MassachusettsHamiltonHistoryCh8
CHAPTER 8: THE ANCIENTS AND THE REVOLUTION
It has seemed best to tell the story of the St. John's Grand Lodge consecutively. We turn now to the affairs of its competitor.
As already noted a part of the plan of the British Parliament for colonial administration was the stationing of regular troops in the Colonies. On September 30, 1768, the troops destined for Boston arrived. The detachment consisted of the 14th, 29th, and part of the 59th Foot and a company of artillery, with two guns. They were reinforced early in November by two other regiments of foot, the 64th and 65th. The presence of these soldiers in Boston was most distasteful to the townspeople, but this feeling was not allowed to interfere with Masonic relations. There were several army Lodges among the British troops. The members of these Lodges were all officers; privates were not admitted. These soldier-masons were Ancients, and therefore the members of St. Andrew's Lodge fraternized with them freely. There was no Masonic intercourse between them and the members of the Lodges in the obedience of the St. John's Grand Lodge. A group made up of members of St. Andrew's and members of Array Lodges organized St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter under the St. Andrews Charter, a proceeding entirely regular under the usage of the Ancients. Just when they began to meet is not known. The first recorded meeting, though apparently preceded by others not recorded, was August 28, 1769. At this meeting the Royal Arch and Knight Templar degrees were conferred. This is the earliest record so far discovered of the conferring of the Knight Templar as a Masonic degree. It is certain that it had been so conferred for some years, but there are no known records to show where or when. St. Andrew's Royal Arch Lodge, now St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter, has maintained uninterrupted existence to the present time. From this meeting, then, date Capitular Masonry and Templar Masonry in Massachusetts. St. Andrew's Royal Arch Lodge continued to confer the Templar degree until Templar Masonry became strong enough to stand alone and Boston Encampment was formed.
On November 30, 1768, Joseph Warren was elected Master of St. Andrew's Lodge, and at the same meeting the Lodge voted to consider appealing to Scotland for the appointment of a Provincial Grand Master. The matter does not appear to have required much consideration, for on December 8, it was voted to petition Scotland to appoint Warren Provincial Grand Master. Lord Dalhousie signed the Warrant appointing Joseph Warren Provincial Grand Master for New England and within one hundred miles of the same on May 30, 1769. On March 3, 1772 Grand Master, the Earl of Dumfries issued a new Commission appointing Warren "Grand Master of Masons for the Continent of America." The Dalhousie Commission arrived sometime in September of 1769, being brought over by Bro. Captain Lawrence Frazier, Arrangements had to be made for the installation and the setting up of the Provincial Grand Lodge. Paul Revere agreed to make the necessary Jewels in the constitutional designs "of any metal under silver" and wait for his pay until the Grand Lodge should be in funds. It was also voted to invite the Lodges in the 14th and 29th Regiments to participate in the installation which was fixed for December 27.
In spite of the growing tension between the citizens and the soldiery and the well-known Whig proclivities of many of the members of St. Andrew's it is somewhat surprising to find the Lodge voting ' on January 12, 1769, that "the officers and soldiers of the train of artillery to have the liberty of exercise in the hall," The relations of St, Andrew with the Lodges in the 14th and 29th Regiments was uniformly cordial. Sometime in the early part of 1769 a dispensation from some source or another had been issued for a Lodge in the 65th Regiment, and St. Andrew's declared it unconstitutional. St. Andrews passed a vote that Modern Masons not members of a Lodge might become members of St. Andrew's upon their agreement to abide by its By-Laws.
This was quite consistent with the uniformly conciliatory attitude of the Lodge. Two of the Army Lodges took exception to this and sent in a letter of protest, asking for a conference. The letter was read in St. Andrew's and curtly dismissed, apparently without reply. This attitude of fraternal regard combined with firm resistance to any meddling with their own affairs exactly reflects the political opinion of that time. Samuel Adams, who by the way was not a Mason, and a few other extremists were already working for entire separation from the mother country, but the great majority of Americans loved the mother country and had no desire for separation, but resented interference with what they regarded as their own business.
On December 27, 1769, Warren met the members of St. Andrews Lodge and the Masters and Wardens of two Army Lodges, No. 58 of the registry of England (Ancients) and No. 322 of the registry of Ireland. His Commission was read and he was installed "Grand Master of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in Boston, etc." He then organized his Grand Lodge as follows:
- Jeremiah French, Senior Grand Warden
- Ponsonby Molesworth. Junior Grand Warden
- William Palfrey, Grand Secretary
- Thomas Crafts, Grand Treasurer
- Joseph Webb, Grand Marshal
- Paul Revere, Senior Grand Deacon
- Samuel Danforth, Junior Grand Deacon
- Thomas Urann, Grand Steward
- Caleb Hopkins, Grand Steward
- Edward Proctor, Grand Sword Bearer
Warren nominated all these officers and they were elected by the Brethren present. This procedure was much more democratic than that followed in the St. John's Grand Lodge, where officers were generally appointed by the Grand Master. The officers then chosen were all members of St. Andrew's except the Wardens, who were military officers.
The relation of these three Lodges to the newly formed Grand Lodge was a peculiar one. They cooperated with it and shared its deliberations, but were never strictly speaking subordinate to it. The connection of the Army Lodges lasted less than three months. St. Andrew's operated under its Scotch Charter until 1809.
Joseph Warren, the newly installed Grand Master, was born in Roxbury, now a part of Boston, on January 11, 1741. He graduated from Harvard College in 1759, and after teaching in a public school in Roxbury for a year or so, took up the study of medicine with Dr. James Lloyd. He began practice in 1764 and soon attained success and reputation as a physician.
He was already keenly interested in the cause of the Colonies and when the Stamp Act was passed in 1765 he made his first contribution to the press, From that time on he was active by voice and pen in the political field. When the Townshend revenue acts, which included the famous tax on tea, were passed in 1767 Warren published a letter which so incensed Gov. Bernard that he brought charges against the author through the Attorney General for bringing the government into contempt. The Grand Jury, however, refused to indict.
Warren was skillful and eloquent and soon developed an unusual power of leadership. He worked in close co-operation with Samuel Adams until Adams went to Philadelphia in the summer of 1774 to take his seat in the Continental Congress, Warren then became the sole leader of his political party. He was successively a member of the Committee of Correspondence, Chairman of the Committee of Safety (for collecting military stores and organizing the militia). President of the Provincial Congress, and Major General of Militia. Unfortunately his zeal and enthusiasm led him to Bunker Hill, where he insisted on serving as a volunteer aide at the cost of his life. The Colonial cause lost one of its strongest leaders, but gained a martyr.
The newly organized Grand Lodge at once began to function actively. On January 12, 1770, a meeting was held to perfect plans for organization and fix the dates of the quarterly meetings. On March 2, the date for the first regular meeting, the Grand Lodge met again. A petition was presented from eight prominent men in Gloucester asking for a Lodge, and it was voted that the petition be granted, the new body to be called The Tyrian Lodge. It will be noted that warrants were not issued by the Grand Master in the new Grand Lodge, but were voted by the Grand Lodge. A second petition, signed only by Thomas Alexander and two others was presented and dismissed.
On the evening of March 5, only three days later, came that unfortunate clash between some citizens and some soldiers of the 29th Regiment which has been dignified by the name of the "Boston Massacre," which resulted in the deaths of five townspeople and the wounding of as many more. As a result the troops, on the insistence of the citizens, were withdrawn from the town. Warren's Grand Lodge was left with only St. Andrew's Lodge and the hardly organized Lodge in Gloucester in actual membership.
On May 11, 1770 the Grand Lodge met again. It refused to reconsider the Alexander petition, but received a petition from Joseph Tyler and seven others fro a Lodge in Boston to be called The Massachusetts Lodge.
At this meeting action of a most important nature was taken. It was "Voted unanimously as the opinion of this Lodge, that whenever Summons's are issued for convening a Grand Lodge by the Grand Master or his direction, and the Grand Lodge in consequence thereof is congregated, the same is to all intents and purposes a legal Grand Lodge, however few in number, and as such may with the strictest propriety proceed to business." Sixty years later, in the dark days of persecution, this resolution precluded the possibility of raising a question of "no quorum" in Grand Lodge.
Two days later the Grand Lodge met again and authorized letters of recommendation from the Grand Lodge for Molesworth and French, the Grand Wardens, thus marking the final disappearance of the Army Lodges from the Massachusetts scene. At this meeting the Alexander petition and the Tyler petition were both read. The Alexander petition was referred to the next meeting. The Tyler petition was granted.
At the next meeting, June 1, 1770, the Alexander petition was taken from the table and the petitioners were given a hearing. After the hearing and discussion Grand Lodge voted unanimously: "That it appears to this Grand Lodge that the erection of a new Lodge in this town is at present totally unnecessary, and that therefore their petition be dismissed." In view of the whole procedure regarding these two petitions it looks very much as if the condition given as the reason for refusing the Alexander group had been deliberately created by the Grand Lodge. The Alexander group appears to have been much weaker than the others. At no time does it appear to have numbered more than four. Their names are less familiar than those on the Tyler petition, and very probably they were personally not acceptable to the Grand Lodge. They were not yet, however, quite through with Alexander, On October 14, 1770 he presented a new petition, signed by himself and two of his former associates and three new ones. It was voted to defer consideration until "next Grand Lodge night in order to give the Grand Lodge time to inquire into the character of the petitioners," Apparently the petitioners, or some of them, did not care to face the inquisition and the petition was withdrawn the next morning. This finally ended the matter.
On December 27, 1770, Warren announced the appointment of Joseph Webb as Deputy Grand Master. On December 27, 1773, Warren read in Grand Lodge a Commission from the Earl of Dumfries, Grand Master of Scotland, appointing him Grand Master of Masons for the Continent of America. Unfortunately the document has not survived. Apparently, however, it contained a special and unusual clause. The record goes on to say: "The Most Worshipful Grand Master by virtue of the authority Granted him in the foregoing Commission ordered the Grand Secretary to read a Commission, dated at Boston, N. England, 1773, appointing Joseph Webb Esq. Deputy Grand Master, under the said Joseph Warren Esq Grand Master."
On March, 1772, Thomas Alexander, John Stewart, and Alexander Cruickshank, three of the dismissed petitioners, appear as the Master and Wardens of Lodge 169 (Ancients) with grievances; The first was that they had not been invited to the preceding Feast of St. John. Grand Lodge replied that at that time no evidence of their regularity had been presented. The other grievance, in which they associated Lodge 58, was addressed particularly to St. Andrew's, complaining that they received Moderns as visitors. As we have already seen this was curtly dismissed by St. Andrew's. Evidently Alexander and his associates were sore over their treatment by the Massachusetts Grand Lodge. After their ineffectual protest to St. Andrew's they disappeared from the picture.
The echoes of the rising political storm now begin to be heard. There is no direct record of any action of a political nature. The tea ships came over late in November of 1773. On November 30 the meeting of the Lodge of St. Andrew was adjourned because of the small number present, with a note "Consigners of Tea took up the Brethren's time." The "Boston Tea Party" took place on December 16th. On that night the regular meeting of St. Andrew's was again adjourned to the next night for lack of attendance. The record shows only the Master, Wardens, and Deacons present. It is known that some of the members of the Lodge were participants in the destruction of the tea. Probably most of them were present either as participants or spectators. It is known that the "Mohawks" assumed their disguises in the Green Dragon Tavern, but St. Andrew's Lodge was by no means the only organization using the building. Indeed that lively center of agitation the North End Caucus met there.
The result of The Tea Party was a burst of wrath from the British government. The Boston Port Bill, closing the port of Boston against all trade and other repressive measures followed. Lieutenant General Thomas Gage was appointed Governor of Massachusetts and given secret instructions to use troops if necessary to reduce the Colony to submission. He had at his disposal five small infantry regiments, increased by the end of the year to eleven, with artillery and some marines. Gage was an experienced officer of fifty-three years of age. He had thirty-three years of service behind him, more than twenty of which had been passed in America. He had been in Boston in 1768. Probably his long American service recommended him for the appointment.
The news of the Port Bill reached Boston May 14 and Gage arrived May 17. One of his first duties was to enforce the Port Bill, which by the terms of its enactment became effective June 1. The Bostonians immediately took counsel to consider what could be done to meet this emergency.
The Massachusetts Grand Lodge met June 3 and voted to adjourn to June 7, "by reason of the few Grand Officers present, engaged In consequential public business." Warren, Webb, and Rowe were among the absentees. It is easy to guess what the "consequential public business" was. At the adjourned meeting nothing was done except to vote not to hold the Feast of St. John on June 24, anticipating the distress caused by closing the port. They then closed "until the first Friday in September" (September 2). When that date arrived it is recorded that: "The members of this Grand Lodge being necessarily prevented from giving their attendance this evening mo regular Lodge could be held, therefore, adjourned to Wednesday evening the seventh instant. Warren had just taken over Adams' position of political leadership and Gage was busy fortifying Boston Neck. The adjourned meeting was duly held, but little business was transacted.
At the December meeting an interesting item of business shows that Masonic activity was not yet disturbed by political storms. A petition was presented from Lodge 243 (Irish registry) in the 59th Regiment "Requesting to be under the protection and direction of this Grand Lodge" and the request was granted, "they paying the customary dues to this Grand Lodge." The list of members of Lodge 243 was recorded in the Grand Lodge books.
A regular meeting was held March 3, 1775, with a very good attendance of Grand Officers, but only one Lodge represented. After the record of this meeting the following entry occurs;
"Memo. 19 April 1775. "Hostilities commenc'd between the Troops of G. Britain & America, in Lexington Battle, In Consequence of which the Town was Blockaded, & no Lodge held until Dec,1776."
In the interval Warren was killed at Bunker Hill, and after holding out until March 17, 1776, the British troops evacuated Boston. With away this event the war drifted from Massachusetts and Boston was no longer actively involved in hostilities.
Affairs in Boston were left in great confusion by the departure of the British, The town itself had suffered greatly during the siege and was left dirty and dilapidated.though not damaged by gunfire. Many prominent citizens of wealth and influence had left with the soldiers, fearing that their loyalist attitude might attract the vengeance of the victors. Judging by what happened to loyalists elsewhere, their fears were probably justified. There was much confusion in the minds of the Masons. Some held that Warren's death vacated Webb's authority as Deputy and that of all Warren's appointees, practically dissolving his Grand Lodge as there was no Past Grand Master to take over. Others thought that Webb was authorized to preside, at least temporarily, by virtue of his written commission as Deputy, which they held was not voided by Warren's death. Some held that they should look to Scotland for a new Provincial Grand Master, while others were disposed to accept the political declaration of independence of July 4, 1776 as Masonic as well and set up an independent Grand Lodge of their own.
