MAGLTCheever

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TRACY PATCH CHEEVER 1824-1881

TracyPCheever1881.jpg

Junior Grand Warden, 1872
Grand Secretary, 1878-1881 (Died in office)

MEMORIAL

From Proceedings, Page 1881-136, presented by Grand Master Samuel Crocker Lawrence:

"It is only three weeks since our Masonic family met with another severe blow, in the death of our Recording Grand Secretary, Tracy Patch Cheever. The summons which called him hence fell upon our ears with an awful suddenness. He visited North Easton with the officers of the Grand Lodge, on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 22, to assist in the dedication of the new Masonic hall of Paul Dean Lodge. At the close of the ceremony while sitting in an anteroom, he was stricken with apoplexy; an hour after he became unconscious, and continued in that condition until his death, at three o'clock the next afternoon. On closing his minutes of the evening's proceedings he said to me these words, which have an extraordinary significance in connection with what happened so shortly after: 'My record is finished; it will read right a hundred years hence.' These were the last words I heard from his lips. Immediately after his seizure I despatched a messenger to his wife, and she arrived early the next morning. I remained at his bedside till the close, in the discharge of such offices as I could render. No kindness or attention was lacking on the part of the family of Dr. George B. Cogswell, to whose house Brother Cheever had been promptly conveyed.

"The funeral of Bro. Cheever was held at Chelsea, on the 26th of November. The Grand Lodge was present to pay the last sad tribute to his memory, and he was buried with Masonic rites.

"A brief sketch of the career of our lamented Brother will be interesting to you. He was born in Marblehead, Mass., March 28, 1824. He received his education at the Salem Latin School and Brown University, where he was graduated in 1843. After the usual course of preparatory study, he entered upon the practice of the law in Chelsea and Boston, and won a creditable place in his profession. He was for a number of years city solicitor of Chelsea, and discharged the duties of that office with ability and success. He also rendered terms of service in both branches of the Legislature, and as Alderman of Chelsea. In August, 1862, impelled by a strong spirit of patriotism, he enlisted as a private, and was soon commissioned, by Gov. Andrew, Captain of Company C, of the 35th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers. He did gallant service in the war, notably at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, and in the last battle he received a severe wound, the effects of which proved so serious as to compel his retirement from the army, and inflicted permanent injury upon his health, causing him daily suffering, and unquestionably hastening his death.

"Few men in the State have been more ardently attached to Masonry than our departed Brother, and few have rendered it more useful service. He was raised a Master Mason in Star of Bethlehem Lodge, of Chelsea, and subsequently became a charter member of Robert Lash Lodge. His capitular associations were with the Chapter of the Shekihah, of which he wrote an interesting history. He was a member of Naphtali Council, and.received knightly orders in Palestine Commandery, of Chelsea. In all these organizations he was a working member, and was frequently called upon to fill positions of responsibility and trust. He was Junior Grand Warden of this Grand Lodge, in 1871. In the Grand Bodies his services and learning were brought into frequent requisition, and, as a member of committees, his studies and reports upon questions of vital interest to our Order have greatly contributed to the establishment of sound principles in the interpretation and administration of Masonic law. Such labors are invaluable, and we may well say that the writings of Brother Cheever will be referred to as authority upon many questions which had previously failed to receive a satisfactory solution.

"In recognition of his eminent services he was made honorary member of several Masonic Bodies, and he took especial pleasure in the honor conferred upon him by the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island in electing him to honorary membership therein, it having been conferred upon him as a mark of their appreciation of his Masonic learning. He was elected Recording Grand Secretary, in 1878, to succeed the late Rev. Charles H. Titus; and I need not say to you that he has discharged the duties of that office with uncommon fidelity and judgment.

"In your presence, Brethren, who have been brought into close personal and official relations with Brother Cheever during his years of service as our Recording Grand Secretary, I need not enlarge upon the many admirable qualities of character which have endeared him to us as a Mason and a man. He practised no arts to gain the regard of his fellow-men, but, pursuing the straight line of duty, their esteem came to him as a voluntary tribute to his moral excellence. He brought to the performance of the duties of his important office systematic habits of work, superior literary culture, and a mind thoroughly imbued with all knowledge touching the traditions, history, and especially the jurisprudence, of our Order. His death creates a vacancy which it will be very difficult to fill. We may well draw closely together at this time to express our sense of a real bereavement; for he is gone from us, — the useful servant, the devoted Mason, the high-minded citizen, the pure-hearted and good man.

"The actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust."

"The following letter, from the Grand Master of Masons in Missouri, indicates the high estimate which is set upon the character and services of Brother Cheever by Masons in other jurisdictions. I take pleasure in giving a place in my report to this feeling tribute to his memory : —"

GRAND LODGE ANCIENT FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS, -STATE OF MISSOURI.
OFFICE OF GRAND MASTER,
GALLATIN, Mo., December 5, 1881.

M.W. SAMUEL C. LAWRENCE, Grand Master of Masons, Masonic Temple, Boston: —

MY DEAR BRO., — Dr. J. D. Vincil, Grand Secretary, has just communicated to me the sad intelligence of the death of R.W. Tracy P. Cheever, Grand Secretary of your Grand Body. In this sudden and afflictive bereavement, which has brought profound sorrow to your Grand Jurisdiction, I offer the sincere condolence of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. We, too, have stood in the shadows, and with gratitude we remember the many kind messages of sympathy received, when our own Gouley was taken from us amid the fire and smoke of an appalling conflagration. The record of Bro. Cheever's life-work marks him as having been an exceptionally able, useful, and distinguished Mason, and we join with you in lamentation by reason of his sudden demise.

Very truly and fraternally,
[SEAL.] ALEX. M. DOCKERY,
Grand Master Mo. Masons.


Distinguished Brothers