Note: This material was scanned into text files for the sole purpose of convenient electronic research. This material is NOT intended as a reproduction of the original volumes. However close the material is to becoming a reproduced work, it should ONLY be regarded as a textual reference. Scanned at Phoenixmasonry by Ralph W. Omholt, PM in June 2007.
The Eastern Star
THE EVOLUTION
FROM A RITE TO AN ORDER
BY
Harold Van Buren Voorhis
RED BANK CHAPTER No. 70, O. E. S.
NEW JERSEY CONSTITUTION
MACOY PUBLISHING AND MASONIC
SUPPLY COMPANY, INC.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
COPYRIGHT, 1938, 1954, 1976
BY HAROLD VAN BUREN VOORHIS
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof,
must not be reproduced in any form without
written permission.
Printed in the United States of America
ROB MORRIS
ContentsPART I
FOREWORD xiii
1. INTRODUCTION . 1
1. Historical beginning compared with Freemasonry
2. Three stages in the development of the Eastern Star
3. First reference of Rob Morris and the Eastern Star
2. ROB MORRIS 5
1. Resume of life of Rob Morris
2. Morris as an Educator
3. Comment on Morris
3. FRENCH ADOPTIVE MASONRY 16
1. Early Androgynous Bodies and Lodges of Adoption
2. The French Adoptive Rite
3. Morris statement regarding French origin of his Rite
vi CONTENTS
4. EARLY AMERICAN ANDROGYNOUS BODIES 22
1. Thesauros of the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Eastern Star
2. Organization of the Eastern Star Degrees by Morris
3. American Androgynous Degrees prior to the Eastern Star
5. FEMALE DEGREES RECEIVED BY MORRIS 30
1. The Morris statements - William H. Stevens - Giles M. Hillyer
2. Further statement of Morris regarding his authorship
6. "CONSTELLATION" PERIOD 35
1. Condition of country at the time the Degrees were organized
2. Morris statement of how he came to write the Degrees
3. The Supreme Constellation
4. The Mosaic Book
7. "FAMILY" PERIOD 51
1. Reason for formation of Families Manual of Eastern Star Degrees
2. Change from Constellations to Families
3. Fatal Book of Instructions - Rosary of the Eastern Star
4. Manual of the Order of the Eastern Star by Robert Macoy
CONTENTS vii
8. SUPREME GRAND CHAPTER 58
1. Second stage - Robert Macoy biography
2. Morris statement regarding Macoy's
assumption of the Eastern Star Degrees
3. Macoy made Supreme Patron of the World
4. Macoy originated the Chapter System
of the Eastern Star Degrees
9. FIRST EASTERN STAR CHAPTER 66
1. General discussion of what constitutes the first Chapter
2. Statements regarding the formation of Alpha
Chapter No. 1, New York, N. Y.
3. Remarks about first Chapters
10. EASTERN STAR IN MICHIGAN 74
1. Early history of the Eastern Star in Michigan
2. Other Chapters claiming existence prior to Coldwater Chapter, No. 1
3. Rituals issued in Michigan
4. Opposition by Morris to the Michigan Adoptive Lodges
11. FIRST GRAND CHAPTER 82
1. Situation of Michigan as regards the first Grand Chapter
viii CONTENTS
2. Indiana Adoptive Lodge
3. New Jersey situation relative to being the first Grand Chapter
4. Formation of the Grand Chapter of New York
12. GENERAL GRAND CHAPTER 89
1. Third stage - Willis D. Engle starts movement toward
the formation of a national body
2. Willis D. Engle - biography
3. Delegates chosen for Convention
4. Convention and permanent organization of the
General Grand Chapter
5. Condition of Order at the time of formation of the
General Grand Chapter
6. Meetings of the General Grand Chapter
13. EASTERN STAR IN SCOTLAND 103
1. Introduction
2. Henry John Shields - biography
3. Records of first Chapter in Scotland
4. Other Chapters chartered by Shields
5. Crombie Chapters and those chartered by the
General Grand Chapter in the United States
6. Grand Chapter of Scotland organized
CONTENTS ix
7. Visit of Most Worthy Grand Matron of the
General Grand Chapter to Scotland - Visit of
the Most Worthy Grand Matron of the Supreme
Grand Chapter of Scotland to the General Grand
Chapter in the United States
PART II
1. OTHER ORDERS ALLIED TO FREEMASONRY 113
1. Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem
2. Order of Rainbow for Girls
3. Order of the Amaranth
4. Order of Job's Daughters
5. Daughters of the Nile
6. Order of the Gold Chain
7. True Kindred of the United States and Canada
8. Social Order of the Beauceant of the World
9. Ladies Oriental Shrine of North America
10. Daughters of Mokanna
11. Daughters of the Eastern Star
12. Order of Beatitudes
13. The Daughters of Osiris
x CONTENTS
14. Dames of Malta, Ladies of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem
15. Constellation of Junior Stars
PART III
1. PERSONAL RECORDS AND STATISTICS 121
1. Rob Morris
2. Robert Macoy
3. Willis Darwin Engle
4. Statistics of O.E.S. 1880, 1907, 1931
5. Statistics, 1952, 1970
6. Statistics, Scotland, 1938
7. O.E.S. Chapters with continuous records
2. ACKNOWLEDGMENT 134
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY 136
Illustrations
Rob Morris Frontispiece
PAGE
Newspaper announcements of Rob Morris' lectures, 1868 13 - 14
Excerpts in code from an old ritual of Adoptive Degrees of Masonry 20
Earliest form of "Petition" for Morris Eastern Star Degrees 25
Certificate of Degree of Holy Virgin 27
Folded plate in The Rosary of the Eastern Star 39
The Mosaic Book of the American Adoptive Rite title page 40
"The Adopted Mason, A Bi‑Monthly Journal" title page 42
List of Charters granted to Constellations, with officers' names, 1855 44 - 45
Constellation Rituals title page, 1869 48
Fly leaf of James B. Taylor's own copy of a Constellation ritual 49
Manual of the Eastern Star Degree for the Use of
Patrons title page, by Morris, 1862 52
Charter of Miriam Family No. 111, Chicago, Illinois . 54
Title page of Macoy's Manual of the Order of the Eastern Star, 1865 55
xi
xii ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Rosary of the Eastern Star title page, 1865 56
Presentation page of Macoy's Manual given by Morris to his wife in 1866 57
Robert Macoy 59
Title page of Robert Macoy's Adoptive Masonry. A Book of
Instruction in the Organization, Government and Ceremonies
of Chapters of the Eastern Star, 1869 . 62
Macoy Eastern Star Chapter Charter granted to Miriam No. 1, of Chicago 64, 72 Newspaper announcements of Alpha Chapter No. 1, N. Y.
Second and Third Annual Receptions, 1867 and 1868 70
Coldwater (Michigan) Adoptive Lodge Charter 76
Minutes of Coldwater Adoptive Lodge meetings, 1867 78 - 79
By‑laws of Golden Chapter No. 1, Keyport, New Jersey, 1870 84
Willis Darwin Engle 91
Title page of A Review of the Critical and Explanatory Notes of
Robert Macoy on the Ritual of the Order of the Eastern
Star, by Engle, 1879 95
Eastern Star Apron made in 1868 138
Foreword
For several years I have been privileged to address fraternal bodies
And answer questions on fraternal matters at the conclusion of these
Talks. There have been many times when those present have
Asked for information about the Order of the Eastern Star -
Length of its existence, where and by whom it was started, and so on.
HAVING ACQUIRED CONSIDERABLE DATA, and being reminded that no accurate history of the Eastern Star is readily available, I have compiled my data into a small book in order that they might be accessible.
Students and historians of Freemasonry today are largely concerned with a "house‑cleaning" of what for the past two hundred years has appeared under the guise of history. As an adjunct of Freemasonry, the history of "female Masonry" has thus been brought to the attention of those interested.
There has always been a dearth of published historical information concerning the Eastern Star, yet of the androgynous fraternal groups of the last century, it is the only one about which anything more than a few scraps of information has been published. Information about groups having even a more recent organization is difficult to secure.
xiii
xiv FOREWORD
In 1910 the Rev. Willis D. Engle, of Indiana, first Grand Secretary, and later Grand Patron, of the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, produced a rather comprehensive book of 296 pages entitled, The History of the Order of the Eastern Star. A revised edition appeared in 1912. In 1917 Mrs. Jean M'Kee Kenaston, Past Grand Marshal of the Grand Chapter, O.E.S., of South Dakota, published a voluminous work of the same title, with 689 pages. Both books are out of print. No other histories of the Order have had a content of such magnitude and therefore they have been used as a basis of many accounts concerning the Order. It naturally follows that many who have written pamphlets or brochures about the Order have indiscriminately excerpted much, and in so doing have carried the errors, truths and conclusions directly into their own works. Some of these small works, however, do contain bits of information not found in the two larger books.
Prior to 1900 most of the writings about the Order, or its antecedents, were to be found in various Masonic magazines, especially during the lifetime of Rob Morris. In recent years a few historical sketches or reviews have appeared in encyclopedias and general histories. The Engle and Kenaston histories are largely concerned with examinations of ritualistic matter, symbolism, State and General Grand Chapter histories, biographies of others beside Rob Morris, Robert Macoy and Willis Engle, and the presentation of purported data to "prove" some moot point. Neither volume contains as much as fifty
FOREWORD xv
pages devoted entirely to the history or the formative period of the Rite itself. Further, the handling of the facts is somewhat "angular" - that is, one side may be more freely painted than others. Nevertheless, and in spite of all this, both histories are of great value as compendia of data concerning both the Rite and the Order.
It is not our opinion that the idea, the views taken, the conclusions developed, and the opinions expressed are not of interest or of use to the general reader or the historian. Rather, our point is that the authors fail to make clear the difference between the history of the RITE and the history of the ORDER, and have treated the two as one and the same subject, which they are not. Further, we believe that the "member at large" is more interested in what took place in the development of the Eastern Star than in the "whys." In other words, we feel that a short historical treatment, covering the salient points leading up to the origin of the Order, is desirable. Such a work this purports to be and, in addition, makes available some statistics to give a working knowledge of the growth of the Order. Also, it has seemed that some information covering "allied" Orders and Degrees would be appropriate, wherefore a short treatment of these groups is given.
The work contains no analyses of rituals or liturgies of the degrees of the Eastern Star. Such studies are not for general distribution. The mention of these documents or printed versions is only made when it has a bearing upon the story. Treatment of individual Grand Chapters is not a province of the present subject. Such
xvi FOREWORD
should appear in separate form - one for each State - compiled by a qualified historian familiar with local conditions. One exception has been made in the latter instance. A rather extended treatment of the Eastern Star in Scotland has been made because of the small amount of data elsewhere available concerning the early history of the Order in that country. We are indebted to recent researches made by Worthy William Bryce, Grand Secretary of the Grand Chapter of Scotland, for those portions dealing with activities in the land of the Shamrock and Thistle.
HAROLD VAN BUREN VOORHIS July 2, 1938.
EASTERN STAR
PART I
CHAPTER I
Introduction
___________ 1.
THE ORDER OF THE EASTERN STAR had a beginning historically comparable to that of Speculative Freemasonry. The latter came into organized existence in London, England, in 1717, and, while it is definitely known that Masonry in various forms existed long be‑fore that date, both in England and elsewhere, whence it came is not really known. Because Masonry, prior to the actual organization of the premier Grand Lodge, was predominately speculative, many have made the error of believing that it was exclusively so. Many records of individual Masonic lodges of the seventeenth century are extant. From these and other available data many theories have been advanced as to the origin of Masonry, but no specific historical beginning exists.
After assuming a number of organized forms, Free‑masonry went through a relatively short period of readjustment, emerging a few years later in a form at‑
2 THE EASTERN STAR
tractive, and therefore popular. Growth was rapid and the organization took on a stability that has continued with little interruption to the present time.
Although the Order of the Eastern Star came into being around a century ago, it passed through a cycle somewhat similar to that experienced by Freemasonry. Because of this recent origin considerable source material is extant, enabling us more easily to reconstruct its development than that of Freemasonry. While the development processes of both groups are parallel, the readjustment period of the Eastern Star degrees came prior to the organization of the Order of the Eastern Star itself. This has made it so difficult to separate the periods that practically all who have written histories of the Order have neglected to do so.
__________ 2.
The development of the Eastern Star degrees from a single set of degrees to a national body is separated into three distinct stages. First, the organization of the detached degrees into an American rite by Rob Morris; second, the organization of the chapter system by Robert Macoy, followed by the formation of the Grand Chapter; and third, the organization of the General Grand Chapter, the national body, by Bro. Willis D. Engle.
In the strictest sense, a rite consists of an organized grouping of steps, familiarly called degrees, in some prescribed form, to 4be imparted in a solemn ceremony.
INTRODUCTION 3
Usually more than a single degree is necessary to constitute a rite, but cases are known in which the steps are so grouped that in practice the rite contains but a single degree. The control of the rite may be either hierarchical or democratic.
An order, however, can only be properly maintained through the combination into a single governing body, by mutual consent, of several similar bodies. While a rite of one or more degrees is sometimes called an order, it is not really an order at all.
Up to the time of the formation of the first Grand Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star, no ORDER of the Eastern Star chapters, in a generic sense, existed. Except in Michigan and Indiana, none of the American androgynous bodies had formed themselves into a state group to become an order. In Michigan and Indiana the bodies were "Lodges of Adoption," and the order which they founded under the title of "Grand Lodge of Adoptive Masonry," was not an order of chapters of the Eastern Star as such. It matters little what their ritual was, from whence they sprang, or what they became later - the fact remains that they were not an Order of Eastern Star chapters. This statement does not alter the contrary fact that the Grand Chapter of Michigan, Order of the Eastern Star, is the oldest and also the first organized order which conferred the Eastern Star degrees. There has been no break in its existence - only in its name.
The Order of Eastern Star chapters came into existence, ipso facto, when, following the established custom
4 THE EASTERN STAR
of American Masonic lodges, the first groups of chapters in a single state, by mutual consent, set themselves up as an ORDER of the Eastern Star chapters in that state.
__________ 3.
The Order of the Eastern Star has no patron saints, yet one man was so inseparably associated with it that he has been raised almost to that pinnacle. Strangely enough, this man had practically nothing to do with the organization of the ORDER of the Eastern Star. On the other hand, he was the founder of the Rite, substantially as it exists today.
Because numerous references to him would be misleading were it not known what manner of man he was, we give here a brief sketch of his life. He was a man of manifold activities - fraternal, scholastic, literary, civic, business, musical, numismatic and military. Nothing less than a book could do justice to his career. However, much as it is realized that this is not a place for biography, because of his unique position regarding the Order, it is felt that an exception should be made. The reference, of course, is to Dr. Rob Morris, of Kentucky.
CHAPTER 2
Rob Morris
__________ 1.
ROB MORRIS was born on August 31, 1818, at 26 Rector Street, New York City. Previous biographical sketches of Morris have shown him to have been born in Massachusetts. It has now been definitely established by documentary proof that New York was his birthplace. He was the son of Charlotte Lavinnia Shaw and Robert Peckham who were married in Taunton, Massachusetts, December 1, 1811. They came to New York City in 1815 after having lost their first two children, Robert Fales and Mary Shaw Peckham, who died in infancy.
In 1816 another child, John Anson, was born. Then came Robert Williams (Rob Morris). In 1821 another girl was born to the Peckhams - Charlotte Fales, who lived until 1902, then the widow of Elisha T. Wilson of Taunton, Massachusetts. She was the only one of the Peckhams to survive Robert Williams (Rob Morris), and with whom she corresponded until his death, al‑
6 THE EASTERN STAR
though they probably never were together after 1826.
In 1821 Rob Morris' parents separated and the baby girl, Charlotte Fales, went with her mother to Taunton. Robert Williams and his brother, John Fales, remained with their father in New York City. Robert Peckham, the father, died in the City Hospital on February 2, 1825 and the two sons were sent to their mother. Shortly after Robert went to live with John Morris in western New York. He took the name of his foster father, MORRIS and stayed with the Morris family until about 1837.
During the years he spent with his foster parents, young Robert received his education, the exact nature of which has not been ascertained. However, the effect of this instruction is evident when his later life attainments and accomplishments are considered. He is re‑ported to have said that he was admitted to the Bar at the age of twenty‑one and in Volume IX of his Universal Masonic Library, dedicated to the Hon. James M. Howry, P.G.M., of Mississippi, he said that Brother Howry "Encouraged me to become a Masonic writer; an ornament to the Bar, the Church and the Masonic Institution."
The only fact that has come to light connecting Morris with the legal profession is the conferring upon him in 1860 of the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the Masonic University in Lodgeton, Kentucky. This was after his statement about being an "ornament to the Bar," however. He was familiar with Latin and knew some French.
ROB MORRIS 7
After leaving the Morris family, he traveled in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. On May 26, 1841 he married Charlotte Mendenhall, daughter of a Samuel Mendenhall, in Shelby County, Tennessee. Of her family we have no record. E. W. Richie of Montgomery, Alabama, one time neighbor of Dr. H. R. Coleman, closest friend of Rob Morris for many years, stated that Miss Mendenhall was "a daughter of one of the most prominent families in Mississippi."
The marriage resulted in nine children. The first, Robert S. born on June 13, 1842 and the last, a son born in 1859, did not mature. A girl, Ella Wilson, died on July 29, 1877, aged twenty years. The other six children, three girls and three boys, survived him, as did his wife. Mrs. Morris passed away on August 14, 1893.
On March 5, 1846 Rob Morris first saw Masonic light in Oxford Lodge No. 33, Oxford, Mississippi (now T. S. Gathright Lodge No. 33). The two remaining symbolic degrees were received on July 3 of the same year. Here he also received the "Ladies Degrees," which later became the basis of his work in formulating the Eastern Star degrees.
In 1845 Morris became the Principal (and was most of the faculty) of Mount Sylvan Academy, established by the Freemasons in Oxford, Mississippi, a town of less than five hundred inhabitants. In 1848 he moved to Black Hawk, Carroll County, in the same state, but in 1849 we find him moving again - to Jackson, also in Mississippi. It was in this year that he published his first Masonic poem, "The Triumphs of Innocence," and was
8 THE EASTERN STAR
awarded a prize by the editor of the "Masonic Signet," of St. Louis, Missouri. He had affiliated with Mount Moriah Lodge No. 86, in Black Hawk, on October 21, 1848, but demitted May 26, 1849 to affiliate with Pearl Lodge No. 23, in Jackson. He was secretary of this lodge in 1850, 18 51 and 1852.
In this year, 1849, he took his first active participation in Masonic affairs. It was also the year in which he wrote his first Masonic address to be delivered before the Grand Lodge of Mississippi. Not being called for, however, the address remained in his portfolio until 1859, when it was read before the National Masonic School of Instruction at its first General Session at Louisville, Kentucky. It may be found in the published Proceedings of that body. The title was "Masonry, the Harmonizer of the World."
The Grand Lodge of Mississippi did not overlook Brother Morris at the 1849 meeting, however. Reference to the Proceedings of that year elicits the information that the "Rev. Robert Morris" was made Grand Chaplain, and that he was reappointed the following year. The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons also made him Grand Chaplain in 1849. The title "Rev." is an error. Dr. Morris was never an ordained clergyman, although he did conduct church services and religious gatherings.
In 1851, Morris said, "I adopted the apparently quaint and odd cognomen of Rob as a prefix. The immediate cause of this was my determination not any longer to
ROB MORRIS 9
be confounded with Mr. Robert Morris, the author and poet, of Philadelphia."
In January, 1852, he moved his family to Fulton County, Kentucky, where he frequently visited Mills Point Lodge No. 120, at Hickman. In 1853 he moved to Louisville for a few months, where he busied himself preparing to publish a Masonic magazine, the first issue of which came out in May, 1853. It was the Kentucky Freemason. After eight issues its name was changed to The American Freemason. He continued his association with the magazine until July, 18 57. While engaged in these various activities Brother Morris published his first Masonic book, The Lights and Shadows of Freemasonry, 1852.
In November, 1853, Brother Morris moved to Lodgeton (Lodge), Kentucky, where he became deeply engaged in his Masonic and Eastern Star labors. He did a great deal of speaking during this period, and on one of his trips he met a Brother Elisha D. Cooke, whose name is often found linked with that of Morris during his work of lecturing on the "Conservator Ritual" movement.
Cooke was made a Mason in Richland, South Carolina. He visited Lodgeton in March, 1858, and was engaged by Morris as an assistant. The following year Morris sent him to Europe upon a Masonic investigation. Cooke left New York in May on the S/S "Ocean Queen." There he stayed until September, 1860, when he was recalled because of the Civil War. He was employed by Morris until October, 1862.
10 THE EASTERN STAR
After the establishment of residence in Kentucky, Brother Morris published a great number of Masonic books and periodicals, contributed to others, and also wrote many Masonic and other poems. He advanced in every branch of Freemasonry, becoming Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky on October 12, 1858. He at once moved to Louisville, where he continued to reside until after his term as Grand Master was completed. Some words of his own best describe his movements during the next period of his life:
"In April, 1860, I removed my family to La Grange, Kentucky and accepted the chair of Ancient and Modern History in the Masonic University. At the annual commencement, June, 1860, I was honored by the same with the collegiate degree of Doctor of Laws. My labors as professor were con‑fined mainly to one weekly] lecture, which I continued until the decadence of the University, in the latter part of the succeeding year.
"On the 24th of June 1862, I, who received my own degree from the University in 1860, was elected President of the College and accepted the appointment with a view to keeping the institution alive and holding the faculty together. I accepted it for one year with a positive refusal to devote any portion of my time to lecturing.
"In July, 1862, I accepted very unwillingly the position of Provost Marshal of Oldham County, Kentucky, which caused me infinite trouble and expense. In August a commission as Colonel was tendered me by the Governor, I accepted it with a view of preserving the county in which I lived and the adjourning district from inroads of guerilla, and held the commission until the entire State Guard was mustered out of service about the first of November."
ROB MORRIS 11
According to a "card" he printed, he was "Commander of the Horse Guards." There is also a printed notice, dated Louisville, October 10, 1862, announcing the fact that he had moved to Louisville as the rebels had entered La Grange. His stay this time was very short for his fears were found unwarranted and he soon returned to his home.
In La Grange Brother Morris lived in a place which he named "The Three Cedars." It was destroyed by fire on November 8, 1861, the conflagration costing him the loss of his Masonic jewels, diplomas and certificates. Numerous books, papers and manuscripts were also lost.
In 1868, after being subsidized by Freemasons interested in his project, Brother Morris sailed on the S/S "France" on February 21, 1868 to visit the Holy Land where he made researches into the traditions and legends of Biblical and Masonic lore. During his stay in Palestine he became acquainted with Mohammed Ras
