Difference between revisions of "GMHodgdon"

Revision as of 15:20, 26 January 2012

JEFFREY B. HODGDON

Deputy Grand Master, 1989
Grand Master, 2005-2007

TERM

2005 2006 2007

NOTES

SPEECHES

AT OVERLOOK DEDICATION, 2006

From Proceedings, Page 2006-120:

How many pleasing considerations, my Brethren and friends, attend the present interview. Whilst in almost every other part of the world, political animosities, contentions and wars interrupt the progress of humanity and the cause of benevolence, it is our distinguished privilege, in this happy region of liberty and peace, to engage in the plans and to perfect the designs of individual and social happiness. Whilst in other nations our order is viewed by politicians with suspicion and by the ignorant with apprehension, in this country its members are too much respected, and its principles too well known, to make it the object of jealousy or mistrust. Our private assemblies are unmolested, and our public celebrations attract a more general approbation of the fraternity. Indeed, its importance, its credit, and, we trust, its usefulness, are advancing to a height unknown in any former age. The present occasion gives fresh evidence of the increasing affection of its friends; and this noble apartment, fitted up in a style of elegance and convenience, does honor to Masonry as well as the highest credit to the respectable buildings for whose accommodation, and at whose expense, it is erected. (I suspect this is a quote from some earlier dedication-?)

We offer our best congratulations to the officers and members of the Masonic Health System. We commend their zeal and hope it will meet with the most ample recompense. May these buildings be the happy resort of piety, virtue, and benevolence; may they be protected from accident, and long remain a monument of our attachment to Masonry; may the Masonic Health System continue to flourish, our union to strengthen, and our happiness to abound; and when we all shall be removed from the labors of the earthly lodge, may we be admitted to the brotherhood of the perfect, in the building of God, the hall not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Behold how pleasant and how good it is for brethren and friends, such as we, to dwell in unity. In this world of confusion, disaster and war, it is so fitting that we assemble here to once again practice our tenets of brotherly love, relief and truth. Thanks be to those who had the foresight to envision this endeavor. There are too many to list but some must be recognized: M.W. Arthur E. Johnson who spoke of this vision at the time of his being Grand Master; M.W. Fred K. Bauer and M.W. Donald G. Hicks Jr. who carried on the vision; R.W. David C. Turner and his entire staff who diligently carried the project to completion; and of course, all the members of the Craft who truly made this all possible by their generosity and dedication to the fraternity.

This land, these buildings, and the dedication of all those concerned demonstrates the fact that Freemasonry in Massachusetts is not only alive and well but is also growing. I wish all those who live in and walk the halls of these buildings much success and happiness. May God continue to bless our beloved fraternity and this wonderful country we all love so much, and may God bless each and every one of you.

AT BUNKER HILL REDEDICATION, 2007

From Proceedings, Page 2007-107:

Honorable Mayor Menino, Honorable Consul Gauthier, Deputy Consul Chun, Mr. Savage, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

As the presiding officer of 40,000 Masons representing more than 240 lodges throughout the Commonwealth, as well as in Panama, Chile, Japan, and the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, I bring you the warm fraternal greetings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, as well as my own personal greetings.

Massachusetts Freemasonry dates back to 1733, when Henry Price, a tailor from London living in Boston, returned to Britain and received a charter from the Grand Lodge of England to organize the first Provincial Grand Lodge in the Americas. This precedent established the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts as the oldest Grand Lodge in the Western Hemisphere and the third oldest in the world. A distinction everyone in Massachusetts, Masons and non-Masons alike, should be very proud of.

Freemasons belong to the world’s oldest and largest fraternal organization. As you will soon witness, we use the simple tools of ancient stonemasons, like the square and compasses, the trowel, plumb and level to teach our members with symbolism and allegory the tenets of friendship, charity, and morality. Throughout our history, these ideals inspired men like George Washington and thirteen other United States Presidents, author Mark Twain, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and Astronaut and Senator John Glenn to achieve the greatness in countless men whose names are not as well known. And, today, men throughout our Commonwealth are listening to our spokesperson, Brother Benjamin Franklin, who is asking “Is there Greatness in You?” And, I am pleased to say worthy men are responding by joining our Craft at a rate we have not seen in decades. In fact, earlier this month, one of the very descendants of our late Brother Joseph Warren joined The Harvard Lodge prior to graduating from the Divinity School at Harvard University.

As we busily prepare to commemorate our 275th Anniversary next year, we have occasion to look back on history and reflect on the accomplishments of the men who built our Fraternity, our communities, this Commonwealth, and our nation. And I cannot think of a more fitting intersection for these fabrics of our society to come together than the ground we are standing on today.

On June 17, 1775, Brother Joseph Warren was killed during the British Army’s third assault. While Warren is commonly known as a medical doctor, an ardent and active patriot, a newly commissioned General, he was, on that day, the Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts, yes one of my predecessors. Serving as his Wardens at the time, were two other distinguished patriots, Brothers Paul Revere and Joseph Webb who both went on in later years to become Grand Masters themselves.

On another battlefield, in another time, Lincoln would describe the sacrifice of men like Warren as “the last full measure of devotion”. By becoming our nation’s first great martyr, Joseph Warren symbolizes the sacrifice Mason’s and non-Masons have made to this very day to establish and protect the liberties that we rightly cherish: among them, the notion that we are all created equal, and that political freedom and religious tolerance are our birthright. These uniquely American values are also our Masonic values.

In recognition of “Warren and his Associates”, King Solomon's Lodge of Charlestown decided to dedicate the first battle-related monument in their honor. On December 2 of that year an 18-foot wooden Tuscan pillar resting on a platform eight feet high and eight feet square was erected on this site. When the Bunker Hill Monument Association was formed in 1823, among its early members were Grand Masters Josiah Bartlett, Benjamin Russell, and John Soley; and the connection between the Association and the Masons has continued through to the present day. Two years later in 1825, King Solomon's Lodge donated part of this land to build the monument. And on the 50th anniversary of the battle, the Grand Lodge laid the cornerstone to this monument in full Masonic tradition with the help of our Brother, Marquis de Lafayette: a ceremony you are about to see repeated to commemorate today’s rededication and ribbon cutting. And most recently, when the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to this site presented itself, one of my most recent predecessors, Most Worshipful Fred Kirby Bauer, provided a large gift from the Grand Lodge to ensure that the rebuilding of the monument would be not only successful but fitting to the many men and women who have dedicated their lives, and in many instances paid the supreme sacrifice, so we may stand on this hallowed ground today and exercise our inalienable right of freedom of speech and assembly.

Since 1733, through the Battle of Bunker Hill, the building of this great monument, and until today, Freemasons have been an integral part of the formation and history of Massachusetts and America. And although we are proud of our past and the role our members have played in the events that have shaped us, we are equally excited about the next 275 years and the role Freemasonry will have in the lives of our members and our communities.

Thank you.

CHARTERS GRANTED

RULINGS

• 2005
• 2006
• 2007

Previous (Hicks)
Next (Pageau)

Grand Masters