Cross Keys September 2016

The Cross Keys September 2016

The Monthly Newsletter of Lodge Houstoun St. Johnstone

In this issue: A Civil War Tale An Old Sash Masonic Buildings Old & New Aberdeen Mark Book Grand Lodge of Russia Making a Mason at Sight The Craft & Voodoo The Red Indian Connection The MacDowell Family

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Number 194

A Civil War Tale MANY YEARS AFTER THE WAR HAD ENDED, A SON OF BROTHER L.J. WILLIAMS OF DOWNSVILLE LODGE NO. 464 N.Y. REPORTED IN LODGE OF A STORY HIS FATHER HAD TOLD HIM OF AN MASONIC EXPERIENCE HE HAD DURING THE WAR. WHEN THE WAR BROKE OUT THE ENTERED APPRENTICE AND THE FELLOWCRAFT DEGREES HAD BEEN CONFERED ON HIM IN NEW YORK. HE WENT OUT IN DEFENSE OF HIS COUNTRY WITHOUT HAVING BEEN RAISED TO THE DEGREE OF MASTER MASON. IT WAS HIS MISFORTUNE TO BE TAKEN A PRISONER OF WAR WHILE AT OR NEAR SAVANNAH, GA. WHILE HE LAY IN THE SOUTHERN PRISON, HE COMMUNICATED THROUGH LETTERS WITH SOME OF HIS FRIENDS IN THE NORTH. HIS LODGE IN NEW YORK, THROUGH PROPER OFFICIALS, GOT IN TOUCH WITH ZERUBBABEL LODGE IN SAVANNAH, AND MADE THE REQUEST THAT THE SAVANNAH LODGE, AS A FAVOR TO THE BRETHREN OF THE NORTH, CONFER THE MASTER MASONS DEGREE ON THE FELLOWCRAFT BROTHER, L.J. WILLIAMS. ONE NIGHT MY FATHER WAS TAKEN FROM HIS PRISON AND CONDUCTED TO THE SAVANNAH LODGE ROOM. IT WAS A REMARKABLE OCCASSION. HE WORE HIS BEDRAGGLED BLUE UNIFORM, A TOKEN OF HIS SYMPATHY WITH THE CAUSE OF THE NORTH. ALL OF THE CHAIRS WERE OCCUPIED BY CONFEDERATE OFFICERS. HE WAS SURROUNDED BY MEN WHO WORE THE GRAY. THEY WERE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF A STRUGGLE TO THE DEATH, BUT THEY WERE BRETHREN. THEN AND THERE HE WAS RAISED A MASTER MASON AND ACCLAIMED A FRIEND AND BROTHER BY HIS ENEMIES. BUT THE MORE SIGNIFICANT FEATURE OF THE STORY WAS YET TO FOLLOW. FOR ON THE SAME NIGHT MY FATHER ESCAPED FROM HIS PRISON AND JOINED HIS COMPANIONS OF THE NORTH. I HAVE VISITED SAVANNAH SINCE THEN AND LOOKED UP THE RECORD OF HIS RAISING. IN RED INK, ON THE SAME PAGE THAT RECORDS THE FACT THAT THE DEGREE WAS THERE CONFERRED, IS THE BRIEF ANNOTATION: " ON THIS NIGHT BROTHER WILLIAMS ESCAPED FROM PRISON ".

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A Civil War Tale (Ctd) I HAVE TALKED WITH MY FATHER ABOUT THE MATTER A NUMBER OF TIMES. WHEN ASKED ABOUT HIS ' ESCAPE ' HE ALWAYS SMILES PERCULIARLY. YOU MAY PUT IT DOWN AS AN ESCAPE, HE TOLD ME, BUT IT WASN'T AN ESCAPE, STRICKLY SPEAKING. FOR ON THAT NIGHT SOME MEN CAME TO MY PRISON. THEY PUT ME IN A BOAT AND CARRIED ME OFF SOME DISTANCE. THEN THEY DEPOSITED ME ON SOME NEUTRAL SOIL BETWEEN THE LINES. FROM THERE I FOUND MY WAY BACK TO MY FRIENDS. WHO MY RESCUERS WERE, I HAVE NEVER LEARNED. IT IS THEIR OWN SECRET, AND IT HAS NEVER BEEN DISCLOSED. BUT IN MY MIND I KNOW EXACTLY TO WHOM I MAY ATTRIBUTE THE 'ESCAPE' IN QUESTION. HIS NAME IS HIRAM.

The above was taken from the Blues and Grays website run by Bro. John Jobe—my thanks to Bro. John for allowing this to be re-printed. There are numerous heart warming stories from the Civil War demonstrating the brotherly love between so called ‘enemies’ and they show what freemasonry is really about in adverse times.

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Sad and Doleful To the left is Bro. Kendrick Forrest (aged 39) who was shot dead last May while acting as a security guard for a nightclub in Dallas Texas. He is now the 13th person murdered in 16 days in Dallas. Sadly, his mother just buried her husband the day before.

Earlier that day, he rescued two women and a baby from this accident. He will be sadly missed by all his family and we sent our condolences to them.

Amazing Zip Slide Result Last May, various Provincial Grand Lodges worked together under the guidance of Bro. Tom Davidson Provincial Grand Master of the PGL Lanarkshire Middle Ward and his team to raise ÂŁ115,000 donated to Prostate Scotland at Grand Lodge in Edinburgh in June. Scottish brethren & family members did a zip slide across the River Clyde in Glasgow. Below is the Grand Master Mason of Scotland presenting the cheque on behalf of the brethren.

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An Old Sash The sash is a beautiful velvet item, with numerous symbols, familiar and less familiar. It has two sets of numbers embroidered into the material and curiously, one explanation for these may be that they relate to two separate Grand Lodge of Ireland Warrants issued to the town of Castlebar, just down the road in County Mayo. Within a triangle is the number 12 which may refer to Warrant No 12 Granted on the 1st August 1828 to Bros George Knox, Joseph M O.Donnell and Francis H Wright to hold a Lodge

in Castlebar.

This Warrant only worked for a short time, before it was Cancelled by Grand Lodge on the 4th January 1844. Similarly we find the number 146 also embroidered on the sash, which may refer to The Lucan Lodge No 146 Castlebar, a Warrant issued by The Grand Lodge of Ireland on the 29th December 1845 to Bros Thomas Christie, Edward C Bourke and Ford Langston. These three Brethren along with seven others, all of whom had been members of the defunct Lodge 12, held their first meeting on the 3rd February 1846 in Castlebar. Sadly, this second Lodge survived for an even shorter period of time,

as this Warrant was also cancelled by Grand Lodge on the 4th July 1850, probably as a result of The Great Famine, Cholera outbreaks in the Castlebar district in 1849 and the ever present loss by emigration.

The sash itself, is of exotic manufacture, and is reminiscent, in some ways of Aboriginal or Polynesian art. Clearly in the example shown, the Dove aspect of the famous Noah’s ark story, has not come across as clearly as the Turtle aspect. The entire sash is full of greenery as the next illustration will demonstrate, although most of you will recognise the three burning tapers and the letters W.T. and the pillars J & B.

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Masonic Buildings—The New It’s not often that there is good news about lodge buildings, but the new masonic temple in Bloomington, Minnesota is one such story. It opened last June costing $25,000,000—yes, 25 millions dollars! The Minnesota Masonic Heritage Centre will host a library, museum, and a 425 seat auditorium which is available to the public for rental. There will be marble floors, stained glass windows, 14 foot bronze entrance

pillars and oak panelling to show off the great architectural skills of our past.

I suspect this will become a ‘must see’ for many masons.

Masonic Buildings—The Old Construction on the Masonic Lodge Richmond Randolph Lodge No.19 on East Franklin Street at N. 18th Street in Shockoe Bottom began in 1785 and was finished in 1787.

When the Union

troops came in after the burning of Richmond at the end of the Civil War, this Masonic Lodge was one of three buildings that were guarded and protected. The following night, Union soldiers sat in lodge with Confederate soldiers.

It is believed to be the oldest existing Masonic hall in continuous use in North America. This list of member Masons - and special guests who have been inside these walls is long and prestigious. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice and Secretary of State John Marshall was a signature member and had an office inside the building.

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Masonic Buildings—The Old (ctd) King Edward VII, the Prince of Wales, and the Marquis de Lafayette have been among international visitors.

This particular lodge, which is growing and now has more than 100 members, is building and banking on its history. It has attracted new members at a time when many fraternal organizations are seeing their membership’s age and decline.

The building also has some structural problems and is in need of expensive rehabbing, so they're asking for help and hence held an open night last June.

Visit http://masonshall1785.org/ to see the full details.

242 Visit Lodge St. John Dalmuir No. 543

Some of the brethren of both lodges with the masters in the centres—Bro. Ian Rogers and Kenneth Rogers who are real brothers—242 conferred the MMD on 10th May in Clydebank.

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The Aberdeen Mark Book The records of The Lodge of Aberdeen commence in 1670 in what is known as the Aberdeen Mark Book. The first image here is a page, from a section of that book, which lists the name, occupation and the Masons' Mark of each individual member.

As can be seen the entire social strata is shown on this single page. For example, there is a humble piriuige maker [porridge maker], a lord and an earl, a Minister of the Church of Scotland and at No.11, a Glazier. It is the Glazier at No.11 that we wish to discuss here. The full entry reads: 'James Anderson: Glassier [Glazier] and Measson [Mason]; and Wreatter [Writer] of this book 1670 (and Master of our Lodge in the year of God 1688 and 1694).

This is none other that James Anderson, Snr, who's son later wrote the 'Constitutions of the Free-Masons' for the Grand Lodge of England and which was published in 1723.

The importance of this cannot be underestimated. James Anderson, Jnr, was born c.1680 and therefore grew up in a home where his father was an active Freemason. To emphasis this further - when Anderson, Jnr, was eight year's old his father was Master of the Lodge. When he was 14 his father was again Master of the Lodge. His father also acted as Lodge Secretary for several years. What effect would this have had on Anderson, Jnr, can only be guessed at but this must surely have influenced his later Masonic activities?

Another well known member of the lodge and recorded in the Mark Book is John Skene— better known as the first freemason in the United States. In 1684 was he appointed Deputy Governor of West New Jersey.

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The Grand Lodge of Russia The current Grand Lodge exists from only 1995 under the GLNF (France) although freemasonry in Russia was present in the 18th century. Today, it is much smaller with only around 200 members (GM & DGM shown below).

All lodges use the Russian language, except Lodge Aurora No. 6 and Brotherly Love No. 10 which work in English, while Northern Radiance No. 9 works in Russian and Armenian, and Alexander Pushkin No. 11 works in Russian and French. A research lodge, Quatuor Coronati No. 8, has recently been formed in Moscow.

Lodge Brotherly Love No. 10, was erected in April 1999, with a travelling warrant, something common to military lodges, but rarely in use today. Uniquely, it was actually consecrated, by arrangement with the Grand Lodge of Turkey, in Marmaris, Turkey. The initial lodge officers are Russian, Turkish, with one Lebanese brother. The lodge will travel and meet in East Asian Republics where no Freemasonry presently exists, and assist in creating indigenous lodges. It held its second meeting in Moscow in June 1999, a day prior to the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Russia. The lodge can be contacted via the Grand Lodge office in Moscow. Russia now has twelve lodges under charter, but given the size of the country, this number is likely to expand greatly in the years ahead.

Currently chartered Russian Lodges are as follows: Meeting in Moscow: Lodges Harmony No. 1, Lotus No. 2, Aurora No. 5, Quatuor Coronati No. 8, Northern Radiance No. 9 and Alexander Pushkin No. 11.

Meeting in St. Petersburg: Lodge Astrea No. 3 Meeting in Archangelsk: Lodge Polar Star No. 6 Meeting in Voronezh: Lodge Gamaioun No. 4 Meeting in Zvenigorod: Lodge Jupiter No. 7 Meeting in Vladivostok: Lodge Pacific Rim No. 12 Meeting variously: Lodge Brotherly Love No. 10

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Making a Mason at Sight I believe making a mason at sight is done by US Grand Lodges. So what exactly is it? On December 3, 2011, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, exercised an authority unique to Grand Masters and made Brother Clifton Truman Daniel a Mason at sight. Brother Daniel is the oldest grandson of Brother Harry S. Truman Past Grand Master and former US President. It has happened many times before to dozens of men who have become "true and faithful" Brothers among us. Milton Eisenhower, Charles W. Fairbanks, Andrew Mellon, Booker T. Washington, William Howard Taft, etc all were made Masons at sight. A couple of years ago basketball standout Shaquille O'Neal and Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss became Masons at sight. It might be said a full list of Masons at sight reads like a Who's-Who of Masonry. Yet many Masons have reservations about the practice, feeling it dilutes the experience of becoming a Freemason and somehow indicates the Mason at sight Brother somehow lacks enthusiasm for or knowledge about the fraternity.

The conventions for making a Mason at sight, as most everything else in the Craft, vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions, including mine — Missouri, the making of a Mason at sight is prohibited. In general, however, the procedure employs some form of ritual and obligation and has guidelines for how many Brothers must be present. According to Mackey, "The mode of exercising the prerogative is this: The Grand Master summons to his assistance not less than six other Freemasons, convenes a Lodge, and without any previous probation, but on sight of the candidates confers the Degrees upon him, after which he dissolves the Lodge and dismisses the Brethren."

Of course, not everyone does things according to Mackey. Still, some Brothers hold the general conception that the process of making a Mason at sight is almost literal: The Grand Master snaps his fingers and, voila! A new Mason. It doesn't work that way. "In this case," said the GM "it means there was no petition, no investigation and the ceremony was slightly shorter. I made every effort to ensure Brother Daniel was comfortable doing things this way because I didn't want him to miss anything and didn't want him to feel he wasn't getting the full experience."

Brother Clifton was obligated in the Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft degrees and received an impressive and full Master Mason degree. Whatever he missed he could easily pick up by viewing the first two degrees. The entire ceremony was solemn, well-orchestrated and beautifully conducted — far more than a snap of the fingers.

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The Craft and Voodoo In Haiti the Craft arrived by way of the Grand Lodge of France. In 1697, the Spanish had ceded the Western portion of Hispaniola to the French, and by the 18th century, the colony (then known as "SaintDomingue") enjoyed a booming trade in coffee, sugar, and cocoa. With the increased movement of merchants, colonial officers, and slavers, the ideas and practice of freemasonry also became well established. When Haiti won its independence, and utterly abolished slavery at the end of the 1791-1804 Haitian Revolution, masonry was so ingrained into local culture that the all-black revolutionary government inherited the Craft amongst their other spoils of war.

When the Haitian Revolution kicked off in 1791, thousands of French colonists fled the uprising, escaping a widespread massacre of white slavers to land at ports such as Trinidad in the south of Cuba. Joseph Cerneau was one such French-Haitian freemason. He founded Cuba’s first lodge in 1804, the Cuban Theological Virtue Temple in Havana and that’s another story.

The photo above shows a masonic grave in the Grand Cemetery in the Port au Prince and the cover photo shows masonic symbolism mixed with voodoo symbols.

September Events in 242

Thursday 8th—EAD

Thursday 22nd—FCD by 205 Event: Sportsman’s Dinner—Friday 7th October, 2016

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Red Indian Connection to Freemasonry (September 1873) In his own fashion, and according to the circumstances of his time, Eli Samuel Parker (b. 1828) was the greatest of all American Indians. Certainly that would be true of the state of New York in which he was born and where more Indian history was made in the 18th and early 20th centuries than anywhere else. Brother Parker (a zealous Mason) attended school till 18, then read law but was refused admittance to the bar because he was an Indian and therefore not a citizen of the land of his fathers (his own land, also).

He then attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and became a civil engineer. Even in those early days this young Indian began to become an outstanding man. He was a friend and, more than once, a dinner companion of President James K. Polk. While superintending engineering works in Galena, Ill., he became a close friend of Ulysses S. Grant. In 1867 he was made Brigadier General of the Regular Army.

In 1868 he became Grant's military secretary and in that capacity was present at Lee's surrender. Lee raised his brows to see an Indian on Grant's staff. And then occurred one of the most romantic moments in the whole history of Indian peoples! Adjutant T.S. Bowers was too nervous to write the terms of capitulation (he felt history breathing down his neck).

Therefore Grant ordered Parker to write out the official documents Lee signed.

In the meantime, as the following quotation from Parker himself shows, he received high Masonic Honours. The quotation tells its own story and adds a memorable episode to the history of George Washington's Masonic career.

"Eli S. Parker, a full-blooded chief of the Six Nations, and grandson of the renowned Red Jacket, was highly educated and an eloquent speaker with charming action. In alluding to himself at a banquet in a Western city (remarked an earnest Masonic Brother who was present) he said: 'I am almost the sole remnant of what was once a noble race, which is as rapidly disappearing as the dew before the morning sun. I found my race wasting away, and I asked myself, Where shall I find home and sympathy when our last council fire is extinguished? I said, I will knock at the door of Masonry and see if the white race will recognize me, as they did my ancestors when we were strong and the white man weak.

'I knocked at the door of the Blue Lodge and found brotherhood around its altar. I went before the great light in the chapter and found companionship beneath the Royal Arch. I entered the encampment and found there valiant Knights willing to shield me without regard to race or nation.

'I am happy to meet you in the grand councils of the gathering, and to share these greetings and hospitalities. I feel assured when my glass is run out, and I shall follow the footsteps of

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Red Indian Connection to Freemasonry (ctd) my departed race, Masonic sympathizers will cluster around my coffin, and drop in my lonely grave the evergreen acacia, sweet emblem of the better meeting. ' If my race will disappear from the continent, I have a consoling hope that our memory shall not perish. If the deeds of my ancestors shall not live in stories, their memories will remain in the names of our lakes and rivers, your towns and cities, and will call up memories otherwise forgotten.'

"Few eyes could withhold their tears, as he poured forth in words like these the utterance of a full heart. Silence for a time prevailed after he sat down. When he arose (he) said, 'I have in my possession a memento which I highly prize. I wear it near my heart. It came from my ancestors to me, their successor in office. It was a present from George Washington to my grandfather. Red Jacket when our nation was in its infancy. You will be glad to see and handle it, and I should do wrong not to give you the opportunity.'

"As he spoke, he removed wampum from his bosom - a large massive medal in an oval form, about 7 inches by 5, and it passed from hand to hand along the tables. On one side of this medal, engraved in full length, the figures of two chiefs, Red Jacket in costume, presenting the pipe of peace, and Washington with his right hand extended, as in the act of receiving it. With the date, 1792."

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Pause to think!

September questions—one from the Craft and one from?

1.

Name the five orders of architecture and which refer to the master and wardens?

2.

What is the symbol and what is its significance?

Answers on next page.

Masonic Lodges Worldwide The Island of Inch Lodge No.581 (IC), chartered in 1781, was a small country Lodge located in the townland of Carnaghan, on the island of Inch in Southern Ireland near Londonderry.

Today, due to smaller numbers on the island, the lodge left the island in 1953 and now meets in the masonic premises in Londonderry with the building being sold to the Presbyterian Church. The lodge issued a very unusual anniversary jewel in 1931.

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To Advertise or Not?

We are often told never to advertise jobs, work, etc as a mason and yet in the Masonic News of 1873, it was a regular feature for all trades and professions to advertise weekly. Therefore, is it wrong to do this or are we being too tough on ourselves?

Pause to think!

Answers 1.

The five orders of architecture are Ionic, Doric, Corinthian, Tuscan and Composite.

The first three refer to the master, senior and junior wardens representing wisdom, strength and beauty respectively.

2.

The triple tau within an equilateral triangle has been adopted as the Royal Arch symbol and can be thought of as the triune essence of the deity and three Ts or H and T.

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The MacDowall Family The Houstoun family of our lodge was connected to the MacDowall family through marriage. The founding master’s mother was Mary MacDowall— hence the reason that Johnstone has a MacDowall Street and was the sister of William MacDowall PM of Paisley Kilwinning Lodge.

Who was he? William was born in 1700 the son of Colonel William MacDowall of St. Kitts and Castlesemple. He lent £500 (about £75,000 in today’s money) to the town of Paisley to pay for the release of the hostage taken by Prince Charlie’s army in 1745. Although he was an advocate, he was involved with the formation of a new bank in the Saltmarket. The founders were William Macdowall of Castle Semple; Andrew Buchanan of Drumpellier; Allan Dreghorn of Ruchill (a former bailie of Glasgow); Colin Dunlop (son of James Dunlop of Garnkirk, a former bailie and future Lord Provost of Glasgow); Robert Dunlop (brother of Colin); and Alexander Houston. The bank note bore a ship, but were otherwise fairly plain; the last noted being presented for use in 1907.

Bro. MacDowall represented the County of Renfrew in parliament in 1768, was master of Paisley Kilwinning in 1754 and died in 1768. He had four sons who were also members of Paisley Kilwinning. The eldest son, also called William, was MP various years between 1783 to 1807, was Lord Lieutenant of Renfrew in 1793 and Provincial Grand Master over the Western Districts in 1801—1821. The second oldest son was James who was Lord Provost of Glasgow in 1790—1792. The youngest son Bro. Day Hort served in the Honourable East India Company in the Bengal Civil Service. When he returned home, he acquired the estate of Walkinshaw before the Castlesemple estate on the death of his older brother.

His son with the same name became a Lt General in the British Army and 22nd of Garthland and was admitted to Lodge Garthland St. Winnoch No. 205 in Lochwinnoch as Lieutenant Colonel Day-Hort McDowall commissioned in the 3rd Buffs regiment; he was entered, passed and raised on the 9th of June 1857 and was master in 1861 & 62. He donated the building which houses the current library, but initially was the primary school and died in 1870 without issue

His brother called Henry (23rd of Castlesemple) was admitted to the lodge on

6th February, passed on 27th February and raised that April in 1872. He was master during the period 1872—77 and 1881—May 1882 when he died (presumably in office). The current family live in Canada.

The

estate

with

Castlesemple

House

(opposite) was sold to the Bro. Lee Harvey which will be in October Cross keys.

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The Grand Lodge of California has gone into the social media big time and the above shows a flavour of what they do. Whether we agree or not, it is a source to attract younger members and thankfully the Grand Lodge of Scotland has ventured into this area with the excellent Facebook page. Perhaps Phase 2 will be an app to update members on current developments, charitable givings, etc.

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Pokemon is everywhere!!!!

In Memoriam The dead are like the stars by day … withdrawn from mortal eye… yet not extinct that hold their way In glory through the sky… .Spirits of bondage thus set free… .Vanish amidst immensity…

While human thought… .Like human sight… .Fail to pursue…. Their trackless flight.

It is with deep sadness and much regret that we have to inform you of a loss sustained to the craft in Renfrewshire in the passing to the Grand Lodge above of the following Brother: Bros. Ian Fry & John Douglas Balmer

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To submit an article or want added to the mail list or facebook group, contact the Editor: Grant Macleod: E-Mail:

sec242pm@yahoo.co.uk

Thanks to Bro. Allan Stobo PM for proof reading.

Don’t forget to support The Ashlar magazine— Scotland’s only Masonic magazine.

Just click on the magazine to find out more.

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