What Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

Shooting Ourselves in the Foot

Presentation at the District 20 Meeting, March 31, 2017 – Lexington, KY John W. Bizzack, Ph.D.

rom 1793-1805, England’s growing from Hitler. A close review of existing concern and fear of invasion by defenses brought to the attention of the FNapoleon’s enormous army and Parliament a small and long forgotten navy resulted in Parliament authorizing group of civil servants who still several watch stations to be built along maintained a lookout for Napoleon’s the English coast and manned by civil invasion fleet. servants. What seemed a good idea at the time in The purpose of these watch stations and 1805 to the King and Parliament had duties of the lookouts was to serve as the obviously outlived its original purpose, early warning system to an invasion fully but somehow that “good idea” became expected to arrive by way of the English lost in the mire of governmental Channel. bureaucracy and the lookouts for Napoleon’s invasion fleet – long after his Napoleon’s plan to invade England, defeat and surrender at Waterloo – however, was sidetracked in 1805 as he continued. became more focused on his military campaigns in Austria and Egypt. In 1815, This story is similar to what happens in the English army defeated Napoleon once when we continue to do and for all at the Battle of Waterloo and something but forget the original the threat of an invasion completely purpose of why we started it in the first disappeared. place. When that occurs, there’s a tendency in subsequent generations for In 1939 – a 124 years later - England was things like that to become thought of as again preparing for and mounting something we’ve always done. defenses against a possible invasion, but this time the threat of invasion came

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And when we think we’ve always done it Both events are inescapably connected – - even when that’s not true - we also tend and while it serves all Masons well to be to think it is still a good idea. aware both occurred is helpful – knowing the details surrounding why they I’m going to tell you about something occurred at all is essential - if we are to this evening that has happened in understand why we do what we do today Freemasonry– much like the lookouts in in our practice of Freemasonry because of England. that 1843 “good idea.” England built watch towers to keep This story begins on a gusty, but warm Napoleon out - when an invasion never rainy evening on September 11, 1826, came – they forgot why they built the when William Morgan – a transient, watch towers and allowed them to exist drunkard, suspected cowan, an operative for 124 years. stone mason with a reputation and track Freemasonry adopted a non-binding record of deceitful braggart - was forced suggestion from a convention that held against his will into a carriage by several no authority over grand lodges, yet every men known to be Freemasons - and adopted the suggestion. The never heard from again. Morgan had suggestion kept Entered Apprentices and previously lived in VA, KY and in parts of Fellow Crafts out of lodges for 144 years. NY before moving to upstate NY to What may have seemed a good idea at Batavia. the time outlived its alleged need and Eyewitnesses and later confessions purpose. Strangely, that perceived need offered enough proof to place the and purpose, even when it was proposed responsibility for kidnapping William in 1843 was a half-baked idea at the time. Morgan - subsequently causing him to ______never to be seen again - squarely on the shoulders of Freemasons. There are 2 primary and pivotal historical events in American Freemasonry that Five years of legal investigation and continue to influence the way our prosecution on the matter of Morgan’s fraternity operates today. disappearance left a trail of:

One event caused the other – and the • 20 grand juries and 15 trials; purpose of the first event was long • 54 Freemasons indicted, 39 brought to forgotten by the time most of the grand trial; lodges in American realized the reasons we did one thing was no longer needed • 10 were convicted, but none of the or effective at all. charge of murder.

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Each of the defendants confessed to • Masonic clergy were dismissed from abducting Morgan and holding him their churches. against his will for days – but no one • Lodges were burnt - and public confessed to killing him. Masonic participation at funerals; The trials added to the anti-Masonic cornerstone laying, and parades sentiment that already existed in the immediately waned and, in some places, country - opposition stemming largely completely disappeared. from the pulpits of many churches. • Anti-Masonic committees were Hearing details reported in dramatic established in practically every state. news accounts of the Morgan Affair Anti-Masonic books, pamphlets, and fanned those flames. speeches were common and consistent. ______Masonic meetings were disrupted.

For nearly 14 years following the Ultimately, Freemasonry was discredited disappearance of William Morgan, waves as an intellectual society - and portrayed of charges of illegal and immoral as a dangerous subversive organization - activities levied against all Freemasonry thus men no longer were eager to join or were rampant across New England and even be known as Freemasons. spread to other states. As an institution, the reputation of • Masons were accused of subverting Freemasonry was utterly decimated in political and religious institutions/and America. corrupting the criminal justice branch of The number of Masons in the United our government. States during the acknowledged hay-day • Women and the church joined in of the Anti-Masonry hysteria, dropped against Freemasonry -unifying the call for from 100,000 to 40,000. Six of every ten Masonry to be abolished – a call that Freemasons left their lodges – many who turned into a movement. moved to new towns and states claimed they’d never been Freemasons. • Eventually, Anti-Masonry spread more or less extensively into all the states - New York alone went from 20,000 denouncing first the institution and then members to 3,000 and from 480 lodges to the men, as unfit for any public office, eighty-two. The Grand Lodge of and unworthy of any respect. Pennsylvania surrendered its charter in 1834, conveying its property to trustees, • Not only were men who were Masons and did not reincorporate until 1859. denounced, but also denounced were those who would not denounce them.

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Kentucky saw its membership rolls cut in • Masons began to assume and practice half and the number of lodges dropped a cautious attitude in the hope of from sixty-six to thirty-seven. dispelling the misapplied public label of secretive and subversive. The Grand Lodge of fell into considerable debt and barely survived – a • Masonic temples were no longer fact verified by the historical writings of called such, and we began instead calling Kentucky Past Grand Master , our facilities lodges. who wrote in his 1859 book, The History • The study of esoteric subjects and of Freemasonry in Kentucky, “A practices like the Reflection Room along continuation of these circumstances with other parts of our heritage began to would have extinguished Masonry in slowly vanish from our traditions so not Kentucky.” to alarm those did not understand or Today we can easily trace the fraternity’s seek to appreciate the value of men reaction to that event and the subsequent searching for Light. anti-Masonic hysteria that rapidly spread • Other traditions easily fell by the through American to answer why we wayside so not to make Freemasonry adopted a non-binding suggestion that look like it was anything more than a unintentionally – but ultimately – further convivial, private get together by weakened American Freemasonry. members behind closed doors. For decades following the Morgan Affair, • Traditions and practices in place since Freemasonry seemed to work very hard 1737 in America began to die - even music to become fluent in apologizing for was believed to be unnecessary since so Freemasonry. much of it played on an organ sounded As a result, we observed practices and too much like religious hymns. traditions – all an integral part of the • Formality and protocols were watered system of Freemasonry, begin to vanish down and Freemasonry across the nation and fall out of practice following the began to rely strictly on ritual as the only Morgan Affair and anti-Masonic hysteria Masonic education necessary. that ensued across the nation. • We curtailed, and in some cases Freemasonry adopted the strategy that banished fraternal feasts and gatherings the institution must curry favor with all altogether – again to the extent that of society to regain the lost prominence many today who have been Masons for once enjoyed. decades have never attended or even Following the thirteen years of attempts know what a Festive Board or Table to stamp out Masonry in North America- Lodge involves.

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• And in many states, even the requesting all American Grand Lodges to definition of proficiency has been diluted send a delegate to Washington, D.C., for to simply knowing the grips, steps, and a convention to “fix” many of the passwords of each degree before moving problems facing Freemasonry in America. along to another degree. Too few lodges attended for any business to be conducted, so they decided to • We slowly began to embrace the attempt another convention in the next notion that fundraising and promotion of year. charitable giving outside of our membership not only occupied members, One of the purposes stated for both but pleased outside society, making the conventions was to establish "a uniform institution appear less threatening and mode of work throughout all the Lodges more mainstream – perhaps even of the United States.” shielded from public criticism to some Another was "to make other lawful degree. regulations for the interest and security • The years of Anti-Masonry had taken of the Craft.” its toll on the quality of the ritual. Many It was widely believed that the Morgan of the strong ritualists had either left the Affair would not have happened, and Craft during the anti-Masonic years or Freemasonry would not have undergone died. Of those that remained Masons -- the storm of Anti-Masonry as it had, if the decade and a half of inactivity had had there been better safeguards that caused the ritual to escape their prevented suspected cowans and memories and, thus, new members eavesdropper from sneaking or faking received poor instruction as to the their way into a lodge – capturing the workings of the fraternity. secrets of all three degrees – and then • After a generation or more passed, revealing them to the public. The many lodges had forgotten they’d done in question was how that might best be anything other than what they had seen prevented. in their lifetime as a Mason. In 1843, the second attempt to coordinate ______a convention of Grand Lodges was held in Baltimore. The 2nd part of our story begins in 1842 after these attitudes had taken deep root Only sixteen of the twenty-three grand in what was left of Freemasonry during lodges in the United States participated. that time. Kentucky did not participate.

That year, the Grand Lodge of , passed a resolution inviting and

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The convention did influence and The change suggested by was to established some uniformity, but not in prohibit lodges from opening and doing our rituals. any business except on the MM degree thinking that would prevent Dues card and letters of good standing eavesdroppers/cowans (as William were recommended practices to be Morgan was suspected to be) from adopted – and they were. You carry a finding into our lodges- see all three dues card today because of the Baltimore degrees - gain our private information - Convention. and then reveal it all to the public. They • The due guards of the Fellow Craft referred to opening in any degree but the and Master Mason degree were changed Master Mason degree to conduct to correspond to that of the First Degree. business was an “impropriety.”

• The movable and immovable jewels This was strange, since all lodges in the were changed - six Jewels belonging to world opened and conducted business on the Lodge, three immovable and three the Entered Apprentice Degree since movable. The moveable Jewels were Freemasonry was first organized in 1717. established as the Rough Ashlar, the Some Masons called the change an Perfect Ashlar, and the Trestle-Board. innovation. Others simply called it for The Immovable Jewels were identified as what it was: a knee jerk reaction to a the Square, the Level, and the Plumb. problem that could have easily been And then there was one final suggested addressed by requiring men to either change made at the eleventh hour from prove themselves Freemasons or reject the . their request for admittance into lodge. Despite disagreements, every grand lodge It might have seemed like a good idea at in America eventually adopted the “good the time. All states in attendance voted idea.” for it except New York. By the time of the Civil War (18 years later), that idea Kentucky was one of the last jurisdictions was already proving to have outlived to adopt that practice. Seven years later, whatever usefulness it was thought to the practice was adopted and continues have in 1843. today with even less purpose than it was thought to have in 1843. 1

1 Proceedings, Thursday, degree of masonry, except the initiation or passing of August 28, 1851, p.83, Wednesday, September 1, candidates.” In the case of Kentucky, this affirms that 1852, p. 33 documents that Dempsey Carrel, Past as of 2018, Kentucky has been conducting business Master of Confidence Lodge 52, Maysville, Kentucky, on the Master Mason degree for 166 years. The first made the motion “That all business of the fifty-two years of its existence, the Grand Lodge of Subordinate Lodges shall be transacted in the third Kentucky followed the practice of all American 6

What William Morgan intended to do in And, as a result, we clearly see today how 1826 was making some money from the the Baltimore Convention – an sale of his exposure, poke Freemasonry in incomplete representation of Grand the eye, perhaps embarrass those men Lodges in America - took it upon who had rejected and humiliated him by themselves to put forth an unbinding not making him a part of not only the idea that lodges should open and do prestigious Masonic community in business only on the Master Mason Batavia, but a member of a newly formed Degree - causing the adoption of that Royal Arch Chapter. poorly thought out idea and changed the face of Freemasonry in this county for the He didn’t accomplish the first goal of next 174 years. making money because he was kidnapped before the book was Twenty-six American Grand Lodges published. His book, however, was today continue to deny Entered published anyway. Apprentices and Fellow Crafts participation in lodge in a way that the But he did, however, achieve his second rest of the Masonic world would never goal and poked Freemasonry in the eye dream of. more than any exposure could. Twenty-four grand lodge jurisdictions The kidnapping further ignited and re- have, since 1988, reject the absurdity of fueled the anti-Masonic movement which the Baltimore Convention idea and allow continued to cast a long-lasting, negative their lodges to open and conduct shadow on Freemasonry in America to business on the Entered Apprentice this day. Degree.

Believe it or not, there are Masons who still contend that opening and doing In Closing Brethren- business only on the Master Mason We can easily see today how the actions Degree is the way we’ve always done it of a few Freemasons in 1826 who took from time immemorial. their oaths literally, were so poorly led As you can tell brethren, those who and instructed in the tenets and believe that today are simply wrong and profound lessons of our Craft that they grossly misinformed. changed the course of Freemasonry in America once they made their disastrous ______decision to kidnap William Morgan.

lodges prior to 1843 which permitted subordinate lodges conduct business on any degree. 7

If Freemasonry is to be re-invested of If they’d done so, the likelihood of the what it has been divested, it must get subsequent storm and public hysteria used to the idea that our fraternity is that surrounded the disappearance of going to be much smaller in the future. William Morgan may not have occurred The average retention rate of Entered as it did. Apprentices and Fellow Crafts is low There is no question in the minds of now. Continuing to keep them out of historians and Masonic scholars that the lodge does not contribute to stabilizing kidnapping and disappearance of our membership. William Morgan, ultimately led to the How can we genuinely integrate Entered Baltimore Convention. The Morgan Affair Apprentice and Fellow Crafts into our shook the foundation of American lodges if we do not allow them to attend Freemasonry to point of near collapse, and participate in lodge? and the recommendation from the Baltimore Convention that all lodges An Entered Apprentice is referred to as open and conduct business only the “brother” fourteen times in ritual. We Master Mason degree consequently and refer to a Fellow Craft as “brother” unnecessarily altered the course of the nineteen times in the ritual – yet we do fraternity. not offer or allow either of them a seat in our lodges until they are made a Master The vengeful ghost of William Morgan Mason. continues to haunt American Freemasonry – at least in those The world is full of good ideas that jurisdictions that refuse or disregard the seemed a good idea at the time, yet wisdom of returning to the real tradition eventual proved they were not. of allowing lodges to open on the Entered We can add to that list of things the 175- Apprentice Degree. year-old notion that it was a good idea to keep Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts out of our lodges and exclude them until they were raised to Master Mason.

But we must remember, that it probably would not have happened at all if the

Masons in Batavia and the surrounding lodges in that area had educated their members about the true aim, purpose, and heritage of the Craft.

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POSTSCRIPT – October 2018 submitted and passed, then held for vote the following year. Despite considerable BACKGROUND: The belief that Masonic education throughout Kentucky lodges to Lodges have always opened and done the contrary, much of the opposition was their business only on the Master Mason based on the belief that Kentucky has Degree is one of the most ridiculous always only opened and conducted myths lingering in American business on the Master Mason degree. The Freemasonry. In fact, the opposite is 2016 legislation, when considered for final generally true. Historically, Lodges approval in 2017, failed. throughout the world open and conduct their business on the E. A. Degree. In fact, At the October 15, 2018 Annual in America, prior to the 1843 Baltimore Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Convention, all Lodges opened and Kentucky, new legislation was introduced. transacted their business on the Entered That legislation gave lodges the option of Apprentice Degree. Today, only 24 opening and transacting business on the American Grand Lodge jurisdictions cling degree of their choice. The legislation to this outdated practice. failed.

In response to the 1843 Baltimore The vote was 195 (60%) delegates against Convention from which this unmerited allowing any lodge the option of a choice, practice originated, Dempsey Carrell, a and 135 (40%) delegates were in favor of Past Master from Confidence Lodge No. giving all lodges the option of a choice. 52 in Maysville, made the motion on Votes were cast by all 330 lodge delegates. September 1, 1852 at the Grand Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of The most common opposition remarks Kentucky, that all lodges in Kentucky since the first legislation was proposed transact their business only on the MM includes: that by passing the legislation degree. The motion passed without other doors would then open to change noted discussion or debate. Kentucky Freemasonry; such legislation removes incentive for an Entered Since 1987, twenty-four American grand Apprentice to progress to the other two lodge jurisdictions rejected this degrees; only Master Masons are informed innovation that weakens American enough to vote on business (although Freemasonry and now allow their lodges legislation proposed did not give the right to open and do business on the Entered to vote to Entered Apprentices or Fellow Apprentice degree if a lodge chooses to do Crafts); “The legislation “doesn’t feel so. right:” and, “We’ve done it this way for thousands of years.” UPDATE: Legislation to reject the motion made by Dempsey Carrell in 1852 has come before the body of the grand lodge four times between 2009 and 2015. Each time the legislation failed to be held over for consideration and vote the next year. In 2016 the fifth such legislation was 9

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