B : poses they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not uge their library privileges for the benefit of other persons. Books of special value and gift books, when the giver wishes itj axe not allowed to circulate. ' Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books marked or mutilated. Do not deface books by marks and writinx. Cornelf University Library HS754 .S38 ^^'HiiiiriHiiiiii'fii^'*'^'' commandery of Knight 3 1924 030 372 621 olin,anx Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030372621 t. Sir JCnight: Maryland Commandery No. i, respeotfuHy solicits your opinion as to the merits of the arguments in this paper. Please address, E. T. SCHULTZ, No. \\ S. Howard St., Baltimore. w HICH IS THE OLDEST COMMANDERY OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN THE UNITED STATES? A PAPER READ BEFORE Maryland Qommandery, Mo. i ^ masonic knights templar, Friday Evening, November 22nd, 1889, Sir EDWARD T. SCHULTZ, PAST GRAND COMMANDER. Printed by Request of the Commandery. 7 5-^ S3r' J^ r3^ 4'4'3. WHICH IS THE OLDEST Commandery of Knights Templar IN THE UNITED STATES? Eminent Commander and Sir Knights : In the summer of the year 1870, being then Eminent Com- mander of this venerable and honored Commandery, I saw a paragraph in a recently published work by Sir Knight Al- fred Creigh, entitled "History of Knights Templar in the State of Pennsylvania," which at once engaged my most earnest attention. It was as follows : "Encampment No. i was located at Baltimore, and claims to have conferred the Order of Knighthood as early as lygo by traditionary evi- dence." Upon application to Sir Knight Creigh, who was Grand Recorder of the Grand Coijimandery of Pennsylvania, for such information as he might have in his possession regard- ing .the Encampment No. i, of Baltimore, he most kindly sent me attested copies of certain letters in the Archives of his Grand Commandery, which were written in 181 4 and 1 8 15, by officers of Encampment No. i to officers of the Grand Encampment of Pennsylvania. [The latter Body had been organized at a Convention held in Philadelphia, February isth, 18 14, composed of delegates ifrom two Encampments of Pennsylvania, one from New York, one from Delaware, and the Encampment No. i, of Baltimore.] The most important of these letters is one written by the Recorder, Archibald Dobbin, by instruction of Encamp- ment No. I, to the Grand Encampment of Pennsylvania, re- questing from that Body a Charter of Recognition, and reads as follows : George A. Baker, Esq., Dear Sir. — Agreeably to a resolution entered into at a meet- ing of our Encampment, held this evening, April 20th, 1814, at St. John's Lodge Room, I have the honor to enclose to you ten dollars, five of which is to satisfy the claim of the Grand Encampment for a Charter of Recognition, and the balance to go into a fund to provide for the needful expenses of said Grand Encampment hereafter. T am induced to state that this Encampment insists in receiving its number and rank according to the date of its institution, the complete organization of which took place in the year lygo. {italics, mine.) You will please fill the warrant as follows : Philip P. Eckel, Grand Master, Peter Gault, Generalissimo, Adam Denmead, Captain General. I also enclose you a copy of our Certificate, with list of members. I have the honor to be, with re- spect. Your obedient servant, Archibald Dobbin, Recorder. The evidence furnished by this letter appearing conclusive, the membership of Maryland Commandery at once accepted the year 1790 as the date of the organization of their Com- mandery, and as it was not known that any other Command- ery claimed as early a date for its organization, they also claimed, and still maintain, that it is the oldest existing or- ganization of Knights Templar in this country. Since this claim was first advanced, however, records and documents have been brought to light, by which it is sought to prove an earlier formation for Commanderies in other parts of the country, in consequence of which the Sir Knights of the following Commanderies have, with more or less per- sistency, claimed priority of date for the organization 0/ their respective Commanderies, viz.: Boston, No. i, Boston, Massachusetts; South Carolina, No. i, Charleston, South Carolina ; Washington, No. i, Hartford, Connecticut, and St. John's, No. I, Providence, Rhode Island. As the two last named only claim to date their organiza- tion from the years 1796 and 1802 respectively, I need not at this time stop to discuss their claims to priority. St. John's, of Providence, I believe, only claims precedence from the fact that it is the oldest Chartered Commandery, and has continuous records from the date of its organization. I am very sure there is no Sir Knight of Maryland Com- mandery who desires to advance a claim which is not in per- fect harmony with the truth of history; therefore, with the view of definitely settling this question prior to our Centenary Celebration in May next, I have been induced to prepare the present paper, in which I propose to give as succinctly as possible the documentary evidence and legal proofs deduce- able therefrom, upon which the claims of the several contest- ing Commanderies are based, and then leave the decision of the question to the consideration of the Sir Knights of the country. Should their verdict be adverse to the claims of Maryland Commandery, I am quite sure the Sir Knights will acquiesce in their decision and take the second, or if need be, the third place of rank, with the best grace they can com- mand. From an interesting paper entitled "St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter," by Sir Knight Alfred F. Chapman, (Boston, 1882,) it is ascertained that the Degree or Order of Knights Templar was conferred in that Body, then known as St. An- drew's Royal Arch Lodge, as early as August 28th, 1769. As no record or document has been produced, either in this country or England, showing as early a positive conferment of the Orders of Masonic Knighthood as this, Boston is enti- tled to rank premier in this regard. The first reference found anywhere to the name, Boston Encampment, is of the year 1805. On May isth of that year, said Encampment was duly organized, having previously or- ganized in the year 1802, as a Council of Knights of the Red Cross. From the fact alone that Boston Encampment was organ- ized by Sir Knights who presumably received the Order of Knights Templar from those who may have received it in St. Andrew's Lodge in 1769, some of the membership of Boston Commandery, No. i, have claimed to date its organization from the year 1769. But I imagine no court of law would for an instant admit evidence of this character. If such evidence is permissible, Maryland Commandery may claim an earlier date than it does by ten years, for there is evidence showing that Brother Edward Day, who resided in the vicinity of Baltimore, was in possession of the Templar Orders to that of Malta as early as the year 1780, the presuniption being he received them in some Body in the City of Baltimore, whose members subsequently organized Encampment No. i. It is clear, as I have stated, that the Order of the Temple was conferred in St. Andrew's Lodge, in the year 1769, but there is no evidence whatever showing the existence in Boston of an organized Encampment of Knights Templar prior to the year 1805. Sir Knight, Theodore S. Gourdin, Eminent Commander of South Carolina Commandery, No. i, of Charleston, delivered March 23rd, 1855, a most able and interesting address before his Commandery, entitled "Historical Sketch of the Order of Knights Templar," in which he says : "The South Carolina Commandery was established in 1780, as is evident from the old Seal in our Archives." The records prior to November 7th, 1823, were lost or destroyed by fire, but he says it is clear that the Encampment was in active operation in 1803, because on December 29th, 1824, Past Grand Commander Francis Sylvester Curtis, was by resolution declared a life member, he having regularly paid his arrearages to the Encampment for more than twenty years." Sir Knight Mackey, in his history of Freemasonry in South Carolina, referring to the statements of Sir Knight GouRDiN, says : "I have been unable to find any reference in the cotemporary journals of the day to the existence of South Carolina Encampment at that early period." But he gives a description of a diploma in his possession, dated August 1st, 1783, wherein it is certified that Henry Beau- mont received the degree of Royal Arch Mason, Knight of the Red Cross, Knight Templar and Knight of Malta in "St. Andrew's Lodge, No. i," of Charleston. Sir Knight Benj. Dean, Grand Master of Templars, ob- tained possession of this diploma from the son of Sir Knight Mackey, and had it, as well as other interesting diplomas, heliotyped and published with his address to the Grand En- campment in 1883. He gave at the same time the result of his zealous and laborious investigations regarding the seal and diploma referred to, as well as certain papers which will be alluded to hereafter. Copies of this diploma were sent to distinguished Breth- ren in various parts of the country, by whom it was regarded with great interest as well as surprise. First because of the existence of the Order of Knight of the Red Cross at that early day, the belief being general that the Order was an invention of Webb, about the year 1797, and secondly because of the fact stated in the diploma that St. Andrew's Lodge, No. i, was held under a Charter from " The Grand Lodge of the Southern District of North America" a Body none of the Brethren appear ever to have heard of before. It was left for the able and distinguished antiquary, Brother Sidney Hayden, of Pennsylvania, to enlighten the Brethren of this country regarding this Body. In a letter to Sir E. J. Jennison, Eminent Commander of South Carolina Commandery, under date May ist, 1883, Brother Hayden states : "That after Florida became a Brit- ish Province, in 1763, at the close of the old French war, it became known ars the Southern District of the British posses- sions in America, and was divided into two Provinces, called East and West Florida, over each of which was appointed a Colonial Governor. James Grant, of East Florida, was ap- pointed by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1768 Provincial Grand Master of the Southern District of North America, and about the year 1770 established a Lodge called St. Andrew's, No. I, at Pensacola. After the close of the Revolution, Florida became again a Spanish Province, and many of its inhabitants, who had been British subjects, removed to Charleston, South Carolina. This removal was mostly in 1783 and the year before, and with them, it seems, St. Andrew's Lodge was also removed. In July, 1783, it applied to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for a Charter, which was granted twelve days later, as Lodge No. 40. The reception of their Char- ter was acknowledged by the Master under date September 29th, 1783. (This digression was made necessary in order to make clear what follows.) This old and interesting diploma of course establishes the fact that the Orders of Knighthood were conferred under the sanction of a Lodge warrant in the City of Charleston as early as 1783. Upon the evidence alone of the possession of the Seal re- ferred to, and a certain document bearing an impression of the same, which will be mentioned presently, our fraters of South Carolina Commandery, No. 1, date the organization of their Commandery from the year 1780, and did actually celebrate with interesting ceremonies, on December 29th, 1880, an alleged centennial of its organization. I think I will be able to show that this Centennial was premature ; that this Seal with the document to which it is attached, which, as stated, is the only evidence produced to establish the date 1780 for the formation of the Commandery, are, in a legal point of view, entirely valueless, and would not be entertained by any court of law. This Seal, to which, as intimated, so much value and im- portance is attached by the Sir Knights of Charleston, and which disappeared from their Archives at some period not definitely known, but subsequent to the year 1855, most sin- gular to say was recovered by Grand Master Dean while making his investigations regarding the history of this very Commandery. The curious story as related by himself is as follows : "My researches in the Grand Secretary's office, in Massachusetts, brought me information that Sir Knight A. G. Haley, of Salmon Falls, N. H., had such a Seal in his possession. He gave it to me to be disposed of according to my discretion, saying that he bought it of a cook of a schooner in Dover, N. H. He bought it in the Massachusetts Centennial year for one dollar. The cook said that he had, a little time be- fore, thrown it up out of the ground, while banking up the earth around his house in Bath, Maine. He also said it was valuable because it was pirate money. On being told pirates did not make their own money, but stole other people's money, and that it probably was connected with the Knights Templar, he did not think it was worth so much, and parted with it. It is silver, of which Seals were made at the time of its date." This Seal, as well as the old diploma, are now in the Archives of the Grand Encampment of the United States.* A short time prior to the holding of the Centennial referred to, the fraters of South Carolina Commandery came into pos- session of certain papers through Sir Knight S. Stacker *In reperusing the account of the recovery of this Seal a few days since, I was reminded of a circumstance which I had entirely forgotten. About eighteen years ago, while traveling in Georgia, front an interior town to the country, I lost a keystone which 1 had carried for a number of years, and which I greatly valued, because of its associations. It was made from a beautiful piece of rock crystal that was found on the adjoining place where I resided, in Alabama, in 1850. It had upon it the usual Mystic Circle of letters, within which was cut a represen- tation of the 47th Problem of Euclid. I left a description of it with a Brother Mason residing in the town near which I had lost it, with the request to make enquiries regarding it. Some time subsequently he wrote that it was found by a lady, who, attaching to it a ribbon, sus- pended it from the neck of her little child, whence it was stolen by a servant girl, who, fearing detection, threw it away ; but she was either unable or unwilling to designate the spot where it fell. Some years hence, perhaps in making excavations for improvements, this keystone may be brought to light, when as in the case of the Seal referred to, the wonder will be, when and how did it get there ? Williams, of Ohio, which had been in the possession of the widow of a son of Sir John Snow, Grand Generalissimo of the General Grand Encampment from 1819 to 1826. These papers are published in a pamphlet containing an account of the so-called Centennial Celebration, and consist of extracts . from the minutes of a meeting of nine Knights Templars held at Charleston, August 27th, 1823, for the purpose of re- organizing South Carolina Encampment, No. i, in conformity with the Constitution of the General Grand Encampment of the United States. The records show that on the day named, the nine Sir Knights present authorized the reopening of the Encamp- ment, No. I. That it was thereupon duly convened, and the members severally signed the oath of fealty to the General Grand Encampment, and passed upon the form of a petition to that Body for a Charter of Recognition, three additional names being attached to the petition; making it twelve. The preamble and first resolution read as follows : (Italics, mine.) At a meeting of South Carolina Encampment. No. i, at their Asylum, in Charleston, South Carolina, a constitutional number of Knights Templar, members of said Encampment, present, among other things it was Resolved, That on diligent search being made in the Archives, it clearly appears that this Encampment was in full operation under the sanction of the Warrant of Blue Lodge, No. 4.0, upwards of thirty years ago, and continued in opera- tion many years subsequent, and has, time out of mind, caused to be made and used a common Seal. It also further appears that said Encampment has lain dormant for several years past. The second resolution recognized the General Grand En- campment of the United States, and requested that a Charter of Recognition be forthwith issued by that Body, and that it confirm the election held this day. The third resolution authorized "Sir Knight James C. Winter and the Recorder to forward the necessary docu- ments to prove the existence of the Encampment prior to the 'year 18 16, and to obtain the recognition." Opposite the signatures of the Sir Knights present at the meeting, and also opposite the signatures of the twelve Knights signing the oath of fealty to the General Grand En- campment, is a Seal, consisting of an inner and outer circle, between which are the words and figures, "Memento Mori, Lodge, No. 40." Inside the inner circle is a double spherical triangle, and between the outer and inner triangle appear the words, "In Hoc Signo Vinces." Within this triangle is a representation of a human skull and cross bones, and sur- mounted by a passion cross; In compliance with the request of the^e Sir Knights, a dispensation was issued by Sir John Snow, General Grand Geheralissimo, dated at Providence, Rhode Island, September 23rd, 1823; in the preamble to which, the facts are setforth as in the petition, that said Encampment was in full operation upwards of thirty years ago, and that it was in existence prior to the year i8i6, the date of organization of the General Grand Encampment. The next paper exhibited in the pamphlet is a copy of a circular letter, now in the Archives of the Grand Com- mandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and which reads as follows : (Italics, also, mine.) South Carolina Encampment, No. i, Charleston, September 3rd, 1823. I. N. P. E. F. E. S. S. Pax Oblectatio Et Unitas. Most Eminent Sir and Illustrious Companions : I have the honor to inform you that the Encampment of Knights Templar and the appendant Order, established in this city in 1780, has this day regularly acknowledged and . come under the jurisdiction of the General Grand Encampment of the United States, and in behalf of our Encampment we crave from you that interchange of friendship and social in- tercourse between our respective members individually, and between our Encampment by correspondence, which charac- terizes our illustrious and magnanimous Order. 12 You have herewith an impression from our old Seal, and the signatures of our officers, and I beg you may reciprocate with us. I salute you fraternally, Signed, JOSEPH McCOSH, Recorder. [Seal.] M. HOLBROOK, M. D., G.-. C.\ TH. W. CURTIS, Gen. DAVID ROSS, Cap. Gen. To the M.-. E.-. Grand Commander, Sir Henry Fowle, Esq., G.'. M.'. and Illustrious Knights, Companions of the Grand Encampment of Mass. and Rhode Island P. S. — We will give timely notice of the change which ivill take place in our Seal. The impression of the Seal attached to this letter is pre- cisely the same as those on the two papers referred to, except that in lieu of the words and figures, "Lodge No. 40," are the characters and figures, "S. Ca. Enc, No. i, 17S0," (meaning, of course. South Carolina Encampment, No. i, 1780,) which characters and figures are for the first and only time referred to or on any paper or document exhibited in the pamphlet. To my mind it is very clear that after this paper was written, and before being sent to its destination, the contemplated "change" in the Seal did "take place," and therefore it was not an impression of the old Seal that was sent to the Grand Encampment of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but an im- pression, either of the old Seal altered, or, what is more prob- able, an impression of a new Seal. The "old Seal," as we have seen used twice, only seven days previous to the date of this letter, bore the words and figures, "Lodge No. 40." This letter being found incorrect in a vital particular, the maxim must therefore apply, "Falsus in uno, falsus in omni- bus-" the letter would not be evidence in a court of law to establish the date of the organization of South Carolina Commandery, No; i, in the absence of corroborative evi- dence. Of such evidence there is none. On the contrary, the proofs are altogether the other way. As for instance : Both the resolutions reorganizing the Encampment, and the preamble to the petition to the General Grand Encampment, 13 recite the fact that the Encampment was in operation under the sanction of the Warrant of Blue Lodge, No. 40, upwards of thirty years ago. The inference is, therefore, irresistible that the "old Seal" was the one bearing the words and figures, "Lodge No. 40," and that the Seal bearing the characters, 'S. Ca. Enc. 1780," was a new one, never used prior to about the date of this letter. Again, the records of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania establishes the fact that "Lodge No. 40" was warranted July 12th, 1783, and the letter of Brother Hayden shows that St. Andrew's Lodge, No. i, of which it was the successor, was only removed from Florida to Charleston a few months pre- viously. It was therefore impossible that South Carolina En- campment could have been held under the warrant of Blue Lodge, No. 40, as early as 1780. It is too preposterous to suppose that it could have had an independent existence before coming under the jurisdiction of Lodge No. 40. The fact stated in the records of August 27th, 1823, that the Encampment was in operation under the sanction of the warrant of Lodge No. 40, upwards of thirty years ago, might be evidence in a court of law. Our fraters of South Carolina Commandery may, therefore, with some propriety, date the organization of their Commandery as from the year 1793, but they cannot go behind that year, because of the use of the words "upwards of" That the Encampment was organized about the time men- tioned, (1793) seems to be confirmed by an item I noticed recently in an address delivered by Sir Knight Chapman, acting General Grand. High Priest to the General Grand Chapter, in 1883. Under head "The Capitular Rite," he has the following : "John Hanmer, an Englishman, who, ac- cording to his own showing, came to America in 1793 or 1794. In a letter written by Hanmer from Charleston, S. C, under date August 23rd, 1809, he said that since he had been in Boston he had 'taught the lectures in many parts of the Union, and further, that he had been engaged in Ma- sonic proceedings in America for more than fifteen years.' 14 That he was then one of the Inspectors of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina, High Priest of the-Carolina Chapter, and Secretary of an Encampment, which / {he) was the means of CI eating." If this Encampment was the one created by Hanmer, which is quite probable, as there is no mention of any other Encampment in South Carolina prior to 1823, it could not have been created earlier than 1793, fo"" Hanmer did not come to this country until about that year. I will now put in evidence the letter of Sir Archibald Dobbin, Recorder of Encampment No. i, of Baltimore, quoted in the first part of this paper, to substantiate the claim to priority advanced by the Sir Knights of Maryland Com- mandery. I would call particular attention to the following language used in that letter, to-wit : "/ am induced to state that this Encampment insists in receiving its number and rank according to the date of its institution, the complete organization of which took place in the year 17 go." This language, I think, might be paraphrased to read : By a resolution of this Encampment, I am instructed to demand that in the Charter of Recognition requested, this Encamp- ment shall receive its number, and be ranked according to its age. — It had an informal existence for some time under the warrant of Lodge No. 15, (now Washington Lodge, No. 3,) in which the Order of the Temple was conferred, but in the year 1 790, the organisation of the Encampment was fully and completely effected. This letter, it will be remembered, was an official commu- ■ nication issued by the Recorder by instruction of the En- campment, bearing its official Seal, and addressed to an Official Body, of which the Encampment was a constituent, asking, or rather demanding, its rights. Among the mem- bers of the Encampment at the date of this letter, were many who were members of the Fraternity in 1790, and therefore IS it is to be presumed, were perfectlj/ familiar with all the circumstances connected with its organization, and knew whereof they were speaking. That the claim was regarded a valid one by the Grand En- campment of Pennsylvania, is fully evidenced by the fact that the Charter of Recognition issued by that Body, now in our archives, bears the title "Encampment of Knight Templars No. I, Maryland." As is the case with most of the early Masonic Bodies of this country, the earlier records of the Encampment are not existing, but I have in my possession three diplomas, issued by Encampment No. i, in the years 1802, 1812 and 1814 respectively, each of which bear the impress of the same Seal as that on the Dobbin letter. The existence of Maryland Encampment, No. i, in 1807 is evidenced by the Baltimore City Directory of that year, and a copper plate for diplomas, now in our archives, establishes the fact of its existence in or prior to the year 1809, for the en- graver John Baneman, died in that year. Records and documents now in the archives of the Grand Commandery of Pennsylvania prove its existence from 1814 to 1824, during which time it was a constituent of the Grand' Encampment of that jurisdiction. This Grand Body became extinct about 1824, and the Encampment No. i, remained in a semi-dormant condition until February 28th, 1828, when it was re-organized as an independent organization, and so con- tinued until 1832, when it became a constituent of the Grand Encampment of the United States, under which authority it remained until the organization of the Grand Commandery of Maryland, in 1870, when it became a constituent of that Body. Thus the chain of evidence lacks but a few links to com- plete the existence of Maryland Commandery, No. i, origi- nally known as Encampment No. i, from the year 1790 to the present moment. And as I trust I have conclusively i6 shown neither of the Commanderies contesting our claim to priority have produced proofs showing as early a date for its formation, Maryland Commandery, No. i, is the oldest exist- ing Body of Knights Templar in this country, and is justly en- titled to rank as the premier Commandery of the United States. [Note — In the year 1856, the General Grand Encampment adopted a new constitution by a provision of which, the titles of all the Temp- lar bodies were changed. The title of the State Grand bodies as well as the Subordinates was changed to "Commandry." It alone retaining the title "Encampment," but omitting the word General.] ; Ot.OftICI|lHLi. SEHU eU .