Freemasonry In America.

John O'Neill Grand King . George W . Cnrtiss ... Grand Scribe . Gilbert W . Barnard ... Grand Secretary . Wiley M . Egan Grand Treasurer . John H . Gunn Grand Chaplain .

Philander W . Barclay ... Grand Captain of the Host . Sylvester 0 . Spring ... Grand Prinoipal Sojonrner . Josoph E . Dyas Grand Royal Arch Captain . James Mayor Grand Master of 3 rd Veil .

Edward C . Pace Grand Master of 2 nd Veil . Jacob Krobn Grand Master of 1 st Veil . John P . Ferns Grand Steward . Arnold R . Robinson ... Grand Tyler .

The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters ol Minnesota held its fourteenth annual assembly in the City of St . Paul on the 8 th of October , under the presidency oi

Comp . Grove B . Cooley M . I . G . M . The annual address and tho G . Treasurer ' s statement of account were submitted , and very favourably impressed the audience . The following are the Grand Officers for the year , namely : —

Comp . Grove B . Cooley M . I . G . M . D . M . Baldwin E . I . D . G . M . D . B . Smith ... ... R . I . G . P . C . of W . G . W . Merrill R . I . G . Treasurer . William Cheney R . I . G . Reoorder . E . E . MoDermott ... G . C . of G . J . H . Lavaque „ . ... G . C . of C . Q . S . Acker ... ... Grand Marshal . J . P . Pond Grand Chaplain . E . A . Broughton Grand Steward . J . C . Fisher Grand Sentinel .

It should be mentioned that in each of the several Proceedings the Report of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence forms the most conspicuous feature .

St. John's Lodge, Philadelphia.

ST . JOHN'S LODGE , PHILADELPHIA .

EARLY MEMBERS OF THE LODGE—1731-8 . FROM THE KEYSTONE . OUR article on the " Discovery of the Original Ledger of St . John ' s Lodge , Philadelphia , A . D . 1731 to 1738 , " has excited so much attention , and proved of so much value , that we shall make some further extracts from this unique Masonic Lodge record , prefacing them with a brief account of the Brethren whose Masonic record

is therein contained , and - also with a reference to the origin of St . John ' s Lodge . It will be remembered that Freemasonry was warranted in Pennsylvania on 5 th June 1730 , by "His Grace , Thomas , Duke of Norfolk , Earl Marshal , and Hereditary

Marshal of Englaud . * * Chief of the illustrious family of the Howards , and Grand Master of the Free and Accepted Masons of England "—as his Deputation of above date to Bro . Daniel Coxe , as " Provincial Grand Master of the Provinces of New York , New Jersey and Pennsylvania , in America , " testifies .

Benjamin Franklin , shortly before he was made a Mason ' ( which occurred in St . John ' s Lodge , Philadelphia , in February 1731 ) , in the issue of his Pennsylvania Gazette for the 3 rd December 1730 , published the following statement :

"As there are several Lodges of Free Masons erected in this Province , and people have been lately much amused with conjectures concerning them ; we think the following account of Freemasonry from London will not be unacceptable to our readers . " We have discovered minute and reliable details with

regard to one of the . " several Lodges" spoken of by Franklin in 1730 . The fact that there was at least another , is proved by the Bell letter of 1754 , for Bro . Henry Bell , in that letter ( which we quote below ) , says that he was a member of a Lodge that was chartered by Prov . Grand

Master Coxe in 1730 , and his name does not appear on the lists of members of " St . John ' s Lodge , " so that he must , ex necessitate , have been a member of mother Lodge . We may , therefore , reasonably look for the discovery of other Lodge records at no remote day .

We quote from the letter that Bro . Henry Bell , of Lancaster , wrote on 17 th November 1754 , to Bro . Thomas Cadwallader , M . D ., of Philadelphia , as follows , remarking in connection therewith , that Henry Bell paid taxes on property assessed in his name in Derry township , Lancaster County , Pa ., from 1750 to 1654 *

St. John's Lodge, Philadelphia.

"As you well know , I was one of the originators of the first Masonio Lod >» e in Philadelphia . A party of us used to meet at the Tun Tavern , in Water . street , and sometimes opened a Lodge there . Once , in the fall of 1730 , we formed a design of obtaining a oharter for a regular

Lodge , and made application to the Grand Lodge of England , for one ; but before receiving it we heard that Daniel Coxe , of Kew Jersoy , had been appointed by that Grand Lodge as Provinoial Grand Master of New York , New Jersey and Pennsylvania . We therefore made application to him , and our request was granted . " *

In 1735 a Philadelphia Lodge was noticed in print in the " Pocket Companion for Freemasons , " printed in Dublin in 1735 as " 116 The Hoop , in Water-street , in Philadelphia , 1 st Monday . " Bro . Wm . James Hughan , of

England , discovered this volume , and presented a copy of it to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania . ! As we shall hereafter show , we think we have identified this Lodge with St . John ' s Lodge .

With these preliminary remarks we shall quote , either entire or in part , the Masonio records of Bros . William Allen , Thomas Boude , William Pringle , John Hubart ,

Humphry Murray , Thomas Hopkinson , Owen Owen and Thomas Cadwallader , as contained in the St . John ' s Lodge Ledger , accompanying them with brief details of the character and standing of the brethren named .

Chief Justice William Allen , one of the best known men in the Province of Pennsylvania , is named second in this Ledger . He was the son of an eminent merchant , and himself one of the most learned , influential , and wealthy men of his

time . We have been at some pains to trace , from various authentic sources , his whole career , and have been unusually successful . It is matter of sincere congratulation that the Grand Master of Masons of Pennsylvania in the year 1732 , and a second time in 1750 , was a person so

distinguished , and that the record of his greatness remains to this day . In the year 1728 he was a member of the Common Council of Philadelphia ; from 1731 to 1734 ( covering the year he was Grand Master ) he was an Alderman of the city ; from 1741 to 1750 he was Recorder ;

in 1750 , he was again Provincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania , appointed by Lord Byron G . Master of England ; and in the same year was appointed Chief Justice of the Province , and filled that honourable station for many years . He was distinguished for his love of Litera

ture and the Arts ; he was the friend and patron of Benjamin West the great painter ; and he cooperated with Franklin in establishing the College at Philadelphia , now famous as the University of Pennsylvania . He was a member of Congress , and of the

Committee of Safety , but became a loyalist in the American War for Independence , and in the latter part of 1776 placed himself under the protection of Gen . Howe at Trenton , and two years afterwards made an unsuccessful attempt to raise a regiment for the British cause . A wag said , that he

joined the royal side " because the Continental Congress presumed to declare the American States free and independent without first asking the consent , and obtaining the approbation , of himself and wise family . " No person in

Pennsylvania was richer than Judge Allen , or possessed greater influence . In 1761 he was one of the three persons in Philadelphia who kept a coach . His own waB drawn by four horses , and his coachman , who was imported from England , was " a great whip . " He died in England in 1780 . J

We quote William Allen ' s Masonic record entire : — W ALLEN , Esq ., GrandM , A Dom : to Stock

1731 Dr . June 24 To 5 Lodge days @ 6 d p diem ... ... 2 6 July 5 for absence this Lodge day Is and to stock 6 d 16 August 2 for absence this day Is and monthly quota 6 d 1 6 Sept . 6 for absence this day Is and monthly quota Gd 16 Oct . 4 for absenting this day Is and monthly quota 6 d ... ... ... ... l Q Nov . 1 for absence this day Is and monthly quota 6 d 1 6 10 0 Deo . 6 for absence this day Is and monthly quota 6 16 1731-2 Jan'y 3 for absence this day Is and monthly quota 6 1 6 Feb ' y 7 for absence this day Is and monthly quota 6 16 March 6 for Ditto and monthly quota ... ... 1 6