MountCarmel

MOUNT CARMEL LODGE

Location: Lynn

Charter Date: 06/10/1805 II-276

Precedence Date: 06/10/1805

Current Status: Active

NOTES

V-33: Mount Carmel Lodge divided its property, about $3000, among about 25 brethren. In 1845, when the charter was to be restored, most would not return the funds.

A banner presentation appears as part of the Newburyport Feast of St. John in June 1849.

Mount Sinai Lodge merged here, 06/15/1989.
Damascus Lodge merged here, 03/12/2001.
Bethlehem Lodge merged here, 10/09/2006.

PAST MASTERS

Amariah Childs, 1805-1807, 1813, 1816
Samuel Brimblecom, 1808-1810, 1817
Ezra Mudge, 1811, 1812, 1818, 1822, 1828
Moses Tapley, 1814, 1815
Benjamin Oliver, 1819, 1820
Robert Trevett, 1821
Josiah Newhall, 1823, 1824
William Chadwell, 1825, 1826
John Lummus, 1827
Joseph N. Saunderson, 1829, 1830, 1833-1835
DARK 1836-1844
Edmund Munroe, 1831, 1832, 1845-1847
Thomas Phillips, 1848-1851
Edward Carroll, 1852
Isaac Brown, 1853
Gilbert Hawkes, 1854, 1855
E. A. Ingalls, 1856, 1857
Henry Earl, Jr., 1858, 1859
William C. Maxwell, 1860-1862; SN
Benjamin H. Atkins, 1863, 1864
James A. Austin, 1865
David J. Newhall, 1866, 1867
Timothy Stevens, 1868, 1869
John Shaw, II, 1870, 1871
John W. Lamphier, 1872, 1873
Charles E. Chase, 1874, 1875
Charles C. Fry, 1876, 1877
Charles E. Parsons, 1878, 1879
Henry L. Drake, 1880-1882
Thomas E. Ward, 1883
William D. Pool, 1884
John C. Myers, 1885, 1886
Rufus E. Hilliard, 1887, 1888
Charles A. Alley, 1889, 1890
Spencer Drake, 1891
Josiah F. Kimball, 1892, 1893; SN
Walter M. Lamkin, 1894, 1895
Benjamin F. Arrington, 1896, 1897
Josiah P. Croscup, 1898, 1899
Charles J. Philbrook, 1900, 1901
Fred H. Nichols, 1902, 1903; SN
Albert R. Merrill, 1904, 1905
William M. Cowan, 1906
Joseph H. Stiles, 1907, 1908
Theodore A. Manchester, 1909, 1910
Clifton C. Dexter, 1911
Raymond T. Parke, 1912, 1913
William E. Dorman, 1914, 1915
Henry L. Wood, 1916
Walter H. Macomber, 1917
Walter H. Macomber, 1918
Harlan S. Cummings, 1919, 1920; Mem
Thomas E. P. Wilson, 1921
Charles H. Colby, 1922, 1923; Mem
Charles B. Bethune, 1924, 1925
Wilbur M. Coolidge, 1926, 1927
Walter E. Richardson, 1928, 1929
David W. Fogg, 1930, 1931
Edwin A. Damon, 1932, 1933
Everett R. Campbell, 1934
Francis Lord, 1935
James G. Smith, 1936, 1937
Earl R. Galeucia, 1938, 1939; N
Archie M. Simons, 1940, 1941; N
Lawrence H. St. Jean, 1942, 1943
Sheldon F. Goldthwait, 1944
Alfred L. Parsons, 1945
Carl F. Turner, 1946, 1947
John R. Turnbull, 1948
Lewis A. Collyer, 1949, 1950
Carl R. Perry, 1951, 1952
Alton I. Rouse, 1953, 1954
John E. Moulton, 1955, 1956
Hamlin P. Collyer, 1957, 1958
Joseph Smythe, 1959, 1960
Theodore E. Gouzoules, 1961, 1962
Robert W. Chisholm, 1963
Harold F. Collins, 1964
Donald H. Lee, 1965, 1966
Edwin C. Penny, 1967
Mason W. Dillaway, 1968
Earl D. Rafuse, 1969
Thomas Todd, Jr., 1970, 1987; PDDGM
Harry C. Eldridge, 1971
John C. Harriman, Jr., 1972
B. William Person, 1973
William R. Hayman, Jr., 1974, 1975
Robert J. Waugh, Jr., 1976; N
S. Raymond King, Jr., 1977, 1978, 1997, 1998; PDDGM
James Christ, Jr., 1979, 1980
Peter B. Dillaway, 1981, 1982
Charles A. Smith, 1983, 1984
John G. MacDougall, 1985, 1986
Mark A. Ginsberg, 1988
Thomas S Bloom, 1989, 1990
Leo Spielberg, 1991
Wayne H. Livermore, 1992, 1993, 2004, 2005
George Girard, 1994
Robert J. Stilian, 1995, 1996
Dana A. Jones, 1999-2001
Lester A. Davis, 2002, 2003; DDGM
Frederick J. Greco, 2006
James D. Belair, 2007
Michael N. Tenney, 2008
Adam H. Sherman, 2009, 2010
Stephen C. Turner, 2011, 2012

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

Petition for Charter: 1805
Petition for Restoration of Charter: 1845
Consolidation Petition (with Mount Sinai Lodge): 1989
Consolidation Petition (with Damascus Lodge): 2000
Consolidation Petition (with Bethlehem Lodge): 2006

ANNIVERSARIES

1905 (Centenary)
1955 (150th Anniversary)
2005 (200th Anniversary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

1807 (Bigelow; Constitution of Lodge and installation; Special Communication)
1847 (Robinson; installation; see below)
1881 (Lawrence)
1885 (Howland)
1889 (Endicott)
1899 (Hutchinson)
1905 (Sanford; Centenary; Special Communication)
1911 (Flanders)
1919 (L. Abbott; "Welcome Home Night")
1955 (W. Johnson; 150th Anniversary; Special Communication)
1989 (Ames; 2 visits, including Consolidation; Special Communication)
1992 (Darling)
2001 (Bauer; Consolidation; Special Communication)
2005 (Hodgdon; 200th Anniversary)
2006 (Hodgdon; Consolidation; Special Communication)

BY-LAW CHANGES

1875 1880 1882 1900 1902 1903 1904 1908 1910 1912 1936 1942 1949 1950 1973 2004 2007

HISTORY

1905 (Centennial Address, 1934-169; see below)
1955 (150th Anniversary History, 1955-156)

CENTENNIAL HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JUNE 1905

From Proceedings, Page 1905-81:

HISTORICAL ADDRESS BY THE RECORDING GRAND SECRETARY.

MOST WORSHIPFUL GRAND MASTER, WORSHIPFUL MASTER, BRETHREN AND FRIENDS: The Committee of Arrangements has wisely planned a new departure from the practice of Lodges heretofore in celebrating their Centennial Anniversaries. An important feature of the exercises on such occasions has been the Historical Address. While that portion of the services is always interesting to the members of the Lodge, various causes often delay and sometimes prevent the publication of the tale that is told. In order to avoid such disappointment in this case, some members of the Committee have been for a year past diligently and laboriously gathering the material for the history of the Lodge and the biographies of its most active members. The narrative has been embodied in an elegant volume now ready for delivery. To the speaker is assigned merely the duty of telling you something of the early history of the Grand Lodge which granted the charter of Mount Carmel Lodge and of the Brethren who were prominent in the Grand Body at and about that time.

BEGINNINGS OF SPECULATIVE MASONRY

Speculative Masonry, as now practised all over the world, is the outgrowth of operative Masonry. Until within about three hundred years no candidates were admitted to the Fraternity except those who were actively engaged in operative Masoniy. At some time between 1600 and 1650 they began to admit distinguished men without regard to profession or trade. Many Brethren were bitterly opposed to the innovation and it progressed very slowly.

In those days there was no Grand Lodge. The General Assembly, as it was called, was held once a year, which any Mason might attend. As the number of non-operative Brethren increased, the old forms and rules fell into disuse, and the practice of the Lodges became very irregular. To remedy this difficulty, in the year 1717 the four oldest Lodges in London met together and organized the first Grand Lodge, choosing as the first Grand Master the oldest Master in their number. Before the date last named the history of our Fraternity is very indefinite and full of doubts and difficulties, but from that time forward it is tolerably clear and easily traced.

Sixteen years later the Grand Master of England issued a deputation to Henry Price, of Boston, appointing him Provincial Grand Master of New England. By virtue of this authority Brother Price organized a Provincial Grand Lodge on July 30, 1733, and granted a warrant for the first Lodge in Boston, which he constituted on the thirtieth of the next month. In the following year Brother Price received "Orders from the Grand Lodge in England to Establish Masonry in all North America." On the fifteenth of February, 1749, Thomas Oxnard, Provincial Grand Master, one. of the successors of Henry Price, constituted the second Lodge in Boston. In 1783 these, two Lodges were united under the name of St. John's Lodge, now the oldest Lodge on this continent.

The three British Grand Lodges have always been accustomed to establish their own Lodges at pleasure.in any territory where no Grand Lodge exists; the three Provincial Grand Lodges often working side by side for years in perfect harmony. In accordance with this practice, the Grand Master of Scotland issued a deputation in 1769 to Joseph Warren, of blessed memory, "appointing him to be Grand Master of Masons in Boston, New England, and within one hundred miles of the same," which authority, on the third of March, 1772, was extended over " the Continent of North America." On the eighth of March, 1777, nearly two years after the death of General Warren, the Brethren of his Provincial Grand Lodge chose their own Grand Master, thus establishing the first independent Grand Lodge in this country.

Grave doubts were entertained as to the Masonic propriety of this proceeding. Many of the Brethren maintained that, according to Masonic law, the Grand Lodge and all the Lodges he had warranted died with the Grand Master, and that new authority must be obtained from the parent Body; while the patriot portion of the Fraternity argued that, inasmuch as the political relation of the two countries had been severed, it was proper that the Masonic connection should be terminated.

UNION OF 1792 AND AFTER

These doubts and difficulties were practically settled by the union on the fifth of March, 1792, of the two organizations — the Provincial Grand Lodge established by Henry Price, sometimes called the St. John's Grand Lodge, and the independent Grand Lodge known as the Massachusetts Grand Lodge. Nearly all the Lodges in the Commonwealth united in this happy movement, the last to give in its adhesion being the Lodge of St. Andrew, of Boston, which had received from the Grand Lodge of Scotland the charter under which it is still working, hearing date in 1756. In 1813 a similar union was effected in London between the rival factions which had existed there for some seventy-five years, known as "Ancients" and "Moderns."

The last of the Lodges, and especially St. Andrew's, came into our own union largely through the influence of Isaiah Thomas, the Grand Master who signed the charter of Mount Carmel Lodge. He was one of the most remarkable men of his time; in life and character strongly resembling Benjamin Franklin; of great energy and natural ability. Some of his biographers have represented that he never received any education at all. He used to say himself that six weeks' schooling was all he ever had, and poor at that. As in Franklin's, case, the printing office was almost his only school, and he his own schoolmaster. The story of his useful life has often been told, so far as the public reaped the benefit of it. The same sterling qualities were manifested in his Masonic service. We have so often and so recently rehearsed his praises that it scarcely seems necessary to repeat them now.

He served as.Grand Master in 1803, 1804 and 1805, and again in 1809. It was during the last-named year that he succeeded in inducing the last of the Lodges to come under the jurisdiction of the united Grand Lodge. Since the union of 1792 it has been the general custom for our Grand Masters, who are elected annually, to serve for three successive years. Only three have been elected afterwards for a second term : Isaiah Thomas, as already stated, Timothy Bigelow and John Abbot. To Timothy Bigelow belongs the distinction of having been the only Grand Master, since the union, who served two full terms, namely in 1806, 1807 and 1808, and again in 1811, 1812 and 1813. Between these two terms the office was filled by Isaiah Thomas in 1809, and by a scarcely less distinguished Revolutionary patriot, Josiah Bartlett, in 1810. John Abbot served in 1824, 1825 and 1826, and again in 1834. In 1825, on the fiftieth anniversary, he laid the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, assisted by General Lafayette, in the presence of two hundred soldiers of the Revolution, forty of them being surviving veterans of the battle. In 1834 it became the same Grand Master's sad duty to announce to his Brethren the death of the illustrious Marquis.

The strong character, the marked ability and consequent powerful influence of Isaiah Thomas are further attested by the fact that two of his apprentices succeeded him as Grand Master, Timothy Bigelow and Benjamin Russell. With the exception of a single year these three Brethren presided over the Grand Lodge from 1803 to 1816 inclusive. During the year 1810 the chair of Solomon was filled by Dr. Josiah Bartlett, a famous Revolutionary soldier, who had served as our Grand Master in 1798 and 1799, but then felt obliged to decline a third year's service on account of the pressure of professional duty, greatly to the regret of his Brethren.

TIMOTHY BIGELOW

Timothy Bigelow was one of the most distinguished lawyers of his time, the eldest son of a gallant officer of the Revolutionary War, of the same name. He was born in Worcester, April 30, 1767. As a boy he served for two }^ears in the printing office of Isaiah Thomas, and in 1779 in the quarters of the Continental Army posted to watch the British forces in Rhode Island. In such apparently unsuitable schools he managed to pick up enough of the rudiments to obtain admission in 1782, at the age of fifteen, to Harvard College, where he gained high rank in a distinguished class and was graduated in 1786. The pious bent of his mind may perhaps be inferred from the fact that on his Commencement Day he took part in a discussion of the question "Whether Religious Disputation Promotes the Interest of True Piety."

He at once entered upon the study of law, varying its monotony by a few weeks' service as a volunteer in the small force hastily enlisted for the suppression of Shay's Rebellion. On his admission to the Bar in 1789 he began the practice of his profession in Groton; where he is said to have sat in his office for six weeks without earning a fee, his patience being at length rewarded by a service for which the compensation was a pistareen, a small Spanish silver coin then in common circulation and worth about eighteen cents.

This day of small things was of short duration. Even then it was said of him : "His acquirements are great, his studiousness indefatigable, his fluency astonishing." Of course his business soon became widely extended. For years he was one of the leading counsel in Middlesex and Worcester Counties, and later became prominent at the Suffolk Bar. It is believed that in a practice of thirty-two years he tried more cases than' any lawyer we have ever had in the Commonwealth — the number being estimated at fifteen thousand.

For a long series of years he served either in the Senate or House of Representatives of the Commonwealth. In 1805 he was chosen Speaker of the House, an office which he filled for eleven years — eight of them in succession—a.longer service than is recorded of any other Speaker. It was in that office that he is said to have given a striking illustration of his remarkable memory. Although the House numbered more than three hundred members, it is related that within three days after they came together he could call them all by name — a feat requiring a recollection of faces as well as names. He presided over that branch of the Legislature with signal ability and popularity, although he entered warmly into the strenuous and exciting politics of the times as an opponent of the policy and measures of the General Government, particularly the embargo.

He married, Sept. 30, 1791, Lucy, the daughter of Hon. Oliver Prescott, an officer of the Revolutionary Army and for many years Judge of Probate for Middlesex County. They had a numerous family. In 1806, the first year of his Grand v Mastership, he removed to Medford and opened an office in Boston. He took great delight in horticulture and his grounds on the banks of the Mystic river were famous for their beauty. He died there, of typhus fever, May 18, 1821, at fifty-four years of age. His wife survived him thirty-one years, dying on the fifteenth of December, 1852, and retaining in a remarkable degree to an advanced age her youthful freshness and beauty.

Brother Bigelow was initiated in St. Paul Lodge, of Groton, in July, 1797, aud served as Worshipful Master in 1802, and perhaps longer; he was Senior Grand Warden in 1804 and 1805, but at the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge held on the tenth of June in the latter year, when the charter of Mount Carmel Lodge was granted, he occupied the chair of the Deputy Grand Master.

The charter, however, does not bear his signature, Brother Joseph Laughton signing as Senior Grand Warden pro tem. In those days, so different from our own, in most matters, especially those Masonic, the motto was Festina lente — hasten slowly. Probably the charter was not engrossed until several weeks after it was voted. In the meantime Brother Bigelow had set forth on what was considered a great journey. On the eighth day of July, 1805, in company with four other gentlemen, he started from Boston to-visit the Falls of Niagara, intending to return by way of Montreal and Lake Champlain, a trip of 1355 miles, occupying exactly six weeks. He kept a daily journal while on the journey, which was lost sight of for many years. In 1876 it was discovered among some old family papers and published by a grandson, who kindly furnished a copy for our Grand Lodge Library. During the summer of 1815 he kept a "Diary of a Visit to Newport, New York and Philadelphia," which was published in 1880. Probably the charter was prepared while Brother Bigelow was absent on the first-named journey, and signed by a predecessor as Senior Grand Warden.

BEGINNINGS OF MOUNT CARMEL LODGE

Grand Master Bigelow officiated in person at the important ceremony of the constitution of Mount Carmel Lodge on the twenty-fourth of June, 1807, two years after the charter was granted. The practice at. the present day is to have the ceremony performed within two or three weeks after the charter is voted, but one hundred years ago the practice in this respect seems to have been very irregular.: We have recently observed an instance reported in the Grand Lodge Records where the constitution of a Lodge took place more than seven years after its charter was granted. Probably these delays were largely owing to the lack of the necessary facilities for travelling and the consequent difficulty of assembling the considerable number of competent Grand Officers needed for the service. It seems hardly credible to us, but the carrying through of such a ceremony in that day, even in a locality no farther distant from headquarters than Lynn, was an achievement to be regarded with pride.

BENJAMIN RUSSELL

Another prominent actor on that occasion was the Grand Marshal, Benjamin Russell, who six years later succeeded Timothy Bigelow as Grand Master. He also was an apprentice of Isaiah Thomas, and like his master picked up most of his education in the printing office. He was born in Boston, Sept. 13, 1761, the son of John Russell and the nephew of Joseph Russell, long the Town Treasurer of Boston.

His connection with the memorable events of his time commenced at a very early age and continued through the whole of his long life. On the morning of the nineteenth of April, 1775, as he was wont to tell, the exercises of Master Carter's Town School in Scollay's buildings were disturbed by martial music. One of the boys was sent out to learn the occasion for the dreaded sounds. He soon returned with the information that the British troops had attacked the "Yankees" at Lexington and Concord, that several of each party had been killed, that reinforcements had been sent for and the "Regulars" were parading on Boston Common in great numbers. Master Carter at once declared "Boys, war has begun — the school is broken up." As Major Russell used to say: "This announcement was received with three cheers, and the boys, having gained their own freedom, sallied forth to see whether the men would gain theirs."

Some of the boys, and among them Ben Russell, followed the British troops through Roxbury to the college grounds in Cambridge, where they rested, while the soldiers marched on through Wrest Cambridge to Lexington. Towards sunset the boys had the pleasure of seeing, at some distance, the British in full retreat, followed by the "Yankees." The college buildings were converted into barracks, where the boys were given quarters and rations, serving as clerks to some of the patriot companies. This relation was continued about four months and during that period the boys saw something, and heard a great deal, of the battle of Bunker Hill and the burning of Charlestown.

One day in August, the father and uncle, having escaped from Boston, came suddenly upon the boy while engaged in commissary duty. The surprise of the encounter was rather enhanced by the attempt of the father to give the young soldier a good shaking as a reward for his four months in the line of independence, a proceeding which the soldiers would not permit. The father and son, however, at once repaired to the tent of "Old Put," an honorable discharge was granted, and the next day the pair proceeded to Worcester, where the boy was bound as an apprentice to Isaiah Thomas.

There he became associated, as a fellow apprentice, with Timothy Bigelow, and together they enjoyed the advantages of a school in which such minds could not fail to profit, a "school where the highest principles of liberty were taught." In 1780 Brother Thomas was drafted for service in the Revolutionary Army. Young Russell volunteered to go in his stead and served until the army was disbanded. Between these three men, Thomas, Bigelow and Russell, the most sincere, cordial and uninterrupted friendship prevailed through life.

An interesting anecdote is related of his experience while in the service. One day as he was passing a certain tent the curtain blew aside and he saw many comrades assembled there, among whom he observed an ordinary sergeant of one of the regiments on an elevated seat and covered, while uncovered sat General Washington among the multitude. Being accustomed to regard the Commander-in-Chief almost with reverence, as one of the greatest of human beings, he could not understand why one of the least should be more honored than the greatest. Upon enquiry he was informed that the assembly he had seen was a Lodge of Masons and that one of the tenets of the Craft was the equality of all men. So pleased was he with the idea that he declared he would seek to become a Freemason as soon as he returned home.

On his release from the army he resumed his trade and, following the example of his master, started a newspaper, which he christened the Columbian Centinel. The first number was issued on the twenty-fourth of March, 1784, and it was continued until his death, Jan. 4, 1845. Many comments were made on the spelling of the second word of the title. On the day of the first appearance of the paper, meeting an intimate friend on the street who told him the word was misspelled, that it should have been Sentinel, he replied, "Well, Cen. it is and Cen it shall be," and Cen. it was to the end of its existence. During the whole period it was the most popular and influential newspaper in New England, if not in the country. Its readers said it seemed to come everywhere like a familiar acquaintance. It told them just what they wanted to know. The editor kept about the streets — he saw and knew everybody — he gathered something from every current of conversation as it drifted by.

During the French Revolution the office of the editor was the resort of the principal refugees; they constantly sought his advice and his purse was generously at their service. The most celebrated among these visitors were Louis Philippe and Louis Napoleon, the former of whom always retained a lively sense of gratitude for Major Russell's kindness, and after coming to the throne urgently invited him and his family to come to Paris as the Royal guests.

During his long life Brother Russell had been familiar with some of the most remarkable events in the history of the world — the Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, the wars of Napoleon, the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, the introduction of steam for .transportation by land and water, and many other facilities, objects of wonder in his day but now in common everyday use. Many of the most famous men of two centuries he had seen and of not a few he was an intimate friend — Washington, Warren, LaFayette, Franklin, Jefferson, Webster, Clay, Calhoun and Choate. What a wonderful experience!

Brother Russell had an active part in bringing about the union of our two Grand Lodges in 1792. He served for many years as Marshal of the Grand Lodge, and the record of an occasional ceremony when he was absent shows how greatly his experience and skill were missed in the arrangement and conduct of the ceremony. Fortunately he was present at the constitution of Mount Carmel Lodge in 1807, and all went well. Seven years later he followed his friend Bigelow as Grand Master — then too all went well.

MOUNT CARMEL

Mount Carmel has always had good neighbors, among them are Philanthropic, of Marblehead, Essex, of Salem, and Jordan, of Danvers — now Peabody. For years Philanthropic was called the "Lodge at Marblehead" and the name by which it is now known does not appear to have been given until 1778, although it commenced work in 1760. An interesting fact in its history came to light a few years ago from a letter of the first Master written in the year last named. The writer gave the names of the Brethren who had been initiated during the first fortnight of the work of the Lodge. Among them was the name of John Pulling. He was probably the man who hung in the belfry of the Old North Church the lantern which was the signal for Paul Revere's famous ride to Lexington and Concord. The two men were intimate friends. It is not likely that such a delicate and dangerous duty would have been entrusted to any one not a Mason. Between 1760 and 1775 Paul Revere is recorded as a frequent visitor at Philanthropic Lodge and John Pulling at St. Andrew's Lodge. The other party who is sometimes claimed as Paul Revere's confidant in this matter was Robert Newman, who was made a Mason in Saint John's Lodge, of Boston, in 1783, the year of the peace — eight years after the lantern incident.

To Jordan Lodge belongs the credit of having communicated light to Rufus Choate. He served that Lodge as Junior Warden in 1825 and as Senior Warden in 1826 and 1827. In 1824 he commenced practice in Danvers, but soon removed to Salem. In 1841 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, to fill out the term of Daniel Webster, who had been appointed Secretary of State. In 1842 he was asked to accept a nomination as Grand Master. He replied that he would gladly serve the Fraternity in that capacity, but the pressure of professional duties would not permit. We must all regret that the name of that brilliant genius could not adorn our roll of Grand Masters.

The question is sometimes asked, Why did the founders of Mount Carmel Lodge select that name? It is often an interesting study to trace the thoughts.and motives of our Brethren in that matter. At and about the time of the Revolutionary War the names of Lodges were largely drawn from the politics of that day, such as Union, Columbian, Warren, United States, Federal, Hancock, Republican, Liberty, American Union and Freedom. Every State has its Washington Lodge and almost everyone its Lafayette Lodge, and some States have several of each. When St. Andrew's Lodge divided on the question of sustaining the independent Grand Lodge, Paul Revere withdrew with the minority and enrolled their Lodge as St. Andrew's, No. 1, under the new Grand Lodge. It was soon found inconvenient to have two Lodges called St. Andrew's in the same town and Revere changed the name of his to Rising States. This title so tickled the fancy of Gen. Mordecai Gist, afterwards Grand Master of South Carolina, that he used it in naming his sons, calling one. Rising and the other States.

Early in the last century there seemed to be an inclination to revert to the practice of earlier times by selecting names drawn from the Bible. The founders in the present case certainly made a wise choice. Mount Carmel is said to be one of the most striking features of the country of Palestine, the only great .promontory on the low coast, rising about one thousand feet above the level of the plain and extending some six or eight miles. Its name signifies The Garden of God, a title given to it because it abounded with every variety of tree, shrub and flower known in Palestine. Its fame was not confined to that country.

It was visited even in ancient times by famous men from various parts of the world, among others by our ancient friend and Brother the great Pythagoras; also by Vespasian, who went there to consult the oracle supposed to be located there, which, as Tacitus tells us, had neither image nor temple. To Bible readers it is most familiar from its connection with the lives of the great prophets of Israel, Elijah and Elisha. The fiery zeal of the one and the kindly tenderness of the other are inseparably connected in our minds with Mount Carmel. There Elijah brought back Israel to allegiance to Jehovah and there his prayers brought down vengeance and slaughter upon the prophets, of the false god. It was there that the Shunamite woman found Elisha when she sought his aid in restoring to life her son.

May we not reasonably suppose that the founders of Mount Carmel Lodge dreamed that it might, in time come to be like a beautiful mountain among the Lodges, a veritable garden of the Lord in this community, displaying in abundant measure the beauty of noble and manly lives and the sweet fragrance of generous and kindly deeds? If such w*ere the thoughts of the sponsors of the new Lodge, may we not fairly claim that their anticipations have been realized to some extent? Let us hope that their successors, both present and future, may "better the instruction."

OTHER

1821 (Report on delinquency, III-341, III-368)
1834 (Permission for remission of dues, IV-339)
1835 (Communication, IV-375)
1849 (Newburyport Feast of St. John; Description)
1851 (Remission of dues, V-341)
1894 (Participation in Nahant corner stone laying, 1894-41)
1895 (Jurisdictional dispute, 1895-216)
1898 (Participation in Lynn corner stone laying, 1898-112)
1904 (Participation in Nahant corner stone laying, 1904-75)
1912 (Participation in Nahant corner stone laying, 1912-62)

EVENTS

INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS, FEBRUARY 1847

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly, Vol. VI, No. 4, February 1847, p. 108:

On the 18th, the officers of Mount Carmel Lodge, at Lynn, were publicly installed by the Grand Officers. The hall was full to repletion. The address was delivered by Rev. Br. Bartlett, of Marblehead, and was well received, as were all the ceremonies of the evening.