i? a if I section I. Cornell aUntuerHitg ffiihrarjj 3«iara, Jfem Jork FROM THE BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY COLLECTED BY BENNO LOEWY 18S4-19I9 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library HS509 .P85 + + A portrait galler IIIHIIIIllllllllililllllHIUIIIHIIHIIIH 3 1924 030 282 838 olin.anx Overs Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030282838 -T i U- v % " J. Edwards. •ovincial G.-.Master of the Province of Pennsylvania «+*~ OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. Just Published. "The CONSTITUTION of the FREEMASONS: Containing the History, Charges, Regulations, &c, of that most ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity, London printed. Reprinted by Benjamin Franklin, in the year of Masonry 5734. Price stich'd 2s. 6, bound 4s." Bro. - . Franklin's deep interest in Freemasonry did not lessen, but rather increased, with advancing years, as is fully evidenced not only by the columns of his publications, but by the records of the lodge of which he had been an active member for so many years. Especially is it shown through the era of per- secution suffered by the order from about 1737 to 1744, which grew out of the pretended making of a mason by certain impostors, and which act caused the death of the subject. Bro. - . Franklin became the mark for severe criticism by a rival and anti-masonic sheet, and was charged with having been connected with the affair. In February, 1737, however, he printed in his Gazette a full statement of the affair, exculpating him- self, and supported it by the affidavits of two persons who were cognizant of the entire transaction. He closed his statement in these words : " This being the true state of the case, I think 1 may reasonably hope, that I am so well known in this city, where I have lived near 14 years, as that the false and malicious in- sinuations contained in the Mercury, will not Do the Injury to my Reputation that seems intended." The report of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, under date of June 16, 1737, recites "that some ill-disposed persons in this city (Philadelphia) assuming the name of Freemasons, have for several years past imposed upon several well-meaning people, who were desirous of becoming true brethren, persuading them, after they performed certain ridiculous ceremonies, that they were really become masons," &c. A letter to Bro. Henry Price, of Boston, from Bro. - . Franklin about the same time, and in which these words appear: — " that some false and rebel Brethren, who are for- eigners, being about to set up a district lodge, in op- position to the old and true Brethren here, pretending to make masons for a bowl of punch," &c, fully cor- roborates the fact that Freemasonry was in no proper sense responsible for the iniquitous proceedings charged against Bro/. Franklin, as above; yet it had its effect upon the craft, for the growth of the Fraternity in Philadelphia was thereby temporarily checked — but only temporarily, for " Truth crushed to earth shall rise again." While Bro.\ Franklin was in France as the Am- bassador from this country, he appears to have taken a very prominent interest in Masonry. He affiliated with the celebrated Lodge of the Nine Sisters, of which La Lande, Count de Gebelin, and other cele- brities of French Literature, were members. He took a prominent part in the initiation of Voltaire, and on his death acted as Senior Warden of the Lodge of Sorrow held in his memory. The Lodge of Nine W-+- Sisters held Bro.-. Franklin in such esteem that it struck a medal in his honor, of which a copy, sup- posed to be the only one now in existence, belongs to the Provincial Lodge of Mecklenburg. Of the career of Bro. - . Franklin as Statesman and patriot we need not speak, for his life and works are too deeply engraven upon the hearts and minds of American readers. Full of honors, and having lived out a full score of years, he passed away, leav- ing behind him a monument more enduring than marble or metal — the fruits of his inventive genius. BRO.-. JOHN SULLIVAN, the first Grand Mas- ter of Masons in New Hampshire, was of Irish de- scent, his father having emigrated from Ireland and settled in Berwick, Maine. There, on the 17th of February, 1740, the subject of our sketch was born and spent his early youth. Upon reaching manhood, he left his father's farm and entered on the study of the law, serving the usual apprenticeship. In due time he was regularly admitted and established himself in his profession at Durham, New Hampshire. He soon rose to distinction as an attorney and politician; since we find that as early as 1774 he was sent as a dele- gate from his State to the Continental Congress. Upon his return from the session of the Congress he engaged with some other distinguished patriots of his State in taking possession of the- British fort at Ports- mouth. It was a bold act, and secured for the future use of the Colonists one hundred barrels of powder and a quantity of cannon and small arms. In 1775 he was re-elected to Congress and served in it until his services were required in his own State, when he returned with a commission as one of the eight brigadier-generals which Congress had ap- pointed. He shortly repaired to Washington's head- quarters at Cambridge, and reported for duty. In 1776, upon the organization of the Continental Army, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General and assigned to the command of the troops in Canada. But his command there was of a brief duration, Gen- eral Gates superseding him. Rejoining Washington's Army, he' was placed in command of General Greene's division, that General being ill at the time. He com- manded the division at the Battle of Brooklyn, in which he was captured by the enemy and held a pris- oner until exchanged for General Prescott. On re- joining Washington's Army after his exchange he was again assigned to the command of one of its four divisions, and commanded at the Battles of Brandy- wine and Germantown with great bravery. When Washington retired to winter quarters at Valley Forge, General Sullivan was sent to Rhode Island to take command of the troops stationed in that State. In the ensuing summer he besieged the British force at Newport, but through the failure of co-operation from the French fleet did not meet the desired success. Masonic records give us the first glimpse of Bro.'. Sullivan at this time. It appears that in the autumn of 1778, and while in command in Rhode Island, the PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES General gave permission to the Brethren under his command to join in the Masonic festival of St. John, on the 28th of December of that year, in Providence. General Varnum, who was also stationed in Rhode Island, delivered the address upon this occasion. General Sullivan was entered and- crafted in St- John's Lodge, No. 1, of Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire, on the 19th of March, 1767, and raised to the grade of Master Mason on the 28th of December, 1768. This was the only lodge in existence in that State prior to the Revolution. The subsequent history of New Hampshire Freemasonry shows that in 1789 an independent Grand Lodge was formed in that jurisdiction, of which Bro.\ Sullivan was elected its first Grand Master; and also, that dur- ing the same year he was Grand Master of the State he was the Worshipful Master of this old lodge at Portsmouth. He served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge until the session of October, 1790, when he communi- cated to that body by letter, the fact that the condi- tion of his health would no longer permit him to serve as Grand Master, at the same time expressing his grateful acknowledgement for the honor which had been conferred upon him. Bro.\ Sullivan's distinguished services in the war were gratefully appreciated by Washington whose confidence he at all times commanded. But the ser- vices rendered in his expedition against the Loyalists and Indians, who had become the terror of the north- ern frontier by their savage brutality and wanton- ness, gained him not only the thanks of Congress but the heartfelt gratitude of his countrymen. Much im- paired in health by the rigors and sufferings endured from the terrible campaign through the almost impen- etrable wilderness traversed, he resigned his commis- sion in the army and retired to private life. He was, however, immediately re-elected a delegate to Con- gress, taking his seat in that body in 1780. He served a term of one year, when he again returned to the practice of his profession. In 1783 he was appointed Attorney General of the State, helped to form the Constitution, and was chosen a member of its Coun- cil. In 1786 he was elected Governor of the State, and held the office for three successive years. Shortly after retiring from the cares of State, he received an appointment as Federal Judge of his dis- trict, which office he held until his death, January 23, 1795, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. To the very last he retained the esteem and veneration of the American people, as one to -whom lasting gratitude was due, which neither time nor money could dis- charge. And to the last his countrymen, and espe- cially his Masonic brethren bestowed upon him their warmest regards and the highest honors in their gift. And to posterity has been left the imperishable record of a life unselfishly and courageously devoted to the dearest interests of his country in its infancy, and when its liberties were sorely imperilled on every side. »-•- BRO. - . DANIEL COXE was born in London, England, in August, 1673. He was the son of Dr. Daniel Coxe, the court physician of Queen Anne, and later the Governor of the Province of West Jer- sey. In 1 701 he came to America and in 1703 was appointed by Lord Cornbury (Governor of New Jer- sey), to the command of all the forces of West Jersey, and was thenceforth known as Colonel Coxe. In 1705 he became a member of the Provincial Council ; continuing such until 1713. In the same year that he entered the Provincial Council, he married Sarah, daughter of John Eckley, Esq., a prominent member of the Society of Quakers, or Friends. In 17 15 he was elected to the Assembly to represent Gloucester, and was chosen Speaker. In 1722 he published in London, his " Carolina," a description of the territory which afterwards became that of the South Atlantic and Southwestern States of the United States. It was a notable work and two subsequent editions were printed. In this work was the first suggestion that all the North American Colo- nies should be united against the French and Indians. It was the germ of the more celebrated, but less origi- nal, project of Bro. Benjamin Franklin, recommended by him in "1754, and not many years later actually adopted. Bro.\ Coxe was a member of Lodge No. 8, in the roll of the Grand Lodge of England, but as to the precise date of his admission there is no record. The presumption, however, is that he had passed the chairs of his Lodge prior to 1730; since on the 5th of June of that year, the Duke of Norfolk, then Grand Master of England, appointed him Provincial Grand Master of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As the earliest Grand Master in America, and the father of American Freemasonry, his memory has been held in the highest esteem in the fraternity. Through his distinguished character and official posi- tion, governmental and Masonic, he enjoyed the friendship and respect of the most eminent men of his day ; exercising an influence of no mean degree. He was a prominent member of the Episcopalian Church, and held the position of Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, from 1734 to the time of his death. He left a very large estate, principally in lands, which he had inherited from his father who early came into possession, by grant from the mother country, of large estates in the colonies, principally in New Jersey ; owning, it is said, the whole of Cape May County, and where he had erected a fine mansion house called "Coxe's Hall." In addition to his inherited interests he left much other realty he had accumulated through the exercise of a judicious foresight, that induced him to invest for future increase through the rise of values. Bro.". Coxe died at Burlington, N. J., April 25, 1739, at tne a £ e °f sixty-five years, and his remains were interred in the east transept of the venerable St. Mary's Church, of that town. BROTHER DANIEL COXE, PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER OF NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY AND PENNSYLVANIA, 1730. OF TRENTON. FIR3T GRAND MASTER OF THE FREEMASONS OF NEW ->■ OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. BRO.'. HENRY PRICE was born in London in 1697, and came to America in 1723. On April 30, 1733, the Grand Master of England appointed him Prov. Grand Master of New England. From this deputation sprung the first lodges in America. Bro. Price settled in Boston, and organized a Lodge, ap- pointing Andrew Belcher, son of the Governor of Massachusetts, his deputy, July 30th, 1733. In 1734, the Grand Lodge of England extended his jurisdiction over North America, and under this authority he estab- lished lodges at Philadelphia and Portsmouth. On the 25th of December, 1735, he warranted a lodge at Charleston, S. C. In 1737, Robert Tomlinson suc- ceeded him as Prov. Grand Master, who was succeeded after seven years by Thos. Oxnard, who held the position until his death, ten years afterward. Bro. Price filled the vacancy until October, 1755, when Jeremy Gridley was installed. Brother Gridley died September 10, 1767, and Brother Price resumed the office until the 23d of November, 1768, when John Rowe took the post. In 1738, Brother Price estab- lished a Master's Lodge at Boston, Massachusetts, and acted as Master until 1744. In 1749, he was again the Master. The above is a brief of the founding of Free- masonry in New England, the credit of which should be conceded to Brother Price, who claimed to be the " Father of Freemasonry in America." Brother Price's Masonic career in America em- braced a period covering nearly a half century, and not one instance in his memorable history attests an act smirched, or conduct tarnished. In installing into office John Rowe, in his charge to the new Grand Master, he used the following sentiment, so brief, so forcible, and so truly expressive of his own character : " It is God's decree that every one shall die ; death is His messenger to enforce His law ; nor will He let any of us carry away from hence, any mark of human pride, treasures or honors, or any proof of our earthly consequence, but a good conscience, obtained from a well-spent life, from whence reflects the most brilliant legacy we can leave our friends in this world — a good name.'' When we remember that at this installation Bro. Price was 71 years of age, we can readily understand the value of that unclouded intellect which time could not dim, but whose bright colorings filled the chamber of death, from which grim spectres and dark shadows fled, fearing contact with the light that shed a halo of glory round the hoary head of the venerable Brother, who held a good conscience and a fair name of more value than all earthly possessions. It may be said of Brother Price that his energetic and intellectual resources were herculean, as, after the installation of Grand Master Rowe, he attended thir- teen quarterly meetings of the Grand Lodge, in- volving a journey of forty-six mile* to and from Boston ; and those were not days of Pullman cars, nor even turnpikes. Here was a brother, nearly an octogenarian, undertaking obligations whose dangers and toils many of our modern and more youthful brethren would object to, possibly revolt at. Men of the stamp of Brother Price are guide-posts for the generations that shall succeed them, to mark the paths of energy, usefulness and virtue. His walk and con- versation were eminently conservative ; he observed a happy medium — a golden mean — in that sentiment which is taken from the Greek anthology : " This world a theatre we well may call, Where every actor must perform with art, Laugh at, make a farce of all, Or learn to bear with grace his tragic part." To the man of all brain, life is a comedy. To the man of all heart, life is a tragedy. Brother Price had brain sufficient to guide his emotions, and life to him was a fountain of blessings, in which he taught with the Apostle Paul : " Let us pray that whatever our lot in life may be, therewith to be content." Brother Price, while an ardent worker in Free- masonry, was a good provider for his family and a careful business man, whose investments were prompted by good judgment. Beginning as an humble tailor in 1736, in 1739 ^ e became a shop- keeper. He accumulated money, and in 1750 re- tired from business. He was married in the fall of 1737 to Mary Townsend. His wife dying in 1751, we find that on May 25, 1752, he married Mary Tilden, who lived but a few years, dying in 1760. His only daughter, Mary, survived but a few months after the death of her stepmother. He suf- fered from these afflicting circumstances, but was not destined to lead a life of loneliness, as on September 17th, 1 77 1, he was united in the holy bonds of wed- lock to Lydia Randall. Two children were born to him by this third marriage. He was seventy-four years of age when he contracted this marriage, yet he seems to have had possession of all his faculties, with ambition and hope full fledged. He was a man of peace, being an adherent of the Church of England and an attendant at Trinity Church, where he owned half a pew. In 1750, he became a member of the Barton Episcopal Charitable Society. Though gentle in civil life, yet his spirit promptly responded to the call to arms, when patriotism made it an imperative duty. In 1733, Governor Jonathan Belcher appointed him cornet in his troop of Guards, with the rank of major. A cornet in those days was an officer of cavalry, corresponding to the ensign in a regiment of infantry, and bore the standard, or colors of a troop. Though not in active service, the period justified a belief that a conflict might occur at any time, and his acceptance of the post of honor was both commendable and patriotic. He died on the 20th of May, 1780, at the age of eighty-three years, universally respected and honored by the Fraternity and a large circle of friends. His descendants still live 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 valuable memento and highly prized by the brotherhood. PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES BRO. - . ALBERT PIKE, 33 , was born in Boston, Mass., Dec. 29, 1809, and died at Washington, D. C, April 2, 1891. His parents were Benjamin Pike and Sarah Pike, nee Andrews. He was made a Master Mason, Aug. 1850, in Western' Star Lodge, No. 1, Little Rock, Ark., a Royal Arch Mason, Nov. 29, 1850, in Union Chapter, Little Rock, Ark., a Royal and Select Master, Dec. 22, 1852, in Columbia Royal Arch Chap- ter, No. 2, Washington, D. C. He was knighted in Encampment No. 1, Washington, D. C, Feb. 9, 1853, received the Ineffable Grades, March 17, 1853, the Ancient Traditional Degrees, March 18, 1853, followed by a reception of the Philosophical and Doctrinal Grades, March 18, 1853, supplemented by the Modern Historical and Chivalric Grades, March 20, 1853, at the hands of Brother Albert G. Mackey, at Charleston, S. C. He was created a Sovereign Grand Inspector-General (33 ), April 25, 1857, at New Orleans, La., and elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America, January 2, 1859. Among the dignified titles granted to Brother Pike was that of Hon. Master Grand Commandery of Brazil; Hon. Past- Provincial Grand Prior of Canada ; Hon. Member of Most Supreme Council; Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Consis- tory of Louisiana ; Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the 33 Degree for the Southern Jurisdic- tion of the United States; Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of the Royal Order of Scotland for the United States, and Grand Officer of the Royal Order of H awaii. Brother Pike's steps towards the highest pin- nacle in the Masonic Temple were sure and rapid — gifted by nature with a happy faculty of suscepti- bility to masonic thought. Possessing that rare faculty of dual virtues, administrative and execu- tive ability, our brother's transition by gradation from the lower plane of his great moral nature to that elevation to which he aspired, and to which he attained, was but a natural sequence ; as we find that in masonry, as in all the economies of life, no gift is withheld from an honest motive, when it has capacity, energy, and a virtuous resolve for its base. Brother Pike's enlargement of his masonic phylacteries, as well as the expansion of his other notable qualities — as poet, lawyer and journalist — his knowledge of Oriental matters, as a linguist, and as a compre- hensive student of the lore and traditions of the East, were truly characteristic. He was an ethnol- ogist, a litterateur, a soldier of no mean preten- sions ; as an organizer and leader, his life's setting was a golden picture in a perspective of pure metals. It is to his comprehensive brain and facile pen we are indebted for the beautiful Rituals of the Scottish Rite. The spirituality of his masonic thought in these charm ing Rituals seems to soar above the common-place, yet with all the glamour that surrounded his masonic existence, with the fascinations of his imagery, and word painting, his tastes were simple ; he detested the gorgeous and vain, he was simplicity itself; he did away with superfluous titles, he abolished such as were intended to glorify him. His title as Most Puissant Sovereign Grand Commander was changed to Grand Commander ; he ignored the title of Grand Minister of State, adopting the equally expressive but simpler form of Minister of State ; instead of Grand Secretary General, he adopted that of Secretary General; in- stead of Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret, Master of the Royal Secret. Bro. Pike's literary labors were marvellous in re- search and execution ; eighteen handsomely bound quarto volumes, on the shelves of the library of the Supreme Council, containing his translation of the Rig- Veda — the Zend-Avesta, and the essence of Aryan literature— exhibit his wonderful capacity for work. They are in manuscript, and each word written with a quill, and of all the wonders of this mass of wonders, in the number of pages, thousands we may say, there is not an erasure. He was a comprehensive translator of Hebrew, and, had he lived, would have embellished modern literature with the beauty of traditional Ju- daism. An eminent writer has truly said of Brother Pike, " He was the Homer of America, the Zoroaster of modern Asia, a profound philosopher, a great jurist, a great philologist, a profound ethnologist, a great statesman ; and we will add that these cardinal virtues of man's economic life were incorporated in a mag- nificent physique, of noble mien, gracious presence, and courtly bearing." In the year 1849, ^ e was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Odd-Fellows of Arkan- sas. He gave a stimulus to Odd-Fellowship in the South, as he did to Southern and Southwestern Free- masonry ; his success in stimulating the latter was phenomenal. " Like Priest, like people " found here an exemplification. The gigantic spirit led the rank, and the file fell into line. His attainments were in the high- est sense scholarly and of the most exalted character in conception and expression. While his translations, of which we have written, exhibited the very highest elements of chaste thought, euphonious arrangement, and purity of diction, they were surpassed by his original expressions, many of which secured interna- tional recognition. His " Words spoken of the Dead," stamped him the peer of ancient or modern poets, and was received as a master work by the intelligence and sentiment of two continents. He practiced as a lawyer before the Supreme Court from 1844, until a few years preceding his decease. Bro . - . Pike's nature was rugged, elastic in a human sense, but strong, positive, blunt, and self- willed, added to an exceptional power of volition, whether walking his 500 miles to Santa Fe, or plow- ing the waters of the South and West — in keel, steam, or flat-boat — the marked individuality of this grand man stood out in bold relief from the conventional condi- tions which surrounded him. He revered his traditions, but most happily adapted himself to his environments. BROTHER ALBERT PIKE, 33°, (dec'd) PAST GRAND COMMANDER OF A.'. A.'.S.'.R.'.OF THE SOUTHERN MASONIC JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ls\^^C~ V ^-U-u-iy <;.-. ("'( 'in.. Sn|irVine Council of 33? Degree Southern Jurisdiction of U.S. OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. Few men possessed his powers of adaptability, which, in his busy life, adorned the gilded salon as it illumined the wigwams of the aborigines. He attained promi- nence in masonic circles, yet he had time to play the soldier, and his career was as felicitous upon the battle-field, as in the temple ; from his initial step as a Captain of Volunteer Cavalry in the Mexican war in 1846-47, he rose through meritorious conduct to the command of a squadron, under Generals Wool and Taylor. It may be truly said, war with Brother Pike was not a vindictive expression ; it was a pa- triotic impulse prompted by a spirit which accepted, in his military history, the letter of the motto of his native State, Massachusetts : " Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietum." " With the sword she seeks quiet peace under lib- erty;" so it was with this distinguished soldier, his sword was drawn assumptively to secure peace, and to avert the horrors of war. This spirit prompted him in 1861-2 to cast his military fortunes with the South, and valiantly were his services rendered. His eminent position and influence with the Indians led at this period to his selection by the Confederate government, as a commissioner to treat with the Indians west of the Mississippi. It is a chronological fact, as well as a historical American truth, that in each role played by this distinguished Mason, orator, poet, historian, diplomat, soldier, author, and linguist, he had but one destiny, the front rank, of which brilliant line he was ever the central figure. Brother Pike adjusted his successes to his married existence as he did to all else; he was married to Mary Ann Ham- ilton, at the Post of Arkansas, November 18, 1834, and the offspring of this marriage connection were ten children, eight boys and two girls, two of the for- mer, Luther H. Pike andYvon Pike, with Lilian Pike, who survive him were mourners at the bedside of their sire, when his great spirit took its flight. The varied circles of which he was a resplendent nucleus, lost their friend, teacher, father, brother, and citizen ; his response to the summons that knows no refusal, of " fall in," in response to his Master's order, his prompt compliance in answer to the bugle blast, "taps," "put out the lights," and his soul passing away in tranquillity, obedience, reconciliation, sur- rounded by weeping relatives, sorrowing friends, was but an echo of his material existence, resounding with all its cadence in the celestial councils on high. The translation of our brother from this mundane sphere, the scenes of his successes and glories, to that higher temple not made with hands, was the sequential inci- dent following a long life of usefulness. Few men were so richly endowed by nature with attributes, intellectual and physical. Brother Pike was one of the most picturesque of the human figures in the landscape of life. With a massive frame, a ponderous brain, a generous heart, he stood a monument of excellence, amid the human temples of the country, rearing for himself a monument more enduring than brass, and so lofty that as it penetrates the clouds which seem to encircle it, one could imagine the archangels resting upon its apex, amidst the reflections of the Grand Master's aspirations, achievements and bequeath- ments. BRO. - . FREDERICK DALCHO, 33°, was born in the city of London, in the year 1770, of Prussian parents. His father had been a distinguished officer under Frederick the Great, and, having been severely wounded, was permitted to retire to England for his health. He was a very earnest Mason, and transmitted his sentiments to the son. At his death, this son was sent for by an uncle, who had a few years before emi- grated to Baltimore, Maryland. Here he obtained a good classical education, after which he devoted him- self to the study of medicine, including a more exten- sive course of Botany than is common in medical schools. Having graduated in medicine, he took a commis- sion as a surgeon in the medical department of the American army. With his division of the army he went to South Carolina, and was stationed at Fort Johnson, in Charleston harbor. Here, after awhile some difficulty arose between Bro. - . Dalcho and his brother officers, and, in consequence, he resigned his commission. He then removed to Charleston, where he formed a partnership with Dr. Isaac Auld in the practice of medicine, and became a member of the Medical Society, and a trustee of the Botanic Garden established through its influence. On the 12th of June, 1818, Bro. - . Dalcho was ad- mitted to the priesthood of the Protestant Episcopal Church and on the 23d of February, he was elected assistant rector of St. Michael's Church, in Charleston. The Masonic career of Bro. - , Dalcho closely con- nects him with the history of York Masonry in South Carolina, and with that of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite throughout the United States. He was initiated in a York or Athol Lodge at the time when the jurisdiction of South Carolina was di- vided by the dissensions of two Grand Lodges, the one deriving its authority from the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England, and the other from the spurious or Athol Grand Lodge of York Masons. His constant desire appears, however, to have been to unite these discordant elements, and to uproot the evil spirit of Masonic rivalry and contention which at that time prevailed — a wish that was happily gratified, at length, by the union of the two Grand Lodges of South Carolina in 1817, a consummation to which he himself greatly contributed. In 1 801 Bro. - . Dalcho received the 33 or Sover- eign Grand Inspector of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite ; and on May 31, 1801, he became instru- mental in the establishment of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, of which body he was appointed Grand Secretary, and afterwards Grand Commander; which latter position he held until 1823, when he resigned. •4-^- PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES September 23, 1801, he delivered an oration before the Sublime Grand Lodge in Charleston. This and another delivered March 21, 1803, before the same body, accompanied by a learned historical appendix, were published in the latter year under the general name of " Dalcho's Orations." The work was soon after republished in Dublin by the Grand Council of Heredom, or Prince Masons, of that city ; and it is said there were other editions published in Europe. The oration of 1803 and the appendix furnish the best information that up to that day, and for many years afterwards, was accessible to the Craft in relation to the history of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in this country. In 1807, at the request of the Grand Lodge of York Masons of South Carolina, he published an " Ahiman Rezon," which was adopted as the Code for the gov- ernment of the Lodges under the jurisdiction of that bo#y. This work, as was to be expected from the character of the Grand Lodge which it represented, was based on the previous book of Lawrence Dermott. In 1808 he was elected Corresponding Grand Secre- tary of the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons, and from that time directed his influence and that of his exalted position towards the reconciliation of the Masonic difficulties in South Carolina. In 1817 the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and that of Ancient York Masons of South Carolina became united under, the name of " The Grand Lodge of Ancient Free Masons of South Caro- lina." Bro. Dalcho took a very active part in this union, and at the first annual communication he was elected Grand Chaplain. The duties of this office he faithfully performed, and for many years delivered a public address or sermon on the Festival of St. John the Evangelist. In 1823, because of antagonisms developing an un- masonic spirit which deeply wounded his feelings, he resigned the office of Grand Chaplain and retired from further active participation in the duties of Masonry. He died on the 24th of November, 1836, in the sixty- seventh year of his age, and the seventeenth of his ministry in St. Michael's Church. BRO.-. CHARLES ROOME 33 , born in the City of New York, August 4, 1812, and was the son of Nicholas Roome, a prominent merchant. His father was a devoted Mason in his day, as is shown by his Masonic record. He was the Master of Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2, of New York, in 1809-10-1 1 ; the High Priest of Ancient Chapter No. I , Royal Arch Masonry in the same City, as also a Sir Knight of Columbian Commandery, No. 1, K.\ T.\ The son , therefore, had a most worthy sire, and the record he made with the shining example before him reflects honorably upon him as well as upon the author of the precepts taught. He early entered into busi- ness for himself, after serving in a clerical position for some time in a mercantile house, and met with eminent success in his venture. But in 1837, he retired from business and accepted service in the Manhattan Gas Light Company of New York City, as an assistant Engineer, in which he so thoroughly demonstrated his value and efficiency that at the end of five years he was promoted to the position of Chief Engineer. From this position he finally became President of the Company, having been elected in 1855, and so con- tinued until shortly before his death. Upon his retire- ment, he was made an emeritus or consulting Presid- ent with continued compensation, Through lack of physical activity he could do little more than advise in matters of moment affecting the interests of the Company, yet in this respect he proved a most valua- ble* attribute ; as in the line of his profession he stood in the front rank, his decisions being accepted as law upon both sides of the Atlantic. During the Civil War he served with great distinc- tion. He raised the 37th Regiment N. G. S. N. Y., and led it in person. For bravery and gallantry dis- played upon the field he was commissioned a Brevet Brig. General of Volunteers. Bro. - . Roome was made a Mason in Kane Lodge No. 454, New York City, January 1866, and the fol- lowing December was elected Senior Warden. In the next year- he became its Worthy Master, and in that position continued for three terms. His retirement t from the position was marked by the gifts of most ex- pressive testimonials of appreciation from the brethren of the Lodge, such as a massive and costly jewel, a chronometer, and set of handsomely engrossed reso- lutions. In 1869, he was appointed District Deputy of the 25th District, and in the three succeeding years was the Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge. He was Deputy Grand Master in 1878, and Grand Master of Masons of the State of New York in 1879. He be- came an Honorary Member of Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2, and of Hudson River Lodge of Newburgh, N. Y., as also the Representative of the Grand Lodge of California, and the Grand Represent- ative of the Grand Commandery of Vermont. He was exalted in Jerusalem Chapter No. 8, R.\A.\ Masonry in 1866, and subsequently knighted in Cceur de Lion Commandery No. 23, and for three years held the position of Commander. In the same year, 1866, he essayed the degrees of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and attained the 32d degree. In 1871 he was elected Master of the Lodge of Perfection of New York City. In 1869-70 he became Junior Warden of Rose Croix Chapter and its Treasurer, as well as of Cosmopolitan Con- sistory, in 1872. On September 19, 1872, he was crowned an Inspector General, 33d degree, by the Supreme Council, Northern Jurisdiction, U. S. In 1875, after several years service in different posi- tions in the Grand Commandery of the State of New York, he was elevated to the high and honorable sta- tion of Grand Commander. Subsequently he received the appointment of Supervisor of the Knights Tern- BROTHER CHARLES ROOME, 33", (dec'd), PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF THE UNITED STATES. y': >v //■?//" // y J J * Pasl V. iniiii'iil Grand Mnster of Hie-- Crand Encampment of the Kiut}Uts Templar of the United States. -*+■ OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. plar of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, from Grand Master V. L. Hurlbut, of the Grand En- campment of the United States. And later, in 1 886, he was elevated, at St. Louis, Grand Master of Tem- plars, surviving his triennial term as such but a short time. Bro. - . Roome was a man possessed of a living faith ; was largely an ideal specimen of the nobility of manhood, whose moral worth and intelligence were in keeping with his stalwart physique, his largeness of heart and frankness of speech. He was ever gen- erous and charitable, and loved and feared his God. His earnestness of life was a remarkable characteristic and his death as peaceful as the lovely day in June, 1890, when his body was tenderly consigned to its last resting place in lovely "Greenwood," near New York City, by the Brotherhood. BRO/. THOMAS SMITH WEBB was born in Boston, Massachusetts, October 30, 1771. After learn- ing the printing business he removed to Keene, New Hampshire. Here he engaged in the printing business and successfully. He was made a Mason in Rising Sun Lodge, Keene, under warrant from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, in 1790. In 1797 he married a Miss Martha Hopkins of that place, and shortly thereafter removed to the city of Albany, New York, and there engaged in mercantile life, opening a book store. Albany at that time was a great masonic centre. Bro. - . Webb having previously taken all the higher degrees in Freemasonry, receiving the same in Phila- delphia, the " Ancient and Accepted Rite " being prac- ticed then, he assisted in the organization of a Chapter and Encampment in that city. He early perceived the necessity for a re-arrangement of the Prestonian lec- tures. With this end in view, he, in 1797, published the first edition of his "Freemason's Monitor.'' He arranged the first three degrees from Preston's Illus- trations, and acknowledged his indebtedness to Preston for the observations advanced by him on his arrange- ment. In his compilation of the degrees of the Chapter and Encampment he was ably assisted by Bro. Henry Fouse and Bro. Dr. Bentley, of Boston. The ideas were taken from the Scotch and French Rites, and the degrees thoroughly Americanized. In 1797, October 24, at a convention of committees from several Chapters in the northern States, held in Boston for the purpose of deliberating on the propriety and expediency of establishing a Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons for the Northern States, Bro. - . Webb presided. Previous to this time the Royal Arch Degrees had been conferred in Masters' Lodges, and under a Lodge Warrant. But through the influence of Bro.'. Webb a severance of the degree from that juris- diction was brought about by the creation of indepen- dent Chapters. It was his first step in the organization of the American Rite, the circulars addressed by the convention to the Chapters of the country being drawn up by him. The Grand Chapter was duly organized in January, 1798, and Bro. - . Webb was elected Grand Scribe. He was re-elected in 1799, at which time the body assumed the title of the General Grand Chapter. At the convention of Companions held in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1798, which organized the General Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the United States, Bro. - . Webb was also elected to one of the principal offices. At a subsequent session, held in New York City, he was elected its presiding officer, but declined in favor of Bro. De Witt Clinton, of New York. In 1801 Bro.'. Webb removed to Providence, Rhode Island, where he actively engaged in and carried on quite successfully the manufacture of wall paper. His reputation as a Masonic teacher being well established at that time, he was early waited upon by a committee from St. John's Lodge of that city, which informed him that "the Lodge for the great exertions in the cause of Freemasonry wish him to become a member of the same." He accepted the invitation and identified himself with that Lodge, receiving in time its full com- plement of honors. On the 13th of May, 1805, at a convention of Knights Templar, which had been called to meet at Providence May 6th, for the purpose, organized a General Grand Encampment of the United States, and elected Bro.'. Webb its first General Grand Commander. In 1806 he was promoted to the office of General Grand King in the G. G. C. ; and seven years later, in 1813, he became the Grand Master of Masons of the State of Rhode Island. Three years later, in 1816, he succeeded to the position of General Grand High Priest in the G. G. C. At about this time the troubles with England led to an invasion of the country. At the session of the Grand Lodge, held September 27, 1814, that body tendered its services to the Committee of Defense. The offer was accepted, and, on October 3, Bro.'. Webb headed the procession of three hundred mem- bers which marched from the Lodge to Fox Point, and there erected a Fort. At sunset they had com- pleted their labors, the line of procession was re- formed, and marching several times round the works, Bro.'. Webb, in the name of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, named it "Fort Hiram, 1 ' and this subsequently received the sanction of the Governor of the State. Bro.'. Webb never allowed the routine of his busi- ness, as exacting as it was, to interfere with his Ma- sonic obligations, nor did he trespass on the duties of his business in his constant attendance upon the de- mands of the fraternity. In 1816 he visited the western States; he was then in his forty-fifth year, and actively engaged in organizing Chapters, Grand Chapters and Encampments. At this period he established the Grand Chapters of Ohio and Ken- tucky by virtue of his powers as a General Grand Officer. In 1818 he returned to Boston. In the spring of 1819 he essayed another western trip, but only reached Cleveland, Ohio, where he suddenly «*-♦- PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES died on the 6th day of July, of apoplexy, it was sup- posed. He was buried at Cleveland with Masonic honors; but his body was subsequently disinterred and conveyed to Providence, where, on the 8th of November, it was re-interred by the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island. No name in Masonry is more familiar to the Amer- ican Mason than that of Webb, who was really the inventor and founder of the system of work which, under the appropriate name of the American Rite (although often improperly called the York Rite), is universally practiced in the United States. His influ- ence over the Masons of this country was altogether personal, as the founder of this Rite. He was the ablest Masonic ritualist of his day, the very prince of Masonic workmen, and these qualities aided him in the extension of the new Rite. BRO.\ HENRY L. PALMER, 33 , was born at Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, October 18, 1819. At the age of seventeen he went to New York, locating him- self in the city of Troy, and where he spent some thirteen years of his early life. It was while a resident of Troy, New York, that he affiliated himself with Masonry, receiving the symbolic degrees in Evening Star.Lodge, No. 75, of West Troy, March 10, 1841. He was made a Royal Arch Mason in 1 846, a Royal and Select Master and a Knight Templar, in Apollo Chapter and Commandery in the city, of Troy, in 1848. The following year, 1849, ne removed to the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he affiliated with Wisconsin Lodge, No. 13, and Kilbourn Chap- ter, No. 1, and assisted at the formation of Wisconsin Chapter No. 7, and Wisconsin Commandery, No. 1. Nine years later he became the leading spirit in the work of organizing the Grand Commandery of that State ; receiving all the grades of the Ancient Accep- ted Scottish Rite to 33 inclusive at the introduction of the Rite in Wisconsin, August 6, 1863, and was created a Sovereign Grand Inspector General 33° and crowned an Active Member at the same session. Bro.\ Palmer was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons of Wisconsin in 1852, 1853, 1871 and 1872; Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter in 1858 and 1859 • Grand Master of Knights Tem- plar of the United States, 1865 to 1868, and has been at the head of the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction since 1879. He has repeatedly asked to be relieved from duty, but each year as the distinguished members of the Supreme Council assemble, they are unanimous in re-electing this estimable citizen and exemplary Mason to the station he so pre-eminently adorns, the highest honor possible for them to- confer. It is their pride and pleasure that this distinguished Brother, though full of years and laden with honor, is still spared to them, and with health and vigor is still as he was at the time of their organization, the wise counsellor and actively interested worker for the advancement of the grand principles of the Order. The Masonic history of Bro-.\ Palmer is full of interest and value, and much too voluminous for the space allotted. . Could it be written, it would even then be incomplete, as there are all along his Masonic life acts of kindness which must escape the biogra- pher's pen, through the innate sense of Christian phil- anthropy which forbids his letting " the left hand know what the right hand doeth.'' Universally respected and admired by the frater- nity throughout our country, it is in Wisconsin, how- ever, where he enjoys an exalted influence such as only " a good man and true " can realize from a well spent life. Here he is looked up to and honored as no other Mason ever has been. And this applies as well to his professional and political career. He was a prominent lawyer of Wisconsin for many years and until elevated to the Bench. He has graced the judi- cial ermine with the dignity and probity so character- istic of him as a' Mason, and the record he made as a Judge is truly one to be envied by the generation of young lawyers now entering upon the experiences of the legal profession in our land. Prior to going upon the Bench he served as a member of the Wisconsin State Legislature and was prominently identified with leading measures of public polity presented, and ever represented his constituents with honor and strict fidelity in all measures which closely concerned their personal interests. He was also the candidate of his party for Governor in 1863, and has frequently been mentioned in connection with the United States sena- torship. For the past sixteen or eighteen years, Bro.\ Pal- mer has been President of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Milwaukee, and takes rank second to none of the presidents of any of the great insurance companies of the country. He is comfortably favored financially, the result of judicious investments joined with the exercise of prudent and economical methods in business during a life of un- usual activity and vigorous energy. Happy and con- tented in all his social and domestic relations, and surrounded with all the conditions that tend to make his declining years those of infinite ease and comfort, he can, as he does, look back upon his life's journey without regrets. And when the Grand Master of the Heavenly Council shall have crowned him as one of the hosts above — the loss to his Fraternity will assur- edly be greater than time can compensate, while by them it will be credited as gain to the departed. BRO.-. GILES FONDA YATES was born in 1796, in what was then the village of Schenectady, in the State of New York. After acquiring a preliminary education at the academy, he entered Union College and graduated with distinction several years later, re- ceiving the degree of Master of Arts. He then stud- ied law, and in due time was admitted to the bar. While yet a young man, he was appointed Judge of Probate in Schenectady, the duties of which office he discharged with great ability and fidelity. BROTHER HENRY L. PALMER, 33", PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF WISCONSIN. PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF K..T..OF THE UNITED STATES. M.'.P.'.SOV .GRAND COMMANDER OF A . . A.\ S.'.R .'.OF THE NORTHERN MASONIC JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. y^^^^^^^^^c^Xft C?J M.-.V.: Sov.. G.Com.. Supreme Council of 334Degree Northern Jurisdiction of U.S. OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 11 At an early period he was attracted, by the bent of his mind, to the study, not only of general literature, but especially to that of archaeology, philosophy and the occult sciences, of all of which he became an ardent investigator. These studies led him naturally to the Masonic institution, into which he was initiated in 1817, receiving the degrees of Symbolic Masonry in St. George's Lodge, No. 6, at Schenectady. In 1 82 1 he affiliated with Morton Lodge, No. 87, of the same place, and was shortly afterwards elected its Senior Warden. Returning subsequently to the Lodge of his adoption, he was chosen as its Master in 1844. Bro. 1 . Yates had in the meantime been admitted into a Chapter of the Royal Arch and an Encamp- ment of Knights Templar ; but his predilections in- clined to Scottish Masonry, and he therefore paid but little attention to these high degrees of the American Rite. He says, in referring to himself, in an address before the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdic- tion in 1 85 1, "I turned my attention to the history of the sublime degrees very soon after my initiation as a Mason. My intercourse, in 1822, with several old Masons in the city of Albany, led to the discovery that an Ineffable Lodge of Perfection had been estab- lished in that Ancient City on the 20th of December, 1767. I also discovered that not only the Ineffable but the Superior degrees of our Rite had been con- ferred at the same time on a chosen few by the founder of the Lodge, Henry A. Francken, one of the Deputies of Stephen Morris of glorious memory. It was not long moreover, before I found the original Warrants of this Lodge, its Book of Minutes, the Patents of 111. - . Bros.'. Samuel Stringer, M.D., Jeremiah Van Rensselaer and Peter W. Yates, Esquires, Deputy Inspectors General under the old system; also the Regulations and Constitu- tions of the nine Commissioners, etc., 1767, and other documents that had been left by Bro. - . Francken with the Albany brethren when he founded their Lodge. With the concurrence of the surviving members of said Lodge in Albany, Dr. Jonathan Eights and the Hon. and R. - . W. - . Stephen Van Rensselaer, P. - . G. - . M. - . of the Grand Lodge of New York, I aided in effecting its revival. The ne- cessary proceedings were then instituted to place the same under the superintendence of a Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem, as required by the old con- stitutions ; and such Grand Council was subsequently opened in due form in said city. " Having been made aware of the ' New Constitu- tions of the Thirty-third Degree,' ratified on the 1st of May, 1786, conferring supreme power over our Rite on ' Councils of Nine Brethren,' I hastened to place myself in correspondence with Moses Holbrook, M.D., at the time Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, at Charleston, and with my esteemed friends, Joseph McCosh, Illustrious Grand +-+• Secretary General of the last-named Council, and Bro. - . Gourgas, at that time Illustrious Grand Secre- tary General of the H. E. for this Northern Jurisdic- tion, Lodges of Perfection in the Counties of Mont- gomery, Onondaga, Saratoga and Monroe, in the State of New York, were successively organized and placed, agreeably to the Constitutions, under the superintendence of the Grand Council before named. The establishment of this last named body was con- firmed, and all our proceedings in Sublime Free- masonry were legalized and sanctioned by the only lawful authorities in the United States, the aforesaid Supreme Council. " On the 1 6th day of November, 1824, I received a Patent appointing me S. - . of S. - . of a Consistory of S. - . of P. - . of the R.\ S. - . established in the city of Albany. "In 1825 I took my vows, as a 'Sovereign Grand Inspector General,' between the hands of our said Bro. - . Joseph McCosh, he having been specially de- puted for that purpose. I was shortly after consti- tuted and accredited the Representative of the South- ern Supreme Grand Council near the Northern Su- preme Grand Council, of which last I was made and ever since have been a. member." In 1851 Bro. - . Yates was elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction, but soon- after resigned the office in favor of Edward A. Raymond. As he had at that time removed his residence to the city of New York, he was immediately 'appointed Deputy Inspector for the State, and afterwards was elected Grand Commander of Cosmopolitan Sovereign Consistory of the State of New York. Bro. - . Yates was the author of a work entitled " History of the Manners and Ceremonies of the In- dian Tribes," in which he seeks ingeniously, if not satisfactorily, to discover a Masonic meaning in the Indian mystic rites. He was also engaged for many years in the compilation of a valuable "Repertorium of Masonry," a work the manuscript of which he left unfinished at the time of his death. But most of his masonic writings appeared in contemporary journals. Moore's Free Mason's Magazine and Mackey's Ma- sonic Quarterly Review contain valuable communica- tions from his pen on subjects of Masonic Archaeol- ogy, in which science he had no superior. He was a poet of no mean pretension, as his Odes of Perfection sufficiently show. Bro.'. Yates died December 13, 1859. His attri- butes as a man and a Mason were fittingly described in the address delivered before the Lodge of Sorrow, held by the New York Lodge on the occasion of his demise, by Bro. - . Charles T. McClenachan. We quote : " In the latter years of his life, this illustrious Bro- ther, so just, so pure, so firm in mind, so unobtrusive, and yet so deeply wrapt in the one great ideal of Perfection, known by Masonic reputation around the world — passed daily unheeded from the tediousness PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES of duty to the pleasures of study ; never forsaking the one great object of his life, — the solving of the Myste- ries, the searching after Truth. Active, thoughtful, penetrating, his whole soul ever centred in a grasping desire to comprehend the fulness of the Great Intelli- gence, the Rouach Elohim, or Divine Existence, — his bright ideal of Perfection which dwells not on earth ; he has now found full relief in death and the certain knowledge of the Divine reality.'' " Prodesse quam conspici" to do good rather than to be conspicuous, was the motto of Bro.'. Yates, and to that sentiment he was consistently faithful throughout his well-spent life. BRO.-. BENJAMIN DEAN, 33 , of Boston, Mass., Past Grand Master of the Grand Encampment K.\ TV. of the U. S., and an active member of the Supreme Council and Sovereign Grand Inspector-General of the thirty-third degree A.". A. - . S.\ R. - . for the N. - . M.\ J. - , of the U. S., was born in Clitheroe, Lanca- shire, England, August 14, 1824. Descended from a ldhg line of Saxon landholders who married early, lived temperately and virtuously, and passed much of their time in field and forest, he received from them the priceless inheritance of perfect physical health and courage. Associated with these were the hereditary qualities of his race — the cautious aggres- siveness, the tenacious purpose, the readiness for com- bat, the preference for parley, the patient fortitude, the invincible determination, and the crowning ca- pacity for concerted action, which have placed the Anglo-Saxons in the very forefront of human progress. On the paternal side of the house, his lineage is dis- tinctly traceable by one line to the period anterior to the Norman Conquest, and by another to an ancient Irish Catholic family. On the maternal side it is also traceable through the families of Loftus, Parker, and Stuart, for centuries. Bro.". Dean is one of a family of ten children, five boys and five girls. All of these lived to pass the meridian of life. When he had attained the age of five years, his father, whose occupation was that of an engraver to calico-printers, emigrated to the United States, and settled with his family in Lowell, Mass., where he received the advantages of an excellent common school education, graduated at the Lowell High School in 1840, and after that matriculated at Dartmouth College, in which he spent the freshman year. The failure of his father's health enforced his reluctant abandonment of a collegiate career, and obliged him to begin the study of law under the tute- lage of Judge Thomas Hopkinson, of Lowell, in 1842. In 1845 he was admitted to the bar, and after his ad- mission practiced law in company with James Dins- moor, until 1852. In the latter year he removed to Boston, and entered into partnership with Henry H. Fuller. The latter gentleman dying soon afterward, the entire business devolved upon Bro.'. Dean, who has since conducted it alone. Since his initiation into Freemasonry in St. John's Lodge— the first Lodge established in Boston — February 6, 1854, he has been one of its influential leaders, and manifested a deep and active interest in its fortunes. He was Master of Winslow Lewis Lodge in 1857, 1858 and 1859. In i860, 1861, 1862 and 1863, he was District Deputy Grand Master for the First Masonic District, and in 1864 was Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. On October 17, 1854, he was ex- alted in St. Paul's Royal Arch Chapter in Boston, which he left to become the first High Priest of St. Matthew's Royal Arch Chapter, of which he was a charter member. In 1858 he became a Royal and Select Master in Boston. He also received the or- ders of Knighthood in the De Molay Commandery, of Boston, as follows : the Red Cross, November 22, 1854; Templar, January 2, 1855 ; Malta, February 28, 1855. To the membership of this Commandery he was admitted March 28, 1855, and withdrew from it Feb- ruary 28, 1856, in order to become a charter member of the St. Omer Commandery. Of this latter body he was the first Commander, in 1865 and 1866. Both organizations are established in South Boston, where Bro. - . Dean now resides. Of the Grand Command- ery for the States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, he was Grand Commander from October, 1869, to 1 87 1. He" was also Grand Captain General from 187 1-1873, and Grand Generalissimo from 1877-1880 of the Grand Encampment of the Knights Templar of the United States of America. At the Triennial Con- clave of that body, held in Chicago, August 17-19, 1880, he was elected Grand Master of the Grand En- campment of Knights Templar of the United States of America, 1 880-1 883. He is an active member of the Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States, and is now Deputy of the Supreme Council for the State of Massachusetts. In the different departments of civic usefulness, Bro. - . Dean is no less efficient. One of the Board of Directors for the Public Institutions of the City of Boston; a Trustee of the South Boston Savings Bank, and a Director of the South Boston Railroad Corporation. At a meeting of the incorporators of the Garfield National Monument Association, held in Cleveland, Ohio, July 6, 1882, Bro. - . Dean was elected one of the Board of Trustees, to serve as such for two years. In 1862-63, and again in 1869, he was elected a member of the Massachusetts. State Senate. During the first and second terms of service, that dis- tinguished body was remarkable for the character and mental calibre of the men who composed it. Ex-Governor John H. Clifford was the President ; Charles G. Loring, Daniel S. Richardson, John H. Dodge, Alvah Crocker, and other influential members. Bro. - . Dean served in the Committees on Probate and Chancery, as Chairman of the joint Committee on Prisons, also of the joint Special Committee on the Serving of Process on Volunteers, on the Eligibility of ■4-^ BROTHER BENJAMIN DEAN, 33°, DEPUTY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF A.'. A .\ S.'.R. - . FOR MASSACHUSETTS PAST GRAND COMMANDER OF THE GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF THE UNITED STATES. J J » P.'.G.'.Master of the Gd.'.Enoampmejal of K.'.T.\ of the United States, Active Member of Lhe Supreme Council of 33° iTorlhRTji Juris die don of the U.S. OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 Members of Congress, and on Proceedings for the Restraint of the Insane. In 1869 the Senate was honored by the Presidency of Judge R. C. Pitman. When, in the course of the session of that year, Francis A. Dewey was elevated to the Judiciary of the Superior Court, Bro.\ Dean, although a democrat, was made Chairman of the Com- mittee on the Judiciary. He was also Chairman of the joint Standing Committee on Library, and mem- ber of Special Committee on License Law. His services were also given to the Common Council of the city of Boston, in the years 1865, 1866, 1872 and 1873, an d whether serving as Chairman or member of committees, he ever took a deep and active interest in measures of great public polity — among these the question of water supply for the city, in which he strongly pressed the advantages of the Shawsheen River, the abundance and excellence of its waters. The chief political distinction hitherto achieved by Bro.". Dean, was his election to the Forty-fifth Con- gress from the Third Massachusetts District — the only Congressional district that is wholly within the civic limits of Boston. But while he had beaten his oppo- nent, Wallridge A. Field, by the meagre majority of 20 votes, he failed to receive the certificate of election — the return of the Board of Aldermen giving the cer- tificate to Mr. Field. He, however, promptly contested the right of Mr. Field to the seat, on the ground that the county returns — both of the ward officers and of the U. S. supervisors — showed that he had been duly elected and was properly entitled. After a careful consideration of his claims by the Committee of the House, they reported in favor of Bro. 1 . Dean, and he was immediately declared entitled to his seat, by the House of Representatives, on March 28, 1878. Although a candidate for Congressional honors twice before and once since, without success, he feels highly flattered by the handsome vote received upon each occasion. On February 26, 1885, Bro. - . Dean was appointed a member of the Board of Park Commissioners of the city of Boston, and assumed the duties of his new position on April 22. He was re-appointed on May 1, 1887, and during his term of service has occupied the position of Chairman of the Board. As multitudinous public and professional duties make exhausting drafts upon the vital energies of an individual, the propriety of seeking recuperation of physical and mental vigor is strongly suggested. In this particular, Bro.". Dean is not unmindful of the need of rejuvenation, and the bent of his mind in- clines him to nautical pursuits. He began these in a birch canoe on the beautiful Merrimac. Later he essayed the cat boat, with which he navigated the waters of Boston Bay and adjacent coasts. But he has passed beyond the cat boat; for he now has reached the acme of his ambition — the Yacht. Under the spreading canvas of his handsome yacht he now delights to ride on the heaving waves of " Old Ocean." He is no longer an amateur. Thoroughly skilled in the art of navigation, he fearlessly sails his craft, and comparatively indifferent to condition of the weather. On the smooth waters of the Vineyard and Long Island Sounds, or in the more open seas be- tween the Granes, Cape Cod, and Sable Island, he is equally at home. In the earlier days of the Summer season, his yacht supplies the needed tonic to coun- teract the depression of the working hours, and when the vacation period affords time and opportunity for more extensive cruising, accompanied by family and friends, he whiles away dull care upon the briny deep. For several years Bro.". Dean has held the rank of Commodore of the Boston Yacht Club, the oldest club in New England, and his judgment of yachts and his opinions on yachting are held in high esteem. Bro.". Dean married Mary A., daughter of Hon. J. B. French, Mayor of the city of Lowell, Mass., at the time ; an estimable young lady and one who has since proved a wise and prudent help-meet and fittingly adorns the home of her eminently esteemed and highly revered husband. Six children, five of whom are still living, have been the fruit of their union. These, three sons and two daughters, have arrived at maturity ; the daughters well and promi- nently connected by marriage, and the three sons re- spected business and professional men, "worthy sons of a worthy sire." BRO.". JOHN JAMES GOURGAS was born in France in 1777, and early came to America, settling in the city of New York, where he became in time a prosperous merchant. He was received a member of the Scottish Rite in 1806, and his name is intimately connected with the rise and progress of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States. Through his representations and indefatigable exertions the mother Council at Charleston was induced to denounce the spurious con- sistory of Joseph Cerneau in the city of New York, and to establish there a Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction, of which Bro.". Gourgas was elected the Secretary General. He continued to hold this office until 1832, when he was elected Sovereign Grand Com- mander. In 1 85 1, on the removal of the Grand East of the Supreme Council to Boston, he resigned his office in favor of Bro. Giles Fonda Yates, but continued to take an active interest, so far as his age would per- mit, in the Rite, until his death, which occurred at New York on February 14, 1865, at the ripe old age of eighty-eight, and being at the time probably the oldest possessor of the thirtieth degree in the world. Bro.". Gourgas was especially distinguished for the great purity of his life and the excellent powers of his intellect. His library was very valuable and extensive in Masonic publications, and especially rich in manu- scripts. His correspondence with Dr. Moses Holbrook, at one time Grand Commander of the Southern Coun- cil, is to be found in the Archives of that body, and bears strong testimony to his large Masonic attain- ments. PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. BRO.\ HUGH McCURDY, 33 , was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland, December 22, 1828. When only eight years of age he emigrated with his parents to the United States, and settled for the time at Birmingham, Michigan, which the people of the east then regarded as the very frontier of American civilization. The sturdy Scotch character that has since stood the man in such good stead was apparent even in the tender lad. His first stroke for fortune was made in the humble capacity of cooper's appren- tice. He had early learned the old lesson of doing with his might whatsoever his hand found to do, and his work as a cooper very soon began to take on those special qualities of excellence which have since peculiarly distinguished all his work. Certain broad- minded men, then prominent in that part of the Ter- ritory, noted early the sturdy lad, and by their coun- tenance (though he did not ask for pecuniary aid) he found, or rather made, an opportunity to lay the cor- ner-sto,ne of an education. With this purpose domi- nating his every hope, he enrolled himself among the pupils of a select school at Birmingham. While pur- suing his rudimentary studies here he attracted the notice of a gentleman, who had in some way discerned the ambitious student's pluck and perseverance, and by him was advised that the law was the field in which he ought to sow his best efforts if he would reap any commensurate harvest. To be a lawyer in those days, and to reach that eminence of respectabil- ity, starting from the foot with little to back his suit, might have appalled most lads. But not so Hugh McCurdy. His hardy ancestry, his own indomitable courage, and the chance that- America gives to every son of toil, were enough for him to begin with, and he began the ascent without a doubt of final triumph. In 1847 he had so far advanced in general acquire- ments that he was chosen to teach the village school in Birmingham, and during the following year he held a like employment in the neighboring village of Royal Oak. In addition to his work of teaching he took up the study of the classics. Later, with the lit- tle money he had saved out of his scanty salary, he bought the necessary books, and after surmounting what sometimes, no doubt, seemed insuperable obsta- cles, he found himself domiciled at the Romeo Acad- emy. Hope gave new strength to ambition's wing, and he made good use of his academical opportuni- ties. He next entered the office of the distinguished law firm of Baldwin & Draper, of Pontiac, and in 1854 was admitted to the Bar of Michigan. While yet a student of the law he kept his fortunes moving by divers means. One of his employments was that of freight agent, at Birmingham, when strap rails were in vogue and railroading was yet a primitive science. As illustrative of the difficulties which handicapped the young man, just entering upon the profession of the law, he was obliged to buy the nucleus of his fine library upon credit. The merchant who furnished the credit, recently remarked, in speaking of the incident, " Yes, I sold Hugh his first shelf of law books and took his word that they would be paid for. He was an utter stranger to me, but there was that in his bear- ing — a frankness and manliness of speech, and alto- gether a determined, hopeful and confident view of life in what he said and his manner of saying it — that I never had the slightest doubt of his honesty or of his ultimate ability to pay. I need not say that mine was one of the first debts he discharged after clients began to find out the value of his professional ser- vices." With characteristic foresight, the young man took a long look ahead, and perceiving the effects which must be produced through the extension of the rail- road, (now the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee,) .he moved to Corunna, the county-seat of Shiawassee County, where he has lived continuously since. Here he has won material fortune, lives in elegant refine- ment, still enjoys a lucrative practice, and has little left to be desired in the way of earth's reward for work well done — for fidelity to personal and profes- sional trusts, and for a genial benevolence that never wearies in the good and kindly offices of hjimanity. Shortly after his removal to Corunna the office of prosecuting attorney became vacant by resignation of the incumbent, and Judge Green appointed him to fill the vacancy. In the fall of 1856, nominated by the democratic convention for prosecuting attorney, he was elected by a handsome majority. In i860 he re- ceived the nomination of his party for judge of pro- bate, and although the county gave a majority for Lincoln and the republican state and county ticket, he ran more than a thousand ahead of his party vote and was elected by a large majority. He was elected to the state senate in 1864, and immediately took rank as one of the most active and influential members of that body. Although the county of Shiawassee has been a strong republican county ever since 1856, he was re-elected prosecuting attorney in 1874. For many years he has been a member of the board of supervisors from a strong republican ward — frequently elected without opposition — both parties nominating him. In 1865 Judge McCurdy established the First National Bank of Corunna, of which he was president from its organization down to 1873, when he sold out his stock and withdrew from the business. Bro. - . McCurdy's Masonic life covers a period of over forty-two years, he having been initiated in Bir- mingham Lodge, No. 44, August 5, 1850. Ten days later he was passed and raised to the degree of Master Mason. On the 15th of July following, he formed Corunna Lodge, No. 115, became its first Master and served in that office for six successive years. He received the Chapter degree in Washington Chapter, No. 15, at Flint, and was exalted to the Holy Royal Arch February 5, 1864. On January 10, 1865, he established Corunna Chapter, No. 33, and became its first High Priest, in which chair he remained also BROTHER HUGH McCURDY, 33 , PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MICHIGAN. GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF THE UNITED STATES. . "*>^ .- ■ r-~ *-L;, ,■ - '-"'-f' r'-fe- , ' I S- Grand Master of the Gram] Encampment of K. of the U.S . OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 for six consecutive years. On January 12, 1869, he was elected Grand King of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Michigan; on January 12, 1870, Deputy Grand High Priest, and on January 10, 1 87 1, Grand High Priest. On January loth, 1872, he was elected Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan, and a year later, January 17, 1873, was unanimously elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, receiving the total vote of 832 representa- tives. It was while Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan that Bro.\ McCurdy, had the honor of laying the corner-stone of the New State Capitol at Lansing, October 2, 1873. The Orders of the Temple were received by Bro.\ McCurdy in Fenton Commandery, No. 14, at Fen- tonville, Mich., March 13, 1866. On June 2, 1875, he was elected Grand Generalissimo of the Grand" Com- mandery of Michigan; on June 7, 1876, Deputy Grand Commander; and on May 9, 1877, Right Emi- nent Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Michigan. On December 18, 1866, Bro. - . McCurdy received the Council degrees of Royal and Select Master in St. John's Council, No. 21, at St. John's, Michigan. On January 17, 1875, he instituted a Council of Royal and Select Masters in Corunna, became its first Thrice 111. Master, and continued to so serve that Council for eight years. On January 21, 1879, he was elected Most Illus- trious Grand Master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters. The Consistory degrees were received by Bro.'. McCurdy in the Detroit Consistory, on December 19, 1866, and on November 18, 1873, he received the 33°, and was created an honorary member of the Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States at Chicago, Illinois. On September 18, 1878, he received the Royal Order of Scotland at the hands of 111. Albert Pike, session of Supreme Council, Milwaukee, Wis- consin. On September 18, 1879, he was appointed Grand Marshal of the Camp in the Supreme Council, which office he held until Sept. 27, 1883, when he was elected and crowned an Active Member of the Supreme Council, ad vitam. August 19, 1880, he was elected Grand Senior War- den of the Crand Encampment of Knights Templar for the United States, at Chicago ; on August 23, 1883, Grand Captain General of the G.\ E.\ K.\ T.\ of the United States, at San Francisco, Cal., and on September 23, 1886, Grand Generalissimo of the G.\ E.\ K.\ T.\ ot the U. S„ at St. Louis, Mo. On March 27, 1884, he was elected 111. Commander- in-Chief of Detroit Consistory of Detroit. Bro. - . McCurdy is likewise a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and holds membership in Moslem Temple, Detroit, Michigan. On October 8, 1889, at the session of the Grand En- campment K.\ T.\ at Washington, D. C, Bro.'. Mc- Curdy was elected R. - . E.\ Deputy Grand Master, and at the Twenty-fifth session at Denver, Col., Aug. 11, 1892, M.\ E.\ Grand Master of the G.\ E.\ K.\ T.\ of the U. S. As a Masonic orator and jurist Bro.'. McCurdy occupies a conspicuous place in the first rank. He has probably delivered more speeches and addresses on important Masonic occasions than any other man in the fraternity in Michigan. They have long been known as clever and brilliant productions — poetic, humorous, witty, scholarly and classic. In the field of Masonic jurisprudence he stands alone in Michigan, while it is no unusual experience to have his opinion in matters of Masonic law sought by high authorities beyond the limits of his own State. It goes almost without saying that his written opinions are universally regarded as law ; and that they are quoted and regarded by the Masonic world as sound, is only one of many assurances of the high value that is placed upon them by the Order. Such is the proud record of the man and brother whom the fraternity with pride call " Our Hugh." He has proved faithful in all things and lives to-day warmly housed in the hearts of the Craft, a delight and an honor. Although he has passed the usual three-score years of life, he is yet healthy and vigorous. His head is silvered, but the will strong, the eye bright and kindly, and his heart as warm, tender and true as ever it was. The extraordinary scope and character of such a record can scarcely fail to stir a spirit of generous emulation in every true Mason's breast. Perhaps honors like these are reserved for the few, but every faithful man in the Order may at least aspire to them. At the very least so conspicuous and noble an exem- plification of loyal service rewarded must be productive of lasting good to Masonry. BRO.-. HEMAN ELY, 33 , was born October 30, 1820, in Elyria, Ohio, and where he still resides. His father, Heman Ely, Sr., a native of West Springfield, Massachusetts, was in the early part of the present century engaged in the wholesale grocery trade in the city of New York. The grandfather, Justin Ely, was one of the original proprietors of the Connecticut West- ern Reserve under the Connecticut Land Company. In 181 1, previous to the last war with England, Heman Ely, Sr., visited the State of Ohio, with the view of making arrangements for settlement in that State; but the outbreak of the war prevented the immediate execution of plans then formed. In 18 1 6, however, after the close of the war, he again visited Ohio, when he made arrangements for building du- ring that year. Returning to New England, he made the necessary preparations for removal to the con- templated settlement in the spring. Accompanied by a number of others, he arrived and made the first set- tlement on what is now the site of the town of Elyria, on the 1 8th of March, 1 8 17. Heman Ely, Sr., deeply interested in the prosperity PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES of the settlement, contributed liberally for the erec- tion of public buildings, including Court House, a church and school-house, and setting aside the neces- sary real estate as suitable sites for their erection. He was a spirited and enterprising man, and by his own activity and zeal instilled much energy and en- thusiasm into the work of others engaged with him in the enterprise, — the building up of new homes in the then far west. He held many positions of official trust and personal responsibility in those days, to the discharge of the duties of which he gave the benefit of his well-matured mind and the exercise of a sound judgment coupled with strict fidelity. In 1819 a dis- pensation was obtained sanctioning the formation of a Lodge of Freemasons in Elyria (now King Solo- mon's Lodge, No. 56), of which he was elected the first Worshipful Master ; holding the position by re- elections for several successive years. His death occurred February 2, 1852, in Elyria, which he had founded, and which had been named in honor of its founder. Bro.\ Heman Ely, Jr., the son, and the subject of our sketch, obtained his education at the public schools of his native town and at one of the best pri- vate schools of Connecticut. His first business expe- rience was had in a store in Elyria, where he served as a clerk for several years. In March, 1841, how- ever, his father availed himself of his services to aid him in the care and management of his extensive real-estate interests. In this occupation he was en- gaged until his father's death in February, 1852, when the entire weight and responsibility of the busi- ness fell upon his shoulders. His intimate acquaint- ance with all the details incident thereto, together with the preparation received during the life of his father, particularly fitted him for the work which now devolved upon him and called for his sole direction. It is thus that the larger part of Bro.\ Ely's life be- came devoted to the care and disposition of real estate, in which he has shown most marked ability and acumen. While Bro. - . Ely has at no time sought official position or political preferment, he has nevertheless been called to serve in various positions of honor and responsibility. He has been a director of the follow- ing named Banks : The Lorain Bank of Elyria, The First National Bank of Elyria and The National Bank of Elyria. From August, 1847, the date of the organization of the first named, to 1864; of the sec- ond, from 1864 to 1883, and the last named from 1883 to the present time, and also its President since the date of its organization. He was a member ot the House of Representatives of Ohio from 1870 to 1873, serving upon various important committees with his accustomed zeal and energy. His influence was especially noted in the work of the Committee on Insurance, of which he was Chairman. It was through the efforts and labors of this committee, du- ring his term, that the Department of Insurance was organized, and much of the success of this legislation was due to Bro. 1 . Ely. He is a Congregationalist, and his connection with a church of that faith dates from the year 1838. He is a faithful and consistent member, ever active and liberal in all church work, and true to the strict tenets and obligations of the church's creed. Bro. - . Ely's Masonic life has been no less active. As early as 1 851, he received the degrees of Craft Masonry in King Solomon's Lodge, No. 56, of Elyria ; the degree of Master Mason having been conferred upon him on December 1st of that year. During the same month he became the recipient of the Capitular degrees in Marshall Chapter, No. 47, Elyria ; receiving the Royal Arch degree on Christmas day. The Cryptic degrees he received in Columbus Council, No, 8, of. Columbus, on October 19, i860. The Orders of Masonic Knighthood were conferred upon him in Ori- ental Commandery, No. 12, of Cleveland, Ohio, on March 2, 1857. He was admitted to the Mysteries of the Ineffable Degrees in Eliadah Lodge of Perfection, of Cleveland, in December i860, reaching the 14 on the 4th of said month. On January 7th and 8th, 1861, he received the 15th and 16th degrees in Bahurim Council of Princes' of Jerusalem, in Cleveland, Ohio, and on the last named date was also made a Sovereign Prince Rose Croix, 18°, in Ariel Chapter, in the same city. The Consistorial degrees were conferred upon him in Ohio Consistory, Cincinnati ; the investment of the 32 taking place on Washington's birthday, 1861. He was made a Sovereign Grand Inspector-General, 33 , in the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, in Boston, Mass., on May 22, 1862, and crowned an Active Member of that body, in the same city, on May 18, 1865. Bro.'. Ely became Master of his Lodge (King Solo- mon's, No. 56) in 1858 and served as such for thirteen years. On September 10, i860, as Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, he conducted that body at the dedication of the statue erected to the memory of Commodore Oliver H. Perry, in Cleveland. In the same year he was elected High Priest of his Chapter and received the order of High -Priesthood on Febru- ary 22, 1851. In the Grand Chapter of Ohio he was elected Deputy Grand High Priest in 1863 and served for two years. Oriental Commandery No. 12, elected him Eminent Commander in 1861, and continued him in that position four years. The same year the Grand Commandery of Ohio elected him Grand Captain Gen- eral, in 1863 Deputy Grand Commander, and in 1864 to the distinguished position of Very Eminent Grand Commander, which office he held with honor for seven consecutive years. In 1868 the Constitution of the Grand Commandery was amended, among the changes made being one with regard to official titles — that of "Grand Master" to become "Grand Commander." Sir Knight Ely was presiding officer at the time this change was made and continued such by successive elections until Sep- BROTHER HEMAN ELY, 33°, PAST GRAND COM.. OF THE GRAND COM.. OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF OHIO. PAST GRAND TREASURER OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF A .!. A.\S.\ R .'.OF THE NORTHERN MASONIC JURISDICTION OF THE -UNITED STATES OF AMERICA*. 1 T Z&m fr-yztJy ?/ £<■£■?/?-, z 2^^?*t. ' Ci2^> Past Grand Treasurer of the Supreme Council of oord Degree A.'.A.'.S.'.R.'.for the N.'.M.'. J.', of the United States. OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 17 tember.1871. Nor has he been less active in the bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. In 1865-1866, he served as Sovereign Grand Com- mander of the Sovereign Grand Consistory at Boston. He was elected Grand Treasurer General of the Uni- ted Supreme Council at the time of the union of the Boston and New York bodies (so called) in May, 1867, and held that office by successive elections till the 15th day of September, 1891, when at its annual ses- sion in Boston the Supreme Council again unanimously re-elected him, but Bro.'. Ely, after feelingly tender- ing his thanks for the continued confidence reposed in him in thus unanimously electing him to the re- sponsible office of Grand Treasurer General for the twenty-fourth time, stated that " on account of failing health, he was under the necessity of positively de- clining the honor so magnanimously bestowed upon him." Such in brief is the Masonic history of Bro.\ Ely — a record showing by its prominence and wide spreading scope the full measure of Masonic confi- dence reposed in so worthy and deserving a brother. Strict integrity, perfect rectitude, allied to a conscien- tious performance of duty at all times, under what- ever circumstances or conditions, have ever been the leading characteristics in his social and business rela- tions, and these have as strongly endeared him to the world at large as they have to the brotherhood. BRO.-. DE WITT CLINTON was born in Little Britain, Orange County, New York, March 2, 1769. His father, James Clinton, was of English ancestry, and at one time occupied a prominent position in the army, ranking as a Brigadier-General. The mother's ancestors came originally from France. Bro. - . Clin- ton, after obtaining a rudimentary education in the common school of his native town, attended a private academy in Kingston, where he prepared himself preliminary to his entering upon a course at Columbia College, from which institution he graduated with high honors in 1786. After leaving college he entered the office of Samuel Jones, Esq.,, of New York City, and engaged in the study of law. Two years later, in 1788, he was admitted to the bar. Soon after his admission to practice he married Miss Maria Frank- lin. It does not appear that Bro. - . Clinton long continued in the practice of the law, as we find that he very soon actively entered the political arena. His uncle, George Clinton, was at that time Governor of the State, and by whom he was appointed private sec- retary, in 1789. He became a member of the Lower House of the Assembly in 1797, and in the follow- ing year a State Senator, representing his district for several terms. In 1802, at the age of thirty-three, he was elected by the State of New York to the United States Senate, but his term as United States Senator was of brief duration. Still, through his speeches on the navigation of the Mississippi, and in opposition to a war with Spain, two measures of great moment at the time agitating the public mind, he was brought 2 pre-eminently to the front as a man of enlarged politi- cal acumen and philosophical views regarding public affairs. The cause which terminated his senatorial career, was the appointment received from the Gover- nor of the State, to the position of Mayor of the city of New York, which at that time was a station whose duties covered a wider range than at present. The incumbent of the Mayoralty then, in addition to his duties as chief magistrate, was called upon to pre- side over the City Council, to sit as judge in the crim- inal court, as also in that of the Common Pleas. This he accepted, and served as such, with a few periods of recess, until 1810. From 1811 to i8i3he served as Lieutenant-Governor of the State with marked ability, and greatly added to his personal popularity as a man and a Mason. In 181 2, he was strongly presen- ted as a candidate for the Presidency of the United States, and as the result of the election received eighty-nine out of the two hundred and eleven votes cast. He was a zealous advocate of internal improve- ments, and early directed his attention to the Erie Canal project, devoting much of his personal energy and influence to its consummation. Probably to him, more than to any other individual is due the success ot the measure which culminated in the construction of the great water-way. In 1824, he was elected Governor of the State, and again re-elected in 1825. It was while serving his second term as Governor, that President Adams ten- dered him the appointment as Minister to England, but which he declined, Bro.". Clinton was a student of no ordinary abil- ity, a man of rare conceptions and chaste expression. With a broad and expansive mind, his views of men and measures were clear, discriminating and just. It may be truly said that a larger part of the antagonism to Bro.'. Clinton was evolved from partisan ran- cor — rather than from an honest motive to serve the interests of the community at large. The enemies ot Freemasonry found in him a serious stumbling-block in the way of their schemes, and his removal through the subtle attack of Anti-Masonry had but that one object in the State of New York. It may have been different elsewhere, but the vicious spirit of fanaticism manifested throughout the States at this time, had but a brief career. "Truth is mighty and must prevail," and it proved its might in this case. The sober, sec- ond thought of the people relegated the enemies of the Fraternity to a realizing condition of their error, and time in its round of whirl soon found them a disgruntled, disappointed and desperate set of place- hunters. Bro.'. Clinton was one of the brightest stars in the Galaxy of American Freemasonry, as he was one of the most honorable of men. He knew but one senti- ment in the field of partisan warfare, and this should be impressed upon the minds and hearts of all true Americans, who love their country with an unselfish love. It was " Pro Bono Publico." PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES The Masonic history of Bro. - . Clinton begins with 1793, in which year he entered the order. The year following he was elected Master of his Lodge. In 1806, he was elevated to the position of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York, and in 1816, to that of Grand Master of the Grand Encampment — he being the first one elevated to that position. In the same year, he was elected General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of the United "States. These honors to Bro. 1 . Clinton are the most positive proofs of the subject's character as a man and a Mason — and speak louder than words. Bro. - . Clinton died February 11, 1828, in his fifty- ninth year, deeply lamented by the community in which he lived and sincerely mourned by none more than those with whom he had traveled the same road for so many years, and whose friendships and honors he had so lavishly enjoyed on the way. BRO.-. ROBERT ENOCH WITHERS was born in Campbell county, Virginia, September 18, 1821; graduated in the medical department of the University of Virginia in 1841 ; practiced his profession in his native county until 1858, when he removed to Dan- ville, Virginia, where he continued his practice until the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861 ; entered the Confederate Army as Major of Infantry and dur- ing the same year was promoted to the Colonelcy of a regiment which he commanded until retired in consequence of numerous disabling wounds. In Jan- uary, 1866, he removed to Lynchburg, Virginia, and established a daily political paper, devoted to the interests of the conservative party, which he contin- ued to edit until 1868, when he was nominated for Governor by the Conservative convention at Rich- mond, and canvassed the State in opposition to the Underwood Constitution, which the military authori- ties refused to submit to a vote of the people. A question arising as to his eligibility under the disen- franchising acts, if elected, he generously withdrew in favor of the Liberal Republican candidate, who was triumphantly elected. In 1873, however, he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the State, and while occupying this office was elected to the United States Senate, where he served his constituents faithfully from 1873 to 1881. At the close of his Senatorial career he retired to his farm near Wytheville, Wythe county, Virginia, where he has since resided. Bro. - . Withers was initiated, passed and raised in Marshall Lodge, No. 39, at Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1850, and has ever since retained his membership in that Lodge. He was for several years Master of Mack- ey Lodge, No. 69, at Campbell C. H., Virginia; also was a member for some years of Roman Eagle Lodge, No. 122, at Danville, Virginia, and a High Priest of Euclid R.". A. - . C.\ No. 15, of the same place. He received the Chapter and Council degrees in Eureka Royal Arch Chapter, No. 10, at Lynchburg, and was Knighted in De Molay Commandery, No. 4, of the same place. He was elected Eminent Com- I mander of Dove Lodge, No. 22, Danville, and has filled all the offices in the Grand Commandery of Virginia, having served as Grand Commander for three years from 1872. He was elected Grand Mas- ter of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, 1871-73, and dur- ing the same period was Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of his State. He has taken all the degrees of the A. - . A.". S.\ R.\ up to and including the 32°, and represented the Grand Consistory of Virginia at Charleston, S. C, in 1868. He was elected Grand Senior Warden of the Grand Encampment of the United States, in 1877, at Cleve- land, Ohio ; R.'. E.\ Deputy Grand Master in 1880, at Chicago, Illinois, and M.\ E.\ Grand Master in 1883, at San Francisco, California. Bro. - . Withers' interest in and devotion to the work of the Order have become widely known. His writings on Masonic subjects have been universally regarded as displaying deep and serious study, and his orations, of which he has delivered many, have been greatly admired and much complimented. It is a singular fact that Bro.'. Withers was for a long time opposed to the organization of the G.\ E.\ of the United States, and held that the Grand Comman- deries should be held as sovereign and supreme with- in their own jurisdictions. His first appearance in the G.\ E.\ of the United States was in Baltimore, Mary- land, when, as one of the representatives from Virginia, he presented the memorial of that Grand Commandery asking to be absolved from their allegiance to the Grand Encampment. The request was refused, but it is believed that the ability and earnestness of purpose then displayed by Bro. - . Withers in his efforts attracted the favorable attention of the Order and led the way to his rapid promotion. His election as M.\ E.'. Grand Master of the Grand Encampment was recognized generally as a fitting cul- mination of his honors and reward for his many years of service. Its announcement was received with great pleasure by his many friends, and with universal sat- isfaction. It was flashed across the continent to a friend in Richmond, in these words : " The Grand En- campment has honored Virginia by electing Robert E. Withers Grand Master." The reply was re- turned : " Virginia has honored the Grand Encamp- ment by supplying such a man as Robert E. With- ers for the position." Bro.'. Withers, in his Church relations, is an earnest Episcopalian, and has often taken prominent part in the Councils of that denomination. His life has ever been characterized by singular piety and Christian consistency. In person, he is tall, well-pro- portioned and commanding in appearance, the ideal of the true knight, while in his rounded character, trained through so many exigencies, he seems crowned with all the virtues of manhood, and in his career has ever showed himself "without fear and without reproach.'' " Godlike erect with native honor clad." BROTHER R. E. WITHERS, PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF THE UNITED STATES. 1 MI 5^- !r lllllli? HUBS ,0~z^t£JZ^^ as ^L-^z,-^*^ ^■L^ Past Grand Master of the Grand Exicampmeiil of Kuights Templar of the United States. ■*-•- OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED. STATES. 19 BRO.'. WILLIAM PAYNE was born about the year 1725. He was the son of the youngest of three brothers, John, William and Sir Robert Payne, who came to this country in the same ship with Sir George Yardley, the first colonial governor of Virginia, April 18, 1619. Sir Robert Payne settled in what is now the city of Alexandria, Virginia, and it was here that Bro.\ Payne was born and reared. But little is known of his early history and it is not until July -13, 1774, that anything worthy of note is recorded of him. On the date mentioned he formed one of a committee of public safety, appointed at a meeting held in the Court House, Alexandria, of which Bro.'. George Washington was chairman and Robert Han- son Harrison secretary. Long before the Revolution Bro.'. Payne and Bro. - . Washington were arrayed on opposing sides in the political arena and, in 1754, when Washington, in command of the Virginia Rangers, was awaiting, in Alexandria, the arrival of Braddock and his men, a hotly contested election campaign was in progress with Bro. - . Payne on the one side, contending with Mr. Fairfax upon the other. Bro. - . Washington warmly supported the latter and, in the course of the contest, meeting Bro.". Payne one day in the market- place, high words passed between them until the latter, losing his temper, struck Washington a blow that felled him to the ground. Washington's men poured from the barracks and would have speedily avenged the injury to their beloved commander had he not stood between them and the object of their resent- ment and assured them that he knew the proper course to pursue in the matter. All who saw or knew of the affair supposed that nothing less than a duel would be the outcome. However, the following day, Bro. - . Washington invited Bro.'. Payne to call upon him and, the latter accepting the invitation, on enter- ing the room, in which he expected to meet an enemy, saw upon the table, not a brace of pistols, but a brace of glasses and a decanter of wine. " Mr. Payne," said Bro. - . Washington, "To err is human. I was wrong yesterday, but if you have had sufficient satis- faction, let us be friends.'' It is said, that from that day, Washington was Payne's ideal of true manhood. The magnanimity shown by Washington on this oc- casion is the more commendable when it is recollected that he was under something of a cloud for having capitulated to the French at Fort Necessity and had done nothing, as yet, to redeem his reputation. In Fairfax Parish, in 1765, Bro. - . Payne seems to have been a more popular man than Bro.'. Washing- ton for, at an election for vestrymen of the parish, the former received 304 votes as against 274 for the latter. Bro.'. Payne served with the rank of Colonel in the Revolution. He became a Mason in Alexandria Lodge (the Lodge of Washington), February 20, 1784, and was one of six distinguished members, each a colonel, selected to act as pall-bearers at the funeral of Washington. He died subsequent to the year 1800. BRO.'. JAMES CRAIK was born at Orbigland, near Dumfries, Scotland, in 1730. He was educated at the Medical College, Edinburgh, with the view of becoming a surgeon in the English army, but instead emigrated to the West Indies, where he practiced his profession until 1750, when he came to America. In 1754 he was commissioned a surgeon in Colonel Fry's Virginia Regiment, which, on the death of its commander, was next commanded by Major George Washington. He accompanied Washington, under General Braddock, in the disastrous campaign against the French and Indians, and from that time dates the friendship which ripened into such close intimacy between them. Bro.'. Craik was present at the battle of Monon- gahela (Braddock's defeat), and dressed the wounds of General Braddock after the battle. For gallant and meritorious services rendered in this campaign, he was awarded thirty pounds by act of the Virginia Assembly, approved August, 1755. To Bro.'. Craik we are indebted for the details of the account given of Washington's seemingly miraculous escape at Monongahela. It was while he was on an exploring expedition in the western portion of Virginia, in 1779, that the facts were gathered from an aged Indian chief, by the aid of an interpreter. The chief said that he had made a very long journey fdr the express purpose of getting within rifle range of Colonel Wash- ington, and that during the fight he had fired his own weapon at Washington fifteen times, besides having previously instructed all of the young men of his party to do the same. Notwithstanding such a con- centrated fire of the enemy, Bro.'. Washington came off unharmed, and to this instance, history records, is attributed the savage belief in the invulnerability of Washington to death by violence. Bro.'. Craik married, in 1760, Miss Mariamne Ball and settled near Port Tobacco, Maryland, where he built himself a handsome residence, but later was per- suaded by Washington to remove to Alexandria, Va. The first call to arms of the Revolution early found Bro.'. Craik by the side of his old commander, Bro.'. Washington, who assigned him to duty in the medical department of the army as a surgeon-general. In 1771 he was appointed Assistant Director-General of the Hospital Department of the army, and, on Cornwallis' surrender, he assumed the position of director of the hospital at Yorktown. Bro. - . Craik was also active in bringing to light the conspiracy of 1777 — the plot to remove General Washington from his command. In 1798, when war with France was anticipated, he was again called into service as Director-General. At the close of the Revolution he retired from the army and located himself in the vicinity of Mount Vernon. Here he pursued the practice of his profes- sion, and, as the family physician, was called to attend his old and illustrious chief during his last fatal illness. Bro. - . Craik was a member of Alexandria Wash- ington Lodge, No. 22, but of his Masonic history very PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES little more than this is known. He was also a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. He was a man of brilliant attainments, skillful and successful in the practice of his profession. Liberal and philanthropic by nature, his hand -was ever ready to answer the call of the needy. His nobility of soul and superior intellectual attributes early attracted Washington's friendship, and which ended only at death. Washington once spoke of him as "my com- patriot in arms and old and intimate friend, Dr. Craik." Bro.\ Craik died February 6, 1814, in the eighty- fourth year of his age, at his residence, Vaucluse, a part of the Ravensworth estate, Fairfax Co., Virginia. BRO. - . RICHARD VAUX was born in the city of Philadelphia, December 2, 1816. Roberts Vaux, his father, was one of the leading men of his time, of ex- cellent culture, a man of decided character, inclined to severity in morals. The mother was one of the noblest women of her generation, with the face of a saint, and it is said that until the death of his mother, such was the tender and filial love of Bro.\ Richard Vaux, that he called at her home every morning be- fore he came down town to resume the duties of his office. His father died when yet in the full meridian of his powers ; but he lived long enough to instil the highest ideals into the mind of his son, happily con- stituted to absorb such lessons of parental learning and wisdom. While yet a very young man Bro.\ Vaux, who had attracted the attention of President Martin Van Buren, was sent to Europe in a confidential capacity, as a bearer of dispatches to the American Minister at the Court oi St. James. He at once attracted the attention of the Minister, and being proffered the position of Secretary of Legation by the Minister, accepted the office. He talked French like a native of Bordeaux, and became in a short time the most popular young man at the American Legation. Here, it is said, he used to lead the Queen's quadrilles, and earned the proud distinction of being the one American who danced with the Queen. From London he went as Secretary of Legation to St. Petersburg, accompanying Hon. M. Maxey, who, as representative of our government, was charged with the organization of the American Embassy at the Rus- sian capital. In 1839, however, he voluntarily returned to America, though the administration was anxious to reward him with a mission abroad. One of his peculiarities, manifested very often in his subsequent history, was his disinclination to seek public office ; his taste has always been rather for public trusts unaccompanied with emoluments or largess of any character. For example, Bro. - . Vaux was chosen Recorder of Philadelphia in 1852, and held the position for seven years without any salary. The character of his decisions and their legal soundness can readily be estimated by the fact that no single decision was ever reversed. —+- In 1842, he was the candidate of his party for Mayor of the city, but suffered defeat ; again in 1845 ar| d like- wise in 1854. In 1856, however, he was successful, defeating his opponent, Henry D. Moore, by a hand- some majority. As Mayor of the city of Philadelphia Bro '. Vaux proved himself the possessor of adminis- trative abilities of a very high order, and these he actively exerted in the direction of municipal improve- ments conducive to the best interests of his constitu- ency. And he did not lose sight of posterity. Many of the great improvements under consideration at this day were suggested by Bro. - . Vaux while Mayor of the city, and especially was this the case with reforms suggested in its municipal government. These had been planned by Bro. - . Vaux ; and even in the prepa- ration of the Bullitt bill, under which the present city government is operated, his keen foresight and rare knowledge of the requirements of municipal legislation were liberally drawn upon by its author. Bro.'. Vaux is not only an omnivorous reader, but he is a deep and correct thinker, and he is widely known as the leading authority on penal institutions and methods of the United States. Over forty years President of the Board of Inspectors of the State Peni- tentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, he has carefully studied and digested the penal laws for the government of prisons. He is a master in the science of adapting the laws of the several States to the separate system of imprisonment. His mental activity is as marvellously fertile as it is many sided. His intellectual fruitfulness is shown in more than fifty volumes of prison reports, which have done much to point the way to the amelioration of the condition of the penal classes in the United States. The same may be said of his great and invaluable services to Girard College in introducing the study of useful handicrafts. On the death of Hon. Samuel J. Randall, Member of Congress from the third congressional district, Pennsylvania, Bro. - . Vaux was spontaneously named and elected to succeed him, and served for the unex- pired term. But his character, at once bold and inde- pendent in its originality, rises above and beyond the confines of mere partisanship. His whole life has been a stern and strong protest against the corruption practiced in modern politics, and for this reason he declined to enter into the contest for renomina- tion in the face of a strong opposition within his own party. Bro. - . Vaux first saw and was brought to Masonic light by Bro. - . Joseph R. Chandler, at the time Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, in Lodge No. 3, of Philadelphia, February 21, 1843, an d since then has been an earnest seeker after further light. At the request of Grand Master Chandler he united with Lodge No. 121, February 23, 1844, and ably assisted in reviving its waning activity, brought about during, and by reason of, the Anti-Masonic difficulties. In 1845 he became W. - . M. - . of the Lodge. •4-^ BROTHER RICHARD VAUX, PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA. ••• '/fc^t^^^ ''A*£*££^£ Fast Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Perm "*-♦- OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 21 Bro.\ Vaux was made a Royal Arch Mason in Harmony Chapter, No. 52, of Philadelphia, Septem- ber 24, 1846, and was knighted in Philadelphia Com- mandery, No. 42, November 16, 1855. After serving in a number of appointed offices in the Grand Lodge, he was elected in 1862, and served as Junior Grand Warden during 1863 and 1864. In 1864 he was elec- ted and served as Senior Grand Warden during 1865 and 1866 ; in 1866 he was elected and served as Dep- uty Grand Master, until the death of Grand Master Bro.'. John L. Goddard, on July 17, 1868, and during the remainder of the year was Grand Master. In 1867 he was elected, and served as Grand Master in 1868 and 1869. It was during 1868 that the corner stone of the present Masonic Temple, Philadelphia, was laid by him as Grand Master. From 1859 to 1862 inclusive, Bro.'. Vaux served as the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Cor- respondence. In December. 1875, he was again appointed as Chairman of that Committee, which position he has since most acceptably filled. As Chairman of this Committee, his most arduous duties have been performed, his grandest work achieved, and his influence most wisely wielded, for like a bea- con he has diffused Masonic light and knowledge far and near, and has ever lifted up his warning voice and proclaimed against any attempt to remove a Masonic landmark, or make any innovation in the Ancient Usages and Customs of the Fraternity. In his vale- dictory on retiring from the Oriental chair, he said : " The obligations resting on the conscience of the Grand Master to maintain the Landmarks, Usages and Customs of the Order, to support the constitution, rules, and regulations and edicts of the Grand Lodge, and preserve its dignity and sovereignty, are unyield- ing. More rigid than the proclaimed inflexibility of the laws of the Medes and Persians, these obligations, supreme and paramount, demand unqualified obe- dience. This duty to obey, permits no mental reser- vation to lessen or weaken it." In his intercourse with his fellow-men Bro.". Vaux ever keeps his crest full high advanced, possessing that sentiment which would feel a stain like a wound. When he thinks, he is not content to pick up the cur- rent flotsam and jetsam in literature or society as a part of a commoner traditional belief, but draws in- spiration from his own observation, reflection or criti- cism. Indifferent himself to the present acceptance of his views, he is content to leave their vindication to the future. The same individuality marks his style and his manner of expression. Free from literary formalism, and never unmindful of conventionalism, the structure of his writings is, in these respects, a spontaneous re- flex of the writer's peculiarities. The style is the man. His odd and striking combination of mental, personal and social qualities and characteristics, mark Bro. 1 . Vaux as one of the few men the world will not will- ingly let die. A late writer in speaking of Bro. - . Vaux, says : " Like Cicero he lives and moves in the light of the splendor of that honor which follows virtue like its shadow. An honest man himself, if dowered with supreme power, he would endeavor to make this country what John Milton said a republic ought to be ' The vast stature of an honest man.' " BRO.-. EDMUND RANDOLPH was born at Wil- liamsburg, Virginia, August 10, 1753. He received his education at William and Mary College, and it was here that he first attracted public attention by the de- livery of his oration in commemoration of the founders of the institution, August 15, 1771. After a most bril- liant career in college, he studied law in his father's office, and in course of time was admitted to the bar, where he soon achieved an eminent position. He was the fourth in descent of the American Randolphs. Both his father and grandfather, and also his uncle Peyton, had held the office of King's Attorney in the commonwealth of Virginia, and were all noted lawyers. 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 Bro. - . Edmund Randolph, was appointed in his stead. John had been performing the duties of the office for his brother Peyton during his absence in England, and superseded him by becoming the pliant advocate of the English ministry in their obnoxious taxation measures. When the Revolution commenced, he was a decided royalist, and supported Lord Dunmore, the royal Gov- ernor of the commonwealth, in all his efforts to main- tain the King's power in that colony. In this he failed, and disinheriting his son Edmund for joining the patriot cause, he soon left, with Lord Dunmore, for England. He, however, bitterly repented his choice, and died of a broken heart in 1784, his remains, by his request, being brought to Virginia and buried at Williamsburg. Deserted and disowned by his father, Edmund was adopted by his uncle, Peyton. He had then grown to manhood, for he succeeded his father as Attorney- General. He was also a Mason at that time, being 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 following October he was appointed by the lodge to revise its by-laws. An independent Grand Lodge of Masons had been formed in Virginia in 1778, and of that body Bro. - . Edmund Randolph was elected Deputy Grand Master in 1784. He held the office for two years, and upon the 27th of October, 1786, he was elected Grand Master of Masons of Virginia. He held this office until Octo- ber 28, 1788. During the last year of his Grand Mas- tership he had the honor of granting a warrant to the PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES lodge at Alexandria, constituting Bro.\ George Wash- ington its Master. In 1786, while he was Deputy Grand Master of Vir- ginia, he, was elected to succeed Patrick 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 political science coincided with those of Patrick Henry and other members, who believed the rights of individual States had been too far yielded in that in- strument. 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, Washington made Bro. - . Randolph, then Gov- ernor, 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 withdrew from public life. He never again entered the political field, but died in Frederick county, in his native State, on September 12, 1813. Bro. - . Randolph was a devoted member of the Episcopal church, and for many years one of its vestry- men. All of his Virginia ancestors had been members of the same church, and for four generations had been vestrymen also. BRO. - . JOSEPH WARREN was born June 11, 174.1, at Roxbury, near Boston. Unlike many farmers' sons of the time, he enjoyed the advantages of an excellent education. Graduating from Harvard College in 1759, he, by reason of his scholarly attainments, was appointed master of the Roxbury Grammar School, shortly after. He at the same time took up the study of medicine with Dr. James Lloyd, of Boston. Completing his studies in 1764, he began the practice of his profession in that city, soon after achieving distinction by his success in the treatment of smallpox. Liberal-minded, eloquent and of an ardent temper- ament, he soon turned his attention to the field of politics, and, on the passage of the unjust Stamp Act, began to publish a series of trenchant animadversions upon it in the Boston Gazette. He also became inti- mate about this time with Samuel Adams, who re- garded him as a steadfast and clear-sighted ally who could be trusted in all contingencies. He was a very active member of the society formed to oppose British tyranny and, as such, faithfully attended all its meetings, from the arrival of King George's troops, in 1768, till their evacuation of the city in 1770. After the " Boston Massacre," of March 5, 1770, he was appointed a member of the Committee of Public Safety and, in July of the same year, a ~*+- member of the committee to inquire into the condition of the town and to report to England. On March 5, 1772, he delivered his famous- oration in commemora- tion of the anniversary of the *' Massacre." During the next two years he was associated with Samuel Adams in active patriotic work and, when Mr. Adams was delegated to attend the Continental Congress, Warren became the leader of his party. Before a convention of the towns of Suffolk county, Warren presented and read a paper prepared by himself, which was unanimously adopted and became notable as the " Suffolk Resolves.'' It declared, among other matters, " that the King of Great Britain had forfeited his right to the allegiance of the subscribers and threatened General Gage with resistance and reprisal if he attempted the collection of taxes." A copy of this measure was sent to Congress, which body approved it and promised its support. Warren, meanwhile, actively engaged in organiz- ing the militia and collecting military stores and equipments. As the anniversary of the " Boston Massacre " drew nigh in 1775, it was boastfully threatened, by a num- ber of British officers, that whoever should have the audacity to address the people in Old Sbttth Church on that occasion would pay for his presumption with his life. Informed of this, Warren at once solicited the op- portunity to speak on the day and in the place desig- nated. It was cheerfully granted, and, on the day named, the Old South Church was so crowded that Warren was obliged to effect an entrance by way of a ladder placed against a window at the rear of the building and immediately behind the pulpit. As the forty-odd English soldiers present — some of whom sat on the steps of the platform — gazed into the clear eyes of the fearless man before them, while he spoke boldly and fervently the. honest and patriotic sentiments of his. heart against the oppressive measures of the Royal' Government and in condemnation of its tyranny, they saw the spirit that could brook no danger The time had not come when this man was to pay the penalty with his life for his temerity. It remained for a later day, and when it could be laid upon his country's altar. Warren had become, in civil and military affairs, the most prominent man in all New England at this time. Observing the movements of the British, on April 18, 1775, in preparation for the expedition to destroy the provincial stores at Concord, he dispatched William Dawes by way of Roxbury and Paul Revere by way of Charlestown, to give the alarm along the Concord route, while he proceeded to hang out the warning lantern in the steeple of the Old North Church. Next morning he heard the firing at Lex- ington, and he hastened to the side of General Heath where a pin in his hair was nipped by a musket ball. During the week following he was tireless in urging forward military preparations in New England. At OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 23 Watertown, May 31, he was unanimously chosen President of the Provincial Congress and thus became the chief executive of Massachusetts under its provis- ional government. June 14, he was chosen second Major-General of the Massachusetts forces, Artemas Ward being the first. In the council of war held he opposed fortifying Charlestown Heights, but the others favored it and thus precipitated the battle of Bunker Hill before the Americans were properly prepared. The night of the 1 6th, he passed in transacting public business and, next morning, met the Committee of Public Safety at General Ward's headquarters. Hearing, about noon, that the British troops had landed at Charlestown he hastened to Breed's Hill where Prescott and Putnam both expressed their willingness to place themselves under his command, but this he declined saying that he simply came as a volunteer to take lessons in the science of warfare from two such able veterans. In the last desperate charge of the enemy, when the works were carried, and the Americans, with ammu- nition exhausted, were obliged to retreat, Warren, in an attempt to stay the flight of the Provincials, was shot through the head and instantly killed. Thus perished one of the noblest and most valiant martyrs of that glorious struggle for American independence. He left, to mourn him, a wife (Miss Elizabeth Hooten, whom he married in 1764), two daughters and two sons; and with but a small patrimony towards their support. It is among the bright spots in the murky fame of Benedict Arnold that he gave a large sum toward defraying the expenses incurred in the education of the sons of the dead patriot. Bro.\ Warren was entered in St. Andrew's Lodge, Boston, September 10, 1761, received the second degree November 2, following, and was raised No- vember 28, 1765. G.\ M.\ of Scotland, the Earl of Dalhousie, appointed him Provincial Grand Master of Boston and of territory within a radius of one hun- dred miles of that place, on May 30, 1769; and the Earl of Dalhousie's successor, the Earl of Dumfries, appointed Bro.\ Warren Grand Master of the American Continent, March 7, 1772. The Grand Lodges of England and of Scotland both had Provin- cial Grand Lodges in Massachusetts, though not in conflict, as the Grand Lodges of England, Scotland and Ireland have always exercised the privilege of establishing Lodges in any of the provinces of the British Empire independently of each other. His record as a Mason shows him to have been ever ac- tive in practicing and promulgating the sublime teachings of the Craft, and that the greatest confi- dence and respect were bestowed upon him by the brethren of that day. The body of the illustrious Grand Master was buried three times: first, on the brow of the hill where he fell fighting for his country; secondly, in the public burying ground where he was laid with impressive Masonic ceremonies; and thirdly, by his family and friends, within the shadow of old St. Paul's Church in Boston. In his memory, King Solomon's Lodge, of Charlestown, erected a wooden monument on Bunker Hill in 1792. No name in American history is recalled with a tenderer sentiment of mingled love and sorrow than that of the patriot Warren. So noble, so capable and so necessary to the crisis at hand, he promised a more brilliant and fruitful career than any of his notable compeers, and yet he fell — " a hero in his grave 'Midst the dew-fall of a nation's tears." BRO.-. MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE [MARIE Jean Paul Roche Yves Gilbert Motier] was born at Chavagnac, France, September 6, 1757. He was educated at the College du Plessis in Paris. In 1774, then but seventeen years of age and an officer of the Royal Guards, he married Mademoiselle d'Ayen, the daughter of the Duke of Ayen. Filled with a generous sympathy for America in her struggle for liberty, he tendered his services, which were gladly accepted by the Provincial Congress. He left France secretly in 1777, and on his arrival in this country had the rank of major-general conferred upon him by Congress. He immediately assumed command and at the battle of Brandywine struck his first blow in the American cause, in which engagement he was severely wounded. His next engagement was at the battle of Monmouth, N. J., in the following year, and for his gallant conduct in this battle he gained the esteem and enduring friendship of Washington, to- gether with a vote of thanks from the Continental Congress. France recognizing the independence of the colonies in 1779, Bro.-. La Fayette re-visited his native land, but to return almost immediately with fur- ther substantial aid for the Americans. In 1780 he was given the command of the advanced guard of Wash- ington's army, and was contributory, in 1781, to the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. The war of the Revolution ended, the troublous times into which his own country had fallen claimed his services, and he again unsheathed his sword in the cause of liberty. But he had, however, a more difficult part to play, between his loyalty to the king on the one hand and his love for liberty on the other. He was hampered more, by those for whom he desired to serve, the king and Marie Antoinette, than by the complexity of his two chief and opposing motives. So, finally, almost swamped in a sea of anarchism and unreason, his life in danger and his soldiers mutinous, he fled, intending to return to the United States, but was arrested at the frontier by the Austrians who car- ried him to the prison of Olmutz, where his liberty was offered him on condition that he would recant certain particulars of his avowed principles. His steadfast- ness and resolution were such, however, that he en- dured a four years' rigorous confinement in a dungeon rather than become a traitor to himself and his con- victions. Later Napoleon released him. when he re- PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES visited America to become the recipient of a Nation's grateful welcome in all the cities visited. His tour through the States was a series of grand ovations, every town and hamlet vieing to outdo the other in paying homage to the hero. Congress also, as some measure of tangible appreciation of his services and aid ren- dered, voted him the sum of $200,000 in recompense. His becoming a Mason was probably due in a great measure to his intimacy with Bro.\ Washington. Much uncertainty prevails, however, as to where and when he was made a Mason, Morristown N. J., and Newburgh and Albany, N. Y., each claiming the dis- tinction. Some authorities agree that the time was his twentieth year — Washington's own age when he became a Mason, a quarter of a century previous. The place is stated, by one Masonic writer, to have been a room over the bar of the old Freemen's Tavern, in Morristown, and the same writer also states that Washington himself presided at the ceremony as M aster, though no proof of these statements is ad vanced with them and they lack corroboration elsewhere. The balance of probability is in favor of the ceremony having been performed in some Military Lodge and at some time prior to the capitulation of Yorktown, for it is recorded that there Washington, La Fayette, Marshall and Nelson came together in Lodge No. 9, immediately after the surrender. In 1784, on a visit to America, Bro.\ La Fayette became Washington's guest at Mount Vernon, when he presented Bro. - . Washington a Masonic apron, beautifully embroidered in colored silk, the handiwork and gift of Madame de La Fayette, together with another gift of Masonic ornaments incased in a hand- some rosewood cabinet, beautifully inlaid with appro- priate emblems of the order. The apron is now the cherished property of the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl- vania, while the cabinet is an object of great interest in the museum of the Lodge of Washington at Alex- andria, Virginia. In 1824, Bro. - . La Fayette again visited the United States on the invitation of Congress, and, on his arrival at New York, was immediately invited by the citizens of Alexandria to become their guest. On the 1 6th of October, he was received with an ovation and Lodges Nos. 22, 47 and 8 extended him their hos- pitalities. After the ceremonies of the day were over he found time to visit the tomb of Washington and pay a silent tribute to the memory of his late Brother and beloved foster father. He visited the Grand Lodge of Louisiana on October 21 and, returning to Alexandria, was present at its three Lodges, in joint session, February 21, 1825, previous to a magnificent banquet given by them in his honor, which was attended by many prominent men and Masons of the day. Many tokens of honor, respect and love were shown the distinguished guest of the Nation and of American Masonry upon this occasion. He visited the Grand Lodge of Tennessee May 4, 1825, and the Grand Lodge of New York October 8, the tribute of an honorary membership, in each and all of the foregoing Lodges, being conferred upon him. A patriot, a soldier and an exemplary Mason, he was a faithful friend and a fearless foe, and perhaps the best panegyric upon the high and noble consistency of his behavior throughout all his life, was pro- nounced when Madame de Stael wrote of him : "You can with certainty predict what he would do under any and all circumstances.'' Brave yet tender, firm yet gentle, he was, indeed, a pillar of light to Masons and to all mankind, and his sterling, manly and Masonic virtues well qualified him to become the chosen friend and dear adopted son of " the first — the last — the best, The Cincinnatus of the West," and Brother of our Craft, George Washington. Bro. - . La Fayette died May 20, 1834, ten years after his last visit to America. Two nations mourned his death with all the world in sympathy for the keen grief felt over the departure of one whose career had exhibited so much of honorable and magnanimous action. BRO/. JOSIAH HAYDEN DRUMMOND, 33 , was born in Winslow, Maine, August 30, 1827. His father was Clark Drummond, a descendent of Alexan- der Drummond, one of a Colony of Scotch-Irish Pres- byterians who settled near the mouth of the Kenne- bec River in 1729. His mother was Cynthia Black- well, an estimable woman, from whom he inherited many of his most admirable traits. He was named for Colonel Josiah Hayden, the father of his paternal grandmother, who had been a Major in the Revolu- tionary Army. Bro. - . Drummond graduated at Waterville College (now Colby University, of which he is a trustee and President of the board), in 1846. During his student days he taught school and was principal of both China and Vassalborough Academies. After gradua- ting, he entered the law office of Boutelle and Noyes in Waterville, and pursued the study of the law until his admission to the bar, when he went to California in 1850. After a brief stay there, he returned to Waterville in 1 8 5 1 , and became successor to the firm of Boutelle & Noyes, his late preceptors. He continued the business with much success until i860, when his growing reputation demanded a larger field. He then opened an office in Portland, where he has since con- tinued to do a leading and prosperous business. He has held the position of Attorney-General of the State, and City Solicitor of Portland, and is now Solicitor for the Maine Central and other railroads, as well as Gen- eral Counsel of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company. Bro. - . Drummond entered political life as a Demo- crat, but in 1855 assisted in organizing the Republican party in Maine, and has ever since been one of its most prominent leaders. He became a member of the House, and in 1857 was elected Speaker. In i860 he was elected to the Senate, but resigned before the BROTHER JOSIAH H. DRUMMOND, 33 °, PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MAINE. PAST GRAND COMMANDER OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL 33° A.\A.\S.\R.\OF THE NORTHERN MASONIC JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ■L TjOiAsbVriaxxjpt O^U^aMC (JL « /VAltUAAWrfVLci P.-. (j-.Vbom.-. Supreme Council of 339-Degree Northern Jurisdiction of U.S. OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 25 end of his term to take the post of Attorney-General to which he had just been elected. To this position he was annually re-elected until 1864, when he per- emptorily declined, in order to devote himself entirely to his increasing professional business. In 1868, how- ever, he was again induced to accept the nomination and election as a Representative in the State Legisla- ture, and was again chosen Speaker Of that body. Bro. - . Drummond married Elzada Rollins Bean, a daughter of Benjamin Wadleigh Bean, on December io, 1850. They have four children, three daughters and one son, to grace the family circle. The son, named for his father, is now his partner in business. Bro. - . Drummond, although widely known in poli- tics and the law, has become still more distinguished in Freemasonry, partly by reason of the eminent sta- tions he has held at the head of the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, the General Grand Chapter, the General Grand Council, the Royal Order of Scotland, as well as in all the Grand bodies of the State of Maine, but still more by reason of his Ma- sonic writings in every department of the order, which have placed him as an authority on all subjects of Masonic Jurisprudence. His reports on Correspon- ence are eagerly sought at home and abroad, and his Masonic Text-books are everywhere received as high authority. His various works in historical research respecting Masonry, are also held in high esteem by the Brotherhood. Bro.'. Drummond was initiated in Waterville Lodge, Waterville, Maine, January 1, 1849, of which lodge he is still a member. He was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons, of the State of Maine in i860, '61 and '62, and became Chairman of the Committee of Correspondence in 1865, which post he has since continuously filled. He was Grand High Priest in 1866 and 1867, and took the Correspondence in 1865, which he still holds. He was Grand Master of the Grand Council in 1868, and took the Correspond- ence of that body in 1865, which he also still holds. He was Grand Commander of the Grand Com- mandery of Maine in 1871 and 1872, and Correspond- ent from 1865 to 1873 inclusive, when he resigned. In 1 87 1 he was elected from the floor to the head of the General Grand Chapter of the United States, and in 1880 as Grand Master of the General Grand Coun- cil of the United States, holding each office three years. It was largely due to his exertions that the General Grand Council was formed, and he was de- servedly selected as its first Grand Master. Bro.". Drummond received the degrees of the Scot- tish Rite in 1861 and 1862, and in the latter year was made a Thirty-Third. He was immediately elected Lieutenant-Grand Commander, was re-elected in 1863 and again in 1866. In 1867, upon the union of the Su- preme Councils which previously existed, he was elected Grand Commander of the United Supreme Council, and was re-elected in 1870, 1873 and 1876, but declined further service in 1879. Throughout the trying days of the Northern Supreme Council, he was its leader, and under his able and wise administration the organization was triumphantly conducted to a con- dition of prosperity and power. Bro. - . Drummond is a forcible writer as well as an able and eloquent speaker, and by his fine presence and winning manners commands respectful attention whenever he rises to speak. There is probably no one in the Masonic world more widely known, either by reputation or personally, and his fidelity to friend- ships holds ever the old and wins the new. BRO. - . JOHN FLINT was born in Petersham, Massachusetts, October 21, 1803, and died in Boston, January 8, 1875. Receiving his education in the Lei- cester Academy, he graduated and received his degree of M.D. from the Harvard Medical School. He was not par excellence what is termed an eminent practi- tioner, nor a professional scholar. His practice was large and successful, and he attained the rich prize of the good physician — the love, confidence and regard of those who committed to him the great trust of health. He was ever attentive to his vocation, and during his long career was seldom absent from his post of duty. In his uneventful life there are no salient points, no striking events on which to dwell ; its tranquil tide and flow was so unruffled that it was rounded out to a peaceful and happy close. He fulfilled life's duties and responsibilities if not with brilliancy, he performed them with honesty, zeal and an earnest devotion which obtained for him the grateful respect and regard of all those associated with him in the varied relations of society. He was made a Mason in Leicester Lodge, and be- came a member of St. John's Lodge, March 3, 1834, and was elected W. - . M. - . of that Lodge in 1839-40; and in 1852 was Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. He was admitted to St. Paul's Royal Arch Chapter, of Boston, in May, 1831 ; served as Scribe in 1835-36-37; as King in 1838-39; and as High Priest in 1840-41. He was also Grand King of the G. - . C. - . in 1852. He was Knighted in Boston Commandery in 1832, was elected Eminent Commander in 1836-37, and Eminent Grand Commander of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 1842-43. How deeply his heart, his social affections and his interest were engrossed in Freemasonry, the large record of the many offices he sustained in the Order fully attests. As an officer he was ever punctual and faithful to duty, As a member his qualities of head and heart strongly endeared him to his brethren of the craft. No man ever loved Masonry more dearly than did Bro. - . Flint, and with a love that knew no failures to the very last. No man ever gave himself with more cheerful and unselfish devotion to the ad- vancement of the best interests and prosperity of the order. Of him it could be said he '* had learned lowliness From his Lord's cradle, patience from his Cross." PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. BRO.-. GILBERT NURSE, 33 , was born in Roy- alston, Mass., 1798, and died in Pepperell, Mass., Nov. 6, 1885. Going to Boston in early youth, he engaged in the hardware business, to which, subsequently, he added that of dealer in agricultural implements, which calling he assiduously prosecuted both in Boston and St. Louis, Mo. Returning from the latter city in 1841, to Boston, he immediately resumed his position among the active men of that day, in public and social life. In 1852 he was appointed chief of police of this city, which office he filled with honor to himself and credit to" the city, until 1854, when the two forces of Boston Watch and Police were consolidated under the name of the "Boston Police Department," and Brother Nurse retired, carrying with him the love, esteem and confidence of his associates and of the public. For several years, after retiring from public office, he was engaged with the firm of Ruggles, Nurse & Mason, injiis old line of trade ; and on the dissolu- tion of that firm, he retired from active business pur- suits. Socially, he was one of the most genial and companionable of men ; generous toward the faults and foibles of others, remarkably free from envy and its associate evil, jealousy, he rejoiced in others' pros- perity, and dropped the silent tear at their misfortunes. His countenance symbolized benevolence, his smile was a benediction, and his cheery, hearty laugh was like a bugle call to joy and mirth. By the death of his beloved wife, and the marriage of his children, his home became desolate, but his declining years were tenderly guarded, and his last days made happy by his devoted daughter, in whose quiet, peaceful home they were passed, as " His head was silvered o'er with age." But it was in our beloved Order of Freemasonry that the sterling qualities of head and heart, which he possessed, shone resplendent amid the many notable jewels of his time and its associations. Bro. '. Nurse was initiated in Fredonia Lodge, North- borough, Mass., in 1822 ; Oct. 28, 1822, he took mem- bership in Mount Lebanon Lodge, Boston, which he held at the time of his death, having maintained a continuous membership for over sixty-three years ; he was Senior Warden in 1826, Worshipful Master in 1827, 1828, and 1844, and was elected an honorary member Oct. 31, 1836 ; he was also elected and served as Master of Naphthali Lodge, St. Louis, in 1839 ; he was Grand Lecturer of the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts in 1842 and 1843; D. p . D.". Grand Master in 1843. Companion Nurse was exalted in St. Paul's Royal Arch Chapter in 1 824 ; he was elected High Priest in 1829 and 1830, and served as Secretary from 1832 to 1836; in 1848 and 1849, he was Deputy Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Massachusetts. Sir Knight Nurse was created a Knight Templar in Boston Commandery, K. - . TV, Sept. 1, 1824; after filling various offices therein, he was elected Eminent Commander in 1835, and was at the time of his death the oldest Past Commander. Of the Grand Com- mandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island he was Grand Captain-General in 1834; was elected Grand Generalissimo of that body in 1835, half a century be- fore his decease. III. 1 . Bro.". Nurse received all the grades in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, that of Sovereign Grand Inspector-General, the thirty-third and last degree, having been conferred on him May 2, 1862. Owing, no doubt, to his advanced age at the time these grades were first worked in full in his vicinity, our 111.". Brother never took an active part in them, but all the degrees and orders of the York Rite re- ceived his best thought ; as a ritualist, he was pains- taking and accurate ; as a presiding officer, graceful and accomplished. He was the last of that noble array of zealous workers in the mysteries of Freema- sonry, among whom were Fowle, Waterman, Moore, Harwood, Hammatt, Lash, Bradford, Dame, and a long line of illustrious heroes " whose matchless valor has shed undying lustre" on the Orders they loved and served so well. " So man lieth down and riseth not, till the heavens be no more ; they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep." And thus — " Friends depart, and memory takes them To her caverns, pure and deep." BRO.". SERENO D. NICKERSON, 33 , Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, was born in Boston, October 16, 1823. He received his early education in some of the best private schools of that city. When sixteen years of age he entered Phillips Adademy, at Andover Mass., from which in- stitution he graduated in 1841, delivering the valedic- tory and taking part in a Greek dialogue written by himself for the occasion. He entered Yale College in September, 1841, and graduated there with high honors in 1845. He then studied law for nearly two years in the Dane Law School, and received the de- gree of LL.B. from Harvard University. He contin- ued the study of law in an office in Boston, and, in 1848, after passing an examination, was admitted to practice in all the courts of Massachusetts. Immedi- ately thereafter he accepted a proposal to engage in mercantile business in Boston, and continued to ba^ occupied in various branches of such pursuits until about the year 1876, since which date he has devoted a large portion of his time to Masonic studies and labors. During the period of his active business life he made frequent visits to Europe, and passed many months in study and travel abroad. Having a well- stored mind and quick powers of observation he gath- ered both instruction and pleasure from these often repeated journeys in foreign lands. The knowledge thus gaine'd, both as directly relating to the history and work of Freemasonry, and having a wider scope of application, has been exceedingly helpful to our Brother in the discharge of the many important du- ties that have since devolved upon him. BROTHER SERENO D. NICKERSON, 33°, GRAND SECRETARY OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS WmSflBT KULjMij" C/^-XD-r^un^Su y^^z^X-JZry^^T-^zxJ^C-^ f 'Ey^&^-i^ e^&'r^LsCn^ Recording Gr. Secly. & Past Grand Master of G. L: of Massachusetts -4-»~ OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 27 Bro. - . Nickerson was made a Mason in Winslow Lewis Lodge, of Boston, in 1856, while the Lodge was working under a Dispensation. He was admitted to membership March 13, 1857, immediately after the Lodge was constituted, and served as Master in 1861, '62 and '63 ; District Deputy Grand Master of the First Masonic District in 1864; appointed Deputy Grand Master in December, 1865, and held the office one year. He was elected Grand Master in 1872, and served in that highest Masonic office for three years. His administration was characterized by a careful and intelligent direction of the affairs of the Craft in Mas- sachusetts, and was marked by much of general prog- ress and prosperity. Among other important official positions filled by Bro. Nickerson mention may be made of his long service as one of the Board of Directors of the Grand Lodge. He was elected a member of this board in 1864, and, with the exception of a single year when he was out of the country, continued to hold such membership until 1881, when he became Grand Sec- retary. In 1867 he was appointed Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Board, and in that capac- ity took the entire charge of the management of the Temple debt — then amounting to nearly $500,000 — and continued to perform that service until the year 1875, excepting for a few months when he was abroad. After the sudden death of R.'. W.\ Bro.-. Tracy P. Cheever, Recording Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, the subject of this sketch was appointed his successor in that office, and, at the meeting of Grand Lodge a few weeks later, Decem- ber, 1 88 1, he was duly elected to the office in which he has been continued to the present time. Bro. - . Nickerson received the Capitular degrees in St. Paul's Chapter, Boston, in 1857, and the Orders of Knighthood, in DeMolay Commandery of that city, during the same year ; and his membership has since been continuous in both of these bodies. III.". Bro. - . Nickerson is a member of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, having received all the de- grees therein, including that of the thirty-third and last degree November 17, 187 1. His Masonic and scholarly acquisitions were well attested in the years 1874 and 1875, when he edited and published the New England Freemason, a maga- zine which was received with much favor by intelli- gent Craftsmen. Bro. - . Nickerson is deservedly popular with his Brethren in Massachusetts, by reason of his wise and careful management of the varied Masonic interests placed in his charge, and not less because of his courtesy and zeal manifest in the discharge of all official duties. BRO.-. SAMUEL CROCKER LAWRENCE, 33 , Boston, Mass., was born in Medford, Mass., November 22, 1832. He received his early education in the public schools of his native town, and at Gro- ton Academy, and graduated at Harvard University in 1855. Soon after leaving college, he went to Chi- cago, where for two years he was a partner in the banking firm of Bigelow & Lawrence, which main- tained its credit unimpaired during the financial panic of 1857, and eventually sold its business for a hand- some bonus. Returning to Massachusetts, he entered the firm of Daniel Lawrence & Sons, of Medford and Boston, of which he has long been the respected chief. He early showed a fondness for the military, and after several years of service in the State Militia, with rapid promotion from grade to grade, he was com- missioned, in i860, colonel of the Fifth Regiment of Massachusetts Militia. When the civil war broke out in 1 86 1, he volunteered with his regiment and started, April 21, for Washington. The regiment fought with credit at the battle of Bull Run, where Col. Lawrence was wounded. In 1862, he was commissioned by Governor Andrew as a brigadier-general of the State Militia, which rank he resigned in 1864. He received, in 1869, a high compliment in being elected Com- mander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany, of Boston, the oldest and most distinguished military organization of the State. Bro.-. Lawrence's interest in Masonry, has run parallel with his activity in military affairs. He entered the fraternity in 1854, and from that time has been a prominent worker in the Masonic field. He has filled many of the highest positions in the various grades and branches of Masonry, and his energy, method and executive ability have been of great and recognized service to the Craft. He has especially been an active promoter of the interests of the Scot- tish Rite, and it was largely due to his exertions that the breach which had long existed between rival bodies of the Rite was healed, and a union established, May 17, 1867, which has raised the Scottish Rite in this jurisdiction to an enviable position of prosperity. For fourteen years he stood at the head of the Rite in Massachusetts, resigning in 1879. Bro. - . Lawrence's career as a Mason culminated n his election as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, in December, 1880. His election was a spontaneous tribute to his character and dis- tinguished services to the Institution. He was thrice elected to this office, and during his term of service, the Masons of the State, largely through his influence and exertions, succeeded in liquidating the balance ($162,000) of the heavy debt which had long rested upon the Grand Lodge, incurred in the building of the Temple in Boston. The accomplishment of this much desired result was hailed with the highest satis- faction by the Brethren of the jurisdiction. In business circles he has won a high reputation for sound judgment and integrity, and he has filled with honor the positions of director and trustee in various institutions and corporate enterprises, as well as in many of a charitable nature. He took the pres- idency of the Eastern Railroad Company in 1875, at the moment of its financial shipwreck, and succeeded PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. in keeping that valuable property intact, and in har- monizing the creditors and shareholders into arrange- ments which saved their interests, aggregating twenty millions in value, from the wasting effects of a struggle in bankruptcy, and at the same time preserved the ex- tensive leasehold of the Company from disruption. The gradual extrication of this corporation from its financial embarrassments, and its rapid progress towards substantial prosperity, are largely to be ac- credited to his tact and sagacity. While he has taken an active interest in State and national politics, he has, although urgently solicited, persistently declined public office. Bro.\ Lawrence was married in 1859 t0 Carrie R. Badger, daughter of Rev. William Badger, of Wilton, Maine. Fitted by nature for the enjoyment of do- mestic life, and fortunate in the society of his amiable wife, his home is a happy one, and his social virtues and kindness of heart endear him to a wide circle of friends. BRO*. ROB. MORRIS, P.-. G.\ M.\ of Ken- tucky, was born near Boston, Mass., on August 31, .1818, and died at LaGrange, Ky., July 31, 1888. He was crowned Poet Laureate of Freemasonry, in New York, on December 17, 1884. The intelligent com- mittee who had the matter in charge said, with much force : We think there is no Mason of repute who is not aware of the poetic ability of our brother, or who will deem this pro- posed honorarium premature. He has been enriching the literature of Freemasonry with the productions of his genius for two-score years. Bent upon wresting the inner meaning from our time-honored symbols, Brother Morris has spread them forth before the eye and soul in a mingled current of sweetness, purity, and pathos. Need we name " The Level and tke Square" " The Five Points of Fellowship," " One Hour with You, 1 ' " The Master Cometh" " The Auld Lang Syne of Free- masons^' The Utterances of the Sword" or any others of the three hundred compositions, each characterized by some pecul- iar gloss of genius, which he has given the Craft during his forty years of study and work ? Rob. Morris is personally known to the tens of thousands of the Craft the world over. A man of modest habits, studious at the midnight lamp, quick to catch the flash of poetic thought and skillful to fasten it upon paper, clear in speech, pleasant and humorous in style, Brother Morris has personally visited Masonic Lodges upon the three continents. His face is recog- nized in more than three thousand Lodges. His name appears upon the title pages of more than seventy volumes. His con- tributions to the poetical literature of Freemasonry exceed three hundred in number. Many poets have been members of our Brotherhood, some of them master singers, " bards sublime, Whose distant footsteps echo Through the corridors of Time," but we know of none whose muse has been so entirely devoted to the service of the Craft as that of our brother Robert Morris. When, upon the death of William Wordsworth, Alfred Tenny- son became the Poet Laureate of England, he spoke, in his own sweet verse, of the laurel crown as coming to him, " greener from the brows Of him who uttered nothing base.'' These last words, not applicable to every famous bard, may justly be spoken of our brother whom we hail as Poet Lau- reate of Freemasonry. The lyres of others have been at- tuned to more ambitious flights. He has found contentment in uttering the simple lays of Masonry. Neither the Songs of War, nor Ambition, nor the Triumph of Man over Fallen Foe, has he sung ; but for many years his sweet verses have gone out to thousands of the people of this and other lands, depict- ing, in accents of joy and gladness, the beauties of Masonry, and telling alike to Masons and to all the world, " How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwel' together in unity." His efforts and his aspirations bring to mind the beautiful lines of Bayard Taylor upon our immortal brother, Goethe : "Dear is the minstrel, even to hearts of prose; But he who sets all aspiration free Is dearer to humanity, Still through the age our glorious leader goes. Still whispers cheer, or waves his warning sign, — The man who, most of men, Heeded the parable from lips divine, And made one talent ten.'' The Prince of Masons, Brother Rob. Morris, has passed the greater part of his Masonic life in Kentucky, and Kentucky Masons know him well, and can bear testimony that he has al- ways been found among the very foremost of the Craft — faithful, zealous, intelligent, the "brightest of the bright." Deeply learned in the mysteries and history of the Order # he has for many years been the luminous instructor of the brethren; a man without guile, he has ever trod "the paths of peace," illustrating in his life and walk the purifying and elevating pre- cepts of Masonry. Rob. Morris has labored, not only at the building, but like- wise at the decorating of the temple ; and as the pillars J. and B. were crowned with lilies and pomegranates, so he who stands in honor and strength among us should be crowned with laurel, that a wreath of unfading green may testify to the un- dying memorial he will leave in his works, and to the lasting re- membrance in which he will be held by his brethren. The well known ability of this distinguished Mason, and his high standing as a Masonic writer, have given him a world-wide reputation with the Craft, while the purity of sentiment so beautifully expressed in his Masonic poems has so endeared his name to thousands of the brethren and their families, that " Rob. Morris" is a household word in every Lodge and Masonic home where our language is spoken. Were the productions of Brother Morris eliminated from our literature, one-half its charm would be lost. He has expressed in verse all that is noblest, purest, best. What Jonson, Dryden, Wordsworth, and Tennyson have been to general literature, he has been to Masonry. In fond memory and in accordance with the wishes of our dear departed brother we can now print the fol- lowing poem, which speaks for itself, entitled • A MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE. (I have composed this poem under the shadow of impending death. I have made a few copies by the Hectograph Process and send them to particular friends, only asking that they shall not be published, or any public use be made of them until I am gone. What I have said here of myself, therefore, and of my Masonic labors and of my desire to be kindly remembered by the Craft, will be read as though the writer had joined the silent, as he must soon do. ROB. MORRIS. LaGrange, Ky., October, 1885.) BROTHER SAMUEL C. LAWRENCE, 33°, PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS. GRAND MINISTER OF STATE OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF A.\A.\S.\R.\OF THE NORTHERN MASONIC JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ^M^/raJ^ v roJlt CZ7£inu-UL-L ^.(TyCJUc T^^it^rr J Pasl Grand Master of Grand Lodge of Massaohusptt OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 29 Brothers, when met in June or in December, Honoring the memory of dear Saint John, Then let some kind participant remember The name of him who wrote this — but is gone; Let some kind brother rise, while all are silent, And with deep pathos, and fond friendship say — " He was a Mason, gentle, true, not violent, And loved old things that do not pass away. "He loved his friends : in them his heart found anchor Bound in affection as with hooks of steel ; As for his foes, he gave few signs of rancor, But bore their slanders patiently and well. He loved to make, in simple verse, that rhyming Where ancient signs and emblems smoothly lie, Where deeds of Brother-love and truth are chiming, And Masonry is wed to Poetry ! "He loved the word of God ; its hopes eternal Grew sweeter as the end of life drew nigh ; A sinful man, but saved by grace supernal, Trusting in Christ, he dreaded not to die ; At times, a cloud the promises disguising, And deep humility obscured the scene ; But the bright Sun of Righteousness uprising Dispersed the gloom and warmed his soul again. " He gave the widow and the orphan duly A portion of his hard-earned, scanty store , And though the amount might seem but trifling, truly, H& gave so cheerfully, it seemed the more ; His heart was in his work, to Build the Temple; In fervency, he toiled through many years ; This to Freemasons makes him an example, A name for triumph, not a name for tears. "He's gone : the problem that so long he studied, That mystery of ' the World to come ' profound, Is solved : his Tree of Life, which only budded. Bears now full harvest in Celestial Ground ; In the Great Presence, with the wearied resting, He has his wages and is well content — Lrothers, in silence stand, your love attesting-^ This is the word your dying Brother sent! " In 1853 he edited the Kentucky Freemason, in 1853- 58 the American Freemason, in 1859-67 The Voice of Masonry, and in 1873 Light in Masonry. In 1857 he drafted the Constitution of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of Kentucky, and in i860, the Constitution of the Grand Lodge. Bro. - . Morris was Principal of the Sylvan Academy, at Oxford, Miss., in 1846, and subsequently was President of a College at LaGrange, Ky. He was a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church. Bro.\ Morris always took a deep interest in Sunday-school matters, and wrote a number of popular Sunday-school hymns, of which the best known is that entitled " Singing from the Heart." He left to survive him a widow, six children and fourteen grandchildren. The remains of our dis- tinguished Brother were deposited in their lasting resting-place at LaGrange, by his Brethren of Forti- tude Lodge No. 47, P. - . G.\ M.\ Bro.\ Hiram Bassett acting as W. - . M.\ There was a large gathering of prominent members of the Craft, assembled to pay the last fraternal honors to the memory of the Poet Laureate of Freemasonry. Farewell dull lips, that poured Tides of poetic fire, Thy spirit has outsoared The music of thy lyre." BRO.\ ELBERT H. ENGLISH was born in a log cabin in Madison County, Alabama, March 6, 1816. He was brought up on a farm and was subject to the hardships and inconveniences incident to the times. Leaving the farm he became a law student in Athens, Alabama, and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-two. The following year he was elected a member of the State Legislature, in which body he served two years with distinction. He moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1844. He was called to fill a num- ber of important civil stations in the State of his adoption, which he did with marked ability. He was initiated, passed and raised in Athens Lodge No. 16, Alabama, in 1843. He became a member of Little Rock Lodge No. 2, Arkansas, in 1844, and was elected its Master the following year. He was exalted in Union Chapter No. 2, in Little Rock, in 1846, and served several years as High Priest. He attended the Convention which formed the Grand Chapter of Arkansas, in 1851, and was elected its first Grand High Priest. Comp. - . English attended a number of the triennial Convocations, of the General Grand Chapter of the United States, and in 1874 was elected General Grand High Priest, which office he filled in his usual able manner. Our Illustrious Companion received the Cryptic Degrees in Union Chapter No. 2, and when a Council was organized in his city in 1853, he became a mem- ber and Thrice Illustrious Master thereof. He was knighted in Hugh de Payer's Command- ment No. 1, Little Rock, at the time it was organized, in 1853, and repeatedly served as Eminent Commander. The Grand Commandery was organized by him in 1872 by authority of a proxy issued by Grand Master J. Q. A. Fellows. He served as Grand Commander in 1876 and 1877. He received the degrees of the Ancient and Accept- ed Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, including the 33 , in 1859, an d became an active member of the Su- preme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. But the great work of his life was in Lodge and Grand Lodge. He was Grand Master in 1849 an d served for ten consecutive years. His hand is seen on every page of her history. He was distinguished as a financier, ritualist, andMasonic Jurist. His addresses as Grand Master are monuments more durable than marble. His decisions on Masonic Law were all approved by that noble court of re- view, the Committee on Masonic Jurisprudence. He was a man of decided views, yet tolerant, charitable PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, and courteous. He was said by those who knew him to be a model Christian gentleman. He died September I, 1884, at Ashville, North Car- olina, and was buried at Little Rock, Arkansas, on the 7th of the same month ; the Grand Lodge per- forming the funeral ceremonies. BRO.-. GETER CROSBY SHIDLE, 33°, was born at Pittsburg, Penn., September 14, 1831, and died at Atlantic City, N. J., June 11, 1889. Shortly after attaining his majority, he entered into partnership with his father, our late Bro. '. Jas. Shidle, in the wall paper business, under the firm name of Jas. Shidle & Son, until dissolved by the death of his father in 1878, after which Bro. 1 . Shidle carried on the business in his own name until his death. The people amongst whom he lived soon learned to respect him on account of his business capacity and trust him on account of his clear and unques- tioned integrity, and they quickly showed it by the vajious positions to which they called him. In 1869 he was made a Charter Member and Di- rector of the Masonic Deposit Savings Bank (after- wards The Masonic Bank). In 1870 he was made a Charter Member and Directer of the Union Insurance Co. In 1874 he was elected a member of the Com- mon Council of the city of Pittsburg, and in 1876 a member of the House of Representatives for the State of Pennsylvania. In 1881 he was appointed a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees of the Dollar Savings Bank. In 1886 he was elected President of the Ma- sonic Bank, which position he occupied at the time of his death. In 1887, the Governor of Pennsylvania appointed him a member of the State Board of Charities, but he declined the appointment, because he had a contract for papering the Allegheny County Workhouse, and felt that the two positions were incompatible. From the beginning to the end of his career his reputation was absolutely untarnished; not even a shadow of suspicion ever fell upon his fair fame. It can truly be said of him that he bore *' Through all his tract of years The white flower of a blameless life." In Masonry also his career was honorable to him- self and useful to the fraternity. To those who knew him (and what true Mason in his native State did not ? ) his name was the synonym of an intelligent, patient and loving worker. He was made a Master Mason, August 31, 1854, in Milnor Lodge No. 287 (being the first person to re- ceive the degrees in that Lodge) ; a Royal Arch Ma- son, July 17, 1859, m Zerubbabel Chapter No. 162 ; a Royal and Select Master, December 15, i860, in Mt. Moriah Council No. 2, and a Knight Templar, May 13, 1862, in Pittsburg Commandery No. 1. He received the Ineffable Grades, April 12, 1866, in Gourgas Lodge of Perfection ; the Ancient Tradi- tional Grades, April 14, 1866, in Pennsylvania Coun- cil, Princes of Jerusalem ; the Philosophical and Doc- trinal Grades, April 14, 1886, in Pittsburg Chapter of Rose Croix, H.\ R.\ D.\ M.-, and the Modern, Historical and Chivalric Grades, April 14, 1866, in Pennsylvania Consistory, S. - . P. - . R.\ S.", 32°, and was created a Sovereign Grand Inspector-General of 33°, on the 18th day of September, 1875, an d crowned an Active Member at Boston on the 19th day of Sep- tember, 1882. He was, in 1864, Worshipful Master of Milnor Lodge No. 287. In 1864 and 1865, M.\ E.\ H.\ P.-. in Zerubbabel H. R. A. Chapter 162. In 1866, T.\ I.-. G.-. M.\ of Mt. Moriah Council, R. & S. Masons. In 187 1, D.\ D.'. Grand H. P. of the Grand Chapter of Penn., and served as such continually until 1882. In 1872, R.\ E.\ G.\ Com. - , of the G.\ Com/, of Penn. In 1877, M.\ P.-. G.\ M.\ of the G.-. Council of Penn. In 1877, Grand Warder of the Grand En- campment of the U. S. In 1882, D.\ D.\ G.\ M.-. of the G.". L.\ of Penn., and served as such contin- uously until his death. M. - . W.\ and P. - . M. - . of Pittsburg Chapter of Rose Croiz from 1871 until May, 1889. He also served the Rite as Master of Cere- monies of Gourgas Lodge of Perfection and Pennsyl- vania Sovereign Consistory almost without interrup- tion from 1866 (when he received the degrees) until incapacitated by the sickness from which he died. At the time of his death he was D.\ D.\ Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Penn., Secretary of Milnor Lodge No. 287 (having served as such from 1854, except during the years 1862-1864), and of Zerubbabel Chapter No. 162, Grand Master of the Grand Council of Penn., Prelate of Pittsburg Com- mandery No. 1, and Illustrious Grand Master of Cer- emonies of Penn. Sovereign Consistory, a Trustee of the Masonic Fund Society (the organization to which the Brethren of Allegheny County are indebted for the magnificent Freemasons' Hall in the city of Pitts- burg), President of the Allegheny County Masonic Benefit Association and President of the Masonic Veterans of Western Pennsylvania. In every respect his life was admirable. His man- ners were simple, and no man ever saw upon his face a look of pride, save only 'The holy pride of good intent, The record of a life well spent." His feelings were kindly, his speech gentle, and his thoughts pure. As a business man he was scrupulously honest, op- pressing none and rendering to each his due. As a public officer he was faithful to his trust; as a Mason he sought to fulfill his obligations and promote the interests of the fraternity ; as a private citizen he was true to his friends and charitable to all. After an active life, full of honest labor and kindly deeds, he has gone to his rest, trusting implicitly in the saving love of Him who laid down His life that we all might live. BROTHER JOSEPH K. WHEELER, 55 °, • GRAND SECRETARY OF THE GRAND LODGE OF CONNECTICUT. GRAND RECORDER OF THE GRAND COMMANDERY OF CONNECTICUT. "Gd. -.Sec.-, of the Gel.-. Lodge, and Oil.-. Hoc-, of the Gd. - . Com .-. K .-. T.- St ate of Connecticut!:." OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 31 BRO.-. JOSEPH KELLOGG WHEELER, 33 , was born in Bloomfield, Connecticut, August 27, 1834. His middle name indicating the line of descent on his mother's side, through which his genealogy is traced to Samuel Kellogg, one of the three brothers who came to this country from Scotland in 1660 and lo- cated in Hatfield, Mass. His ancestors on the Wheeler side were among the early settlers of Keene, New Hampshire, tracing back to Abraham Wheeler, who was born about the year 1700, of English or Welsh parentage. Our Brother was raised as a farmer's son in the town of West Hartford, Conn., receiving a common school education only, with the addition of two short terms in an academy, and at nineteen was employed as teacher of a district school. In 1854, he engaged as clerk in the grocery business, soon entering into the business on his own account, which he conducted for several years and finally proved unsuccessful, as it was not congenial to his tastes. His Masonic career begins with his being made a Mason in St. John's Lodge No. 4, of Hartford, May 20, i860. He was exalted in Pythagoras Chapter No. 17, May 9, 1862; received the degrees of the Cryptic Rite in Wolcott Council No. 1, Hartford, April. 3, 1863, and was Knighted in Washington Commandery No. 1, July 28, 1863. He received the degrees of the Scottish Rite, to the thirty-second, in Rhode Island, September 28, 1863, and was created a Grand Inspector-General, 33 , in Boston, May 18, 1865. He was elected Worshipful Master of St. John's Lodge No. 4, Hartford, January 3, 1866, and held the office for two years — those years being marked with great prosperity to the Lodge, 103 candidates be- ing " raised " during that period. He was elected High Priest of Pythagoras Chapter No. 17, Jan. 3, 1868, and served two'years; elected TV. I. - . Master of Wolcott Council, Jan. 4, 1872 ; elected Eminent Commander of Washington Commandery No. 1, Jan. 2, 1877, having filled other offices in all these bodies. He was one of the charter members of Charter Oak Lodge of Perfection, organized in Hartford in 1870, and for ten years or more was at its head. He also helped to constitute Hartford Council, Princes of Jeru- salem, and Cyrus Goodell Chapter of Rose Croix, and served as presiding officer of both of these bodies. In Masonic Grand Bodies in Connecticut, our Brother holds the following official positions : he is Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge, having been first elected May 8, 1867 ; Grand Secretary of the Grand Chapter, to which office he was first elected May 7, 1867 ; Grand Recorder of the Grand Coun- cil, his first election being May 7, 1867 ; Grand Re- corder of the Grand Commandery, his first election being March I, 1882. In all these positions of work and responsibility, his services have been productive of the best results where his thought and energy have been applied. Modest, unassuming, sympathetic and tolerant, he knows how to deal with men — how to make friends and how to hold them — while his under- standing of Freemasonry and of the organizations that bear the name, is such that he is qualified to serve the interests of the craft to more than ordinary extent. Brother Wheeler is an enthusiastic Craftsman. He loves Freemasonry for its truths, principles and symbolisms, not less than for its social features and practical helpfulness. He has found it to be a help to his higher nature ; a blessed means of stimulating and strengthening the mind in those aims to which our common humanity is ever looking. He does not hesitate to express his grateful feelings toward the in- stitution. He is especially devoted to the Blue Lodge and the Commandery, yet his soul is in all branches of the extended system which has so much of light and truth to communicate. Brother Wheeler, as Chairman of Committees of Correspondence, has frer quently set forth his views regarding important Ma- sonic questions. His conservative opinions, his gen- erally correct judgments, his catholicity of sentiment, and his devotions to the best principles represented by the Masonic system and organization, have given to him a justly earned and widely extended reputa- tion among intelligent brethren. BRO.-. JOHN LLEWELLYN YOUNG, 33 , was born in the city of Philadelphia, August 1 5, 1823, and died there September 7, 1889, aged 66 years. An active member in every sense of the word from the entered apprentice to that of Sovereign Grand Inspector-General of the 33°, he was identified in all active movements for the advancement of Free- masonry and held official rank in each. Initiated in Phcenix Lodge No. 130, F.\ & A. - . M. - , Philadelphia, on September 20, 1848, and presided over it as Worshipful Master during the year 1855, and was its representative in the R.\ W.\ G.\ L.\ of Penn., from 1869 to the time of his death. He served also as an almoner of the Grand Lodge Charity Fund for sixteen years, and from 1874 was a member of the Library Committee of the Grand Lodge. He was one of the organizers of the Masonic Veterans of Pennsylvania, and was its 2d Vice-President at the time of his death. He received the degree of Mark Master Mason in Girard Mark Lodge No. 214, on Feb- ruary 12, 1850, and served as its W.\ Master in i860, and received the Most Excellent Masters degree, and was exalted to the Royal Arch degree in Harmony Chapter No. 52, on March 4, 1853, and served as High Priest in 1858, and held the office of Trustee for 29 years. Also filled many offices in the Grand Chapter and its General Committees. In Cryptic Masonry he received the Select Masters degree in February, 1859, and served as TV. I. - . G. - . Master in 1879, and for nine years served as Treas- urer of Philadelphia Council No. 11. He was hon- ored by several elective offices in the Grand Council of Pennsylvania and was its Grand Master in 1888. The orders of Knighthood were conferred upon 32 PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. him in St. John's Commandery No. 4, K.\ TV. of Philadelphia, and was its Eminent Commander in 1863 — from it he resigned in 1869 to form Mary Com- mandery No. 36, K.\ T.-, and was its first Treasurer, which he held until death. He was also Grand Warden of the Grand Commandery of Penn. in 1870. In Scottish Rite Masonry he was received in Phil- adelphia Grand Lodge of Perfection, as a Grand Elect Perfect and Sublime Mason in 1874, and served as T.\ P.-. G,\ Master in 1879. He was also M -'- w -'- and P.". Master in Kilwinning Chapter of Rose Croix in 1881, and was Grand Captain of the Guard in Philadelphia Consistory, and received the Thirty- third degree as an Honorary Member of the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the U. S., in Detroit, on September 23, 1884. He was an Honorary Member in many Masonic bodies both in in this country and abroad. # He was also a member of the Provincial Grand Lodge of the United States, of the Royal Order of Scotland. Brother Young lived among his brethren as a Mason should do — he made friends, and he always had a kind greeting for them. He was hospitable and kind, and endeavored to practice out of the Lodge those principles taught within it. BRO.\ ALBERT P. CHARLES, 33 , was born at Lowell, Mass., Jan 26, 1840. He graduated at Dartmouth College, and then entered the study of the law, and in 1867 was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, and in the same year removed to Seymour, Ind., where he died Feb. 13, 1889. In the city of his adoption he soon became one of the leading citizens, eminent in his profession, and foremost in all public enterprises, serving six years as Mayor of the city, and up to the day of his death as an active member of the School Board. In all movements for the public good he was an active pro- moter and a trusted adviser ; in private life he was held in the highest esteem and regard, as well for sterling character as for brilliant social qualities. In politics one of the trusted leaders of his party, and honored with many marks of its confidence, no partisan prejudices affected his intercourse with his fellows. He was a public spirited citizen, a trusted counselor, a sincere friend. As an officer of the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter and Grand Council, he was conscientious, industrious and considerate. His ad- ministration of the chief office in each of these Grand Bodies was brilliant and successful ; and in the Grand Lodge was distinguished by the payment of the debt which for years had borne heavily upon the craft in the Jurisdiction. The interest of Bro.\ Charles in matters Masonic, did not end with his official administration, but was continued to the last working days of his life ; his last absence from home being in attendance on a Com- mittee of the Grand Lodge. ! He was married at Seymour, Ind., in 1874, to Miss Belle Thurston, who with three little sons survives him. Those friends — associated with him Masonically, of- ficially, or in business — who were privileged to know him in his family life, found their esteem and regard increased with their intimacy ; and his thorough man- hood, dignity of character, kindliness of heart and charity of conscience, showed nowhere to such ad- vantage as in his own home. Brother Charles received his first degree in Ma- sonry in Jackson Lodge No. 146, May 17, 1869, and in July following was made a Master Mason and a member of that Lodge. He took up the study of Masonry, and at once acquired such a knowledge of it that at the election of officers in 1870 he was elected Worshipful Master. His first appearance in Grand Lodge was at the annual meeting of 1871, and he rep- resented Jackson Lodge at the meetings of i87i-'2-'4 and '9. He served as Grand Lecturer for the years 1875-6, and as Grand Marshal .for 1877. He was elected Junior Grand Warden in 1879, Senior Grand Warden in 1880, Deputy Grand Master in 1882, and Grand Master in 1884, and served for the term of two years. Companion Charles was made a Royal Arch Mason in Columbus Chapter No 10, June 4, 1870. Through his efforts Seymour Chapter No. 85 was or- ganized in" 1 87 1, of which he was the first High Priest. He represented this Chapter in the Grand Chapter in i872-'3-'4 and '5. He received the Order of High Priesthood at the annual meeting of the Grand Chap- ter in 1873, an d for several years past has held the position of Vice-President in the Council of High Priests. Being present at the annual convocation of 1880, although not a delegate. Companion Charles was elected Grand King. He was promoted to Dep- uty Grand High Priest in 1881, and Grand High Priest in 1882. Companion Charles was made a Royal and Se- lect Master in John H. Hess Council No. 22, Colum- bus, December 13, 187 1. He assisted in the organ- ization of Seymour Council in 1873 and was its first Illustrious Master. He represented this Council in the Grand Council in 1873-4 and '5, and at the latter meeting was elected Grand Principal Conductor of the Work. He advanced one step at each annual Convocation until 1878, when he was elected Illustri- ous Grand Master. Sir Knight Charles was made a Knight Templar in Thomas H. Lynch Commandery No. 14, Columbus, January 24, 1 87 1. He retained his membership in this Commandery (the name of which was changed to Columbus Commandery No. 14) until his death. As a mark of their esteem the Fraters of this Com- mandery, at the annual election of officers in 1887, elected him as their Eminent Commander, although he was a non-resident and was not expected to pre- side regularly over the Commandery. He received the various grades in the Ancient BROTHER THEODORE T GURNEY, 33°, (dec'd), PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ILLINOIS. PAST GRAND COM .'.OF THE GD/.COM..OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF ILLINOIS. 33/ P.-. G.-. Master of Grand Lodge. A. F. arid A. M. and P.-. I -+-m OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 33 Accepted Scottish Rite up to and including the Thirty-second degree in the Spring of 1885, and the Thirty-third degree at the meeting of the Supreme Council, in Chicago, in 1886. The Masonic Record of our deceased brother is a most honorable one, and conveys only a faint idea of his labors for the good of Masonry. His years of services in Subordinate Bodies and in matters con- nected with them ; his reports as Committee on Cor- respondence, and his labors on important committees connected with the Grand Bodies, occupied much of his time, which was cheerfully given. His Masonry was real, earnest, heart-felt, and to a considerable ex- tent changed the course of his life. BRO.'. THEODORE TUTHILL GURNEY, 33 , was born at Ogdensburg, New York, September 4, 1820, and died at Chicago, Illinois, November 9, 1886. At eighteen years of age, he removed to the State of Michigan, where he remained for fourteen years and then returned to his native State. Anxious for a more active life he moved to Chicago in 1856, where he continued to reside until his death. During his residence in Chicago he was actively identified with its social and commercial life. A member of the Board of Trade, and at one time its Chief Inspector of Grain, he was among the foremost in all that pertained to the growth and commerce of that city. A Justice of the Peace in early life in Mich- igan, Deputy Collector of Customs at Sackett's Har- bor, New York, 1853 to 1856, and the Comptroller of the imperial city of Chicago when the . angel of death struck the fatal blow. A faithful member of the Con- gregational church, Brother Gurney dearly loved the Sabbath-school, and was ever an active worker in that cause. His love for children, and the interest he exhibited in their advancement and welfare, made him the idol of their young hearts. Many were the sad tears that coursed down the cheeks of the little faces when Gurney died, and heavy were the hearts of the young people he loved so well. During his eventful life he was an active worker in all the grades of Freemasonry. A Prince among his equals in his love of Capitular and Templar Masonry, earnestly devoted to the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, he was a tower of strength to Ancient Craft Masonry. Deep and broad was laid the foundation of his Masonic character. A teacher of its grand lessons, he in his daily life lived and practiced its virtues. As Chairman of the Committee on Corre- spondence of various Masonic Grand bodies, Bro.\ Gurney's writings have become known wherever Ma- sonry has a home, and the Craftsmen have been benefited thereby. He was raised a Master Mason in Union Lodge, Union City, Mich., Dec, 1848. Exalted a Royal Arch Mason in Sackett's Harbor Chapter, Sackett's Har- bor, N. Y., 1854. Constituted a Royal and Select Master in Chicago Council, Chicago, Illinois, 1872. Created a Knight Templar in Apollo Commandery 3 No. 1, K.'. T. - , Chicago, September 5, 1865. Received the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite grades, from 4th to 32d, in Occidental, now Oriental Consistory, S.\ P. - . R.'. S.', 32°, Chicago, April, 1866, and created a Sover- eign Grand Inspector General of the 33° and honorary member of the Supreme Council at the Grand Orient, Boston, Mass., Nov. 16, 1871. Having filled the various offices in the several Con- stituent bodies, our distinguished brother was twice called to the Grand East of the Grand Lodge of Illi- nois, Free and Accepted Masons, having been elected M.\ W.\ Grand Master, 1879, l88 °. and R '- E - - - G -'- Com. - , of the G.\ Com. - . Knights Templar of Illinois, 1875. Integrity, sagacity and generosity were so richly blended and developed in him, that all those who came in contact with him could but respect his integ- rity, admire his sagacity and love his generosity. No one that knew him ever doubted his honesty or ques- tioned his purity. As a Mason, no brother within the limits of Illinois filled so large a place in the hearts of his brethren. His name was a household word, known through the length and breadth of the State. They respected him for his intellectual attainments, and loved him for the purity of his life, and his kind and generous words. And our beloved .brother was so broad, towered so high, filled so large a place, wove the teachings of Freemasonry so lovingly into his daily life, and gave such beautiful expressions to them in his voluminous Masonic writings, that he belonged not to the city of Chicago, not to the State of Illinois, but to the whole Masonic Craft ; and wherever English speaking Ma- sons assemble, there will the name of our brother be lovingly cherished, and his death lamented. An eminent Masonic writer, Bro. F. W. Baxter, of Vermont, says: " In the death of beloved Bro.\ Gurney, although not hav- ing a personal acquaintance with him, I have learned to regard him with feelings akin to love from his many and manly defenses of true Masonry. As a writer, he had but few equals, as a sound reasoner none, and I do not hesitate to say, that 'he built better than he knew ; ' that his works have left their mark that will not be obliterated, and his many truths will not lose their force by his death. Yet, death must be the lot of us all, and Theodore T. Gurney leaves a. name behind that his brethren will ever respect and honor. He was not of Illinois, but of the whole Masonic world, and as such we honor and respect his name, and with heart-felt gratitude bless him for his good deeds." His life was a bright example of sterling Worth and strict consistency ; his constant aim ever — " Intent each lurking frailty to disclaim, And guard the way of life from all offense, suffered or done.'* Honored for his worth as a man and a Mason, he has gone to his reward. "As Hiram slept, the widow's son, E'en so our brother takes his rest ; His battles fought, bis duties done, His name by many thousands blest," -+ PUR TRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES BRO.\ WILLIAM SEWELL GARDNER, 33 , son of Robert and Susan (Sewell) Gardner, was born in Hallowell, in the State of Maine, on Oct. 1st, 1827, and was the only child. He was educated at Hallowell, and was admitted to the Bar in 1852 at the age of 25 years, and commenced the practice of law in Lowell, Mass., where he resided until 1868. From Lowell he went to Boston, and afterwards to Newton, where he lived until his death. After practicing for some time, he associated himself with the late T. H. Sweitzer. The firm thus formed soon entered upon a singularly prosperous career, and finding the Boston branch demanded their whole attention, the Lowell office was closed, and their entire individual and undivided en- ergies concentrated on their Boston business. In December, 1875, Bro.\ Gardner, was appointed to the Bench of the Superior Court, and on October 1st, 1885, elevated to a seat on the Bench of the Supreme Judicial Court as one of its Associate Justices by Gov- ernor Robinson. He resigned on account of ill health in September, 1887, and on accepting his resignation Governor Ames tendered him, on behalf of the Com- monwealth, its sympathy for him in his bodily afflic- tions and expressed sincere regret that he should be compelled to relinquish a position the duties of which he had so faithfully and honorably -discharged for twelve years to the entire satisfaction, benefit and credit of the Commonwealth. Bro. - . Gardner's Masonic career was inaugurated on the nth day of August, 1852, in Ancient York Lodge, Lowell, Mass., and he became its Senior Dea- con in 1854, Senior Warden in 1855, and Worshipful Master in 1856 and 1857. His reputation and zeal so attracted the attention of the Most Worshipful Grand Master, John T. Heard, 1857-59, that he issued an order for a special election in Ancient York Lodge, and called him to office in Grand Lodge. In 1866 Bro. - . Gardner assisted in the formation of Kilwinning Lodge, Lowell, and was its Master for the first two years, 1866-68. He held offices in the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts as follows: Grand Marshal, in 1857 and '59 ; District Deputy Grand Master Third District, 1860-63; Senior Grand Warden, 1864, Most Worship- ful Grand Master, 1869-71. He was exalted to the degree of Royal Arch MaSon in Mount Horeb Royal Arch Chapter, Lowell, Nov. 21st, 1853, and in 1855 was Master of the first veil. He received the degrees of Royal and Select Master in Ahasuerus Council, Lowell, February 23d, 1857. On the 12th day of May, 1854, he was created a Knight Templar in Boston Commandery, Boston, and in 1855 assisted informing and was one of the charter members of Pilgrim Com- mandery, Lowell, acting as Junior Warden in 1856 and 1857, Captain General in 1858, Generalissimo in 1859-60, and Eminent Commander in 1861-62. In the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island he was Grand Captain General 1860-61, Grand Generalissimo in 1862 and Grand Commander 1863-4. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand En- »-•- campment of the United States in 1868 for the term of three years, and during the same period was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. At a session of the Supreme Council Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Northern Jurisdiction, held at Boston, May 1857, he received the degrees from the 4th to 32d inclusive, in a Grand Consistory therewith connected, and on the 8th day of May, 1861, he was elevated to the 33d and last degree. He was zealous in establishing bodies of the Scottish Rite in Lowell, and was a charter member of all. In the Lodge of Perfection, and Council of Princes of Jerusalem char- tered in June, 1857, the Chapter of Rose Croix in April 1859 and the Consistory in August i860, he was a working officer. He was Deputy of the Supreme Council for the State during the troublous times that happened between 1861 and 1867, a Trustee of the Permanent Fund of the Supreme Council from 1872, when the Act of Incorporation was passed, until his decease, and also the first President of the Corpora- tion. On the 10th anniversary of the Union of German Freemasons, held at Darmstadt, Germany, 23d July, 1 87 1, he was elected corresponding member of that body and honored with its diploma. HiS career as a Mason was specially distinguished for its hard work and usefulness, and for which he was rewarded through so many well-earned honors. He was in- defatigable in his labor, and his unselfish devotion was most marked in every department of Masonic duty entrusted to his care. He was exceptionally well read, and deeply versed in the ritualism of the craft, the contributions of his ever ready and untiring pen, doing much to enlarge the scope of masonic infor- mation. Some of his addresses upon subjects con- nected with Templarism — the interpretation and ad- ministration of its law, and the exposition and illum- ination of its history — are probably, unsurpassed in the literature of the Orders. Faithful in all his duties, he never undertook anything without accepting it as a trust to be fulfilled, and his whole life bore testimony to the continual presence of all those Masonic virtues, which the order teaches, and strives to inculcate. Bro. - . Gardner was twice married. First on October 15, 1868, to Mary Thornton, widow of Dr. Charles A. Davis, by whom he had one child, Mary Sewell, and in 1877, to Sarah M. Davis, daughter of the Hon. Isaac Davis, of Worcester, Mass., who still survives him. Bro. - . Gardner was singularly well fitted for all the public duties from time to time assumed ; was particularly painstaking, patient and careful, strictly unbiased and unprejudiced, and, though a man of great personal dignity, ever kind and considerate to those he came in contact with. Everything he under- took he carried out with a purpose and determined will. One word in our vocabulary, used in its broadest acceptance, fully expresses our brother's great quali- ties : he was " thorough " in all he attempted as well as in all he accomplished. BROTHER WILLIAM S. GARDENER, 33°, (dec'd), PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS. ■PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF THE UNITED STATES. Past Master, Eminent Grand Master of Knights Templar of the [Iriited States. OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 35 When his health had lamentably failed him and entirely broken down, he, under his physician's and friend's advice, went to Europe, hoping the sea voy- age would have a beneficial effect, and change to new interests and scenes would re- invigorate his vital powers. His health did not improve, however, and he returned to his old home in Newton, where he began to get weaker and visibly to fail, till he peace- fully passed away, on April 4, 1888, beloved and re- gretted by all who knew or came in contact with him. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts was repre- sented at his funeral by the Grand Master and other officers and members, who joined their pro- fessional brethren and the many sorrowing friends in paying the last tributes of respect to the departed brother as they laid him to rest in Christ Church, Newton. Truly may it be said, " Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." " He gave his honors to the world again, His blessed past to heaven, and slept in peace." BRO.-. PAUL DEAN was born in Barnard, Wind- sor County, Vt , March 28, 1782. He spent his youth in agricultural labor, in attending common schools, in academical and biblical studies, and in school teaching. In 1806 he entered the Christian ministry at Montpelier, Vt. ; from here, in 18 10, he removed to New Hartford, N. Y., and in 1813 to Boston, Mass. He was for many years the pastor of the First Universal- is! Church, Boston; but in 1823 was settled over the "Central Universalist Society," as its first pastor, where he officiated till 1840, discharging his duties as pastor and friend with faithfulness, ability and success. He early became a life member of the American Bible Society, and of the American Colonization Society, and for several years was a member of the Boston School Committee. Bro.\ Dean, the faithful teacher in the Christian church, was ever a most devoted and earnest mem- ber of the Masonic Order. His public addresses, which are quite numerous, bear the impress of a mind which realized the importance and the excellent ten- dency of Masonic principles. The fervency of attach- ment to its teachings, emanating from so good and so pure a companion, was strongly instrumental in sus- taining them, when such support was so much needed; it cheered the wavering, it rebuked the vacillating, it crushed the demon of its opposition ; and perhaps it is not too eulogistic to assert that the name of Brcv. Paul Dean will stand second to none in the roll of that fame due those who dared to contend for the right at a time when courage and constancy among Masons were in the minority. He periled all for truth — it prevailed ; and under the vine and the fig- tree of its revival and diffusion he was permitted to enjoy the results ,of the long-continued contest and final victory. Bro.\ Dean was initiated, passed and raised in Centre Lodge, No. 6, at East Rutland, Vermont, dur- ing the winter of 1805. He received the Chapter degrees in Horeb R.-. A.-. Chapter, No. 7, at New Hartford, N. Y., in 181 1. He probably never received the Council degrees in form, but at a meeting of a few R. 1 . A.-. Masons held in Boston, July 20, 1817, "to form a council of Royal Masters," it was voted, that he, among other "Companions be considered the original members of this Council," and he was " accep- ted and installed" as "Laureate." He served as Most 111.-. M.\ of this (" Boston") Council from No- vember, 1821, to January, 1824. The Order of the Temple was conferred UDon Bro. - . Dean in Boston Commandery of KV. T.\, May 1, 1816. The same year, having been made an Honor- ary Member of Columbian Lodge, of Boston, he was elected, and served as Chaplain of that Lodge in i8i7-'2o, '25-'27, '29, '34-36. He also served as Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge in 1814-16, '20, '24-27, '34; as District Deputy G.\ M.\ in 1821- ' 2 3> '49-5 1 ; as Deputy G.\ M.\ in 1835-37; and as Grand Master in 1838-40. Bro. - . Dean also served as M.\ E.\ H.\ P.*. of St. Paul's Chapter, of Boston, from December 15, 1818, until September 18, 1821, when he resigned on account of his election as D.\ G.'. H.\ P.-. of the G.\ C.\ of Massachusetts. On the 25th of January, 1819, St. Paul's Chapter was consecrated and its officers in ■ stalled by the Grand Chapter ; Companion Dean re- ceived the Order of High Priesthood, and delivered an address " which was a lucid, pertinent and correct ex- position of those feelings and sentiments which should be cherished in every heart and actuate every life." He was admitted to the Grand Chapter of Massa- chusetts, December 14, 1813, as a visitor by vote; served as Grand Chaplain of that body in 1814-20; as Deputy G.\ H.\ P.". in 1821-22; and as G.\ H.\ P. - . in 1823-26. In the General Grand Chapter, at its session in New York, September 14, 1826, Companion Dean was present as G.\ H.\ P.-. of the G. - . C.\ of Massa- chusetts and was elected General Grand Scribe. In 1829, he was elected G.\ G.\ King ; re-elected in 1832, and again in 1835. In 1838 he was elected G.\ G.\ H.\ P. - . ; re-elected in 1 841, and again in 1844. In 1847 on retiring from the Chair, he was honored with a vote of thanks, and a committee was ap- pointed " to procure a gold jewel, properly engraved, and present the same to him, in the name of the G.\ G.\ C.\" At the Convention of Royal and Select Masters held at Brimfield, Massachusetts, February 8, 1826, for the purpose of organizing a Grand Council Camp, Rev. Paul Dean acted as Chairman. At the first session, June 15, 1826, he was elected G.\ C.\; re-elected in the year following, and again, upon the revival of the G.\ C.\, March 1, 1847. At the annual meeting of the G.'. E. - . of Massachu- setts and Rhode Island, then called "United States Grand Encampment," held in Boston, May 15, 1816, PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES he was elected Grand Prelate, and until 1845 was annually re-elected, except in 1823, when he declined. In the G.'. G.\ E.\ of the United States he served as G.-. G.\ P. - . from 1816 to 1826, from 1835 to 1841, and from 1847 to 1853. He also served as G.-'. G.-. J.-. W.\ from 1841 to 1844. In all these various stations Bro. - . Dean acquitted himself with honor and to the entire acceptance of his Brethren. He was a true Mason, ever firm, con- sistent and faithful, in all places, and under all cir- cumstances. Although his day of activity had meas- urably passed, he did not wholly cease from his Masonic labors while life lasted. He died suddenly of paralysis, at his residence in Framingham, Mass , October, 1, i860, and was buried from the residence of his son-in-law, in Boston, on the third of the same month, at the venerable age of three score and seven- teen years. Few of the Brethren have filled a larger place in the Masonic heart and affections, and few re- main whose departure will be more sensibly felt by the older members of the Fraternity, to whom his use- fulness was best known, and by whom his many ex- cellent qualities were best appreciated. BRO.-. HENRY ENDICOTT, 33 °, was born in the town of Canton, Massachusetts, November 14, 1824. He is the son of Elijah and Cynthia Childs Endicott, and belongs to the seventh generation of Endicotts in this country. He is the youngest of nine children, all of whom are living, with the exception of the eldest, who died at the age of, eighty-two. His education was such as the Common School and home study afforded. In 1847 he commenced business in the city of Boston under the firm-name of Allen & Endicott, manufacturers of boilers and steam engines. He removed to Cambridge in 1858, where he con- tinued in business until 1874. His family consists of a wife, daughter and five grandchildren. Bro. - . Endicott has never held any public office, although nominations for honorable positions have been repeatedly tendered him, which he has been strongly urged to accept. He is a director of the First National Bank of Cambridge, and a trustee of the Cambridgeport Savings Bank. He was made a Mason in December i860, in Ami- cable Lodge, Cambridge, Massachusetts ; a Royal Arch Mason April 16, 1861, in St. Paul's Chapter, in Boston; a Royal and Select Master April 30, 1861, in Boston Council, Boston; a Knight Templar May 15, 1 86 1, in Boston Commandery, Boston ; received the I.-. G.\, A.-. TV. G.\, the P.'. and D.\ G.\, and the M.\ H.\ and C. - . G."., May 16, 1862 ; and was created a Sovereign Grand Inspector General (33 ) at Boston, August 20, 1874. He was appointed Steward in 1862; was elected Senior Warden in 1862; and served as Worshipful Master in 1864, '65 and '66, of Amicable Lodge, Cam- bridge. He was also Worshipful Master of Mizpah Lod^e (U. D.) 1868, and re-elected in 1869. He was Scribe of St. Paul's R.\ A.-. Chapter in 1862 and 1863; King in 1864; and High Priest in .1865 and 1866. He was also High Priest of Cambridge R.\ A.-. Chapter (U. D ) in 1865, and Grand King of the Grand Chapter of Massachusetts in 1867. He was Junior Warden of Boston Commandery K.\ T.\ in 1865; Captain General in 1866 and 1867; Generalissimo in 1868 and 1869; and Eminent Com- mander in 1 87 1 and 1872. He became District Deputy G.\ M.\ of the Fourth Masonic District in Massachusetts in 1867 and 1868; was elected Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in 1872, and held the office of Grand Master in 1887, 1888 and 1889, and at the close of the term, in 1870, became a member of the Board of Directors of the Grand Lodge. Honorary Membership was conferred upon Bro.\ Endicott by Mt. Olivet Lodge, A.-. F.\ and A.-. M.\, February 21, 1867 ; by Amicable Lodge, in September 1868 ; also by Mizpah Lodge, by Converse Lodge, by Cambridge R.\ A. - . Chapter, by Saint Paul's R.\ A. - . Chapter, and, on November 19, 1873, by Boston Com- mandery K.\ T. - . It can be said with perfect truthfulness of Bro. 1 . Endicott, that he always performed the duties de- volving upon him in the various offices which he has been called upon byhis Masonic brethren to fill, in a prompt, correct, faithful and satisfactory manner, and that by his kindness of heart and generosity of dis- position he has lovingly endeared himself to a wide circle of Masonic friends. BRO.-. JOHN STEELE TYLER was born in Guilford, Yt., Sept. 29, 1796. He was a son of Royal Tyler, a native of Boston, who was in the military ser- vice of the Revolution in 1776, removed to Brattleboro', Vt., in 1789, became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of that State, and where he died in 1826. The son inherited the fire, ambition and patriotism of his ancestors, and they shaped and distinguished his whole life. At the age of fourteen he came to Boston ; in 18 16 he became a member of the Boston Light In- fantry, and rose from the ranks to the office of Major General of Militia of Massachusetts. In 1824 he com- manded the military escort when Lafayette was re- ceived and welcomed by Boston. He was commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, also, for four years, an honor not enjoyed for that length of time by any other man, and was senior member of that body at the time of his death. He at various times also held many civil offices.; and his military knowledge and executive ability made his services desirable on public occasions, and especially in the arrangement of processions. He was chief marshal of the civic procession on the occasion of the " Rail- road Jubilee" in 1851 ; held same post at the recep- tion of Daniel Webster in 1852, as also at the formal obsequies of that distinguished statesman, and again when the statue of Webster by Powers, in front of the State House, was dedicated. In 1853, he was elected a member of the Constitu- BROTHER HENRY ENDICOTT, 33 , PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS. HON .".MEM /.OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL 33° OF A. - . A. - . S.\R.\ NORTHERN MASONIC JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. :: : :m : ": ■■:':■.::.., ' ,' :, ■'■.■'■.■ ■'■ .''■' ,■'■'/.'. F.I Stuart inwu Qwj&^rfftTh Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Past Eminent Com. '.of Boston Comm&ndery of K T OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 37 tional Convention, in 1859-60-62 member of the Com- mon Council, in 1863-65-66 an alderman, then trus- tee of the Public Library, two years membeY of the General Court, four years engineer of the Boston Fire Department, President of a Railroad Company, Med- ical College, Burns Club, and of the Society of the Sons of Vermont, and was the recipient of honorary degrees from the College of his native State. Bro. - . Tyler in early life became identified with the institution of Freemasonry. He was made a Mason in St. John's Lodge, Boston, in 1820, exalted in St. Paul's Chapter in 1857, and knighted in De Molay Commandery the same year, affiliating in each of these bodies. He never accepted office in the order, but he remained true and trusty to its great principles, and was one of the signers of the memora- ble " Declaration of Freemasons " of 1831. Bro.". Tyler was genial and happy in disposition, always looking on the bright side of everything, and making the happiness of his family his constant care. He died January 20, 1876, in his eightieth year, and was buried with the service of the Order of Knight- hood, performed by De Molay Commandery, with which he had so long affiliated. BRO.-. CHARLES WHITLOCK MOORE was born in Boston, Massachusetts, March 29, 1801, and died there December 12th, 1873. His father came to America towards the close of the last century, and opened a music store in Boston. Young Moore gave evidences of his love of justice at an early age; inci- dents which are historical, evincing his courage, de- termination, and sense of fair play, have been pub- lished from time to time. He was a deep thinker, and most felicitously accepted that wonderful lesson of St. Paul, in the 4th chapter, 8th verse, in his epistle to the Philippians : "Whatsoever things are just, Whatsoever things are honest, Whatsoever things are true, Whatsoever things are pure, Whatsoever things are lovely, Whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue ! if there be any praise ! think on these things." He comprehended the grandeur of these sublime, compact utterances of the Apostle, who dwelt so impressively on the necessity of thought, and in a review of Bro.'. Moore's useful, busy life, so full of practical examples, we find him in his daily walk ever keeping step to the angelic symphony, the humane harmony, of his teacher in spirit ; and he voiced it nowhere in a more eminent degree, than in the circles of Freemasonry. In February, 1822, he applied for initiation in Massachusetts Lodge, then, as now, standing third in the list of Boston Lodges. He was accepted, and would have been received on coming of age, but for engagements which called him away. With the consent of the Lodge, however, he was admitted in Kennebec Lodge, at Hallowell, Maine, in May following; was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on the 12th of June ; and on his return to Boston on the 10th of October was ad- mitted to membership in St. Andrew's Lodge. He was elected Master of St. Andrew's Lodge by a unani- mous ballot in 1832, and re-elected in 1833; but having been elected shortly afterward Recording Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge, he resigned the office of Master, the two being incompatible. The same evening he was elected Secretary of St. Andrew's Lodge, which position he held for six- teen years, when he resigned. He was made a Knight Templar in Boston Commandery, and be- came its Eminent Commander in 1837. In 1840, he was chosen High Priest in St. Andrew's Chapter. He was subsequently elected Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter, in which he had previously filled nearly all of the subordinate offices, including that of Grand Lecturer. He was afterwards Eminent Com- mander of De Molay Commandery of Boston. In 1841, he served as Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. On November 13, 1844, tne Thirty-third Degree of the A. - . A.'. S.\ R.\ was conferred upon him, and soon after he became the Grand Secretary General of the Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction of the U. S. A. He held various offices in the General Grand Encampment of the United States, and for a time was its third officer ; Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Grand Charity Fund for sixteen years, and after- wards of the Board of Trustees of the Masonic Temple. The work of Brother Moore did not end with his fifty-one years of arduous labors for Freemasonry, in the Lodge or upon active service. His oral perform- ances, while partaking of the grandeur of the school of Cicero and Demosthenes, and in his conflict with the opposition to Freemasonry exhibiting the spirit of a Patrick Henry in earnestness and disregard of con- sequence when enlisted in a righteous cause, gave evidence of much growth in literary intelligence. "The Declaration of 1831, the Memorial of 1833, and the acquittal of the author of these documents on a charge of libel in the same year, gave, the death-blow to Anti-Masonry in the State of Massachusetts, and redeemed the Masonic Institution from seven years of persecution. Then, in this connection, his Spar- tan courage was displayed, not alone in his conflict with Anti-Masonry through well written memorials, but in other methods which introduced the genius and power of the man, through an energetic and graceful pen. He established in 1825, as he chronicles, the first Masonic newspaper in Boston, which he claimed was the first known to the world as a true and faithful, exponent of the principles of Freemasonry. It was called the Masonic Mirror, which he published for nine years. In 1841, he founded the Freemason's Magazine, and continued its publication to the day of his death. Brother Moore expressed in his writings, senti- ments which have been quoted largely throughout *-♦- PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES the world, and it has been said of him, " For the jurisprudence of Masonry, that most difficult field, requiring for its proper appreciation and understand- ing, a rare adjustment and treatment of differing and conflicting elements, he has accomplished per- haps as much as could well proceed from the judg- ment and reflection of a single mind. Even in the lighter departments of poetry, of the essay, and of the narration of Masonic events, the Magazine, while sparkling often, has been dignified ever." His was no lethargic existence, no supineness ; it was the resistless life current, that allowed no stagna- tion ; as the Alpine torrent leaping from crag to crag, and the mighty tidal waves of the Pacific, carrying all before them in their onward course, so it was with the nature of this impetuous spirit ; he knew not the meaning of the word repose ; life to him was ac"tion.\At seventy years of age he was active in the fields of literary work, and the practical business of the fraternity. The conclusion of his life's labors, had a happy fruition. So well adjusted to his heart's desires, that a chronicler writes, " It may, perhaps, be fittingly recorded as a bright test of his clear Masonic consciousness in his closing hours, that when the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, at its recent Annual Communication, conferred upon him the unwonted honor of Honorary Past Grand Master, and sent his life-long friend and companion, our R. W. Brother Winslow Lewis, to announce to him the fact before his lips should be sealed in death, he stretched forth his withered hand, and in a faltering tone, exclaimed, " This is worth living for ! it is worth dying for ! " Few men possessed such perfect equipoise. His par- ticipation in the determinations which led to admon- ition, suspension, and expulsion, were based upon the discipline of love, the true spirit of fraternal obligation. There was nothing but benignity in his composition, yet, allied to a stern sense of right and wrong, his conclusions were in accordance with justice, tem- pered by mercy. No more fitting epitaph could grace the mausoleum, within which his remains will rest until the final trumpet sound shall summon him to his reward, than : " He has fought the good fight." BRO. - . SILAS ALDEN, 33°, was born in Union, Maine, June 23, 1804. He was descended in the di- rect male line from John and Priscilla [Mullins] Alden 'of historic memory. In May 1834, he moved to Bangor and engaged in business as an Apothecary and druggist. He was sufficiently successful to enable him to turn over the business to his sons and retire with a comfortable competence several years since. He died in Bangor, January 23, 1891, in the eighty- seventh year of his age. Bro. - . Alden was made a Mason in Union Lodge, No. 31, in Union, in June, 1826, the year in which the Anti-masonic excitement originated. In consequence of that excitement most of the lodges in Maine had suspended work without giving up their organizations, and waited for the storm to blow over, under the ad- vice of Simon Greenleaf. A very few renounced Masonry; others waited in silence; others, among whom was Bro. - . Alden, while waiting with the rest, did not hesitate to avow their connection with the in- stitution and their confidence in its principles. In 1843, when Masonry began to revive in Maine, he became a member of Rising Virtue Lodge, No. 10, in Bangor. He was very constant in his attendance on the meetings of the Lodge, and, after holding sev- eral subordinate offices, became Senior Warden for the year 1853-54, and Master for 1854-55. He was proxy for the Lodge at the communication of the Grand Lodge in 1856. Being willing to serve in any capacity the brethren desired, he accepted and served in the office of Junior Warden of his Lodge in 1856-57. In 1858 and 1859, he was District Deputy G.\ M.\ of the Grand Lodge, and in i860 and 1861, G. - . S.\ B.\ He was made a Royal Arcl) Mason in Mount Moriah R.\ A.-. C.\, No. 6, in Bangor, 1848. In 1859, he became King of the Chapter, and in i860, High Priest. From 1861 to 1864, he was Senior Grand Steward in the Grand Chapter. He received the Orders of Knighthood, in St. John Commandery, No, 3, in Bangor, in 1850. He held several subordinate positions in the Commandery, and in 1862 and 1863, he was Captain General, and in 1864, Generalissimo. In 1869 and 1870, he was Grand Captain General in the Grand Commandery. He received the degrees of the A. - . A.". S.\ R.\ in the Bodies in the Valley of Portland, attaining to the 32° in Maine Consistory, March 20, 1873. He was crowned Sovereign Grand Inspector-Gen- eral, 33 ,' and admitted an Honorary Member of the Supreme Council, in session at Chicago, Ills., Septem- ber 14, 1886, not on account of any special service which he had rendered to the Rite, but in recognition of his steadfast adherence to, and earnest interest in, Freemasonry for more than sixty years. Bro. - . Alden was not an easy ritualist, and in con- sequence was not called upon for extended service in offices connected with the work. But he was exceed- ingly constant in his attendance upon the Bodies of which he was a member. Even in his old age, he at- tended every meeting of the Consistory, coming from Bangor, one hundred and fifty miles, for the special purpose. He was accustomed to attend the conclaves of the G. - . E. - . ; and was absent from scarcely a ses- sion of the Supreme Council after he received the grade. In 1890, when over eighty-six years old, he went from his home in Bangor, Maine, to Cleveland, Ohio, to meet with his Brethren once more, and for the last time as it proved. For years he had been a great traveller, and had spent considerable time at the Hawaiian Islands; be- ing a personal friend of the late King Kalakaua. He left surviving him, a widow, three sons — two of them, George and Augustus, being in Boston — and a daughter, Mrs. Frank Lord of Boston. BROTHER SILAS ALDEN, 33 , (dec'd), A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF JOHN AND PRISCILLA ALDEN, AND AN EARNEST WORKER IN FREEMASONRY FOR MORE THAN SIXTY YEARS. -:■<■ 2- C ^ d P.-. G.-. C.\ Gen.-, of the &.-. G.\ of K.-.T.-. of Maine, Hon..-. Mem. Sup.'. Council.-. 33° A.\ A.'. S.-. RiLc Nor.-. Juris.-. U.S.A. OF PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. a9 BRO.\ WINSLOW LEWIS, 33 , was born in the city of Boston, July 8, 1779, and died in Grant- ville, near Boston, August 3, 1875. From his youth to the time of his death he was endowed with that spirit of benevolence and love of fraternization which are the elements of Masonry ; and the motto which he induced the Grand Lodge to adopt is the one which should have, been his own : Homo sum, et hwnani a me, nil alienum puto (I am a man, and nothing which relates to man can be foreign to my bosom). He was fitted for college under the tuition of Mr. Daniel Staniford, of Boston, graduated at Harvard University in 1819, studied medicine under the late Dr. John C. Warren, and received the degree of M. D. in 1822. He then went to Europe to perfect his professional studies, and attended the lectures of Guillaume Depuytren and John Abernethy. He was Councillor of the Massachusetts Medical Society, a member of the American Medical Society at Paris, and Consulting Surgeon of the Massa- chusetts General Hospital. Representative to Gen- eral Court in i830-'32-"36; seven years a member of the School Committee ; an Overseer of Harvard University from 1856 to 1862, and a Visitor of the United States Marine Hospital. Of the New Eng- land Historic Genealogical Society he was President from 1861 to 1866, and President also, of the Numis- matic Society from i860 to 1865. Bro.\ Lewis was made a Mason in Columbian Lodge, February 3, 1831, and affiliated in St. John-'s Lodge, March 3, 1834; and, after serving as Junior Deacon and Junior Warden, was elected Senior War- den in i839-'43-'44, and Marshal in i84o-'45-'46-'47. He was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts in i855-'56-'6o, and for twenty-three years on Committee on Library, and principally to his exer- tions are the brethren indebted for a Masonic Library which has few superiors in the world. He was an H.\ M. - . of Columbian Lodge, of Boston ; Loge Cle- mentie Amitie, of Paris, France; Pythagoras Lodge, No. 86, New York; Robert Lash Lodge, Chelsea, Massachusetts; Germania Lodge, Boston; Winslow Lewis Lodge, of Boston ; Kane Lodge, No. 454, New York; L' Union Francaise, No. 17, New York; and Somerset Lodge, Norwich, Connecticut. In Capitular Masonry, Bro.\ Lewis was exalted in St. Paul's Chapter, September 27, 1831; served as Scribe in i833-'34-'4i ; King in 1835-36-37; High Priest in 1838-39, and was deputy Grand High Priest of the M.\ E.\ Grand Chapter in 1849. He was created a Knight Templar in Boston Com- mandery, March 16, 1832, and presided over that body in i&44-'45-"46; was E.\ G.\ C.\ of Massachur setts and Rhode Island in 1858-59, and was G.\ G.-. of the G.\ E.\ of the U.'. S.\ in 1859. He was an honorary member of De Molay Commandery of Bos- ton, Winslow Lewis Commandery of Salem, and St. John's Commandery, No. 4, of Philadelphia. In the A. - , and A. - . S.\ R.\ he was elevated to the 33d , and was crowned an active member of the Supreme Council N \ M.-. ].\ May 16, 1861. The reason of his becoming a Mason was singular. In the days when the Fraternity was abused without stint and persecuted to the utmost, he saw an adver- tisement in a paper of one of the most furious Anti- masons, Avery Allen, a name now almost forgotten, that on a certain day in 1829 he would deliver a lec- ture showing up the weakness and hypocrisy of Free- masonry and its dangerous tendency. The doctor was led by curiosity to go and hear him ; and the very sophisms this arch-enemy of the Brotherhood used, and the abuse he heaped upon many of them, who were men without fear and without reproach, made him a convert to the other side, and he became a Mason. During his connection with the Institution he de livered many addresses, which have been carefully collected and published in the Masonic Memoirs. BRO.". PIERPONT EDWARDS was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1750. He was a son of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, who afterwards became president of Princeton College, New Jersey, and his mother was a daughter of the Rev. James Pierpont, of New Haven. When he was about six years of age, his father removed to Princeton, New Jersey, to enter upon his duties as president of the college. But his labors there were short, however, for in less than a year he died, and his amiable widow's death shortly following, the subject of our sketch was left a full orphan before he was eight years of age. Though thus early bereft of his parents, he received the foster- ing care of friends ; was educated, we believe, at Yale, and settled in New Haven as an attorney-at-law. In that city, at the age of twenty-five years, he was made a Mason. He was initiated on the 28th day of Dec- ember, 1775, in old Hiram Lodge. It was the oldest Lodge in the State, and he was subsequently elected its Master. About 1783, thirteen of the old Lodges in Connecti- cut met in convention in New Haven to establish some general regulations for the good of Masonry in that State, and of this convention Bro.\ Edwards was a member from Hiram Lodge, and was appointed Secretary of the body. He was also chosen by the Convention as one of a committee of four to act as general guardians of Masonry in that State. All the Lodges in Connecticut at this time were held under authority granted by pre-revolutionary Prov.\ Grand Masters on this continent, and as their authority had then ended, the Lodges of the State met again in Con- vention by delegates in Hartford on May 14, 1789, to -consider the propriety of forming a Grand Lodge for that jurisdiction. Bro.\ Edwards was a delegate also to this Con- vention, and was appointed chairman of the committee to prepare the plan of organization .to be submitted to a convention of delegates to be held at New Haven on PORTRAIT GALLERY AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES July 8, following. When this Convention met Bro.\ Edwards presented the plan he had formed for a G.\ L. - . together with a constitution for its govern- ment, which were adopted ; and on a ballot being taken for its Grand Master, he was elected to that office, and held it for two successive years. Bro.'. Edwards was distinguished in civil as well as Masonic life, and his career, a most eventful one, ended at the age of seventy-six, April 14, 1826. His son, Henry W. Edwards, who afterwards, became Governor of the State, was also a Mason, having been initiated in Hiram Lodge, February 2, 1809. BRO.'. WILLIAM BROMWELL MELISH, 33 , was born in Wilmington, Ohio, on July 28, 1852. On arriving at age, he united with the Masonic fraternity, being initiated in Milford Lodge, No. 54, Milford, Ohio, on October 21st, 1873. He was appointed to a minor position in the Lodge on the night he was cre- ated a Master Mason, and from that time to the pres- ent has held official position in the fraternity. He was made a Royal Arch Mason in Milford Chapter, No. 35, Milford, Ohio, on April 15, 1875; a Royal and Select Master in Kilwinning Council, No. 52, Cincinnati, Ohio, November 27, 1877; a Knight Templar in Hanselmann Commandery, No.. 16, Cin- cinnati, Ohio, June 15, 1877; received the Ineffable Grades in Gibulum L. - . of P. - ., Cincinnati, Ohio, March 26, 1874; the A. - . T. - . G.\ in Dalcho Council, P. - . of J. - ., Cincinnati, Ohio, April 30, 1874; the P.-. and D.\ G.\ in Cincinnati Chapter of Rose Croix, H-R-D-M, May 7, 1874; the Mr. H.\ and C.\ G - ., in Ohio Consistory S. - . P.". R.\ S.\, 32 , Cincinnati, Ohio, May 30, 1874, and was created a Sovereign Grand Inspector General (33°), September 16th, 1885, at Boston, Massachusetts. Bro. - . Melish affiliated with La Fayette Lodge, No. 81, F. - . and A.-. M.\ in 1881, and became its W.\ M.\ in i886-'87. The same year, 1881, he affiliated with Willis Chapter, No. 131, R.\ A.-. M \, and became its High Priest in i886-'87. In 1882-3 he held the position of Thrice 111.'. Master of Kilwinning Council, No. 52, R.\ and S. - . M.\ In i883-'84 he became Eminent Commander of Hanselmann Commandery, No. 16, K. - . T.\ ; and in 1887, on the organization of Trinity Commandery, No. 44, K.\ T. - ., of Cincinnati, he served as its first Eminent Commander. In i8go-'9i he was elected and served as Grand Com- mander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Tem- plar of Ohio. In 1892 he was elected G.\ S.\ B. - . of the Grand Encampment of K.\ T.\ of the United States, in session at Denver, Colorado. He was also called to official prominence soon after uniting with the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Indeed, it is probable that there are few men of his years who can say that they have worked in so many important positions in Masonic bodies. From 1876 to 1883 he was Deputy Grand Master of Gibulum Lodge of Perfection, 14 ; from |88o to 1891 Sov. - . Master of Dalcho Council, P. - . of J.\, 16 ; during the years 1880-81, Master of Cere- monies of Cincinnati Chapter Rose Croix, 18 ; and since 1881 has been Master of Ceremonies of Ohio Consistory S.\ P.-. R.\ S.\ 32 . Bro. - . Melish also instituted Syrian Temple, N. - . M.\ S. - ., in the city of Cincinnati in 1881, and has been the Potentate and ruling spirit of the Shrine in that Oasis ever since. He was largely instrumental in establishing the Shrines at Indianapolis, Louisville, Detroit, St. Louis, Olney, Illinois, and other places. He became a member of the Imperial Council in 1882, and has served as Imperial Director and Impe- rial Chief Rabban, and also as Chairman of the Com- mittee on Jurisprudence and Laws. From 1889 to 1892 he was Imperial Chief Rabban, and in 1892 was elected Imperial Potentate of the Imperial Coun- cil, N.\ M.\ S. - ., for North America, by a unanimous vote of that body. In the Grand Lodge of Ohio Bro. - . Melish has been an active member as Chairman and associate member of many important committees, and is also the representative of the Grand Lodge of Cuba and Colon near the Grand Lodge of Ohio. In 1892 he was elected Senior Grand Warden. • After the fire in 1884, which destroyed the costly equipment of the Scottish Rite, the members of that Order set about the work of rebuilding and remodel- ing the present Cathedral of the Rite in Cincinnati. Bro. - . Melish was made the Secretary of the Scot- tish Rite Cathedral Company and the Chairman of the Building Committee, and performed arduous labor in the interests confided to him. At the com- pletion of the Cathedral in 1880, an elegant testimo- nial, in the shape of a service of solid silver, was presented to the indomitable chairman as a mark of the appreciation of the members of the Rite for his work. In every relation in life, whether social, business, masonic or political, he has won the respect and con- fidence of those who know him. Masonry having afforded him all the instruction, pleasure and conge- nial acquaintances necessary to a thorough enjoy- ment of his leisure hours, he has never united himself with any secret societies other than those of Masonry, or those allied to the Ancient Fraternity. This undi- vided interest may account therefore, in a very great measure, for the unstinted devotion paid to Freema- sonry by Bro. - . Melish. It would be simply impos- sible to elaborate in our brief sketch the work per- formed in the interests of the order by this stalwart brother, so well known by the affectionate term of " Billy " Melish. As a writer, speaker and active worker, his name and reputation have secured na- tional association and familiarity not only with Amer- ican Masons, but with even those across the seas. Bro. - . Melish has a charming wife, a lovely daughter and a bright, intellectual son, to constitute his family circle, and resides in elegance in Clifton, a beautiful suburb of Cincinnati. BROTHER WM. B. MELISH, 33 , PAST GRAND COM .'.OF K.'.T.'.OF THE GRAND COM. \ OF OHIO. ORAND STANDARD BEARER GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF K..T..OF THE U. S. IMPERIAL. POTENTATE OF THE NOBLES OF THE MYSTIC SHRINE OF NORTH AMERICA. mm ~^-$?. Past Orand Coin., of K ■. T-' of die G Com ■. of Ohio Grand Standard Bearer .Grand Encampment of K.-.T .of the U S. Imperial Potentate of th = Mystit; Slirine ofNorth Vmerjr i