Difference between revisions of "MassachusettsYear1873"

Latest revision as of 16:32, 21 May 2020

1873

SERENO DWIGHT NICKERSON, Grand Master

Percival L. Everett , Deputy Grand Master
Henry Endicott, Senior Grand Warden
Joseph K. Baker, Junior Grand Warden

QUARTERLY COMMUNICATIONS

(Held at Masonic Temple, Boston)

• 1873-1: 03/12;
• 1873-29: 06/11;
• 1873-71: 09/10;
• 1873-93: 12/10 (Annual Communication, continued to 12/12).

03/12 Agenda

• 1873-10: Installation of officers not present at the Feast of St. John in December 1872.
• 1873-17: A partial report by the Committee on Ritual.
• 1873-27: The vote regarding the printing of the Grand Constitutions annual be suspended until further action by the Grand Lodge; instead only amendments be printed and submitted to lodges.

06/11 Agenda

• 1873-32: Presentation of an "admirable portrait" of Past Grand Master Edward A. Raymond, along with a communication from his widow.
• 1873-47: Final disposition of the Masonic trial of Solon Thornton, formerly Recording Grand Secretary. This matter was covered at length during 1872 and 1873, with respect to a rejected candidate; I have skipped over the matter.

09/10 Agenda

• 1873-76: Communication from the Grand Lodge of Hungary; recommended that they be recognized.
• 1873-85: Report of the Committee on Ritual.

12/10 - 12/11 Agenda

Past Grand Master Joseph Warren

A portrait of Past Grand Master Joseph Warren appears opposite the Frontispiece.

• 1873-100: Auditing Committee report.
• 1873-102: Report of Sinking Fund.
• 1873-103ff: Grand Master's Annual Address.
• 1873-121: Resolution electing Rt. Wor. Charles W. Moore Honorary Past Grand Master. Report of Winslow Lewis on the information; "It smoothed his pillow of death, and sweetened the bitter cup of that libation of which we must all sooner or later partake."
• 1873-122: Re-election of Grand Master Sereno Dwight Nickerson, and other Grand Lodge officers.
• 1873-128: Report of complaint of Siloam Lodge against Quinsigamond Lodge; rejected candidate; admonitions.
• 1873-138: Report on jurisdiction of Boston Lodges; indefinitely postponed.
• 1873-150: (December 11 session): Grand Lodge of Instruction.

Grand Constitutions Amendment Proposals

• 03/12: 1873-13: Proposed amendment to Part 3, Article 4, Section 4, regarding penalties for non-payment of dues; adopted.

• 03/12: 1873-14: Proposed amendment to Part 1, Article 3, Section 1, and Part 1, Article 6, Section 1, regarding meeting times; not enacted due to the lack of a two-thirds majority.

• 03/12: 1873-14: Proposed amendment to Part 4, Article 3, Section 2, regarding rejected applicants; adopted.

• 03/12: 1873-16: Proposed amendment to Part 4, Article 1, Section 5, regarding jurisdictions, along with resolutions regarding the jurisdictional limits of lodges within Boston (including Roxbury, Dorchester, South Boston and East Boston); adopted, with jurisdictional questions postponed to the June quarterly.

Grand Master's Address

• 03/12: 1873-18: Report of committee on Grand Master's Address.

• 12/10: 1873-103: Grand Master's Address. Death of Past Grand Master George M. Randall; Rt. Wor. Charles W. Moore "nigh unto death‚" and a recommendation that he be elected Honorary Past Grand Master; Condition of Lodges; visits; Dispensations; public Masonic ceremonies; portrait of Past Grand Master Raymond, and other portraits; Grand Secretary's office; library (including the purchase of the library of Bro. Leon Hyneman of Philadelphia).

Visits:

• Charity, Cambridge (12/17/1872; installation)
• Mount Lebanon, Boston (12/31/1872; installation)
• Amicable, Cambridge (01/02)
• St. John's (Boston) (01/06)
• Spencer, Spencer (01/07; hall dedication)
• East Boston (01/10; hall dedication for Mount Tabor, Baalbec, Hammatt, Temple)
• Mizpah, Cambridge (01/13, installation)
• The Massachusetts, Boston (01/17, installation)
• Washington, Boston Highlands (02/14)
• Republican, Greenfield (02/18; hall dedication)
• Lodge of St. Andrew, Boston (03/13)
• Charles H. Titus, Taunton (03/28; constitution of lodge)
• St. Martin's, Chatham (04/07; consitution of lodge, installation)
• Rabboni, South Boston (04/08)
• Charles A. Welch, Maynard (04/10; hall dedication, consitution, installation)
• Columbian, Boston (05/01)
• Ancient York, Lowell (06/09; 20th anniversary)
• Ayer (10/06; hall dedication, St. Paul's (Ayer) and Caleb Butler Lodges)
• Athol, Athol (10/23; constitution of lodge)
• Bay State, Montague (10/30; constitution of lodge)
• Oxford, Oxford (11/11; also present Webster and Quinnebaug)
• Marine, Falmouth (11/12)
• Joseph Warren, Boston (11/25)
• Kilwinning, Lowell (11/29; Feast of St. Andrew)
• Lodge of St. Andrew, Boston (12/01; Feast of St. Andrew)

Lodge By-Law Changes

• 03/12: 1873-7; Aberdour, Caleb Butler (full code), The Lodge of Eleusis (full code), Essex, Good Samaritan, Ionic (Easthampton), Mount Holyoke, Republican, St. John's (Newburyport), Starr King, Union (Dorchester); referred.
  • 03/12: 1873-27; approved, except for The Lodge of Eleusis and Union (Dorchester), recommitted.
  • 06/11: 1873-48; The Lodge of Eleusis approved.

• 06/11: 1873-32; Alfred Baylies, Excelsior, Lafayette (Boston Highlands), Liberty, Morning Star, Mount Vernon, Quaboag, St. Mark's, Social Harmony, Solomon's Temple, Temple, Thomas; referred.
  • 1873-48; approved with revisions, other than Solomon's Temple.
  • 09/10: 1873-87: Solomon's Temple to be recommitted.

Remarks by committee:

". . . at nearly every meeting By-Laws have been submitted . . . and amended . . . because the Lodges have attempted to deal with matters beyond their jurisdiction. . . We, therefore, offer the following propositions:

1. By-Laws of a subordinate lodge should provide for election or appointment of [various officers; and the first five always by ballot].
2. A Lodge may, by its By-Laws, provide for the election, by ballot, of all officers and committees . . . but the W. Master alone has the appointing power.
3. By-Laws should provide for the Regular Meetings of the Lodge; Special Meetings can be held only at the will and pleasure of the W. Master.
4. By-Laws cannot provide for the removal of an officer . . . for misdemeanor in office he may be suspended . . . Should a vacancy occur from any cause, it cannot be permanently filled without a Dispensation from the M.W. Grand Master.
5. By-Laws cannot alter or abridge the duties of officers that are fixed by usage and the ritual . . .
6. By-Laws cannot deprive a Brother of membership . . .
7. In balloting . . . the ballot must be unanimous to elect.
8. By-Laws cannot regulate the Aprons, Collars or Jewels . ..
9. By-Laws should not contain extracts from the Grand Constitutions . . .

"We believe that if these nine propositions are adopted . . . the By-Laws, throughout the State, will soon become simplified."

It was voted that they be inserted into the Grand Constitutions under Standing Votes, Resolutions, and Orders of the Grand Lodge, now in force.

• 09/10: 1873-73; Bethesda (Brighton), Charles W. Moore (full code), Isaac Parker, Marine, Mount Hope, North Star, Old Colony, Pioneer, St. James, Washington; referred.
  • 1873-86; approved with revisions, except St. James; recommitted.

• 12/10: 1873-98; Merrimack, Pythagorean; referred.
  • 1873-148; approved with revisions.

Necrologies and Memorials

• 09/10: 1873-77: Death of Rt. Wor. John H. Sheppard, Past Junior Grand Warden. Funeral attended by Deputy Grand Master Everett and other members of the Grand Lodge. Memorial presented by committee.

• 12/10: 1873-104: Death of Rt. Wor. George M. Randall, Past Grand Master; in Grand Master's Address.
  • 12/30: 1873-163; Memorial presented by Past Grand Master Winslow Lewis, for the committee.

• 12/30: 1873-168: Death of Rt. Wor. Charles W. Moore; presented by the Grand Master. Funeral obsequies held on 12/16/1873 at Emmanuel Church, Boston.

Petitions for Charters

• 03/12: 1873-8: St. Martin's U.D., Chatham; referred.
  • 1873-26: granted.

• 03/12: 1873-9: Charles A. Welch U.D., Maynard; referred.
  • 1873-26: granted. "Selecting its title in honor of the District Deputy Grand Master who presides over the Fourth District, may it grow up in honor and usefulness, to dignify and perpetuate its name."

• 03/12: 1873-10: Charles H. Titus U.D., Taunton; referred.
  • 1873-26: granted. "May it ever prove as true to our beloved Institution as he [the Recording Grand Secretary] whose name it honors."

• 09/10: 1873-74: Athol U.D., Athol; referred.
  • 1873-87: granted.

• 09/10: 1873-75: Bay State U.D., Montague; referred.
  • 1873-87: granted.

• 12/10: 1873-99: Concordia U.D., Fairhaven; referred.
  • 1873-147: granted.

Petitions for Dispensation for Lodges

• 12/10: 1873-110: Concordia, Fairhaven (12/12/1872)

• 12/10: 1873-110: Phoenix, Hanover (02/21)

• 12/10: 1873-110: Crescent, Pittsfield (09/12)

• 12/10: 1873-110: Anchor, Wales (11/28)

SPECIAL COMMUNICATIONS

Note: A number of Special Communications were held with no explicit record in the Proceedings.

• 01/07: Spencer, Spencer; dedication of hall.
• 01/10: East Boston (01/10; hall dedication for Mount Tabor, Baalbec, Hammatt, Temple
• 01/15: Thomas, Palmer; dedication of hall (by Rt. Wor. John Wetherbee as Deputy Grand Master)
• 02/18: Republican, Greenfield; dedication of hall.
• 03/28: Taunton; Constitution of Charles H. Titus Lodge.
• 04/07: Chatham; Constitution of St. Martin's Lodge.
• 04/10: Maynard; Constitution of Charles A. Welch Lodge.
• 06/11: mentioned in Proceedings without details.
• 06/24: Lafayette, North Adams (by Rt. Wor. Daniel Upton, as Deputy Grand Master)
• 06/24: Haverhill; Laying of a Cornerstone for the new Masonic Temple for Merrimack and Saggahew Lodges, and to celebrate the Feast of St. John the Baptist "after the manner of Masons." (A description of these ceremonies can be found here.
  • 1873-56: Reception of the Grand Master at the railroad depot; escort to Masonic Hall in Fleet Street, with escort.
  • 1873-57: Grand Lodge opened; procession to building site. Notably, seven signatories of the Declaration of 1831 (Brothers Stephen Chase, John Ayer, Andrew Johnson, Isaac Harding, Theodore Ordway, Nathaniel Currier and Horace Hastings [made a Mason in Vermont]) were in the procession.
  • 1873-58: Ceremonies. Remarks by the Grand Master.
  • 1873-61: Contents of box.
  • 1873-68: Procession to Lakeside Farm, home of Dr. Bro. James R. Nichols "well-known chemist and editor of The Boston Journal of Chemistry‚" on the border of Kenoza Lake (famed by Whittier). St. John's Day festivities.
• 10/06: Ayer; Dedication of new Masonic apartments for St. Paul's and Caleb Butler Lodges.
• 10/14: Occidental, Stockbridge; constitution of lodge by Rt. Wor. Daniel Upton, as Deputy Grand Master.
• 10/23: Athol; Constitution of Athol Lodge.
• 10/30: Montague; Constitution of Bay State Lodge.

FEAST OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST

(held at Masonic Temple, Boston, 12/30/1873)

• 1873-153: Opening and roll call.
• 1873-155: Report of Library Committee.
• 1873-156: Installation of Grand Master Nickerson and other Grand Lodge officers; details of installation.
• 1873-165: Report of Charity Committee.
• 1873-166: List of lodges not represented at Grand Lodge in 1872.
• 1873-167: Communications from various Grand Lodges.
• 1873-168: List of diplomas granted (1,879 in 1873).
• 1873-181: Banquet (brief details given.)

=== BIOGRAPHIES OF GRAND CHAPLAINS ===
by Past Grand Master John T. Heard.

The 1873 Proceedings includes extensive biographies of the Grand Chaplains of the Grand Lodge. These were prepared by Past Grand Master John T. Heard, and include years of service as well as denomination, and in some cases extensive biographical and autobiographical information.

LIST OF LODGES IN MASSACHUSETTS BY DISTRICT: 1873

There were 18 districts in Massachusetts in 1873, as well as districts for Chile and China. An 18th (Palmer) district was added at the beginning of the year as a part of the Grand Master's reorganization.

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