[Magdalen] History of Masonry in the United States

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

As I described earlier, Masonry sprang from a need to make honorable men
better able to identify one another.

Masons were quite influential in the past. For instance, most of those
involved in the Declaration or the Constitution were Masons. A very large
number of presidents were Masons. Masons apparently were involved in the
Boston Tea Party.

http://www.hbmasons.com/2011/06/22/masons-at-the-boston-tea-party/

I was once visiting a lady who was a bit older than my parents, and had
seen and knew about events from an earlier time. I had just been initiated
int Masonry, and she said that her father was a member of the local lodge,
and many things were decided in Masonic Hall. One day, she said, her father
came home to announce that at the lodge they had decided that evening "to
pave Main Street." She affirmed that my great-grandfather had been one of
those present. Today, oh how I wish I could sit with her and ask more
questions.

It would be unfair not to mention other organizations that have had an
enormous beneficial effect on the USA. These would include the Oddfellows,
Kights of Pythias, the Grange, and, of course, the Knights of Columbus.

So what happened?  I believe several things lead to the decline of all
these organizations.

The simplest thing is that the need for the organization is pretty much
gone.

Women got the vote, and demands for equality have curtailed men's night
out.

The concept of a club that only admits one gender is going by the boards.

Television was a major factor. One could stay home and be entertained.

Masons and similar organizations started many charitable organizations; now
we take it for granted that the Government bears responsibility for the
health and welfare of the population, so these organizations are no longer
as needed as was the case.  Almost all of these organizations had
orphanages dedicated to sheltering children of deceased Masons, and they
also had homes for the older destitute Mason. In New York the orphans' home
was closing at the time I was Master of my lodge. the care of children was
better done in foster care, supervised by the Craft. It was felt that this
was a better way to deal with this. Of course, in both cases, these people
very seldom have to put themselves at the mercy of strangers, but just a
fairly short time ago, welfare was a local patchwork of unreliable efforts
of varying degrees of success.

Then, there is also the race issue.  At the time I was active, Masons in
New York were under two (at least two) grand lodges: the one my lodge
worked under was for Whites only, and then there was the Prince Hall Grand
Lodge for Masons of Color. More recently, our lodges have integrated. This
was one of the reasons I decided not to continue to be active, and I have
little doubt that others felt as I did.

When Masonry was started in London in 1717, its basic ideas were that all
men could meet on the level, and there was no distinction among them. This
was radical then, but is reactionary now. An organization which excludes
women is not going to do well, to say the least. In conservative areas,
Masonry still functions. In other areas, not so much. Poughkeepsie used to
have five lodges (white) when I was active. I know of one today. I have no
information on the Prince Hall lodges. One friend told me that they too are
having difficulty attracting new members.

One thing I noticed, which I have never heard mentioned elsewhere, is the
basic failure to adhere to the idea of all men meeting on the level. Higher
Masonic organizations were set up in order that the more affluent would be
able to meet among their "peers," and not have to socialize with the lower
classes.  Watching the displays of groups such as the Shriners, this is
very apparent. However, within the Blue Lodges (the basic lodges of the
first three degrees), the trappings of elitism were everywhere. Some lodges
in New York meet in formal wear.

Combined with the fact that women are excluded, many folks just have no
interest in this organization.

It served a very important purpose, but its time has gone. I suspect that
most of the organizations would say the same.

Masonry has given us some figures of speech.

Asking if someone is truthful, one may well ask, "Is he on the level?"
"His story doesn't square with what I have been told."
"They suspected his motives. They asked a lot of penetrating questions,
really gave him the third degree about so-and-so."
Eavesdroppers were folks who secretly stood right by a building, hoping to
hear what was being said inside; it's from our ritual.

Masonry is certainly declining in numbers, although in some areas it
continues to flourish after a fashion.
Things do not generally change suddenly, but gradually over a period of
decades. Like the Church, many folks seem to have gradually moved on to
other things, decided that they have more important things to do with their
time.

One must avoid thinking about what used to be, or what "ought to be," and
focus on making the best of what IS.

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

On Wed, Jan 13, 2016 at 9:40 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>