July-Aug Trestleboard, "Masonry, Past and Present"

ALBERT PIKE'S MASONIC LIBRARY SAVED BY ENEMY BROTHER
A Union general, Thomas H. Benton, Grand Master in Iowa, 1860 - 1862, saved Albert Pikes Masonic Library at Little Rock, Arkansas, by placing Federal Troops around Pike's home when the city was invaded during the Civil War.

MUSIC FOR OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM
John Stafford Smith (1750-1836), a member of Royakl Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No. 4, London, wrote the music which became our national anthem. Its original use is not known, but at an early date it was use by an Irish Masonic orphans' Home as its song. when Francis Scott Key utilized this music for the Stat Spangled Banner, it was a popular drinking song known as To Anacreon in heaven.

QUICK CHANGES OF MIND
Alexander I, Czar of Russia form 1801 to 1825, banned the Craft in Russia in 1801. He rescinded the order in 1803 and became a Freemason, probably for political reasons; but in 1822 he again banned Freemasonry in Russia.

WHY PRESIDENT McKINLEY BECAME A MASON
When General Horatio King asked William McKinley how he happen to become a Mason he explained: "After the Battle of Opequam, I went with our surgeon of our Ohio regiment to the field where there were about 5,000 Confederate prisoners under guard. Almost as soon as we passed the guard, I noticed the doctor shook the hands with a number of Confederate prisoners. He also took from his pocket a roll of bills and distributed all he had among them. Boy-like, I looked on in wonderment; I didn't know what it all meant. On the way back from camp I asked him:

"Did you know these men or ever see them before?" "No," replied the doctor, "I never saw them before." "But," I persisted, "You gave them a lot of money, all you had about you. Do you ever expect to get it back?" "Well'" said the doctor, "If they are able to pay me back, they will. But it makes no difference to me; they are brother Masons in trouble and I am only doing my duty." "I said to myself, If that is Freemasonry I will take some of it for myself."

THE SQUARE AND COMPASS BRAND
Montana's first livestock brand was the square and compass; it is still in use. No one knows when it was first used; but it was before May 25, 1872, when it became necessary to date and register brands then in use. It was first owned by Poindexter T. Orr of Beaverhead County, Montana Territory.

MOON LODGES
A century ago thee were more than 3,000 Masonic lodges which can be described as "Moon Lodges"; in 1954 there were fewer than 500. These lodges meet on the day of the full moon for practical reasons; the brethren had light to travel by at night. There may have been some symbolic meaning also. The advent of electricity, street lights, and the automobile made the reason for meeting on such nights antiquated through unique. Many Grand Lodges now require lodges to meet on fixed days of the week.

FREEMASONS BUILD FORTS
"Fort Masonic" was built on what was known as the Heights of Brooklyn, which later became Bond and Nevins Streets, Brooklyn, New York. On August 22, 1814, the Grand Lodge of New York adopted a resolution by which, on September 1, the officers of the Grand Lodge accompanied by a group of Masons from fourteen lodges, went to the place and performed one day's work. On September 17, another day's work was done to complete the work. "Fort Hiram" was built on October 3, 1814, at Fort Point, Rhode Island, but the Grand Lodge which supervised 230 Masons at work. Thomas Smith Webb was Grand Master at the time. The purpose of the fortification was to protect the harbor of Providence, Rhode Island.

THE RUG OF APPRECIATION
As a young man Sarkis H. Nahigian fled Armenia to escape persecution and arrived in the United States in 1890. He worked hard and became a successful businessman in Chicago and a devoted Mason. In 1948 he presented a priceless Oriental rug, 46½ feet long and 29½ feet wide, to the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. In presenting the gift he said: "I came to America believing in miracles. I say these words with gratitude, faith and pride. Gratitude -- to the generations of hard-working and God-fearing men and women who came to this new country to make a home for freedom. Faith, in that the democracy they built will never die. Pride, in that my chance has come to show my appreciation for being an American. And believe me when I say there is no finer title, no higher position than to be a citizen of the United States." "Here we have freedom of thought, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech. One does not appreciate what these freedoms mean until one recalls what it was to be deprived of them. Now, again, in humble spirit, it gives me great pleasure to donate to our beloved George Washington Memorial Building, the largest Persian Royal Meshed carpet I have ever known. I donate this carpet in grateful appreciation of all the unlimited privileges and friendships and support I have enjoyed in this blessed United States of America, and not among the least of these is my privilege of being a Mason.

A MASON LOSES A BET AND NEW YORK GAINS
Paul Boynton, during the 1832 political campaign, lived in the Green Mountain country of Vermont. Those were dark days for the Craft. Andrew Jackson, a past Grand Master of Tennessee, was the candidate for the Presidency against William Wirt, a Mason running on the Anti-Masonic ticket. Brother Boynton was a devoted Freemason and did not recant or hide his association with the Craft while the storm was brewing and many members deserted. He made an election vow that if Vermont went for Wirt he would move "out west". In those days "out west" meant St. Lawrence Country, New York, to New Englanders. When Wirt won in Vermont (the only state in which he won), Brother Boynton kept his word and moved. At the end of an eighty day journey on horseback, Brother Boynton settled down in Canton New York. He swapped his horse for a watch and a gun shop. He became the best gunsmith in the area and his gun stocks are now collector's items. He invented many things, such as eight day clocks and a pedometer. In 1835 he built what is now known as The Royal Arch House, located at 12 Pine Street, as a constant reminder to friend and foe alike, that he was a mason. Emblems familiar to the Royal Arch Mason are on the front of the building. It is said that he dug his own grave and made his own marker, except for the date. He died on July 13, 1851

PRESIDENT RAISES TWO SONS ON THE SAME NIGHT
On November 7, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt attended the meeting of Architect Lodge No. 519 in New York and raised two of his sons, James and Franklin D., Jr. An honorary membership certificate was presented to the President by the Lodge.

SILENT CAL AND THE CRAFT
President Calvin Coolidge had the reputation of being a person of few words. One time while attending a public function he was told by a young lady, "Mr. President, I made a bet that I can get you to say three words." To which he replied, "You lose." Although not a Mason, he was not stingy with words when he talked about Freemasonry. While Governor of the Bay State, he addresses the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and said: "It has not been my fortune to know very much about Freemasonry, but I have had the great fortune to know many Freemasons, and I have been able in that way to judge the tree by its fruits. I know of your high ideals. I have seen that you hold your meeting in the presence of the Bible, and I know that men who observe that formality have high sentiments of citizenship, of worth, and of character. That is the strength of our Commonwealth and Nation."

A BIT OF JOHN HANCOCK
John Hancock was a member of St. Andrew's Lodge, Boston, Massachusetts. He was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence. He wrote in a bold flourishing style. When asked why his signature was so large, he replied: "So that George III may read it without putting on his spectacles."

SPECIAL MEETINGS CALLED FOR A KING
On December 20, 1874, a special meeting of New York Lodge No. 330 was held to exemplify the third degree for the edification of a Brother. His Royal Highness David Kalakaua , King of the Hawaiian Islands, and a member of Le Progres de l'Oceanie Lodge No. 124 (Supreme Council of France) Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands. After the degree was exemplified, the Bible on which George Washington had taken his oath of office was displayed. The royal visitor asked that the book be opened at the page where the oath was administered. He took the book in both hands and kissed the page saying "I thank God for this privilege." On January 15, 1865, the same royal visitor attended Chicago's Oriental Lodge No. 33 which had called a special meeting. Over four hundred distinguished visitors attended.

A FULL MASONIC NAME
Hiram Abiff Boaz was born on December 18, 1866, at Murray, Kentucky. He moved to Texas at an early age. In 1891 he was ordained a Methodist minister. In 1922 he was elected a Bishop of the church. He became a member of Granger Lodge No. 677 of Texas. When he received his third degree, a large attended because of the unusual name of the new member. He served as Grand Chaplain of Texas on 1953.

This brother had many interesting experiences connected with his name. He never tired of telling of the time he was traveling in the Holy Land and arrived at a Mosque in Hebron on the wrong day for visitors. When he told then his name was Boaz, it seemed as if he had given a magic password. Others were not admitted that day, but they opened the gates for him.

WYOMING GOVERNORS AND FREEMASONRY
Between 1890 (when Wyoming became a state) and 1951 every Governor of that state was a Freemason, except one. This single exception was Mrs. William A. Ross, who was the wife of a Mason, and she was a member of the Eastern Star

RETRIBUTION
In Fulda, Germany a dispute arose about the name to be given a new high school. The first name suggested was Professor Karl Ferdinand Braun, inventor of the T V picture tube, and a Nobel prize winner. A protest arose on the ground that he was a Freemason. Finally the school was named after Baron Von Stein, who is known as the father of local self-government. He was a devoted Freemason. It was later discovered that Professor Braun was not a Freemason.

HOW MANY MASONS SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:
Extravagant claims are sometimes made in connection with the Masonic membership of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. There were fifty-six signers of the document. There is satisfactory evidence to prove conclusively that eight were Masons. Twenty-four others are sometimes claimed as Masons, but evidence submitted is not completely satisfactory, being based of hearsay and "tradition", rather than documents. There are twenty-four signers who have never been claimed as Masons. : "Scholars have proved that eight Signers were Masons. As many as thirty may have been."