The Cross Keys

The Cross Keys September 2016 The Monthly Newsletter of Lodge Houstoun St. Johnstone Number 194 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 Cross Keys Sept 2016 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 ". Cross Keys Sept 2016 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. Cross Keys Sept 2016 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 £115,000 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. Cross Keys Sept 2016 An Old Sash The sash is a beautiful velvet item, with numerous sym- bols, familiar and less familiar. It has two sets of numbers embroidered into the material and curiously, one explana- tion 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 Febru- ary 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 pre- sent 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. Cross Keys Sept 2016 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 Herit- age 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 Jus- tice and Secretary of State John Marshall was a signature member and had an office inside the building. Cross Keys Sept 2016 Masonic Buildings—The Old (ctd) King Edward VII, the Prince of Wales, and the Marquis de Lafayette have been among interna- tional 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. Cross Keys Sept 2016 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 Scot- land 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.

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