PART 11.

WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
e-
MAJOR HENRY PRICE,
FIRST GRAXD MASTER IX NEW ENGLAXP.
The introduction of Freemasonry into America has neither wi-itten nor traditionary date. From a x^oriod extending so far back into the gray ages of antiquity that it antedates the twilight of written history, its
234 Washington's masonic compeees.
mystic rites are said to have been practised in the eastern world ; and when the first explorers of the western continent formed theii" infant settlements here, they may have brought with them some knowledge of its mysteries.
For more than a century after the English com- menced their settlements in America, Masonic lodges were held in all countries without any written war- rants, but by the inherent right of Masons, sanctioned by immemorial usage. Such lodges kept no written records of their proceedings, and American history is silent on the subject of Freemasonry until about the commencement of the third decade of the last century. At that time the Masonic chronicles of England state, that a deputation was granted to Daniel Coxe, con- stituting him Provincial Grand Master of New Jersey. A copy of this deputation, recently obtained by the Grand Lodge of New Jersey from the Grand Lodge at London, shows, that it constituted Daniel Coxe, Pro- vincial Grand Master of the provinces of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. This deputation was granted by the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master of Ma- sons in England, and bore date the 5th day of June, 1730. From the same source we also learn, that Danteel Coxe was present at the meeting of the Grand Lodge in London on the 29th of the following January, where his health was proposed and drank as "Provincial Grand Master of North America." Of his personal history, we only know that he was the son of Dr. Daniel Coxe, of England, who was physician to the queen of Charles the Second, and to Queen Anxe, and who held extensive proprietary claims to lands in New
Washington's masonic compeers. 235
Jersey and other American colonies; and that he was his father's agent and representative in this country. His residence is believed to have been in Burling- ton, New Jersey. He was for many years a member of the council of that province under Lord Cornbuky, and the speaker of the House of Assembly during a part of the administration of Governor Hunter. He was also, it is historically stated, for a time, deputy governor of "Western New Jersey. He represented his father's claims to an extensive tract of country lying on the Gulf of Mexico, which he made some attempts to colonize. In furtherance of this object, he wrote a dissertation on this territory, entitled, " A Description of the English Province of Carolana, by the Sj)aniards called Florida, and by the French, La Louisainey This, we beheve, was first published in England in 1741, al- though some authorities state it was pubhshed in 1722. Two existing proprietary claims to this territory were possessed by his father, the first of Spanish, and the second of Enghsh origin. It was Mr. Coxe's deshe to hold and settle it as an English province ; and he ac- cordingly, in the preface to his pamphlet, proposed a colonial alliance of all the EngHsh settlements as a defence against the Indians, and also the French and Spanish colonies in the vicinity. The terms of this proposition for an EngHsh colonial union in America, we beheve, antedate any such ideas by others ; and we cannot forbear to insert them here as curious in the civil history of our country, being published prior to the Union recommended l)y Dr. Franklin at the Colo- nial Congress in Alljany in 1754. Mr. Coxe's propo- sition was —
236 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
" That all the colonies appertaining to the crown of Great Britain, on the northern continent of America, be united under a legal, regular, and firm establishment ; over which a lieutenant or supreme governor may be constituted and appointed to preside on the spot, to whom the governors of each colony shall be subordinate." " It is further humbly proposed," he continued, "that two deputies shall be annually elected by the Council and Assembly of each province, who are to be in the nature of a great council, or general con- vention of the estates of the colonies ; and by the order, consent, or approbation of the lieutenant or governor- general, shall meet together, consult and advise for the good of the whole, settle and appoint particular quotas or proportions of money, men, provisions, etc., that each re- spective government is to raise for their mutual defence and safety, as well as, if necessary, for offence and invasion of their enemies ; in all which cases the governor-general or lieutenant is to have a negative, but not to enact any thing without their concurrence, or that of a majority of them."
May not this proposition of our Masonic brother and first American Grand Master, have been the germ of thought from which sprung our present form of civil government ? Mr. Coxe, we beheve, died at Bm-Hng- tou, New Jersey, and was there buried ; for there is said to exist in the east transept of the old Episcopal Church there, a marble slab bearing this inscription :
"DANIEL COXE,
DIED, APEIL 25, 1739. ^TAT 65."
To this digression from the Masonic design of our
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEKS. 237
sketch, we will only add, that so little has been left on record of the Masonic history of Daniel Coxe, that even his Grand Mastership has been deemed a myth. His name stands in the annals of American Masonry, like the morning-star at dawn rising above the moun- tain's misty top, and then fading fi'om our vision in the sunhght of the bright skies that followed.
In 1733, three years later, the written records of Freemasonry in America commence. Upon the 30th of April of that year, a deputation was granted by Lord MoNTACUTE, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, to BLeney Peice, the subject of this sketch, "in behalf of himself and several other brethren'" then residing in New England, appointing him " Provincial Grand Master of New England aforesaid, and domin- ions and territories thereunto belonging." From the powers contained in this deputation sprang the first existing lodges in this country, and Heney Peice is regarded as the father of American lodges of Free- masons.
The deputations or commissions to Daniel Coxe in 1730, and Heney Peice in 1733, were in form and ver- biage nearly the same ; but they differed somewhat in powers conferred. That to Mr. Coxe confined his powers to the provinces of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania ; while that to Mr. Peice, gave him Masonic authority in New England, and "dominions and territories thereunto belonging." That to Mr. Coxe also continued his powers for two years from the fol- lowing feast of St. John the Baptist; "after which time," it continues, " it is our will and pleasure, and we do hereby ordain, that the brethren who do now
238 Washington's masonic compeers.
reside, or vvlio may hereafter reside, in all or any of the said provinces, shall, and they are hereby em- powered every other year, on the feast of St. John the Baptist, to elect a Pro^^ncial Grand Master, who shall have the power of nominating and appointing his Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens." That of Mr. Price was unlimited in time, and revokable at the pleasure of the authority that issued it. We have no Masonic lodge records in this country previous to 1733; but it is a curious fact, that newspapers printed in Philadelphia as early as 1732, state the existence of a Masonic lodge in that city at that date, and that Wel- LL\M Allen, then recorder of the city (and afterwards chief-justice of the province), was, on St. John the Bap- tist's day of 1732, elected Grand Master hi FhiJadeJjjhia. Were the brethren in that city at that time holding lodges under authority from Daniel Coxe, or by the old immemorial right and usage of Masons ? It is an interesting point in our Masonic history, but one which we are not called upon to consider further in this sketch. Our task is to give a brief memoir of the Masonic history of Henry Price, and even this would embrace more of the history of the early progress of Masonry in this country than our hmits admit.
History has recorded but little of his life, except Avhat is found on its Masonic pages. He was a native of England, and was born in London about the year 1697. He came to America about 1723, and settled in Boston, where he commenced business as a mer- chant tailor. He was then about twenty-six years of age, and had doubtless been made a Mason in London, in one of the four old lodges of that city. It was
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 239
about teu years, therefore, from the time he came to America, before he received the deputation granted him by Lord Montacute to assemble the brethren of the IMasonic Fraternity and constitute lodges in New England.
At that time, nearly three months were required to transmit documents fi'om London to Boston, and the promptness with which he entered on his new duties is seen from the record, that on the 30th of July, 1733, just three months from the date of his com- mission, he assembled the brethren then residing in Boston, at the " Bunch of Grapes Tavern," and caus- ing his deputation to be read, he appointed Andeew Belcher his DejDuty Grand Master, and Thomas Kennelly and John Quann his Grand Wardens. We have few written records from which to give the social position of the members of this Grand Lodge. Mr. Price, its Grand Master, was the same year ap- pointed " cornet in the governor's troop of giiards, with the rank of major." He was also at one time pay- master in Queen Anne's regiment. Jonathan Belcher was the governor of Massachusetts, and Andrew Bel- cher, the Deputy Grand Master, was his son.
The same day that Mr. Price organized his Grand Lodge, he received a petition from eighteen Masons in Boston, in behalf of themselves and " other brethren,'" asking to be established as a regular lodge. They had probably often convened and worked as Masons in that city before, without any authority except the ancient immemorial right which the Craft had formerly exer- cised, of meeting when and where circumstances per- mitted or required, and choosing the most experienced
240 Washington's masonic compeers.
one present as Master, form for the occasion a lodge. In such assemblages of the Craft, temporarily con- vened, with little ritualistic labor, but with simple forms, it is probable most of the old Masons in Amei'ica had been admitted to the knowledge of our mystic rites. But having now an opportunity to con- form to the newly established custom in England of working under the sanction of a Grand Lodge, com- posed of a Grand Master and other officers, and rep- resentatives of all the brethren in the jurisdiction, they seem at once to have availed themselves of the pri\a]ege. Their petition was accordingly granted, and they were formed and constituted by Mr. Price a regular lodge the same evening, their officers being installed by him in person. This lodge was denomi- nated "First Lodge' in Boston until 1783, when it took the name of St. John's Lodge, by which it has since been kno\\Ti. As it was constituted by Grand Master Price in person, it was not at that day thought necessary that it should have a tcritten icarrant, his own act of personally constituting it, being at that time a sufficient authority for perpetuating itseK as a legal lodge.
Early in the following year. Major Price granted warrants to brethren in Philadelphia and in Ports- mouth, New Hampshire, to hold lodges in those places, and for this purpose written instruments of authority were first used by him in America. He also received an extension of his authority in 1734 from the Grand Master of England, giving him jurisdiction over all North America. Under it he granted a warrant, on the 27tli of December, 1735, for a lodge at Charleston,
WASIIIXGTON's masonic COMrEERS. 2tl
South Caroliua. It is probable that some, if not all these warrants, were to confirm and bring under regular Masonic government, bodies of Masons that had pre- viously met and worked as lodges in then* several localities.
Major Price was superseded as Provincial Grand Master, in 1737, by a like commission granted by the Grand Master of England to Eobekt Tomlixson. Mr. ToMLiNSON held the ofiice for seven years, and was suc- ceeded by Thomas Oxnaed, who held it about ten years, and died with his commission unrevoked. Upon the death of Mr. Oxnaed, Major Price, as the oldest Pro- vincial Past Grand Master in America, was called to the vacant Grand East until a new appointment could be made by the Gra.nd Master of England. He therefore held the ofiice at this time, by virtue of his priority in that position, from the 26th of June, 1754, until Octo- ber 1, 1755, when Jeremy Geidley was duly com- missioned and installed. Mr. Gridley continued as Provincial Grand Master until his death in September, 17G7, when Major Price again resumed the ofiice until the 25th of November, 1768, when John Eowe was l-egularly appointed to it by the Grand Master of England.
Such is a brief sketch of the connection Major Price had with American Masonry as Provincial Grand Master. But his Masonic labors were not confined to his duties in his Grand Lodge. By an early regula- tion of the mother Grand Lodge in England, Appren- tices could be made Fellow-crafts and Master Masons only in the Grand Lodge, unless bj- special dispensa- tion from the Grand Master. This rule was soon
11
242 WASHIlirGTON's MASONIC COMPEEES.
afterwards relaxed, and "Master's Lodges" were in- stituted to confer the second and third degi'ees on candidates who had received the first in regular lodges of the Craft.
About the year 1738 a " Master's Lodge" was in- stituted in Boston, which met monthly. Major Pbice was its first Master, and he occupied this position and performed its labors until 1744, when he resigned the office. During this period the record shows that he was absent but one evening ; and after he resigned the chair, he was generally present at the meetings of the lodge, and frequently officiated as master pro tern., until 1749, when he again held it one term by election. He frequently performed the duties of the minor offices of the lodge, and was ever an active member. He was also a member of the " Fu'st Lodge," and gave it his active support.
Major Peice had been successful in his mercantile business in Boston, and was able to support a country- seat a few miles from the city. The records of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts show, that in April, 1751, that Grand Body resolved to celebrate the com- ing St. John's Day at "Brother Peice's house" in Menotomy (West Cambridge) ; but when the day ar- rived, the record further shows, that his house " being encumbered by sickness," the celebration was held at the house of another brother in Cambridge. Soon after this he lost his wife, and also a daughter of about the age of nineteen years; and on the 20th of April; 1766, he lost his only surviving child, a son, who was apprenticed to an apothecary. This son died sud- denly in a fit. The stricken father was now childless
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 243
and lonely, and lie wrote to his friends in London, in 1771, that as soon as his affairs in Boston could be in- trusted to a suitable person, he contemplated return- ing to England. He was then nearly seventy -five years old ; yet he again married, and in 1774 he relinquished his business in Boston, and retired to a farm in Towns- end, a few miles fi'om the city, which town he after- wards represented in the General Court. The second wife of Major Pkice was a -widow, Lydia Abbot, of Townsend, who had at the time of this marriage two daughters by her former husband, and she afterwards had two daughters more by Major Pkice. He con- tinued his residence in Townsend until his death at about the age of eighty-three years, which occurred on the 20th of May, 1780. He was buried in the public burial-ground of that town, where his tombstone still stands, bearing this inscription :
"IN MEMORY OP HENRY PRICE, ESQ.,
"Was born in London about the year of our Lord IGOt. He removed to Boston about the year 1723 ; received a deputation appointing him Grand Master of Masons in New England ; and in the year 1733 was appointed a Cornet in the Governor's Troop of Guards, with the rank of Major. By his diligence and industry in business, he acquired the means of a comfortable living, with which he removed to Townsend in the latter part of his life. He quitted mor- tality the 20th of May, a. d. 1780, leaving a widow and two young daughters, with a numerous company of friends and acquaintances to mourn his departure, who have that ground of hope concerning his present lot, which results from his undisscmblcd regard to his Maker, and extensive
244 WASHINGTON'S L^ASONIC COMPEERS.
benevolence to his fellow-creatures, manifested in life by a behavior consistent with his character as a Mason, and his nature as a Man."
Major Peice provided bj liis will equally for his two step-daughters as for liis own, giving to tlie four all his property after having made suitable provision for his widow^ His descendants still Hve in Massachusetts ; and one of them, a few years ago, presented to the Grand Lodge of that State an original portrait of their first Grand Master, taken in middle life. It is a valua- ble memento of one who is justly regarded as the Father of Freemxxsonry in America.
SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON,
THE EXGLISn SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIANS IN NEW YORK ; AND FIRST MASTER OF ST. PATRICK'S LODGE ON THE MOHAWK.
Freemasonry has its traditions and historic alkisions to lodges in New York, Avhich arc older than any of its authentic records in that colony. Like footprints on the shores of time, they seem to point to unrecorded dynasties of craftsmen, wLoso labors, like those of the
246 Washington's masonic compeers.
pioneer in some primeval forest, who erects the first rude habitation in the place where busy cities afterwards arise, are all obUterated and forgotten. These traditions seem to point to the Palatines on the Hudson as the first mystic temple builders of New York. The Masonic annals of England then give us the names of Daniel Coxe, in 1730 ; Kichard Kiggs, in 1737 ; Francis Goelet, in 1751, as each having au- thority to congregate the brethren and establish Ma- sonic lodges in the province of New York. There is no recorded certainty that either of these, except Mr. GoELET, acted on their commissions, and the only record of his proceedings in his Provincial Grand-mas- tership that we have met with, is a newspaper account of that day, which states that on St. John the EvangeHst's day, in 1753, when his successor, George Harrison, was installed in the city of New York, a Grand Lodge, which had previously existed in the province, was convened on the occasion, George Harrison presided as Pro- vincial Grand Master for eighteen years, and during that time he estabhshed lodges in the city of New York, and others in towns upon the Hudson, where the population was numerous, and one in an infant settle- ment on the Mohawk. He aho granted warrants in Connecticut, New Jersey, and at Detroit.
The lodge which he chartered upon the Mohawk, was located at Caughnawaga. the residence of Sir William Johnson, who was its first Master. It was called St. Patrick's Lodge, and its charter bore date May 23d, 1766. Caughnawaga was an English and German settlement on the extreme western verge of civiHzatiou, and in the vicinity of the Six Nations of
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 247
Indians, of wlioni Sir Wtttjam was tlie EngKsh super- intendent. Sir William Johnson was a native of Ire- land, and bom in 1714. He inherited no title of nobility by birth, but was a nephew upon his mother's side of Sir Petee Warren, the naval commander who distinguished himself at the siege of Louisburg in 1745. Sir Peter had previously married a sister of Chief- Justice De Lancy of New York, and had further identi- fied himself with American interests by the purchase of a large tract of wilderness country upon the Mo- hawk River ; and he sent for his nephew, who is the subject of this sketch, to come to America and take charge of his landed estate. Young Johnson had just been disappointed in a love affair in Ireland, and listened willingly to his proposal.
He was then about twenty years of age, and he came to America and settled on his uncle's lands at Caughna- waga on the Mohawk about the year 1735, two years after the first lodge was established in Boston. The Mohawk country was at that time but sparsely settled by white men, and for many years his principal neigh- bors and associates were the native Indians of the Six Nations, known in history as the confederacy of the Iroquois. He learned their language, and often joined with them in hunting, fishing, and other recreations ; and by his adroitness obtained an almost unbounded influence over them. He was adopted by them ac- cording to then* customs, and given by them an Indian name — IVanxixjItiiycujcy. For their amusement, it is said, he introduced among them many novel diversions, among which were foot-races, in which the competitors had meal-bags drawn over their legs and tied under
248 Washington's masonic compeers.
their arms ; turning a hog loose ^vith his tail greased, and giving it as a prize to the one who would catch and hold it by that extremity ; a half-pound of tea to the one who would make the ughest face ; and a bladder of snuff to the old woman who could scold the hardest. These were hilarities for the multitude. For the chiefs in council he had a demeanor silent, thought- ful, and grave as a sachem ; and when he joined them in their mystic religious rites, no Indian devotee was more expert and devoted. He was skilled in their diplomacy, in their traditionary legends, and in their rehgious ceremonies. The English government had appointed him its superintendent of Indian affairs in the colony of New York, an office which he held until his death. His official position, his locahty, and his intimacy with the various tribes around him, gave great advantages for trafficking in the productions of the forest, and he made large gains by exchanging European goods for the rich furs of the Indian hunters.
Many amusing anecdotes have come down to us of the artful manner in which Sir William managed to increase his own vrealth at the expense of his Indian neighbors, and at the same time preserve their kind feeHngs. On one occasion Hendeick, the chief of the Mohawks, was charmed with the sight of a fine gold- laced coat which Johnson had jast procured for him- seK from England. The cui^idity of the chief was ex- cited, and he went to its owner the next day saying, he had dreamed.
" Well, what did you dream ?" said Johnson.
"I dreamed," said the chief, "that you gave me the fine coat."
Washington's masonic compeees. 249
The hint was too strong to be mistaken or un- heeded, and the proud chief went away wearing the coat, and well pleased with his pretended di'eam. Soon afterwards meeting the chief, Johnson said to him, he also lad dreamed.
" Well, what what did you dream ?" said Hendeick.
"I di'eamed that you gave me a tract of land," said Johnson, describing it.
The chief paused a moment at the enormity of the amount ; but soon said, " You may have the land, but me no dream again ; you dream too hard for me."
The tract of land thus obtained is said to have been about twelve miles square, and the title was subse- quently confirmed to him by the king of England, and was called the Royal Grant.
But the young Irish cavalier did not seem at all times content with the rich furs and lands of his Indian neighbors, for traditions also affirm, that he often gained the favor of the dark-eyed daughters of the forest, and that his intercourse with them was such as would be construed by the code of civilization, at least, a lapse of morality. Sir William was yet far from be- ing indifferent to the social and religious improvement of the tribes under his care. He encouraged the labors of teachers and missionaries among them ; and while, in his own views, he was a high churchman, his patronage was often extended to an opposing New England asso- ciation that was laboring to evangelize, or (jo.sjjeIh:e, as they termed it, the American Indians. His position and sentiments were often made matters of comment in the correspondence of tlie New England Society, an extract from which, in a letter from Colonel Babcock to
250 Washington's masonic compeers.
the Eev. Dr. Coopek, we cannot refrain from giving in this sketch :
"Why," says he, "may not Sir William be the means of introducing learning and religion amongst the Indians and civilize them, as well as Peter the Great did the Musco- vites ? And though Sir William, like Solomon, has been eminent for his pleasures with the brown ladies, yet he may lay the foundation for a building in the Mohawk country that may be of more real use than the very splended temple that Solomon built ; and I dare say that the queens of the Senecas, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Tuscaroras, and Mohawks may join in their observations with the queen of Sheba, and say with the same truth, that not one-half was told them."
Sir W^iLLiAM was twice married. His first wife was a young German girl who had been sold on her amval in America for her passage-money as a redemptioner, to a Mr Phillips in the Mohawk Yalley. She was so beautiful as to attract the attention of Sir William, and on a friend's advising him to get the pretty German girl for a housekeeper, he determined to do so. His friend soon after missed the girl at the house of Phillips, and asked him what had become of her. He replied, " Johnson, that tamued Irishman, came t'other day and offered me five pounds for her, threat- ening to horsewhip me and steal her if I would not sell her. I thought five pounds petter than a flogging, so I took it, and he's got the gal." She was the mother of his son, Sir John Johnson, and two daugh- ters who afterwards became the wives of Guy Johnson
Washington's masonic compeefs. 251
and Colonel Ciaus ; and Sir "William subsequently married her to legitimatize her children.
There is also a spice of romance connected with his second wife, who was a sister of Bkaxt, an Indian l^rotegee of Sir William. She was a Mohawk girl of rare beauty and sprightliness, and being present one day at a military review, she playfully asked an officer who was riding on parade to allow her to ride upon his horse with him. He gave his assent, without think- ing she would have the courage to attempt it ; but she sprang with the swiftness of a gazelle upon the horse behind him, and, with her dark hair streaming in the wind, and her arm around his waist, rode about the parade-gi"ouud to the amusement and admiration of all present, except the young officer who became so un- expectedly the gallant of the forest fairy. Sir Wil- liam, who witnessed the spectacle, became enamored "^dth the wild beauty before him, and soon after took her to his house as his wife in a manner consistent with Indian customs. He treated her with kindness and affection, and she is said to have made him a de- voted and faithful wdfe, and to have borne him several children, which he legitimatized by marrying her with the ceremonies of the Episcopal Church a short time before his death. Many of the descendants of Sir William and Molly Brant, it is said, are still living in respectabihty in Canada.
During the times embraced in these digressive nar- rations of his domestic life, he was constantly employed in active public service, either in superintending In- dian affairs, or in military command. In 1755, during the war between France and England, he was investecj
252 Washington's masonic compeers.
with the command of proYincial troops, and for a for- tunate victory over the French forces, was rewarded by the Enghsh government with a commission as major-general, and by the king with a baronetcy. His military talent, however, is not believed to have been of a high order.
We know nothing of the Masonic history of Sir William Johnson untU 1766, when he obtained the warrant from George Haeeison to establish St. Pat- rick's Lodge. He organized it on the 23d of August of that year at Johnson's Hall (now Johnstown), his residence on the Mohawk, and Guy Johnson and Daniel Glaus became its Wardens. The whole num- ber of the original members of the lodge was fifteen, many of whom, and perhaps all, were made Masons in Albany, where a lodge had been organized the year before. Sir William presented his lodge with a set of Masonic silver jewels, which he obtained for that pur- pose fi'om England.
St. Patrick's Lodge was the first to erect a Masonic altar in the wilderness of New York west of the Hud- son, although it had been preceded by military travel- ling lodges during the French and Indian war. It soon enrolled in its membership many names in the Mohawk Valley which are to "be found in the history of our coiTntry, and it still maintains an honored and useful existence. Sii' William continued to preside over it as Master until the 6th day of December, 1770, when the records show, that having previously in- formed his lodge that his duty as Master of the *' Inef- fahh Lodge" at Albany did not render it convenient for him to continue longer as Master of St. Patrick's
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Lodge, Ms son-in-law, Guy Johnson, was elected in his stead. Sir William had been appointed Master of this so-called " IneffaUe' Lodge as early as 1769, and he held that station until 1773, if not tiU his death. He died at Johnson's Hall, July 11, 1774, aged sixty years.
Wliatever may have been the errors of his early years, his memory has been cherished for his many virtues ; and he was spared from seeing the desolation that overspread the Mohawk Valley diu'ing the war of the Revolution, when his family and former friends became scattered, and the towns and villages he had seen grow up around him were laid in ruias by in- furiated bands of wild savages and misguided loyahsts. His death was regarded by our Government as a pub- lic loss ; for it was believed that had he lived, he would have lent his aid and powerful influence with the In- dians to prevent their taking up the tomahawk in be- half of the EngKsh in the then impending conflict. His influence had been powerful with them while living, and at his death he left a large sum of money to be expended in pro\ading mourning dresses for them ; and the chiefs at the Mohawk castles, and their women and children, all were provided with some badge to wear by which to express theu* sorrow for hi^ loss. His authority on the Mohawk had been almost kingly, and no white man ever attained a greater influence with the American Indians than Sir William Johnson.
Sm JOHN JOHNSON,
THE LAST PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER OF THE FIRST GRAND LODGE OF NEW YORK.
The pre-revolutionary Provincial Grand Lodge of the old colony of New York, was held by authority granted by the Grand Lodge of England, sometimes called 3Ioderns, to distinguish it from the Dermott Grand Body, who denominated themselves Ancients. Under this authority New York had four Provincial Grand Masters, of whom Sir John Johnson was the last.
He was the son of Sir "William Johnson by his first wife, was bom at Johnstown in 1742, and upon the death of his father, in 1774, succeeded him in his titles and estate. Few records have come to us of his early history, but he probably was sent to England to com- plete his education, and there our earhest history of him as a Mason commences. He was made a Mason in London at about the age of twenty -five years, and soon after received a commission as Provincial Grand Master of New York from Lord Blaney, Grand Master of England, and immediately retiu'ned to America.
The earliest American Masonic records of Sir John are those of St. Patrick's Lodge at Johnstown, New
WASHINGTON S MASONIC COMPEERS. 255
York, of which his father, Sir "William, was at the time Master. These records of December 5, 1767, state :
"Sir John Johnson, knight (son of Sir William), being lately arrived from London, where he had been entered, passed, and raised to the degree of a Master Mason in the Royal Lodge at St. James, and received his Constitution as Provincial Grand Master of New York, applied to visit the lodge, and being examined, was admitted agreeable to his degree."
From this time onward the records of St. Patrick's Lodge show that Sir John was a constant visitor at its stated communications until May the 3d, 1773. They also state, December 1, 1768 :
" Lord Blaney's warrant appointing Sir John Johnson, knight, Grand Master for the province of New York, read ; upon which he was congratulated by the members present."
November 7, 1771 :
"The Worshipful Master acquainted the brethren that the Right Worshipful Sir John Johnson, knight, Provincial Grand Master of New York, by virtue of a commission from Lord Blaney, Grand Master of England, had lately been in- stalled into that office by the Grand Officers in New York, and intended them the honor of a visit as such. He was accordingly introduced and received by the body, and placed in the chair with the usual ceremonies."
From the foregoing records of St. Patrick's Lodge, it appears that although commissioned as Provincial Grand Master of New York by Lord Blaney in 1767, ha
256 Washington's masonic compeers.
was not installed as such until 1771 ; a conclusion which is further supported by the fact that George Harrison, who preceded him as such, granted a charter to Ejng Solomon's Lodge, at Poughkeepsie, on the 18th of April, 1771.
No records of the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York during the Grand Mastership of Sir John John- son have been preserved, nor do we know how many subordinate lodges existed in his jurisdiction. St. George's Lodge, at Schenectady, was chartered by him December 13, 1774. New York embraced at that time a far greater extent of territory than is contained in its present hmits, its acknowledged boundaries containing all of Canada which lies south of the thii-ty-fifth par- allel of north latitude, extending west as far as Detroit ; and it also claimed the present State of Vermont as within its civil jurisdiction.
Of the entire number of lodges then in this district, no satisfactory account can be given. It is not proba- ble that many had been formed, except in the eastern part of the colony, for all else was a nearly unbroken wilderness, dotted here and there with a military sta- tion. At the station at Detroit, a lodge had been char- tered in 1764. Four lodges also existed in Connecticut, and one in New Jersey, which held warrants under the Grand Lodge of New York, having been chartered by Harrison, the predecessor of Sir John Johnson.
No records are known to exist of the doings of the Grand Lodge of New York under the Grand Master- sliip of Johnson. Doctor Peter Middleton was his Deputy Grand Master, and his authority as such con- tinued to be respected during the War of the Revolu-
Washington's masonic compeers. 257
tion ; while Sir John, bj his adherence to the royal cause, was compelled to leave his home and seek the protection of the British army.
He had inherited little of his father's amiable quali- ties with his title and estate, and when the political storm gathered in the horizon, he gave all his energies and influence to the support of royalty, and sought to embitter his neighbors on the Mohawk, where he Kved, against all who opposed its authority ; nor did his efforts stop here, for he infused the same malignant spirit into the minds of many of the Indian tribes in that vicinity, and finally became the leader of preda- tory bands of Tories and Indians during the war.
We cannot follow him in this sketch through his military history during this seven years' struggle ; suffice it to say, that he became the acknowledged leader of the Tories of central New York, was com- missioned as a colonel by the British, and directed the movements of as bloody a band of savages and out- laws as existed during the Revolution. The following oath which he administered to the Indians, shows his almost unbounded influence with them, as well as his own vanity. We do not commend its purity of diction, but give it as a literary curiosity :
" By the grace of God unconquerable ; Six Nations and loyal refugeos, swear by the highest almighties, and al- mighty God's holiness, by his kingdom, by the substance of the heavens, by the sun, moon, and stars, by the earth and all under the earth, by the brains and all the hairy scalps of our mothers, by our heads, and all the strength of our souls and bodies, by the death of the great Sir William
258 Washington's masonic compeers.
Johnson, that we, our brother and son, Sir John Johxson, succeeding- superintendent of Indian affairs, in no manner of ways in thy great and weighty affairs will leave thee ; and though it be to the o'erthrow of our nations, to be brought to nothing until there shall be left but ourselves, four or five Indians at the most, yet will we defend thee, and all those that do any ways appertain to thee ; and if thou shalt have need of us, we shall always go with thee : and in case this our promise in any way be frustrated, then let God's. justice fall upon our heads and destroy us and our posterity, and wipe away whatsoever belongeth unto us, and gather it together into a rock of stone or substance of earth ; and that the earth may cleave asunder and swallow our bodies and souls."
This was signed by the chiefs in behalf of the Six Nations. Sir John was possessed of a princely estate when the Revolution commenced ; but it was confis- cated, and he and his family became exiles. At the public sale of his property, John Taylor, the lieutenant- governor of New York, purchased several of the articles, and among them the family Bible. Perceiving it con- tained the family record, he wrote a civil note to Sir John and kindly offered its restoration. Some time afterwards a messenger from Sir John rudely caUed for the Bible, saying, "I have come for Sir William's Bible, and there are four guineas which it cost." The Bible was delivered, and the messenger was asked what message Sir John bad sent. The rejDly was, " Pay foui' guineas, and take the book !"
After the close of the war. Sir John went to England, but returned and settled in Canada in 1784. Here he held several important civil offices, one of which was
I
Washington's masonic compeers. 259
governor- general of Canada ; and to compensate him for the loss of his property, the English government made him several grants of land. He died in Montreal in 1830, at the age of eighty-eight years, and was suc- ceeded in his title by his son, Sir Adam Gorden Johnson.
i_y ^, ^.i^-t^. /^
PEYTON RANDOLPH,
FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, AND LAST PRO- "\aNCIAL GRAND MASTER OF VIRGINIA,
Among the lionored names that adorn both the public and Masonic annals of Virginia, that of Kandolph has a proud distinction. Two eminent citizens of the Old Dominion who bore it were the compeers of Washington in public life and Masonic labors. These were Peyton and Edmund Randolph. The Eandolphs were an old and influential family of Virginia, and we often meet the name in her Masonic as well as general records.
Washington's masonic compeers. 261
The first of that name who settled in Virginia was William:, of Warwickshire, or, as some authorities say, of Yorkshire, in England. He came to America about 1670, and settled at Tiu'key Island, on the James Eiver, below Richmond. There he accumulated a large landed estate, and became a member of the House of Burgesses, and of the Council. His wife, whom he married after he came to Vii'ginia, was Mary Isham, of Bermuda Hundi'ed, who was descended from an ancient English family in Northamj)tonshire. Several sons by this marriage became men of distinction, one of whom, the sixth, was Sir John Kandolph, who was the father of Peyton, the subject of this sketch. His mother was Susan Beverley.
Peyton Rant)OLPH, who was the second son of Sir John, was born in Virginia in the year 1723, and was therefore nearly ten years the senior of George Wash- ington. His father. Sir John, died in 1737, when Peyton was but fourteen years of age. He was, at the time of his death, speaker of the House of Burgesses, treasurer of the colony, and the representative of William and Mary CoUege, where he had been educated. He was buried in its chapel, and an elegant marble tablet was placed there to perpetuate his memory.
It was the custom of the wealthy famihcs of Vu-ginia, at that period, to send theii* sons to England to bo educated, and Peyton Randolph was sent there for that purpose during his minority. He graduated at Oxford with coUege honors, and received at that dis- tinguished seat of learning the degree of Master of Arts. He studied law, returned to America, and was made king's attorney for Vu'ginia in 1748, at the age
262 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
of twenty-five years. He had risen rapidly in his pro- fession, and was often the competitor at the bar with the first legal gentlemen of the colony at that early age. In his person he was tall and stately; in his manners, grave and dignified. His features were pleas- ing, and every look bespoke a patrician. In his pro- fession he was noted for his accuracy, in his official capacity for his incorrujDtible integrity, and in his so- cial intercourse for his generous and hospitable dis- position.
Connected thus by paternal and maternal descent with the first famiHes of the colony, and enjoying offi- cial and professional advantages for influence which few gentlemen at that time possessed, he did not fail to secure for himself high consideration in the sober councils of the colonial government ; and the social circles that the elite of Virginia society formed, were often gTaced and enhvened by his presence.
The French and Indian war, which commenced soon after the middle of the last century, called many citizens of Virginia into the field to defend the western fi'on- tier. The defeat of Beaddock in 1755 cast a gloom on that colony, which required the wisest and boldest to step forth in its military defence ; and the names en- rolled as its defenders in that war, are those of the heroes who a few years later won for our country its independence. Washington was then the commander and the idol of the Virginia soldiery. Peyton Ran- DOLPH, though attorney-general of the commonwealth, did not hesitate to bare his breast too in its defence. Aroused at the accounts of devastations and massacres on the western borders of the colony, Mr. Randolph, in
Washington's masonic compeers, 263
1756, collected a band of one Inindred men, and marched at their head to the scene of action in aid of Wash- ington.
After retiring from the military service, he was elected a member of the House of Burgesses, and be- came its speaker in 1766, as the successor of Mr, Robin- son. He continued to preside over that body until it was superseded by the conventions. He was thus the last presiding officer of the colonial government of Virginia. His influence there w^as great, and always on the side of pubHc rights. The crumbs which royalty scattered in the pathway of its favorites in the colonies had no charms for him, and he boldly advocated popu- lar liberty in the face of ministerial frowns.
In 1773 committees of correspondence began to be formed in the different colonies, to ascertain the true position and sentiments of each. Of that of Virginia Mr. Randolph was chairman, and through him the cavahers of Virginia became first united in pohtical sentiment with the puritans of New England. We cannot attempt in this personal sketch of Mr. Ran- dolph to give a portraiture of the events of those times, or of the influences that produced them. Suffice it to say, that there is an imwi'itten history of the silent influences of Masonry in producing the political asso- ciations of that period. The mighty brotherhood of Masonry, ever the friend of freedom, was omnipotent for good.
In 1774 the first colonial convention of Virginia as- sembled at Williamsburg, and Mr. Randolph was chosen its chairman. Delegates were elected by it to the Continental Congress soon to bo held in Philadel-
264 Washington's masonic compeers.
phia ; and at the head of these stands the name of Peyton Randolph for Virginia. When that body mot in September of that year, fifty-five delegates were present, representing twelve different colonies, and Mr. Randolph was unanimously elected its president. He was then fifty-one years of age, in the prime of dignified manhood, with experience as a presiding ofiicer, and warmly enhsted in the cause of freedom. No step towards perfecting an American Union was so import- ant as the one taken that day, We have already shown, in a previous sketch, that both Daniel Coxe and Dr. Franklin had on previous and different occa- sions recommended a union of the English colonies in America. Both these had failed to gain a general ap- proval of their plans, for want of a deep-felt common interest. In the present instance, there was an in- terest and purpose combined, that formed an era in the history of the western world.
Peyton Randolph was at that time a distinguished Mason, and Provincial Grand Master of Virginia. When and where the veil that had hid from his man- hood's eye Masonic light was drawn, we have now no records to show. Williamsburg, where he resided, had long been the seat, perhaps the centre of Masonry in Virgiaia. In 1773, Peyton Randolph received from Lord Petrie, Grand Master of England, a warrant con- stituting him Master of the lodge in WiUiamsburg. It bore date in London on the 6th of November, and ist registry number was 457. For the benefit of the curious Masonic reader, we give a copy of the singular old Enghsh warrant of this lodge a place in our sketch :
Washington's masonic compeers. 265
"PETRE, GRAND MASTER.
" To all and every our Right Worshipful, Worsliip-
[l. s.] ful, and loving Brethren, "We, Robkrt Edward Petre,
Lord Petre, Baron of Writtle, in the County of Essex,
Grand Master of the Most Ancient and Honorable Society of
Free and Accepted Masons, send Greeting.
" Knoiv Ye, That we, at the humble petition of our right trusty and well beloved Brethren, the Honorable Peytox Randolph, Esquire, Johx Mixsox Galt, Edward Charlton, William Waddill, John Turner, Harrison Randolph, John RowsEY, Thomas Harwood, and several other Brethren re- siding in and near Williamsburg, in the colony of Virginia, North America, do constitute the said Brethren into a regular Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, to be held in Williamsburg aforesaid ; and do further, at their said peti- tion, and of the great trust and confidence reposed in every of the said above-named Brethren, hereby appoint the said Peyton Randolph to be Master, John Minson Galt Senior Warden, and Edward Charlton Junior Warden for opening the said Lodge, and for such further time only as shall be thought proper by the Brethren thereof. It being our will that this appointment of the above oflBcers shall in no wise affect any future election of officers of the Lodge, but that such election shall be regulated agreeably to such By-Laws of the said Lodge as shall be consistent with the General Laws of the Society contained in the Book of Constitution. And we hereby will and require you, the said Peyton Ran- dolph, to take special care that all and every of the said Brethren are or have been regularly made Masons, and that they do observe, perform, and keep all the Rules and Orders contained in the Book of Constitution ; and further, that you do, from time to time, cause to be entered in a book kept for that purpose, an account of your proceedings in
13
266 Washington's masonic compeers.
the Lodge, together with all such Orders, Rules, and Regu- lations as shall be made for the good government of tlic same ; that in no wise you omit once in every year to send to us, or to our successors, Grand Masters, or to the Honor- able Charles Dillen our Deputy Grand Master, or to the Deputy Grand Master for the time being, an account in writing of your proceedings, and copies of all such Rules, Orders, and Regulations as shall be made as aforesaid, to- gether with a list of the Members of the Lodge, and such a sum of money as may suit the circumstances of the Lodge, and reasonably be expected towards the Grand Charity. Moreover, we hereby will and require you, the said Peyton Randolph, as soon as conveniently may be, to send an ac- count in writing of what may be done by virtue of these presents.
" Given at London under our hands and the seals of Ma- sonry this sixth day of November, a. l. 51*13, a.d. 1773. " By the Grand Master's command,
" Charles Dillen, Deputy Grand Master. " Witness,
" James Husseltine, Grand Secretary."
The first recorded meeting under this warrant was held on St. John's Day, June 24, 1774. Mr. Eaxdolph was not present, and John Mixson Galt presided as " Deputy Blaster.'' It appears from the record of this date, that previous meetings had been held, at the last of which, officers had been elected for the following year, who were as follows : John Blair, Master ; Wil- LLAM Waddill, Deputy Master ; Welllam Fixnie, Senior Warden ; Hakeison Eandolph, Junior Warden ; John RowsEY, Treasurer ; William Eussell, Secretary ; and HuiiPHREY HArwooD and James Galt, Stewards, who " being duly qualified, took their seats in due form."
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 267
On the 5tli of July, 1774, tlie name of Peyton Kaist- DOLPH first appears on the records as present at the lodge, where, the records state, he presided as Provin- cial Grand blaster, "with John Biair as Master, Wil- LL\M Waddell as Deputy Master, etc. From this it appears that Mr. Randolph had at this time been ap- pointed Provincial Grand Master of Vii'ginia, a rank, which records show, he held till the time of his death. The first Continental Congress therefore was presided over by the highest Masonic ofiicer present, and he^Hi Provincial Grand Master. What number of Masons were members of the body we know not, for the Ma- sonic records of that day were mostly lost during the revolutionary struggle which followed. Even the record-book of the Williamsburg Lodge, from which the foregoing extracts and facts are drawn, is lost to our Yirginia Brethren, and is now in possession of an antiquarian in another jurisdiction who is not a Ma- son ! We well know that Washington and many of his Masonic compeers were members. From the biight- list of the members of that body we can say, from ex- isting Masonic records of some, i/ie?/ luere our brothers ; and of others, where no records verify the fact,
"I know thee, from thy apron wliite,
An architect to be. I know thee, from thy trowel briglit, Well skilled in Masonry."
After a secret session of less than two months, this Congress adjourned to meet again when occasion should require. On the 4th of Octo})er of this year the records of Wilhamsburg Lodge give the following in-
268 Washington's masonic compeers,
teresting account of laying the corner-stone of Wil- liamsburg Bridge :
" The design of this meeting being to lay the foundation- stone of the stone bridge to be built at the Capitol Landing, the lodge accordingly repaired thereto, and after the usual libations, and having placed the medal under the corner- stone, and laid the same in due form, closed the lodge ; the inscription of which medal is as follows :
" ' Georgio Tertio Rege ;
COMITE DUNMORE PrOFECTO» ;
Peyton Randolph Latamorum Proside Supremo ;
JoHANNE Blair Proside.
A. L. 57T4.'"
At the meeting of the Williamsburg Lodge on the 15th of December followiug, the officers present stand recorded :
" Peyton Randolph, Grand Master.
" John Blair, Master.
" William Waddill, Deputy Master.
" William Finnie, Senior Warden.
" Edmund Randolph, Junior Warden Pt.
" John Rowsey, Treasurer.
" William Russell, Secretary.
" Henry J. Harwood, ) o. j
' y Stewards. " James Galt, )
" John Minson Galt, Past Master."
On the 16th of June, 1775, the records state :
" On the petition of Brother Peale, desiring the loan of the picture belonging to this lodge, which was taken for
Washington's masonic compeers. 269
our Worshipful Provincial Grand Master, the same was granted him upon his giving security for tlie safe return of the same at the appointed time."
Sucli are the existing records of Peyton Randolph as a Mason at this interesting period of his life. Con- gress had in May, 1775, reassembled in Philadelphia, and Mr. Randolph was again elected its President ; but his health failing him, he resigned the position, and John Hancock was elected his successor. He visited Virginia, but soon returned and took his seat as a member of the National Council. While in the per- formance of his duties there, he died suddenly of apo- plexy, on the 22d of October, 1775, in the fifty-third year of his age. His body was placed in a vault in Philadelphia, to await the orders of his family.
Upon receiving notice of his death, the lodge in WiUiamsbiQ'g took the following action, as seen by its record of November 6, 1775 :
" Ordered, That the lodge go into mourning for our late worthy Grand Master, and continue till his corpse shall arrive ; and that this lodge attend in procession, and that the order be published in the Virginia Gazette."
On the 21st of December the lodge ordered,
" That Brother Willson Peale be wrote to, to return the speakers jnctureJ'
Mrs. Randolph presented to the lodge, after her husband's death, his jewel, sash, and apron, and when the lodge met on the 27th of December of that year, it was —
270 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
" Ordered, that the lodge return their thanks for the present made this lodge by Mrs. Randolph, of the Provincial Grand Master's jewel, sash, and apron."
On this occasion an address was delivered before tlie lodge by the Keverend Brother William Bland, its chaplain, from which we give the following extract re- lating to the death of Mr. Randolph :
" Our forefathers cultivated Masonry with devotion, and made the dreary wilderness of America smile with the brotherly love that she inculcated ; but to the disgrace of moderns, she is now almost exiled.
" Few are the places in this western world in which she can claim rest for her blest feet ; fewer still are there where her votaries are sincere. The genius of Masonry, my breth- ren, does not consist in frequenting established meetings, or decorating ourselves with the insignia belonging to our profession. If there be a brother that dare pass by his neighbor in distress, or because he himself possesses the light, would turn the blind man out of his way, acknowledge him not. The name of a brother is an empty sound, indeed, if we refuse our hand to one fallen into a pit, disdain to re- lieve the sorrows of the widow and the orphan, or discard from our lives the exercise of patriotism — the highest re- finement of brotherly love.
" But wherefore was I about to draw the character of a true Mason ! For not long time since you had a bright example to imitate and admire, — surely, I am not called upon for his name, for it can never be forgotten. All North America was under his wing, but we his peculiar care. Write a virtue which he had not faithfully transcribed into his practice, or enumerate an excellence to which his heart was a stranjrer. If malice could be found within these
WASHINGTOKS MASONIC COMPEEES. 271
walls, she would be silenced by the contemplation of his memory, and envy herself bear no fangs against him. That great man^great let me call him — revived the drooping spirit of Masonry. The few remaining of the Elect he concen- trated in this place, and to him must we ascribe the present numei'ous appearance of Brethren.
" I could dwell forever on the remembrance of him, but I fear that my short acquaintance with the sublime parts of Masonry, prevent me from doing justice to him. We all know how gracefully he filled that chair, and I congratulate my brethren that we once had such a head, such a father."
Tlie remains of Mr. Randolph lay in the tomb at Philadelphia until November, 1776, when they were taken by his nephew, EDivruKD Eandolph, to "Williams- burg, where they were interred by the side of those of his father in the college chaj)el with Masonic cere- monies. On their arrival the lodge met, and from its records of November 26th we make the following extract :
" Met and agreed on the form of the procession of our late worthy Brother Peyton Randolph, Grand Master of Virginia, deceased, and then repairing to the Lodge Chapel ; after the corpse was interred, returned to the lodge, and ad- journed till a lodge in course."
The following further account of the ceremonies on that occasion wo copy from the public prints of that day :
• " W1LLIAM8BURG, November 29, 1770.
" On Tuesday last the i-emains of our late amiable and be- lT)ved fellow-citizen, the llojiorablc Peyton Randolph, Esquire,
272 Washington's masonic compeers.
were conveyed in a hearse t(j the college chapel, attended by the Worshipful Brotherhood of Freemasons, both Houses of Assembly, a number of other gentlemen, and the inhabit- ants of the city. The body was received from the bearers by gentlemen of the House of Delegates, who conveyed it to the family vault in the chapel, after which an excellent oration was pronounced from the pulpit by the Eeverend Thomas Davis* in honor of the deceased, recommending to the respectable audience to imitate his virtues. The oration being ended, the body was deposited in the vault, when every spectator paid their last tribute of tears to the memory of their departed and much honored friend, — may we add, to whom he was a father and able counsellor, and one of our firmest patriots. The remains of this worthy man were brought hither from Philadelphia by Edmund Randolph, Esq., at the earnest request of his uncle's aiBicted and inconsolable widow."
Peyton Kandolph was the second Provincial Grand Master whose death had been enrolled in the list of the active defenders of American liberty at this period. TVar- KEN had fallen on the early battle-fields of our country, Randolph in its council chambers. The death of each was a prelude to the great change which soon after took place in the polity of Masonry in our country. Hitherto all American Grand Masters held their authority by appointment fi'om the Mother Grand Lodge in Great Britain. Now, for the first time, the Craft in America began to inquire into their own in- herent powers to assume an elective supremacy. It
* The Reverend Thomas Davis, years afterwards, oflBciated as rector of Christ's Church and chaplain of Alexandria Lodge, at the burial of Washington.
Washington's masonic compeees. 273
has been assumed by Masonic writers in our country, that the Craft in Massachusetts were the first to con- template the election of American Grand Masters. This we believe to be a historical error, for Masonic records of Yirginia show, that the earliest proposition for such action came from that State. Massachusetts records show the Craft for the first time contemplat- ing this question there, when assembled in Boston on the 27th of December, 1776, by the Deputy Grand Master of the late Dr. Joseph Warren, to celebrate the festival of St. John the Evangelist. The records of the old lodge in Wilhamsburg show, on the 3d of the same month, a prior record of interest to this question. It was their first meeting after the burial of Mr. Ran- dolph. We give an extract from the Williamsburg records to verify this statement :
"December 3, 17 T6. — Wir. Waddill, Master. " On motion made, Resolved, That the Master of this lodge be directed to write to all the regular lodges in this State, requesting their attendance by their deputies, at this lodge, in order to form a convention to choose a Grand Master for the Stale of Virginia, on the first day of the next As- sembly."
The limits of our sketch do not admit of further con- necting hues between the death of Peyton Eandolph and the elective supremacy of Masonry in our country. We have abeady stated, in our sketch of Washington, that when the convention of Masonic delegates in Vir- ginia met a few months later, they proposed his name first, as the most worthy to wear the earliest jewel of an elective American Grand Master.
274 Washington's masonic compeers.
The closing record of the old colonial lodge of Wil- liamsburg relating to Peyton Randolph, is as follows, under date June 3, 1777 :
*' Resolved, That there shall be an elegant frame made to the picture of our late worthy and Honorable Provincial Grand Master ; and that the Treasurer be appointed to em- ploy some person to make it."
This portrait of Mr. Randolph, or the copy by Mr. Peale, afterwards became one of the treasures of the Congressional Library, but was destroyed by fire a few years ago. It was adorned, as we show in our en- graving, with a Masonic sash, and Master's jewel hang- ing pendent from its angle.
EDMUND RANDOLPH,
GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, AND GRAND MASTER OF MASONS IN THAT COMMONWEALTH.
Edmond Randolth was a nephew of Peyton Ean- DOLPH. His father was John, the brother of Peyton, son of Sir John, and grandson of Wtt.t.tam, the first of the Virginia PtANDOLPHS. He was the fourth in descent of the American family. Both his father and his grandfather, and also Peyton his uncle, had held the office of king's attorney in the commonwealth, and were all noted lawyers ; consequently he was bred to the same profession, Peyton Randolph had succeeded Sir John in that office, and while holding it, he went to England as the agent of Virginia, just before the Revolution. While in London, his independent spirit led him to speak his mind too freely on the subject of colonial rights to please the English ministry, and he was displaced as attorney -general, and his brother John, the father of Edmond, who is the subject of this sketch, was appointed in his stead. John had Ijeeu doing the duties of the office for his brother Peyton during his absence to England, and superseded him, by being the pliant advocate of the English min- istry in their obnoxious taxation measures. When
276 Washington's masonic compeers.
the Eevolvition commenced, lie was a decided royalist, and supported Lord Dunmore, tlie royal governor of the commonwealth, in all his efforts to maintain the king's power in Virginia. In this they failed, and John Randolph disinherited his son Edmond for his joining the patriot cause, and soon left, with Lord DuNMOEE and other royalists, for England. He, how- ever, bitterly repented his choice, died of a broken heart in 1784, and his remains were, by his request, brought to Virginia and buried at WiUiamsburg.
Deserted and disowned by his father, EDM0^^) Ran- dolph was adopted by Peyton, his uncle. We know not his age at this time, for we have no record of his birth before us. He had grown to manhood, for he succeeded his father as attorney- general of the com- monwealth. He was also a Mason at that time, and was a member of the lodge at Williamsburg, of which his uncle was first Master. His name appears on its records at its organization, June 24, 1774; and on the 4th of the following October he was appointed by the lodge to revise its by-laws. Upon the sudden death of his uncle, Peyton Randolph, at Philadelphia, his relatives not being present, his remains were deposited in a tomb in that city. In the following year, Edmond Randolph, who was then with the army at Cambridge as one of Washington's aids, repau-ed to Philadel- phia, and removed the body to WiUiamsburg, where it was interred in St. Mary's Chapel with Masonic honors.
In 1776 he married, and this event was thus an- nounced in the Virginia Gazette, accompanied by the following poetic lines.
"Washington's masonic compeees. 277
" Edmond Randolph, Esq., Attorney-General of Virginia, to Miss Betsey Nicholas, a young lady, whose amiable sweetness of disposition, joined with the finest intellectual accomplishments, cannot fail of rendering the worthy man of her choice completely happy.
"Fain would the aspiring muse attempt to sing
The virtues of this amiable pair ; But how shall I attune the trembling string,
Or sound a note that can such worth declare? Exalted theme ! too high for human lays !
Could my weak verse with beauty be inspired, In numbers smooth I'd chant my Betsey's praise,
And tell how much her Randolph is admired. To light the hymenial torch since they've resolved,
Kind Heaven, I trust, will make them truly blest ; And when the Gordian knot sliall be dissolved,
Translate them to eternal peace and rest."
In 1779 Mr. Eandolph was elected by his State a delegate to the ContineDtal Congi-ess, and he served in that station until March, 1782. Wliilo a member of that body, he offered the resolution, after the defeat of CoRNWALLis at Yorktown in 1781, to publicly return thanks to Almighty God for crowning our army with success.
An independent Grand Lodge of Masons had been formed in Virginia in 1778, and of that Grand Body Edmond Kandolph was elected Deputy Grand Master, in 1784. He held the ofl&ce for two years, and upon the 27th of October, 1786, he was elected Grand Master of Masons in Virginia. He held this office by re-election until October 28th, 1788. During the last year of his Grand Mastership, ho had the honor of
278 Washington's masonic compeers.
granting a warrant to the lodge at Alexandria, con- stituting Washington its Master.
In 1786, while he was Deputy Grand Master of Vir- ginia, he was elected to succeed Patkick Henry as governor of the commonwealth. While holding that office, and also that of Grand Master of Masons, he represented his State, in conjunction with Washington and other distinguished delegates, in the convention at Philadelphia, that formed the Federal Constitution in 1787.
As a member of the convention, his views on politi- cal science coincided with those of Patrick Henry, and other members, who believed the rights of individual States had been too far yielded in that instrument. But when its ratification came before the people of Virginia, his desire for a harmonious union overcame his apprehension of its imperfections, and his vote was given for its adoption. When the new government was organized under this constitution, in 1789, Wash- ington made Governor Bandolph his attorney-general ; and in 1794, under the second administration of Washington, he succeeded Mr. Jefferson as secretary of state. In 1795 he resigned this office on account of some misunderstanding with the Administration, and "v^dthdi'ev.^ from public life. He never again entered the pohtical field, but died in Frederick County, in his native State, on the 12th of Sej^tember, 1813.
Governor Randolph was a devoted member of the Episcopal Church, being many years one of his vestry- men. All of his Virginia ancestors had been members of the same Church, and for four generations they had been vestrymen also in it. The following extract from
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 279
a paper written by liim soon after the deatli of his wife, and addressed to his children, is an interesting commentary on his religious history and character.
" Up to the commencement of the Revolution, the Church of England was the established religion, in which your mother had been educated with strictness, if not with big- otry. From the strength of parental example, her attend- ance on public worship was unremitted, except where in- superable obstacles occurred ; the administration of the sacrament was never without a cause passed by ; in her closet, prayer was uniformly addressed to the throne of mercy ; and the questioning of the sacred truths she never permitted herself, or heard from others without abhorrence. When we were united, I was a deist, made so by my con- fidence in some whom I revered, and by the labors of two of my preceptors, who, though in the ministry, poisoned me with books of infidelity. I cannot answer to myself that I should ever have been brought to examine the genuineness of Holy Writ, if I had not observed the consoling influence which it wrought upon the life of my dearest Betsey. I rec- ollect well that it was not long before I adopted a prin- ciple which I have never relinquished : — that woman, in the present state of society, is, without religion, a monster.
While my opinions were unsettled, Mr. ■ and Mrs.
came to my house, on Sunday evening, to play with me at chess. She did not appear in the room ; and her reprbof, which from its mildness was like the manna of heaven, has operated perpetually as an injunction from above ; for, sev- eral years since I detected the vanity of sublunary things, and knew that the good of man consisted in Christianity alone. I have often hinted a wish that we had instituted a course of family prayer for the benefit of our children, on
280 Washington's masonic compeees.
whose minds, when most pliant, the habit might be fixed. But I know not why the plan was not enforced until during her last illness, when she and I frequently joined in prayer. She always thanked me when it was finished ; and it grieves me to think that she should suppose that this enlivening inducement was necessary in order to excite me to this duty."
This exposition of his religious sentiment was de- signed for his children only ; but its beautiful simpli- city and genuine piety make it justly a part of his history. It is the halo of Christianity, ornamenting the brow of this distinguished governor and Grand Master of Virginia.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
MASTER OF THE FIRST WARRANTED LODGE IN PENNSYLVANIA, AND PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER OF THAT PROVINCE.
The name of Benjamin Franklin illumines the history of Masonry, and of our country, for more than one- half of the last century. Its diamond light is not con- lined to the city, the province, or the country that gave
282 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES.
liim birtli. Tlie orient borrows a ray from it, and wlier- ever the evening twilight lingers, or the polar-star guides, or the southern-cross gleams, there the torch ■which he lighted from the clouds above him, irradiates the pathway still of every civiKzed nation. Of his humble birth in Boston, on the 17th of January, 1706 ; of his early employment in an occupation unsuited to his genius ; of his being indentured to his brother as a printer's apprentice, and fleeing from his petty tyranny to Philadelphia ; of his amusing introduction to that city, and his boyhood success there ; of his leaving it for a voyage to London while he was yet in his minority, and of his first London life ; — every step from tottering infancy to bold reliant manliood, has been often told, and we need not repeat them in our sketch of his Masonic hfe.
Leaving the youth of Feaneun with all its romantic incidents and instructive lessons behind us, we find him on his return fi'om England in the autumn of 1726, in his twenty-first year, recommencing his citizenship in Philadelphia, with a body strong and vigorous, a mind active and well cultivated, and vnth. a knowledge of his art, and an experience gained in the school of the world, which well fitted him to step boldly on to the platform of active life. His intentions at this period were to fit himself for a mercantile life, but the death of his employer soon induced him to engag&^^ain as a printer, and his industry, integrity, and studious habits soon gained him friends, competence, and dis- tinction.
His social qualities and intelUgence at first drew around him a few congenial spirits, and a hterary club
Washington's masonic compeeks. 283
was formed for mental improvement. While in London he had become familiar witli the existence of the vari- ous clubs and other social societies that existed there, and the organization of Freemasonry had no doubt come under his observation. This institution there was then just emerging from a situation which the common observer might have regarded as a system of voluntary social clubs, and its pretentions to antiquity, its moral and scientific basis, and its wi'itten rules and regulations, had lately been given to the public in a quarto volume called "Anderson's Constitutions." These had been accepted there by a part of the Fraternity as their governing code of rules, while others still adhered to the immemorial rights and usages of Masons when convened. There can be very httle doubt but that FKANfKLiN brought home with him some knowledge of the Fraternity, although not an initiate into its mys- teries.
As the Hmits of this sketch will not allow a detail of all the incidents of Franklin's private and public hfe, however interesting and instructive they may be, we shall pass over many of them, and confine our consider- ation more to those which show his character as a Mason, and the influence which his connection with this fraternity may have had on his after-Hfe. This we do more especially from believing that all which concerns the personal history of our represcaitativo men, should be fairly considered as a part of our national character, and from a belief that the Masonic character and connection of our public men of the last century, has been unwarrantably lost sight of, in the history of our country. Perhaps this has arisen from
284 Washington's masonic compeers.
an undue prejudice wliich writers may have had against the institution of Freemasonry, or from an ignorance of its principles and influence.
With Fkanklin, whatever induced scientific research, and strengthened the fraternal bonds that thus bound society together, had especial value ; and when he found that Freemasonry embraced in its teachings the highest moral rectitude, founded on the Fatherhood of God as a common parent, and the brotherhood of man as His offspring, and that it inculcated a study of His perfections as revealed in the works of natui'e as well as in His written word, he at once became a devotee at its altar. No record has come down to us of the time and place where he first received Masonic light. It was not the custom of the Fraternity in the early part of the last century to preserve written records of its meetings when convened for work ; besides, when warranted lodges were first estabhshed in America, they little knew how much interest would in time be felt in their early history. The brief records they may have written, have in many cases, too, been destroyed or lost. It is not known how or when the first lodge of Freemasons was instituted in Philadelphia. A few brethren who had been made Masons in the old country, may have met and opened lodges fi'om time to time, and initiated others, without keeping any record. The earhest notices we find of Masonic lodges in that city, are in the pubhc newspapers of that day, which show the meetings of the Fraternity there in 1732, where they give the name of "William Allen, the Recorder of the city, as their Grand Master. They met at that time at the *' Tun Tavern ;" and one of the oldest
Washington's masonic compeers. 285
lodges in Philadelphia was formerly called Tun Lodge, in allusion to the place of its early meetings.
There is no known record of Franklin's being a member of the Fraternity previous to this ; but in 1732 he was Senior Warden under William Allen. In his own personal narrative he gives his written observa- tions, iu May, 1731, in which he says :
" There seems to me at present to be great occasion for raising a United PaHy for Virtue, by forming the virtuous and good men of all nations into a regular body, to be governed by suitable, good, and wise rules, which good and wise men may probably be more unanimous in their obedi- ence to, than common people are to common laws. I at present think, that whoever attempts this aright, and is well qualified, cannot fail of pleasing God, and of meeting with success."
He has also left us a record of what he believed should be the fundamental principles of such a union or society, which he reduced to six heads — viz. :
i ^ " • ^ " That there is one Cod, ^vho n^'^ne all things.
" That He governs the world by His providence.
" That He ought to be worshipped by adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving.
" But that the most acceptable service to God is doing good to man.
" That the soul is immortal.
" And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either here or hereafter."
It is a matter of curious speculation rather than of
286 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
certainty, whether Franklin drew this epitome of the great moral governing principles of Freemasonry fi*om his ow^l reflections, or had Ijeen taught them in a lodge of the craft. If the former, he was certainly prepared in Ms heart to be a Mason : if the latter, he either be- lieved that to be a Mason, required in addition to these, a greater attention to the arts and sciences than all good men were disposed to give ; or he beheved that an organization, semi-masonic, might be beneficial, in which the initiates might first be schooled in the moral principles of Masonry, before they were admitted to its mysteries ; for he proposed at that time to form a secret club, to be called The Society of the Free and Easy. This, he says, he communicated in part to two of his companions, who adopted it v^ith some enthusiasm ; but his multifarious public and private engagements so occupied his time, that it was postj)oued, and finally abandoned.
We pass over three years more of Franklin's life, during which he was engaged as a printer and stationer — and in which he commenced -^he publication of his Poor HicJiarcVs Alinanad^—^and^'^md him receivino; a written warrant from HUnry Pricf, Provincial Grand Master of Massachusetts, constituting him Master of the Lodge, and probably of all the Masons in Philadel- phia. The exact date of this authority from Price cannot be given. Massachusetts authorities say it was June 24th, 1734, while Pennsjdvania authorities say that on that day the brethren in Philadelphia celebra-
■* This almanac was commenced in 1732, and continued until 1757. It -was exceedingly popular, and he sold about ten thousand copies of
it annually.
Washington's masonic compeers. 287
ted the festival of St. Jolm the Baptist, under their old organization, and having accepted the anthoritj of St. John's Grand Lodge at Boston, thej ratified the choice of Franklin as their Master (or Grand blaster, as they chose to term him). This apparent discrep- ancy in the date of Franklin's authority from Price, and his commencing his ofiicial duties under it in Phil- adelphia, both, being given as the same day, probably arose from Price having granted to FRA^fKLIN a depu- tation previous to the 24th of June, and that at the festival which was held simultaneously in Boston and Philadelphia on that day, the act of Price was ratified by the Grand Lodge at Boston, and Franklin's com- mission accepted by the brethren assembled in Phila- delphia.
The Masonic Fraternity was not so novel at this time in Philadelphia, nor its members so obscure as to be unknown or unnoticed ; for at the festival of St. John the Baptist, in 1734, when Franklin's commission was accepted, and at the one which had been held on the same day the year before, the governor of the province, the mayor of the city, and many other dis- tinguished citizens were present as members or guests. Franklin on this occasion p.ppointed John Carp his Deputy, and James H.imilton and Thomas Hopkinson his Wardens. There is no doubt but that for some 3'ears previous to this the Masons in Philadelphia had been organized as a body, holding anuuall}' their festi- vals and electing their Grand Master without Avritten authority from the ruHng Grand Lodge of England or any of its dependencies, but by virtue of what had been deemed the immemorial right of Masons. Through
288 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
Feanklin they may have learned of the new regulations of the Order, and they perhaps mstracted him to take such measures as would justify them before the world in the regularity of their organization. They had \Trtually existed as a Grand Lodge previous to Frank- lin's commission, and under it they no doubt exercised all the prerogatives, and assumed the dignity of a Grand Body. The claim, therefore, tkat Franklin was the first Master, or the first Grand Master in Pennsylvania, can only mean that he was so by author- ity derived from the Grand Lodge at London, which had, in 1721, assumed authority over aU lodges of Masons.
From the correspondence which took place between Frantklin and the Grand Master and the brethren in Boston, soon after he became connected with their authority, we give the following letters of his which have been preserved :
" Right Worshipful Grand Master, and Most Worthy and Dear Brethren — We acknowledge your favor of the 23d of October past, and rejoice that the Grand Master (whom God bless) hath so happily recovered from his late indispo- sition, and we now (glass in hand) drink to the establish- ment of his health, and the prosperity of your whole Lodge.
" We have seen in the Boston prints an article of news from London, importing, that at a Grand Lodge held there in August last, Mr. Price's deputation and power was ex- tended over all America, which advice we hope is true, and we heartily congratulate him thereupon. And though this has not as yet been regularly signified to us by you, yet, giving credit thereto, we think it our duty to lay before your
Washington's masonic compeers. 289
Lodge what we apprehend needful to be done for iis, in order to promote and strengthen the interests of Masonry in this province (which seems to want the sanction of some authority derived from home, to give the proceedings and determinations of our Lodge their due weight) ; to wit : a Deputation or Charter, granted by the Right Worshipful Mr, Price, by virtue of his commission from Britain, con- firming the brethren of Pennsylvania in the privileges they at pi'esent enjoy, of holding annually their Grand Lodge, choosing their Grand Master, Wardens, and other officers who may manage all affairs relating to the brethren here, with full power and authority according to the customs and usages of Masons, the said Grand Master of Pennsylvania only yielding his chair when the Grand Master of all America shall be in place. This, if it seem good and reasonable to you to grant, will not only be extremely agreeable to us, but will also, we are confident, conduce much to the welfare, establishment, and reputation of Masonry in these parts. We therefore submit it to your consideration; and as we hope our request will be complied with, we desire that it may be done as soon as possible, and also accompanied with a copy of the Right Worshipful Grand Master's first Deputation, and of the instrument by which it appears to be enlarged, as above mentioned, wit- nessed by your Wardens, and signed by the secretary, for which favor this Lodge doubt not of being able to behave as not to be thought ungrateful.
" We are, Right Worshipful Grand Master, and Most Wi)rthy Brethren, j'^our affectionate brethren and obliged humble servants,
" B. Franklin, G. M.
" Signed at the request of the Lodge.
"rHiLADKLPniA, November 28, 1734."
290 WASHINGTON-'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
FEANKiiiN sent with this letter to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, the following private note to Mr. Price the Grand Master :
" Dear Brother Price — I am heartily glad to hear of your recovery. I hoped to have seen you here this fall, agreeable to the expectation you were so good as to give me ; but, since sickness has prevented your coming while the weather was moderate, I have no room to flatter myself with a visit from you before spring, when a deputation from the Brethren here will have an opportunity of showing how much they esteem you. I beg leave to recommend their request to you, and to inform you that some false and rebel brethren, who are foreigners, being about to set up a distinct Lodge, in opposition to the old and true brethren here, pre- tending to make Masons for a bowl of punch ; and the Craft is like to come into disesteem among us, unless the true brethren are countenanced and distinguished by some such special authority as herein desired. I entreat, therefore, that whatever you shall think proper to do therein, may be sent by the next post, if possible, or the next following.
" I am your aifectionate brother and humble servant,
"B. Franklin, G. M. of Pennsylvania.
" P. S. — If more of the Constitutions are wanted among you, please hint it to me."
The Constitutions here alluded to, were a reprint of the Enghsh Constitutions of Masonry, which had been collated and published in London in 1723. 4^ Ameri- can edition of this work was printed by Franklin in Philadelphia, in 1734, and it was the first Masonic book ever published in America. It was a small quarto
Washington's masonic compeers. 291
volume, and a few copies still exist in antiquarian col- lections,*
Franklin was at this time twenty-eight years of age ; and while he diligently pursued his business as a printer and stationer, he also devoted his spare mo- m'ents to the acquisition of useful knowledge. He was not a recluse, and he associated with him in his hterary pursuits a fcAV young men of studious habits and con- genial tastes, who formed a club they called the Junto. The governing rules of this club have been incorpo- rated into the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia ; and the collection of books they formed, was the nucleus of the present magnificent library of that city.
In 1735, Franklin was superseded in his position as Master, or Grand Master as it was termed, by Jajnies Hamilton his Senior Warden, who was elected in his stead. Freemasonry in Philadelphia, although it ap- pears to have been popular at this time, was soon after imder the ban of public suspicion there, and Frank- lin's connection with it was much commented on by the pubHc press of that city. It appears from the civil records and public journals of that day, that in 1737 a few thoughtless individuals attempted to impose on an ignorant young man and persuade him that by sub- mitting to some ridiculous ceremonies he might be- come a Mason. He submitted to all they required, and was by them invested with sundry pretended Ma-
* It is worthy of note by the Masonic student, that the first mritten warrant granted in America by Provincial authority was to Fkankmn ; the first American Masonic book was printtid by him ; and the oldest American Masonic letters that have been preserved, were written by him.
292 Washington's masonic compeers.
sonic signs, and told he had taken the first degree. The principal perpetrators of the farce appear not to have been Masons, but thej soon after communicated to Franklin and others an account of their practical joke, and told him they might expect to be saluted with the signs they had given to the young man when they met him. Franklin did not approve of their im- position, but laughed heartily at the ridiculous farce they had played, and thought no more of it. Not so with the active parties in it; for they determined to farther dupe the young man, and for this purpose in- duced him to take a second degree, in which they blindfolded and conducted him into a dark cellar, where one of the party was to exhibit liimseK to him disguised in a bull's hide, the head and horns of which were intended to represent the devil ; while the others were to play a game they called snap-dragon, which consisted of picking raisins fi'om a dish of burning fluid. When the bandage was taken fi'om the young m^n's eyes, and he had gazed for a moment on the scene before him, one of the party thoughtlessly threw upon him the pan of burning fluid, which set fii-e to his clothes, and so burned him that he lingered for but three days and then died. This occurrence caused great excitement in Philadelphia, and the guilty parties were arrested and punished for man- slaughter.
As it appeared at the judicial investigation, that Franklin had been made acquainted with the first out- rage on the young man after its perpetration, although he had no knowledge that a second attempt was to be made, and disapproved of the first, many ignorant
Washington's masonic compeers. 293
or excited citizens, knowing his Masonic position, sought to cast odium on liim and the Fraternity of which he was a leading member. A personal attack was also made on the character of Feanklin bj a newspaper in Philadelphia, accusing him of conniving at the outrage. This was promptly denied by him, and the denial was verified by the oaths of those who were acquainted wiih the whole affair. The Grand Lodge also deemed it its duty to express its dis- approbation of such proceedings, and the Grand Offi- cers appeared before the authorities in Philadelphia and signed the following declaration :
" Pennsylvania, ss. — Whereas some ill-disposed persons in this city, assuming the names of Freemasons, have, for some years past, imposed upon several well-meaning- peo- ple who were desirous of becoming true brethren, persuad- ing them, after they had performed certain ridiculous cere- monies, that they had really become Freemasons ; and have lately, under the pretence of making a young man a Mason, caused his death by purging, vomiting, burning, and the terror of certain diabolical, horrid rites ; it is therefore thought proper, for preventing such impositions for the future, and to avoid any unjust aspersions that may be thrown on this ancient and honorable Fraternity on this ac- count, either in this city or any other part of the world, to publish this advertisement declaring the abhorrence of all true brethren of such practices in general, and their igno- rance of this fact in particular, and that the persons con- cerned in this wicked action are wot of our society, nor of any society of Free and Accepted Masons, to our knowledge or belief.
29i Washington's masonic compeers.
" Signed in behalf of all the members of St. John's Lodge in Philadelphia, 10th day of June, 173Y.
" Thos. Hopkinsox, G. Master. " Wm. PLUiisTED, D. G. Master.
" Jos. Shippen, I Wardens." "Henry Pratt, f
The knowledge of tlie outrage that had been perpe- trated in PL-iladelphia in the name of Freemasonry, and the attack on Fkankun's eliaracter, soon came to his parents in Boston, and his mother, with true ma- ternal feehngs, induced his father to write to him on the subject, and make inquiries respecting the society which was then agitating the public mind. To these inquiries Fkanklin replied under date of April 13th, 1738:
" As to the Freemasons, I know of no way of giving my mother a better account of them than she seems to have at present ; since it is not allowed that women should be ad- mitted into that secret society. She has, I must confess, on that account, some reason to be displeased with it ; but for any thing else, I must entreat her to suspend her judgment till she is better informed, unless she will believe me when I assure her, that they are in general a very harm- less sort of people, and have no principles or practices that are inconsistent with religion and good manners."
Although the excitement had run so high in Phila- delphia, that during the trial of those who had been engaged in duping the young man AA-ith pretended Ma- sonic degrees, every Mason was challenged from the
Washington's masonic compeers. 295
jury-box, yet Fkankun's popularity did not suffer. He was then postmaster of the city, and clerk of tlie Pro- vincial Assembly, and he continued to hold these offices for many years. In 1747 he was elected a mem- ber of the Assembly, and held the office by re-election for ten years. In 1749 the old authority from Heney Price to Franklin in 1734 was superseded by a new warrant to him from Thomas Oxnard, Provincial Grand Master of all North America, constituting him Provin- cial Grand Master of Pennsylvania, with power to charter new Lodges. On the 5th of September of this year, Franklin accordingly convened the brethren by virtue of his new authority, and appointed Dr. Thomas Bond Deputy Grand Master ; Joseph Shippen and Philip Syng, Grand Wardens ; William Plumsted, Grand Treasurer ; and Daniel Byles, Grand Secre- tary. The following year Franklin was succeeded as Grand Master by William Allen, the Ptecorder of the city of Philadelphia, who was commissioned direct by the Grand Master of England.
Franklin at this time was deeply absorbed in phil- osophical investigations, and soon after was able to verify his behef that the lightnings and thunder of the summer cloud were but electrical phenomena. The story of his drawing down the lightning with his kite is well known ; and the discovery he thereby made has rendered his name immortal in the annals of science. He was well known at this period as the friend and patron of popular education and every useful art. It was not apathy and indifference on the part of the community respecting education that he had to con- tend with alone ; but there was an element in the j)opu-
296 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
lation of Pliiladelphia and its yicinity that regarded all measures for the greater diffusion of knowledge, as dangerous innovations on the established customs of society. There still exists a correspondence between one Christopher Sowrs, a German printer in German- town, and Conrad Weiser, in which the former com- plains bitterly of the efforts of Franklin and the Free- masons generally to establish free- schools. He says :
" The iDGople who are the promoters of the free schools, are Grand Ifasfer.^ and Wo7rJens among the Freemasons, their very pillars."
Tlie loss of old Masonic records makes it impossible to determine the lodge membership in Philadelphia at this time, but enough remains to show that it embraced the first men in the city.
At the middle of the last century, Franklin had reached the meridian of his life, being forty-four years of age ; but the sim of his fame was still in the ascend- ant, and from that period onward until it passed from our sight in a glowing west, its blaze seemed brighter and fuller. From the time when he was first seen a forlorn boy in the streets of Philadelphia, he had been steadily gaining strength of mind and public confidence, until his services were almost exclusively claimed by his fellow-citizens. In 1753 he was ap- pointed deputy postmaster of all the British colonies in America, and the same year a commissioner to ne- gotiate a treaty with the Indians. In 1754 he was a delegate to the Congress that met at Albany to devise means of defence agamst the French ; and in this body his wisdom and sagacity were seen in the recommen-
Washington's masonic compeees, 297
dation which he made of a Union of the colonies. He rendered important aid to the British commanders in the early part of the old French war, but was soon after sent to England as the agent of Pennsylvania and other colonies. There he was greatly caressed and distinguished, and found his situation widely different from what it was when he entered London a few years before, a poor journeyman printer : for now he was ad- mitted into the presence of kings ; and the Universities of Edinburg and Oxford conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws as a mark of their appreciation of his scientific attainments. This literary degree was not the first he had received ; for the coUege at Cam- bridge, in Massachusetts, had before conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. He also, while in Lon- don, visited the Grand Lodge of England ; and its records show that he was honored with the rank of Pro^incial Grand Master on his visit to that body.
He returned to America in 1762, and resumed his seat in the Pro%'incial Assembly of Pennsylvania, but two years afterwards he was sent again as their agent to England. He remained there until 1775. It was during this period that the disputes between the colo- nies and the mother country assumed their utmost seriousness, and his task was a difiicult and dehcate one ; but so faithfully did he perform it, that on his return, he was elected a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress, and the following year had the honor of signing the Declaration of Independence. During the whole period of the Revolution he was con- tinually active in some civil capacity, either at home or abroad, Congress sent him in 1776 a commissioner
13 :
298 Washington's masonic compeers.
to the court of France, and no diplomatist at Versailles was able to perform his duties with greater ability. He was well known in France at that time for his varied scientific attainments, and his plain republican manners rendered him a dignitary of a new hght.
His residence was continued in France until 1785, and during this time he held intimate Masonic inter- course with the Masons of that country, and became affiUated, either as a special or honorary member, with the Grand Orient of France. He was also presented by his French brethren with a medal, of which the fol- lowing description is given :
" Diameter one inch and three-fifths. Obverse — Fine bust of Franklin. Legend — 'Benjaminis Franklin.' Reverse — Masonic emblems, the serpent's ring, carpenter's square and compass ; in the centre a triangle and the saci-ed Name in Hebrew, &c. Legend — Leo. Mac. Fran, a Franklin. M : de la L— des 9 Soeurs 0. de Paris, 5778."
When in 1785 he had fulfilled aU the public duties which his country required of him in Europe, and was about to return to America, his Masonic brethren in France bade him a tender adieu, particularly the lodge at Rouen. When he arrived in Philadelphia he was received by his fellow-citizens with pubhc testimonials of their gratitude and respect, and was soon after- wards elected to the chief executive office in Penn- sylvania. He was then in his eightieth year, and might weU have claimed a rest fi'om his public labors ; but he still continued for three years to give all his strength of body and mind to secure the fabric of liberty he had helped to erect. For this purpose, in
Washington's masonic compeers. 299
1787 he permitted himself to be elected a member of the convention that framed the Federal Constitution, and his master hand gave to that instrument many of its provisions.
FeantvLIn's official life closed in 1788, for his great age and infirmities rendered him unable to longer serve his country in a public capacity ; but amid much suffering he survived for two more years, and died at Philadelphia on the 17th of April, 1790, in the eighty- fifth year of his age. He was buried on the 21st, in Christ Church yard in that city, and more than twenty thousand persons, it was said, attended the funeral. The highest dignitaries of the State were present on the occasion, and both the State and National Govern- ment decreed that badges should be worn in token of the loss all had sustained in the death of so great a man. It has been asked why so distinguished a Ma- son as Franklin was not interred with Masonic rites. The reader will remember that his Masonic connection in Philadelphia had been with the so-called Moderns, whose organization there had been superseded, during the absence of Franklin in Europe, by another de- nomination of Masons, called Ancients ; and at his death, the Grand Lodge of which he had been the Grand Master was extinct. His name, however, and his virtues, have ever been kept in high veneration by Masons throughout tlie world, and with that of Wash- ington are household words wherever the Craft is found.
WILLIAM nUNKLIN,
THE LAST OF THE ROYAL GOVERNORS OF NEW JERSEY, AND GRAND SECRETARY OF THE PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
William Franbxin, the last colonial governor of New Jersey, was born at Philadelphia in 1731. He was the son of Dr. Benjamn Franklin, the most eminent states-
Washington's masonic compeers. 301
man, philosopher, and Mason of Pennsylvania, of the last century. William was his first-born and only son, and his father doubtless reared him with paternal care, and felt a strong desire to see him win for himseK dis- tinction.
Of his youth but little is now known. He is said to have inherited from his father an early fondness for books, but no accounts of remarkable attainments in literature have been handed down to us. His father says of him, in 1750 : " Will, is now nineteen years of age — a tall, proper youth, and much of a beau." He had a desire, in his youth, to connect himseK with a privateer that was fitting out in Philadelphia ; but in this he was opposed by his father, who soon after ob- tained for him a situation in the provincial troops, in one of their campaigns to the northern frontier, and in it he rose to the rank of a captain.
On his return, his father's social and pohtical posi- tion was such as to secure for him the appointment of clerk in the Colonial Assembly and postmaster of the city of Philadelphia. He had now come to years of naanhood, and was his father's companion and assistant in his scientific pursuits. He also became a Mason about this time in the old Lodge in Philadelphia, and was soon after elected its Master. In 1754 he was one of the Trustees in behalf of the Fraternity to hold the title to the lot and building in that city which was used for Masonic purposes. This was located on the lot since occupied by the Pennsylvania Bank ; and from the circumstance of the Masons' Hall having been there, the alley retains the name of Lodge Alley to the present time.
302 Washington's masonic compeers.
The Masonic Fraternity in Philadelphia at that time were in a prosperous condition ; and the banqueting- room of the hall they had erected was of great service to the citizens, aside from its Masonic purposes. Pub- lic meetings were often held in it, and the belles and beaux of the city frequently met there for balls and other amusements. There were three Lodges at that time in Philadelphia, presided over by William Allen, the Recorder of the city and chief-justice of the prov- ince, as Grand Master. On the completion of their Hall, they determined to celebrate the Feast of St. John the Baptist, in 1755, with great pomp and dis- play.
They accordingly assembled on that day in their new Hall on Lodge Alley, and clothed themselves for a pub- Kc procession. There were no doubt quaint looks cast by some of the old inhabitants of the Quaker City, as this assembly of the Brethren gravely passed through their streets, with their singular dress, emblems, and implements. The number of the Brethren present has been given us by the chroniclers of those times as one hundred and twenty-seven. There were wealth and dignity in the procession ; for the governor of the province and the governor of New Providence were in it as Masons, as well as many officers of the city gov- ernment. These, with their cocked hats, must have contrasted strongly with the broad brims and plain coats of some backshding Quaker Masons who were also in the line. In the usual assemblages in Phila- delphia, the Quaker element generally had the prepon- derance ; but cocked hats, royal wigs, velvet breeches, embroidered coats, silver and gold knee and shoe
Washington's masonic compeees, 303
buckles, were evidences of the social position of a ma- joritT of the members that day.
To make the procession more imposing, it was fol- lowed bv the empty carnages of the Grand Master, of the governor, and other distinguished Brethren — their owners being in the line as Masons. There was also a band of mnsic in attendance, which belonged to a Brit- ish regiment then stationed in the city. It was a gi-eat novelty at that day to see such a gorgeous parade of Masons ; and as they passed up Second-street, on their way to the church, when opposite Market, a salute fi'om some cannon in a vessel on the river must have awakened fi'om his reveries the di'owsiest Quaker in the city. At the chui'ch, Dr. Jenney, the rector of Christ Church, offered prayers, and the Eev. Brother Dr. William Smith, the provost of the college, preached a sermon fi'om the text, " Love the Brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king." It was a goodly custom of our Brethren of that day to thus repair to the church to testify their respect for religion and enjoy its teach- ings. Washington in after-years often did the same, and with his Masonic brethren publicly bent the knee at the religious altare of our coiintry, clothed in his Masonic costume.
After the seiwices of the chiirch were closed, the procession was re-formed, and retiu-ued to the Lodge- room. As it passed through the streets, the cannon again fired then- salute, and the populace again gazed on the di-awn swords of the Tylei-s and the strange badges and mystic implements of the Fraternity, as, with measured steps to the baud's playing the tune of the " Entered Apprentice Song," they marched to
304 Washington's masonic compeers.
their Hall. It was befitting the occasion that the cer- emonies should be crowned with a feast ; and accord- ingly, at one o'clock, they repaired to their banqueting room. Meriy things were there said, and entertaining songs sung ; for such were the Masonic customs of those good old days. There were pledges, too, of last- ing friendship drank, and fi'iendly interchanges of sen- timent made, between cocked hats and broad brims, while seated there. The regular toasts on the occasion were :
" 1st. The King and the Craft.
" 2d. The Grand Master of England.
" 3d. Our Brother Francis, Emperor of Germany.
"4th. The Grand Master of Pennsylvania.
" 5th. Our Brother, his Honor the Governor of Pennsyl- vania,
" 6th. Our Brother, his Excellency Johx Tinker, Esq. Governor of Providence, returning him thanks for his kind visit.
" 1th. The Grand Master of Scotland.
" 8th. The Grand Master of Ireland.
" 9th. The several Provincial Grand Masters of North America and the West India Islands.
" 10th. All charitable Masons.
" 11th. All true and faithful Masons, wheresoever dis- persed or distressed, throughout the globe.
" 12th. The Arts and Sciences.
" 13th. General Braddock, and success to his Majesty's forces.
" 14th. Prosperity to Pennsylvania, and a happy union of his Majesty's colonies."
The ceremonies of the day closed at five o'clock in
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 305
the afternoon, and the Fraternity returned to their homes, no doubt well pleased wdth the inauguration of their new Hall. From the position held in the Frater- nity at that time by William Franklin, he was doubt- less present on the occasion, and one of the partici- pants in the ceremonies. During the same year he accompanied his father, with some troops under his command, to build some forts on the frontiers of Penn- sylvania.
In 1757, his father was appointed by the colony its agent in London, and he sailed with him for England. He seems to have made a pleasing impression upon his new acquaintances in London ; for one of them, Mr. Strahan, who was a man of talent and discern- ment, and a friend of his father's, thus wrote to his mother soon after his arrival in England :
" Your son I really think one of the prettiest young gentlemen I ever knew from America. He seems to me to have a solidity of judgment not very often to bo met with in one of his years. This, with the daily opportunity he has of improving himself in the company of his father — who is at the same time his friend, his brother, his intimate and easy companion — affords an agreeable prospect that your husband's virtues and usefulness to his country may be pro- longed beyond the date of his own life."
While in England young Franklin studied law in the Middle Temple, and was admitted to the bar. Both father and son were treated Avitli much distinction by those of the highest rank in civil and social life. The flame of Dr. Franklin's genius as a philosopher had cast its light across the Atlantic ; and his fame as a statesman was even then being built by the wise counsels
306 Washington's masonic compeers.
lie gave to tlie ministerial powers concerning the gor- ernment of their colonial dependencies. Both father and son, too, were treated "with marked distinction by the Masonic Fraternity in England, and on visiting the Grand Lodge in London in November, 1760, both were honored according to their rank in Pennsylvania, — the Doctor as Provincial Grand Master, and Wil- liam as Grand Secretary, — an office which he had held in the Grand Lodge at Philadelphia ; and their names as visitors stand duly recorded as such on the Grand Lodge records in London. He also travelled with his father through England, Scotland, Flanders, and Hol- land, and enjoyed the hterary and scientific society that sought in all places intercourse with the distin- guished philosopher fi'om the new world. He seems, too, to have profited by such advantages ; for when the University at Oxford conferred on his father in 1762 the degree of Doctor of Laws, it also thought the son worthy of that of Master of Arts, and consequently conferred it ujjon him. During the same year, after undergoing a close examination by Lord Halifax, the minister of American affairs, more close perhaps on account of his colonial birth and youth, he was ap- pointed by the king his representative as royal govern- or of New Jersey. It was an honor rarely, if ever, before conferred on a native-born American, and more complimentary from its having been conferred without any request from his father. He also married about this time a Miss Elizabeth Downs, and brought her with him to America, where he arrived in February, 1763.
Governor Franklin was at that time thu-ty-two years
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 307
of age. No native-born citizen in America held a better position. Of Washington he was about one year the senior ; had served Hke him in the provincial wars, and hke him had enrolled liimseK with the Ma- sonic brotherhood as soon as he came to manhood. But the simiUtude did not extend farther. Washington had been from his boyhood an orphan — a widoivs son; while William Franklin had grown under his father's shadow. Washington had retired from the army to his farm on the return of peace ; while Franklin had gained the smiles of royalty in London, and had borne back to America a commission as royal governor of New Jersey, and was honored as the representative of his sovereign in that province.
Governor Franklin reached Philadelphia on the 19th of February, 1763, and he started for Perth Am- boy, in New Jersey, on the 24th, and arrived there at the end of the second day. It was midwinter, and he was escorted to the seat of the colonial government by a troop of horse, and b}' the citizens in sleighs, and there received by the former governor and the members of his council. The weather was intensely cold; but a chronicler of that day says, he was inducted into his office " with as much decency and good decorum as the severity of the season could possibly admit of." A day or two afterwards he went to Burlington from Amboy, and published his commission there also, ac- cording to the custom of the province, these having been the early seats of government in East and West Jersey.
It had been the custom of the royal governors to reside at Amboy, but Franklin fixed his residence in Burlington — perhaps fi"om its being nearer Philadel-
308 Washington's masonic compeeks.
pliia, the residence of his friends. He resided in this West Jersey capital until 1774, a period of eleven years, when he removed to the old East Jersey seat of colonial government at Amboy. On his leaving Burlington, the corporation of that city gave him a pubhc entertain- ment, and presented him a farewell address, expressing their regard for him, regretting his departure, and thank- ing him for his courtesy and kind deportment during his residence with them.
Governor Feanklin was at this time popular with the people of New Jersey ; but the vexatious measures of the British ministry began to excite that abhorrence in all the colonies, which soon led to their separation from the mother government. In his administration Franklin appears to have been mild and concihatory with the people, yet firm in his maintenance of the royal right of the king to govern his colonies. Dr. Feanklin was then in England as the colonial agent, and he wrote to his son endeavoring to persuade him to take the American side of the controversy, and with- draw from his advocacy of the royal cause. He also visited Amboy on his return to America in 1775 to urge him to unite his fortunes with the patriot cause ; but Governor Feanklin was firm, and each failed to convince the other of the impropriety of his course. Their conversations were perhaps too warm for con- tinued harmonious intercourse, and both father and son became so alienated in their feelings, that when they separated, it was not to meet again tiU the im- pending American conflict was over, and the last royal governor of New Jersey was a fugitive from his people, and a pensioner in a foreign land.
Washington's masonic compeers. 309
It is curious, sometimes, to take a retrospect of the past, and retrace the pathway of individuals on the gi'ound-floor of human life. HaK a century before, Dr. Feaneun, then a poor unknown boy in search of a place where he might earn his daily bread, had passed a lonely and feverish night in the same ancient city. He had left it on foot to pursue his journey through a province where he was to all a friendless stranger, and subjected to injurious suspicions of vagrancy. Now, again, he had come from his sojourn in a foreign land, where he had been honored by the most distinguished statesmen and men of science as a luminary of the age, to confer with his son, who was the royal representa- tive in the very land where, when a boy, his own foot- sore pathway had been taken.
The tide of popular sentiment in New Jersey was now fast setting in the channel of Liberty ; and al- though no open resistance was at first made to Gov- ernor Feanklin's authority, yet when he refused to call the Colonial Assembly together to appoint delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774, the people of the colony met by convention and chose representatives themselves to that body. In Novem- ber of 1775 he convened the old Colonial Assembly for the last time ; and although he prorogued it on the 6th of December, to meet again on the 3d of January, 1776, it never reassembled ; but an independent legis- lature met a few months later, and resolved that the authority of Governor Franklin should no longer be obeyed, and as he had showed himself an enemy to his country, his person should be secured. This was ac- cordingly done, and under an order from the Conti-
310 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
nental Congress at Philadelphia, the deposed govern- or was, about midsummer in 1776, sent under guard to Governor Trumbull in Connecticut, by whom he was kept a prisoner until 1778, when he was exchanged for an American officer (Brigadier-General Thompson) then in possession of the British, and Franklin sought protection under the wing of the British army in the city of New York.
When he left New Jersey a prisoner in 1776, his wife remained in Amboy, and he never saw her more. She was allowed to seek British protection in New York, where she died on the 28th of July, 1778, while he was yet in Connecticut. He loved her tenderly; and ten years later, when the war was over, he caused a tablet to be placed to her memory in the chancel of St. Paul's Church in New York where she was buried, with a mournfully elegant inscription, which closed by saying that it was erected " by him who knew her worth, and stUl laments her loss."
Governor Franklin remained in New York nearly four years, where he was the president of a band of associated loyalists who were the most virulent enemies of all Americans who took part against the British au- thority ; but in August, 1782, he sailed for England, and never more visited his native land. He received from the British government eighteen hundred pounds in consideration of his personal losses in support of the crown, and an annual pension of eight hundred pounds for life. After leaving America he married again ; the lady being a native of Ireland. He had one son, Wm. Temple Franklin, and died November 17, 1813, aged eighty-two 3^ears.
Washington's masonic compeers. 311
During the whole of the Revolutionary War there was no intercourse between Dr. Franklin and his son, and their mutual estrangement continued long after- wards, and probably was never forgotten ; for the Doctor left him but a small part of his estate, saying in his will :
" The part he acted against me in the late war, which is of public notoriety, will account for my leaving him no more of an estate he endeavored to deprive me of."
He had, however, called upon his son in England on his return from France in 1785, and some correspond- ence took place between them after the war. But the Doctor seems to have still regarded him not only as an ahen to his country, but to himself ; for in a letter written to the Kev. Dr. Byles, of Boston, January 1, 1788, he thus speaks of him, after adverting to his daughter, who continued with him in Philadelphia :
" My son is estranged from me by the part he took in the late war, and keeps aloof, residing in England, whose cause he espoused, whereby the old proverb is exemplified :
" ' My son is my son till he gets him a wife,
But my daughter is my daughter all the days of her life.' "
r^&^Qjl/^,
GENERAL DAVID WOOSTER,
AN OFFICER OF THE REVOLUTION, AND MASTER OF THE FIRST LODGE IN CONNECTICUT.
Geneeal David Woostee, whose name is familiar to every American citizen as a martyr to liberty in the war of the Kevolution, was born in Stratford, Connecti- cut, March 2, 1710-11 (old style), and was the youngest of six children. He was educated in the Puritan prin- ciples of New England, and after he came to manhood entered Yale College, where he graduated in 1738, in the twenty-eighth year of his age.
Washington's masonic compeees. 313
In 1741 the first war-vessel of Connecticut was fitted out at Middleto^vn, to guard the coasts of New Eng- land against the Spanish and other hostile vessels that were preying upon the infant commerce of the colonies, and David Woostek was its first-lieutenant, and the following year its captain. His service in the first naval ofiice in Connecticut was not of long continuance ; for soon after, war commenced between France and England, and in 1745 he went as captain of a company of Connecticut mUitia, under Colonel Pepperell, in the New England expedition against Louisburg.
He had previously settled in New Haven, where he married a Miss Mary Clap, the daughter of President Clap of Yale College, and in a quiet home he had purchased, was enjoying his honeymoon when called to go on this Louisburg expedition. The spirit of New England, at this period, had in it as much religious fanaticism as patriotic regard for justice and national honor, and military ardor was much warmed b}' sec- tarian zeal in this expedition. Banners were borne with religious mottoes, and a hatchet, which had been consecrated for the occasion, was carried on a Chap- lain's shoulder to hew down the images in the Papal churches of the devoted city against Avhich the expe- dition was undertaken. The incidents of the expedi- tion are well known in history, and give a romance to many of its pages. One of them is connected with the name of Captain Wooster, which serves well to illus- trate the spirit of the times, and shows with what care he watched the well-being of those under his command. A British captain had ventured to strike with his rattan one of Wooster's men, who was n freeholder and a
11
314 Washington's masonic compeers.
church memher. Woostee was indignant that a soldier of siicli claims to consideration should receive a blow, and remonstrated with the British officer for thus abusing his man. The foreign captain resented his interference, and di'ew his sword upon him. But he at once disarmed him, and compelled him to ask pardon of the Connecticut soldier, and promise never again to disgrace with a blow a soldier in the service. This act endeared Captain Wooster to his men, and gained him the applause of the provincial army.
At the close of this expedition he was sent in charge of a cartel ship to France, but was not permitted to land in that kingdom, and went with his ship to Lon- don, He was received there with marked distinction, and honored with a captain's commission in the regular service. He returned soon afterwards to America, and at this period our earliest records of his Masonic life commence. It is probable that he was made a Mason while in England. Lord Ceanston was at that time Grand Master in England, and upon the acquisition of Louisburg by the British crown, he gi-anted a Deputa- tion to Captain Cummins to establish a Pro"\Tncial Grand Lodge there.
Soon after Captain Wooster returned to New Haven he received a warrant from Thomas Oxnaed, Provincial Grand Master of Massachusetts, to estabhsh a Lodge m that city. It bore date November 12, 1750. It was the first Warranted Lodge in Connecticut, and the seventh in New Eiigland ; four having previously been organized in Boston, one in Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire, and one in Newport, Bhode Island. A warrant was also granted for a Lodge in Annapolis, Maryland,
Washington's masonic compeers. 315
by Thomas Oxnaed, about the same date as that in New Haven. The Lodge organized by David Wooster had at first but six members — \az. : David Wooster, Master ; Samuel Mansfield and John Eliot, Wardens ; and Nathan Whiting, Elihu Lyman, and Jehtel Tuttle, members. Its first meeting was in December, 1750. The Lodge was called Hiram Lodge, and still exists by that name as Lodge No. 1 of Connecticut.
The hollow peace between France and England was of short duration, and in 1756 Wooster was again called to take the command of Connecticut militia, with the rank of colonel. This contest is known in history as the old French and Indian war, and he served each year in its campaigns, from 1756 to 1760, and rose to the rank of a brigadier-general. On retiring again from mihtary service, he returned to New Haven as a half-pay ofiicer of the regular British army, and was appointed revenue collector of the port of his city. He also engaged successfully in mercantile pursuits, and led a life of domestic felicity.
Again the war of the Revolution found him as ready to draw his sword in defence of the colonies against the usurpations of England, as he had been to repel the invasions of Spain or France. His commission and his half-pay in the British army were at once re- linquished, his collectorsliip of the port resigned, and when the troops of tlie colony Avere organized, he was invested with their command, with his former rank as brigadier -general. It is related of him that Avhen his regiment was prepared to leave New Haven for tlie headquarters of the army, he marched it to the cliurcli- yard green, where his men stood in their ranks witli
316 Washington's masonic compeers.
their knapsacks on theii- backs, and their muskets in their hands, while he sent for his pastor, the Eev. Jon- athan Edwaeds, to come and pray with them, and give them a parting blessing. He then conducted his men into the church to await his pastor's coming. He was absent from home, and when this became known to General Woostee, he stepped into the deacon's seat in front of the pulpit, and calling on his men to join him in prayer, led their devotions with the fervent zeal of an apostle. So pathetically and so eloquently did he plead for his beloved country, for himseK and the men under his command, and for the families they left be- hind them, that it affected all, and drew tears from many eyes. How true to the first sublime lesson in Masonry, which teaches us at the commencement of aU laudable undertakings to implore the aid and blessing of God, was his act on this occasion !
The first miUtary service of General Woostee during the Eevolution, was in guarding New York. In the spring of 1776, he was sent in the expedition to Canada ; and during the following winter and spring he was in command in his own State, guarding it from the attacks of the British, who lay at New York. When, in April of 1777, Governor Teyon made an incursion on Dan- bury, he led a body of mihtia in an attack on the in- vaders at Kidgefield, and fell mortally wounded at the head of his forces, on the 27th of that month. His wound was by a musket-ball in his spine, and he was borne to Danbury, where he expired on the 2d of May, at the age of sixty-seven years, and was interred in the public burial-ground of that town. Upon learning of his death, Congress voted that a monument should be
«
Washington's masonic compeeks. 817
erected to his memory, but it was not done, and for nearly fourscore years no permanent memorial marked liis grave. The legislature of his native State, in whose defence he died, however, resolved to perform this long neglected duty, in which they were joined by the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, and the corner-stone of a befitting monument over his grave was laid by the Grand Master of the State, on the 27th of April, 1854, according to the ancient ceremonies of the Fraternity. Among the deposits under this stone was the identical bullet by which General WoosTEE was slain. Above this stone, a monument, beautifully wrought with civic and Masonic emblems and inscriptions, now rises. It was well thus to mark his grave ; but his deeds are his true monument, — lasting as the granite hills of New England, fi'om which the craftsmen wrought the tower- ing shaft that rises over his dust.
Thomas "Wooster, the only son of General Wooster, was also a Mason. He was initiated in Hiram Lodge, April 14, 1777, a few days previous to his father's death. He was then about twenty-five years of age. Before the close of the Revolutionary War, the Ma- sonic brethren in Colchester, Connecticut, obtained a warrant from the Massachusetts Grand Lodge for a Lodge in that town, which they denominated Wooster Lodge. It bore date January 12, 1781. A second Lodge, bearing that name, was also chartered by the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, a few years ago, in New Haven. The names of Warren, Montgomery, and Wooster became a standing Masonic toast during the war, commemorative of their virtues as patriot Masons, who fell early in their country's defence.
PIERPONT EMARBS,
THE FIRST GRAXD MASTER OF CONNECTICUT.
Peerpont Edwards, tlie first Grand Master of Masons in Connecticnt, was born in Northampton, Massachu- setts, in 1750. His father was the Eev. Jonathan Ed- wards, who afterwards became president of the college in Princeton, New Jersey, and his mother was a daughter of the Kev. James Pierpont of New Haven. The memory of both has been preserved for their piety and talents. A few weeks after the birth of their son Peerpont, who is the subject of this sketch, Mr. Edwards was dismissed from his pastoral charge of the church in Northampton, and soon after removed to Stockbridge, in the same State, as a missionary to the Stockbridge Indians. He remained there for six years ; and the only school in the vicinity was composed of both Indian children and those of white parentage. The constant association of these young urchins to- gether in theii' studies and then- sports, rendered many of them equally fluent in the native language of each other. The elder brother of Pierpont, who was six years his senior, was said by the natives to " speak as plain as an Indian." Surrounded by such cu-cum- stances, young Pierpont learned to lisp his early wants as readily in Indian as in his mother tongue, but we
Washington's masonic compeeks. 319
know not whether he retained a knowledge of that dialect when he came to manhood. His brother after- wards went to reside with one of the Western tribes in New York, to improve in his knowledge of their lan- guage and customs, with a view on his father's part of his becoming a missionary among them when of suit- able age. He, however, chose a different field of use- fulness for himseK, and became afterwards president of Union CoUege in Schenectady.
When PiERPONT was about six years of age, his father left his residence in Stockbridge and removed to Princeton, New Jersey, where he had been elected president of the college. His labors there, however, were short, for in less than a year he died ; and his amiable widow's death soon followed, and the future Grand Master of Connecticut was left a full orphan before he was eight years old. Though thus early be- reft of his parents, he received the fostering care of kind friends ; was educated, we beUeve, at Yale, and set- tled in New Haven as an attorney at law. In that city, at the age of twenty-five years, he was made a Mason in old Hiram Lodge. His initiation was on the 28th day of December, 1775. It was the oldest Lodge in- the State, and he was subsequently elected its jMaster.
About the close of the Revolution in 1783, thirteen of the old Lodges in Connecticut met in Convention in New Haven to estabUsh some general regulations for the good of Masonry in that State, and of this Conven- tion Pu:npoNT EuwAKDS was a member from Hiram Lodge in that city, and was appointed Secretary of the body. He was also chosen l)y it as one of a com- mittee of four to act as general guardians of Masonry
320 WASHIlsrGTON's MASONIC COMPEERS.
in that State. All the Lodges in Connecticut at this time were held under authority that liad been granted by pre-revolutionary Provincial Grand Masters on this continent, and as their authority was now at an end, the Lodges in the State met again in convention by delegates in Hartford on the 14th of May, 1789, to con- sider the propriety of forming a Grand Lodge for that jurisdiction.
Peerpont Edwards was a delegate also to this Con- vention, and was appointed chairman of a committee to prepare a plan for forming a Grand Lodge, to sub- mit to a convention of delegates to be held at New Haven on the 8th of July following. When the Convention met, Mr. Edwards presented the plan he had formed for a Grand Lodge, together with a constitution for its government, which were adopted ; and upon a ballot being taken for its Grand Master, he was elected to that office, and held it for two suc- cessive years, when he was succeeded by William Judd.
Mr. Edwards was distinguished in civil as well as Masonic life. He was a member of Congress under the old confederation, but of the particulars of his public history we have not the records before lis. He died on the 14tli of April, 1826, at the age of seventy- six years. His son, Henry W. Edwards, who after- wards became governor of that State, was also a Mason, having been initiated in Hiram Lodge, February 2, 1809. He was also a member of Franklin Iloyal Arch Chapter in New Haven, having been exalted June 14, 1810. On the 16th of October, 1818, Governor Edwards also became a member of Harmony Council of Royal and Select Masters in that city.
JABEZ BOWEN, LL.D.,
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND, AND GRAND MASTER OF MASONS IN THAT STATE.
Jabez Bowen was born in Providence, Kliode Island, about tlie year 1740. Of his youth and jDarentage we have no account. He graduated at Yale College in 1757, while yet in his minority, and afterwards became chancellor of the college in Providence as the successor of Governor Hopkins. He held the chanceUorship»for thirty years. During the Eevolutionary War he was devoted to the cause of his country, was a member of the Board of War, judge of the Supreme Court, and lieutenant-governor of his State. He was also a mem- ber of the State convention to take into consideration the constitution of the General Government when it was formed. During the administration of Washing- ton, after Rhode Island had accepted of the constitu- tion, he was the Commissioner of loans for his State. With a gi'eat capacity for public business, and of un- questionable integrity, he gained an elevated character and great influence in society.
Governor Bowen was a Mason, and rose to the higli- est rank in the Fraternity. We are unable to give the flate of his initiation, but in 1762 he was the Junior Warden of St. John's Lodge in Providence. Ho also
322 WASHIKOTOX'S MASOXIC COMPEERS.
held tlie same office from 1765 to 1769, when the labors of his Lodge were for a few years suspended. St. John's Lodge had been organized in 1757, and at the close of 1769 it had so declined that at its meetings no more than eight were usually present.
" Thus discouraged, without numbers, without funds, and without accommodations, they closed the Lodge, shut up the books, and sealed up their jewels."
Jabez Bo'U'EN was at this time its Junior Warden, We may imagine the Genius of Masonry weeping over that deserted Lodge, and saying, as she departed —
" Those walls are tott'ring to decay ;
There's dampness on the stair; But well I mind me of the day,
TVTien twoscore men met there — When twoscore brothers met at night,
The full round moon above, To weave the mystic chain of light,
With holy link.-^ of love."
Upon the loth of Jul}', 1778, Jabez Bowen received a commission from John Eowe, Provincial Grand Master of Massachusetts, to reopen this Lodge and act as its Master. It was during the midst of the Revolutionary War, and they met by permission of the State authori- ties in the council-chamber. The genius of Masonry returned ; the Lodge was reorganized under its new Master, and upon St. John the Evangelist's day, in De- cember of that year, held a pubUc celebration which was largely attended by brethren of the army who
Washington's masonic compeers. 323
were stationed in that State. The address on the oc- casion was delivered by General Vaenum. It was the first Masonic celebration ever held in Providence, and seventy-one members of the Fraternity were present.
Jabez Bowen continued to preside over St. John's Lodge as Master until the close of 1790, a period of nearly thirteen years. In 1791 a Grand Lodge was formed in Rhode Island, and he was elected its first Deputy Grand Master. He continued to hold this office for three years, and in 1791 was elected Grand Master. He held this oflice until the close of 1798.
The official labors of Mr. Bowen in Masonry covered a period of twenty years after the revival of his Lodge, and during the same time he was constantly engaged in public employments. In the religious improvement of society he also took a deep interest. He was a member of the Congregational church in Providence, and president of the Bible Society of Rhode Island. He lived a life of usefulness, and died lamented, on the 7th day of May, 1815, at the age of seventy-five years.
COLONEL WILLIAM BARTON,
THE RHODE ISLAND MASOX WHO CAPTURED THE BRITISH GEXERAI PRESCOTT.
Among tlie names of Masonic brethren -wliicli the revohitionary annals of our country introduce on the pages of history, and distinguished bj one bold act, stands that of Colonel WnjJAJvr Baeton, who success- fully planned and effected the capture of the British General Pkescott. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1750 ; but of his parentage and early life we
WASHINGTOJSr's MASOXIC COMPEEES. 325
have no account. He took up arms in defence of his colony soon after the Eevokition commenced, and in 1777 we find him holding a commission as lieutenant- colonel in the Rhode Island troops, and active in de- fending his State against the British forces under Gen- eral Pkescott.
Pkescott was an arrogant and tyrannical officer, and he made himself particularly obnoxious to the citizens of Ehode Island ; for his persecutions ex- tended not only to prisoners taken in war, but to pri- vate unarmed citizens, and even women and children. All classes were ahke made objects of his cruelty. His headquarters were at the house of a Quaker by the name of Ovekton, about five miles from Newport. Incensed at the daily reports of his tja'anny and in- solence to citizens, Colonel Baeton determined, if pos- sible, to effect his capture. For this purpose he en- gaged a few trusty men, and on a sultry night in July of 1777, he embarked with them in whaleboats, and crossed Narraganset Bay from Warwick Point, passing through the British fleet, and landing in a sheltered cove near Pkescott's headquarters.
In the darkness of that night, they had passed the guard-boats of the British with muffled oars, and had heard the sentinel's cry of " AlFs well," without being discovered. Colonel Barton now divided his comrades into two bands, and approached the house where the British commander slept. As they came to the gate, a sentinel hailed them and demanded the countersign. "We have no countersign to give," boldly repHed Colonel Barton. " Have you seen any deserters here to-night ?" continued he in the same cool and collected
326 Washington's masonic compeers.
voice. Deceived by their manner, the sentifiel sup- posed them friends ; nor did he suspect the truth, until his musket was seized and he was secured and threat- ened with instant death if he made anj noise.
Colonel Barton then entered the house boldly, and found the Quaker host reading, while all the other in- . mates were in bed. He inquired for General Pres- cott's room, and the Quaker pointed him to the cham- ber. With five men he then ascended the stairs, and tried the general's door; but it was locked. No time was to be lost, and a negro who was in the party, drew back a few steps, and with a blow hke a battering- ram, burst the door iq with his head. Prescott sup- posed he was in the hands of robbers, and seized his gold watch to secure it ; but Colonel Barton quickly undeceived him by telling him he was his prisoner, and that his safety lay only in his perfect sUence. He begged time to dress ; but as it was a hot July night, his captors compelled him to delay his toilet until they could afford him more time ; and he was taken in his night-clothes to their boat, and safely conveyed to Warwick Point, undiscovered by the sentinels of the fleet. The captive was kept silent during this mid- night boat-ride, by a pistol at each ear ; and when he landed, he first broke the silence by saying :
"Su-, you have made a bold push to-night."
"We have been fortunate," coolly rephed Colonel Barton.
General Prescott was conveyed that night in a coach to Providence, and was subsequently sent to Washington's headquarters in New Jersey. On his way there he stopped with his escort to dine at the
Washington's masonic compeers. 327
tavern of Captaiu Alden, iu Lebanon, Connecticut. The landlady set before them a bowl of succotash, a well-known Yankee dish composed of corn and beans. The haughty British captive supposed it an intentional insult, and indignantly exclaimed, " What ! do you feed me with the food of hogs ?" at the same time strewing the contents of the dish upon the floor. Captain Alden was soon informed of the outrage, and at once gave the British general a horsewhipping. Prescott, for the second time a captive, was exchanged for Gen- eral Lee, and returned to his command in Rhode Island ; but that he did not soon forget his castigation by the Connecticut landlord, is seen by his afterwards excusing himseK for some discourtesy to an American gentle- man, by saying : " He looked so much Uke a d — d Connecticut man that horsewhipped me, that I could not endure his presence."
Colonel Barton was rewarded for his gallant services in capturing General Prescott, by a vote of thanks from Congress, accompanied by an elegant sword ; and also by a grant of land in Vermont. He was also pro- moted to the rank and pay of colonel in the Continen- tal army. He did not, however, long remain in active service ; for in an action at Butt's Hill, near Bristol Ferry, in August of 1778, he was so badly wounded as to be disabled for the remainder of the war.
In 1779, Colonel Barton was made a Mason in St. John's Lodge in Providence, Eliode Island. Of his subsequent Masonic history we have no record.
The lands Congress gave him in Vermont, proved in after-years an unfortvmato gift ; for in some transac- tion growing out of the sale of them, he became en-
328 Washington's masonic compeers.
tangled in the meslies of tlie law, and under the code of that State, he was imprisoned in his old age for many years in the debtor's cell.
"When General La Fayette visited this country in 1825, hearing of the imprisonment of the revolutionary veteran and its cause, he paid the claim and restored his venerable fellow-soldier and Masonic brother to liberty. Though kindly intended, it was a national rebuke, as well as a rebuke to the " Shylock who held the patriot in bondage, and clamored for the pound of flesli." It was this circumstance which drew from the poet Whittier his touching lines on The Prisomr for Debt :
" What has the gray-haired prisoner done? Has murder stain'd his hands with gore ? Not so ; his crime's a fouler one :
God made the old man poor ! For this he shares a felon's cell, The fittest earthly type of hell 1 For this, the boon for which he pour'd Eis young blood on the invader's sword, — And counted light the fearful cost! — His blood-gain'd liberty is lost."
Colonel Barton lived to the age of eighty-four years, and died at Providence in 1831, venerated and beloved by all who knew him.
I
JOHN SULLIVAN, LL. D.,
A MAJOR-GEXERAI, OB^ THE REVOLUTION ; FIRST GRAND IIASTER OP THE GRAND LODGE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND GOVERNOR OF THAT STATE.
John Sullivan, the first Grand Master of Masons in New Hampshire, was of Irish descent. His father emi- grated from Ireland to this country and settled in Ber- wick, in Maine, a few years before his birth. There, on the 17th of February, 1740, the subject of our sketch
330 Washington's masonic compeers.
was born. He was his father's oldest son, and his early years were spent in assisting him upon his farm. When he came to manhood he studied law, and was regularly admitted by the court as an attorney. He estabhshed himseK in his profession in Durham, New Hampshire, and soon rose to distinction as an attorney and pohtician. In 1774 he was sent as a delegate fi'om New Hampshire to the Continental Congress. On his return home, he was engaged with some other distinguished patriots of his State in taking possession of the British fort in the harbor of Portsmouth. It was a bold act, and one hundred barrels of powder and a quantity of cannon and small-arms were secured for the future use of the colonists by the transaction.
He was re-elected to Congress the following year, and remained in it until his services were required in his own State, when he returned home with a commis- sion as one of the eight brigadier-generals which Con- gress appointed, and soon after repaired to Washing- ton's headquarters at Cambridge. When the Conti- nental army was organized in 1776, he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and was sent to take the command of troops in Canada. He was not successful in this expedition ; was superseded in command of the northern division by General Gates, and joined the army of TVashington at New York. Here the illness of General Geeeke placed him in command of his divi- sion at the battle of Brooklyn, in which he was taken prisoner. Being soon after exchanged for General Prescott, he again joined the army, and was placed in command of one of its four divisions. He was with Washington at the battles of Brandywine and Ger-
Washington's masonic compeers. 331
mantown, but while the army was quartered the fol- lowing winter at Valley Forge, he was sent to Rhode Island to take command of the troops stationed in that State. In the summer of 1778 he besieged the British force at Newport ; but the want of the desired co-oper- ation of the French fleet prevented his full success.
WhUe in command in Ehode Island in the autumn of 1778, our first Masonic record relating to General Sullivan as a Mason appears. It was the permission granted by him to the Brethren under his command to join in the Masonic Festival of St. John, on the 28th of December of that year, in Pro\idence, General Varnum, who was also stationed in Khode Island, de- livered the Masonic address that day.
General Stjllivan had doubtless been made a Mason previous to the Bevolution, but we have seen no record of the time or place. In the spring of 1779 he Avas called into a new field of operations, being sent in com- mand of the expedition against the Indians and Tories of New York. In this service he was accompanied by General Clinton, and Colonel Peoctoe with his regiment of Pennsylvania artillery, in which a Militarj- Lodge had recently been organized under Colonel Peoctoe as Master.
This expedition, successful in its designs but tragic in its events, was a distinct feature in the war of the Bevolution ; and the pages of our country's history have invested with a kind of romance the details of its prog- ress and consummation. From the commencement of the war, the loyalists of the north had been joined with the Indians of the Six Nations in New York in cruel and destructive warfare on our nortliwestern
332 Washington's masonic compeers.
borders. In Canada and along the miglitj lakes and rivers of the north were British fortresses, in whose strongholds the loyalists found safe retreat and shel- ter from danger ; and between these and the settle- ments and towns of the States which were in arms against the king, were the hunting-grounds and the war-j^aths of the Iroquois. Here, for years which they numbered by the leaves of their forest-trees, their old men and their women had rudely cultivated rich inter- val lands along the streams, and in many favorite places their cone-like cabins had clustered into vil- lages. Around these the fruit-trees of their distant civilized neighbors had been planted and grown to maturity, and abundant cornfields supplied their wants when the fortunes of the chase failed them.
From these British fortresses upon the lakes, and the intervening wilderness fastnesses between them and the American settlements, the loyahsts and In- dians commingled together, and fell in predatory bands on many defenceless towns and "villages, whose natural defenders were absent in the general defence of the country under Washington. Like arrows from an un- seen bow, or fire-bolts from a manthng summer-cloud, they often came when and where they were least ex- pected, and retired so quickly that no trace was left of them except the work of the firebrand and the hatchet, or the blood-stained footsteps of their captives in their hurried return to the wilderness of the Iroquois or the forts at Niagara. The forest domains of New York were a hiding-place for loyalists, and a storehouse and home to the Indians. The leaders of the loyalists were Sir John Johnson, Colonel Guy Johnson, and
Washington's masonic compeers. 333
Colonels Butler and Glaus, all relatives, and all for- merly distingnished Masons of tlie Moliawk Valley, and members of St. Patrick's Lodge. Tlieii- Indian ally, Beant, the war-cliief, was also a Mason. To him his- tory has sometimes paid a tribute of respect for a re- membrance of his Masonic vows during the blood}' scenes of war, but to Johnson and Butler never. Their eyes had become blind to the Mason's sign, their ears deaf to the Mason's word. In the Masonic tradi- tions of the Kevolution, they have since stood as Ish- maehtes in Israel. But let the mantle we seek to draw over our own faults, in part cover theirs. History is not always impartial.
The expedition of General Sullivan in 1779 against these loyalists and Indians was a war measure, planned and approved by Washington as a punish- ment for the unjustifiable warfare of the allied loyahsts and Indians ; and by breaking up their strongliolds and destroying their means of subsistence, to prevent their future depredations on our unprotected settlements. Sternly he gave what he deemed a necessary command, and most faithfully and severely did General Sullivan execute it. History has told it on its pages, and we have only space for some of its incidents.
Having no previous mihtary road to use. General Sullivan was obliged to cut his pathway from Easton on the Delaware across a mountainous wilderness to "Wyoming on the Susquehanna. As ho approached the latter place, he sent a small advance company ahead under Captain Davis and Lieutenant Jones. They were met by a party of Indians, defeated, and the captain and lieutenant both slain and scalped.
334 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
Tliej were left by the Indians on the ground where they fell, and after their departure were hastily buried by their surviving comrades. Captain Davis and Lieu- tenant Jones were both Masons, and when General Stttt.wax reached the Yalley, he had their bodies taken up and reinterred at Wyoming with Masonic ceremo- nies. It was the first Masonic meeting ever held in that valley, and the procession of Brethren that bore the bodies of their slain companions fi'om their first resting-place in the forest, for a more decent inter- ment at Wyoming, was attended by the regimental band, which played Roslin Castle on their march. This Mihtary Lodge, on that occasion, met at the marquee of Colonel Proctoe. Neither history nor tra- dition has given us the names of Brethren present, but it is well known that a large number of the officers in that expedition were Masons, all of whom, Avhose duty permitted it, it is presumed, were present. The old town at Wyoming had, at that time, a few permanent inhabitants, whose descendants still reside there ; and traditions of these events have the most positive verity. Fifteen ^^ears later (1794) a Lodge was char- tered in the same place by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, which still exists as No. 61, at Wilkes- barre.
General Sullivan proceeded soon after on his expe- dition, following up the Susquehanna to its junction with the Tioga. Here, while awaiting the arrival of General Clinton who was to meet him with additional forces at this point, a Masonic funeral sermon on the death of Captain Davis and Lieutenant Jones was preached by Dr. PiODGERS, one of the chaplains of the
"Washington's masonic compeees. 335
expedition. This service was held on the 18th of August, and the text was from the seventh verse of the seventh chapter of Job, " Eemember that my hfe is ■^^nd." The progress of Masonry was thus following the footsteps of war in its advancement into the American wilder- ness. The sound of its gavel was renewed at old Tioga Point under a warrant granted by the Grand Lodge of Penhsylvania in 1796, for Lodge No. 70, which is still working but a few rods fi'om where t]jis Masonic ser- mon was j)reached in Fort Sullivan in 1779.
From the commencement of General Sullivan's wilder- ness march, the scouts of Beantt and his Tory associates Johnson and Butler had watched his progress. They no doubt knew his design was to penetrate the heart of the Indian coimtry, and perhaps proceed to Niagara. His superior numbers had now gained him an admis- sion to their House, as they termed their country, the south-door of which they said was at " Tioga Point." There General SuLUV.iN had been joined by two thou- sand men under General Clinton, making his number then five thousand.
With this strong force Brant, Johnson, and Butler saw General Sullivan enter the south-door of the Iro- quois, and proceed up the Tioga. ^Tien near what was afterwards called Newtown (now Ehnira), they laid an ambuscade and prepared to give him battle. His strength overcame their cunning and bravery, and de- feated and disheartened they fell back before his vic- torious army, and saw him destroy their cornfields, cut down their orchards, and burn their towns without again offering a united resistance. One of the inci- dents of this devastating march is painfully interesting,
336 WASHINGTON S MASONIC COMPEEES.
and of a character entitling it to a place in Masonic narrative.
After General Sullivan liad passed into the heart of the Indian country, and was near the Genesee River, lie sent Lieutenant Boyd with a guide and twenty-six men to reconnoitre an Indian town six miles ahead. His guide mistook the way, and on the return of the party, they were drawn into an ambuscade by Beant and BuTLEE with seyeral hundred Indians and rangers, as the loyalists were called, and nearly all his men were killed. Boyd was wounded, and with one of his party taken prisoner. He had been captured once before at the storming of Quebec, but then was exchanged. From the private ranks he had risen to that of lieuten- ant of a rifle company of the Pennsylvania division, and was about twenty-two years of age. He was the largest and most muscular man in his company, but having been wounded, he was now in the power of the enemy. Lieutenant Boyd was a Mason, and knowing the ferocity of the Indians after seeing their towTis burned, he gave to Beant, who was also a Mason, a sign of the Fraternity, claiming protection. The dusky chief recognized it and at once promised him his Hfe. But being called away soon after, Boyd was left in the care of General Butlee, who, as before stated, had formerly been a member of St. Patrick's Lodge on the Mohawk. Butlee demanded of the captive informa- tion which his fidelity to his own commander would not allow him to give. The scene became one of tragic interest. Enraged at the silence of Boyd, Butlee had him placed before him kneeling upon one knee, with an Indian on each side holding his arms, and another
Washington's masonic compeees. 337
standing behind him with a tomahawk raised over his head. Butlee inquired the number of Sullivan's men. " I cannot answer you," was Boyd's reply. He then inquired how his army was divided and disj)0sed. " I cannot give you any information, sir," again replied the heroic captive. Again, for the third time, Butlee harshly addressed him :
" Boyd, life is sweet ; you had better answer me."
" Duty forbids," was the reply ; " I would not, if life depended on the word."
Reader, contemplate the scene. Both were Masons ; the one haughty, imperious, and forgetful of his vows ; the other a captive in his hands, with fortitude un- daujited and fidehty unshaken, thrice refusing to be- tray his trust. Hjs last refusal cost him his life ; for before Brant returned to his captive, and unknown to him, Butlee delivered him into the hands of the in- furiated Indians about him, and, amidst tortures too horrid to describe, he fell a martyr to his trust. Thus feU Lieutenant Boyd on the 13th of September, 1779. His remains were found on the following day, and buried by order of General Sullivan on the borders of a small stream, where they lay undisturbed until 1841, sixty -two years after the event, when they were identi- fied, collected in an urn, and remterred with much cere- mony in Mount Hope Cemetery at Rochester.
General Sullr^an proceeded no further on this ex- pedition than the Indian towns on the Genesee, and returned to Tioga, still burning wigwams, and de- stroying every moans for subsistence within his reach. So dreadful and widespread was the devasta- tion he made, that ho was afterwards called by tho
ir,
338 Washington's masonic compeers.
Indians " The Town Destroyer." General Sullivan was absent from tlie headquarters of the army in this expedition abont five months, and on his return re- ceived the thanks of Congress for his services ; but he was dissatisfied with the action of the Board of War, pleaded ill-health, and resigned his commission in the army. He then retired to private life, and resumed his former profession. He was, however, immediately elected by the State of New Hampshire a delegate to Congress, and took his seat in that body in 1780. He left Congress after one year's service, and again re- turned to his profession. In 1783 he was appointed attorney-general of his State, helped to form its con- stitution, and was chosen a member of its council. In 1786 he was elected governor of New Hampshii'e, and held the office for three successive years.
During the last year that General Sullivan occupied the gubernatorial chair of his State, an independent Grand Lodge was formed in that jurisdiction, and he was elected its first Grand Master. Masonic lodges were not numerous in New Hampshire at that time; but five having then been organized in the State, and but one of these (St. John's at Portsmouth) preceding the Revolution. During the same year that General Sullivan was Grand Master of the State, he was also Master of this old lodge at Portsmouth. In Octo- ber of 1790, at a meeting of this Grand Lodge, Gen- eral Sullivan communicated to that body by letter the fact, that the alarming state of his health would no longer permit him to serve as Grand Master, at the same time expressing his grateful acknowledg- ments for the honor they had conferred upon him.
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS, 339
Dr. Hall Jackson was therefore elected Grand Master in Ills stead.
General Sullivan soon after received an appointment as Federal judge of liis district, and lield that office till the close of his life. He died on the 23d of Janu- ary, 1795, in the fifty- sixth year of his age. Twenty years of his life had been spent in pubKc service, but still he had found time to acquire a fund of general hterature, and had been honored by the university at Dartmouth with the degree of Doctor of Laws. He led a Hfe of usefulness, and his death was felt as a pub- lic loss.
'^^)J^i^ax^^^
GENERAL JAMES JACKSON,
GOVERNOR, AND GRAND MASTER OF GEORGIA.
The incidents of linmau life are sometimes so strange, that a faitliful narrative of tbem seems a work of romance ratlier tlian reality. Many a protraiture of heroes of the Revolution is rich with such incidents ; and of names thus characterized, stands that of James Jackson, of Georgia.
. WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 341
He was born iu Deyonsliire, in England, on tlie 21st of September, 1757. His father emigrated to America in 1772, and settled in Georgia, and joung Jackson, then fifteen years of age, became a student of law in Savannah. He loved his adopted country, and when its liberties were threatened by the English govern- ment he shouldered his musket to defend them. Pre- vious to the Revolution, Savannah had been a military station of the British troops ; and in 1774, when the controversy between the colonies and the English government began to be serious and threatening, the royal grenadiers proudly marched the streets of that city. This did not, however, deter the patriotic in- habitants from organizing as " Sons of Liberty" in common with the patriots of other colonies ; and early in 1776, the royal governor of Georgia found his au- thority there at an end.
It was at this period that young Jackson left his studies, took up his musket, and became a soldier. He was active in repelhng the invading force that threat- ened Savannah, and so well did he perform his duties, that in 1778, when but twenty-one years of ago, he was appointed brigade-major of the Georgia mihtia. In this capacity he saw active service, and was wounded in the skirmish on the Ogeechee, in which General ScRiVEN was killed.
At the close of that year, the British made an attack on Savannali, and it fell into their hands. Major Jack- son fought in its defence, but when compelled to yield to a superior force, he was among those who fled to South Carolina, and joined General Moultkie's brigade. The account of that dismal fliidit is full of romantic
342 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
iucidents. Hunger and fatigue had rendered his ap- pearance wretched and suspicious, and his foreign ac- cent induced some of the Whigs to suspect that he was a British spy. He was accordingly arrested, sum- marily tried, and condemned to be hung. He was taken to the fatal tree ; a rope was prepared, when a gentleman of reputation from Georgia recognized him and saved his life.
Major Jackson was soon after active in the terrible, but unfortunate siege of Savannah by the American and French forces in October of 1779 ; and in August, 1780, he joiued Colonel Clark's command, and was at the battle of Blackstocks. In 1781, General Pickens made him his brigade-major, and his zeal and patriot- ism infused new spirit into that corps. He was at the siege of Augusta in June of that year, and when the American forces took possession of it, he was left in command of its garrison. After this he was in com- mand of a legionary corps, and well sustained his repu- tation as a skilful of3&cer. Afterwards he joined Gen- eral Wayne at Ebenezer on the Savannah, and was the right-arm of his force until the evacuation of the Georgia capital by the British in 1782.
Major Jackson retired on the return of peace to Sa- vannah, and his patriotic services during the war were so highly appreciated, that the legislatm-e of Georgia gave him a house and lot in that city. He was mar- ried hi 1785. It was at this period of his life that we find our first records of his Masonic history. King Solomon's Lodge at Savannah, which had commenced its work under an old oak-tree in 1733 when the first settlement hi Georgia began, had belonged to the
Washington's masonic compeers. 343
branch of Masous denominated Moderns; but in February, 1785, it was proposed by Major Jackson, who was then one of its members, that they form themselves into a lodge of Ancients. The proposi- tion was referred to a committee, and was subse- quently agreed to, and the brethren were duly con- stituted by the usual ceremonies a Lodge of Ancient York Masons.
In 1786 an independent Grand Lodge was formed in Georgia by the former Provincial Grand Master, Gov- ernor Samuel Elbert's relinquishing all authority as such ; and of the new Grand Lodge thus formed, Gen- eral William Stephens was Grand Master, and General James Jackson (wlio had the same year been promoted to the rank of a brigadier-general), was his Deputy. The following year he was elected Grand Master, and held the office by re-election until the close of 1789, During the first year that he served as Grand Master he was elected governor of his State ; but he decHued the honor on account of his youth and inexperience, being then less than thirty years of age — a rare in- stance of genuine modesty that perhaps has no parallel in the history of our country. He was, however, elected soon after to a seat in the Federal Congress, and from 1792 to 1795 was a member of the United States Senate. Li the mean time he received the appointment of major- general.
In 1798 he was a member of the couvcnti(m that framed the constitution of the State of Georgia ; and it is said that that instrument was the work of his hand and brain. He was elected tlie first governor uudci- it, and held the office until 1801, \vli(ii lie was again
344: Washington's masonic compeers.
elected to the Senate of the United States, and held that position until his death, which occuiTed in the City of Washington on the 19th of March, 1806, in the forty- ninth year of his age. His remains were at first buried a few miles fi-om the city, but were subsequently re- moved and deposited in the congressional burial-ground at Washington. Upon the stone which marks the spot is an inscription by his friend and admii'er, John Kax- DOLPH, of Roanoke.
The record of his life is deeply engraven on the Ma- sonic, as well as general history of our country. It was during his Grand Mastership, and under his direc- tion, that the Grand Lodge of Georgia made strong efforts to unite all the Grand Lodges in America under one general head; and his correspondence on this sub- ject is stm to be found in the archives and on the record-books of most of the then existing Grand Lodges. The project, however, failed, and though at various times during the present century it has been pubhcly recommended by distinguished Masons, it has never yet been accomplished.
There have been other distinguished American Ma- sons by the name of Jackson, whose identity has some- times been confounded with his, where the name has been found in old lodge-records and documents. One of these was Dr. James Jackson, of Massachusetts, who was Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of xAu- cients in that State in 1780. Another was General Andrew Jackson, late President of the United States, who was in 1822-3 Grand Master of Masons in Ten- nessee. Dr. Hall Jackson was the second Grand Master of New Hampshire.
WILLIAM PJCHARDSON DAVIE,
GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROIJNA, AND GRAND MASTER OF MASONS IN THAT STATE.
William Kichardson Dayie, governor of North Caro- lina, and Grand Master of Masons in that State, was of English birth, having been born at Egremont, near White Haven, in England, on the 20tli of June, 1756. His father brought him to America when ho was but five years of age, and left him to the care of a 15*
346 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
maternal uncle, the Kev. William Eichaedson of South Carolina, by whom he was adopted as a son. There in the old Palmetto State he was reared and educated until he was fitted for college, when he was sent to Princeton, New Jersey, where he graduated in the fall of 1776, in the twenty-first year of his age.
During his senior year in college, the storm-cloud of w^ar burst on our land ; and when the British army was advancing upon the city of New York, he left his class, and became for a time a volunteer soldier ; but after the battle of Long Island, and the capture of the city, he returned to Princeton and completed his studies. His concluding lessons were taken within the roar of the British cannon, and he left Princeton just before Washington and his broken awny passed through that town in theu' flight towards the Delaware.
The young graduate then returned to his Southern home ; but he carried with him the remembrance of scenes he had witnessed at the North, and resolved to enter the field in defence of his adopted country, and resist the aggressions of his fatherland, as soon as an honorable post could be found. No position worthy of his talent at once offering itself, he engaged in the study of law at Salisbury, in North Carohna. But the fire of patriotism still burned in his breast, and as the war-clouds thickened, he joined a corps of dragoons as lieutenant, and marched towards Charleston, in South Carolina, to join the legion of Pulaski. In the battle of Stono Ferry, a few miles from Charleston, he was wounded in the thigh, and confined with his wound in the hospital for five months.
When he recovered, he returned to SaHsbury, and
Washington's masonic compeers. 347
resumed tJbe study of law. In 1780 a regiment of cav- aby was raised by tlie State of Nortli Carolina, and he received in it a commission as major. In the equip- ment of this troop, he is said to have expended the last shilling of his own private means, and as he mounted his war-horse, he had nothing but that mettled steed and his own good blade that he could call his own. He nobly aided Sumter in his operations on the Ca- tawba, and was at the battles of Hanging Rock, Eam- som''s Mills, and at Wahab's Plantation. For his ser- vices in that campaign, he was rewarded with the office of colonel.
When General Greene took command of the South- ern army in 1781, he appointed Colonel Davie his com- missary-general, and he was with that officer in his cele- brated retreat, and at the battles of Guilford, Hobkirk's Hill, and Ninety -six. It was at this trying hour, when the fate of the Southern army seemed to hang upon a brittle thread, when its numbers were reduced, its am- munition nearly exhausted, and its commissariat empty, that General Greene sent Davie to represent his con- dition to the government of North Carolina, charging him to give " no sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids," until relief could be obtained. But the dark days of Southern despondency soon passed away, and when the peace of 1783 smiled on the land, the heroes who had won American liberty returned to their former homes and peaceful avocations.
Colonel Davie left the army in the autumn of 1783, married a daughter of General Allen Jones, and com- menced the practice of law in Halifax, North Carolina. In this profession he soon became eminent, and was
34:8 Washington's masonic compeers.
cliosen a delegate to the convention that framed the Federal constitution. He was also commissioned in 1797 a major-general of the militia of the State, and in 1798, he was appointed under Washington a briga- dier-general in the army of the United States. In the same year he was also elected governor of the State of North Carolina, and was soon after appointed by President Adams an associate envoy extraordinary to France, with Elswoeth and Mueray.
Governor Da"\te was a Mason, but we are unable to state at what time, or in what lodge, he became a mem- ber of that Fraternity. He was twenty-seven years of age when he settled as a lawyer in Halifax. An old lodge had existed since 1767 in that town, but the sound of its gavel had ceased during the Eevolution. When peace was established, the old lodges of North Carolina resumed their labors, and in 1787 they all united to form an Independent Grand Lodge for that State. Of this Grand Lodge, Governor Davie became the third Grand Master, a position which he held for many years, and until he was sent as ambassador to France in 1799. It is presumed he was made a Ma- son in the " Koyal White Hart" Lodge at Halifax.
Governor Davie took a deep interest in the educational interests of his State, and was one of the foimders of the " North Carolina University," at Chapel HiU, the corner-stone of which he laid, as Grand Master of the State, on the 14th of April, 1798, in presence of aU the civil and Masonic dignitaries of North Carolina.
This stone, Masonic records state, was laid at the southeast comer of the edifice, according to Masonic usage at that day.
Washington's masonic compeers. 349
The procession was composed of the —
" Architect,
Mechanics and Peasants,
Grand Music,
Teacher and Students of Chatham Academy,
Students of the University,
The Faculty of the University,
The Gentlemen of the Bar,
The Honorable the Judges,
The Honorable the Council of State,
His Excellency the Governor,
The Trustees of the University,
The Masonic Craft, with
The Grand Master."
It was the most important public Masonic ceremony in North Carolina during the last century, and the Eev. Dr. C.VLDWELL, a member of the Faculty of the Uni- versity, delivered an oration on the occasion.
When Governor Davie returned fi'om France, he was engaged by President Adams in some Indian treaties ; but upon the death of his wife, in 1803, he withdrew fi'om public life, and died at Tivoli (some authorities say Camden), in South Carolina, in Decem- ber of 1820, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. On his retirement from the office of Grand Master, a lodge was chartered in Lexington, bearing the name of "Wil- liam E. Davie" lodge. It is still in existence. Another lodge called " Davie" was soon after chartered in Bertie County, but it has since ceased to exist.
RICHARD CASWELL,
GOVERNOR OP NORTH CAROLINA, AND GRAND MASTER OF MASONS IN THAT STATE.
EiCHAED Caswell, governor of Nortli Carolina, and Grand Master of the Masons in that State, was born in Maryland, on the 2d of August, 1729. His father was a merchant, and having met with some reverses in busi- ness, his son, EiCHAED, left the parental roof to seek his fortune in the new colony of North Carolina. His education and social standing. must have been good, for he bore letters of commendation fi*om the governor of Maryland to Governor Johnston, of North Carolina, and received employment in one of the public offices. He was appointed deputy surveyor of the colony, and also clerk of the court of Orange in 1753. He was then twenty-four years of age.
He soon afterwards married, and settled in Dobbs (now Lenoir) County. His first wife bore him one son, WiLLLOi, and died. He married a second wife, who was Saeah, the daughter of WiLLLyii Hekeitage, an emi- nent attorney, and under him he studied law, and was licensed to practise in the courts of that colony. In 1754 he had been chosen a delegate to represent the
WASHIISrGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 351
county of Johnston in the Colonial Assembly, and was honored "^dth a continuance of that appointment for sixteen successive years, the ten last of which he was speaker of the Lower House. He also bore a com- mission as colonel of the militia of his covmty, and as such, was joined with Governor Teyon in suppressing an uprising of the people in the first stages of colonial discontent at their taxations by the English govern- ment.
Caswell was then in the meridian of life, his education and position were such as to give him in- fluence in the colony, and he no doubt looked with dis- favor on the first opposition that was shown in North Carohna to the powers of the royal government. He could not, however, have long remained an advocate of the royal pretensions ; for in 1774 he was one of the delegates from his State to the General Congress at Pliiladel])hia, and was continued in this office in 1775. In September of that year he resigned his seat in Con- gress, to fill the office of treasurer of North Carohna.
The old colonial government under Governor Mar- tin, the last of the royal governors of North Carolina, had lost all its power after the second meeting of the General Congress at Philadelphia, and a body, calling itself the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, as- sumed the powers of government in that common- wealth. A declaration of rights, and a constitution, were adopted in 1776, and Richard Caswell was elected the first governor under it. He had been a member of the Provincial Congress that framed this constitution, had presided over that body as its pre- sident, and had also received from it the appoint-
362 Washington's masonic compeees.
ment of brigadier-general of the militia of the district of Newbern. He was continued as governor of North Carolina through the years of 1777, '78, and '79, and refused to receive any compensation for his services beyond his expenses.
In 1779 he took the field as brigadier-general, led the troops of North Carohna under General Gates, and was engaged at the disastrous battle of Camden. He after- wards was a member of the Senate of his State, was chosen its speaker, and held other offices of public trust, until 1784, when he was again elected governor of his State, and again held the office for two successive years, at the close of which, by the provisions of the constitu- tion, he became inehgible. In 1787 he was elected by the Assembly a delegate to the convention that framed the Federal Constitution in the city of Philadelphia, with power to appoint a substitute if he could not at- tend. William Blount was selected by him as his substitute, and his name stands on the national records as a delegate from North Carolina, instead of that of KiCHAED Caswell. In 1789 he was again elected to the Senate of his State, and also a member of the convention that finally ratified for North Carohna the Federal constitution.
"WTien the legislature of his State met in 1789, he was again speaker of the Senate :
"But his course was run. His second son, Richard, had been lost on his passage by sea from Charleston to New- bern, and the father certainly entertained the opinion that he had been taken by pirates, aiid carried to Algiers, or murdered. Tliis, and other events, threw a cloud over his
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COilPEEES. 353
mind from which he never recovered. While presiding- in the Senate, on the 5th of November, he was struck with a paralysis, and after lingering speechless till the 10th, he expired in the sixtieth year of his age. His body was, after the usual honors, conveyed to his family burial-place in Lenoir, and there interred with Masonic honors."
His funeral oration was cleliTered by Francis Xa\t]er Martin, of wliicli tlie following is a copy :
"Worshipful Sirs and Worthy Brethren — Bereft of him who conducted our works, we are met to discharge the tribute of a tear due to his memory. How deeply the rest of the community sympathizes with us, on this melancholy occasion, the attendance of a respectable number of our fel- low-citizens fully testifies.
" Shall our griefs terminate in sterile tears ? Shall this discourse, sacred to the memory of the Most Worshipful and Honorable Major-General Richard Caswell, Grand Master of the Masons of North Carolina, be, like the song of the un- tutored savage, the mere rehearsal of a warrior's achieve- ments ? No. In admiring the virtues that have rendered his death, like Josiah's lamented in Judea and Jerusalem, let us, as Christians and Masons, be stimulated, not to offer idle adulation to his manes, but to imitate, in the practise of every virtue, so bright a pattern.
" Nothing excites more powerfully to virtuous deeds, than the examples of those whom they have rendered con- spicuous. Man generally desires what he finds applauded in others. And, either because virtue appears more noble when he hears it praised, or less difficult when he sees it practised, he is stimulated thereto — as the lalior is not without reward, and remissness would be without excuse.
354 Washington's masonic compeers.
" The examples of the dead are no less powerful than those of the living. We look upon the virtues of the former with a greater degree of veneration, as we view those of the latter with a greater degree of envy ; perhaps, because, death having crowned them, we are willing to believe that posterity j^'aises without flattery, as it praises without interest — or rather (for Avhy should the real reason be concealed in this temple of truth?) because our pride will not suffer us to acknowledge them.
" To convene the people when some illustrious popular character has terminated his career, and to improve the op- portunity of exciting them to patriijtic virtues, is an ancient custom, frequent instances of which occurred in sacred and profane history. The heart of man, however obdurate, when operated upon by grief, or the idea of a future state, is pre- pared to receive such favorable impressions ; as the stiff and close-grained stone becomes pliant and ductile when heated by the fire of the furnace.
" Thus we read that the corpse of C^sar, having been brought into the Forum of the then metropolis of the world, Antony, holding up that Dictator's garment, addressed the Roman people : ' You well know,' said he, ' this mantle. I remember the first time C^sar put it on. It was on the day he overcame the Nervii. If you have tears to shed, prepare to shed them now.'
" With as much propriety can I rise to-day, and address- ing you, say :
"You well know these badges. They are the insignia of Masonry — of a society which, for its antiquity and utility, acknowledges no equal among the institutions of the sons of man. Behold the white apron that was girded on him, the loss of whom we bemoan, on the day he became a Ma- son ! He has left it to you unsullied. He has left it to j^ou,
Washington's masonic compeees. 855
decorated with those marks of dignity to which merit alone gives title.
" If you have tears to shed, prepare to shed them now.
" He is no more. No longer shall he, like the eastern sun, illuminate our lodges ; no longer shall he plan or direct our works.
"You well know, fellow-citizens, that sword, emblem- atical of Supreme Executive Authority. I remember the first time it was delivered to him. It was on the day we shook off the British domination and became a People.
" If you have tears to shed, prepare to shed them now.
" He is no more. No longer shall he wield the sword of justice attempered by mercy. No longer shall he preside in your councils, or lead you to the hostile field.
" To enter here into a minute detail of the services he rendered you, would be to premise that they may be ob- literated from your memory — you remember them. Breth- ren and fellow-citizens, they cannot have been forgotten.
" It was he who headed 'you on the day j^ou broke down the superior phalanx of Scotch troops, at Moor's Creek ; and thereby preserved the cause of freedom from the deadly blow this re-enforcement would have enabled our enemies to strike.
" It was he who presided in the Assembly of Patriots, who framed that instrument, which defined your rights and the authority of your rulers, and has secured your liberties to this day.
" It was he whom your united voices twice called to the supreme magistracy of this State — and it was he who, but a few days ago, still filled the chair of your Senate.
"If his pu1)lic character afi'ords a vast field to the pane- gyrist's fancy, his private one deserves no less attention and
356 Washington's masonic compeers.
praise. In it wc shall always find an example worthy of imitation.
" Public virtue may procure a more shining reputation, but domestic virtue gives a more solid merit. The former, when unsupported by the latter, is, in the warrior, a thirst of glory — in the civil ruler, a thirst of power.
" A single instance of momentary intrepidity may make a name to the chieftain ; but a continued spirit of modera- tion alone characterizes the virtuous individual.
" Valor is a noble passion, which evinces a greatness of soul. But too oft it is a vain generosity excited by am- bition, and which has for its aim the mere gratification of a selfish pride ; an inconsiderate boldness justified by success ; a blind ferocity which stifles the voice of humanity, and by the tears it causes to flow, and the blood of its victims, tar- nishes the laurels of the vanquisher.
" Domestic virtue, on the contrary, is so perfect, that it is laudable even in its excesses. It is peaceable and con- stant, and springs from a meekness and tenderness which regulate desire ; and giving the virtuous individual the command of his own, causes him to reign over the hearts of others. The one excites astonishment and fear ; the other commands reverence and love.
"The Swede boasts of the name of Charles XII., but blesses that of GusTAVus Vasa.
" In him, of whom the hand of death has bereft us, pub- lic and domestic virtues were ever united. Not satisfied in watching wnth unremitted attention over the welfare of the community, he anxiously endeavored to promote the felicity of its members. Blest with a complacency of dis- position and equanimity of temper which peculiarly endeared him to his friends, he commanded respect even from his enemies. The tender sensibility of his heart was such, that
Washington's masonic compeers. 357
he needed but to see distress, to feel it and contribute to its relief. Deaf to the voice of interest, even in the line of his profession, wlienever oppressed indigence called for his as- sistance, he appeared at the bar without even the hope of any other reward than the consciousness of having so far promoted the happiness of a fellow-man.
"Such is. Worshipful Sirs and worthy brethren, the char- acter of one whose lessons shall no longer instruct us, but the remembrance of whose virtues will long continue to edify us.
" Such is, fellow-citiz6ns, the character of one who bore so great a share in the Revolution by which you became a nation ; who, during his life, was ever honored with some marks of your approbatiou, and whose memory will, I doubt not, be embalmed in your affections.
" Shades of Warren, Moxtgomery, and Mercer ! and ye shades of those other Columbian chiefs who bore away the palm of political martyrdom ! attend, receive, and welcome, into the happy mansions of the Jud, a soul congenial witli those of your departed heroes, and meriting alike our es- teem, our gratitude, and our tears.''
Governor Caswell was a Mason, and as such had received the highest honors of the Fraternity in his State, being the second Grand Master of North Caroli)ia after its Independent Grand Lodge was formed in 1787, and holding the office at the time of his dcatli. He had been preceded, as Grand Master, by Samuel John- ston, who was governor of North Carolina at the death of Governor Caswell; and his successor, as Grand Master, was Willlvjvi Richardson Davie, who h(!ld the office for nine years, during the last of which, ho was also governor of the State, Thus from the in-
358 Washington's masonic compeers.
dependence of that State, until tlie last year of the century, each of her three governors was also the Grand Master of the Masons of North Carolina. To commemorate the Masonic virtues of its first two Grand Masters, a lodge was chartered at Warrenton with the name of " Johnston-Caswell Lodge ;" and another in Caswell County, was called " Caswell Brotherhood," both of which are now extinct.
eZl
crr-:^-^
DR. JAMES MILNOR,
GRAND MASTER OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Dr. James Milnor was the son of William Mh.nor of Philadelphia. Ho was born in that city on the 20t]i of June, 1773, and was by birthright a Quaker, His education was received at the public-schools in Phila- delphia and in the university of Pennsylvania. At the age of sixteen he left the university and commenced the study of law, and before he was twenty years-one of
360 Washington's masonic compeees.
age was admitted to the bar. This was in 1794, and he settled in the practice of his profession in Norris- town, a few miles from Philadelphia. Norristown was then a small Tillage but ten years old. It was in a German district, and the inhabitants there, when James Milnor settled in it as a lawyer, mostly spoke the German language. He had acquired a knowledge of that dialect in the schools of his native city, and was thus enabled to accommodate himself to the wants of a community where the common business was trans- acted in German. He soon rose to distinction in his profession, and had the confidence of his fellow-citizens as an able and honest lawyer. While thus engaged at Norristown, he was made a Mason in old Lodge No. 31, of that place. His initiation took place in August, 1795. He was then twenty-two years of age. He was soon after elected Master of this Lodge ; but on re- mo\dng the following year to Philadelphia, he became a member of Lodge No. 3, in that city. His affiliation with this Lodge was on the 6th of September, 1796, and he was afterwards its Treasurer.
When Mr. Melnoe returned to Philadelphia, he engaged in the practice of his profession in that city. In 1799 he married a lady who was by education an Episcopahan ; and as the marriage ceremony was per- formed by a clergyman of that denomination, it gave offence to his Quaker brethren that he should be mar- ried by a " hireling priest," and this being contrary to their established " discij^Jine," he was " disoivned" and his membership with the Quakers ceased forever.
In 1805, Mr. Milnoe was chosen a member of the city council, and held the position fi'om 1805 until 1809,
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 361
during the latter year being its president. He was very popular with the people, and in 1810 yielded to the earnest wishes of his political friends, and reluc- tantly consented to become a candidate for Congress, He was elected, and his great popularity is shown by his being the only Federal candidate on the city ticket that succeeded. He remained in Congress until 1813, and was a steady oj^ponent of the war and the bel- ligerent measures of the administration. Henry Clay was then speaker of the House ; and taking great offence at some remark of Mr. Milnor, he challenged him to a duel. Mr. Milnor declined the proffered combat ; for he would not consent that any one should presume to call him to account for words spoken in debate, and he also deemed duelling a cowardlj' prac- tice. Mr. Clay did not press the matter further ; and in after-years they met on the most friendly terms.
On becoming Master of Lodge No. 31, Mr. Milnor became a member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl- vania ; and although he had at the time been a mem- ber of the Order but about two years, he was put upon a committee to revise the " Rules and Regulations" of the Grand Lodge of that State. In 1798 he was elected Senior Grand Warden ; in 1799 and 1800 he was re-elected to the same office ; in 1801 and 1803 he was Deputy Grand Master ; and in 1805 he was elected Grand Master of Pennsylvania, and continued to liold that office by annual re-election, until the close of 1813. During his Grand Mastership he was also, ex-qfficio, Grand High Priest of tlio Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania.
No Grand Master of Pennsylvania ever took a 1«
362 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
deeper interest in the welfare of the Grand Lodge and the good of Masonry than Jasees Milnok. His charges and addresses were full of instmction, and his constant theme was the inculcation of charity and brotherly love. During his Grand Mastership the old Masonic Hall in Chestnut-street was erected ; and on its dedication on the 24tli of June, 1811, he dehv- ered, at St. John's Church, a pubhc oration. At its close, a distinguished fi'iend and Brother said to him, as they were leaving the church : " Why, Eight Wor- shipful, you are cut out for a clergyman." Little did that Brother then dream that the thought would one day be reahzed.
La December, 1811, Mr. Milnor was invited, as Grand Master of Pennsylvania, to visit the Lodge at Alexandria, Yirginia, of which Washington was for- merly Master. On this occasion Colonel Deneale, the Master of the Alexandria Lodge, welcomed its distin- guished visitor with an address, from which we give the following extract :
" Lost in amazement must be that brother, when reflecting' on his own imperfection, upon finding he has been called, by the partiality of his brethren, to a station where once presided the ornament, and in whom centred the universal love of Masons; who condescended to level himself down from his exalted and towering eminence, and square him- self here with his brethren in Masonry, laboring with them till midda^y, and, when called from labor to refreshment, entering into all the festive gayety, and innocent amusement of the Craft, even in his latter days; and although that fell destroyer, Time, has mowed down and removed from us, and, we hope, exalted to the high degree of companiofls
"WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 363
with him in the Grand Lodge above, most of the brethren and companions of his juvenile days, yet they have left us an example worthy of imitation. The few survivors, by whom the sacred charge of this charter was committed to our care, have been rendered by age incapable of laboring with us in the meridian sun. They have retired to the shade, rich in the affection of their younger brethren, and ornaments to that society in which they move. These will undoubtedly prove ample incentives to the officers who shall ever preside here, to respect religion; walk in obedi- ence to the precepts of the great book of the law given us as the rule of our faith; to preside with parental care; ad- monish with temperance; check vicious propensities; extend the hand of charity in silence; and induce the brethren to labor justly."
To this Grand Master Milnor repKed :
" WoBSHiPFUL Master axd Bretiihex — The associations connected with the present meeting, are of the very oppo- site kinds. To receive and to reciprocate the friendly at- tentions of my brethren; to recognize in that portion of them, whose respected call has brought me amongst them, the neighbors, the friends, the associates of our sainted Wash- ington; to enjoy communion with the bod}' over which his mild virtues and dignified, yet fraternal manners, have so often shed a lustre; and to add to these causes of gratu- lation, the pleasing recollection of your liaving originally emanated from the Grand Lodge with whose honor and inter- ests my feelings are so nearly allied, fm iiish causes of exulta- tion and delight, which can be felt better than described.*
* The Lodge at Alexandria first worked under a charter granted by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1783; in 1788 it took a new charter from the Grand Ixjdge of Virginia.
364 Washington's masonic compeers.
" Yet how is this combiuatiou of enlivening circumstances clouded by the sad x-emembrauce that the great man, whose labors in the field and in the cabinet purchased independence and all its blessings for his country, and unfading renown for himself, while the benevolent graces of his personal demeanor in the bosom of the Lodge secured the fond attach- ment of his brethren, no longer adorns the East of this sacred temple! Ah! my brethren, your loss is not a com- mon one. In the revolutions of the political scene, the mind is lost amongst the confused whirl of many objects, and the departure of even a mighty orb appears but little to derange the general system. Even Washington seems almost forgotten by his country. Not so in the Lodge. Your hearts will find around you a thousand mementoes of the singular honor and happiness you have enjoyed in work- ing as fellow-laborers with a man who, whilst the admiring eyes of a universe were upon him, could, with the most amiable condescension, descend from his exalted and tower- ing eminence, and level himself with his brethren in Ma- sonry, sharing with them in their toils, and entering with them, at the close of their labors, into all the festive gayety and innocent amusements of the Craft.
" Permit me, worshipful sir, to congratulate this Lodge on the pre-eminent honor it has enjoyed, in being so nearly allied to this illustrious hero, patriot, and statesman; to pray that all his virtues may descend upon his successors here; and that your consequent prosperity may be lasting and imperishable, as upon the bright roll of Masonic fame will ever stand emblazoned the name of Washington!"
During his congressional life, his thoughts had been much occupied upon religious subjects, and at the close of his term he determined to relinquish the pro- fession of law, and devote himself to the Christian
Washington's masonic compeers. 365
ministry. This involved a great sacrifice of pecuniary interests and worldly aspirations, for he was on the flood-tide of success, and political fame and fortune seemed to be withia his reach. He hesitated not, however, at what seemed to him the call of duty, and turned his bark into a gentler channel, and cheerfully looked for a haven of rest and peace.
He was accordingly ordained a deacon in the Epis- copal Church in 1814; in 1815 he was ordained a pres- byter, and labored for a year as assistant minister in the Associated Churches in Philadelphia ; and in 1816, he was called to the rectorship of St. George's Church, in New York City. Here, in his new field of labor, he devoted liimseK to the promotion of Christian benevolence. The Bible Society, the American Tract Society, the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, the Orphan Asylum, the Home for aged indigent Females, and many kindred associations, felt his fostering care.
In 1830, he visited England as a delegate to the British Bible Society, and while in Europe, he visited also France, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, and was everywhere received as a distinguished American phi- lanthropist. He felt that his mission on earth was to do good, and few labored more zealously, or more suc- cessfully for that purpose.
Dining the long period that he was Grand Master of Pennsylvania, his whole soul had been absorbed in the inculcation of the moral precepts of Masonry. When called by his divine Master to fill a higher post of duty as a Christian minister, he but labored to per- fect and adorn a temple upon whose foundation walls he had wrought in the lodge-room. To other hands
366 Washington's masonic compeeks.
he committed the bands of workmen who still wrought in the Masonic temple, that he might devote his whole time to a higher calling. He did not, however, for- get his former associations with his Masonic brethren. After he resigned the chair of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, he was elected Grand Chaplain of that Body, and continued to perform the duties of that office while he remained in Philadelphia, and a costly and appropriate jewel was voted him by the Grand Lodge, as a testimony of respect and attach- ment. After he removed to New York to assume the rec- torship of St. George's Church, he was appointed Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, and continued to hold the office for some years.
During the anti-Masonic excitement a few years after, he was importimed to renounce his connection with the Fraternity, but he stood firm. A brother clergyman from the country called on him one day to consult him on the propriety of withdrawing from the Order. He stated that his congregation were all anti- Masons, and he was fearful, even if he did not lose his situation, that his usefulness would be destroyed.
"Do you wish to renounce Masonry?" asked Dr.
MiLNOR.
" No," was the reply, " I love Masonry too well !" " Then do as I do," was the rejoinder. " Put down your foot firmly, and say, ' I am a Mason, and am ]iroud of it !' and if any one asks you what Masonry consists in, tell them, ' love to God, and good-will to man !' "
The advice was followed, and the country clergyman kept his place undistui'bed.
Washington's masonic compeees. 367
Such is a brief sketch of the hfe of Dr. James Mil- NOR. He labored zealously in his Master's work until 1845, when he died on the 8th of April, in the seventy- third year of his age. After his death, a testimony of respect was sent to the vestry of St. George's Church by his old Lodge No. 3, at Philadelphia, of which he had been a member nearly fifty years before. A son of his, Dr. William Milnor, afterwards became Grand Master of New York.
868
WASHINGTON S MASONIC COMPEERS.
cyaT^^UyL^' C7k-
DR. SAMUEL SEABURY,
THE FHIST EPISCOPAL BISHOP IN AMERICA.
Eev. Samuel Seabury, D. D., first bishop of Con- necticut and Rhode Island, and also the first conse- crated bishop in America, was born near New London, Connecticut, in 1728, and graduated at Yale College in 1751. His father had been a Congregational minister, but changed his ecclesiastical connection and became the rector of the Episcopal chiu'ch at Hempstead, on Long Island. Here his son Samuel was appointed his
WASHHSTGTOX'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 369
assistant and catecliist as early as 1748, with a salary of ten pounds a year.
At this period the contest between Puritanism and Prelacy was so bitter and virulent, in the Anglo- American colonies, that it became the key-note to political Hberty. A " society for propagating the Gos- pel in foreign parts" had been established in England in 1701, wliich was believed by the Puritans of New England to be a mere disguise for the introduction into America of lords spiritual, with hated tithes and oppressive hierarchy.
After young Seabuey had graduated at Yale, he was recommended as rector for a vacant church in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and in 1753 he proceeded to England to receive orders from the Ejoiscopal authori- ties there. He returned to America in the following year, as rector of the church at New Brunswick ; but in 1757 he was removed to the church at Jamaica, Long Island, and in December, 1766, was instituted, at his own request, rector of St, Peter's church in West- chester, New York.
As the religious and political controversies of that period were closely interwoven, many of the Episcopal clergy in America, and among them Dr. Seabuhy, entered strongly into the field of polemic warfare. Ho wrote political i)amphlets, under the novi tie plinne of " A Farmer." These were widely circulated, and gave great offence to the liberals, or " Sons of Liberty," as they were called, while they were much applauded by the loyalists.
This was at the commencement of the American
Kevolution, and a party of Wlif^^s, from Connecticut,
10*
370 Washington's masonic compeers.
who were bitterly incensed against Dr. Seabury and other loyalists, crossed over to Westchester, took them prisoners, and carried them to New Haven ; but they were soon reclaimed by the provincial authorities of New York, as they deemed it an unwarrantable action in the then existing state of affairs, more especially the removal and imprisonment of Dr. Seabury, " con- sidering his ecclesiastic character," say they, " which, perhaps, is venerated by many friends of liberty, and the severity that has been used towards him may be subject to misconstructions prejudicial to the common cause."
Dr. Seabury was accordingly set at Uberty, and returned to his parish ; but here he was subject to occasional visits from armed parties, who would offer one hundred dollars for the discovery of that " vilest of miscreants, 'A Farmer.'" Independence being de- clared, he considered it more prudent to close his church, as he determined there should be "neither prayers nor sermon until he could pray for the king,"
This was the period during which Washington held possession of the city of New York, and nearly all the EjDiscopal churches in the northern colonies were closed by their rectors, as their customary prayers for the king and rojal family gave great offence to the patriots of that day, who could see in them only a stubborn and servile adherence to English tyranny. That King George needed prayers they probably did not doubt, but these they evidently desired should be for his conversion rather than his confirmation.
When Washington evacuated New York, after the battle of Long Ish'md, in 1776, Dr. Seabury withdrew
"WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 371
within the British hnes, and was engaged bj General Clinton, in furnishing plans and maps of the roads and streams in the county of Westchester, to assist the British army iu their movements. He also served as a chaplain in a regiment of loyahsts, commanded by Colonel Fanning, called the " King's American Regiment." This regiment was stationed in New York, and Dr. Seabury continued to reside there until the return of peace.
Dr. Seabury was a Mason, but we have never learned when or where he was made one. Local and Military Lodges existed in New York while the British troops held possession of that city, and records still exist which show that they not only held then stated communications, but that the Masonic festivals of St. John were observed by them. The pre-revolutionary Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, having become extinct during the war, a new Provincial Grand Lodge was established in the city of New York in 1782, under a waiTant from the Grand Lodge of Ancients in Lon- don, bearing date, September 5, 1781, and before this Grand Lodge Dr. Seabury delivered an address, December 27, 1782, as seen by the following record of that body.
" Resolved unanimously, tliat the thanks of this Lodge be given to our Rev. Bro. Dr. Seabury, for his sermon delivered this day, before this and other Lodges, convened for the celebration of St. John the Evangelist.
" That the thanks of this Lodge be presented to Rev. Dr. Inglis, rector of New York, for the very polite and obliging manner in which he has accommodated this and other Lodges
;')72 Washington's masonic compeers.
with the nse of St. Paul's chapel, for the celebration of Di- vine services this day."
In the following June, the " Loyal American Kegi- ment," of which Dr. Seabuey was chaplain, received a warrant for a new MiHtary Lodge, and of this, it is j)robable, he was also a member.
In 1784, he went to England to obtain consecration as a bishop, but meeting with some difficulties at the hands of the Enghsh dignitaries, he proceeded to Scot- land, where he was consecrated at Aberdeen, in Novem- ber, by some non-juring bishops, as the first bishop of America. He returned to this country and settled in New London, near his native town, as the first bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and con- tinued to discharge his duties as such in an exemplary manner imtil liis death. He died on the 25th of Feb- ruary, 1796. His monument stands in the churchyard at New London, bearing this inscription :
" Here lyeth the body of Samuel Seabcry, D. D., Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island, who departed from this transitory scene, February 25th, Anno Domini 1T96, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, and the twelfth of his Episcopal consecration.
" Ingenious without pride, learned without pedantry, good without severity, he was duly qualiiied to discharge the duties of the Christian and the bishop. In the pulpit he enforced religion ; in his conduct he exemplified it. The poor he assisted with his charity; the ignorant he blessed with his instruction. The friend of njen, he ever designed their good; the enemy of vice, he ever opposed it. Chris- tian! dost thou aspire to happiness? Seabury has shown the way that leads to it."
Washington's masonic compeers. 373
Dr. Seabuey received his degree of Doctor of Divin- ity from the college of Oxford iu England, and he be- came entitled to a fund of one thousand pounds, which had been left by Archbishop Tennison in his will, in 1715, towards maintaining the first bishop who should be settled in America. This fund was afterwards in- creased by an equal amount, left in the same manner, for that purpose, by Archbishop Secker ; but we do not know whether Dr. Seabury ever received or appHed for it.
That he continued his support to the Masonic Fra- ternity, until his death, is seen from a sermon which he preached at the installation of Sumerset Lodge at Norwich, Connecticut, on the 24th of June, 1795, before a special session of the Grand Lodge of that State. This he published, with the following dedica- tion to Washington :
"To the Most Worshipful President of the United States OF AiiERiCA, the following' discourse is respectfully inscribed, "By his affectionate brother,
" And most devoted servant,
" Samuel Seabury."
From the above dedication, we are induced to believe that in his later years this tlistinguished bishop and good brother prayed as fervently and heartily for George Washington, as in former years for the royal George of England.
Bishop Seabury was succeeded, in 1797, by the Right Reverend Abraham Jarvis, D. D., who was also a Mason. Dr. Jarvis was a native of Norwalk. He
374 Washington's masonic compeers.
was born May 5, 1739, graduated at Tale, in 1761, and became rector of the Episcopal churcli in Middle- town about 1764. There he remained until after he was consecrated as bishop in the place of Dr. Seabury. In 1798 he was appointed Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut. In 1799 he left Middle- town, and removed to Cheshire, and from thence to New Haven, in 1803, where he died. May 3, 1813, at the age of seventy-three years. The first Episcopal ordination by Bishop Seabury was that of the Reverend AsHBEL Baldwin, in 1785. It was the first Episcopal ordination in the United States. Mr. Baldwin was also a graduate of Tale College, and a zealous Mason. He was the first Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, and interested himseK much in the prosperity of the Craft. He died at Rochester, New Tork, on the 8th of February, 1846, at the age of eighty- nine years.
aENERAL EUFUS PUTNAM,
FIRST GRAND MASTER OK OHIO.
Few names on the pages of our country's history are suggestive of purer patriotism and bolder deeds than that of Putnam. Two who bore it have rendered it immortal in the historic annals of America. These were Israel and Rurus, both officers of the Revolution, and both Masons. Rufuh, who is the subject of this sketch, became the JFirst Grand Master of Oliio.
376 Washington's masonic compeers.
He was born in the town of Sutton, Worcester County, Massacliusetts, on the 9th of April, 1738. He lost his father before he was seven years old, and went to live with his maternal grandfather in Danvers, where he enjoyed the privilege of a district-school for two years. At this time his mother married again and took him home. His stepfather was an illiterate man, and desired to keep all over whom he had control in the same situation. Young Putnam was, therefore, denied all further opportunities for education while under his roof. Before he reached his sixteenth year his stepfather died, and his mother apprenticed him to a millwright. In his indentures no provision was made for his education, and his master was as indiffer- ent to his mental improvement as his stepfather had been.
But although the path of science was thus hedged up to him, he sought every means to improve his mind with useful knowledge. He had tasted the Pierian spring during the time he Hved with his gTandfather, and had learned to read with considerable accuracy. "WTiile with his stepfather, who kept a pubhc house, he gained much information by listening to the conversation of travellers to whose wants he was required to attend ; and the httle sums of money they sometimes gave him for his obliging attention to their wants, were ex- pended by him in the purchase of books. A thirst for knowledge thus grew so strong in his mind, that during his apprenticeship every leisure hour was de- voted to the elementary branches of an English edu- cation. When the toils of the day were over, he sought retirement for study ; and when the morning sun arose,
Washington's masonic compeers. 377
he resumed his labors with a mind attentive to his duties, but still free to improve itself by reflection on the lessons he had learned the evening before.
In the prosecution of his trade, a knowledge of mathematics was very serviceable to him, particularly that which was connected with geometry ; and it was not long before a knowledge of cii'cles, squares, and angles enabled him to draft plans, and comprehend the most complex machinery on which his labor was employed. While he was engaged in his apprenticeship, the old French and Indian war commenced, and the accounts he heard fi'om time to time of the incidents of its cam- paigns, awoke in his mind a military ardor, and he longed to be like his l)rother Israel, an actor in those exciting scenes.
At the age of nineteen, he therefore enlisted as a pri- vate soldier in the provincial army. His commander was Captain Ebenezer Leonard, whose company con- sisted of one hundred men, many of whom had been young Putnam's associates. They were soon re- quired to rendezvous on the Hudson River a few miles below Albany ; and the young soldier, who kept a daily journal, states the praiseworthy fact, that his captain prayed morning and evening with his men, and on each Sabliath read a sermon to them. The details of his military adventures during this war are far too numer- ous for this sketch. He was in military service four years, and shared with his comrades in all tlieir privn- tions and dangers.
"When the term of the first enlistment of liis com- pany expired, the British commander sought to pro- long their services by arbitrary measures. The men,
378 WASHINGTOX S MASONIC COMPEERS.
however, left him in a manner not justifiable by military rules, although they were entitled to an honorable dis- charge. Mr. Putnam in after-hfe saw and condemned the mistake. In their homeward march they fled like fugitives, and as it was in the depth of winter, suffered much from hunger and cold ; but at last they reached their homes. The military ardor of Mr. Putnam was not all expended by one campaign, and in a few months he enlisted for another, and at its close for still an- other ; but in 1761 he left the army, married a vnie, and engaged in farming, mill-building and surveying. He was now twenty-three years of age ; and with a body hardened by toil, and a mind enriched by study and observation, he resumed his peaceful avocations, but at the same time devoted all his leisure moments to the acquisition of more knowledge from books.
In 1773, Mr. Putnam had become so proficient as a surveyor, that he received an appointment from a land company to explore and siuwey some lands in Florida which had been gTanted to troops engaged in the pro- vincial war. He was accompanied in this expedition by his brother Israel and a Captain Enos. He was kindly treated by the governor of Florida, appointed by him deputy surveyor of that province, spent eight months there, and then returned home. The rich lands of the sunny South, which have since produced all the varied productions of that flowery clime, were then dense forests, or thick-grown cane-brakes, where no path was found except the Indian trail, or the track of the wild ani]5ials that made them their haunts. But on the report of Mr. Putnam of their climate, fertihty, and beauty, several hundred families from New Eng-
Washington's masonic compeers. 379
land emigrated there to form a settlement. They were doomed to disappointment, for before their arrival the land-office was closed against them.
About two years after Mr. Putnam's return from the " Yazoo country," the war of the Revolution com- menced, and he left his home and rural pursuits to join the gallant bands of New England's sturdy yeomanry, who were arming in defence of their rights. He entered the army at Cambridge as a Keutenant-colonel, soon after the battle of Lexington, and was stationed at Roxbury, in General Thomas' division. The British army had at that time possession of Boston, and Col- onel Putnam was employed by his commander in plan- ning and constructing Unes of defence for the provin- cial troops who surrounded the city. He at this time professed no skill as a military engmeer ; but the lines were surveyed and defences erected with such good judgment, that when General Washington took com- mand of the army a few weeks afterwards, and he and General Lee \dewed the works of the amateur engineer, they received their highest commendation.
General Washington at once employed Putnam to draw a map of the enemy's fortitications at Boston, and all the American defences around it, and from this he arranged his plans for future action. So great was Washington's confidence in the good judgment of this self-taught engineer, that he often consulted him before he determined on changes in the position of his forces.
He received from Congress, in August, 1770, a com- mission as engineer, with his previous rank as colonel, and was the chief-engineer until 1778. He was then
380 Washington's masonic compeers.
succeeded bj Kosciusko, the brave Polander, who frequently consulted him in planning works of defence. It was to Putnam's engineering skill that the mihtary works at West Point owed much of theii" efficiency, for he changed the plan of construction that had been adopted by foreign engineers. He was principally en- gaged as an engineer during the war, but at one time, in 1778, was in command as colonel of troops in the northern division of the army. By both Washington and Lafayette he was highly esteemed as an officer and a man. With both he became connected in the fraternal bonds of Masonic fellowship. He was not a Mason Avhen he entered the army of the Revolution, but he became one in the summer of 1779.
The festival of St. John the Baptist was celebrated by the Masonic brethren in the army that year upon the Hudson, near West Point, and Washington joined, as was his custom, with the Military Lodge there on that occasion. Many other distinguished officers of the American army were present as Masons, and the ceremonies were highly impressive. Two days after this. Colonel Putnam applied to the lodge under whose charter thes^proceedings were held, to be made a Mason. It was the "American Union Lodge," which was instituted in the Connecticut line of the army at Eoxbury, in 1776. Colonel Putnam's ap- plication was favorably received, and, at the same meeting of the lodge at which it was presented, he was made a Mason. It was the 26th of July, 1779. On the 26th of August he was made a Fellow Craft, and on the 6tli of September a Master Mason. The place of meeting of the lodge when he received his
Washington's masonic compeers. 381
degrees, was at the " Robinson House," on tbe east bank of tlie Hudson, about two miles below West Point. Tlie fortunes of this lodge during the Revolu- tion, and after its close, have a highly romantic in- terest, and are worthy of a place in the history of our country. Colonel Putnam's connection with it was continued to the close of the war, and we afterwards find him cherishing its privileges and maintaining its chartered rights on the banks of the Ohio, as the pioneer of Christianity and civilization.
As the dangers of the country lessened, in a Uke degree were lessened the exertions of the different States to pay their troops, and early in 1783, Colonel Putnam contemplated a retirement fi'om the army in consequence of a delinquency by the State of Massa- chusetts in providing funds for this purpose. Gen- eral Washington sympathized with his distressed ofii- cers and soldiers, but used every means to persuade them to continue in the field till peace should be con- firmed. When he heard of the contemplated retire- ment of Colonel Putnam, he wrote him an affectionate letter, proffeiing him promotion in the army, and he soon after received a commission as brigadier-general. This office he accepted, more on account of his personal regard for Washington than for its honors or emolu- ments, and he honored it with devotion to his country till the army was disbanded. After this, he was con- sulted by Washington as to the best manner of arranging a military peace establishment for the United States. He was also a prominent member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
From the close of 1783 to the commencement of
382 Washington's masonic compeers.
1788, General Putnasi was engaged in organizing a company to settle on tlie far off "but fertile banks of the Ohio, and in the spring of 1788 he went there as general agent of a New England company, accom- panied by about forty settlers. They pitched their tents at the mouth of the Muskingum Eiver, formed a settlement there, and called it Marietta. Here sus- pecting hostility from the neighboring Indians, they built a fort, and called it Campus Martins. They also planted that year one hundred and thirty acres of corn. This was the beginning of that tide of emigra- tion to the Ohio which soon spread over all its rich valleys ; and General Putnam may justly be regarded as the father of its pioneers.
Soon after the first settlement of Marietta, the old charter of the "American Union Lodge," which Gen- eral Putnam had joined in 1779, was used to convene a Lodge in that place. Jonathan Hart, the last Mas- ter of the Lodge during the Revolution, and many of its members, had removed since the war to the new settlements on the Ohio, and here they reopened their Lodge. Of this Lodge at Marietta, General Putnam became the first Junior Warden. In 1789, President "Washington appointed him judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest territory, and in 1792, he was appointed a brigadier-general under General Wayne. In 1796 he was made surveyor-general of the United States, and held that office until the accession of Mr. Jefferson to the presidency in 1804. He was also a member of the convention that formed a con- stitution for the State of Ohio in 1802. In every situation of honor or trust with which he was honored
Washington's masonic compeers. 383
by his country, lie was found capable, faithful, and true.
General Putnam still continued an officer or active member of the " American Union Lodge," and when, in 1808, Lodges had been multipKed in that new State, and a convention met to form a Grand Lodge there, they unanimously made choice of him as their first Grand Master. He never enjoyed the honor, however, of presiding over that body, for he was then three- score and ten years old, and the infirmities of age were upon him. At the next annual communication, there- fore, he resigned the office, by the following letter to the Grand Lodge.
" To THE Grand Lodge of the Most Axcient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons for the State OF Ohio, your Brother sendeth Greeting :
"It was with high sensibility and gratitude I received the information that the Grand Convention of Masons at Chilicothe, in January last, elected me to the office of Grand Master of our Most Ancient and Honorable Fra- ternity. But however sensibly I feel the high honor done me by the Convention, and am disposed to promote the inter- ests of the Craft in general, and in this State in particular, I must decline the appointment. My sun is fai- past its meridian, and is almost set. A few sands only remain in ni}' glass. I am unable to undergo the necessary labors of that high and important office. T am unable to make you a visit at this time, without a sacrifice and hazard of health which prudence forbids.
" May the great Architect, under whose all-seeing eye all Masons profess to labor, have you in his holy keeping, that when our labors here are finished, we may, through
384 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
the merits of Him that was dead but is now alive and lives forevermore, be admitted into that temple, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Amen. So prays your friend and brother,
"RuFUS Putnam.
" Makietta, December 26, 1808."
With this letter, so full of touching tenderness, we close our Masonic record of General Putnam. He sur- vived for many years, and when, upon the first day of May, 1824, he died, all said a good man had gone to his rest. With him it was indeed a rest to which he had long looked forward, confidently beheving, that when death divested liim of his earthly robes, his Saviour, in whom he tnisted, would stand by him to reinvest him with the robes of immortahty.
/^St^^y:^
AARON OdDEN,
GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY.
Among the gallant sons of New Jersey whose patriot- ism was thoroughly tried during the Revolution, and who were rewarded with high civil office by tliat State after its close, stands the name of Aaiion OgdI':n. He was born at Elizabctlitown on the 3d of December, 1756, and graduattxl at Princeton, in 1778, at seven-
386 Washington's masonic compeees.
teen years of age. Princeton College was at that time the nursery of patriots, and Doctor Witherspoon, its president, had the proud satisfaction, when the Revolu- tion commenced, of seeing many of his pupils and graduates enrolled in the service of their country. Among these was Aaron Ogden, the subject of this sketch.
One of the early revolutionary incidents in which he bore a part, was the capture of a British vessel called the "Blue Mountain Yalley," lying off Sandy Hook, and bringing her into Ehzabethport in the "wdnter of 1775-6. At what time he entered the regular army we have no records to determine. He received a commis- sion in the spring of 1777 (then in his twenty-first year), in the First New Jersey regiment, and continued in the service during the war. He was with General Sullivan in the attack upon the Tory forces on Staten Island in August of 1777, at the battle of Brandywine in the following month, and at the battle of Monmouth in the summer of 1778. In this last battle he held the rank of a brigade-major, but served as assistant aid-de- camp to Lord Sterling.
In 1779 he accompanied General Sullivan in his ex- pedition against the Indians of New York, in the capa- city of aid-de-camp to General Maxwell. In 1780 he was at the battle of Springfield, in New Jersey, where he had a horse shot under him while on the field as aid of General Maxwell. Wlien that general resigned his commission in August of that year, Ogden was ap- pointed to a captaincy of light infantry under La- fayette. While in this capacity, he was intrusted by Washington, his commander-in-chief, with the execu-
WASHIJSTGTOX'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 387
tion of a delicate commission relating to Andee and Aenold. It was wliile Major Andee was under sen- tence of death as a British spy, and Arnold, a fugitive for his treachery, was in the British camp, that feel- ings of strong commiseration for Axdee, and a greater desire to inflict a merited punishment on Aenold than on him, induced General WashdsGTON to desire to ex- change the condemned spy for the arch-traitor. He weU knew that a formal proposition to this effect would not be received by the British commander ; he there- fore inclosed an official account of the trial of Andee, together with a letter from the condemned officer, in a package, and under a flag of truce transmitted them to the British headquarters at New York. The execution of this trust was committed to Captain Ogden. The package he carried contained no allusion to a meditated exchange of Andre for Aenold, but he was instructed to incidentally suggest to the officer to whom he might deliver the package the idea that such an exchange might perhaps be made.
Captain Ogden proceeded to execute his trust, and, as was anticipated, while awaiting at the lines of the British army near New York for an answer to his communications, the conversation turned upon the un- fortunate Andee.
" Is there no way to save his life ?" asked the British officer.
" Perhaps it might be done," replied Ogden, " if Sir Henry Clinton would give up Arnold."
He told the officer, however, that he had no assurance from Washington to this effect, but ho Ijelieved it might be effected if desired. The British officer immediately
388 Washington's masonic compeees.
left Captain Ogden, and hastened to General Clinton with the suggestion ; but military honor would not per- mit, what, perhaps, both parties would gladly have done, had not military rules forbid. A request for a parley was, however, sent from Clinton to Washington by Captain Ogden, and three British ofl&cers of rank re- paired under a flag of truce near the American head- quarters, to confer with a corresponding deputation of American officers ; but General Geeene who headed the American deputation, refused to confer with the British officers except as private gentlemen, as he assured them that the case of an acknowledged spy admitted of no miHtary negotiation, and the conference ended. The unfortunate Andee paid the penalty of a spy, while his more vile accessary, was permitted to hold a military commission in the British army.
Captain Ogden afterwards accompanied Lafayette in his memorable campaign in Virginia, in 1781. At the siege of Yorktown he gallantly led his company, in storming the left redoubt of the enemy, and received from Washington his marked apj)robation. The mili- tary operations of the American contest were virtually closed after the capture of Coenwallis, but the army was not disbanded untU j)eace was confirmed. Dui'ing this interim a number of new Masonic lodges were formed in the army, and of one of them Captaiu Ogden was a Warden. He had previously been made a Mason, but of the time and place we have no record. On the 2d of September, 1782, the records of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania state :
" A petition, signed by twenty brethren, oflScers in the
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 389
Jersey Liue, was read, praying for a warrant to hold, a travelling Military Lodge, to be attached to said line.
" The same was unanimously granted. The proposed officers were the Rev. Andrew Hunter, for Master ; Joseph J. Andrews, Senior Warden, and Captain Aaron Ogden, Junior Warden. — To be numbered 36."
After tlie close of the war Captain Ogden studied law, and rose rapidly in the legal profession. He w^as popular with the people, and in 1800 was one of the presidential electors ; a state senator, in 1801 ; and, in 1812, he was elected governor of the State of New Jersey. He died in 1839, at the age of eighty-three years.
The Eev. Andrew Hunter, the Master of the Mili- tary Lodge of which Governor Ogden was Warden, became after the war a chaplain in the navy, and died at Washington in February, 1823, at the age of seventy-five years.
aENEML MORDECAI GIST,
AN OFFICER OF THE REVOLUTIOX AXD GRAXD MASTER OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
Genekai, Mordecai Gist was one of the patriots of the Revolution whose name is ahke honorably con- nected with the annals of Masonrj' and with the his- tory of our country. His ancestors emigrated fi'om England to Maryland at an early day, and settled in Baltimore. He received a mercantile education, aud
Washington's masonic compeers. 391
was employed in tliat business when the war of the Revokition commenced. It is not known at what age, or in what lodge, he became a Mason. Two lodges of Ancient York Masons were chartered in the city of Baltimore, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, in 1770, and it is probable he was made in one of these, as he had risen to the rank of Worshipful Master previous to the Revolution.
"V\Tien the war of the Revolution commenced, the young men of Baltimore formed an independent com- pany, of which they elected Moedecai Gist as captain. This was the first military organization in Maryland for the defence of American liberty. Li 177G, Mr. Gist was appointed major of a battalion of Maryland regulars, and bravely led his men in the terrible conflict on Long Island in that year. For his bravery on that occasion he was commissioned as a colonel in 1777 ; and in 1778, whUe in command of his Maryland troops, at Locust Hni, near New York, he was attacked by the combined forces of Generals Simcoe, Ejvierick, and Taeleton, of the British army, but he discovered their approach in time to escape from their hands. He was engaged in the battle of Paoh, where the tenible mas- sacre of American troops took place, and distinguished himself soon after at the battles of Germantown and White marsh.
In January of 1779 he was appomted by Congi'ess a brigadier-general in the Continental army, and was honored with the command of tlie second Maryland brigade. In the winter of 1779-80 lie was encamped with liis command at the general headcpiartcrs of the American army at Morristown in New Jersey.
392 WASFIiSrGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS.
While in tlieir winter-quarters here, the Masonic Brethren in the army celebrated the festival of St. John the Evangelist. The meeting was held under the charter of the American Union Lodge, and Washington and a large number of distinguished officers of the American armj, who were Masons, attended on the occasion. The Masonic Lodges of America had for- merly all owed their existence to, and been dependent upon, the Grand Lodges of Great Britain ; but the mis- fortunes of war had caused all intercourse to cease be- tween them and their parent head ; and although some provincial Grand Lodges still existed in this country, they were regarded but as the subordinates of the Masonic powers in Great Britain by whom they were created.
At this army festival of the Masonic Brethren in 1779, a petition was presented, setting forth the condi- tion of Masonr}^ in the new political state of the coun- try, and expressing a desire that a general union of American Masons might take place under one general Grand Master of America. A committee was ap- pointed to take the subject into consideration, consist- ing of distinguished Masons from each division of the army.
The Committee met in convention on the 7th of .January, 1780, and chose General Mordecai Gist as theu' President, and General Otho Holland Williams as their Secretary. An address to the different Grand Masters of the United States was di-awn, considered, and adopted on the occasion, setting forth the same general views as those embraced in the petition they were called on to consider, and asking that measures
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 398
might be taken to secure a union of all the Lodges of the country under one American head. Copies of this address were sent to the different Grand Masters in the United States ; and although the Convention had delicately forborne to mention the name of Washing- ton as their choice for General Grand Master, yet it was well understood that such was their wish.
In the following spring. General Gist was sent with his command to assist General Gates in South Caro- lina. WhUe at the North, he and the Brethren in his troops had enjoyed Masonic privileges in the different Masonic Lodges in the army. No Mihtary Lodges existed in the Southern army, and he therefore appHed to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for a warrant to hold one in the line under his com- mand, and a waiTant was granted, constituting him its Master. This Lodge was numbered 27 on the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge registry. Its warrant bore date, April 4, 1780.
During the same year the battle of Camden, in South Carolina, occurred, in which, although the Americans were defeated by Cornwatjjs, General Gist won for himself an imperishable renown. Even after the battle was irretrievably lost, it is said that he rode from point to point, amidst a storm of fire, and by his own enthu- siasm and bravery preserved his broken troops from annihilation. He was afterwards engaged in the con- flict at Torktown, in 1781, and had the proud satisfac- tion of seeing the haughty Cornwallis become a captive to American bravery.
After the capture of Cornwau.is, General Gist joined
the southern division of the army under General 17*
394 Washington's masonic compeees.
Greene ; and when the army was remodelled in 1782, General Greene gave him the command of the " Hght corps." It was a part of his command, under General Laurens, that dealt one of the last blows to the enemy in an engagement on the banks of the Combahee. Tims was it the fortune of General Gist to fight gallantly for his country from the commencement to the close of the war. He had heard its first clarion notes and its last battle-shout ; and when it was closed, he retired to a plantation which he had purchased near Charleston, in South Carolina, and, hke Washington, engaged in agricultural pursuits.
The waiTant fi'om the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania to General Gist, empowering him to hold Lodges in the Maryland line of the army, was, by resolution of that Grand Lodge, vacated at the close of the war ; but in 1786 another was granted to him to hold a Local Lodge, with the same registry number (27), at Charleston, South Carolina, by the same Grand Body. This warrant constituted General Mordecai Gist, Mas- ter, and Thomas B, Bowen and Ephraim Mitchell, Wardens. In 1787 the Lodges of Ancient York Masons in South Carolina united to form an Inde- pendent Grand Lodge for that State ; and of this Grand Body General Gist became the first Deputy Grand Master.
The Hon. William Drayton, chief-justice of the State, was at the same time Grand Master. He was the first Grand Master of Ancient York Masons in that jurisdiction. General Gist was his Deputy in 1787-88- 89, and succeeded him as Grand Master in 1790, and held the office for two years, when he was succeeded
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 395
by Major Thomas B. Bowen, who had been his first Senior Warden under his Pennsylvania local Lodge warrant.
It was while General Gist was Grand Master, in 1791, that Washington visited, as President, the Southern States, on which occasion the Masonic cor- respondence between these two distinguished Brothers took place which we have given in our sketch of Wash- ington. It was the last official act of General Gist which we have seen. He died in the following year, in September (1792), leaving two sons, one of whom he named Independent, and the other. States. He was, at the time of his death, fifty years of age.
INDEX.
Abbot, Mrs. Lydia, 243. Aberdeen, Scotland, 372. Academy at Ale.\an
Chatliani, N. C, 349. Adam, Robert, 99, 100, 10-1, 107, lOS, 203. Adams, John, 40, 168, 1S5-1H7, liSS, 348, 349 Nathaniel, 224. Addison, Kev. Mr., 200. Addre.sses, Miscellaneous :
Alexandria Lodge to Washington, 1T3,
174. Army Convention to American Grand
Masters, 56-5S. Bland, William, on the death of Pey- ton Randolph, 270. Boston, Collection of, 131, 147. Clarke, Joseph, at Washington, 154-
158. Davis, Thomas, on the death of Pey- ton Randolph, 272. Deneale, Colonel, to James Milnor,
862, 303. Grand Lod^e of Massachusetts to
Washington, 146, 147, 17(i. Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania to
Washington, 141-143, lO-S-lGO. Grand Lodue of South Carolina to
Washington, 13.3, 134. Uitchcocii, Rev. Dr., to Military
Lodge, 52. Hull, Major William, to Military
Lodge, 52. King l)avid'8 Lodge to Washington,
131, 182. King Solomon's Lodge to Washing- ton, 87. Martin, Francis Xavier on the death
of Riclmrd Caswell, 3.53-358. MiflBin, General, to Washington, 97. Milnor, James, to Alexandria Lodge,
363, 364. Muir, Rev. Dr., at Alexandria, 138, 139. Varnum, General, at Rhode Island, 831.
Address of Wasliington on resigning his
commission, 96. Addresses on the death of Washington :
liiselow. Dr. Timothy, 223.
Blalve, George, 223.
Cliaudion. Simon, 215, 216.
D.ny, Beijiimin, 227, 228.
Dick, Dr.. 204, 205. 2i)6-208.
Grand .Master of Pennsylvania, 211- 214.
La GrMUire, Joseph de, 215.
Lee, General Henry, 214.
Meweli, Jonathan, 224.
Morris. Gouverneur, 219.
Morton, General Jacob, 217.
Swift, Rev. Mr., 225. Ahiman Rezon :
Smith's, Pa., 72, 73, 229.
Maryland, 176, 229.
Virginia, 141. Albany, Si, 235, 252. Albert's Tavern, 174. Alden, Captain, 327.
Alexandria, Va, 99, 120, 12.3, 137-140, 150, 200, 205.
Academy at, 107, 108.
Masonic Lodges at, 98-100, 103-105, 107, los, 109-116, 186-139, 150-168, 160-162, 173-176, 195, 196,197-199, 204-208. Allen, William, 238, 284, 285, 295, 802. AUi.son, John, 99, 110, 113. American George Lodge, 141. American Knighthood proposed, 90, 91. American Union Lodge. (See Military
Lodges.) Anderson's Constitutions, 288, 290. Andre, Major, 387, 388. Andrews, .jo.sepli J., 389. Annapolis, Md., 35, 95-98, 814. Anne, Queen, 234. Apron, Washington's Masonic, 83-85, 105-
11)7, 162. Army Lodges. (See Military Lodges.) Army Masonic Convention, 66-59, 892, 89& Arnold, General B., 387. Augusta, Ga., 342.
398
INDEX.
B.
Babcock, Colonel, 249.
Ball, Colonel, Iti.
Baldwin, Kev. Ashbel, 374.
Baltimore, 1-23. 890, 391.
Barruel, Abbe, 173-184.
Bartlett, .Josiah, 147, 165, 221, 222.
Baynter, Peter, 67.
Belcher, Governor, Mass., 239.
Belcher, Andrew, 239.
Belton, William, 1S7, 1S8.
Bentley, Kev. Brother, 223.
Berwick, Me., 329.
Beverley, Su>an, 261.
Bible of Was-liinston's Ancestors, 15, 16.
" Fredciieksbiirg Lodge, 24.
'• British Military Lodge, 30, 31.
" St. John"= Lodge, New York, 124- 126. 219.
" Sir William Johnson, 253. Bissell, Ozias, 45. Bigelow, Dr. Timothy, 7.5, 223. Blackstocks, battle of, 342. Blair, John, 47, 60, 266-26S. Blake, George, 22-3. Bland, Kev. William, 270. Blanev, Lord, 254, 255. Blount William, 352. Bond, Dr. Thomas, 295. Boston, 22. 2S, 42, 61, 130, 147, 171, 1S5, 219-
i23. 239-243. 2S2, 287-290, 294, 314, 379. Bowen, Thomas B., 394. Bowen. Jabez, sketch of, 321-82-3. Bovd, Lieutenant Thomas, .336, 337. Bn'idduck, General, 2S, 202, 304 Brandywine, battle of, 47, 3-30, 386. Brant, Joseph, 251, 333, 335, 336, 337.
" Molly, 251. British Military Lodges, 30-32, 75-77. Brooke Lodge, Va., f9S, 205, 206. Brooklyn, 330. Brooks, Captain Christopher, 16.
John, Colonel, b6. Brown, Prentice, 56. Brown, Dr.. 195. Brunswick, Lodges of, 64. Buchan, Earl of 14?. Bunker Hill, battle of. 41. Butler. Colonel. 333, 335-33T Bvles, Daniel, 295. ■ " Kev. Dr. Mather, 311.
C.
Caldwell. Rev. Dr., 349.
Cambridge, Eng., 24.
Mass.. 41, 297, 330, 879. Camden, S. C, 349 352, 393. Campbell, Daniel, 23. Camp Lodges. (See Military Lodges.) Canada, 30, 258, 316, 33ii, 332. Canotocarius, Washington's Indian name,
27. Cape Franfois, 70. Capital of United States, 189, 140, 150-160.
Carroll, Hon. Daniel, 137, 153.
Carp, John, 287.
Carthagena, 19.
Cassout. (See Watson & Cassoul.)
Caswell Brotherhood, N. C, ShS.
Ca-well, Richard, sketch of, 350-359.
Catawba Kiver, 346.
Caughnawaga, 246, 247.
Cave, Washington Masonic, 32.
Cayugas. (See Iroquois.)
Chase, Major Thomas, 42.
Chapel Hill. N. C, .348.
Chapman, James, 45.
Charleston, S. C, 23, 133-135, 347, 362,
394. Charlton, Edward, 265. Chatham Academy, 349. Chaudron. Siuion, 215. Cheshire, Ct., 374 Christ church, Phila., 299. Cincinnati. Society of, S9, 90, 92, 93, 129,
210, 381. Clap. President of Yale, 31.3.
'• Mary, 313. Clark, Peleg, G. M., E. I., 226. " Colonel Joel, 42, 45, 46. " Colonel, 342. Clarke, Joseph, G. M. p.t, Md., 150, 154-160.
" County, Va., 20. Clans, Colonel Daniel, 251, 252, 333. Clay, Henry, 361. Cleaveland, William, 45. Clinton, General, 331, 3:34, 371.
Sir Henry, 387, 3SS. Coat of arms, Washington's, 72, 73. " " Free Masons', 71, 72.
Coats; John, 50. Colden, Cadwallader D., 213. College, Cambridge, Mass., 297.
Princeton, N. J., 318, 319 347, 886. " Providence. E. I., 321. Union, N. Y., 319. William and Mary, Va., 19, 261, 271. " Tale, Conn., 312, 313, 321, 868, 369, 374. Columbia, District of, 136-140, 193. Combahee Kiver, 394. Commissioners on D. C . 137-140, 150-160. Common Council, New York, 216. Concord, Mass., 40. Conecogeague, 140.
Connecticut, Grand Lodge of, 190, 817, 818- 320, 374. Grand Master of. 317, 818-320. Lodges of; 314, 315, 319, 320. Constitution Island, 52. Constitutions, Masonic, 71-73, 109, 141,
145-145, 176, 265, 283, 290, 361. Convention, Army, Masonic, 56-59 Cooper, Kev. Dr., 250. Copenhagen, Lodges at, 64. Cornbury, Lord, 235.
Corner-stone of Alexandria Academy, 108. " bridge at Williamsburg,
Va., 268.
INDEX.
399
Corner-stone of Capitol, 149-160.
•' Federal District, 136-139.
" University of North Caro-
lina, 34'?. 349. Cornwallis, Lonl, 78-Sn, 277, 3SS, 39-3. Coxe, Daniel, 43, •2:J4-236, 246, '264. Craik, Dr. James. 195, 196. Cranston, L Cromwell. Oliver, 16. Culpepper County records, 19. Cuminings, C:ipiain, 314. Ciishing, Jiiiige, 149. Ciustis, Daniel Parke. .34. " Martha, widow of, 34. " Miirtiia. (lanshter of, .34. 79. •• John I'arke, son of, 79, 1S9. '■ Georne Wu.'^hington Parke, grand- son of. 80. •' Elenor Parke, grand-daughter of, 80, 189. Cutler, John, G. M., Mass., 147, 14S.
D.
Dan vers, Ma.s3.. .376.
Dartinonth University, 339.
Davie, William R., sketch of, .34.T-349, 3.i7.
Davi.'
Day, Benjamin, 227, 22S.
Death of. Barton, Colonel William. .348.
Braiidock, G
Bowen. Jabez, .323.
Boyd, Thomas, .337.
Chapman. James, 4.5.
Clark, Joel, 46.
Coxe, Daniel, 230.
Custis, John Parke, 79.
Custis, Martha. 79.
Davis, Cnirtaiii, .33.3, 3-34.
Edwards, Jonathan, 319.
Edwards, Pierpont. 320.
Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, 299.
Franklin, William, 310.
Fry, Colonel, 27.
Gleason, Micajah, 45.
Gridley, Jvremv. 241.
Johnson, Sir W'illiam, 253.
Johnson, Sir John, 2b9.
Jones, Lientenant, 333, 3-34.
Montgomery, Iiichard,51.
Oxnard, Thomas, 241.
Price, Henry, 243.
Randolph. Kdinnnd. 278.
Randolph, Sir John, 261.
Randolph, Peyton. 41, 96, 269, 273.
Sullivan, (ieneral, John, 3.39.
Warren, General Joseph, 41.
Wa.s!iiiij.'ti>n, Ausustin, 16.
Wiishiir.'t.m, Georsie, 194-196,209,216, 219, 224, 22,5, 226, 22h. 229.
Washington, Lawrence, 20. " " his ilauuliier, 20.
Wooster. General David. ,')1, 316. Dedications, .Masonic, to Washington :
1st, Smith's sermon, 50.
Dedications, Masonic, to Washington :
2(1, Penn. Ahiman llczon, 73.
.3d, Masonic constitution, N. T.. 109.
4th, '• •' Virgini.i, 141.
.5th, " " Mass, 14.1.
6th. Dr. Se:ibnry"s address, 191, 374.
7th. Rev. .\I. L. Weem's Pamphlet, 191-193. Deneale, Colonel Georse, 114, 197, 204,
206, 362. Detroit, 256. Devonshire. Eng., .341. Dick, Dr. Elisha C, 99, 187-139, 1.t3, 100,
195-203,204,206-208. Diggs, Mr., 90. Dillen, Charles, 266. DobbsCoimtv. N. C, -350. Downs, Miss Elizabeth, 306. Dravton, William (Chief-Justice), -394. Duiiifries, Va., 191. Dunmore. Lord, 268, 276. Dunn. Samuel, 186, 220. Diiplessis, La Barbier, Peter, 143,164. Durham, N. H., 330.
E.
Ebenezer, Ga., 342. Edinburg, University of, 297. Edwards', Pierpont. sketch of, 318-320. " Rev. Jonathan, 318, 319. lUnrv W., 320. Elsworth, Mrs.,' 348. Esrremont, Eng., 34.5. Elbert, Sanmel, 343. Eliot, John, 31.5. Ellicott, .Mr.. 137, 1.38. Elizubethtown. N. J., 385. Eliham, V.i., 79. Emerick, General. .391. England, Grand Lodges of. (See Grand
Lodges) Enos, Captain, 373.
Fairfax Lord, 20.
County, records of. 229, 230. Falkirk, battle of. 148. Fanning, Colonel. 371. Farewell of Washington to lils army, 9.S. to the country. 162-100. " to his mother, 121.
" to his otficcrs, 94.
" to the presidency, 1G7. 168.
•' to the Continental Congress. 90.
Federal City, 140.
" District, 130-140, 198. " Lodge, D. C, 1.50, 198. Finnic, William, 266, 20K. First LodL'e of Boston, Ma.«»., 22,242.
Charleston, S. C, 22. 240. Philadelphia, 22, 240, 284, 2n., 287-290,801. Filzwhvlsonn, William 11., 116.
400
INDEX.
Florida, 3-S. ,., „ on.
Fort Campiis 3lartiu8, 66i. " Cumtierland, 33. " Duquesne, '2S, 29. " Necessity. 27. '• Niagara, 332. " Washington, 382 France, 77, S2, S3, 105, 1(6, li8, 1(9, 29S,
311,31.5,346,349,365. Francis, Emperor of S'^rmany, 30i Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, 43, 90, 235, ib4, 300-300, 311. sketch of, 2S1-299 William, sketch of. 300-3U. William Temple, 310. " Chapter, Connecticut. 320
Fredericksb„r'g,V^,16 20 24b0^2^/-' Fredericksburg Lodge, 21, 23, 24, 32, 2^(. Frederick the Great, 14S. Freemason's coat of arms, (1.
" Magazine (London), 1 (-J.
French Lodges, 25, 29S. ^u^e^^lTr^monies of Kichard Caswell, FuneraUeremonies of Franklin, Benjamin,
Funeral ceremonies of Randolph, Peyton,
271 272. Funeral ceremonies of Washington m
Alexandria, 203-20S.
Boston, 219-223.
Connecticut, 226.
Fredericksburg, Va., 227-229.
Mount Vernon, 199-203.
New Hampshire, 223-225.
New York. 216-219.
Philadelphia, 2(i9-216.
Rhode Island, 226.
Vermont, 225.
Gait, James, 266-268
Gait, .lohn Minson, 265, 266, 268.
Gates. General, .330, 352, 893.
General Grand-Master. (See Grand Mas
ter General.) Genesee, N.Y 337. George, king of England, 3.0, 3-.i. Georgetown, D. C, 123, 139,150, 198. Georgia. 36, 341.
" Grand-master of, 340. Germanic us, 30. „,„„., oni
Ger,„antown, Pa., 47, 296,3.31, .391. Germany, 65. Giles, James, 109.
Gillis, Dr. James, 161, 173, 174, 203. Gilpin, Colonel George, 200. Gist, Mordecai, 56, 1*3-136.
" " sketch of, 390-395
Oilman, Governor, 224. Gleason, Micajah, 45. Goelet. Francis, 246. Golden Urn, 221-223. Golden Medal, 223.
Gore, Nathaniel, 46. Graham, Charles, 55. Grand Lodges:
Connecticut, 190, 318-320
England (Moderns), 23, 31, 32, 3?, 2-i4, 237, 246, 254, 256, 2&4-26b, 30(j, 314,
Enfland (Ancients), 39, 72, 254, 393.
France, L'Orient of, 393.
Georgia, 343, 344.
Ireland, .30, 89, 75. ,„,„,,(,
Maryland, 150, 1 "6-1 '8. \S7. 188 229.
Massachusetts (Ancients), 39, 4b, 47,
Massachusetts (Moderns), 23 39, 42,
New Jersey, m
New York (Ancient-), 108, 10», l^*,
"16-219,366.367,371. New York (Moderns), 46, 246, 2^4-
Nortll Carolina, 345-849, 350-359.
?l\\Ulvania(Ancien^) 39.49 50^ -SS-U 90 109-111,1:35,141-144,163- 166, 211-215, 229, 299, 361-366, 8S8,
Pennsywtnia (Moderns) 39, 46, 284,
257-290, 290, 299, 301, 306. Rhode Island. 226, 323. Scotland, 31, 32, 39 South Carolina, 133-136, Sweden, 64.
^t^gS'fsS, 60, 67, 109-116, 141, 276-278, 363. «^«"So^x^^?;iaT2lt237.246.
Elbert, Samuel, 34=3.
Franklin, Benjamm, 43, 281-299.
Goelet, Francis, 246.
Gridley, Jeremy, 241.
Harrison, George, .7, 246 252, 256.
Johnson, Sir John 46 254-259
Oxnard, Thomas, 23. 290; 31M15.
Price, Henry, 22, 23, 234-244, 286-
oqn
Randolph, Peyton. 41, 46, 260-274 RitTcrs, Richard, 246. Rowe^ John. 42. 241, 322. Tomlinson. Robert, 241. Warren. Joseph, 41. 46. . „n.
Grand Masters, Independent (American).
Adams, Nathaniel, 224.
Bartlett, Josiah. 1S6, 221, 222.
Blair, John, 47, 60.
Bowen, Jabez. 321-32A
Caswell, Richard, 8o0-859.
Clark, Peleg, 226.
Cutler, John, 14(^143.
Davie, William R. 345-349.
Day, Benjamin, 227-229.
Drayton, William, 894.
INDEX.
401
Grand Masters, Independent (American) :
Dunn, Samuel, 220.
Edwards, Pierpont, 318-320.
Gist, Mordecai, 133-135, 390-396.
Greenlt-af, Simon, 53.
Jackson, Andrew, 344
Jackson, Hall, 344.
Jackson, James, 340, 843, 344
Judd, William, .320.
Livingston, Robert E., 124 126.
Milnor, Ilev. Dr. James, 359-36S. Dr. William, 368.
Putnam, Rufus, 375-384.
Randolph, Edmund, 110, 1 12-114 275- 2S0.
Revere, Paul, 171, 221, 222.
Smith, Jonathan Bayard, 143, 211-215.
Smith, William Moore, 164-166.
Stephens, William, 34.3.
Sullivan, General John, 329, 338.
Warren, John, 221, 222.
Webb, Joseph, 47, 60-69. Grand Masters (foreign) ;
Blaney, Lord. 2i».
Buchan, Earl of, 148.
Cranston, Lord. 314.
Frederick the Great, 143.
Montaciite, Lord, 237.
Norfolk. Duke of. 234
Petre, Lord, 264-2G6. Grand Master General of America, Wash- inirton proposed as, 51, 5S-71, 78, 159, 392. Grange, Joseph de la, 215. Greene. General Nathaniel, 90, 330, 346,
3SS, 394. Greenleaf, Captain Moses, 52.
•' Simon. 53.
Greenway, Jose[(h, 116. Gregory, Mrs. Mildred, 16. Griilley, Colonel Richard, 42.
" .Jeremy, 241. Gnlford, battle of, .346. Gustavus Third of Sweden, 92.
II.
Unlkerson, Dr. Robert, 28.
Hallate, Stephen, 1.53.
Halifax, Lord, 306
Halifax. N. C, 346, 343.
Hamburg, 64.
Hamilton, James, 2S7, 291.
Hancock. John, 40, 130, 269.
Handy, John. 226.
Hanging Rock, battle oi; 846.
Harmony Council. 3VJ0.
llarl, Jonatlian. 42, 4.''., K, 3S2.
Harrison, George, 77, 246, 2.52, 256.
H .rwood, Tlioirias, 26.5, 263.
Ha-kin.i, William, 69.
Ha.sweil, Anllmny, 22.5.
Haven, Dr. Saniiicl, 12.5.
Hay!*, Mos
Haywood, Hniiiphrcy, 266.
Hempstead, L. 1., 36N
Hendrick, Indian chief, 248, 249.
Henry, Patrick, 40, 278.
Herbert, William, 104.
Heritage, William, 3.50.
Hiram' Lodge, New Haven, 814, 315, 317,
319, 320. History of Printing. 146. Hitchcock, Rev, Dr. Enos, 52. Hciban, James, 153 Hobkirk's Hill, battle of, 346. Hodgson, William. 116. lioftman, Martin. 21 S. Holland Lodge, New York, llS-121. Hopkins, Elisha, 45.
" Governor, 321. Hopkinson, Thomas, 2S7, 294 Hull, Mnjor William, 52. Humphrey, Colonel David, 129. Hunter, Rev. Andrew, 389.
William, jr., 110-116. " Governor, 235. Hunting Creek, 137 Husseltine, James, 266. Hutchings, Mr., 90.
I.
Illnminism, 178-189.
Indian name of Washington, 27.
" '• Sir William Johnson, 247.
" " the site of the city of
Wa-shington, 140. Inglis, Rev. Dr., 371. Ireland, Grand Lodge of, 30, 39. 75. Military Lodge of, 30,31. Iroquois, 216, 247, 258, .331-338. Irving, Peter, 218. Isham, Mary, 261.
J.
Jackson, General Andrew, 344. J.ackson, Dr. Hall, 339, 344. Jackson, l>r. .lames, of .Mass, !i44. Jackson, General .James, sketch of, 340-
344. Jacobins of France, 178. Jamaica, L. I., 370. Jarvis, Rev. Dr. Abraham, 87.3, 874. Jefferson, Thomas, 278, 382. Jenncy, Dr., 303. Jewett, Joseph, 4.5.
Johnson, Sir William, sketch of, 24.5-2.53 2.54, 2.5.5, 25SS.
Sir John, sketch of, 254-2.59, 46; 2.50, 332, 335.
Colonol Guy, 250, 2.52, 253, 332.
Hall, 253. Johnston-Caswell Lodge, N. C, 8.58. County, 351.
Samuel, 350, 357. Johnstown, N. Y., 2.54. Jones. General Alien, 846. .Jones' Point. 187. Judd, William, 820. Junto, 291.
402
INDEX.
Kennelly Thomas, 239. King David's Lodge. R. I., 77, 7S, 130-132. Kins Solomon's Lodge, Georgia, 342. King Solomon's Lodge, Poiighkeepsie, 86,
87, 2.56. Knox, General Henry, 89, 94, 166, 167, 169,
170. Kosciusko, General, 3S1.
L.
Lafayette, General, 78, 82, 8:3, 105-107, 229,
2;B(), 328, 380, 386, 389. L'Amenitc Lodge, Piiiladelpliia, 215, 216. Lancaster, Pa., Lodge at, 4S. Laugliton. Joseph, 171, 1S6. Laurens. General, 394. Lawrence, Joiin, 56. Lear, Tobias, 102, 195. 199, 221, 222. Lee. General Henry, 29. 90. 2il, 214. Lee, General Charles, 327, 379. Leganbiepad, Baron, 64 Leney, Mr., 125. L'Enl'ant, Major. 140. Lenoir County, N. C.,350. Leonard, Captain E., 377. Letters trom Washington to
Ale.xandria Lodge, 100, 104, 174. Grand Lodt'e of Massachusetts, 147,
148, 171,172. Grand Lodge of Maryland, 176, 177. " " Pennsylvania, 144,
165, 166. " " Soutli Carolina, 135
(noted), 395. his wife (noted), 40. King Davi.l's Lodge, 132, 133. Snyder, Rev. G. W.. 181, 182, 1S3. Watson & Cassoul, 83. S4. Weems, Rev. M. L., 192. 193. E.f tracts from various others, 100-102. Letter to Washington from
Alexandria Lodge, 99, 172, 173, 174.
Cape Franfois (noted), 70.
Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 146,
147. 170, 171. Grand Lodge of Maryland (noted),
176. Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, 143,
164. 165. Grand Lodge of South Carolina, 133,
134 (noted), 395. King David's Lodge. R. I.. 131, 132. Snyder, Rev. G. W., 179, 180 (note 1
182). Watson & Cas-soul. S3, S4. Weems, Rev. M. L, 192, 193. Letters Miscellaneous :
Ailains, Mr., to Grand Lodge, Massa- chusetts, 187. Alexandria Lodge to Grand Lodge,
Virginia, lU Babcock, Colonel, to Rev. Dr. Cooper, (extract), 250.
Letters Miscellaneous:
Franklin, Dr., to Grand Lodge, Massa- chusetts, 238. 289. Franklin, Dr., to Henry Price, 290 '• " his father (extract i,
294. " " Rev. Dr. Byles (ex-
tract). 311. Grand Lodge, Mass., to John Adams.
185, 1S6. ' Grand Lodge, Mass., to Mrs. AVasli-
ington, 221. Grand Lodge, Pennsylvania, to Joliii
Blair (noted). 60. Grand Lodge, Pennsylvania, to Colo- nel William Malcolm (noted). 60. Grand Lodge, Pennsvlvania, to Joseph
Webb. fiO, 61, 63-6"7. Mr. Lear to Grand Lodge, Massachu- setts. 222. Mr Lear to Lodge No. 71, Pennsylva- nia, 216. Lodge No. 71, Petmsylvania, to Mrs.
Wa'-hin^'ton. 2\r>. Newburgarniy letters (noted), 88. Slrabau, Mr., 'to Mrs. Franklin, (ex- tract), 305. Webb. Mr., to Grand Lodge, Pennsyl- vania, 61. 62, 69. Williams, Mr, to Alexandria Lodge, (noted), 160, 161. Lewis, Lawrence, 107, 189.
" Lorenzo, 107. Lexington, Mass., 4i'. 379.
N. C, 349. Lincoln. General, 90. Little, William. 186.
Colonel Cliarles, 197, 200. Littleflold, William, 131, 132. Livingston, Robert R., 109, 124, 126.
Edward, 118, 119. Locust Hill. 391.
Lodses, Grand. (See Grarid Lodges.) Lodges, Military. (See Military Lodges.) Lodges. English, 183. Lodges. list of:
Alexandria, No. 39, Virginia, 93-100, 105. 107-109, 112, 12(1, 203. No. 22, Virginia, 106-107, 110-116, 137-139, l.'>ii- 162. 172-175, 197-2l)S. 362. .'Vmerican George, N. C, 141. Annapolis, Maryland, 314. Brooke, Virginia, 198, 205 Caswell Brotherhood. N. C . 3o8. Davie.William R., North Caro!ina.34'.». Davie, 349. Detroit, 256. Federal D. C, 150. 198. First Lodge in Charleston. S. C. 240. First Lo Ige in Philadelphia, 240, 284,
2n'>. 2^7-290, 301. Fredericksburg, Va., 2.3, 24. 227-229. Hiram, Ct., 314. 315, 317, 319, 320.
INDEX.
403
Lodges, list of :
Holland, New York, llS-120. Ineffable, Albanj-. N. T.. 252. 25-3. Kins David's, Kiiode Island, TT, 73,
130, 132. King Solomon's, New York, 36, ST, 2o6. King Solomon's, Georgia, 342. L'Amenite, Pennsylvania, 215, 216. Lancaster, No. 43, Pennsj-lvania, 43. Masters, Boston, 242. Montgomerv, New York, 77. No. 2, Phila'deipliia, 117, 113. •' 3. Philadelphia, 30i', 367. " 9, Virginia, 7s ■' 31, Pennsylvania, 360, 361. " 50, Virgii'.la, IKl. " 59, Virginia, 211. " 61, Petinsvlvania, .334. Potomac, D.'C. 150. 153, 193. Koyal George, North Carolina. 141. Royal White Hart, 343. Koyal Lodge, at St. James's, Eng , 255. Eural .\mi:y, Pennsylvania, 335. St. Andrew's. Boston. 1^3. St. George's. New York. 2.56. Bt Jolin^s, Boston, 225, 239, 240, 314. Newport, It. 1 , 314. " Newark, N. J . 19.1. New York, 124. 126. Portsmouth, N . H., 240, 314,
333. Provid.nce, E. I, 321-323, 327. 331. St. Patrick's. New York. 246, 252, 253,
254, 255, 333. Somerset. Connecticnt, 373. Warren, .Maine, 67, 63. Williamsbnrg. Virginia, 264-274, 276. Wooster, Colchester. Ct., 317. New Haven. Ct., 317. Lo.lge Alley, Philadelphia, 301, 302. London Freemason's M;igazine, 75, 173. Lyman, Elisha, 315.
M.
M.ichias, Maine, 67, 68.
Macbin, Thomas, 56.
Mackay. Mungo. 147.
Mallit. Rev. William, 200, 205, 203.
Maine, 67, 6S, 3-29
.Malcolm. Colonel William, 60.
Mansneld, Samnei. 315.
Mari,.tr-i, Ohic., 3s2-3n).
Mxrk Miister's Circle. 1"l6.
Mar.sii-ller, Colonel Piiilip, 200.
Mar.sbill. John, 73.
.Martin. Francis Xavier, '■ii>i.
-Martin, Governor, 351.
.\I iryland, 66. 74. 13.5, 150, 153, 15J, 176, 177,
1*7, 229, 314, 350. Masonic aprons of Washington. (Sie
aprons.) M.-isonic constitutions. (See constitutions ) Masonic Grand Lodges. (See Grind
Lodi-es.)
Masonic Lodges. (See Lodges.) Masonic Grand Masters. (See Grand Mas- ters.) Masonic medals of Washington. (See
medals.) Ma.S(inic portrait of Washington. (Front- ispiece.) Masonic Armv Convention, ,5, 50. Masons' Hall." Philadelphia, 301, -302. Massachusetts Grand Lodges. ^See Grand
Lodges ) Massachusetts Grand Masters. (See Grand
Masters.) Massachusetts Lodges. (See Lodges.) Maxwell, General, 356. McCrea. Robert, lln, 203. Medal .Ma.sonic, 70. 223, 29S. -Mercer, General, 357. Mewell. Jonathan, 224. Middleton, Dr. Peter, 256. Middletown, Conn., 374. Mifflin, General. 96, 97. Miln.ir, Dr. James, 16i ; sketch of 359-
367. Milnor. Dr. William. 367. Military Lodges, list, of — American :
St. Jiihn's Regimental, 44, 55, 50, 74- " American Union, 42-46, 52,
54-53, 74. S6, 330-332, 392. " Washington No. 10, 52. 55, 56,
74. 36, 141. " No 19, Pa., 74. '• No. 20, P^i., 74. " No. 27, Pa., 74, 13.5, 393, 394. « No. 23, Pa., 74. '• No. 29, Pa., 74. " No. 31, Pa., 74. '• No. 36, Pa., 74. 339. IJritish, 30. 31, 32, 75-77, 371, 372. Mitchell, Ephraini, 39.5. Mohawk Valley, 246. 247, 2.50, 2.52, 333.
Indians. (See Iroquois.) Moninoull), battle of, 336. Montacute, Lord, 237, 2-39. Montgomery, General, 51, 317, 357. Montgomery Lodge, New York, 77. Moultrie, General, 841. Mount Hope Cemetery, S^H, Mount Vernon, 19, 30, 3.5. 40. 9S, 105. 117 121, 123, 183, 169,176, ISl, 132, 192, 194- 20.3. 215, 222. Morri.s, Cidonel, 23, 29. Morris, Gouverneur, 219. Morristown, N. J., 46, 54, 55, 56, 53, S3
135, 391. Morse. Rev. Jedediah. 13S. \>,>). M.irton. Gener.il Jacob, 124, 216-218. Muir, Rev. James, 13^, 200, 205, 20a Murray. Mr., 343. Museum, Alexandria, 200.
Nantes, S3. Neale, .loseph, 193.
N.
404
INDEX.
Neilson, John, 23.
Nelson, General Thomas, 7S.
Nelson's Point, 52.
Newbern, N. C, 352.
New Brunswick, N. J., 369.
Newburg, 52, 83-87.
New Hampshire, 62, 66, 2H ^40, 330, 33S.
New Haven, Ct., 370, 374.
New .Jersey, 46, 74, 2.34-286, 800, 307-310,
319, 347. New London, Ct., 368, 372. Newport, li. I., 78, 130-133, 314, 325, 331. New Providence, Governor of, 302, 304. Newtown, (Elinira), 335. New Windsor, 52. New York city, 28, 31, 45, 46, 93, 118-121,
12.3-127, 130, 216-219, 310, 330, 365, 370,
387 New York, State of, 84, 85, 86 216, 2:34, 237, 246, 247, 254, 257, 259, 819, .331.
" Grand Lodge of, 44, 46, lOS, 109, 216- 219.
" Grand Masters of, 124, 126, 25.5, 256.
" Lodges of, 74, 118-120, 124-126, 245, 252, 253, 254-256, 336. Niagara, 3-32.
Nicholas, Miss Betsey, 277. Ninety-six. battle of, 'H6. Norfolk, Dnke of, 234. Norristown. Pa., 360. Norwalk, Ct., 373. Norwich, Ct., 190, 873. Nova Scotia, 29.
Oiiden, Aaron, sketch of, 8S5-3S9.
Ogeechee, 341.
Ohio, 26. 27, 29, 3S1, 382.
Oliver, Daniel, 171, 186, 220.
Oneidas. (See Iroquois.)
Onondagas. (See Iroquois.)
Orange County, N. C, 350.
Overton. .Mr., 325.
Oxford University, 297, 306, 373.
Oxnard, Thomas, 23, 241, 295, 314.
P.
Palfrey, Colonel William, CO, 61, 63. Paoli,"Battle of, 891. Parsons, Colonel Samuel H.. 42. Park, Major John, 42, 51. Patterson, General John. 52, 86 Payne, Colonel, 200. Payne, Mr., 90.
IVale, C. Wilson, 26S, 2(>9. 274. Penn>ylvania. Slatf of, 39, 46, 48, .56, 92, no, 163-16.5,229, 231, 237, 286. Grand Chapter of, 861. Grand Lodire of; 36. 39. 49, .50, 58-67. 69-75, 90, 110. 141, 142, 211-214, 299, 334, 3'51, 366. Grand Masters of, 14:3, 164, 165, 211-214, 2S1, 287-296, 302, 304. Pennsylvania, Lodges of, 2;3, 74, 117, 118, 215, 216, 238, 240, 302, 305, £34.
Pepperell, Colonel, 313.
Peter the Great, 250.
Petre, Lord, 264-266.
Petrekin, Thomas, 198.
Philadelphia, 2:1, 39, 47-49, 110, 117, 118,
13.3, 137, 142, 144 149, 161-166, 169, 209-
216, .351, 359, 360, 865, 866, 367. Philanthropist, 191. Philosophical Society, 291. Phillipse. Miss. 28, 29, 35. Pbillip.s Mr., 250. Pickens, General, 342. Pierce, Colonel .John, 55. Pierpont, Kev. Jaraes, 81S. Plumsted, William, 294. 295. Poor Kiohard's Almanac, 286. Port Tobacco, 19.5. Port Kent, N. Y., 85. Portrait
piece), 160, 162. Portsmouth, N. H., 224, 240, 330, 338, Potomac Lodge, No. 9. D. C, 150, 158,
198. Ponghkeepsie, N. Y., 86, 87, 256. Powell, Mr., 111. Pratt, Henry, 294. Prescott. General, 824-327, 330. Price, Henry, sketch of, 233-244 (Noted,
22, 14,5, 286, 290, 295.) Princeton, N. J., 46. Proctor, Colonel Thomas, 51, 60, 164, 214,
331. Proofs of a Conspiracy, 179-181, 229. Providence, R. I., .321-328, 324, 327. Pulaski, General, 347. Putnam, Israel, 375, 377, 378. Putnam, General Rufus, sketch o^ 375-
3S4.
Q.
Quaker host of Washington, 48.
" General Prescott, 326. Quann, John. 239. Queen Anne, 234.
R.
Ramsey, William, 99. 200. Ranisour's Mills, battle of, 346. Randolph, Peyton, sketch of, 260-274. (Noted, 40, 41, 46, 275, 276.) '• Edmund, sketch of, 275-2S0.
(Noted, 260). " Mrs. Edmund, 277-279.
" Harrison, 265, 2G6t
'• John, 275, 276.
" John, of Roanoke. 344
" Sir John, 261, 275. " Susan, 261.
William, 261. Reading, Ct, 51. Kevere, Paul, 44, 171, 221, 222. Richards, (ieorge, 116.
Rev. Georg^ 225. Richardson, William, 347. Richmond, Va., HI, 115,
INDEX.
405
Ridgefleld, 317.
liijfgs^, Richard, 246.
Koanoke. .^44.
Knliisoii, Professor John, 178-189.
Kobinson, Colonel Beverley, 28.
Mr., 26:5. Robinson House, 52, 3S1. Kocliester, N. Y., 337, 374. Rodgers, Dr., 3;i4. Roslin Ciistle, :iU. Rowan, Lodge at, 293. Rowe, John, 42, 241, 322. Rowsey, John, 265, 266, 263. Ro.xburv, Ma.'^s., 42, 43, 379. Royal White Hart Lodge, N. C, 348. Royal Lodire, Eng., 255. Eutledge, Mr., 40.
8.
Sadler, Mr., 16-3.
Salisbury, N. C, 347.
Sanfoni, John, 56.
Savannah, 341, 342.
Scotland. 32. 70, 145, 304, 306.
Scott, Captain Ezekiel, 42.
Scott, Uobert G., 7S.
Beabury, Dr. Samuel, sketch o^ 36S-374.
(Noted, 190. 191.) Seal of American Union Lodge, 4.3, 44.
'• Fredericksburg Lodge, 24. Seeker, Archbishop, 373. Seixas, Moses, 131, 132. Senecas. (See Iroquois.) Sherburne. Henry, 131, 1.32. Shippen, Josepli, 294, 295. Simcoe, General, 391. Simins, Colonel Charles, lit, 197, 200. Skinner. Abraham. 218. Smith, Jonathan Bayard, 14.3, 211-21.5.
Kev. Dr. William, 49, 50, 60-67, 71-7:i, 89, 9ii, 141, 164, 803. " William Moore, KU, 165. Snyder, Rev. G. W., 179, l>v4. Social Club propo.sed by Franklin, iSS-
286. Society of the Cincinnati, S9-93, 129, 210. South Carolina, 133, 341.
" Grand Lodge of. 36, 1.33.
" Gran.l Master of, 1.33-136.
" Lodgfs of, 23, 136, 240.
Borrow Lodge, 21.'). Sowrs, Christopher, 296. Spanbergen, Dr. Frederick, 116. St. Andrew's Lmlge, Boston, 1>>3. St. George's church. New York, 365-367. St. George's Lodge. N. Y., 2.'>6. Bt. John's Lodge, Boston, 225, 239, 240. •■ Newark, N. J., 190. " " Newport. R. I.. 314.
« ' " New York, l'J4-126.
« " p. rtsmouil), N. H , 240,
814. 331. • " Providence. K. L, 321-
828, 827, 8;n.
St. John's Regimental Lodge, 44, 56, 74. St. John the BapU.sl, Festivals of. 52, 86,
104, 237, 242. 2r.ti, 2s6, 287, 302-304, 3sO. St. John the Kvanirfli--t. Festivals of, 49,
50, 54, 86, 9n-!0(I, 1('3, 141, 142, 163-165,
20.3-205, 270, 322, 371, 392. St. Louis, 90. St. Patrick's Lodse, N. Y., 246, 252, 25;J,
2.54, 2.5.5, 333, 836. St Paul's church, New York, 127, 219, 3,ii,
372. St Peter's church. New York, 369. St Petersburg. 64. Stagg. John. 118, 120. Stateii Island, 3S6. Stephens, William, 343. Stephenson, Clotworthy, 150.
Rev. Mr., 229. Stirling. Lord, 386. Steuben, Baron, 89, 118, 119. Stuart Hon. David, 137, 153. Stono Ferry, 1547. Strahan, Mr., 305. Sullivan, General John, sketch of, 329-339,
3s6. Somerset Lodge, Ct, 373. Sumter, General, 346. Sundermania, Duke of, 64. Sweden, Grand Lodge of, 64, 65. Swift Rev. Mr., 225. Syng, Philip, 295.
Tarleton, General, 391, Taylor, John, 2.^i. Temple, Masonic, n5, 86,85. Tennison, Archbishop. 378. Thoraa.s, I.saiah, 146, 171. Thomas, Gemini, 379. Thompson, Charles, 90. Thompson. Brigadier-General, 810. Tichenor, Isaac, 225. Tinker, John, Governor, .304. TioL'a, 334, :335, 337. Toasts Masonic, 51, 52, 139, 175, 304. Tollison, Rev. Mr., 2"5. Tomlinson, Robert 241. Townsend, .Mass , 243. Trenton, N. J., 46. Trumbull, Governor, 310. Tryon, Governor, 316, 351. Tudor, George, 56. Tun Tavern, 2^1. " Lodge, 2s.5. Tupper, Colonel Benjamin, 52. Turner, Jidin, 26.5. Tuscaroras. (See Iroquois.) Tutile, Jehiel, 31.5.
U.
Union College, 319.
Union of Mas.t. G. Lodges, 145.
406
INDEX.
Uniteil party for virtue proposed by Frank- lin, 2S5. University of N. C. 348, 349.
" Pa., 3.59. Urn, Golden, 221-223.
Valley Forge, 4T. 48, 331.
Vandefl Broeck, 118-120, 218.
Varnntn, General, 323, 331.
Varus, 30.
Vermin, Admiral, 19.
Vernon. Mount, 19, 30, 35, 40. 98. 105, 117,
121, 123, 1.33, 169, 176, 181, 1S2, 192, 194,
203, 215, 222.
W.
Waddill, William, 114. 265-268. Wahab's Plantation. :M7. Wallace, Sir William, 143. Walter, Eev. Dr., 223. Ward, Colonel, 33. Warraghiiyagey, 247. Warren, Sir Peter, 247. John, 221, 222.
Joseph, General, 41, 46, 51, 145, 273, 317, 357. " Lodge, 67, 68. Warwick Point, 325. Washington Benevolent Society, 106. Chapter, 120, 121. " City of, 140, 15:3, 198, 344, 3S9.
" Coat of Arms, 72, 73.
" Lodge, Military, 52, 74, 86.
" Masonic Cave, 32.
" John, first American ancestor
of George, 16. " Lawrence, grandfather of
George, 16. " Augustine, father of George,
16, 17, 18. " Mary, mother of George, 16,
lb, 19, 20, 80. 81,121. " Martha, wife of George, 34, 40,
41, 79. 195. 215, 216, 220-222. " Lawrence, brother of George,
19, 20. *•■ Lund, 207.
Washington, George, his birth, 15, 16; Baptism, 16; Death of his father, 16; Parental instruction, 17; Ilis love of truth, 17, IS ; Faithfulness of his mother, 1-i; Early education, 19 ; Obtains com- mission as midshipman. 19 ; Engages as l.-uid surveyor. 19.20; Accompanies his brother to JJarbadoes, 20 : Inherits Mount Vernon. 20 ; Commissioned as militia- ofHcer. 21; Character at manhood, 21; Candidate for Masonry, '21 ; Becomes a Mason, 23; Sent to the" Ohio. 26, 27; His Indian name, 27 ; Takes command of Virginia troops, 27: First campaign and capitulation, 27; .Joins General Brad- dock, 28; Visits Boston, 28; Becomea
enamored with Miss Phillipse. 29 ; His '• Lowland Beauty," 29; Again enters the army. 29; Retires to private life, 30; British Military Lodge claims to have made him a Mason, 30, 31, 32 ; Masonic cave, 32 ; Elected member of the Colo- nial Assembly, 33; Marriage, 34, 3.5; Domestic life, 3.5, 36; Member of Con- tinentiil Congre.s.s, 39, 40; Elected Com- mander-in-cliief, 40; T,.kes command, 41 ; Military Lodge formed. 42; His army evacuates New York, 40 : Itocomiiieniied to Lodge of Virginia as Granil Master, 47; Valley Forge, 47 ; At pra^'er, 48; His statue at Lancaster, Pa.. 4S; Attends Masonic celebration at Philadelphia, 49, 50 ; Sermon dedicated to him, 50 ; Park's ode, 51 ; Masonic toasts, 51 ; Attends Masonic celebration on the Hudson, 52 ; At Morristown, 55; Army Masonic con- ventions, .56-58; Elected by Pennsylvania G. G. Master, 59; Keceives letters from Cape Franfois, asking for lodge warrant, 70; His Masonic fame in Scotland, 70; His Ma-sonic medal, 7o ; llis coat of arms, 72, 73; Masonic constitution of Pennsyl- vania dedicated to him, 72, 73; Visits Rhode Island, 77, 7S ; Captures Cornwal- lis, 78; Lo.-es his stepson, and adopts his two youngest children, 79, 80; Visits his mother at Fredericksburg, 80, 81 ; Re- ceives letter and Masonic regalia from Watson & Cassoul, S3; His reply, 84; Orders "Temple" built, 86; Visits lodge in Poughkeepsie, 86, 87 : Scenes at New- burg, S7-S9 ; Becomes President of the Cincinnati, 89; Proposed honors of Amer- ican knighthood, 90, 91 ; llis farewell t3 his officers, 93-95; Resigns his commis- sion, 95-97; Returns to Mount Vernon, 98; Receives invitation to visit lodge in Alexandria, 99 ; His feelings on returning to private life, 100; Visits Alexandria Lodge, and elected honorary member, 104, 105; Presented with Masonic rega- lia by Lafayette, 105-107; New York Masonic constitution dedicated to him, 109; Becomes Master of Ale.vandria Lodge, 110-116; Elected President of U. S., 117; Elected honorary member of Holland Lodge, 118-120; Visits his mother, 121, 122; Goes to New York, 123, 124; Inaugurated as President, 124- 127; llis inaugural address, 128; Re- plies to it, 128 ; His title, 128 ; Etiquette of Presidential intercourse established, 128, 129 ; Visits the New England States, 129; Misconception of Governor Han- cock as to his reception, 130; Visits Rhode Island, 130; Address to him from King David's Lodge, 13o 13:3; Returns to -Mount Vernon, 133; Visits the South- ern States. 133-136; Receives letter from Grand Lodge of South Carolina, 183, 134; his rei)ly to it, 134, 135; Returns again to Mount Vernon, 136; Appoints
INDEX.
407
Coinmissionera to lay out the Federal Ditriut, 137; Favors their cluiicii in lo- calins the capitol on the north ? iile of the Potomac, 139-140; It receives his name, 14U; His name extensively used for towns, lodges, etc., 140, 141; Slasonic con- stitution of Virginia dedicated to him, 141 ; Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania ad- dresses him. 141-143; Ills reply, 144; Mass. constitutions dedicated lo him, 145; Address from Grand Lodge of Mas- sachusetts, and his reply, 146-148; Re- ceives presents from Frederick the Great, and the Earl of Biichan, 14S; Is re-elected President, 149; His second inauguration, 149; Lays the corner-stone of the Uapitol, 149-160 ; General Grand Master, 159; His Masonic portrait by Williams, 160-162. His Farewell Ad- dress, 162; Makes allusions in it to se- cret societies, 162-163; Receives Addre.s8 from Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, 16-3-166; Retires Iroin the presidency, 167, 168 ; Returns to Mount Vernon, 169 ; Receives address from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, ITO, 171 ; His reply, 171, 172 ; Receives letter from his own lodge in Alexandria, 172, 173; Attends the Lodge, 173; Address and ceremo- nies, 173-175; His employments at Mount Vernon, 175, 176; Appointed commander of provisional army, 176 ; Receives letter from Grand Lodge of Maryland, with a copy of Its constitu- tion, 196 ; His reply, 196-197; Receives letter from Mr. Snyder, with a book, en- titled, "Proofs of a Conspiracy," 179; His correspondence with Mr. Sny 179-1S3 ; His Masonic character publicly known, 1SS-1S9; His birthday anniver- saries, 189-190; Dr. Samuel Seabury dedicates Masonic address to him, 190- 191 ; Rev. Mr. Weems dedicates pamphlet to him. 191,192; Their correspondence, 191-193: His last summer and antuirin, 194; Sickness and death, 194-197 ; Fune- ral, 198-203; Ceremonies at Alexandria, 204-208; News of his death reaches Phil- adelphia, 209, 210 ; Congress appoint a clay for funeral ceremotiies, 211; Masonic fraternity invited as mourners, 211; Ma- sonic ceremonies in Philadelphia, 211,219; New York, 216-219 ; Boston, 219-222 :
Lock of his liair deposited in Golden I'rn, 220, 222; Funeral ceremonies in New Hampshire. 224, 225; In Vermont 225; In Rhode Island. 226; In Connrc ticut, 226; Virginia, 227,228; Masmn articles inventoried in his estate, 229-230
Washington. George, noted in Compeers 261, 262. 272, 276, 278, 3i»7, 321, 326, 330, 332, 333, :34S, 378, 379, 382, 3S6-388, 392- 39.5.
Watson, Elkanah, a3-85, 103.
Watson & Cassoul, 83, 84, 106, 107, 162, 229
Wayne, General Anthony, 90, 342, 382.
Webb, Jose[)h, 47, 60-67.
Weems, Rev. M. L , 191-193.
Weise's tavern, 104. 137,
Weiser, Conrad, 296.
Westmoreland. Va, 16, 211.
Westchester, 369. 370.
West Point, 52. 86. 380, 381.
Wliitehaven, Eng.. 345.
White, Rev. Dr., 214.
Whitemarsh, 891.
Whittier, the poet, 328.
Whiting, Mrs. Beverlcv, 10.
Wilcock.s. William, lls-120.
Williams, Otho H.. 45. .56. 302.
Williams, Mr., portrait-painter, 160-162,
Williams, Mr.,
Williamsburg, Vs.. 26, 35. " Lodge, 47.
Williamson, Collin, 1.53.
Willard. Rev. Mr., 224.
Witherspo.in, Dr., 90, 386.
Wolcott, Mr., 140-
Wooster, General David, 51 ; sketch of, 312-317. " Thomas, 317. " Mrs. Mary, 31.5.
Wyllys, Colonel Samuel, 42. '• John P., 43.
Wyoming, Pa , 334.
York, Pa., 48.
Yorktown, Vs., 78, 87, 189, 3Sa
Zion Church, 214.

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