Scientia Coronati Research Lodge #4 F. & A. M.

Newsletter

JUL – SEP 2012 A.L. 6012

The Arizona Keystone

Volume 5, Issue 3

COLONIAL COLONIAL COLONIAL

FREEMASONRY FREEMASONRY FREEMASONRY

2

The Arizona Keystone

Volume 5, Number 3

Jul - Sep 2012

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Boyd Robertson, Master

MANAGING EDITOR

Keith Rosewitz, Secretary

The Arizona Keystone is an official pub-

lication of Scientia Coronati Research

Lodge #4 F. & A. M. and printed quar-

terly. Unless otherwise noted, articles

appearing in this publication express only

the private opinion or assertions of the

writer, and do not necessarily reflect the

official opinion of Scientia Coronati Re-

search Lodge #4 F. & A. M. or the Grand

Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of

Arizona.

Articles are subject to editing and sub-

mittal grants Scientia Coronati Research

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FEATURES

3. MASTER’S NOTES

4. PEN AND PAPER

5 Colonial Masonry Begins

6 The Medals of the Colonial

War

7 Pen and Paper

10 Colonial Impressions

SECTIONS

3 Master’s Notes

4 Scriptorium

CONTENTS

3

Master ’s Notes

My Brothers,

Can you believe that we are already into the third quarter of the year? So

how is your research going? I may be checking up on you at the next

stated meeting in September. As always we need brothers to step up and

volunteer to do a presentation. Brother Stan has graciously accepted the

challenge and will be presenting on the Principles of Masonic Law. It

should be a very interesting presentation and I hope to see all of you

there.

There is also some important work to be done in September. We

will be establishing the dues for the upcoming year as well as electing

new officers. So your attendance is needed to help the Lodge move forward into the new year. Your attendance and

input are vital to the continued growth and high expectations of our great research lodge. With that in mind I am

sending out a challenge to all of you. I want you to contact a brother from your blue lodge that has not been to one

of our meetings and invite him to attend with you. It will be a great opportunity for fellowship as well as education

and showing him what the research lodge is all about. Maybe he has a paper or research that he has done on his own

that he would like to present at a future meeting. And who knows, maybe he will even join us as a member of Sci-

entia Coronati Research Lodge #4.

In closing I would like to thank the brethren of Sy Harrington #70 for the warm welcome and interest at our

meeting there in June. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. Remember, keep studying, learning and growing!

Sincerely & Fraternally,

Boyd Robertson

4

SCRIPTORIUM My fellow Researchers or Custodians of Truth,

At the outbreak of the Revolution, Masonic Lodges

in America were few and feeble. The oldest of them

had existed less than half a century and the member-

ship was exceedingly small. But what was lacking in

members was more than supplied in quality. The Free-

masons of that period included the flower of colonial

citizenship and their very fewness

was a source of strength. In a

small lodge all could know and

trust each other; all felt the need

of absolute secrecy in deliberation

— of solidarity in action. There-

fore, it is not surprising that some

of these colonial lodges became

the center of revolutionary propa-

ganda.

(Source: Masonic Enlightenment,

By Michael R. Poll)

Bookshelf

1. Masonic Enlightenment— by Michael R. Poll

2. History of Military Lodges— A paper presented by H. Lloyd

Wilkerson, Major General, USMC (Ret.)

3. Freemasonry in the Thirteen Colonies—by J. Hugo Tatsch

4. The Faiths of the Founding Fathers— by David L. Holmes

5

S tarting in 1730, the Modern Grand Lodge appointed Provincial Grand Masters

in the Colonies. The first Provincial Grand Master in America was Daniel

Coxe, appointed for New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in 1730. There is

no record of his performing any actions as a Grand Master. The Modern Grand

Lodge also warranted lodges throughout the colonies starting with St. John’s Lodge in

Boston in 1733, and in that same year, Henry Price was appointed Provincial Grand

Master for North America.

He opened the St. John’s Grand Lodge in Boston, and issued warrants to lodges in

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,

Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and

elsewhere.

The Grand Lodge of Scotland warranted lodges throughout the colonies starting

in 1756 with St. Andrew’s Lodge in Boston and Blandford Lodge in Virginia. They also

appointed Capt. John Young as Provincial Grand Master in 1757. Joseph Warren was

appointed in 1769 to have authority “at Boston and within 100 miles of the same.” In

1773 this was expanded to cover the “continent of America.” As Grand Master he

opened the Massachusetts Grand Lodge and issued warrants for lodges in

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York.

Ireland warranted a number of traveling lodges with the Army in America. These

lodges initiated colonists who later became members of

other early lodges. The initiation of Prince Hall and 14

others into an army traveling lodge near Boston in 1775

was an event that continues to have ramifications in Ma-

sonry today.

Kilwinning Lodge in Scotland, which claims to be the

oldest active lodge in the world, issued warrants to other

groups to make Masons on behalf of the Mother Lodge.

The first of these was issued in 1677 to Cannongate Kil-

winning which still meets in Edinburgh on St. John

Street, near the Cannongate. Although Kilwinning Lodge

joined in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1725, a dispute over their

proper place on the list caused them to break away in 1743 for a period of over 60 years.

In this period they warranted other “Kilwinning” Lodges, including now extinct lodges

located in Virginia at Tappahannock and Falmouth, and perhaps also our Kilwinning-

Crosse #2-237 and Fredericksburg #4.

COLONIAL MASONRY BEGINS...

6

T he Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to

those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. mili-

tary. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York. With its

forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the

Purple Heart is the oldest award that is still given to

members of the U.S. military, the only earlier

award being the obsolete Fidelity Medallion. The

Badge of Military Merit is considered the first

military award of the United States Armed Forces.

Although the Fidelity Medallion is older, after be-

ing issued to three soldiers for a specific event in

1780 it was never awarded again, so the Badge of Military Merit is often consid-

ered the oldest. The Purple Heart is the official successor decoration of the

Badge of Military Merit. The Badge of Military Merit was first announced in

General George Washington's general orders to the Continental Army issued on

August 7, 1782 at the Headquarters in Newburgh. Designed by Washington in

the form of a purple heart, it was intended as a military order for soldiers who

exhibited, "not only instances of unusual gallantry in battle, but also extraordi-

nary fidelity and essential service in any way.

THE MEDALS OF THE COLONIAL WAR

7

PEN AND PAPER

A merican Union Lodge No 1. has an interesting story

during the colonial period in our history. It is considered

the first Ohio Lodge set up within the Northwest Terri-

tories, as it was called. General Rufus Putnam led a

group of Revolutionary veterans to settle the land in 1788.

"These American Pioneers to the Northwest Territory arrived at the

confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, on April 7, 1788,

and established Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent American set-

tlement in the Northwest Territory. Putnam went on to serve as a

Supreme Court judge for the Northwest Territory. Brother Putnam

established American Union Lodge No 1 in Marietta, but American

Union Lodge did not start out in Ohio. Since this was a military

Lodge, it was chartered in Boston Mass. in 1776 and by virtue of

the warrant the brethren met on February 16th, an Entered Appren-

tice Lodge having been opened, proceeded to elect the following

subordinate officers: John Parks, Senior Warden; Thomas Chase,

Junior Warden; Jonathan Heart, Secretary, and Samuel H. Parsons,

Treasurer.

"And each accepted and took their seats with the usual ceremonies." Jacob Dickerson was appointed Tyler

during the Lodge's pleasure and a committee of three named to prepare a "body of laws for the regulation of this

particular Lodge." Four persons were proposed to be made Masons, three of whom were elected to receive the En-

tered Apprentice degree. On February 20, the organization was completed and the first Masonic work was done.

The Lodge was opened in due form with the officers in their proper stations and eleven members and three visitors

present. The Entered Apprentice degree was conferred and "the committee having made a report and the laws read,

they were agreed to and ordered to be entered," and a Masonic body destined to experience every vicissitude of for-

tune in the Revolutionary Army and finally to light the torch of brotherly love and service anew in the great North-

west was launched on its career.

These were the times that tried men's souls. The Army was before Boston, which was held by 10,000 Brit-

ish troops, well equipped and well supplied, while their ships commanded the ocean....

"Gen. Washington was obliged to present a bold front but was unable to undertake any active movements or

explain the reason for his inaction." At any moment they might be attacked by the enemy and none could tell what

the final outcome was to be. Amid these conditions the American Union Lodge was born.

February 20 to April 2, 1776 meetings were held in Roxbury, Massachusetts. On March 28, Grand Master

John Rowe was present.

In April, 1776, the Army, having moved to New York City, a meeting was held on April 23 At Bridgewater

Hall. Eleven subsequent meetings were held between that date and August 15. The Battle of Long Island brought to

an end the series of convocations. Two of the brethren were killed and nine others, including the Worshipful Mas-

ter, Joel Clark, were captured.

February 15, 1779, Secretary Heart issued a call for a meeting at Reading, Connecticut, April 7. Joel Clark

had died in prison, and Gen. Samuel H. Parsons was chosen as Worshipful Master.

8

A meeting was held at Nelson's Point, New York, June

24, 1779 at which Gen. George Washington was present.

It was during this second sojourn in New York that

Brother Rufus Putnam, afterwards leader of the pioneer

settlement to Marietta, and eventually the first Grand

Master of Ohio, was initiated, passed and raised. Brother

Moses Cleaveland, who was one of the leaders of the

Connecticut pioneers to northern Ohio, was made an En-

tered Apprentice.

During the Army's occupation of New Jersey in the win-

ter of 1779-80 a few meetings were held in Morristown.

The meeting of December 27, celebrating the festival of

St. John the Evangelist, was the largest in numbers, thirty-

three members and sixty-nine visitors, including General

Washington.

No record of meetings in 1781, but meetings were held at different places in New York. The last

meeting was held April 23, 1783.

From now on the meetings of the Lodge were very irregular and but little Masonic work was done.

The war was over and the soldiers returned to their homes to take up the duties of peace. The Lodge

had come into existence while the conflict was in its infancy and had continued to its close. Her first Master

had died a prisoner. Her second, General Samuel H. Parsons, had rendered distinguished service to his coun-

try, attained the rank of Major General and was a member of the military court which had tried Major Andre.

Major Heart, the third Master, enlisted in time to take an honorable part in the battle of Bunker Hill and con-

tinued in the army until he met a

soldier's death striving to rally

Gen. St. Clair's troops in the

West. The members came from

Connecticut, Massachusetts, New

York, New Jersey, Delaware and

Virginia....

More than once disaster

had brought the Lodge to the

brink of destruction, but it had

survived and, though the brethren

knew it or not, in the providence

of God it was destined to light

the fires of Masonry in a land

which they had not seen. An in-

terval of seven years elapsed and

when the Lodge again assembled,

it was to find a permanent home

on the banks of the Ohio.

9

The little band of pioneers who landed at Marietta on April

7, 1788, and those who come after them, contained members of

American Union Lodge and others of the fraternity who were anx-

ious to erect an altar of Masonry in the wilderness. Soon this came

to pass and the wandering of the Lodge had ceased. Here it was to

remain, a powerful influence for good in the settlement for genera-

tions yet to come. In the words of Brother Martin R. Andrews:

"The year 1790 marks the beginning of a new era in the history of

American Union Lodge." For five years it continued to be in reality

a military Lodge, receiving and initiating recruits as they passed on

their way to conflict. Yet the Lodge had found a permanent home.

She stood at the portals of the great Northwest, and at the altar

many a pioneer halted long enough to light a torch which he could

bear far away into the wilderness. This, then. was the Golden Age

of our history, not because it was free from trials and cares, for the

whole period is full of struggles and perils. Rest is not the ideal of

men who meet for the purpose of learning how to labor for the good of others. The period was truly golden

in the opportunities it afforded the little group of brothers on the frontier to make their influence felt

throughout a vast empire and into successive generations."...

Jonathan Heart, third and last Worshipful Master of American Union (Army) Lodge, was mustered

out of military service in December, 1783. Two years later Brother Heart, as a captain in the army raised for

the protection of the western frontier, brought the Warrant of American Union Lodge to the west.

In November, 1785, a detachment of troops under Major and Brother John Doughty had been sent to

the mouth of the Muskingum River and there erected Fort Harmar. Under the

leadership of General Rufus Putnam the Ohio Company of Associates - New

England veterans of the Revolution - landed at the mouth of the Muskingum,

opposite Fort Harmar, April 7, 1788, and began the settlement of Marietta, the

"Plymouth Rock of the West." Log cabins were built and a stockade, called

Campus Martius, was erected as a refuge against the Indians. Such was the

beginning of the first permanent settlement planted within the limits of the

Northwest Territory.

On May 21, 1792, a letter was received from the Grand Secretary of

the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania which read in part: "It was with equal sur-

prise and pleasure the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania received intelligence of

the formation of a Lodge in the midst of the immense wilderness of the

West....As the account which you have given of the origin of your warrant is

perfectly satisfactory and as the succession to the Chair has been uninter-

rupted, your authority for renewing your work appears to be incontestable."

Thus were the Brethren assured of the right to carry on the work of the Craft

in their new land.

On March 24, 1801, fire destroyed the Lodge hall and with it were lost its Warrant, furniture, jewels

and implements. On November 7, 1803, W. Bro. Putnam reported that he had received a Charter from the

Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, "renewing the rights, privileges and precedence of this Lodge as heretofore

established."

Thanks to http://www.mariettamasonicbodies.com/au1history.htm for some of the Historical infor-

mation.

10

COLONIAL IMPRESSIONS

ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER HISTORICAL GEM

AT

GEORGE WASHINGTON’S FARM-7/4/08

Excavations at Washington’s Boyhood Home Uncover Vital

Piece of Presidential History ... Found in one of the cellars,

the pipe bears a clear Masonic crest; Washington joined the

Fredericksburg Lodge of the Masons in 1753. ..

"Flattering as it may be to the human

mind, and truly honorable as it is to re-

ceive from our fellow citizens testimo-

nies of approbation for exertions to

promote the public welfare, it is not

less pleasing to know that the milder

virtues of the heart are highly respected

by a Society whose liberal principles

must be founded in the immutable laws

of truth and justice. To enlarge the

sphere of social happiness is worthy of

the benevolent design of a Masonic in-

stitution; and it is most fervently to be

wished that the conduct of every mem-

ber of the Fraternity, as well as those

publications that discover the princi-

ples which actuate them, may tend to

convince mankind that the great object

of Masonry is to promote the happiness

of the human race."

George Washington