Difference between revisions of "DGMLewisSr"

Revision as of 17:18, 18 October 2012

WINSLOW LEWIS, SR. 1770-1850

• MM in Liverpool, England, 1791
• (Member of) Washington and Mount Lebanon Lodges
• Junior Grand Warden 1841-1843

MEMORIAL

A memorial appears starting on Page V-287, presented at the Quarterly Communication on June 12, 1850, by George M. Randall.

Winslow Lewis, Sr. was the son and father of Freemasons, and an active member of the Grand Lodge. He was a ship's captain by profession, who made a name for himself as a superintendent of lighthouse lighting for the United States Government; he developed an evolution of the Argand Lamp that was in general use early in the 19th century.

He was made a Mason in Liverpool, England in 1791, where he also became a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Knights Templar; at the time of his death he was certainly the most senior member of either order in the state, and might have been the most senior Mason in Massachusetts. He was most closely attached to Washington Lodge in Roxbury, where he lived the latter part of his life; "and it was in a great measure, owing to his patronage, and kind efforts that [it] emerged from the deprression that had long born it down - and it became one of the most flourishing and active Lodges in the state."

The family name, and surname, are better remembered for his son Winslow Lewis Jr., who served a two-year and an one-year term as Grand Master not long after the father's death.

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly, Vol. IX, No. 8, June 1850, p. 253:

Died, at his late residence in Roxbury, on Monday morning, May 20th, Wmstow Lewis, Esq., aged 80 years. The immediate cause of his death was a sudden attack of hermorrhage from the lungs; under which he sunk, calmly and without pain, after a week's illness. The deceased had always enjoyed u remarkable degree of health, and up to the hour of the attack, as above stated, he was among the most active, prompt and efficient business men in our community. His mental and physical faculties were as fresh and vigorous as they are commonly found to be in men of fifty years of age. The Boston Evening Journal, of the 20th, contains the following truthful notice of the deceased:—

"Captain Lewis embraced the seafaring profession at an early period of his life, and was for a number of years well known in this city as an enterprising and skilful shipmaster. But for nearly half a century—although during that time he has filled with credit to himself various public offices, among them those of alderman and representative—he has been connected in a greater or less degree with the Light House establishment of the United States—and the services which he has rendered the government and our mercantile interests in that department, have been incalculable, and will cause his name to be long held in respect and veneration by all who have business on the great ocean. His strong, practical mind, indomitable perseverance, and industrious habits, compensated for any deficiency in classical knowledge or scientific attainments ; and few men have labored more constantly or more successfully, or have acted their various parts more faithfully, through a long life, than Capt. Winslow Lewis. By his attention to business, by the scrupulous performance of all duties incumbent upon him as a citizen of a civilized community and a Christian, be has up to the moment of bia last sickness, set a noble example to others, and his death has caused a void which It will not be easy to fill. The sad intelligence will produce heart-felt regret among a large circle of friends in many parts of the country—and his name will long be remembered, and associated with whatever is true and excellent in man, long after all the almost countless beacons which he has erected to warn the approaching mariner of his danger, shall have crumbled into dust."

Capt. Lewis was a Mason. We use the term in its best and broadest sense. He was a Mason in principle; and his actions were all made to square with his profession. He was true to the Institution in its hour of trial; and he lived to enjoy its day of prosperity. He was a Past Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and probably the oldest Knight Templar in the United States. Our impression is that he received the Order in Liverpool, (England,) nearly sixty years ago. He was a member of the Boston Encampment; and though for some years past, he has resided out of the city, few members were more regular and punctual in their attendance at the meetings of that body. He was also a member of Washington Lodge, Roxbury ; was one of the first petitioners for its revival, and contributed, by his presence and encouragement, to sustain its inteiests. In fine, wherever he could be of service to the Institution, in any of its departments, there he was always to he found. But he has gone, full of years and ripe in the substantial honors which hover around and bless the "honest man." The kindly affections of his Brethren, and the respect of all who knew him while living, will cling to his memory now that he is dead

The funeral of the deceased was attended, on Tuesday afternoon, by the officers and members of the Grand Lodge, and a large circle of friends.

Distinguished Brothers