[Magdalen] History of Masonry in the United States

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

It's intriguing how involved Masonry has been in this country.  British
military brought their traveling lodges with them, of course, and they
welcomed others into those lodges.  Much of the early history stems from
military lodges which spun off Masonic activity which eventually would
solidify into some of the early Grand lodges.

While it is certainly true that the military has been a springboard for
much of Masonry (much is made of Washington being raised in a military
lodge) there was another compelling purpose for Masonry.  In a time when we
could not do a background search on a new person in town, we wanted some
means of showing the person of honorable.  Masonry (and other secret
societies as well) provided a sort of reference for a person travelling
from town to town.

Coming to a town, one could seek out other "brothers of Hiram" in the town,
using a series of secret signs and references.  When he found these folks,
he could demonstrate to them that he was in fact a Mason.

Nobody is ever asked to be a Mason; one must ask a Mason to recommend him.
If such happens, a committee forms to investigate the man, and they make a
report: They state that they are able to report favorably, or that they are
not able to.  The local lodge to which the man petitions must vote
(secretly) on the candidate. The vote has to be unanimous; One vote against
defeats the petition. This assures that if a person becomes a Mason at all,
there was not one person in the lodge who objected.

Obviously this is not the character attestation one can imagine in this
day, but back in that time, when there was not even a central police force,
and no identity database at all, for the person travelling, being able to
show you were a Mason opened doors. If businessmen all knew each of them
were masons, they could make deals with confidence even when they didn't
know each other at all.

My great grandfather was an oil man in the early days, and also a Mason. I
found a document in a leather wallet obviously designed to keep it intact
while travelling. It was a masonic document (beautifully engraved)
attesting to the fact that the bearer was a member of a particular Masonic
rite (been a while, so I'm not sure which one). It had a picture of my
great grandfather embossed into it. In those days, oil men were travelling
all over, and had to be able to make deals quickly, on the run.

Nowadays, there is not a need for this sort of thing, but then, it was the
best they could do.



James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy