The Builder Magazine
August 1924 - Volume X - Number 8
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FRONTISPIECE - SUMMONS OF A LODGE AT HALIFAX
THE EARLY HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY IN EASTERN CANADA
By Bro. Reginald V. Harris, Nova Scotia
FREEMASONRY IN ONTARIO By Bros. James B. Nixon and N. W. J. Haydon, Associate Editor, Ontario
THE GRAND LODGE, OF ALBERTA By Bro. Osborne Sheppard, Ontario
FREEMASONRY IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND By Bro. George W. Wakefield, P. M., Prince Edward Island
CABLE-TOWS - A Poem By Bro. H. Darling, P.G.M., Alberta
FREEMASONRY IN THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC By Bro. Osborne Sheppard, Ontario
TO ST. MICHAEL'S CATHEDRAL - A Poem By N.W.J.H.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GRAND LODGE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Reprinted from "The Square," Vancouver
FREEMASONRY IN THE PROVINCE OF MANITOBA By Bro. James A. Ovas, P. G. M., Grand Secretary, Manitoba
A MASONIC PRAYER By Bro. Paul R. Clark, New York
THE LIBRARY - John Ross Robertson - Philanthropist and Freemason By Bro. W. Harvey McNairn, Canada
EDITORIAL - To Our Brethren of Canada
THE QUESTION BOX AND CORRESPONDENCE - Sponsorships of
De Molay Chapters
Freemasonry in the Hawaiian Islands
Information About Leggett's "History of Masonry”
Conferring Degrees by Courtesy
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All Articles in this Magazine Copyright 1924 by the National Masonic Research Society.
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THE BUILDER, AUGUST 1924
The Early History of Freemasonry in Eastern Canada
By Bro. REGINALD V. HARRIS, Grand Historian, Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia; Grand Archivist, Grand Chapter, R. A. M.; Nova Scotia
It is fitting that a general account of Freemasonry in Canada begin with the story of Freemasonry in Nova Scotia, where the Craft gained its first foothold. Bro. Harris' essay contains a considerable amount of information never before made public.
It is unnecessary here to outline the early history of what is now the great Dominion of Canada. The reader is doubtless familiar with the chief facts: the voyages and discoveries of the Cabots (1497), Jacques Cartier (1534-41), Champlain (1603-35), and other explorers and colonizers; the founding of the first settlements at Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) in Nova Scotia (1604), and Quebec (1608); the period of the French regime, which ended in Nova Scotia in 1710, and in the rest of Canada in 1759-60; the various sieges of the great French strongholds of Louisburg (1745 and 1758) and Quebec (1759); the gradual organization of the country into British colonies and provinces; the period of the American Revolution and the War of 1812-15; the confederation of four of the provinces in 1867 as the Dominion of Canada; and the subsequent economic and political development of the country to the present status of nationhood. The story is an intensely interesting one, as all readers of Parkman and other historians can testify. Our present duty is to confine ourselves to the story of the Masonic Craft up to the beginning of last century.
THE MASONIC STONE OF 1606
What some Masonic students and historians regard as the earliest trace of the existence of Freemasons or Freemasonry on this Continent so far as we are now aware, is afforded by the inscriptions on a stone found in 1827 on the shores of Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia. On the upper part of this stone were engraved the square and compasses of the Freemason and immediately below it the date 1606.
It is not possible here to go fully into the circumstances of the discovery of this stone, nor the subsequent loss of the stone on its being sent to Toronto. The stone was found on the site of the original settlement of the French at Port Royal and while some historians of the Craft have hailed these facts in support of the theory that Freemasonry existed among the French, recent exhaustive investigation of the original records of this settlement has led the writer to the conclusion (with some regret, it must be admitted) that the stone was the gravestone of an operative stonemason or carpenter who died in November, 1606, and not that of a speculative Freemason.
SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER
The French settlement at Port Royal passed into other hands and in 1628 a Scotch colony was settled there under the leadership of Sir William Alexander, to whom the whole country under the title of Nova Scotia, or New Scotland had been granted in 1621 by King James of Scotland. His son, Sir William, was in the colony for four years, 1628-32, during which period his father was created Viscount Stirling, and later, Earl Stirling and Viscount Canada. The son thereupon assumed the courtesy title of Lord Alexander. The latter, on his return to Scotland, is recorded as present at a meeting of the Lodge of Edinburgh on "The 3rd of July 1634" when he was "admitet felowe off the Craft". As no previous record of Lord Alexander's Masonic career has been found it has been accordingly suggested (and it is of course not impossible) that he may have been initiated by some of the brethren whom he found in the Scotch settlement in Nova Scotia, being afterwards admitted a Fellowcraft at Edinburgh.
SUBSEQUENT HISTORY, 1632 TO 1710
Nova Scotia, after nearly a century of conflict between the French and English finally passed to the latter on the fall of Annapolis Royal in 1710. This was a half century before the rest of the country passed to the same Power as a result of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, 1759. In this half century, Halifax was founded (1749) by the Honourable Edward Cornwallis and the fortress of Louisburg underwent two sieges, 1745 and 1758. It was during this half century that Freemasonry was planted on Canadian soil.
THE ADVENT OF SPECULATIVE FREEMASONRY
The reader is here reminded that the organization of the Craft under a Grand Master and Grand Lodge in England was brought about in 1717, nearly twenty years before the similar event in Scotland, 1736. The first authority for the assembling of Freemasons in America was issued by the Grand Lodge of England in June, 1730, to Daniel Coxe of New Jersey, as Provincial Grand Master of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; and three years later (1733) Henry Price of Boston was appointed Provincial Grand Master of New England and "the dominions and territories thereunto belonging." In the following year his jurisdiction was extended to all North America. Price established a Provincial Grand Lodge and "The First Lodge" (now St. John's Lodge) in Boston in 1733. [See Note No. 1.] Henry Price and St. John's Lodge, Boston, must be regarded as the original source of Freemasonry in Canada.
ROBERT COMINS
The next date in Canadian Masonic history is 1737, when we find it recorded in the register book of the Grand Lodge of England that Captain Robert Comins, or Cumins, was appointed Provincial Grand Master for Cape Briton and Louisburg. The entry is repeated under the date 1738, with the addition "excepting such places where a Provincial Grand Master is already deputed." The island of Cape Breton and the great fortress of Louisburg were, at this time, in the hands of the French, but there was a very considerable trade between that port and Boston, and other New England ports. In 1745 the fortress fell to the New England forces under Governor Shirley, Commodore Warren and General Pepperell of Massachusetts; and in the following year we find Capt. Robert Comins again mentioned in the register of the Grand Lodge of England as Provincial Grand Master for Cape Breton and Louisburg. In the same year we find him affiliating with St. John's Lodge, Boston (Jan. 14, 1746). Many of the members of the Louisburg expedition and forces of occupation were members of the Craft, but we have yet to find a reference to Masonic work at Louisburg during the period 1737 to 1748, when the fortress was handed back to France by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle.
THE FIRST CANADIAN LODGE
During the same period, however, Masonry became active at Annapolis Royal. In 1717 a Regiment of Foot, known originally as Phillips Regiment, but later as the 40th Regiment, had been organized at Annapolis Royal with Governor Richard Phillips as its Colonel. His nephew, Erasmus James Phillips, entered this regiment as a young man and eventually rose to the rank of Major. In 1737 Phillips and other officers in the 40th were appointed commissioners to determine the boundaries between Massachusetts Bay and Rhode Island. In November, 1737, he and a brother officer of the 40th while in Boston on this business were made Masons in St. John's Lodge, Boston, and on their return to Annapolis Royal in 1738 established a lodge there of which Phillips was the first Worshipful Master and which, as far as our present information goes, was the first lodge on Canadian soil. How long this lodge continued is difficult to determine. The records of St. John's Grand Lodge, Boston, refer to it as late as 1767.
In the Boston Gazette of March 13, 1738, we find a note of the appointment by Henry Price of Major Phillips [See Note No. 2] as Provincial Grand Master of Nova Scotia; and on the occasion of his next visit to Boston in April, 1739, he appears as such in the minutes of St. John's Lodge.
THE "FIGHTING FORTIETH"
The Annapolis lodge undoubtedly initiated a large number of the garrison and in 1755 we find the brethren of the 40th Regiment applying to the Grand Lodge of England (Ancients) for a warrant (No. 42). One theory which has much to support it is that the Annapolis Royal Lodge of 1738 was never a civilian lodge but was attached to the 40th Regiment and that the application of 1755 to the Grand Lodge of England (Ancients) was merely a transfer of allegiance.
The Regiment took part in the second siege of Louisberg in 1758, and after the fall of that fortress wintered there, proceeding in the spring to the siege of Quebec by Wolfe, 1759, and later in 1760 to Montreal. The Regiment, now known as the South Lancashire Regiment, has seen gallant service in every part of the world. Its lodge probably became dormant before 1810, as in that year we find the brethren (engaged at that time in the Peninsular War in Spain) applying for an Irish Warrant No. 204; and again while in Ireland in 1821, for a second Warrant No. 284, which surrendered in 1858.
THE FIRST LODGE, HALIFAX
In 1749, the British Government resolved upon the establishment of a British settlement in Nova Scotia and several thousand families were transferred thither under the leadership of Hon. Edward Cornwallis, and the present City of Halifax laid out. Cornwallis had already been the founder of a Masonic lodge in the 20th Foot, afterwards known as "Minden Lodge," after the battle in which the regiment played a conspicuous part. In 1750 we find him and a number of brethren applying to the St. John's Grand Lodge at Boston for a "deputation"; they were referred to Erasmus James Phillips, and to him they presented their petition. The lodge was organized July 19, 1750, when "Lord Colville and a number of Navy Gentlemen were entered apprentices of the Lodge." Lord Colville received his other degrees in St. John's Lodge, Boston, and was closely identified with Boston Masonry for several years, becoming Deputy Grand Master. Cornwallis, the first Master of the First Lodge, Halifax, was succeeded by Governor Charles Lawrence, who presided until his death in 1760. The lodge appears on the Massachusetts register until April, 1767, when it transferred to the English Register (Ancients) as No. 155. This lodge has met without a single month of dormancy since 1750 and is today known as St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 1, Nova Scotia, "the oldest lodge in the British Empire Overseas"; and bears on its long membership roll the names of many notable Canadians, including seven Grand Masters.
In March, 1751, a second lodge was formed, but it was probably short lived for we find no record of it in the Proceedings of either the Grand Lodge of England or the St John's Grand Lodge of Boston.
A PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE
In 1757 the brethren of Halifax, all of them undoubtedly owing allegiance to "Modern" principles, petitioned and received from the "Ancient" Grand Lodge in England a Provincial Grand Lodge warrant, and charters Nos. 66 and 67 for two subordinate lodges. This Provincial Grand Lodge warrant of 1757 was the first ever issued by the "Ancients," that for Pennsylvania not being issued until the following year. This Provincial Grand Lodge functioned until 1776; the First Lodge founded by Cornwallis appears on its register as No. 4 Nova Scotia; and two other lodges, Nos. 5 (before 1768), and 6 (in 1769), were established and worked under its jurisdiction for a number of years. In 1768 Lodges Nos. 4 and 5 were registered on the English Register (Ancients) as Nos. 155 (already referred to) and 156.
LOUISBURG, 1758
In 1758 the English government resolved on the reduction of Louisburg in Cape Breton. A large fleet of transports was assembled at Halifax, conveying military forces under Major General Amherst and Brig. General James Wolfe.
The siege lasted from June 2 to July 26, when the French forces surrendered and the stronghold passed forever into the possession of the British. The regiments engaged in this memorable siege were the 1st, 16th, 17th, 22nd, 28th, 35th, 40th, 45th, 47th, 48th and 58th Foot, two battalions of the 60th (Royal Americans), and the 78th Fraser's Highlanders. All but four of these regiments are known to have had lodges attached to them at the time of the siege, and all of them within a short time afterwards.
The historian Capt. John Knox, in his Journal of the Wars in America, says of this siege that "the time passes very wearily; when the calendar does not furnish us with a loyal excuse for assembling in the evening, we have recourse to a Freemason's Lodge, where we work so hard that it is inconceivable to think what a quantity of business of great importance is transacted in a very short space of time."
In passing it should be noted that the lodge (No. 11) in the 1st Regiment of Foot was the first military lodge ever established, remaining in existence until 1847. Lodge No. 74 in the 2nd Battalion of this regiment, also at Louisburg, wintered at Albany, New York, and while there "granted a deputation" to form a lodge which is now No. 3 on the New York Registry.
The lodge in the 22nd Regiment, while working at Louisburg, worked under an Irish warrant which was "lost the following year in the Mississippi." In 1760 the regiment was at Crown Point, New York. Shortly afterward the brethren applied for a Scottish warrant, under the title of "Moriah", No. 132. In 1781 the 22nd was at New York and united with five others in forming the Grand Lodge of New York.
The warrant for the lodge in the 28th Regiment was granted Nov. 13, 1758, by Col. Richard Gridley, J.G.W. of the St. John's Grand Lodge, Boston, and a member of the Expeditionary Forces. In the following year the regiment and its lodge were at Quebec.
OTHER REGIMENTAL LODGES
In the course of a long history as a garrison city Halifax has been visited by nearly every regiment of the British Army. In the period of 1749 to 1800 lodges flourished in practically all of the many regiments which visited the city. The period of the American Revolution, 1775 to 1785, was a particularly active one, Masonically, in Halifax. Many of the lodges worked under Irish warrants.
The lodge in the 46th Foot, No. 227 (Irish), established 1752, and known as the "Lodge of Social and Military Virtues," was in Halifax in 1757-8; and it is on record that while there it was "very active, doing good and effective work while associated with the brethren throughout the Province." From this lodge "The Lodge of Antiquity," No. 1, Montreal, proudly claims its descent.
Lodge No. 58 in the 14th Foot was in Halifax from 1766-68, proceeding then to Boston, where it participated in Grand Lodge meetings, leaving thence in 1773 for the West Indies.
Lodge No. 322 in the 29th Foot was also in Halifax from 1765-68, proceeding then to Boston, where the regiment took part in the unfortunate affairs known as the "Boston Massacre." Notwithstanding the intense excitement prevailing, the members of the lodge seem to have fraternized with the Boston brethren and actually assisted them in organizing a Provincial Grand Lodge under Scottish authority.
Lodge No. 136 in the 17th Regiment was at Annapolis Royal from 1756-58, when it proceeded to Louisburg, and later to the capture of Quebec (1759), and Montreal (1760). On returning to England the lodge took a new warrant No. 169 under the title of "Unity," the former having been lost through "the Hazardous Enterprises in which they had been engaged." This warrant fell into the hands of the American army at the battle of Princeton in 1777, and the brethren then applied for and obtained one, No. 18, from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and actually continued on that roll throughout the remainder of the War. In 1779 this warrant was also captured by General Parsons, at Stony Point, but was returned by him under a flag of truce, accompanied by a fraternal letter. The regiment served in the War until peace in 1783, when it removed to Shelburne, N.S. (then a garrison town), where it remained until 1786. There are in the archives of Nova Scotia a number of letters between the brethren and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania of the most friendly and fraternal kind.
HIGHER DEGREES Many of these military lodges, particularly those possessing Irish warrants, conferred many of the higher degrees, the variety of them being limited only by their knowledge of the ceremonies. The chief of these were the Royal Arch and the Knight Templar. The earliest record of the former in Halifax is 1760, one of the earliest on the continent, but there is good ground for believing that the degree was conferred as early as 1757 and probably earlier. The 14th, 29th and 64th Regiments with their lodges which organized St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter in Boston in 1769 and conferred the Royal Arch and Knight Templar degrees there in that year (hitherto regarded as the earliest record of the degree anywhere in the world), were in Halifax during the period 1765-8 and conferred the "Excellent, Super-Excellent, Royal Arch and Knight Templar" degrees on Canadian soil.
The candidates on whom these degrees were conferred continued the work and there are in existence the minutes and records of meetings of the Royal Arch from 1780 to the present date (now known as Royal Union Chapter, No. 1) and of a Knight Templar Encampment from September, 1782, to 1806, revived in 1839 and still working, now known as Nova Scotia Preceptory, probably the oldest Preceptory outside the British Isles, out-rivalled, if at all, only by the Baldwyn Encampment of Bristol, England, the earliest reference to which is dated Jan. 25, 1772.
Halifax also possesses the earliest records of the Mark Degree on this continent, dating back to 1780.
HALIFAX, 1770-85
Early in this period the Provincial Grand Lodge of 1757 became dormant, leaving St. Andrew's Lodge, then No. 155 (Ancients), and a "Modern" Lodge (which had succeeded No. 2 on the Provincial Registry) as the only lodges in the Province. The latter died out about 1781, owing largely to the aggressiveness of the rival lodge which took the place of a Grand Lodge and established St. John's Lodge in 1780 (now No. 2, R.N.S.), Union Lodge in 1781 (since extinct), and Virgin Lodge, 1782 (now No. 3, R.N.S.), at Halifax, as well as lodges in Prince Edward Island (1781), and New Brunswick (1783). These lodges united in petitioning the Grand Lodge of England (Ancients) for the removal of the Provincial Grand Lodge Warrant of 1757, a request which was acceded to in 1784, when a warrant was granted with very wide powers of self-government.
This Provincial Grand Lodge exerted a tremendous influence on the growth of the Craft in the period 1785 to 1815, not only chartering lodges throughout the three Maritime Provinces, but also granting warrants for a very considerable number of regimental lodges, including the 52nd (Oxfordshire Light Infantry), the Royal N. S. Regiment, and two in the Royal Artillery namely, Virgin, No. 3, and Royal Standard, No. 398 (Eng. Reg.), 142 and 108 years old respectively.
CROWN POINT, 1756-9
Turning now to the westward of the Maritime Provinces we find deputations issued by Provincial Grand Master Jeremy Gridley (Boston) to his brother Richard Gridley in 1756, to Abraham Savage in 1758, and to Col. Ingersoll in 1759 "to congregate all Free and Accepted Masons" in the expedition directed against the French in Canada, which proceeded by way of Lake George and Lake Champlain. These deputations were all acted upon and lodges established which, however, under the circumstances were temporary. "Lake George Lodge," and "Crown Point Lodge," both referred to in the Minutes of St. John's Grand Lodge, Boston, were held at places then forming part of French Canada, but now forming part of the state of New York.
QUEBEC, 1759
Most of the regiments participating in the siege of Louisburg and the operations around Crown Point moved on the siege of Quebec in 1759. Here we find the 15th, 28th, 35th, 40th, 47th and 48th Regiments all with their lodges, and after the fall of the city the brethren duly celebrated the Festival of St. John the Evangelist, Dec. 27, 1759. Captain Knox, in his Campaigns in North America, has noted this celebration by "the several lodges of Freemasons in the Garrison". Among the notable brethren present on this occasion were Bro. the Hon. Simon Fraser, Colonel of the gallant 78th Highlanders (who was installed by the famous Thomas Dunckerley, then a gunner on H. M. S. Vanguard), Bro. John Young of the 60th Regiment of Foot or "Royal Americans" (Scottish Provincial Grand Master for North America), and Bro. Huntingford, Colonel of the 28th Regiment and Worshipful Master of the "Louisburgh" Lodge. Lieutenant Gunnett of the 47th Regiment was elected Provincial Grand Master under the Grand Lodge (Moderns) of England.
THE VANGUARD AND DUNCKERLEY
The Vanguard left for England shortly after the capitulation, returning in May, 1760, Dunckerley bringing with him the warrant No. 254 (Moderns) of Naval Lodge, dated Jan. 16, 1760, the first sea lodge ever warranted. He also brought with him an "authorization" from the Grand Lodge (Moderns) to regulate Masonic affairs in Quebec. The second sea lodge warranted was that on board The Prince, No. 279, E. R. (Moderns), and the third on board The Canceaux, at Quebec, warranted by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Quebec, 1768, No. 5, Quebec, No. 224, E. R. (Moderns).
THE PERIOD 1760-90
Among the 10,000 British troops and 7,000 American Colonial troops which invested Montreal in 1760 there were five lodges on the Irish Registry, one on the Scottish, one on the English (Ancients) roll, and two on the St. John's Provincial Grand Lodge Registry at Boston. The British regiments participating in the siege were the 1st, 17th, 27th, 40th, 42nd, 46th and 55th. Several of the lodges in these regiments continued in the Province after the removal of the regiments.
In the next thirty-one years numerous regimental and civilian lodges were chartered in Quebec, Montreal, and various other centres, most of them owing allegiance to the Grand Lodge of England (Moderns). Zion Lodge in the 60th Foot is now No. 1, Detroit, Michigan; Merchants Lodge, Quebec, warranted in 1759, and lapsing about 1790, was the lodge in which John Hancock, the first to sign the American Declaration of Independence, was made a Mason; Dorchester Lodge, Vergennes, Vermont, chartered in 1791, owes its origin to the Quebec Provincial Grand Lodge; which also chartered two lodges on the Niagara peninsula, another at Cataraqui (now Kingston, Ont.), another at Fredericton, in New Brunswick, three at Detroit, and another at Michilimackinac, Michigan, and still others at Ogdensburg and other points in New York State. Among the Provincial Grand Masters of this period were Col. Christopher Carleton, nephew of Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester), 1786, and Sir John Johnson (Provincial Grand Master in 1771-81 of New York), 1788.
In 1791 H.R.H. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, arrived in Quebec and in 1792 a patent was issued to him appointing him as Provincial Grand Master of Lower Canada for the "Ancients," the installation taking place with great eclat, including a religious service and procession to the Recollet (Roman Catholic) Church. The old regime of "Modern" Masonry speedily disappeared and thenceforth "Ancient" principles prevailed. Among the old lodges on the roll of Quebec are "The Lodge of Antiquity," No. 1, already referred to, which held its first meeting in Montreal in 1846; Albion, No. 2, Quebec, originally attached to the Fourth Battalion of the Royal Artillery as No. 213, which took part in the formation of the Grand Lodge of New York in 1782, the successor of a former Lodge No. 9 in that corps, organized in 1752; and Golden Rule, No. 5, Stanstead, 1803, which since 1857 has held a meeting once in every year on the top of "Owl's Head" mountain, 2400 feet high, on the shores of Lake Memphramagog.
HIGHER DEGREES, 1759-84
During this early period the Mark, Past and Royal Arch Degrees were conferred in Quebec under Irish, Scottish and "Ancient" military Craft warrants. A chapter of Royal Arch Masons met regularly at Quebec from 1760 to 1778, according to a letter recently discovered by the writer in the Grand Lodge archives at Halifax, and there is abundant evidence of the later existence of such a body. In the minutes of Albion Lodge, Quebec, 1791, and subsequently there are noted as visitors not only M. M. and R. A. Masons, but Knights Templar as well, and it is not unlikely that further research will discover and bring to light other evidence of the conferring of the Knight Templar Orders at an even earlier period.
Two most interesting facts in this connection are, first, the correspondence between the Duke of Kent and Thos. Dunckerley already referred to; and secondly, a statement made by the learned Dr. H. Beaumont Leeson in an address at Portsmouth, England, in 1862, "That the Baldwyn Encampment at Briston was founded by French Masons, who had brought it from Canada towards the close of the last century, a fact of which he was certain, as the original books were in his possession." (A.Q.C. XVII, p. 89.) With the early history of Freemasonry in Upper Canada, now Ontario dating from about 1773 and the more recent development of the Craft in British Columbia, and the other western Canadian jurisdictions, it is not the province of the writer to deal. We leave this task to other brethren, content to confine ourselves to the older portions of the Dominion.
Before concluding it should be stated that the various Grand Lodges of the Dominion, however, do not all exercise exclusive jurisdiction within their territory. In Nova Scotia, Royal Standard Lodge, No. 398, Halifax, organized in the Royal Artillery in 1815, is still under the jurisdiction of England; and St. Paul's Lodge, No. 374 (1770), and St. George's Lodge, No. 440 (1829), in Montreal are also under the same jurisdiction. In Newfoundland, though not politically a part of Canada, we find lodges under the jurisdiction of England and Scotland, the oldest of which dates back to 1850. The pioneer warrant in Newfoundland was issued in 1746 by the St. John's Grand Lodge, Boston, but the lodge was short-lived.
What we have written has necessarily been the merest outline. Many of the lodges mentioned might very well be the subject of an article as long as the present. Our purpose has been rather to remind the reader of the outstanding dates in the Masonic history of Canada:
1. The first lodge on Canadian soil was established at Annapolis Royal, N.S., 1738.
2.The first Provincial Grand Masters for any part of Canada more Capt Robert Comins in 1737; and Major Erasmus J. Phillips of Annapolis Royal, N. S., 1738.
3. The first military lodge chartered by the "Ancients" of England was that in the 40th Regiment of Foot, No. 42, while quartered at Annapolis Royal, in 1755.
4. The oldest Craft lodge in the British Dominions overseas is St. Andrew's, No. 1, R.N.S., Halifax, established in 1750.
5. The first Provincial Grand Lodge established by the "Ancients" in any part of the world was that warranted for Nova Scotia in 1757.
6. The first Royal Arch Degrees conferred in Canada were at Halifax and Quebec in 1760, the oldest Royal Arch chapter being Royal Union Chapter, No. 1. Halifax, dating back to 1780.
7. The first Knight Templar degrees conferred in Canada were in Halifax in 1766, by Lodge 322 in the 29th Regiment, the first record anywhere in the world outside the British Isles; the oldest Knight Templar Preceptory being Nova Scotia, No. 5, dating back previously to 1782.
8. The oldest Mark Lodge records on this continent are those at Halifax, dating back to 1781.
9. The oldest lodge in the overseas Dominions, chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, is Keith Lodge, No. 17, Halifax, chartered in 1827.
Each of these dates is noteworthy and with the exception of the last, takes us back to a period in the nation's history when the greater part of the country was wilderness, when settlements were few and far between, when the people were occupied either in conquering their enemies or in struggling to make their homes. The American colonies and states had gone through the same stages of existence fifty to a hundred years before and were settled down to peaceful pursuits when Freemasonry was introduced about 1730. That the Craft in Canada in the face of such difficulties ever survived and succeeded in establishing itself, and developing into the well-organized Grand Lodges, Chapters and other Grand Bodies of today, is most remarkable and significant.
The Craft in Canada has splendid traditions throughout the whole period of nearly two hundred years; if this sketch has interested but one brother in the story of its early days we shall feel well repaid.
Note No. 1 Henry Price, acting on a deputation from the first Grand Lodge of England (afterwards called "Moderns") organized "St. John's Grand Lodge" at Boston July 30, 1733. On December 27, 1769, St. Andrew's Lodge, on a warrant from Scotland, with the cooperation of three military lodges in the British Army, organized the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, with Dr. Joseph Warren as Grand Master. After several years of rivalry these two bodies united, in 1792, as the "Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
Note No. 2 For the sketch of Erasmus James Phillips and record of his appointment, see The Beginnings of Freemasonry in America, Melvin Johnson, p. 195 ff.
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Freemasonry in Ontario
By Bro. JAMES B. NIXON, President Toronto Society for Masonic Research, and Bro. N.W.J. Haydon, Associate Editor THE BUILDER, Ontario FROM THE BUILDER AUGUST 1924
(Most of the details up to 1856 here given were drawn from "Freemasonry in Canada," by, the late Bro. John Ross Robertson.)
Canadian Freemasonry was first founded in Nova Scotia about 1737, the channel of authority being R.W.Bro. Erasmus J. Phillips, Provincial Grand Master, a member of St. John's Grand Lodge of Boston Mass. The paper, The Early History of Freemasonry in Eastern Canada from R. W. Bro.R. V. Harris, K. C., of Halifax, N. S., covers this section.
In 1784 New Brunswick became a separate province and the only lodge warranted between that date and 1829 met at Fredericton, the capital town, its charter dating from 1789.
The first lodge in Prince Edward Island, then known as St. John's Island, was St. John's, No. 1, of Charlottetown, warranted in 1797. This Province is covered by the paper, Freemasonry in Prince Edward Island from W. Bro. G. W. Wakeford, a Past Master of that lodge.
Quebec City first saw Masonic light when the "Field Lodges" of the British regiments stationed there met in the citadel a few weeks after they had won that territory and celebrated the festival of St. John the Evangelist in December, 1759. The first lodge warranted to work there was St. Andrew's, which dates from October, 1760. This part of Canada from Quebec to the Ottawa River was then known as Lower Canada. The first lodge for this Province was the "New Oswegatchie," warranted in 1730 as No. 7 of the Grand Lodge of New York, and the name is said to be all adaptation of the Huron word for "Black Water." It appears to have worked at Ogdensburg, N.Y., from 1783 to 1787, when it was transferred to the north of the St. Lawrence River to Elizabethtown, near Brockville, when it became No. 520, E. R.
The minute book of this lodge was lost for nearly one hundred years, being found in 1889, and it was recorded that Bro. Ziba Phillips, who built the house in Oswego, N. Y., affiliated in 1788. His son, Ziba Marcus, received Masonic honours in 1822 for his services both professional and Masonic.
PROVINCE OF UPPER CANADA WAS PROCLAIMED
In 1791 the Province of Upper Canada, now Ontario, was proclaimed, and in June, 1792, the first stationary lodge was born by issue of a warrant from the Grand Lodge (Modern) of England, to Lodge Rawdon, No. 498, E. R., to meet "between the three lakes (Ontario, Simcoe and Huron) in Upper Canada." This lodge was named after Francis, Lord Rawdon, Earl of Moira, who was acting Grand Master of that Grand Lodge in England. From 1790 to 1813 he had seen service in New England and won distinction at the battle of Camden in 1780.
The place of meeting was York, now Toronto, and in 1797 it became No. 13 of the first Provincial Grand Lodge of Upper Canada. The first Provincial Grand Master was R.W.Bro. Wm. Jarvis, Secretary to Bro. Hon. J.G.Simcoe, first governor of this Province, and his contemporary for Lower Canada, who had been appointed by the (Ancient) Grand Lodge of England, was H.R.H. Prince Edward, the father of Queen Victoria.
This year also saw a warrant issued by the (Ancient) Provincial Grand Lodge of Quebec for Lodge No. 5 at Edwardsburg in Upper Canada. During his term of office R.W.Bro. Jarvis erected a Provincial Grand Lodge for Upper Canada at Niagara and between 1792 and 1800 all the lodges in this Province came under his authority.
It is interesting to note here that what is now the State of Michigan was included in the territory of the provincial Grand Lodge of Lower Canada, Zion Lodge of Detroit being warranted as No. 110 in 1794, and working under it until 1807. The Provincial Grand Lodge of New York issued a warrant in 1764 to "Lodge No. 1 at Detroit in Canada," which was registered in England in 1773, but became dormant about 1790. There was also a St. John's Lodge, No. 465, E.R., warranted for Michilimackinac, now Mackinaw, in 1781. It was here that Pontiac captured the fort from the British while playing lacrosse with his braves.
But before stationary lodges were established in Ontario, the ground had been prepared by "travelling warrants" which accompanied several of the regiments that saw service in that Province. The earliest record we have of Masonry in Upper Canada is the certificate issued to Bro. Joseph Clements by Lodge No. 156, F. and A. M., E. R., held in the King's Eighth Regiment of Foot, stationed at Fort Niagara. This regiment held the first military warrant issued, in 1775, by the original Grand Lodge of England and became, later, No. 5, of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Quebec. The lodge room was in the stone building erected by the French in 1760, now at the extreme point of land on the east bank of the Niagara River, in United States territory. We learn from the diary of Mrs. Simcoe, wife of the first governor of the Province, that the erection of this building gave the present name to the river "Niagara," being the Indian word for "Great House," and that the lodge room was used for divine service, as there was no church built then (1792). Fort George, on the opposite (British) side of the river, was the location of another military lodge, No. 3, attached to the Queen's Rangers, and warranted by R.W.Bro. Jarvis. It is also of record that the first celebration of the festival of St. John the Evangelist ever held west of Montreal was carried on by the brethren of the Eighth Regiment in 1775.
Four miles south of Niagara, on the west bank of the river, is the township of Newark, now Queenstown, where Lodge No. 2 worked in the home of Bro. Joseph Brown, from 1782, but it is not known whence its warrant was obtained. About 1787 its name was changed to "St. John's Lodge of Friendship, No. 2, Ancient York Masons," but no later record than 1810 is known of its history.
Cataraqui, now Kingston, is the next link in our chain, this place being surveyed in 1784 by R.W.Bro. Hon. John Collins, Provincial Grand Master of Quebec. But in 1781 a warrant for Lodge No. 14 had been issued by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Quebec and in 1787 R.W.Bro. Collins founded the St. James Lodge in the King's Rangers, then stationed there. In August, 1794, Lodge No. 6 of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Upper Canada was constituted in "Bro. James Darley's 'Freemasons' Tavern'." The first township of Kings Town was allotted to the Loyalist refugees from New York, the second and third being distributed among the Second Battalion of the Eighty-fourth Regiment, or the King's New York Royal Rangers, and from these soldiers came the earliest settlers of the Bay of Quinte and Edwardsburgh districts, and the pioneers of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry townships, who took their Masonic associations with them. The town of Cornwall, where Lodge Union, No. 521, E.R., worked in 1793, was famous as an educational centre during the early days of the nineteenth century, many of the pupils of Rev. Dr. Strachan becoming prominent in our provincial history; one of them, Thomas Gibbs Ridout, was our Provincial Grand Master in 1845 under Sir Allan MacNab.
TORONTO WAS CHIEF CENTRE OF CANADIAN MASONRY
Coming back to Toronto, the chief centre of Symbolical and Capitular Masonry, both in Ontario and Canada generally, though the Scottish Rite has its headquarters in Hamilton, we find a great store of detailed records going back to the earliest times. The name "Toronto" is of Indian origin, though theories disagree as to precisely how it was first applied. We do know that the French fur traders had a fort here in 1749, which they named Rouille, but popular usage named it Toronto, because the riverway thence to Lake Simcoe was so known and shown on a map dated 1720. The official name of the settlement and later of the town continued to be York until it was incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834. In August, 1793, the Queen's Rangers removed from Niagara to York, because of the outbreak of the war between England and France, and built a fort of oak logs, part of which is still in use. Here they set up their warrant again, using a room which, ordinarily, served as a reading room for the regiment.
Rawdon Lodge worked here from 1793 to 1800, but the records previous to 1797 are missing; the temper of the brethren is seen from the fact that on their first festival of St. John the Baptist, in June of that year, they expelled a brother apparently for drunkenness. It is also recorded that for the purposes of this festival the brethren met at 11 A.M. and "went to their respective homes at 7 P.M." At that time, too, it was customary, to meet semi-monthly and to elect their officers half-yearly. The same year the lodge subscribed "a donation of at least half a joanna towards supporting the honour and dignity of the Grand Lodge of Montreal." A "joanna" was a Portuguese gold coin worth eight dollars, popularly known as a "Joe." Brethren familiar with "The Ingoldsby Legends" will recall that in the treasure described in "The Hand of Glory" there were "broad Double-Joes from beyond the seas."
The progress of the Craft in this Province was not unhampered by trouble. The Provincial Grand Lodge of Upper Canada, headed by R.W.Bro. Jarvis, continued until his death in 1817, during which period he had warranted twenty-six lodges, but in 1802 a rival Grand Lodge was formed at Niagara by brethren who held that the Provincial Grand Master had no power to change the seat of his Grand East without authority from England and also objected to the removal of the Grand Warrant from their prosperous town to a mere settlement. It also appears from an examination of the original warrant, which was found in 1890, and from letters of complaint, still in existence, that R.W.Bro. Jarvis had both exceeded his powers and neglected his duties, possibly due to pressure from his responsibilities as Provincial Secretary, so as to cause dissension among those active in the Masonic interests of his time. He was authorized only to grant dispensations to be valid for one year from date. These where to be reported to the Grand Lodge in England, which would issue charters and register them in due order. But while twenty-six warrants were issued, it does not appear that a single one was ever reported.
It is interesting to Canadians generally to note from the correspondence preceding this schism that slavery was permitted in Upper Canada until 1800. While no slaves might be brought into the country later than 1792, those then here remained in that condition and could be sold or hired.
In December, 1802, the Niagara Grand Lodge proclaimed itself, with R.W.Bro. George Forsyth as Provincial Grand Master, R.W.Bro. Chris. Danby as Deputy, and Bro. Sylvester Tiffany as Grand Secretary, and these officers were installed in 1803, with like lodges on their roll. In June, next, their first warrant was issued to locate near the present town of Ingersol, and this, with three more, were all they issued up to 1810. There are no records extant for 1811, and no meetings were held during the War of 1812, but the original minutes from 1816 to 1822, found in 1899, show that four more warrants were issued prior to dissolution.
In 1806 the first warrant was issued for a chapter to work at Kingston, this being the earliest separation between our lodges and chapters.
In 1808 the second Masonic funeral was conducted at York, and in connection therewith is the first mention of Knights Templar; those present being probably from Kingston, where an encampment had been opened in 1800.
In April, 1807, the Niagara brethren sent their fees to the Grand Lodge in England for a warrant as a Provincial Grand Lodge, in which Hon. Robert Kerr is named as Provincial Grand Master, with R.W.Bro. Chris. Danby as Deputy, and Bro. Wm. Emery as Grand Secretary. The only result was that R. W. Bro. Jarvis received a sharp reprimand, and their request was refused, no other action being taken. Just how much R.W.Bro. Jarvis permitted his Masonic affairs to run themselves may be judged from a letter written in November, 1806, by Jermyn Patrick, who had been appointed as Grand Secretary to replace Sylvester Tiffany, saying that he had received no communications "either from the subordinate lodges or the Provincial Grand Lodge, these twelve months past."
The War of 1812 affected the regular Provincial Grand Lodge adversely as well as many others; meetings were irregular and returns were not made. Sincere brethren felt this state of affairs to be a scandal and, following the death of R.W.Bro. Jarvis, the Niagara brethren tried to organize a Provincial Grand Lodge of Upper Canada, which should contain both their own lodges and those warranted from York, but their efforts were not favourably received. To the brethren of Addington Lodge, No. 13, at Bath, is due the credit for action that finally restored order and harmony. They organized a Convention at Kingston, in August, 1817, the first of a series of such meetings, which recurred until 1822, and at which the actual work of a Provincial Grand Lodge was conducted, and the Craft kept from becoming dormant for lack of a governing and energetic executive. At the first of these, eleven lodges were represented, Bro. Ziba M. Phillips being elected President, Bro. John H. Hudson, "Moderator," and Bro. John W. Ferguson, Secretary. At this Convention a petition was drafted for the consideration of the Grand Lodge of England, drawing attention to the unfortunate condition of the Craft in Upper Canada and asking for recognition, Bro. Roderick Mackay of Kingston being nominated as Provincial Grand Master.
No reply was received and, owing to the death of Bro. Mackay in September, 1818, a second Convention was called at Kingston in February, 1819. This resulted in fourteen "Articles of Association of the Masonic Convention of Upper Canada" being drafted by the masterly mind of Bro. John Dean of Bath, as well as a second petition to the home authorities, which were sent with a draft to cover expenses for issuing a patent for a new Provincial Grand Master who should be elected later. Another outstanding feature of this Convention was the report of R.W.Bro. Benj. McAllister, who as "Grand Visitor" had inspected all the lodges in Upper Canada, and commented freely on the manner in which their work and business were carried on. This is the first instance in our history of what has come to be the regular duty of every successive District Deputy Grand Master and his visits proved to be of the greatest possible value in uniting the scattered, neglected and disheartened lodges.
Kingston was the scene of the third Convention in February, 1820, at which fourteen lodges and nineteen brethren were present, with Bro. Phillips again presiding. It was reported that the draft sent to England the year before had been duly paid, though no warrant had been received as requested, but that as the charter could be expected at any time, no election or other changes should be made until its arrival. August came, but still no reply, so Bro. John B. Laughton of Ancaster, who was also a Companion of Hiram Chapter and who had to go to England on business, was appointed representative of both Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter (established in 1818) to see what he could do by personal effort to get the action so earnestly desired from the home authorities.
February, 1821, saw fourteen lodges represented in Convention, with Bro. Phillips in the chair; the District Visitors were increased to five, and for the first time all lodges were required to submit their by-laws for approval or change and all future amendments thereto.
THE BRETHREN LABOURED UNDER MANY DIFFICULTIES
It may be well to note here some of the difficulties under which our early brethren laboured in those primitive days. The accounts of the Grand Secretary show what a heavy expense was the cost for letters; to Halifax the charge was fourteen shillings, and to New York, eight shillings and two pence. Forty circulars cost fifteen shillings for printing and one hundred copies of the Proceedings 3 pounds 10. These amounts were paid in "Halifax Currency," the shilling being worth twenty cents in our money. A letter from Bath to New York was thirty-five days in transit!
August 1821 brought the first letter from Bro. Laughton in England, dated May, and stating as one reason for the long neglect that there was no copy of R.W.Bro. Jarvis' warrant in the archives at London, "or a single return from the Grand Lodge at Niagara nor York, since the first settlement of the same, and having no copy they cannot consider us as Masons!" Bro. Laughton wrote that he was "willing to stay there a year if necessary to put the business to rights" and urged that no pains be spared to procure and send him a copy of original warrant as required for further action.
Another obstacle to his success was the presence of Chief John Brant, who had been sent to England to settle, if possible, the difficulties existing between the Mohawk Indians and the Provincial Government of Upper Canada, respecting certain land titles. Brant was a member of Lodge No. 24, warranted by the Niagara Grand Lodge and his trip to England was used by that body to further their claims before the Masonic authorities there.
In November, 1821, the desired copy was sent the Grand Secretary in England, with a resume of previous letters to which no replies had been received, and submitting the name of R.W.Bro. Fitzgibbon for the office of Provincial Grand Master. Also a request that the fees charged for benevolences in England might be paid to some agent of Grand Lodge in Upper Canada, for use amongst the "many brethren emigrating with their families who are found to be in distress." Another letter to Bro. Laughton covered the same points, while Bro. Fitzgibbon wrote the Grand Secretary accepting the office of Provincial Grand Master and enclosing a certificate as to his military standing and character from Sir Peregrine Maitland, "Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada and Major-General of His Majesty's forces therein." Bro. Fitzgibbon gave further evidence of his good will to the Craft and his faith in Bro. Laughton by sending him a draft towards his expenses.
Eighteen hundred and twenty-two saw twenty-one lodges represented in Convention under Bro. Phillips and the acts of the committee on England were approved. We find here the first signs of trouble from sources outside their membership, in that a lodge warranted by the Grand Lodge of Ireland was reported, with evidence, as acting in an unmasonic manner. The Convention ruled that all brethren under its authority "shall keep themselves aloof from said lodge and its members." Further, that in no lodge under its authority "shall be allowed to introduce ardent spirits into the lodge room during the evening of holding the lodge."
A few weeks later arrived the first of the long awaited letters from the Grand Secretary of England, dated March. This to some extent acquitted him of intentional neglect of the lodges in Upper Canada by stating that a letter had been sent in November, 1819, explaining their position. Had this letter been received or had the succeeding letters sent from York been treated with even the ordinary business courtesy and judgment of that time, it is certain that the years of discontent, friction and ill-feeling would not have burdened those earnest brethren who strove to establish Freemasonry in this (then) outpost of Empire.
So, after five years of agitation from Upper Canada, the Masonic authorities in London abandoned for awhile their policy of masterly inactivity and acted by appointing R.W.Bro. Simon McGillivray, who was about to visit North America, as Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Royal Arch Masonry for Upper Canada to look into the claims of "the lodges at present existing . . . and presumed to have been constituted by the late Bro. Jarvis," granting their request that they be freed of tax for benevolence in England, and authorizing him to "act in such a way as may appear to him best calculated to promote the welfare of the Fraternity."
In July, 1822, R.W.Bro. McGillivray arrived and found his previous training as Junior Grand Warden of great value in recognizing the undoubted rights of the lodges in Upper Canada and in smoothing away the discords which had been aggravated by official neglect. The letters he wrote to R. W. Bro. John Dean, Secretary of the Masonic Convention, and to W.Bro. Edw. McBride of Niagara are still preserved and were all that could be expected under the circumstances. In August he arrived at Niagara from Kingston, on his way to Detroit, having met R.W.Bro. Phillips and other prominent brethren at Brockville and gone into matters thoroughly. While at, Niagara he impressed on the minds of the brethren there that the Grand Lodge of England could in no way recognize their quarrel with those at York and advised them to come to an agreement since "the law is before us, by that law we must be guided, and, as for the past, if irregularities have occurred, I trust it will not be necessary to refer to them."
THE WAY PAVED FOR A GRAND LODGE
As a result of his travels and investigations, R.W.Bro. McGillivray wrote to R.W.Bro. Dean, as executive officer of the Convention, requesting that "acting provisionally as Provincial Grand Secretary," he would issue summonses to all the lodges "represented in the Convention . . . or otherwise known to you" to meet at York in September, and also send each of them a copy of a specific statement for them to fill in praying for recognition from and registration under the Grand Lodge of England. The lodges were further required to bring with them whatever documents of authority for their existence they might have, that the same might be sanctioned or new dispensations issued as each came might require. To Bro. Fitzgibbon he wrote asking him to attend the Convention and sending him a copy of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England for his information, "as the laws applying to the authority and proceedings of Provincial Grand Lodges are happily very distinct."
Bro. Dean did as requested, sending a courteous and fraternal letter to Bro. Edw. McBride, Secretary of the Niagara Grand Lodge, with a few blank statements for the use of his lodges and expressing the hope that the breach between them might be healed.
Everything went as smoothly as conditions permitted except that a delegation led by W. Bro. Dr.Chas. Duncombe of the Niagara Grand Lodge came to see R.W.Bro. McGillivray with some eleventh hour obstacles. The latter refused to see them as Masons, but heard their objections as individuals and by his tact, firmness and thorough Masonic knowledge so affected their frame of mind that they finally applied for admission to the Convention.
Monday, September 23, 1822, is one of the greatest days in our Masonic history for it marked the first Communication of the Second Provincial Grand Lodge of Upper Canada. Twenty-nine delegates were present representing eighteen lodges, with R.W.Bro. McGillivray presiding. Bro. Dean, as Secretary, read the patent appointing R.W.Bro. Fitzgibbon as Deputy Provincial Grand Master, and he was duly installed. The good judgment of the presiding officer was again shown by his appointing R.W.Bro. W.J. Kerr of the Niagara Grand Lodge as Senior Grand Warden and, in recognition of the services of Addington Lodge at Bath, W.Bro. B. Fairfield was appointed Junior Grand Warden. That the eastern and western sections of the Province might be properly served, two Provincial Grand Secretaries were appointed, W.Bro. Dean of Bath and Bro. Turquand of York, and other honours were distributed to those who had earned them.
It seems strange to read of two Secretaries being needed for a handful of lodges scattered between Niagara and Kingston, when today one, with three assistants, serves the needs of some seven hundred lodges having a membership of over a hundred thousand in the largest self-contained Grand Lodge in the world, but the conditions of such duties have vastly changed in the past century of Masonic progress.
Of the eighteen lodges mentioned above only the following now survive:
CENTENARY LODGES OF THE GRAND LODGE OF CANADA (IN THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO)
Founded
Present No.
Name
Location
1792
2
Niagara, formerly Dalheusie,
Niagara
1796
3
Ancient St. John's,
Kingston
5
Sussex, formerly Hiram,
Brockville
1796
6
Barton,
Hamilton
1799
7
Union,
Grimsby
(?)1804-1812
9
Union,
Napanee
1792
10
Norfolk,
Simcoe
1801
11
Moira,
Belleville
1818
14
True Britons,
Perth
1816
15
St George's,
St. Catharines
The numbers missing from this list were held by lodges which joined the Grand Lodge of Quebec between 1869 and 1874.
The only sore point left was that centering around Lodge Leinster at Kingston, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Ireland, which appears to have been a consistent nuisance. With the assistance of R.W.Bro. Phillips, a committee from Lodge No. 6 met one from the Irish Lodge in November, "when all matters were agreed to be buried." This lodge applied for and received in 1826 a new warrant from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Upper Canada, though its members were not all agreed among themselves as to doing so.
Next day, September 24, R.W.Bro. McGillivray issued a dispensation for the first of the sixty-nine lodges now working in Toronto, viz.: St. Andrew's, No. 1, P.R., to meet at York, the first Worshipful Master being W.Bro.Wm. Campbell, a Past Master of Temple Lodge, Guysborough, N. S., who had served as Attorney-General of Cape Breton in 1804, and was at this time Puisne Judge of Upper Canada. This lodge has recently celebrated its centenary by publishing a fine record of its history. The first Secretary, Bro. B. Turquand, also acted as Provincial Secretary for the Western District of Upper Canada, and the first Treasurer, Bro. J.Beikie, succeeded R.W.Bro. Fitzgibbon as Deputy Provincial Grand Master.
So the first annual session of the second Provincial Grand Lodge closed with twenty-seven warranted lodges on its register and six under dispensation. The revival under R.W.Bro. McGillivray had infused new life into all Craft bodies and their outlook for service was bright, for such minute books as have been preserved show a great increase in membership throughout the whole jurisdiction during the next few months. In February, 1823, the R.W. Brother returned to England and made full report of his work to the Grand Master. The value of his services was recognized to the full, in that all his recommendations were adopted by Grand Lodge and a vote of thanks engrossed on vellum and handsomely illuminated was presented to him.
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The Grand Lodge of Alberta
Copied by permission from "Freemasonry in Canada"; compiled by Bro. OSBORNE SHEPPARD, of Hamilton, Ont. THE BUILDER AUGUST 1924
The first Masonic lodge to be formed in what is now the Province of Alberta was organized in Edmonton as Saskatchewan Lodge, No. 17, on the register of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. Their charter was granted in 1882, but was subsequently surrendered about the year 1890.
The next attempt to establish Masonry in Alberta was made in Calgary in May, 1883, when a notice was issued calling upon all Masons to meet in Bro. George Murdock's store, which then stood on the east bank of the Elbow River, nearly opposite the present site of the barracks of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. Only five Masons presented themselves at this meeting, namely, Bros. George Murdock, E. Nelson Brown, A. McNeil, George Monilaws and D.C. Robinson. Bros. James Walker and John A. Walker were to have attended, but were unavoidably prevented from being present. At this meeting the unanimous opinion of the brethren present was that the time was not opportune for the formation of a lodge, as there was no suitable place in which to meet, there were not a sufficient number of Masons to successfully carry on a lodge, and there was a scarcity of material to work on. After a few months had passed, people began to arrive in greater numbers with the advent of the railway. The C.P. railway track was laid through the site of what is now the city of Calgary on the 15th of August, 1883. A few days later the first freight train arrived, bringing with it the printing outfit of the Calgary Herald. In the first issue of that paper a notice was inserted calling upon all Masons interested in the formation of a Masonic Lodge to meet in George Murdock's shack, east of the Elbow River. A photograph of this shack is still preserved in the archives of Bow River Lodge, No. 1. To the surprise of all a large number of Masons assembled. R.W.Bro. Dr.N.J. Lindsay, at that time D.D.G.M. for No. 1 (Essex) District, Grand Lodge of Canada, was elected chairman, and R.W.Bro. George Murdock, Secretary. Meetings were regularly held every Friday night, and an attendance register kept and minutes of all proceedings recorded, but no Masonic work was done or examinations made until the petition for a dispensation was about to be signed.
A petition was forwarded to the Grand Lodge of British Columbia, asking for a dispensation, the greater numbers of those signing it having lived in that Province. Discouraged at the long wait for a reply, petition was made to the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. A favorable reply was received from both these Grand Lodges at about the same time. However, on account of the easier communication with Manitoba, it was decided to accept dispensation from their Grand Lodge. This dispensation was obtained about the first of January, 1884, and the first meeting was held on the 6th of January. R.W.Bro. Dr. N.J. Lindsay was elected first Worshipful Master. R.W.Bro. Lindsay then attended the meeting of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, held in Winnipeg, on the 11th of February, and at meeting was elected Grand Junior Warden. At that meeting a charter was granted to Bow River Lodge, Calgary, numbered 28 on the register of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. Bow River Lodge is now No. 1 on the Grand Register of Alberta.
At the meeting of the Grand Lodge in Manitoba in 1884 charters were granted to lodges at Regina, Moose Jaw and Calgary. These, with the lodges at Edmonton and Prince Albert, might legally have formed a Grand Lodge for the Northwest Territories, which comprised the Districts of Saskatchewan, Assiniboia and Alberta, all being under one territorial government. As even then it was deemed probable that the provincial formations were not far distant, it was recognized that a Territorial Grand Lodge would be broken up by the division of the territories into provinces. It was accordingly decided to leave in abeyance any desire to form a Grand Lodge.
The three districts forming the Northwest Territories have now been divided into two Provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, Assiniboia being absorbed by the other two.
The political changes which culminated in the division of the old Northwest Territories into the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan on the first of September, 1905, precipitated the division of the Manitoba Grand Lodge, for, though it was long considered by many brethren that the large number of Masonic Lodges in the Canadian Northwest and their separation by hundreds of miles from the central authority necessitated a change, the spirit of loyalty to Manitoba was so strong that nothing short of absolute necessity could change it.
"Provincial Autonomy" was expected in the spring of the year 1905, and accordingly the "Medicine Hat Lodge," No. 31, took the initiative. It was at their request that Bow River Lodge, No. 28 (the oldest lodge in Alberta), called a convention in Calgary on the 25th of May, 1905, the result being the formation of the Grand Lodge of Alberta on October 12, 1905, when out of eighteen lodges within the political boundaries seventeen were represented by seventy-nine delegates, and the change was adopted.
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Freemasonry in Prince Edward Island
By Bro. GEORGE W. WAKEFIELD, P. M. St. John's Lodge. No. 1, P.E.I.
The first step taken to form a lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons in this island [Canadian Freemasonry was first established in Nova Scotia, on which see article by Bro. R.V. Harris, for beginnings in Ontario see article by Bros. Nixon and Haydon] was made by letter dated September 22, 1790, reading:
To the Right Worshipful Grand Master of Masons of Nova Scotia, &c., &c., &c.
We have taken the liberty to address you and the Grand Lodge for a Warrant to form a Lodge in this Island, and being unacquainted with the form of application (if there is any) our Worthy Brother Captain Livingston has given his word as a Man, that he will deliver this, acquaint you of the circumstances and vouch for those who have subscribed their Names as Antient Master Masons.
We have the honour Right Worshipful Master to be your Brothers, &c., &c.,
Peter Stewart Thos. Desbrisay L. Hayden Joseph Aplin Wm. Hillman
The original of the foregoing letter was found by the writer of this paper in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia in 1916, but no record as to its disposal.
The next and a successful attempt was made by a letter dated July 14, 1797, reading:
My dear friend and Brother,
I take the liberty to write you that if our petition meets with the approbation of the Grand Lodge that you will send me an account of the expenses which I will take care to by the earliest conveyance. You are perfectly acquainted with my Degrees in Masonry and I have made it my study to brighten myself by visiting every Antient Lodge I could meet with in my excursions and believe I shall be able with the assistance of the other Brethren to establish both a Regular and Respectful Lodge. I have the Belfast Edition of Ahiman Rezon which you saw at Halifax with both the Irish and York Regulations and shall thank you to send one of yours if you think it should be preferable and let the whole package be directed to Charlottetown. My most Respectful compliments to Mrs. Clarke and family to my worthy Brethren in No. 18 and all enquiring Brethren and Friends.
I am Right Worshipful Your most sincerely
E. Nicolson.
This letter was probably addressed to a Mr. Clarke, as the writer sends his compliments to Mrs. Clarke and family, and he may have been James Clarke, Senior Grand Warden, or Duncan Clarke, Deputy Grand Master, as appears in the warrant dated Halifax, Nova Scotia, October 9, 1797, authorizing "The Worshipful Ebenezer Nicolson, Esquire, one of our Master Masons; the Worshipful William Hillman, his Senior Warden; the Worshipful Robert Lee, his Junior Warden, to form and hold a lodge of Free and Accepted Masons aforesaid, at the house of Alexander Richardson or elsewhere in Charlottetown, in the Island of Saint John, on the second Tuesday in each calender month."
HOW THE LODGE WAS FORMED
The following is a record of the formation proceedings found in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia:
Proceedings of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge held in Charlottetown in the Island of Saint John, October 19th, 1797, pursuant to a Warrant Issued by the Right Worshipful Brother Bulkeley, Grand Master of Antient York Masons for the Province of Nova Scotia and its Dependencies, &c.
Members present: R.W. Bro. J. Holland, D. Grand Master. R.W. Bro. A. Gordon, Sen. Warden. R.W. Bro. J. Curtis, Jun. Warden. R.W. Bro. P. Macgowan, Grd. Secretary. R.W. Bro. A. Smyth, Sen. Deacon. R.W. Bro. J. Webster, Jun. Deacon.
The Rt. Wor. Dep. Grand Master was pleased to open the Rt. Wor: Grd Lodge in the Third Degree of Masonry, when the Warrant for holding the same was read in the following words [here is inserted the order for Instalment] and duly acknowledged by the several Brethren.
After which the purposes for holding the aforesaid Lodge was explained.
Bro'r Ebenr Nicolson R.A.M. was then introduced in Masonic form, and acquainted that the Prayer of his Petition and that of the other Brethren of the Island of St. John had been complied with, and that a Warrant empowering them to hold a Lodge by the name of St. John Lodge, No. 26, had been Granted, and that the Rt. Wor: Dep: Grd Master was now ready to proceed according to Antient form in the installation of the said Lodge and the several officers.
Bro. Nicolson after performing the usual ceremonies was then Invested with the Honourable Badge of Master Bro. College as Proxy for Bro. Hillman in the place for Senr Warden likewise Bro. Lee as Junr Warden, they receiving the usual testimonies from the Brethren present. After which they were duly examined and found Skilful and Worthy. This closed the business of the evening and the Lodge departed in peace and harmony.
Bro. Hillman, the Senior Warden, was one of the subscribers to the letter addressed to the Right Worshipful Grand Master on September 22, 1790.
CALLED PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
When the first warrant was issued the Province was known as the Island of St. John. By Act of Parliament, passed November 20, 1799, the name was changed to Prince Edward Island.
St John's Lodge continued to be known as No. 26 on the register of the Athol Provincial Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia until March 10, 1829, the date of the warrant granted by the United Grand Lodge of England and numbered 833; subsequently in the closing up of the numbers as 562 in 1832, and 397 in 1863. On the formation of the Grand Lodge of Prince Edward Island on June 24, 1875, it became No. 1 on its register.
The first meeting place was at the house of Bro. Alexander Richardson, known as the "Cross Keys," at the corner of Queen and Dorchester streets. And on October 19, 1797, there were twelve members, including Thomas Alexander, a Fellowcraft, namely:
Ebenezer Nicolson, M. D.; William Hillman; James College, army officer; Robert Lee; Peter Macgowan, attorney-general; Alexander Gordon, M. D.; Alexander Smith; John Webster; James Curtis, assistant judge; Thomas DesBrisay, lieutenant-governor under Governor Patterson; John Clarke, landed proprietor, lot 49.
Bro. Thomas Alexander, an affiliate Fellowcraft, was raised in November, 1797.
Lieutenant-Governor Edmund Fanning was the first member by petition. He was initiated November 14, 1797, and passed and raised December 12, 1797. He filled the office of Worshipful Master in 1801.
The meetings were held at Bro. Alexander Richardson's till 1811 when accommodation was provided by Bro. Thomas Robinson, Queen street, west side, between Sydney and Richmond streets, and remained there till 1827 when it was decided to move to Bro. John Robinson's house on Kent street, just below the present City Hall. In 1835 "it was ordered that the lodge be now moved to the house of Bro. Robert Hutchinson." This house was on the corner of Pownal and Sydney streets. In 1843 we find it meeting at Bro. James McDonnell's house on the north side of Queen's Square. It is now occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Adam Murray. Fourteen years later, December 28, 1857, the minutes read: "The brethren formed in procession and marched to the new lodge room on Water street when they dedicated the same to Masonry in the usual customary form." This building was destroyed by fire in 1867, and on September 7 we find the brethren meeting in Large's Hall, Queen street, near Kent street. On June 11, 1878 the lodge became joint tenants with Victoria Lodge of Masonic Hall, Water street, the site occupied by the building destroyed by fire in 1867. There it remained till October, 1893, when it moved to the new Masonic Temple, Grafton street.
THE EARLIEST BY-LAWS ARE GIVEN
The earliest by-laws of the lodge now in its possession were adopted on May 10, 1810, and were signed by Peter Macgowan, one of the twelve members, in 1797.
1. That every Member of the Lodge conform to the several Rules, Usages and Establishments of Free Masonry, as contained in the Book of Constitution known by the name of Ahiman Rezen containing the Laws, Charges and Regulations of the FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS according to the OLD CONSTITUTIONS.
2. That the Brethren meet the Second Tuesday in every Month, as stated in the Warrant, at the hour of Six from the Autumnal Equinoxis and at the Hour of seven from the Vernal to the Autumnal Equinoxis.
3. That no business be done in the Lodge after the Hour of half past Nine o'clock and that the Lodge shall not be detained after half past Ten o'clock. 4. That each Candidate shall deposit the sum of Ten shillings at the time of being proposed, into the hands of the Brother who proposes him, and shall forfeit the same, provided he does not come forward to receive the First degree of Masonry within the space of Three Regular meetings; on rejection the said money to be returned to the Candidate: and each Candidate for Free Masonry in this Lodge shall pay the sum of Three pounds, nineteen shillings and six pence Currency on receiving the First degree.
5. No Candidate on any Consideration whatsoever shall be proposed and balloted for the same evening, but shall be proposed at one Meeting and balloted for and made (if necessary) the following Meeting of the Lodge, but if Two Black Balls appear it shall be sufficient to exclude a Candidate and if One Black Ball appears the Bro'r who gave it shall be called upon to assign his reasons, which if joined in by any other Bro'r present the Candidate shall not be admitted.
6. The balloting box shall on no account be sent round more than twice, unless it appears that some mistake has been made.
7. Every member of this Lodge shall be critically and regular in his attendance on the Regular Meeting of the Lodge, and if any Member shall not attend within Twenty Minutes after the opening of the said Lodge, he shall pay the sum of six pence, and provided the Member shall absent himself during the whole Evening he shall be fined the sum of One shilling, without sufficient reasons be given to the contrary.
8. Every Member shall come to the Lodge clean and decently dressed, shall clothe himself at the Door, and on no account shall retire from the Lodge contrary to the usual forms on pain of forfeiting the sum of One shilling and three pence.
9. If any Member shall come to the Lodge in a state of intoxication the Tyler shall not admit him, and if the said Member makes resistance and conducts himself riotously or improperly at the Door, on report of the Tyler, he shall f
