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Freemasonry In Pennsylvania
FREEMASONRY IN PENNSYLVANIA
WE acknowledge with fraternal thanks the receipt of copy of tho Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania during the year 1877 . On the whole they may he described as presenting a healthy organisation in the highest degree creditable to the Grand Master and the other leading spirits of this ancient Masonic body . Extracts are furnished from the minntes of Proceedings of the
Quarterly Communications held on the Gth June , 5 th September , and 5 th December respectively , as -well as of the Annual Grand Communication on the 27 th December . At the first Quarterly Communication referred to , a portrait of the late Bro . John Chambers , D . D ., who at the time of
his death was the Senior Grand Chaplain of Grand Lodge , an office be had filled for close on a quarter of a century , was presented by his executor , at the express desire of the Eev . Brother's widow , and its receipt most warmly acknowledged by the Grand Master . At the same
gathering a series of resolutions condoling with the Grand Lodge of Missouri on the death of Bro . Prank Gourley was passed and ordered to be presented to that body , as well as to the relatives of the deceased brother . At tho September Communication , the Grand Secretary ' s annual report was
presented and showed the number of Lodges on the roll on the 27 th December of the previous year to have been 375 , six having been constituted in 1876 . The number of members in the -jurisdiction was 37 , 811 , the number of admissions
initiations , & c , & c , in the course of tho year having been 1 , 788 , the number of resignations , suspensions or expulsions and deaths being 2 , 213 . At this Communication it -was resolved to open Masonic intercourse with the Grand Lodge of Scotland . At the December meetins ? the election of
officers took place , when Bro . J . Madison Porter was elected Grand Master , Bro . Robert Clark declining to be re-elected , Bro . Michael Nisbet being the Deputy Grand Master . Bros . S . B . Dick and Conrad B . Day , Grand Senior and Grand Junior Wardens respectively , and Bros . Thos . R .
Patton and John Thomson , Grand Treasurer and Grand Secretary . The Committee on Finance presented their report for the year ended 15 th November , showing that the Receipts , including Balance brought forward , amounted to 141 , 859 dollars 65 cents , and the Expenses to 137 , 977
dollars 42 cents , leaving a balance in hand amounting to 3 , 882 dollars 23 cents . The estimated revenue and expenditure for 1878 are set down as 147 , 995 dollars 63 cents , and 147 , 259 dollars respectively , leaving a small b ? lance in hand of over 736 dollars . The Balance Sheet of Grand
Lodge for the past year shows a total for both sides of the account of over 2 , 211 , 449 dollars , the principal items on theDr . side being—Sinking Fund—over 24 , 068 dollars ; Stephen Girard Charity Fund , over 51 , 012 dollars ; G . Lodge Charity Fund , over 68 , 226 dollars , and Real Estate close
on 1 , 919 , 12 / dollars . On the Creditor side the chief items are Grand Lodge of Penna . over 762 , 450 dollars , and the "Masonic Temple Redemption Loan 1 , 320 , 500 dollars . Other Reports of a like character were also presented . At the Annual Communication on the 27 th December , the
Report of the Board of Almoners showed that 234 applicants , of whom 197 hailed from Pennsylvania , had been relieved to the extent of 2720 ^ dollars , while the Stewards of the Stephen Girard Charity Fund bad relieved 245 brethren ,
of whom 212 hailed from Pennsylvania itself . The portrait of the late Bro . S . H . Perkins , n Past Grand Master , was presented by Mr . E . D . Marrhant , the artist who painted it , and accepted , a resolution of thanks for the gift
Freemasonry In Pennsylvania
being unanimously passed by Grand Lodge . Grand Master Clark then delivered his valedictory address , in which he reviewed the events of the year , noting in particular the visitationshehadmade , tho Lodges which he had constituted during his administration—these were ten in number—and
whatever else of interest had taken placo—such as the appointment of Bro . Anrelio Almeida as representative at the Grand Lodge of Cuba , Bro . W . Officer as representative at the Grand Lodge of Scotland , Bro . Cadwalader Evans as that at the Grand Lodge of New
York . The new Grand Master , J . Madison Porter , and his principal Officers having been duly installed , the former delivered an address , at the close of which he mentioned that the late Past Master Stephen Taylor , then but recently deceased , had presented a sum of 10 , 000 dollars to Grand
Lodge on certain conditions , and when those had been fulfilled , the income arising therefrom would be at once available for charitable purposes . The appointment of the other Officers was then proceeded with , and a resolution of thanks
to the retiring Grand Master having been unanimously agreed to , Grand Lodge was closed . The rest of the proceedings include the Report of tho Committee on Foreign Correspondence .
Two matters -we have reserved till the last , as it appears to us that they deserve more than passing comment . In the Report presented by the Committee on Appeals at the December Quarterly Communication will bo found a resolution to the effect that the W . Master of one of tho Lodges ,
and the Lodge in question had erred in taking a ballot for an applicant for initiation or membership before the written favourable report of the Committee of Inquiry had been actually presented by the Lodge . This bears on the question of that caution in the admission of candidates ,
to which we have so frequently made reference , and on which so many of our most distinguished members have of late laid so much stress . It proves that in the Masonic jurisdiction of Pennsylvania , the preliminary inquiries which are , or should be made , in the case of all applicants
for initiation or membership , are something more than a mere farce or formality , which may or may not be observed , just as it suits a Lodge , and we comnend it to the notice of any of our readers who may incline to laxity in
respect of this pi-c-requisite condition on behalf of candidates . Let them bear in mind what has been said again and again , that a Lodge cannot be too particular whom it receives into its fold . One indifferent
member may destroy its harmony , and oven imperil the fortune of the lodge itself . The other matter is not one on which we feel we can justly offer our Pennsylvanian brethren any degree or kind of congratulation . Ifc will be found in the report by the library committee , and refers to the
reception accorded by the Lodges and members of the jurisdiction , to tho first parb of the original minutes of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , on which we commented some time since . We cannot , however , do better than quote the very words of the Report itself , which are as follow : — " We regret to
say that in publishing this first part , we too hopefully relied on being sustained by the membership of this Grand Lodge . Out of nearly 4 , 460 members of the Grand Lodge , only 122 were subscribers . With nearly 40 , 000 Masons in Pennsylvania , we have only 85 who have responded . Of
over 375 Lodges , only 18 have given us their support . Ifc is disheartening to your Committee to do this labour without the least show of encouragement from those who should be interested in the early history of Masonry in this jurisdiction . The Committee have endeavoured in every way to make the Library of the Grand Lodge self-supportiDg ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In Pennsylvania
FREEMASONRY IN PENNSYLVANIA
WE acknowledge with fraternal thanks the receipt of copy of tho Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania during the year 1877 . On the whole they may he described as presenting a healthy organisation in the highest degree creditable to the Grand Master and the other leading spirits of this ancient Masonic body . Extracts are furnished from the minntes of Proceedings of the
Quarterly Communications held on the Gth June , 5 th September , and 5 th December respectively , as -well as of the Annual Grand Communication on the 27 th December . At the first Quarterly Communication referred to , a portrait of the late Bro . John Chambers , D . D ., who at the time of
his death was the Senior Grand Chaplain of Grand Lodge , an office be had filled for close on a quarter of a century , was presented by his executor , at the express desire of the Eev . Brother's widow , and its receipt most warmly acknowledged by the Grand Master . At the same
gathering a series of resolutions condoling with the Grand Lodge of Missouri on the death of Bro . Prank Gourley was passed and ordered to be presented to that body , as well as to the relatives of the deceased brother . At tho September Communication , the Grand Secretary ' s annual report was
presented and showed the number of Lodges on the roll on the 27 th December of the previous year to have been 375 , six having been constituted in 1876 . The number of members in the -jurisdiction was 37 , 811 , the number of admissions
initiations , & c , & c , in the course of tho year having been 1 , 788 , the number of resignations , suspensions or expulsions and deaths being 2 , 213 . At this Communication it -was resolved to open Masonic intercourse with the Grand Lodge of Scotland . At the December meetins ? the election of
officers took place , when Bro . J . Madison Porter was elected Grand Master , Bro . Robert Clark declining to be re-elected , Bro . Michael Nisbet being the Deputy Grand Master . Bros . S . B . Dick and Conrad B . Day , Grand Senior and Grand Junior Wardens respectively , and Bros . Thos . R .
Patton and John Thomson , Grand Treasurer and Grand Secretary . The Committee on Finance presented their report for the year ended 15 th November , showing that the Receipts , including Balance brought forward , amounted to 141 , 859 dollars 65 cents , and the Expenses to 137 , 977
dollars 42 cents , leaving a balance in hand amounting to 3 , 882 dollars 23 cents . The estimated revenue and expenditure for 1878 are set down as 147 , 995 dollars 63 cents , and 147 , 259 dollars respectively , leaving a small b ? lance in hand of over 736 dollars . The Balance Sheet of Grand
Lodge for the past year shows a total for both sides of the account of over 2 , 211 , 449 dollars , the principal items on theDr . side being—Sinking Fund—over 24 , 068 dollars ; Stephen Girard Charity Fund , over 51 , 012 dollars ; G . Lodge Charity Fund , over 68 , 226 dollars , and Real Estate close
on 1 , 919 , 12 / dollars . On the Creditor side the chief items are Grand Lodge of Penna . over 762 , 450 dollars , and the "Masonic Temple Redemption Loan 1 , 320 , 500 dollars . Other Reports of a like character were also presented . At the Annual Communication on the 27 th December , the
Report of the Board of Almoners showed that 234 applicants , of whom 197 hailed from Pennsylvania , had been relieved to the extent of 2720 ^ dollars , while the Stewards of the Stephen Girard Charity Fund bad relieved 245 brethren ,
of whom 212 hailed from Pennsylvania itself . The portrait of the late Bro . S . H . Perkins , n Past Grand Master , was presented by Mr . E . D . Marrhant , the artist who painted it , and accepted , a resolution of thanks for the gift
Freemasonry In Pennsylvania
being unanimously passed by Grand Lodge . Grand Master Clark then delivered his valedictory address , in which he reviewed the events of the year , noting in particular the visitationshehadmade , tho Lodges which he had constituted during his administration—these were ten in number—and
whatever else of interest had taken placo—such as the appointment of Bro . Anrelio Almeida as representative at the Grand Lodge of Cuba , Bro . W . Officer as representative at the Grand Lodge of Scotland , Bro . Cadwalader Evans as that at the Grand Lodge of New
York . The new Grand Master , J . Madison Porter , and his principal Officers having been duly installed , the former delivered an address , at the close of which he mentioned that the late Past Master Stephen Taylor , then but recently deceased , had presented a sum of 10 , 000 dollars to Grand
Lodge on certain conditions , and when those had been fulfilled , the income arising therefrom would be at once available for charitable purposes . The appointment of the other Officers was then proceeded with , and a resolution of thanks
to the retiring Grand Master having been unanimously agreed to , Grand Lodge was closed . The rest of the proceedings include the Report of tho Committee on Foreign Correspondence .
Two matters -we have reserved till the last , as it appears to us that they deserve more than passing comment . In the Report presented by the Committee on Appeals at the December Quarterly Communication will bo found a resolution to the effect that the W . Master of one of tho Lodges ,
and the Lodge in question had erred in taking a ballot for an applicant for initiation or membership before the written favourable report of the Committee of Inquiry had been actually presented by the Lodge . This bears on the question of that caution in the admission of candidates ,
to which we have so frequently made reference , and on which so many of our most distinguished members have of late laid so much stress . It proves that in the Masonic jurisdiction of Pennsylvania , the preliminary inquiries which are , or should be made , in the case of all applicants
for initiation or membership , are something more than a mere farce or formality , which may or may not be observed , just as it suits a Lodge , and we comnend it to the notice of any of our readers who may incline to laxity in
respect of this pi-c-requisite condition on behalf of candidates . Let them bear in mind what has been said again and again , that a Lodge cannot be too particular whom it receives into its fold . One indifferent
member may destroy its harmony , and oven imperil the fortune of the lodge itself . The other matter is not one on which we feel we can justly offer our Pennsylvanian brethren any degree or kind of congratulation . Ifc will be found in the report by the library committee , and refers to the
reception accorded by the Lodges and members of the jurisdiction , to tho first parb of the original minutes of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , on which we commented some time since . We cannot , however , do better than quote the very words of the Report itself , which are as follow : — " We regret to
say that in publishing this first part , we too hopefully relied on being sustained by the membership of this Grand Lodge . Out of nearly 4 , 460 members of the Grand Lodge , only 122 were subscribers . With nearly 40 , 000 Masons in Pennsylvania , we have only 85 who have responded . Of
over 375 Lodges , only 18 have given us their support . Ifc is disheartening to your Committee to do this labour without the least show of encouragement from those who should be interested in the early history of Masonry in this jurisdiction . The Committee have endeavoured in every way to make the Library of the Grand Lodge self-supportiDg ,