AMERICAN MASONIC HISTORY

Freemasonry first came to Utah during the winter of 1858 when twenty-three officers and men of General Albert Johnston’s Army, sent to quell the reported "Mormon Rebellion," sought fraternal fellowship at their inhospitable outpost of Camp Floyd near Fairfield, Utah.

Twenty-three Master masons petitioned the Grand Lodge of Missouri for a Dispensation which was issued on March 6th, 1859. The following year, on June 1st 1860, the Grand Lodge of Missouri issued a charter to Rocky Mountain Lodge No. 205. The Masonic Hall in which they met was a simple building: 30 X 60 feet, with 8ft high adobe soil brick walls, a wood plank roof, and a packed dirt floor.

Unfortunately, due to the onset of the Civil War and the disbandment of Camp Floyd, the lodge had to surrender its’ charter in July 1861.

Organized Freemasonry did not return to Utah until 1865 and it wasn’t until January 16, 1872, that a convention was held for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge for the Territory of Utah. The three Lodges that attended the convention, all located in Salt Lake City, were Wasatch lodge No. 8 (Chartered by the Grand Lodge of Montana), Mount Moriah Lodge No. 70 (Chartered by the Grand Lodge of Kansas) and Argenta lodge No. 21 (Chartered by the Grand Lodge of Colorado).
During the convention, the Grand Lecturer, Bro. R. H. Robertson, noted that “The circumstances which surrounded our early history were complicated and peculiar, queer and unprecedented … (we) guarded well the’ inner door’ . . . none who held his country’s authority in defiance or trod its laws beneath his feet entered the portals of our Lodges.”

The Grand Lodge of Utah was originally housed in the Commerce Building, then situated about 145 South Main St. However, in 1876 the Grand Lodge dedicated a new Masonic Hall, located in the First National Bank Building. For the next 15 years, this building housed the three Masonic Lodges of Salt Lake City, the Utah Royal Arch Chapter #1, and the Utah Commandery #1. Following this, The Grand Lodge was located in the McIntosh Building from 1896 to 1906 and then in the Scottish Rite Temple until November 20th, 1927 when the Grand Lodge was moved to the newly dedicated Salt Lake Masonic Center at 650 East South Temple St.

I must admit that I got a bit late in submitting this message for timely publication and that was because I got engrossed with looking for some inspiration as I began thinking of what to include for this month’s Master Message. I finally had one and it came during our recently concluded 3rd Degree Conferral for Bro. Jason Marandas. By way of putting this in context, it was supposed to be a conferral on advanced stations. Included in the ‘advancing’ mode was my sitting at the Chaplain’s chair and reading of the ritual of the Perambulation for the 3rd Degree.

With my hesitancy and anxiety at doing it for the first time put away through the brotherly assurance from a good friend and brother. I began reciting the words at the appointed time. It was there and then that I felt a strange feeling as each word was spoken. It was as though I suddenly felt so humbled with the realization that those words are actually passages from the Holy Bible and I became a conduit for the message to be heard by those in attendance as they watched the candidate being conducted thrice around the lodge room.

That experience gave me a new meaning to the office of the Lodge Chaplain. With the serious impact prayers make, as we invoke the blessings of the Great Architect of the Universe, I can only humbly suggest that prayers ought to be said with utmost sincerity for others to be made aware and cognizant of the beautifully crafted words of supplication.

Looking back to last month, we thoroughly enjoyed our Advanced Stations Degree Conferrals as our line of officers began their journey to a higher station. For this current month, here are a few notes.

Other than our Stated Meeting on Tuesday 6th, the next important event will take place on September 13th at 6:30 P.M.. La Parfait Union 17 Lodge will be having a First Degree Conferral in French. I invite every Master Mason of Mission Lodge who has not witnessed this French Conferral to attend this rather unique and interesting conferral. It will also be the District School of Instructions for our Line Officers and this will be held at Burlingame Lodge.

The other very important event is the 162nd Annual Communication, of the Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of California. Again, I would like to encourage our members to attend the said Annual Communication which will begin on Friday, September 23rd through Sunday, September 25th. At this gathering, we will witness the elections of the Grand Lodge Officers, but most specially the election of the new Grand Master for the ensuing year 2011-2012.

On September 20th at 7:00 P.M., we will confer upon Bro. Michael Tarver the 3rd Degree of Masonry and on September 27th, at the same time, another 3rd Degree will be conferred upon Bro. Hakki Ayverdi.

An update for the last bus excursion of the Master to Reno, Nevada on October 30th – 31st. Those interested to go are encouraged to make early reservation to Wor. Danny S. Dayan, since based on previous experience, the 50 passenger bus could easily get filled up.

This is all for now and I hope to see some of you at the Annual Communication.

Fraternally,

Jess R. Bautista, P.M.
Worshipful Master

The following article was written by Bro. Joe Lane Field, P.M. and published in Winter 2010 edition of New Mexico Freemason
– Editor

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THE LAMBSKIN OR WHITE LEATHERN APRON

The Masonic apron is a pure white lambskin, from fourteen to sixteen inches wide, and from twelve to fourteen deep, with a fall about three to four inches deep; square at the bottom without ornament. It is a perfect rectangle and the angles represent truth and honesty. Its four sides remind Masons to practice the four cardinal virtues: temperance in word and act; fortitude in a noble purpose; prudence in judgment; and justice to the humble and great alike.

The flap is triangular and its three sides refer to the three attributes of God – infinite knowledge, infinite power, and infinite presence. The two strings remind us that reverence of the practice of Masonic virtues should be bound to the heart and conscience by the double ties of love to God and man. The apron with its four sides and the flay with its three constitute the sacred number seven. Seven refers to the seven liberal arts and sciences which were the foundation of Masonry.

The lambskin or white leathern apron is the badge of a Mason, and the first gift bestowed by the Worshipful Master upon the newly initiated Entered Apprentice. The apron is worn by operative Masons, to preserve their garments from spot or stain. But we, as speculative Masons, use it for a more noble purpose. By the whiteness of its color, and the innocence of the animal from which it is obtained, we are admonished to preserve that blameless purity of life and conduct, which alone will enable us hereafter to present ourselves before the Grand Master of the Universe, unstained with sin and unsullied with vice.

There is no other “badge of a Mason”. A man who is not a Mason may cover his coat with pins, wear a Masonic ring, or hang charms of square and compasses all over his attire, with never a right so to do. He can obtain that right only in a lodge, and he cannot receive – at any other hands – a lamb skin apron with any meaning attached, except in a Masonic lodge.
The apron, among many things, is a symbol of innocence, purity, and honor. In ancient times, it was a badge of distinction. None but the members of the Jewish priesthood could wear one. It is still a badge of distinction. Not all men are permitted to wear the Masonic apron. That right is conferred upon you in the Rite of Investiture – when the Worshipful Master presents you with a lambskin or white leathern apron.

As a badge of antiquity, your aprons puts emphasis on the value of the past, and its contribution to the present and future happiness of man. The symbolism of your apron has come out of the mist of time. It has been tested by men of religion as well as laboring men. As it was worn with honor by the Operative Mason, so must it today by the Speculative Mason.
The Masonic Apron will only be honorable if it is worthily worn. You have proven your right to wear it by being tried and tested. You must continue to prove you are worthy of wearing it by putting into practice the lessons, teachings, and philosophy of the Order.

Hence the ceremony of the Rite of Investiture becomes a real worth; only less than that of your Obligation, it puts the sign and seal of value upon that which has been, up to now, a pledge of the word and an obligation of the spirit. The ceremony is of vital importance, for here at last is a visual, physical evidence that you are approved by your fellows. You have passed the scrutiny of a committee, you have passed the ballot of your lodge; you have been found worthy, well-qualified, duly and truly prepared; and the apron has been presented to you as the sign and seal of the fraternity that these are accomplished facts.

Lastly, there is a singular, peculiar significance of the Masonic apron. It is the first symbol of Masonic life and also the last. It is impressed upon your memory as the first gift you receive, the first symbol which is explained to you, and the first tangible evidence which you possess of your admission into the fraternity. The mean and significance of the apron becomes something that binds you to God, your individual religious beliefs, and our Masonic traditions.

The first Masonic Lodge in what is present day Illinois was established in Kaskaskia, then in Indiana Territory, in 1805. The origins of this lodge can be traced back to seven Brothers, from 5 separate Pennsylvania Lodges, 1 Canadian Lodge and 1 New York Lodge. These Brothers petitioned the “R.W. Grand Master of Masons in and for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Masonic jurisdictions thereunto belonging” for a charter on March 9, 1805.

On September 24th, 1805 a dispensation was granted to Western Star Lodge #107, the first Masonic Lodge to be formed in what was then Indiana territory. The Officers were installed the Lodge was constituted on September 13th, 1806. The two story brick building that the Lodge first met in would later be rented to the State of Illinois as the first state capital building.
By 1816, several Masonic Lodges were operating in the Indiana Territory. They had been granted charters by the Grand Lodges of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Indiana. However, the great distances to, and the methods of travel, made it almost impossible to communicate or attend the Grand Lodge affairs. As a result, these Lodges were largely left on their own.

On December 9th, 1822 several Lodges operating in the newly formed State of Illinois decided to meet and form the 1st Grand Lodge of Illinois. The first elected Grand Master of Illinois was Shadrach Bond, who only a few days earlier had completed his term as the first governor of the State of Illinois. Unfortunately, the strong anti-Masonic sentiment resulting from the infamous Morgan Affair in New York was disastrous for Masonry in Illinois. After January, 1827 the Grand Lodge of Illinois did not meet again, effectively eliminating organized Freemasonry in Illinois until 1840.

On April 6th, 1840 delegates from six Masonic Lodges (Harmony Lodge #24, Springfield Lodge #26, Columbus Lodge #20, Bodley Lodge #29, Far West Lodge #26 and Equality Lodge #102) met in Jacksonville, Illinois to form the 2nd Grand Lodge of Illinois. W.B. Abraham Jonas of Columbus Lodge #20 was elected as the first Grand Master.

Today, the Masonic Fraternity under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Illinois is comprised of more than 500 Lodges and some 70,000 Masons.