MassachusettsLodgeNomenclature1883

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NOMENCLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS LODGES

Note: This article refers to many lodges that no longer exist, and makes note of omissions that have since been corrected; but it is of interest as it was authored by the famous Masonic writer Rob Morris.

From Liberal Freemason, Vol. VI, No. 11, February 1883, Page 327:

By Rob. Morris.

The choice of names in Masonic Lodges of the older jurisdictions was not done with the elegance and propriety seen in some of our newer Grand Lodges. In Iowa, for instance, not only was a repetition of names avoided, but a regular plan was practised upon, by which the Cardinal Virtues, the Senses of Human Nature, the Orders in Architecture, the titles of Holy Places in the Orient, etc., etc., were used to designate the Lodges successively formed.

In scanning the Catalogue of Massachusetts Lodges, I discover some things that may be worth a page in your magazine.

  • I. Of Saints, you have an assortment that would not discredit a
Catholic Catalogue. St. Matthew presides over the Lodge at Andover;
St. Paul, at Ayer, and also at South Boston; St. John at Boston, in
company with St. Andrew; St. Martin at Chatham, and St. George
at Campello. At Foxboro they have canonized good St. Alban; at
Mansfield, St. James; at Newburyport, St. John comes in again;
St. Bernard hath his shrine at Southboro. So much for the Saints.
Pilgrim Lodge is at Harwich.
  • II. The Orders in Architecture are well regarded. At Concord is the Corinthian Lodge; at Easthampton, and at Taunton, the Ionic; at Hudson, the Doric, and at Lawrence, the Tuscan None cavet save the Composite.
  • III. Of Sacred Mountains, you have nearly all that Holy Land presents: Mt. Lebanon (Boston); Mt. Zion (Barre); Mt. Olivet (Cambridge); Mt. Tabor (East Boston); Mt. Carmel (Lynn); Mt. Hermon (Medford); Mt. Moriah (Westfield); and Mt. Horeb (Woburn.)
  • IV. Of Sacred Localities, your Lodges embalm the following:
at Brighton, the Lodge is styled Bethesda; at Brookline, Beth-horon; at Cambridgeport, Mizpah; at Everett, Palestine; at Enfield, Bethel; at Merrimac, Bethany; at Northampton, Jerusalem; at Peabody, Jordan; at Westboro, Siloam; at East Boston, Baalbec; but neither Joppa, Hebron, Bethlehem, Shiloh, Nazareth, Acre or Tiberias, is seen on the roll. Eleusis Lodge is at Boston, and Grecian at Lawrence.
  • V. Of the Theological Virtues, Massachusetts recognizes Faith
(Lodge at Charlestown); Hope (at Gardner); and Charity (at North
Cambridge). This leaves nothing lacking to this division of nomenclature.
  • VI. Eminent Massachusetts Masons are largely perpetuated in the Lodges; Warren and Joseph Warren are seen on the Lodge-banners at Amesbury and Boston; Caleb Butler, at Ayer; Ezekiel Bates, Attleboro; John Cutler, Abington; Joseph Webb, Boston; James Otis, Barnstable; Paul Revere, Brockton and Boston; Henry Price, Charlestown; Robert Lash, Chelsea; Hammatt, East Boston; Charles W. Moore, Fitchburg; Charles C. Dame, Georgetown; John Warren, Hopkinton; John T. Heard, Ipswich; William North, Lowell; Wilder, Leominster; Simon W. Robinson, Lexington; Charles A. Welch, Maynard; John Hancock, Methuen; Paul Dean, North Easton; John Abbot, Somerville; Starr King, Salem; William Sutton, Saugus; Roswell Lee, Springfield; Charles H. Titus, 'Taunton;
Alfred Baylies, Taunton; Isaac Barker, Waltham; and William Parkman, Winchester. Other names are used, but I cannot recognize them where only the family name is given, such as Hayden, Vernon, Upton, Belcher, Soley, Howard and the like.
  • VII. Solar and Stellar Bodies are freely used as sources of light. Thus we have Star Lodge, at Athol; North Star, Ashland; Star of Bethlehem, Chelsea; Morning Sun and Morning Star, Conway and Worcester; Evening Star, Lee; Star in the East, New Bedford; and Rising Star, Stoughton. The Aurora is employed at Fitchburg; the Constellation, at Dedham; the Oriental, at Edgartown; the Day Spring, at Monson; the Meridian, at Natick; the Orient, at Norwood; the Occidental, at Stockbridge.
  • VIII. The Temple at Jerusalem has considerable honor. At East
Boston is Temple Lodge; the Gate of the Temple appears at South
Boston; and Solomon's Temple at Uxbridge. The Pavement is remembered in Mosaic Lodge, at Danvers; Corner-stone Lodge is at Duxbury, and Ashler Lodge at Rockport; Acacia Lodge blooms at East Gloucester.
  • IX. The Temple Builders are resuscitated in Hiram Lodge (Arlington); King Solomon (Charlestown); King Hiram (Provincetown);
Tyrian Lodge is at Gloucester; Phoenician at Lawrence.
  • X. Foreign Worthies are honored in Athol Lodge (Athol Centre); Aberdour (Boston); Zetland (Boston); Dalhousie (Newtonville);
Lafayette (North Adams and Roxbury); King Cyrus (Stoneham); King David (Taunton); Montccute and Athelstan (Worcester); Cincinnatus Lodge is at Great Barrington; Pythagorean Lodge, at
 Marion.
  • XI. Masonic Emblems are sparsely employed. I find only Globe Lodge, at Hinsdale; Anchor Lodge, at Wales; Golden Fleece, at Lynn;
and Olive Branch, at Millbury; Excelsior Lodge is at Franklin;
Phoenix, at Hanover; Crescent Lodge, at Pittsfield; Delta Lodge, at
 Weymouth.
  • XII. Of American Masons generally, the distinguished names are employed of Washington, at Boston Highlands; Mount Vernon and Lafayette, at Malden; Putnam, at East Cambridge; Frank!in, at
Grafton; DeWitt Clinton, at Sandwich; Montgomery, at Milford.
  • XIII. Masonic Harmony is well expressed in such names as
Fellowship, at Bridgewater; Amicable, at Cambridgeport; Union, at Dorchester and Nantucket; Amity, at Danvers; Concordia, at Fairhaven; Fraternal, at Hyannis; Philanthropic, at Marblehead; United Brethren, at Marlboro; Fraternity, at Newtonville ; Harmony, at Northfield; Adelphi, at South Boston; Social Harmony, at Wareham; Pacific is at Amherst; Orphan's Hope, at East Weymouth.

In scanning the list critically, we are struck by absence even more than the presence ot noted words and phrases, as caffnpared with those employed in other jurisdictions.

There is no Palm, Cedar or Olive Lodge, no Attentive Far, Instructive Tongue, or Faithful Breast; no Friendship, Morality, or Brotherly Love; no Widow's Son, or Hiram Abiff; no Trowel, Compass, Square, Setting Maul, Plumb or Level; no Triangle, Solomon's Seal, Signet, Bee Hive, Lamb, Broken Column, or Weeping Virgin. I see none of the seven Liberal Arts and Sciences,— but enough. It was said in Iowa the last time I was there that the Masonic nomenclature had been exhausted in that jurisdiction, but such a charge cannot be substantiated in this, while Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice "await the builders' care."