Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
How An American Grand Secretary Writes Masonic History.
HOW AN AMERICAN GRAND SECRETARY WRITES MASONIC HISTORY .
Bv BKO . JACOB NOKTOX . SOME two or more years ago Brother S . D Nickerson , Grand Secretary of Massachusetts , told mo that an enterprising brother sent letters to all tho Grand Secretaries in the United States requesting each to write a history of Freemasonry of his own jurisdiction , and which histories , when completed ,
were to be issued as a History of Freemasonry , & c , and that he ( Bro . Nickerson ) declined to have anything to do with it . I was rather pleased that the new scheme met with his disapprobation , because I well knew that nineteen out of twenty of American writers on Masonry , and
especially Grand Lodge officials , would not write the truth , the whole truth , und nothing hut the truth , if truth clashed with their determination to perpetuate sectarianism in the ritual , or justifying Grand Lodges to meddle with the rights or wrongs of tho different high degreers' factions , or
for bragging up and magnifying the importance of some special American Masonio jurisdiction . When either of these questions are involved we cannot , as a rule , expect to read pure and unadulterated truth coming from the pen
of an American high Masonic official . I was , therefore , pleased with Bro . Nickerson ' s refusal to contribute to the proposed new Masonic history . Later on Bro . Nickerson told me that the contriver of
the new history was so urgent , and bothered him so much to contribute something , that he finally consented to authorise the assistaut Grand Secretary to compilo some
statistics of Massachusetts Masonry for tho now projected history of Massachusetts Masonry . The said new history ia now printed , and to my surprise I find Division VIII . is thus introduced .
" First glimpses of Freemasonry in North America . " By Sereno D . Nickerson , 33 ° , P . G . M ., Recording Grand Secretary of Massachusetts . " Bro . Nickerson ' s essay begins on page 439 , and winds up on page 455 . I presume the reason why he changed
hia mind , and finally concluded to have his say , was owing , first , to Bro . M & cCalla ' s announcement last year to visit Europe . Bro . MacCalla and Bro . Nickerson havo been at loggerheads Bince 1874 as to whether tho City of Boston or the City of Philadelphia ia entitled to the honour of being
crowned as the " mother of American Freemasonry . " Well , in the first place , Bro . MacCalla read a paper , in 1890 , before tho Q . C . Lodgo in London , demonstrating , after American Grand Master fashion , that Philadelphia wsa " undoubtedly" the American mother of Masonry . In
addition to which , Bro . Nickerson was informed that Bro . Charles E . Meyer P . M ., a 33 ° , and what not , was about to write for the new history a defence of the Philadelp hia claim to American Masonic mothership . Hence , I presume , that Bro . Nickerson considered it his duty to
defend Boston mothership of American Masonry in the said new Masonic history . And had Bro . Nickerson confined himself to prove that the first Lodge planted in Boston in 1733 , by Henry Price , was undoubtedly done by the authority of the English Masonic authorities of 1733 , while
all the so-called arguments brought forward by Messrs . MacCalla , Meyer and Co . to prove the legality of the Philadelphia Lodge , from January 1731 to 10 th Jul y 1749 , when the Philadelphia Masonry was legalised by Grand Master Oxnard , of Boston , granted to Benjamin Franklin a Prov .
G . M . Deputation empowering him to grant charters for Lodges in Pennsylvania , when he ( Franklin ) , by virtue of that power , legalised , for the first time , the Masonry in Pennsylvania . I say , had BrQ . Nickerson confined his arguments to prove the above facts , I would have said
with all my heart— " Well done , Bro . Nickerson . " But as Bro . Nickerson went beyond the said facts , and ventured to prove unfounded theories , which are as fallacious as Messrs . MacCalla and Meyer ' s Philadelphia theories , I am , therefore , in duty bound to correct Bro . Nickerson ' s
errors too . The first question I would like to ascertain is , about the first record of the Grand Lodge of England . Bro . Nickerson , on page 453 ,
says" In Moore ' s Freemason ' s Monthly Magazine for August 1871 , Past Grand Master John T . Heard describes the records of tho Grand Lodge of England , as exhibited to him on tho 6 th October 1870 by R . W . John Hervoy Grand Secretary . Ho gives particular description of Vols . I . and II ., by which it appears that the former is interspersod with lists
How An American Grand Secretary Writes Masonic History.
of Lodges and members , and also with blank pages , on whioh it waa probably intended that other similar entries should be made . Bro Heard concludes as follows : — " On and after the 21 th June 1735 the minutes of eaoh meeting of
the Grand Lodge are signed by the Grand Master , which praotice , as Bro . Hervey informed me , has been continued to the present time . Previous to that date , he thinks the roinntes were written on loose paper or small books , from whioh they were copied into the largo book whioh I have here desoribed . "
Now , I saw the first record of the G . L . of England in 18 G 9 , and I copied from the heading " Juno 24 th 1723 . " It looked to me like an original record of the above date . When Bro . Heard subsequently told me that tho earliest records of the G . L . of England wero no more original than
the early record of the G . L . of Massachusetts . The nest time I waa in England , 7 iz ., in 1874 , I questioned Bro . Hervey about his earliest record , whereupon ho showed it to mo again , and he pointed out that the 24 th June 1723 record was signed by the Duke of Wharton , the then Grand
Master ; and Bro . Hervey added , "Bro . Heard made a mistake . " About six years ago Bro . Henry Sadler showed mo tho same record again , and I noticed , for tho first time , that on a page or more before tho Proceedings of the Grand Lodge began , was recorded , by itself , an amendment to tho
Constitution , passed on 25 th November 1723 . I did not notice whether it was in the handwriting of Bro . Cowper the then Grand Secretary . But ou my return home , I found in Anderson ' s Constitutions of 1738 that tho 25 th of November amendment was omitted from tho record . Now ,
as I wrote the above from memory , I would thank Bro . Sadler to inform mo whether my statements about tho earliest record of the G . L . of Scotland aro correct , or whether Bro . J . T . Heard ' s statement in 1871 was correct : or , in other words , did the fashion of signing tbe record by
tho Grand Master begin in 1735 ? and , if not , when did tho G . M . of England begin to sign tho record of the meetings over which he presided ?* Tho Massachusetts 1733 record not only claims that
Price founded Masonry in Philadelphia , in Charleston , South Carolina , and that he granted charters to Portsmouth , New Hampshire , and to Newfoundland , but it also assorts that he granted Deputations to Nova Scotia . Thus , under date of 1740 the record
states" Omitted in place That Our R Worsh Grand Master Mr Price Granted n Deputation at y ° Petition of Sundry Brethren at Annapolis in Novn , Sootia to hold a Lodge there nod appointed 9
Maj r ErasmJa Philipps D . G . M . who haa since at y ° Request of sundry Brethren at Halifax Granted a Constitution to hold ti Lodgo there , and appointed The R 6 Worsh 1 His Excellency Edw Cornwallis Esq their first Master .
But here is an unheard of documont . Bro . Nickerson does not inform us where ho got it , but says that the document is " believed [ Query—By whom ?] to be in tho handwriting of Bro . Philipps , of which the following is a copy : —
HALIFAX , 12 th of June 1750 . " Sir , —At a meeting of true and lawful brothers and Master Masons , assembled at Halifax , in order to consult the proper measuros for holding and establishing a Lodge at this Plaoe , it was unanimously resolved on that a petition should be sent to You ,
who we are informed is Grand Master for the Province of Nova Scotia , in order to obtain your Warrant or Deputation to hold and establish a Lodge at this Place , aocording to the ancient Laws and Customs of Masonry , & c . We therefore , the undernamed Subscribers , pursuant to tbe above
resolntion , do most humbly Crave and desire Your Warrant to hold and Establish a Lodge as aforesaid according to the Anoient Laws and Customs of Masonry as practised among true and Lawful Brethren , and this we Crave with the utmost dispatch , and beg leave
to subsoribe ourselves Your true and Loving Brethren , ED CORNWALLIS "CopyP WM STEELE " ERAS JAS PHILIPPS ROBERT CAMPBELL " P . G . M . WILLM NESBIT
DAVID HALDANE . When I copied extracts , in 1869 , from the Massachusetts record , I had not the slightest idea as to when Halifax was first settled , and strange to say neither did G . M .
Gardner know the date of the ori gin of Halifax in Nova Scotia , and in his address on Henry Price , of 1871 , he assigned the dates of tho Charters to Annapolis and to Halifax to the year 1735 , but about a year or more after Bro . Gardner ' s address waa printed , I showed him
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
How An American Grand Secretary Writes Masonic History.
HOW AN AMERICAN GRAND SECRETARY WRITES MASONIC HISTORY .
Bv BKO . JACOB NOKTOX . SOME two or more years ago Brother S . D Nickerson , Grand Secretary of Massachusetts , told mo that an enterprising brother sent letters to all tho Grand Secretaries in the United States requesting each to write a history of Freemasonry of his own jurisdiction , and which histories , when completed ,
were to be issued as a History of Freemasonry , & c , and that he ( Bro . Nickerson ) declined to have anything to do with it . I was rather pleased that the new scheme met with his disapprobation , because I well knew that nineteen out of twenty of American writers on Masonry , and
especially Grand Lodge officials , would not write the truth , the whole truth , und nothing hut the truth , if truth clashed with their determination to perpetuate sectarianism in the ritual , or justifying Grand Lodges to meddle with the rights or wrongs of tho different high degreers' factions , or
for bragging up and magnifying the importance of some special American Masonio jurisdiction . When either of these questions are involved we cannot , as a rule , expect to read pure and unadulterated truth coming from the pen
of an American high Masonic official . I was , therefore , pleased with Bro . Nickerson ' s refusal to contribute to the proposed new Masonic history . Later on Bro . Nickerson told me that the contriver of
the new history was so urgent , and bothered him so much to contribute something , that he finally consented to authorise the assistaut Grand Secretary to compilo some
statistics of Massachusetts Masonry for tho now projected history of Massachusetts Masonry . The said new history ia now printed , and to my surprise I find Division VIII . is thus introduced .
" First glimpses of Freemasonry in North America . " By Sereno D . Nickerson , 33 ° , P . G . M ., Recording Grand Secretary of Massachusetts . " Bro . Nickerson ' s essay begins on page 439 , and winds up on page 455 . I presume the reason why he changed
hia mind , and finally concluded to have his say , was owing , first , to Bro . M & cCalla ' s announcement last year to visit Europe . Bro . MacCalla and Bro . Nickerson havo been at loggerheads Bince 1874 as to whether tho City of Boston or the City of Philadelphia ia entitled to the honour of being
crowned as the " mother of American Freemasonry . " Well , in the first place , Bro . MacCalla read a paper , in 1890 , before tho Q . C . Lodgo in London , demonstrating , after American Grand Master fashion , that Philadelphia wsa " undoubtedly" the American mother of Masonry . In
addition to which , Bro . Nickerson was informed that Bro . Charles E . Meyer P . M ., a 33 ° , and what not , was about to write for the new history a defence of the Philadelp hia claim to American Masonic mothership . Hence , I presume , that Bro . Nickerson considered it his duty to
defend Boston mothership of American Masonry in the said new Masonic history . And had Bro . Nickerson confined himself to prove that the first Lodge planted in Boston in 1733 , by Henry Price , was undoubtedly done by the authority of the English Masonic authorities of 1733 , while
all the so-called arguments brought forward by Messrs . MacCalla , Meyer and Co . to prove the legality of the Philadelphia Lodge , from January 1731 to 10 th Jul y 1749 , when the Philadelphia Masonry was legalised by Grand Master Oxnard , of Boston , granted to Benjamin Franklin a Prov .
G . M . Deputation empowering him to grant charters for Lodges in Pennsylvania , when he ( Franklin ) , by virtue of that power , legalised , for the first time , the Masonry in Pennsylvania . I say , had BrQ . Nickerson confined his arguments to prove the above facts , I would have said
with all my heart— " Well done , Bro . Nickerson . " But as Bro . Nickerson went beyond the said facts , and ventured to prove unfounded theories , which are as fallacious as Messrs . MacCalla and Meyer ' s Philadelphia theories , I am , therefore , in duty bound to correct Bro . Nickerson ' s
errors too . The first question I would like to ascertain is , about the first record of the Grand Lodge of England . Bro . Nickerson , on page 453 ,
says" In Moore ' s Freemason ' s Monthly Magazine for August 1871 , Past Grand Master John T . Heard describes the records of tho Grand Lodge of England , as exhibited to him on tho 6 th October 1870 by R . W . John Hervoy Grand Secretary . Ho gives particular description of Vols . I . and II ., by which it appears that the former is interspersod with lists
How An American Grand Secretary Writes Masonic History.
of Lodges and members , and also with blank pages , on whioh it waa probably intended that other similar entries should be made . Bro Heard concludes as follows : — " On and after the 21 th June 1735 the minutes of eaoh meeting of
the Grand Lodge are signed by the Grand Master , which praotice , as Bro . Hervey informed me , has been continued to the present time . Previous to that date , he thinks the roinntes were written on loose paper or small books , from whioh they were copied into the largo book whioh I have here desoribed . "
Now , I saw the first record of the G . L . of England in 18 G 9 , and I copied from the heading " Juno 24 th 1723 . " It looked to me like an original record of the above date . When Bro . Heard subsequently told me that tho earliest records of the G . L . of England wero no more original than
the early record of the G . L . of Massachusetts . The nest time I waa in England , 7 iz ., in 1874 , I questioned Bro . Hervey about his earliest record , whereupon ho showed it to mo again , and he pointed out that the 24 th June 1723 record was signed by the Duke of Wharton , the then Grand
Master ; and Bro . Hervey added , "Bro . Heard made a mistake . " About six years ago Bro . Henry Sadler showed mo tho same record again , and I noticed , for tho first time , that on a page or more before tho Proceedings of the Grand Lodge began , was recorded , by itself , an amendment to tho
Constitution , passed on 25 th November 1723 . I did not notice whether it was in the handwriting of Bro . Cowper the then Grand Secretary . But ou my return home , I found in Anderson ' s Constitutions of 1738 that tho 25 th of November amendment was omitted from tho record . Now ,
as I wrote the above from memory , I would thank Bro . Sadler to inform mo whether my statements about tho earliest record of the G . L . of Scotland aro correct , or whether Bro . J . T . Heard ' s statement in 1871 was correct : or , in other words , did the fashion of signing tbe record by
tho Grand Master begin in 1735 ? and , if not , when did tho G . M . of England begin to sign tho record of the meetings over which he presided ?* Tho Massachusetts 1733 record not only claims that
Price founded Masonry in Philadelphia , in Charleston , South Carolina , and that he granted charters to Portsmouth , New Hampshire , and to Newfoundland , but it also assorts that he granted Deputations to Nova Scotia . Thus , under date of 1740 the record
states" Omitted in place That Our R Worsh Grand Master Mr Price Granted n Deputation at y ° Petition of Sundry Brethren at Annapolis in Novn , Sootia to hold a Lodge there nod appointed 9
Maj r ErasmJa Philipps D . G . M . who haa since at y ° Request of sundry Brethren at Halifax Granted a Constitution to hold ti Lodgo there , and appointed The R 6 Worsh 1 His Excellency Edw Cornwallis Esq their first Master .
But here is an unheard of documont . Bro . Nickerson does not inform us where ho got it , but says that the document is " believed [ Query—By whom ?] to be in tho handwriting of Bro . Philipps , of which the following is a copy : —
HALIFAX , 12 th of June 1750 . " Sir , —At a meeting of true and lawful brothers and Master Masons , assembled at Halifax , in order to consult the proper measuros for holding and establishing a Lodge at this Plaoe , it was unanimously resolved on that a petition should be sent to You ,
who we are informed is Grand Master for the Province of Nova Scotia , in order to obtain your Warrant or Deputation to hold and establish a Lodge at this Place , aocording to the ancient Laws and Customs of Masonry , & c . We therefore , the undernamed Subscribers , pursuant to tbe above
resolntion , do most humbly Crave and desire Your Warrant to hold and Establish a Lodge as aforesaid according to the Anoient Laws and Customs of Masonry as practised among true and Lawful Brethren , and this we Crave with the utmost dispatch , and beg leave
to subsoribe ourselves Your true and Loving Brethren , ED CORNWALLIS "CopyP WM STEELE " ERAS JAS PHILIPPS ROBERT CAMPBELL " P . G . M . WILLM NESBIT
DAVID HALDANE . When I copied extracts , in 1869 , from the Massachusetts record , I had not the slightest idea as to when Halifax was first settled , and strange to say neither did G . M .
Gardner know the date of the ori gin of Halifax in Nova Scotia , and in his address on Henry Price , of 1871 , he assigned the dates of tho Charters to Annapolis and to Halifax to the year 1735 , but about a year or more after Bro . Gardner ' s address waa printed , I showed him