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Grand Lodge Of Tennessee.
of the Order , and where he contributed so much to its advancement and prosperity . T can only mention by name one other fallen hero and martyr , Bro . Dr . James B . Norris , of Chattanooga Lodge , No . 199 . Prompted by the same manly instincts which characterised the lamented Anderson , like him Bro . Norris awaited not the coming of the terrible
ravager to his own door or that of his immediate neighbours and friends . It was , indeed , heroic for ono to meet the destroyer at home , and there defy his power , but it was in the highest degree sublime to see one leave hi 3 own homo and go away hundred of mile 3 to labour for and die among strangsrs . Very soon after the people of Vicksburg , Mississippi , were attacked by the plague , they appealed to
lovers of humanity for aid , their cries were heard , and prompted by tho dictates of a Mason , good and true , one of the first volnn . teers to go to their relief was this lamented brother . Full of hope for the future , and with promise of a long life of usefulness in his profession , his manly heart gave way under the call for help , though in a distant State , and leaving behind him brilliant hopes , warm
friends , a happy home , and tender , loving relatives , he bravely went forth to encounter the fierce pestilence . On the 31 st of August he left his home at Chattanooga ; the next day he arrived in Vicksburg ; was taken sick fith September , and breathed his last 9 th September . 0 God ! can it be that for such martyrs there is beyond this vale of tears no eternal , everlasting rest ? Bro . Norris was born near
Delaware , Ohio , and graduated from Kenyon College , in that State , in the year 1869 . He was educated as a physician at Miami Medical Colloge , Cincinnati . While at this college as a student , he united with the Episcopal Church , and continued a member to the date of his death . From Cincinnati he went to Detroit , and graduated from tho Detroit Medical College in 1872 , and in the same year located at
Chattanooga , and entered upon the practice of his profession . At the date of his death he was a little over twenty-nine years of age . nis mortal remains now temporarily rest in quiet solitude in the city of Vicksburg , on the field whero he fell , olad in full armour , but his noble spirit is sweetly sleeping in the bosom of his God . While we strew the graves of our dead brethren who have fallen
victims to the pestilence we have described with immortelles , and bid them bloom in perennial beauty and freshness , we must pause at tha grave of another brother , and drop a sympathetic tear . He fell not on the banks of the great Father of Waters , nor as a victim to any infectious pestilence , but beyond and in sight of the mountains of East Tennessee , which he loved so well , on the 19 th day of August
1878 , at his own home , surrounded by his loving wife and children , Brother John Fletcher Slover paid the debt to time and mortal enstom . This brother needs no introduction to the Grand Lodge of Tennessee . As far back as I can remember , his was a familiar face to this body . In 1854 ho made his first appearance in the Grand Lodge as the representative of his Lodge , Meridian Sun , No . 50 ,
located at Athens , East Tennessee . He attended every session of tho Grand Lodge from that dato to the date of his denth—except two occurring during tho war , when it was not possible for him to do so —travelling each year for this purpose nearly four hundred mile 3 . In tho G . L . he always filled the place of a laborious worker on somo one of its leading committees . Modost and unpretending in his demeanour ,
ho was not often found addressing the Lodgo , but with a face always beaming with kindnoss , and generally wreathed with a smile , he preferred quietly to labonr with tho committees , and there make his influence for good felt . Bro . Slover was born 13 th March 1825 ; was made a Mason in Meridian Snn Lodge , 5 th November 1846 . In 1859 ho was exalted to the Eoyal Arch degree , and received other
degrees subsequently . At the meeting of tho Grand Lodgo in 1858 , he was elected Senior Grand Warden , and the uext year was reelected to that office . In 1860 he was made Deputy Grand Master , and was re-elected tho following year . Again , in 1 S 64 and in 1868 , he was elected to the same position , thus making four terms filled by 1 ' . i lis Deputy G . Master . As a citizen he was useful and hi ghly i- teemed . For nearly twenty years he was Clerk of the Circuit
Court of his county , an office for which he was peculiarly fitted , and ivhioh he filled to the on tire satisfaction of his people . He was a ¦ 'iscientions , devoted Mason , and his loss is not only a grievous one : o bi « immediate family circle , but is a severe one to our Fraternity . The brethren in Tennessee , as in all other jurisdictions , can poorly I'tl ' ord to lose such a man as Bro . Slover from their ranks , and it is ( if the very utmost concern that we inquire on whom his mantle shall fall .
I now desire to speak of another brother who died during the past year . On the 17 th of June last Brother and Sir Knight David Cook , of Lebanon , crossed over to the shores of immortality . Brother Cook was born fith September 1795 , and was therefore nearly eighty-three years of age at the date of his death . He was the oldest Templar in Tennessee , having received the Orders
in 1825 . For several years he was tho Eminent Commander of Baldwin Commandery , No . 7 , K . T ., and was an active worker in all the other Masonic bodies . His zeal and love for Masonry did not , as is frequently the case with our inombers , grow less in his declining years , but it was truly said of him that to the date of his death he knew everything in all of the degrees , from the Entered
Apprentice to the Knight of Malta . In 1867 he was elected Eminent Grand Generalissimo of the Grand Commandery of Tennessee , and in 1870 was elected Very Eminent Deputy Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery , which stations he filled for the constitutional term each of one year . The history of this nged brother is finished , and in it there is much to admire , much to emulate .
The grim monster Death has made fearful inroads in our ranks during the past year , and the places of our missing brethren are to be filled by others . We should devontly pray that there be raised up for these stations men equal to those who have heretofore filled them , who have adorned the Fraternity , and , by the lustre of their names and examples , adorned and elevated Masonry in Tennessee . Some of those mentioned were activo participants in tho stirring and sorrowful events of the recent epidemic , and while we detract
Grand Lodge Of Tennessee.
in no way from them or from their memories , as individuals , we desire to call attention to the fact that they were Masons , and that the Order to which they belonged is entitled to much credit for their deeds of heroism . Masonry olaims that its teachings and theories serve but to educate men to the high standard of duty and Christian philanthrophy so beautifully exemplified in the HVPS of our lamented
dead . It is designed that its ritual , its principles and restraints , shall all combine to make men purer and better . The Order would fall far short of its aim and purpose if it failed to develop , among its membership everywhere , large-hearted , liberal-minded , and whole-souled men—men who have only to see and know their dut y , and who will at once , at any cost , even of life itself , perform it—men who are the exemplars of that charity which teaches that
The drying up a single tear hath more Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore . Masonry furnishes us weapons with which not only to successfully combat pestilence , but with which to meet its long train of evil followers . The afterolaps of suoh an epedemio as the recent one are not its least dreadful features , and these remain to afflict ns through
many years . How often will it be the oase that many sufferers who barely escaped with their lives will find themselves on the ragged edge of want , burdened with oxpensos which they oau poorly afford to meet , their occupations lost , their employers dead , or rendered by the results of the plague too poor to give them employment ; widows left without husbands , and orphans without parents , mothers
with not sufficient strength themselves to work , with their little children , who have not tasted food for a day , in the streets begging bread , and crying with hunger as they are refused , cast off , and frowned upon by a cold-hearted world . In the midst of these soul-stirring afflictions , how timely , how grateful , will be the relief afforded by oars and kindred Orders ! This
terrible affliction has already called forth from our brethren of more favoured communities large contributions , but thank God no draft drawn upon their munificent charity has been dishonoured . Tho public presses of the land were filled daily for weeks with long lists of gifts and contributions to the sufferers from their sympathising countrymen . Even across the great deep , our wailings wero heard
and met by generous responses , and for a season tho Old World dail y poured tribute into our midst . These blessings were public , and necessarily so ; but 0 how much sweeter and more commendable in the sight of Hoaven will be the untold , the innumerable contributions of onr merabeship after tho fell destroyer is gone ! made , too , without
publicity , and with no eye ( save the giver and receiver ) but Heaven ' s to witness them . These , indeed , will be blessings in disguise . Masonry , as heretofore , will again demonstrate the fact that it is the friend of the friendless , a husband to the widow , a father to the fatherless , an employer to those who are willing to work , and a blessing to mankind .
It is only a few days siuce the career of the plague was ended . Fugitives have returned to their homes , which , during the first days of the epidemic , they abandoned hurriedly with heavy hearts ; the deserted houses and empty streets of our great cities are again occupied ; sundered families , or all that remain of them , are reunited ; the hum of industry is again heard , and the casual observer sees
nothing remaining to toll tho sickening story of the ravages of the destroyer save the long rows of new-made graves , and the still sad and mournful countenances of the bereaved who mourn their absent ones . Again " the solem train of care ploda on , " and " each one as before chases his favourite phantom . " Unseen and unadvertised , amid all these things , our brethren are daily called to answer the
demands of tho destitute and needy . From their inexhaustible mine of charity innumerable wants are supplied , the hungry fed , and despairing hearts made happy . No matter how humble the applicant , nor how often the demand is repeated , by the experience of a past full of renown , reaching so far back that" the memory of man runneth not to the contrary , " we know , and can therefore tell with
certainty , what the answer will bo to every appeal addressed to them for succour . 0 glorious Order . How devoted to thee should be th y followers . Standing near the new-made graves of our buried dead , with melting hearts , and eyes overflowing with tears of gratitude for the generous
responses made to tbe demands of our brethren in affliction , with abundant assurance of thy increasing usefulness through all coming ages , we here and now renew our vows of und ying constanoy to thee and thy heaven born principles , and pray God thou mayest withstand every pestilence and endure for ever ; that though
The stars shall fade away , the sun himself Grow dim with age , and Natnre sink in years , Thou shalt flourish in immortal youth , Unhurt amid the war of elements , The wreck of matter , and the crash of worlds . The Lodge of Sorrow was then duly closed .
The Fifteen Sections will be worked on Thursday , the 20 th , at 7 p . m . punctually , at the Feathers Hotel , adjoining the Great Western Station at Ealing , to and from
which there is a convenient service of trains . Several well-known Metropolitan brethren have promised to attend , and from our friends at Ealing we are convinced they will receive a hearty greeting .
The installation meeting of the West Kent Lodge , No . 1297 will take place on Satnrday next , the 22 nd , at the Forest Hill Hotel , Forest Hill , at 4 o ' clock . Bro . Crouch P . M . of the Lodge , and present W . M . of the Burdett Coutts Lodge , No . 1278 , will perform the duties of Installing Master .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Grand Lodge Of Tennessee.
of the Order , and where he contributed so much to its advancement and prosperity . T can only mention by name one other fallen hero and martyr , Bro . Dr . James B . Norris , of Chattanooga Lodge , No . 199 . Prompted by the same manly instincts which characterised the lamented Anderson , like him Bro . Norris awaited not the coming of the terrible
ravager to his own door or that of his immediate neighbours and friends . It was , indeed , heroic for ono to meet the destroyer at home , and there defy his power , but it was in the highest degree sublime to see one leave hi 3 own homo and go away hundred of mile 3 to labour for and die among strangsrs . Very soon after the people of Vicksburg , Mississippi , were attacked by the plague , they appealed to
lovers of humanity for aid , their cries were heard , and prompted by tho dictates of a Mason , good and true , one of the first volnn . teers to go to their relief was this lamented brother . Full of hope for the future , and with promise of a long life of usefulness in his profession , his manly heart gave way under the call for help , though in a distant State , and leaving behind him brilliant hopes , warm
friends , a happy home , and tender , loving relatives , he bravely went forth to encounter the fierce pestilence . On the 31 st of August he left his home at Chattanooga ; the next day he arrived in Vicksburg ; was taken sick fith September , and breathed his last 9 th September . 0 God ! can it be that for such martyrs there is beyond this vale of tears no eternal , everlasting rest ? Bro . Norris was born near
Delaware , Ohio , and graduated from Kenyon College , in that State , in the year 1869 . He was educated as a physician at Miami Medical Colloge , Cincinnati . While at this college as a student , he united with the Episcopal Church , and continued a member to the date of his death . From Cincinnati he went to Detroit , and graduated from tho Detroit Medical College in 1872 , and in the same year located at
Chattanooga , and entered upon the practice of his profession . At the date of his death he was a little over twenty-nine years of age . nis mortal remains now temporarily rest in quiet solitude in the city of Vicksburg , on the field whero he fell , olad in full armour , but his noble spirit is sweetly sleeping in the bosom of his God . While we strew the graves of our dead brethren who have fallen
victims to the pestilence we have described with immortelles , and bid them bloom in perennial beauty and freshness , we must pause at tha grave of another brother , and drop a sympathetic tear . He fell not on the banks of the great Father of Waters , nor as a victim to any infectious pestilence , but beyond and in sight of the mountains of East Tennessee , which he loved so well , on the 19 th day of August
1878 , at his own home , surrounded by his loving wife and children , Brother John Fletcher Slover paid the debt to time and mortal enstom . This brother needs no introduction to the Grand Lodge of Tennessee . As far back as I can remember , his was a familiar face to this body . In 1854 ho made his first appearance in the Grand Lodge as the representative of his Lodge , Meridian Sun , No . 50 ,
located at Athens , East Tennessee . He attended every session of tho Grand Lodge from that dato to the date of his denth—except two occurring during tho war , when it was not possible for him to do so —travelling each year for this purpose nearly four hundred mile 3 . In tho G . L . he always filled the place of a laborious worker on somo one of its leading committees . Modost and unpretending in his demeanour ,
ho was not often found addressing the Lodgo , but with a face always beaming with kindnoss , and generally wreathed with a smile , he preferred quietly to labonr with tho committees , and there make his influence for good felt . Bro . Slover was born 13 th March 1825 ; was made a Mason in Meridian Snn Lodge , 5 th November 1846 . In 1859 ho was exalted to the Eoyal Arch degree , and received other
degrees subsequently . At the meeting of tho Grand Lodgo in 1858 , he was elected Senior Grand Warden , and the uext year was reelected to that office . In 1860 he was made Deputy Grand Master , and was re-elected tho following year . Again , in 1 S 64 and in 1868 , he was elected to the same position , thus making four terms filled by 1 ' . i lis Deputy G . Master . As a citizen he was useful and hi ghly i- teemed . For nearly twenty years he was Clerk of the Circuit
Court of his county , an office for which he was peculiarly fitted , and ivhioh he filled to the on tire satisfaction of his people . He was a ¦ 'iscientions , devoted Mason , and his loss is not only a grievous one : o bi « immediate family circle , but is a severe one to our Fraternity . The brethren in Tennessee , as in all other jurisdictions , can poorly I'tl ' ord to lose such a man as Bro . Slover from their ranks , and it is ( if the very utmost concern that we inquire on whom his mantle shall fall .
I now desire to speak of another brother who died during the past year . On the 17 th of June last Brother and Sir Knight David Cook , of Lebanon , crossed over to the shores of immortality . Brother Cook was born fith September 1795 , and was therefore nearly eighty-three years of age at the date of his death . He was the oldest Templar in Tennessee , having received the Orders
in 1825 . For several years he was tho Eminent Commander of Baldwin Commandery , No . 7 , K . T ., and was an active worker in all the other Masonic bodies . His zeal and love for Masonry did not , as is frequently the case with our inombers , grow less in his declining years , but it was truly said of him that to the date of his death he knew everything in all of the degrees , from the Entered
Apprentice to the Knight of Malta . In 1867 he was elected Eminent Grand Generalissimo of the Grand Commandery of Tennessee , and in 1870 was elected Very Eminent Deputy Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery , which stations he filled for the constitutional term each of one year . The history of this nged brother is finished , and in it there is much to admire , much to emulate .
The grim monster Death has made fearful inroads in our ranks during the past year , and the places of our missing brethren are to be filled by others . We should devontly pray that there be raised up for these stations men equal to those who have heretofore filled them , who have adorned the Fraternity , and , by the lustre of their names and examples , adorned and elevated Masonry in Tennessee . Some of those mentioned were activo participants in tho stirring and sorrowful events of the recent epidemic , and while we detract
Grand Lodge Of Tennessee.
in no way from them or from their memories , as individuals , we desire to call attention to the fact that they were Masons , and that the Order to which they belonged is entitled to much credit for their deeds of heroism . Masonry olaims that its teachings and theories serve but to educate men to the high standard of duty and Christian philanthrophy so beautifully exemplified in the HVPS of our lamented
dead . It is designed that its ritual , its principles and restraints , shall all combine to make men purer and better . The Order would fall far short of its aim and purpose if it failed to develop , among its membership everywhere , large-hearted , liberal-minded , and whole-souled men—men who have only to see and know their dut y , and who will at once , at any cost , even of life itself , perform it—men who are the exemplars of that charity which teaches that
The drying up a single tear hath more Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore . Masonry furnishes us weapons with which not only to successfully combat pestilence , but with which to meet its long train of evil followers . The afterolaps of suoh an epedemio as the recent one are not its least dreadful features , and these remain to afflict ns through
many years . How often will it be the oase that many sufferers who barely escaped with their lives will find themselves on the ragged edge of want , burdened with oxpensos which they oau poorly afford to meet , their occupations lost , their employers dead , or rendered by the results of the plague too poor to give them employment ; widows left without husbands , and orphans without parents , mothers
with not sufficient strength themselves to work , with their little children , who have not tasted food for a day , in the streets begging bread , and crying with hunger as they are refused , cast off , and frowned upon by a cold-hearted world . In the midst of these soul-stirring afflictions , how timely , how grateful , will be the relief afforded by oars and kindred Orders ! This
terrible affliction has already called forth from our brethren of more favoured communities large contributions , but thank God no draft drawn upon their munificent charity has been dishonoured . Tho public presses of the land were filled daily for weeks with long lists of gifts and contributions to the sufferers from their sympathising countrymen . Even across the great deep , our wailings wero heard
and met by generous responses , and for a season tho Old World dail y poured tribute into our midst . These blessings were public , and necessarily so ; but 0 how much sweeter and more commendable in the sight of Hoaven will be the untold , the innumerable contributions of onr merabeship after tho fell destroyer is gone ! made , too , without
publicity , and with no eye ( save the giver and receiver ) but Heaven ' s to witness them . These , indeed , will be blessings in disguise . Masonry , as heretofore , will again demonstrate the fact that it is the friend of the friendless , a husband to the widow , a father to the fatherless , an employer to those who are willing to work , and a blessing to mankind .
It is only a few days siuce the career of the plague was ended . Fugitives have returned to their homes , which , during the first days of the epidemic , they abandoned hurriedly with heavy hearts ; the deserted houses and empty streets of our great cities are again occupied ; sundered families , or all that remain of them , are reunited ; the hum of industry is again heard , and the casual observer sees
nothing remaining to toll tho sickening story of the ravages of the destroyer save the long rows of new-made graves , and the still sad and mournful countenances of the bereaved who mourn their absent ones . Again " the solem train of care ploda on , " and " each one as before chases his favourite phantom . " Unseen and unadvertised , amid all these things , our brethren are daily called to answer the
demands of tho destitute and needy . From their inexhaustible mine of charity innumerable wants are supplied , the hungry fed , and despairing hearts made happy . No matter how humble the applicant , nor how often the demand is repeated , by the experience of a past full of renown , reaching so far back that" the memory of man runneth not to the contrary , " we know , and can therefore tell with
certainty , what the answer will bo to every appeal addressed to them for succour . 0 glorious Order . How devoted to thee should be th y followers . Standing near the new-made graves of our buried dead , with melting hearts , and eyes overflowing with tears of gratitude for the generous
responses made to tbe demands of our brethren in affliction , with abundant assurance of thy increasing usefulness through all coming ages , we here and now renew our vows of und ying constanoy to thee and thy heaven born principles , and pray God thou mayest withstand every pestilence and endure for ever ; that though
The stars shall fade away , the sun himself Grow dim with age , and Natnre sink in years , Thou shalt flourish in immortal youth , Unhurt amid the war of elements , The wreck of matter , and the crash of worlds . The Lodge of Sorrow was then duly closed .
The Fifteen Sections will be worked on Thursday , the 20 th , at 7 p . m . punctually , at the Feathers Hotel , adjoining the Great Western Station at Ealing , to and from
which there is a convenient service of trains . Several well-known Metropolitan brethren have promised to attend , and from our friends at Ealing we are convinced they will receive a hearty greeting .
The installation meeting of the West Kent Lodge , No . 1297 will take place on Satnrday next , the 22 nd , at the Forest Hill Hotel , Forest Hill , at 4 o ' clock . Bro . Crouch P . M . of the Lodge , and present W . M . of the Burdett Coutts Lodge , No . 1278 , will perform the duties of Installing Master .