Sebastian Masonic Lodge, No. 232, F & A.M.

Masonic Trestle Board Newsletter

Vol. #4, Issues #3, Edition # 14
1715 North Central Ave, Sebastian, Florida
Our 100th Anniversary
Chartered January 20, 1016
Fellsmere Masonic Lodge No. 232 F & A.M.
W.M. Andrew Balterzor
Appendage Existing Charter & Name Change / April 19, 1996
To Sebastian Masonic Lodge No. 232, F & A.M.
R.W. Joe Generazio, P.D.D.G.M.
Home Lodge of Past Most Worshipful Jim Harris, Florida Masonic Grand Master
1715 North Central Avenue & Madison Street, Sebastian, Florida, 32958
POB 780193, Sebastian, Florida, 32978 0193
772-589-7505
fam232@aol.com
Visiting Brothers Invited to
Regular Communication
The Friendliest Lodge in Florida 2nd & 4th Tuesdays 7:30PM

Sebastian Chapter of The

Order Of The Eastern Star
1st & 3rd Wednesdays, 7:30PM

GREETINGS FROM THE EAST

Worshipful Master Jerry Van Pelt

Farewell from the East

Brethren,
Before all else, Id like to acknowledge and thank the 2016 officers of Sebastian Lodge #232 for
the successful year we had. All things were accomplished because of a great line of officers
along with some additional supporting Brothers who made sure that every event, fundraiser and
project was a great success. We set goals, worked hard and made our Lodge a much better
place from 12 months ago. Funds were raised, repairs were made, the building was painted and
doors were replaced.
We threw one heck of a Gala for the 100th Anniversary of our Lodge. We recognized our Past
Masters for all theyve done for the Lodge and heard some great stories from back in their day.
We all knew that being at the centennial celebration of our Lodge was a once in a lifetime
chance. Thank you to all who helped and supported that great historical event.
On top of all of these tasks and events, we managed to rise over $1,000 dollars to be given to
the Sebastian River High School Athletic programs. We worked hard, stayed positive and met
our goals for 2016. Imagine how much more could have been accomplished if every Lodge
Brother gave their support Imagine!
Now as I leave the East I must admit that serving as your Master, Ive had an eye opening
experience as to what our fraternity is and where it is headed. Ive met several real Brothers and
saw the real Brother, or lack thereof in some. Its made me reevaluate my obligations to the craft
and what Masonry really is. One must ask themselves, Why did I become a Mason. If you find
your answer to be about yourself and what benefit you can get from it, then Brother, youre in the
wrong fraternity. You might want to join the Moose, Elks or the likes. A fraternity as great as ours
shouldnt have a 20% to 25% participation rate. We should be the cornerstone of our community
and the benchmark of philanthropic societies. WE ARE MASONS!
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a safe Happy New Year. I also pray for our
2017 Worshipful Master Elect, W:. Stephan Griz Griswold and the Officers to have a great
productive year and I will be there to help in any way necessary to ensure a successful year.
Sincerely & Fraternally
Jerry Van Pelt, WM

Greetings from the West.

Happy new year gents. This was a very good year for the lodge. Not only did another master
survive his year in the east, but Worshipful Van Pelt had a
thriving year.
Gun raffles, Valentines dance, 100 year gala, Christmas dinner,
St. Patrick's Day dinner, replacing doors on building, fixing
kitchen, painting building, etc. This week R:.W:. J Peiffer fixed
the soffit damaged during Hurricane Matthew. Much lodge
repairs were accomplished, and still a surplus of money to be
carried into next year.
Thank GOD the year our lodge had its centennial it was under
Worshipful Van Pelts watch. I don't know who else could have
put together such a good event as this other than he and his wife CJ. Congratulations Sebastian
for turning 100 years old, and thank you Worshipful for doing the lodge honor on this landmark.
Since this past week, the lodge has already taken in $2,500 for 2017, not including the surplus
from this year! Outstanding. If this is an indication of what 2017 will be like, its very promising for
our lodge. With more years like 2016, then members who want us to merge w/ Vero lodge will
never get their wish. There is nothing like being independent!
Also, I must say that our floor work this year was excellent. Br. Fowler represented Sebastian
very well sitting in the east for a MM degree in Ft. Pierce. We have 2 new Master Masons,
welcome aboard Brothers Kagan and Rodriguez.
I am very proud of the excellent, patriotic, and reverent job done by Worshipful Van Pelt, Bob
Jarvis, Dave Jones, Wor. Treglio, Jim Kandt, R:.W:. Spaulding, Bob Etman, Doc Meyer,and Jess
Krall on setting the POW/MIA Table. All of whom witnessed that will agree!
The next installation of officers will be Jan 7, 2017.
GOD bless America, Griz

Greetings From The Secretary

Our Perpetual, Outstanding Secretary for the last 15+ Years

Senor Miguel (Mr. Congeniality) Treglio / Past Master, Worshipful Mike Treglio for whom
the Lodge owes 1,000,000 Thanks & Gratitude towards his vast unwavering duties performed for
this Lodge
From Funzis Desk
I am glad to report that most of the dues have been paid, it will definitely
help out with our budget. Thank You. If you have moved, changed your
E-mail address or phone number. Please contact me. If you have a problem
Re: your dues, also please contact me. Brothers help Brothers.
God Bless America ,- Sincerely & Fraternally Mike

Gents, the installation for the 2017 officers will be

on 1/7/2017. At 5pm we will have a very informal
fellowship time. Finger foods, and soft drinks. Sit
and relax, or roam around and speak w/ everyone.
At 6pm we will go into the lodge room and begin
the ceremony. Bring your lady and or other
guests if you like.
Griz
A very Short History of the Installation Ceremony - Our present day installation
service, specifically the act of installing an officer or the officers of the Lodge, in
Open Lodge, with those symbols of the offices authority along with a short charge
to the office holder regarding his obligations for his ensuing term. You will also
notice, when you read the ceremony carefully, that the majority of the ceremony is
taken up with the act of what we would call Installing the Master and the Wardens,
that is, the act of charging them, and giving them their powers and having
everyone swear their allegiance, first to the Grand Lodge and then to the Master
and the Wardens.
It is from this ceremony that you will see this Saturday that our present Act of
Installation comes, although not directly. When the Grand Lodge of Ireland was
established a few years after the Grand Lodge of England, it took Andersons 1723
Regulations and Charges and incorporated them into their own work. ( Youll find
Andersons Constitutions in our Library). This work was then brought back into
England by the Ancients who established their Grand Lodge in 1751. The Ancients,
who stated that they were adhering to the old system free from innovation were
actually the great innovators.
The Moderns, or at least the bureaucracy at the Grand Lodge, was becoming very
slow and sluggish, and the Ancients forged ahead by instituting two important forms
of democracy in the Lodge: first of all, they elected their officers on a yearly basis,
and secondly, they instituted an annual ceremony of installation of the officers. This

all proved to be very popular, and was gradually picked up by us Modern day
Masons.
The first really serious author who would be Masonically recognized was Preston;
the first edition of his Illustrations was in 1772. In that book there are a variety of
services which are almost identical to what is in our current Forms and
Ceremonies, such as the Laying of the Masonic Cornerstone, the Masonic Funeral
Service, etc.
One big problem still remained in the early 1800s the question of installation. There
were a couple of matters that needed to be resolved to ensure that there was one
definitive ceremony that could be accepted by the Grand Lodge and by all the
constituent Lodges. One of the issues that had arisen was the practice that only
some Lodges had to have the new Master installed by a Board of Installed Masters.
Some Lodges, such as in Bristol, had from the late 1700s established a ritual
whereby the new Master and the Board of Installed Masters left the Lodge hall and
went to an antechamber where the ritual was performed. In other Lodges, everyone
but the Installed Masters vacated the Lodge hall and the ritual was performed in the
Lodge. One of the reasons for the ritual being done this particular way was because
there was a time when to enter the Royal Arch you had to be an Installed Master.
There were also ceremonies to circumvent this, known as Passing the Chair,
whereby a worthy Brother who was not a Master was, virtually, passed over the
chair of the master and was therefore thought to be entitled to become a member
of the Royal Arch.
In 1827, the Duke of Sussex, who was still the Grand Master, in England, instituted
a special Lodge or Board of Installed Masters which was established for the sole
purpose of putting together an acceptable Installation Ceremony. This Board agreed
on a definitive Installation Ceremony which was presented to the Grand Master, and
he also agreed to this ritual. It is this ritual which is the basis for the ritual that we
presently use in this jurisdiction. This ritual was agreed upon by the Grand Lodge of
Ireland very soon thereafter, and accepted as a ritual in the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1872.
The seat of power in the Lodge is always the democracy of all the Brethren about the Lodge,
and every year they exercise this and give up governance, on a temporary basis, to individuals
whom they feel are worthy. But to be worthy of his job, the Worshipful Master must make sure
that the Lodge performs a certain way, i.e., produces the results that the Lodge is
designed to produce. We can see in the eighteenth century it was happiness, in the
nineteenth and twentieth century it became more specific in terms of the general behavior
inside the Lodge and also of course the general notion of what a Mason can be and ought
to be.

Greetings From Our Chaplin

Greetings Brothers, Thanks to all brothers that came
out for the recent elections. While we may not agree on
all things I think we all agree on what Masonry is all
about, making good men better. Otherwise we would
not have joined this time honored fraternity.
Congratulations to bro Griz on going East. Many thanks
to WM Jerry for your leadership this past year, quite a
bit was accomplished around the lodge. I pray for
Gods guidance in the coming year and feel very
strongly that more good things are in store for this
Lodge. I want to wish everyone a happy and
prosperous new year. Well, thats about my 2 cents
worth but one last thingthanks for being my
brothers.
Fraternally, Bob Jarvis, Chaplain

Greetings From Our Treasurer

All Bills Are Paid - Fraternally Jim Kandt
And Thats Bout all I got to say bout that

Greetings From Our Editor

Our Next Scheduled Meeting is Tuesday,Jan 10th . Hope to see all of you there.
On another note The Trestle Board is again in its infancy as it was years ago before it became
a 16 page manuscript. Giving it time, it will again be enlightened with new information and new
education.
Advertising Anyone wishing to advertise a business card into the Trestle Board please
contact Past Master, Worshipful, Our Secretary.Mike Treglio. Grand Lodge has strict rules
re; advertising and thus we are only permitted to view business cards at this time. Contact Mike
and either drop off or mail your business card to Mike and he will forward it to the editor to be
published in continuous Trestle Boards

It is a form of Brothers helping Brothers. Recently I had a transmission conk out and I
immediately went to one of the Brothers in our Lodge who owns a Transmission & Auto Repair
Shop in Sebastian. My truck was on the road again in less than 36 hours, new transmission,
discounted price.
The cost of advertising a business card in the Trestle Board (5 to 7 Issues Per Year) is a
donation to the Lodge that you think is fair & Equitable.
Thank you The Editor

Recent Photographs From Lodge Events

Our P.O.W. Empty table set up in our

Sebastian Masonic Lodge

Empty Table,P.O.W. Presenting its

Ceremony. TR- Dave Jones; WM Jerry
Van Pelt; Jim Kandt; Bob Jarvis;
PM Mike Treglio
BR- Dr. Norman Meyer; PM Steve Griz;
Bob Etman; Jess Kraull and D.d.G.M.
Ced Spaulding

Our 100th Anniversary Cake at our

100th Anniversay Gala Dinner

New Master Masons

Bro. Rodriguez and
Bro Kagon

P.M. Steve Griswald & Present Master

Elect (I Think Hes doing a Sinatra Song)

P.M. John Vaughn

Rendering a song By Joe Cocker in
D Minor

Master Jerry Van Pelt

Doris Brown; Worthy Matron E.O.S. &
Patron Bob Brown; Seb. M.L. #232 & E.O.S.

Past D.D.G.M. Jim Peiffer

An Extremely Humble & Helpful Mason
& Human Being. Also a good Carpenter

IL Capo Di Tutto Capi

The Godfather
Past D.D.G.M. Joe Generazio

Master Jerry Van Pelt P.M.Mike Treglio Chaplin Bob Jarvis

Worshipful Jerry

Our Honorable & Pleasurable Guests,

R.W. Ced Spaulding, D.D.G.M.

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

MASONIC HISTORY
An artist drew a picture of the Green Dragon Tavern. Below it he wrote these words:
"Where we met to Plan the Consignment of a few Shiploads of Tea, Dec 16, 1773"
In the upper left hand corner of his drawing he put a square and compass. To this day no one knows who
planned the Boston Tea Party.
The building had been purchased by the St. Andrews Lodge in
1764. There was a square and compass over the front door and
a copper Dragon that had turned green through the weather. It
was a community center. Downstairs was the Tavern. Upstairs
was the St. Andrews Lodge and the Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts (Ancients). It was the largest place for meetings
in the north east end of Boston. Historians have called it
"headquarters of the American Revolution."
Here the Boston Committee of Correspondence was formed
after a few initial meetings at Brother Joseph Warren's house a
few doors away. Here the Sons of Liberty held secret sessions. John Johnston (c. 1753-1818)
They wore a jewel around their necks and were known to have a watercolor sketch, n.d. Original at
separate language for recognition. The jewel had a picture of
American Antiquarian Society, 185
the Liberty Tree on it.
Salisbury St, Worcester, MA 01609The North End Caucus formed the guard here that publicly
1634.
guarded the tea ships so no tea could be unloaded. Brother
Edward Proctor (St. Andrews Lodge) was known to be leader of this guard. Brother Paul Revere served
with this guard. Later Brother Paul Revere served in another guard called the Selectmen who walked the
streets of Boston, two by two, and observed the movements of British troops before he went off on his
famous ride to Lexington. The Selectmen guard met at the Green Dragon Tavern and took an oath of
secrecy over a Bible.
Dr. Joseph Warren, a 33 year old physician is the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts
that meets upstairs. Paul Revere is the Senior Grand Deacon. Both are Past Masters of the St. Andrews
Lodge. They are close friends and had come to the St. Andrews Lodge in the same year. It is Joseph
Warren who sends Paul Revere to Lexington with a coded message for Brother John Hancock (also of
St. Andrews Lodge).
Warren and Revere met at the Green Dragon Tavern with the North End Caucus that sang the "Rally
Mohawks" song. The song tells us that Warren and Revere are there, but no one ever tells us who the
"Chiefs" are. And we'll never know who the "Mohawks" are.
Rally, Mohawks - bring out your axes!
And tell King George we'll pay no taxes

On his foreign tea!

His threats are vain - and vain to think
To force our girls and wives to drink
His vile Bohea!
Then rally boys, and hasten on
To meet our Chiefs at the Green Dragon.
Our Warren's there, and bold Revere,
With hands to do and words to cheer
For Liberty and Laws!
Our country's "Braves" and firm defenders
Shall ne'er be left by true North-Enders,
Fighting Freedom's cause!
Then rally boys and hasten on
To meet our Chiefs at the Green Dragon.
The "vile Bohea" is another name for the tea of the East India Company. It has been rotting in their
warehouses in England. This is cheap tea and the Company needs to get rid of it. The British Parliament
has given the East India Tea Company a monopoly on tea. The Colonies are not supposed to buy any
other tea. Parliament has kept a tax on tea just to prove that they have the power to tax.
And taxation without representation, along with a tea monopoly, is tyranny!
On the night of the Boston Tea Party there were men who called themselves "Mohawks" and put lamp
black and paint on their faces as a disguise. Some of these "Mohawks" met at the Green Dragon Tavern.
Some met in homes. Some wrapped themselves in blankets and sat in the balcony of the Old South
Meeting House mixing with the crowd. Some came from the Edes Printing Office.
Two thousand people stand on Griffin's wharf and watch the Boston Tea Party. The crowd is silent as
sixty men dump 90,000 pounds of tea into the salt water.
There are secret signs and countersigns for recognition.
One "Mohawk" says "Ugh!"
A second raises his hatchet and says, "Me know you."
The first then counters by raising his hatchet and gives another "Ugh!"
In all that crowd no one wanted to identify a "Mohawk." One man said he would be a witness provided the
trial would be 3,000 miles away in London. There never was a trial. Governor Hutchinson wouldn't have a
trial in Boston because he thought the jury would turn out to be "Mohawks" or their sympathizers. The
"Mohawks" remain one of the mysteries of the American Revolution.
The events leading up to the evening of the December 16th Tea Party might shed a bit of light.
October 23rd
Brother Warren and Brother Revere meet at the Green Dragon Tavern to publish the Resolution of the
North End Caucus:
"To oppose the vending of any tea sent by the East India Company . . . with our lives and fortunes."
November 3rd
Brother William Molineux, a member of St. Andrews Lodge, acts as spokesman for the Sons of Liberty. A
notice was placed on the Liberty Tree that the Consignees of the Tea were to report and publicly resign
their commissions as tea agents for the East India Company. "Ignore this at your peril." The Consignees
do not appear. A crowd of 300 people follow Brother Molineux and Brother Warren to the Customs House
to confront the Consignees. The crowd tears the doors off the hinges and Brother Molineux confronts the
Consignees. Will they resign as Consignees so the tea ships can turn around and carry the tea back to

England? No. The Consignees would not resign. In fact they then moved to Fort William under military
protection.
In New York, Philadelphia and Charleston, the Consignees for the tea had resigned their Commissions at
the request of the Sons of Liberty. Those tea ships had sailed back to England with the tea. There were
no Consignees to pay the tax and sign for the tea.
But not in Boston! Governor Hutchinson and his family were in the tea business. Two of Governor
Hutchinson's sons and a son-in-law were Consignees. The Tea Act stated that if the tea was not sold by
December 17th, it could be seized by the custom house and sold for nonpayment of duties. Once the tea
was in the Governor's hands, he could dispose of it secretly to local merchants. No. The Consignees
would not resign. Steps had to be taken before December 17th.
November 5th
The Town Committee of Selectmen try another approach to the Governor and the Consignees. These
Selectmen are leading tradesmen in Boston. They are led by Brother John Hancock, a member of the St.
Andrews Lodge. He is the richest man in New England. He is the Colonel of the Governor's Cadet Corps.
He has been given special orders by the Governor to maintain order around the Tea Ships.
Also on the Committee of Selectmen is Brother John Rowe. He is the Grand Master of the St. John's
Grand Lodge of Massachusetts (Moderns). The St. John's Lodge meets upstairs over the Bunch of
Grapes Tavern and most of the members are Tory in their sympathy. Brother Rowe is the owner of one of
the tea ships, the Eleanor. He has promised to use his influence with the Governor to return the tea ships
and the tea to England.
It is a matter of trade with the Selectmen and they use a different appeal:
"The Selectmen meet to wait on the Consignees and request them from a regard of their own characters
and the peace and good order of this Town and Province immediately to resign their appointment."
No. The Consignees still would not resign. History might have been different if the Governor of
Massachusetts had not been in the tea trade.
November 29th
The Tea Ship Dartmouth arrives in Boston. The Committee of Correspondence, led by Brother Joseph
Warren, distributes handbills calling for a Mass Town Meeting to return the tea whence it came.
"The detestable Tea shipped for this port by the East India Comnpany is now arrived in this harbor. The
Hour of Destruction on manly Opposition to the Machinations of Tyranny stares you in the face."
Five thousand people gather and vote to return the tea ship. Brother John Hancock acts as Moderator for
the Town Meetings.
Brother Paul Revere starts his work as a guard on the tea ship to see that the tea is not unloaded.
November 30th
Records of the St. Andrews Lodge indicate that the Lodge is adjourned this night "on account of few
Brethren present."
Note: "Consignees of Tea took up the Brethren's time."
December 15th
Time is running out. Colonel John Hancock goes to the tea ships to review the Governor's Cadet Corps.
Both he and Brother Warren had been Orators at the commemoration of those who had died in the
Boston Massacre.
The Consignees were blaming the North End Caucus guard because they would not let the Consignees
unload the tea. The Caucus had been guarding the tea at gun point and holding secret sessions at the
Green Dragon Tavern.
The Consignees were blamed by both Tory and Patriot because they would not withdraw and let the tea
be returned to England.
Brother Warren goes to the Customs House with Francis Rotch, the owner of the tea ship, Dartmouth. All
exits to the harbor are blocked. By law the Customs Officials cannot release the ship unless the
Consignees unload the tea and pay the tax. On December 17th the Customs Officials are to seize the tea
according to the law.

Brother Warren visits Brother Rowe, owner of the tea ship, Eleanor. These two Grand Masters hold a
unique title in American history for the Ancients and Moderns. Each were called the "Grand Master of the
Continent of America." They meet in a concern for his "ship and cargo." Another appeal must be made to
the Governor.
December 16th
The evening of the famous Tea Party. The records of the St. Andrew Lodge show that only five members
were present. A note says "Lodge closed on account of few members present."
The Committee of Correspondence with Brother Warren calls for a Mass Town Meeting. Seven thousand
people meet in and around the Old South Meeting House. It is the largest crowd that had ever assembled
in Boston. They wait to hear a message from Governor Hutchinson. Will he return the tea to England?
Seven miles away at Milton, the Governor meets with Francis Rotch, the owner of the Dartmouth. Brother
John Hancock and Brother John Rowe help in the appeal to the Governor to return the tea.
The Governor would not let the ships leave with the tea. It would be contrary to the Customs law. Instead
he would give the Dartmouth military escort to Castle Island and Fort Williams. There his sons would
unload the tea and pay the tax. The owner of the Dartmouth did not want to move his ship under those
circumstances of a 60-gun warship military escort.
The Dartmouth owner returns to the crowded Old South Meeting Hall with the news. He is asked two
questions.
Will he take the Dartmouth to England with the tea? No. It would mean his "ruin."
Would he unload the tea at the wharf? No. He was "not authorized" to unload it.
The meeting ended and it was then that the "Mohawks" unloaded a consignment of tea at Griffin's Wharf.
The Governor's Cadet Corps stood far back from the crowd on the wharf.
The crews of the tea ships went below and gave no assistance. Some of them even helped unload the
tea. The crowd observed a silence. No damage was done to the ships. No tea was kept by an individual.
The whole Tea Party was in range of a 60-gun warship. The British Admiral watched from the upstairs
window of a house nearby. Afterward the "Mohawks" marched by under his window. The Admiral opened
the window and shouted, "Tomorrow you'll have to pay the piper!"
Brother Paul Revere mounts his horse and carries the news to New York. With that news a tea ship at
New York turns around and sails back to England with the tea. The news is spread by the Committee of
Correspondence. There are over one hundred of these Committees in Massachusetts alone. From the
time of the Boston Tea Party the East India Company sold no more tea in America.
Brother John Rowe calls the dumping of the tea "a disastrous affair" in his diary. "I can truly say, I know
nothing of the matter, nor who were concerned with it. This might I believe have been prevented. I am
sincerely sorry for the event." Brother Rowe was a Loyalist and he remains a Loyalist.
The English Attorney General placed Joseph Warren's name at the top of a list of five. The charge would
have been Treason for the Boston Tea Party. There was a lack of evidence. The Ministers never pressed
charges.
This was not the first time that Governor Hutchinson and his sons had taken a loss in their tea trading.
Just three years before Brother William Molineux and Brother James Otis (St. John's Lodge) led a crowd
of a thousand patriots from Faneuil Hall to confront the Hutchinsons. That time there was a
nonimportation agreement in Boston. It was about to run out. His sons had been importing tea and hiding
it, waiting to make a profit. His sons surrendered the tea and the money for the tea they had already sold.
The Hutchinsons didn't forget it. Nor did the Sons of Liberty.
After the Tea Party, Governor Hutchinson was withdrawn to London for "consultation." The King and
Ministry sent in General Gage as a new military Governor and gave him "full discretion" to find evidence
for a trial of those responsible for the Boston Tea Party. There was no trial in Boston.
Benjamin Franklin, a Grand Master of Pennsylvania, was in London at the time. He called the Boston Tea
Party "an act of violent injustice." A group of London merchants wanted to pay twice the value of the tea
to keep trade open. Franklin offered to pay for the tea himself.
"Though the mischief was the act of persons unknown, yet as probably they cannot be found, or brought
to answer for it, there seems to be some reasonable claim on the society at large in which it happened."

But no one ever paid for the tea, because Parliament closed down the port of Boston, cut off the trade,
and sent in the troops.
Many years later Sir Winston Churchill - Prime Minister, Historian and Freemason - commented on the
act of Parliament that had given the East India Company a monopoly on tea. Brother Churchill called it "a
stupid blunder."
Americans have been drinking coffee ever since. The English said that the reason the Americans lost
their taste for tea was that they had a peculiar way of mixing it in the salt water.
It started in the Green Dragon Tavern. If a man ordered tea, he was a Tory. If he ordered coffee, he was
a Patriot.
It is not strange that no one could be found to identify the "Mohawks." It was the same the year before in
Rhode Island. Some Patriots dressed as Indians attacked the Gaspee in long boats. The British claimed
that Brother Abraham Whipple (St. John's Lodge, No. 1, Providence) was the leader. They promised to
hang him. Brother Whipple said they would have to catch him first.
George Washington, at age 22, was asked why he became a Mason. He said it was because he found
them to be "Leaders in the community."
Faneuil Hall and the Old South Meeting House still stand in Boston. The Green Dragon Tavern burned
down years ago. The heritage lives on in a picture made in 1773. The artist had the fortitude to sign his
name to the words: "Where we met to Plan the Consignment of a few Shiploads of Tea. Dec 16, 1773."
If "Leaders in the community" ever meet at the Green Dragon Tavern and sing the "Rally
Mohawks" song for a television show, let them be sure that their makeup is on straight.

FAMOUS MASONS
Buffalo Bill Cody
February 26, 1846 - January 10, 1917
American soldier, bison hunter and showman, William Frederick Cody
was one of the most colourful figures of the American Old West. His Wild
West show was so popular that by 1883 it appeared at the Chicago
World's Fair and four years later was presented to Queen Victoria during
her Golden Jubilee.
Represented in some 1,700 dime novels as a rough-hewn outdoorsman,
Cody was an early defender of the rights of women and American
natives. He also supported conservation, speaking out against hidehunting and pushing for established hunting seasons.
Cody was active in the concordant bodies of Freemasonry, becoming a
Knight Templar in 1889 and receiving his 32 degree in 1894. He
received a masonic funeral on June 3, 1917 complete with eight
pallbearers dressed in their Knights Templar uniforms.

Entered Apprentice: March 5, 1870

Fellowcraft: April 2 1870
Master Mason: January 10, 1871
Colonel Harland Sanders
September 9, 1890 - December 16, 1980

American businessman, and founder of the Kentucky Fried

Chicken restaurant franchise, Harland David Sanders started the
business in 1952 and sold it in 1964, although he remained their
corporate spokesman until his death. Governor Ruby Laffoon

made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the states cuisine.
And in 1939, his establishment was first listed in Duncan Hines' "Adventures in Good Eating."
Initiated: April 6, 1917
Demitted: February 27, 1920
Lodge No. 651 (Indiana), Henryville, Indiana
Passed: 1919
Raised: 1919 Affiliated 10-27-53 Demitted to Harris Lodge# 38, Corbin, Kentucky
HISTORY
There is little but tradition regarding Freemasonry in North America prior to 1750. Setting aside
an inscribed stone dated 1606 from Goat Island, Nova Scotia; ambiguous Plymouth County
records from 1654; and the Rev. Edward Peterson's claims for a
Rhode Island lodge in 1658, the first reference to a freemason in
North America is Jonathan Belcher, born in Boston in 1681, who was
initiated into an occasional lodge while travelling in Europe in 1704,
making him, upon his return to Boston in 1705, the Senior
Freemason of America.
There is some claim that Lord Alexander, Viscount Canada (d.
1638)who was admitted into the Lodge of Edinburgh on the 3rd of
July, 1634established a lodge in the colony on the banks of the St.
Lawrence, but there is no trace
The first Lodge meeting in the western hemisphere, the knowledge
of which is supported by something more than pure tradition, was
probably held in Kings Chapel, Boston, in 1720
From 1721 there are newspaper accounts of masonic affairs,
implying that Freemasonry was of public interest and that there were freemasons in the colonies.
A number of members of the lodge meeting in King's Chapel, Boston relocated to Nova Scotia
after 1713 and may well have held occasional lodges in their new home.
The first lodge in Boston, St. John's meeting at Tun Tavern, was constituted July 30, 1733 but
claimed an older history. It's first record book dates from the eleventh meeting of the lodge on
December 27, 1738 to July 24, 1754. (Robertson records its constitution 31 August 1733.)
The brethren who met in Philadelphia left an account book, now known as St. Johns Lodge Libr
B, beginning with June 24, 1731. In the archives of the American Philosophical Society at
Philadelphia is a volume entitled Benjamin Franklins Journal, began July 4, 1730. It is an
account book containing an entry for September 9, 1731 referring to the Lodge of Masons held
at B. Hubards. Bro. John Hubbard kept Tun Tavern, where the lodge met.

Unfortunately, ...the premier Provincial Grand Lodge of the Western Hemisphere, organized in
Boston, Massachusetts, July 30, 1733 [by Henry Price], has no formal and continuous records
written in a book at the time of the recorded events, until 1750.4

Erasmus James Philipps (1705-1760) was made a Master Mason

in Boston on 14 November 1737. Henry Price appointed him as
Provincial Grand Master over the Free and Accepted Masons in
the Province of Nova Scotia sometime prior to 13 March 1738.
Philipps returned to Annapolis Royal in June 1738 and shortly
thereafter constituted his first lodge.
The earliest Scottish lodge warranted in Canada, St. Andrew's
Scots, Quebec, first met in 1819. Mindon Lodge In H. M. 20th
Regt. (Kingston, U.C.,) had held a field warrant from 1748, but the
first lodge warranted in Canada by the Grand Lodge of Ireland
was in 1841, when a warrant was issued to St. John's Lodge at
London, Canada West. It was not until 1855 that the Grand Lodge
of Canada (now the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario) was constituted.
Daniel Coxe, technically the first Provincial Grand Master in America, deputed for New York,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 1730-32, was a member of Lodge No. 8, constituted 25 April
1722 at the Devil Tavern, London. No record exists of any act that he did under the deputation
of 1730. It is evident that he did not even associate with the Craft at Philadelphia, which was but
20 miles away.
These are the bare facts of our early history. It is possible that any number of unwarranted or
occasional lodges, and military lodges working under travelling warrants, met in North America
prior to the dates given here. Further discovery of lodge records and the like is always possible,
but until their discovery, Freemasonry can make no earlier claim.

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