CRAFT STEWARDSHIP MASONIC EDUCATION NEWSLETTER Volume One November 2020 Issue 3

RITUAL EDUCATION MENTORING

The of in the Province of 363 King Street West Hamilton, Ontario

LEST WE FORGET PLEASE REMEMBER TO WEAR YOUR POPPY!

In This Issue

TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………….……..….….…page 1

M.W. BRO. JOHN ROSS ROBERTSON - PART TWO…………………….……….….….pages 2 – 4

GRAND LODGE MASONIC EDUCATION VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS………….….....…page 5

THE EMPTY CHAIR: A CEREMONY OF REMEMBRANCE………………………….…pages 5 - 6

FOR THE FALLEN……………………………………………………………………..……..….….page 6

WHY THE POPPY IS THE SYMBOL OF …………….…….…..pages 7 - 8

THE CASE OF THE MISSING SWORD………………..…………………………..………...…page 8

A JOURNEY THROUGH WESTERN DISTRICT………………….……………..……....pages 9 – 10

A COUPLE OF EXTRA TIDBITS……………………………….……………….……….....….page 10

PHOTO GALLERY…………………...…………………………....…………….………..….....page 10

M.W. BRO. JOHN ROSS ROBERTSON

Grand Master (1890-1891 and 1891-1892) of the Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario

Grand First Principal (1894-1895 and 1895-1896) of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Canada in the Province of Ontario

Grand Master (1882-1883, 1883-1884 and 1884-1885) of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of Ontario (Cryptic Rite)

Masonic Career

Mr. John Ross Robertson was initiated in King Solomon’s Lodge, No. 22 GRC, Toronto, on March 14, 1867, and is shown as a Life Member on the 1896 membership list. He joined Mimico Lodge No. 369, Lambton Mills and in 1879 was elected WM and became WM of King Solomon’s Lodge in 1881. In 1883 he was elected to the Board of General Purposes of the Grand Lodge of Canada and in 1896, was DDGM of Toronto District No. 11 (34 lodges). He was elected Deputy Grand Master in 1888 and became Grand Master for the 1890-91 term. In his address at the 1892 Annual Communication he stated that during his two year term he had visited each of the 348 lodges on the register. In 1891, the year that Sir John A. MacDonald died, M. W. Bro. Robertson was appointed to succeed him as Representative of the United Grand Lodge of England for the Grand Lodge of Canada. Upon the occasion of the coronation of King Edward VII, he was given the rank of Past Junior Grand Warden of the United Grand Lodge of England. Outside of Canada, besides his Grand Lodge appointment in England, he was elected an honorary member of Mary’s Chapel Lodge No. 1, Edinburgh, and became a member of Fortrose Lodge, No. 108, Stornoway, Scotland. In 1888 he became a Correspondence Circle Member of the No. 2076, , England.

Bro. Robertson made a unique gift to Toronto Masonry in a Master’s Chair. This chair is historical because it is made from two oaken beams taken from the floor of the “Goose and Gridiron Inn” in St. Paul’s Church Yard, the Inn where the first Grand Lodge met in 1717. These beams were given to Bro. Robertson by the builder who demolished the building. It has the following inscription under the seat: “This chair is made from the rafters which supported the first floor room of ‘The Goose and Gridiron’ Tavern, London Yard, St. Paul’s Church Yard, London, England, built in 1670, in which the election of Anthony Sayer, first Grand Master Grand Lodge of England took place June 24, 1717, secured by J. Ross Robertson of Toronto on its demolition in 1897." The chair is now in the York Temple and was used by the Grand Lodge for the installation of the Grand Master on the one hundredth anniversary of the Grand Lodge of Canada in 1955. In Capitular Masonry, he joined King Solomon’s Royal Arch Chapter No. 8 in 1867. He became its First Principal in 1880. He continued in this office in 1881 and was elected Grand Scribe ‘N’ in the same year. He was elected Grand First Principal in 1894 and was re-elected in 1895. During his terms he visited all the Chapters under his jurisdiction. In Knights Templary, he joined Odo de St. Amand Preceptory, No. 17, in 1876, and was Marshal in 1879 and Constable in 1880. The following year when Odo de St. Amand and Geoffrey St. Aldemar Preceptories were amalgamated he was elected the first Presiding Preceptor of the joint body. He was elected Provincial Grand Prior of the Toronto District in 1882 and in the following year was Grand Pursuivant of the Sovereign Grand Priory of Canada. He joined the Cryptic Rite in 1875 when he was admitted into Adoniram Council No. 2, Toronto, becoming TIM in 1876 and was appointed a Grand Steward of Grand Council (1876-77). At Grand Council he served as Grand Captain of the Guard (1877-78), Inspector-General, Toronto Division (1878- 79), Grand Treasurer (1879-80), Grand Lecturer (1880-81) and Grand Lecturer (1881-82). He was elected and installed as Grand Master at the Twelfth Annual Assembly (July 14, 1882) for the 1882-83 term. He was subsequently re-elected as Grand Master for the 1883-84 and 1884-85 terms. He was elected as Grand Recorder for the 1885-86 and 1886-87 terms. His obituary notice reads: “He joined the Scottish Rite in the City of Toronto in 1876, and at the time of his death was the oldest member in the Valley of Toronto. He did not at any time take any prominent part in the Scottish Rite work, and it was only because of his love for the Craft and his great work in that branch of the Order that he was made an Honorary Inspector-General 33E at a special meeting of the Supreme Council for Canada in the year 1903.” His Masonic endeavours touched on another and unexpected aspect of the Craft. Indigent Masons were dying in Toronto and had no burial place or no means to be interred. To remedy this, in 1883 he purchased a plot in Mount Pleasant Cemetery facing Yonge Street with 243 individual resting places, and it is deeded as follows: “That he was desirous of providing a burial ground for the interment of such poor and indigent Masons, legally and lawfully admitted members of the Order known as A.F. & A.M.’s as may die without having provided for their interment, or whose interment it may be desired by the proper representatives of the Masonic Order”. The Chairman and Secretary-Treasurer of the Masonic Board of Relief of Toronto, who are elected by the representatives of the Toronto Lodges, were appointed custodians with the authority to permit burial in this Masonic plot “free from all fees and charges” to any member of a Lodge of A.F. & A.M. under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Canada, or in a jurisdiction recognised by that Grand Lodge, a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, a Royal and Select Master, a Preceptory of Knights Templar, or the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The present secretary, in supplying me recently with the information given above, notes that one hundred and fifty-three indigent Masons have been buried therein.

Perhaps the greatest contribution John Ross Robertson made to was his literary activities. He was the author of a two-volume in Canada, published in 1899, and wherever a reference to early Canadian Masonry is quoted, that reference nearly always comes from these two volumes. He authored two other Masonic histories which are not so widely read. One is a History of the Knights Templars of Canada, published in 1890, the other, Robertson and Drummond’s History of the Cryptic Rite, appeared in print in 1888. In 1904, when his name was proposed as an active member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076 ER, his literary works were put forward in support of his candidature. His Talks with Craftsmen seems to be very little known. He also wrote a history of King Solomon’s Lodge, Toronto, from 1864 to 1885, and copies of this book are very scarce. Not the least of his writings is the six-volume set of Robertson’s Landmarks of Toronto, now a valuable source of anything that belongs to Toronto’s past, and a publication that must have taken a vast amount of time to compile. During his lifetime he built up a Masonic library of three thousand volumes, originally given to the Toronto Public Library, but in 1935 it became the start of the magnificent Grand Lodge Library of the Grand Lodge of “Canada” in the Province of Ontario. It includes unpublished manuscripts, copies of minute books of old Lodges, some of which were defunct over a hundred years ago, and of Lodges which are still flourishing. His name is commemorated in Lodge No. 545.

[Sources: (1) John Ross Robertson - Freemason, by W. Bro. John E. Taylor, May 16, 1961, presentation to the Canadian Masonic Research Association, as printed in the Proceedings, Volume 2 Paper 59, Published by Heritage Lodge, No. 730 GRC, 1986. (2) Canadian Men and Women of their Time, by H. J. Morgan, 1898 Edition, Part II, copy held by the National Library of Canada. (3) A History of the Grand Lodge A. F. & A. M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario 1855 - 1955, by Walter S. Herrington and Roy S. Foley, Published by the authority of Grand Lodge, McCallum Press Ltd., Toronto, 1955. (4) The Sovereign Great Priory of Canada of the United Orders of Malta and of the Temple 1855-2002: The Supreme Grand Masters, by Michael Jenkyns, ISBN 0-9732736-0-7, published by Gryphon Jenkyns Enterprises, Nepean, ON, April 2003. (5) The Cryptic Rite in Ontario: The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of Ontario 1871-2004, by Michael Jenkyns, ISBN 0-9732736 4-X, published by Gryphon Jenkyns Enterprises, Nepean, ON, April 2005.] History Past Grand Masters Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario

GRAND LODGE MASONIC EDUCATION VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS

With the onset of the pandemic situation that we find ourselves in some Districts scheduled a series of virtual presentations covering a variety of topics. During the summer it was suggested that the Masonic Education Committee also consider hosting Masonic Education online presentations to hold the Masonic interest of the brethren. The Grand Lodge Masonic Education Virtual Presentations got underway on Saturday, September 12th with a presentation by W. Bro. Daniel Molin who spoke on Hiramic Meditations: How Freemasonry Crafts a Stoic Lifestyle. One hundred fifty-six brethren RSVP’d for 251 available spaces and the actual attendance for this presentation topped out at sixty-five. The committee was very pleased with this result. This event was followed on October 3rd with Bro. Mitchell Allison’s presentation of Sacred Geometry: The Golden Ratio & Fibonacci Sequence. Three hundred twenty-four brethren from thirty-six of our forty-one Districts RSVP’d and one hundred forty-seven brethren signed in. Eight brethren from outside the jurisdiction expressed an interest. There have been some growing pains encountered, but work is continuing to get them ironed out. The next presentations that are on the books and ready to go include Bro. Jared Shapira on Saturday, November 7th who will be speaking about Masonic Dress. On Saturday, December 5th Bro. Martin Faulks will be addressing the brethren on A Mosaic Palace - Freemasonry and the Art of Memory. Dr. Kim Redman is scheduled for the first presentation of 2021.

Mark your calendars and watch for the invitation from W. Bro. Don Kemball so that you won’t be disappointed.

THE EMPTY CHAIR CEREMONY A CEREMONY OF REMEMBRANCE

When we return to Lodge and are able to meet once again on the Level, one item of business that you might want to consider for the November meeting is the Empty Chair Ceremony. This ceremony, also referred to as the Vacant Chair ceremony, dates its origin back to 1875, a decade after the close of the American Civil War when it was used in Masonic Lodges to pay tribute to those who did not return from the war. Lt. Frederick John Holt Beever (on the plaque it is spelled Beaver) was the first Mason honored by this U.S. program. He was a British Freemason who was killed in a hostile action in the U.S. Army on the northern plains in what was then known as Dakota Territory. Since then, it has been used by many Lodges at Remembrance Day to pay homage to those Brother Masons who fell during WWI, WWII, and other wars. The ceremony is based on material taken from the rituals of 1875, Frontier Army Lodge of Masonic Research No. 1875 in the USA. The Grand Lodge of presented the ceremony in 1948. Moira Lodge No. 11 of The Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario followed on November 7, 2001. The ceremony can be adapted to a Lodge’s specific requirements and in the intervening years it has been carried out by many Lodges throughout the world. The commemorative plaque reads:

“On this spot, July 31, 1863, occurred the first Masonic ceremony held in the present state of North Dakota. It was the Masonic funeral of Lieutenant Fred I. Holt Beaver, an Englishman and Oxonian, and a volunteer soldier attached to the staff of General H. H. Sibley. He was killed in a skirmish with the Indians and was buried in the rifle pits which were dug along this ridge.

Deputy Grand Master John C. Whipple of Minnesota convened an emergency with Brothers A. J. Edgerton as Worshipful Master, J. C. Braden, Senior Warden, and Patch, Junior Warden. The body of Brother Beaver was here consigned to earth with Masonic services.

This tablet and marker has been placed by the Grand Lodge, A.F. and A.M., of North Dakota, A.D. 1920, A.L. 5920, to commemorate the fact that while Lieutenant Beaver died far from home and among strangers, yet he was among brethren who saw that the honors so justly his due were paid him.”

FOR THE FALLEN

Laurence Binyon composed his best-known poem while sitting on the cliff-top looking out to sea from the dramatic scenery of the north Cornish coastline. A plaque marks the location at Pentire Point, north of Polzeath. However, there is also a small plaque on the East Cliff north of Portreath, further south on the same north coast, which also claims to be the place where the poem was written.

The poem was written in mid , a few weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. During these weeks the British Expeditionary Force had suffered casualties following its first encounter with the Imperial German Army at the on 23rd August, its rearguard action during the retreat from Mons in late August and the Battle of Le Cateau on 26th August, and its participation with the French Army in holding up the Imperial German Army at the First Battle of the Marne between 5th and 9th September 1914.

Laurence said in 1939 that the four lines of the fourth stanza came to him first. These words of the fourth stanza have become especially familiar and famous, having been adopted by the Royal British Legion as an Exhortation for ceremonies of Remembrance to commemorate fallen Servicemen and women.

Laurence Binyon was too old to enlist in the military forces, but he went to work for the Red Cross as a medical orderly in 1916. He lost several close friends and his brother-in-law in the war. great war.co.uk/poems

WHY THE POPPY IS THE SYMBOL OF REMEMBRANCE DAY

More than one hundred years have passed since Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae sat down and wrote the timeless remembrance poem “In Flanders Field”. After presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow serviceman Alexis Helmer, Lieutenant-Colonel McCrae penned the 15 line poem while noticing that red poppies grew uninhibited around the graves of fallen servicemen. The story goes that at first McCrae wrote the poem while sitting at the back of an ambulance and, immediately dissatisfied with his efforts, he discarded the paper it was written on. It was retrieved by a fellow serviceman, and the poem was published in the London based magazine “Punch”. Due to its immediate success it was turned into propaganda, it was used as a recruiting call and it was even used as a pitch for war bonds. Although immensely popular at the time, no one knew the extent to which a simple poem, written by a war-tired Canadian would have on the world at large.

By mid-1918 World War l was coming to an end. There was a light at the end of the tunnel of death and destruction that had taken up the better part of five years. A middle-aged schoolteacher named Moina Michaels from Athens, Georgia, inspired by the classic poppy-centred poem “In Flander’s Field”, wrote “We Shall Keep the Faith”. She wrote the response poem while on a leave from teaching at the University of Georgia. She relocated to New York to volunteer at the headquarters of the YWCA and was deeply moved by the McCrae poem: "We cherish too the poppy red

That grows on fields where valour led.

It seems to signal to the skies,

The blood of heroes never dies.”

So inspired by the ultimate sacrifice made by the soldiers embroiled in the battle, Michaels returned to the University of Georgia and taught a class for disabled servicemen from the war. It was during this time that she realized these military personnel deserved the utmost respect and should be remembered and celebrated. These servicemen were now unable to provide for themselves due to their disabilities, so Michaels took it upon herself to do something about it. She began crafting and selling crude silk poppy replicas to raise funds for her “students”. Due to the overwhelming success of her endeavour, the American Legion took notice and in 1921 they adopted the poppy as the official symbol of remembrance for war veterans.

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, a war widow from named Anne Guerin took up the poppies’ cause for the same reasons. France had lost a whole generation of men to the war and Madame Guerin felt they deserved a symbol of remembrance like the Americans. She, like Michaels, began selling small hand-crafted replicas of the poppy in order to raise funds to rebuild her war-torn country. After a successful campaign in France, she made the trip to Canada to continue her crusade. The Royal Canadian Legion adopted the poppy as the official symbol of remembrance in 1921 (along with Britain and Australia). In the beginning, the Canadian Legion bought its poppies from Madame Guerin’s organization.

This continued until 1966 when the Legion began enlisting Canadian companies to create the replicas. Millions of poppies are sold worldwide each year throughout the commonwealth to support veterans and their families and to remember those who have fallen to fight in the name of freedom. In 2014 a record of 19 million poppies were sold in Canada alone. The combination of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance, and November 11th as Remembrance Day we stand together, poppies pinned close to our hearts on our left lapels. We remember those who fought and died for our country and hence, for us. The joys and freedoms we now enjoy are because of their sacrifices; sacrifices made in the hopes we as a people would never have to endure the horrors of war again.

In 2019: 12,297 students from 127 schools placed 64,503 poppies in 121 cemeteries. No Stone Left Alone Memorial Foundation

THE CASE OF THE MISSING SWORD

On August 28 – 30/20, a thief, or thieves, pried open the back doors of our Lodge in Kenora, entered the building, and roamed at will throughout. They pried open all the locked kitchen cupboards, raided the fridge, and from the upstairs anteroom stole the ’s sword. Fortunately, the Lodge room was not entered. After the police completed their work quick action was taken to secure the building. New dead bolt locks, lighting, and cameras are now newly added security measures. A week later, while having morning coffee, my phone rang. It was a friend who had been approached by a “street person” in front of the Lodge. Thinking my friend was a Mason, the stranger told him he was in possession of our sword and wished to return it. I abandoned my coffee immediately, went to the Lodge, met my friend, and was directed to the waiting stranger. There inside a musical instrument case rested our Tyler’s sword. In conversation with the stranger, I learned that he, having come into possession of it, sought to return it. Did I ask the obvious? No. It was sufficient to know that our property had been recovered. Our missing Tyler’s sword, undamaged, was home.

The moral of this story is:

A stranger, living on the streets, beset by drug addiction and surviving as best he could exhibited one of life’s most valued traits - HONESTY. Therein is a lesson to be learned. It is so easy to view ourselves superior to the less fortunate, yet this “man of the streets” demonstrated a valuable life lesson for all of us to emulate.

It is what we do that counts, and by our conduct, so may we be judged. For his honesty, and in gratitude for the return of our sword, he was given a monetary reward, together with our thanks and yes, a handshake (followed by a dab of sanitizer on parting).

Let us remember that regardless of our station in life, there is good found in those we often judge least likely to exhibit it. I hope the exchange of words of kindness and a sign of respect given, between a Mason and a “man of the streets”, may inspire a positive change for him. May he embark on a new positive direction in his journey through life.

So mote it be. V.W. Bro. Don Jones Lake of the Woods Lodge # 445 Kenora, Ontario

A JOURNEY THROUGH WESTERN DISTRICT Northwest of Toronto, in a land far, far away, on the shores of Lake Superior, lies the Land of Nanabijou, the Sleeping Giant. Here, at Thunder Bay, Ontario, is the gateway to Western District. Bordered in the southwest by the State of Minnesota, U.S.A., in the west by , and to the north by Hudson Bay/James Bay, Western District is the largest Masonic geographical district in Ontario. Out here, we measure travel in time, rather than distance. Beginning at Thunder Bay, our time to reach Atikokan Lodge, west on Hwy # 11/17, is 2.5 hours. To reach Fort Frances and Granite Lodge, it is another 1.5 hours further west. Continuing west another ½ hour, you will arrive at Manitou Lodge in Emo. A half hour further on Hwy #11, and you will arrive at Iconic Lodge in Rainy River. Legend has it that Yonge Street/Hwy #11 ends in Rainy River. Legend claims it to be the longest street in Ontario. Google however, disputes that claim, stating Hwy #11 begins at Barrie. Either way, travel to our district is two long days drive and comfortably three. From Rainy River, retrace your journey back east on Hwy #11, a half hour to the junction of Hwy # 71, and then travel two hours north to reach Pequonga Lodge, Keewatin Lodge and Lake of the Woods Lodge in Kenora, on the border with Manitoba.

Brethren from Kenora visit lodges in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is only a drive of two hours. Imagine that! It takes less time to reach out of province Lodges to the west, than to visit with some of our own district lodges.

Turning east from Kenora, go to Red Lake to visit Chukuni Lodge, three hours and fifteen minutes east by north, up Hwy 105. Proceed one and a half hours east on Hwy #17, to visit Golden Star Lodge in Dryden. Beyond Dryden, it is another one and a half hours east by north to reach Sioux Lookout Lodge. Your journey is not over, as it is another three and a half hours back southeast to the Lakehead where you started.

During your tour of Western District, you have passed through a portion of Thunder Bay District, all of Rainy River District, part of Kenora District, and ended back in Thunder Bay District. You will have visited ten lodges in the vast region known as Sunset Country.

To give you a perspective on distance, if brethren from Kenora (in the west) visit Atikokan Lodge, (in the east), it is a four and a half hour trip one way, from one side of the district to the other.

Oh! Did I mention that these travel times are calculated on bare, dry, pavement? It is not unusual to have visits cancelled when a winter storm moves in. Visiting another Lodge in Western District is a rare and special event, highly prized by the brethren visiting, and the brethren visited.

Travelling in Western District provides many scenic historical treasures, following the path of the voyageurs through world famous Quetico Wilderness Park, along Rainy Lake, Rainy River, Lake of the Woods, and the Winnipeg River, and on west to the prairies. On returning east, you are treated to historical sites along Hwy 17, the TransCanada Highway, linking Ontario to Manitoba. The side trips to Red Lake and Sioux Lookout take you to gold country and the hub of air travel to northern communities stretching north to Hudson’s Bay.

Western District is full of the history of exploration and the unparalleled beauty of nature. We live here year-round, in a place where tourists pay thousands of dollars to spend their summer vacation in our lake country. Masonry has been, and is, a vital part of life in the communities in this part of Ontario for well over one hundred years.

Come and visit us. You will be greeted with our famous Northern Hospitality.

An old Mason once said, “To phone God, from other places is long distance, but in Western District, it is a local call.” V. W. Bro. Don Jones Lake of the Woods Lodge # 445 Kenora, Ontario

A COUPLE OR MORE OF EXTRA TIDBITS Did You Know? Vignettes in Masonry from the Royal Arch Mason Magazine Edited by Wes Cook The Missouri Lodge of Research 1965

Ancient Greeks carried a sprig of acacia as an emblem of innocence and to protect themselves against temptation. March 1948 The world-famous landmark, St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England, was begun by Freemasons in 1675 and completed by them in 1710. September 1948

PHOTO GALLERY

The “Grover-Nicholls” House An outstanding example of Greek Revival architecture modified in the Palladian manner, it was begun about 1847 by P.M. Grover, a well-to-do local merchant. A type of building rare in Ontario, it was probably inspired by a “design for a villa” appearing in Minard Lafever’s “Modern Builder’s Guide”, 1833. The square pillars of this house are a classical Greek feature popular in North America principally because they were less costly to build than round columns. Robert Nicholls acquired the property in 1851, and it remained in his family, distinguished in Peterborough for public service and philanthropy, until 1906. Here the local Masonic Lodge held its meetings in 1849-53 and in 1950 the Masons purchased this imposing house. In September 2019 I had the pleasure of joining the brethren of Peterborough for Coffee Club. As per usual the welcoming was warm, and I was treated to a tour of this beautiful Lodge building. I am certainly looking forward to attending a meeting when this situation has quieted down. Thank you, R.W. Bro. Hay, V.W. Bro. McGowan, and Brethren. Special thanks for not assigning me the task of cutting the lawn! R.W. Bro. James Broomhead Happy to Meet - Sorry to Part - Happy to Meet Again