Difference between revisions of "MassachusettsYear1793"

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1793

NOTES

In 1793, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts got down to business.

The roster of lodges, enlarged by four entries in the previous year, added only one this year:|Morning Star Lodge of Worcester, a lodge still extant at present; its first master was Isaiah Thomas, who would be Grand Master only a decade hence. The Lodge was constituted during a special communication of the Grand Lodge in June, 1793; along with a visit to Trinity Lodge in Lancaster, it was an indication of the new Grand Lodge's growing interest in the Craft outside of Boston.

Also notable this year was a set of general instructions for Lodges holding charters under this Grand Lodge, issued on 03/11/1793 and detailed beginning on page II-36:

1. There should be four Quarterly Communications, in March, June, September and December;
2. Each lodge should provide an annual return of officers and a list of those men made Masons, with a fixed fee (3s) for charity for each new Mason;
3. Each lodge should be represented at Grand Lodge by a Master, Wardens or Proxy, and each Proxy should be a member of a Massachusetts Lodge;
4. The quarterly fee for each lodge should be $2 (the so-called quarterage);
5. Any Brother that "shall so misbehave, so that the Lodge of which he is a member shall expel him, his name, with his crime, shall be transmitted to the Grand Lodge."
6. These instructions should be recorded in each Lodge's By-Law book and be read regularly.

At the end of a very successful year, Grand Master Cutler was elected for a third term at the Annual Communication in December.

JOHN CUTLER, Grand Master

QUARTERLY COMMUNICATIONS

• 03/11 (Concert Hall, Boston): II-33;
  • II-33: Correspondence with George Washington.
  • II-35: Acknowledgement of standing of American Union Lodge, Ohio.
  • II-35ff: Correspondence.
  • II-36: Petition for Morning Star Lodge, Worcester.
  • II-36: Resolution of instructions to accompany charters; fees and requirements.

• 06/14 (Concert Hall, Boston): II-39;
  • II-39ff: Correspondence.
  • II-40: Returns of St. John's (Boston) and The Massachusetts Lodges.

• 09/09 (Concert Hall, Boston): II-44;
  • II-44: Petition for St. Paul's, Boston; referred to committee.
  • II-44: Petition for Inseperable Lodge, Boston (dismissed).
  • II-45: Vote to grant 50s. "Legal Money" for printing expenses.
  • II-45: Committee to be appointed to "consider the state of the Grand Lodge" and to visit all lodges "they deem necessary"; to report in December.
  • II-45: Return of officers of Harmonic Lodge, Boston.

• 12/12 (Concert Hall, Boston): II-48;
  • II-48: Petition for St. Paul‘s Boston, to be withdrawn.
  • II-49: Charter at Large granted to Harmonic Lodge, Boston.
  • II-49: Election of Grand Officers; re-election of Grand Master Cutler.
  • II-50: Communications and correspondence; return of Morning Star Lodge, Worcester.

SPECIAL COMMUNICATIONS

• 06/10 (Lancaster): II-41;
  • II-41: Visit to Trinity Lodge; address by Grand Master Cutler.

• 06/11 (Worcester): II-42;
  • II-42: Constitution of Morning Star Lodge (Rt. Wor. Isaiah Thomas).

• 11/27 (St. John's (Boston)): II-47;
  • II-47: Grand Master‘s and Deputy Grand Master‘s addresses; constitutions read.

LIST OF LODGES IN MASSACHUSETTS: 1793

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