alliance whatfoever, with the faid Society of Free Mafons, as the fame muft manifeftly tend to the Sacrifice of our folemn My{teries: And fur- ther, to convince the Publick of the Candour and Open- nefs of our Proceedings, We here prefent them with a Key to our Proceffion ; and that the rather, as it con- fifts of many Things Emblematical, Myftical, Hiero- glyphical, Comical, Satirical, Political, &c.
And whereas many perfuaded by the Purity of our Con{titution, the nice Morality of our Brethren, and peculiar Decency of our Rites and Ceremonies, have lately forfook the grofs Errors and Follies of the Free- Mafonry, are now become true Scald-Miferables, it can- not but afford a moft pleafing Satisfaction to all who have any Regard for Truth and Decency, to fee our Pro-
288 FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA
ceffion encreafed with fuch Number of Profelytes, and behold thofe, whofe Vanity, but the laft Year, exalted them into a borrow’d Equipage, now condefcended to become the humble Cargo of a Sand-cart: But, Magna eft Veritas, © prevalebit.
Two Tylers, or Guarders
In yellow Cockades and Liveries, being the Colour ordain’d by the Sword-Bearer of State. They, as young- e{t enter’d Apprentices, are to guard the Lodge, with a drawn Sword, from a!l Cowens and Eves-droppers, that is Liftners, left they fhould difcover the incomprehenfi- ble My{teries of Mafonry.
A Grand Chorus of Inftruments, viz.
Four Sackbutts, or Cow’s Horns; fix Hottentot Haut- boys; four Tinkling Cymbals, or Tea Canifters, with broken Glafs in them; four Shovels and Brufhes; two Double Bafs Drippingpans; a Tenor Frying pan; a Salt- Box in De-la-fol; and a Pair of Gut Tubs.
Two Pillars, Jachin and Boaz.
After the Proportion and Workmanfhip of the famous ones in the Porch of Solomon’s Temple. Their Height, their Thicknefs, and their Capital. Adorn’d with Lilly- work, Net-work, and Pomgranet-work.
Three pair of Stewards.
With their Attendants, in Red Ribands, being their Colour, in three Gut-Carts drawn by three Affes each, their Aprons being lined with Red Silk, their Jewels pendant to Red Ribands, and their Heads properly adorned with emblematical Caps.
The true Original Mafon’s Lodge, Upon which poor old Hyram made all his enter’d Pren- TICES. The entered ’Prentices Token,
That is to fay, the Manner in which the Novices, or thofe lately admitted, fhake each other by the Hand; and it is by putting the Ball of the Thumb of the Right Hand (for we never do any Act of Mafonry with the Left) upon the Knuckle of the third Joint of the firft
1744: 289
Finger of the Brother’s Right Hand, fqueezing it gently. Ragged entered ’Prentices. Properly cloathed, giving the above Token, and the Word, which is Jachin. Three great Lights. Myftically refembling the Sun and Moon, and the Maf- ter Mafon. The Sun ; To Rule the Day. Hlieroglyphial. The Moon ; To Rule the Night. Emblematical. A Maifter Mafon, To Rule his Lodge. Political. The Letter G. The Fellow Craft’s Token. The Fellow-Craft, or Letter G. Men, A Matfter’s Lodge. The Funeral of Hyram. Grand Band of Mufick as before. Two Trophies. The Equipage of the Grand Miftrefs. Attendants of Honour. The Grand Secretary with his Infignia, &c. Probationif{ts and Candidates clofe the whole Proceffion. N.B. After the Proceffion was over, 51. was {pent at one of the Lodges 4 1. 19 s. 4 d. in Geneva, and 3 d. in bread and Cheefe; fo the Night was concluded with Drinking, Swearing, Fighting, and all other Demonftra- tions of Difturbance.
P-t. 1744, August 3, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R.; A.B. 1744, August 8, Boston.
Meeting of the First Lodge. William Coffin made. Charles Pelham proposed by Henry Price as a candidate for the purpose of making him Secretary of the Lodge; Peter Pelham desiring to withdraw from the office.
OiRes: PA: B:
290 FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA
Peter and Charles Pelham.
Peter Pelham came to America, from London, proba- bly between 1724 and 1726. He was the first portrait painter and engraver known in New England. The earliest work in that line yet traced to him is his en- graved portrait of Rev. Cotton Mather, dated 1727. It is inscribed: “P. Pelham ad vivum pinxit, ab origine fecit et excud.”” A print of this very rare mezzotint hangs in the Masonic Temple in Boston.
We learn from his advertisements in the newspapers of the day that from 1734 to 1748, and perhaps later, he kept a school where ‘““Young Gentlemen and Ladies may be Taught Dancing, Writing, Reading, painting upon Glass, and all sorts of needle work,” the last- named department probably being in charge of his wife.
On the 22d of May, 1747, he married, for his second wife, Mrs. Mary Singleton, widow of Richard Copley and mother of John Singleton Copley, the celebrated artist and father of Lord Lyndhurst who was three times Lord Chancellor of England.
Peter Pelham was made a Mason in the First Lodge in Boston on the 8th of November, 1738, five years after the Lodge was instituted. On the 26th of December, 1739, he was elected Secretary, and the record of that meeting is entered in a new and beautiful handwriting, the same style being continued for many years. He served in that office until September 26, 1744, when he was succeeded by his son Charles. On the 13th of April, 1750, the Third Lodge in Boston was represented in Grand Lodge by father and son, as Master and Junior Warden respectively. The records of Trinity Church, in Boston, where he had long worshipped, show that
1744 291
Peter Pelham was buried December 14, 1751. For his portrait, see page 232.
Charles, the son of Peter and Martha Pelham, was baptized at St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, London, on the Oth of December, 1722. He came to America with his parents, when three or four years old, and is said to have been educated as a merchant, but in the “Boston News Letter” of April 23, 1762, he advertises his inten- tion “again to open a Dancing School” at Concert Hall. In April, 1765, he bought the homestead of Rev. J. Cotton, in Newton, with 103 acres of land, for £735. We are told that “he was represented by his neighbours to have been a very polite and intelligent man. He opened an academy at his own house and fitted scholars for College.” “He was a stanch friend of the Colony, as will appear by the resolutions he prepared for the Town.”
In 1766 we find him teaching school in Medford, where, on the 6th of December of that year, he married Mary, daughter of Andrew Tyler by his wife Miriam, a sister of the famous Sir William Pepperell. A daugh- ter Helen married Thomas Curtis and was the mother of Charles Pelham Curtis, the senior member of the firm of C. P. & B. R. Curtis, for many years leading mem- bers of the Boston bar, the junior member of the firm serving during the later portion of his life as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
The stepmother of Charles died on the 29th of April, 1789, and her will named as her executor her ‘‘good friend, Charles Pelham, of Newton.” Late in life he removed to Wilmington, N. C., where he died December 13, 1809. A portrait painted by his stepbrother, John Singleton Copley, is in the possession of the Curtis fam-
292 FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA
ily. Representatives of two generations of that family now living bear the name of Charles Pelham, and it is by their kindness that we are able to present portraits of both Peter and Charles.
On the 8th of August, 1744, “Brother (Henry) Price proposed Mr. Charles Pelham as a Candidate” in the First Lodge in Boston. He was accepted on the 22d of the same month, and on the 12th of September “was made a Mason in due Form.” On the 26th it was ‘Voted That our late Sec’. Bro. P. Pelham be paid Ten Pounds, with the Thanks of the Society for his past Services’; also ‘‘Voted, That Bro. Charles Pelham be Secretary, in the Room of Our Late Secr’, who has laid it down.” He served the Lodge in that capacity until July 24, 1754, when the volume ends, and perhaps longer. This is the only volume of early records of the First Lodge now known to exist. It is the earliest book of Masonic Lodge Records now known to be in exist- ence on this continent, commencing December 27, 1738,
and ending July 24, 1754.
1744, August 22, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1744, September 7, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1744, September 12, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Charles Pelham made. O.RosPiGe AiB: Re Charles Pelham, see page 291.
CHARLES PELHAM Grand Secretary 1744-1754,
1744 293
1744, September 26, Boston.
Meeting of the First Lodge. Charles Pelham elected Secretary.
O.R.; A.B. 1900 Mass. 124.
On this same day Governor Belcher visits the Grand Lodge at London with a letter from the First Lodge in Boston.
O.R. of the Grand Lodge of England. 1871 Mass. 316. 1888 Mass. 156.
1744, October 5, Boston.
The record book of the Masters Lodge under this date says: ‘No meeting this night, our R' W: M. and several of the members being out of Town on Extraordinary Business.”
O.R.
1744, October 10, Boston.
Meeting of the First Lodge. Capt. Lewis Delabraz (Dolobaratz) a prisoner of war elected and, by dis- pensation, made, gratis, “‘as he might be serviceable (when at Home) to any Brother whom Providence
might cast in his way.” Gi iie wis. ses A:
1744, October 24, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Brother Pearson ad- mitted. O.R.; A.B.
294 FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA
1744, November 2, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1744, November 14, _ Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Ballard Beckford, Pro. G. M. of Jamaica, visited the Lodge. Peter Pelham, Jr.,
made.
OCR tPA LD:
1744, November 28, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1744, December 7, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. Brother William Coffin raised. OM Up etd Dien oF}
1744, December 12, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1744, December 17, Boston. The Boston Post Boy contains the following paragraph under date of London, August 14, 1744.
“We learn by Letters from Lisbon, that there has been lately Auto de Fe; after which feveral Jews were burnt, and some French Men, who were Free Mafons, and have been two Years in the Prisons of the Inquifition, ap- peared in the S. Benito on that Occafion.”
1744 295
1744, December 26, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Election. Mr. Belviel made. Cihoebi ser AL By 1 Mass. 8.
1744, December 27, Boston. Celebration of the Festival by the Grand Lodge. O.R. of First Lodge. 1 Mass. 9.
1744/5, January 4, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. Election. Brothers Edward Ellis and Lewis Demouline raised.
COR Sb Ac bs:
1744/5, January 9, ___ Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1744/5, January 23, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Brother Robert Glover admitted. James Gough made. One 2)523: A.B:
1744/5, February 1, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R.
1744/5, February 13, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Danse AG,
296 FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA
1744/5, February 27, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1744/5, March 1, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. ORI
1744/5, March 13, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Richard Hood made. Orne.) Pe nets
1744/5, March 22, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. Brother Robert Glover raised.
Oi ntare d ea 6
CuapTer XIX
1745 1745, March 27, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B. 1745, April 10, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Onnvr Aso: 1745, April 24, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Daniel Marquand made. OORS Ps eA: 1745, May 2, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R. 1745, May 8, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B. 1745, May 22, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. John Colson made. GA ahaa bd & 1745, June 7, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R.
297
298 FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA
1745, June 12, Boston.
Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1745, June 18, Boston.
“Stephen Greenleaf, Mathematical Instrument Maker, in Queen Street, Boston, opposite to the Prison,” adver- tises to make ‘‘Free Masons Jewels.”
Boston Gazette.
1745, June 24, Boston. Celebration of the Festival by the Grand Lodge. Thirty-three Brethren in attendance. O.R. and A.B. of First Lodge.
1745, June 26, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Election. O.R.; A.B. 1745, July 1, Boston.
Meeting of the First Lodge. Daniel Byles and Capt. John (James) Heweton made.
OH edna le Ul ee
1745, July 10, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Richard Smith made. Ol te Paes AT Be
1745, July 24, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. William Coffin, Jr., made.
O) Ra: Pie vALb:
1745 299
1745, August 2, Boston.
Meeting of the Masters Lodge. After this meeting the following is written in the record book: ‘Adjourned ’till Octo" ye 4th; for substantial reasons from time to time.”
O.R.
1745, August 14, Boston.
Meeting of the First Lodge. Antho. D’Laboladree (D’Laboulerdree), and Peter Phill Chas. St. Paul made.
Ol Ul ea beg
The Pelham List furnishes the information that Thomas Cross was admitted. In this respect the list must be in error for he is recorded as a Visitor as late as No- vember 13, 1745, on the Original Record.
1745, August 28, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1745, September 11, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1745, September 25, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge.
O.R.; A.B. 1745, October 4, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R. 1745, October 9, Boston.
Meeting of the First Lodge. O.;R: | A.B:
300 FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA
1745, October 23, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1745, November 1, Boston.
Meeting of the Masters Lodge. Brothers Thomas Cross and Charles Pelham raised. At the same meeting Charles Pelham is elected Secretary and the handwriting changes from Henry Johnson’s to his.
O.R.
1744, November 13, _ Boston.
Meeting of the First Lodge. Brother Price reported that the Masters Lodge had voted a set of Candles to this Lodge.
O.R.; A.B.
1745, November 27, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1745, December 6, Boston. Mecting of the Masters Lodge. Election. O.R.
1745, December 11, — Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1745, December 24, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Election. William Mer- chant made. OyReesP: 2A: 1 Mass. 9.
1745 301
1745/6, January 8, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. Brothers Thomas James Gruchy and James Gough raised. OURO BS The same evening the First Lodge met and immedi- ately adjourned. Oy rests Ts:
1745/6, January 22, Boston.
- Meeting of the First Lodge. The records state that the Lodge being opened, ‘“‘Bro. Jones being but an En- ter’'d Apprentice (by his earnest desire) made a Fellow Craft in due Form & Voted Mem".”
Brothers John Phillips and Richard Gridley admitted. Cee elie css
1745/6, February 7, —_ Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O:Res AD:
1745/6, February 12, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1745/6, February 26, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
1745/6, March 7, Boston. Meeting of the Masters Lodge. O.R.; A.B.
302 FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA
1745/6, March 12, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. Barnard Townsend and Benjamin Brimston (Brimsdon) made. OLR Pele eALb,
1745/6, March 26, Boston. Meeting of the First Lodge. OH Rid vo ays