a

may be desirous of exaltation, shall petition ye Chapter for yt purpose, such petition must be countersigned by three members of the Chapter, and be accompanied by a recommendation from some regular Lodge, of WC Lodge ye petitioner must be member at ye time of his petitioning, and this recommendation shall be signed by ye Master and Wardens of such Lodge, and set forth yt ye petitioner has paid all his dues to yt period; upon wc he shall be balloted for by ye Companions present, and if ye ballots are unanimous, he shall be exalted to ye dignity of a Companion of ye Order, paying to ye Treasurer three pounds for ye use of ye Chapter, one dollar to ye Secretary, and one dollar to ye Tyler.

On May 18th, 1795, we have the first written record of the Mark degree. The Lodges were doubtless authorized to confer the Mark degree under their warrants, or else as a side degree; be that as it may, the records read, Companion Secretary received sixteen dollars and half for the Exaltation and Mark fees.

On November 5th, 1796, Companion Wood paid for his Mark and Most Excellent Master's degrees $1.25, showing the small amount of fees required in those days.

The Most Excellent Master's degree must have been conferred in the same manner as the Mark. On March 3d, 1798, petitions were received from John Dorson and John Smith, Past Masters and Most Excellent Masons, thus proving the fact of their possessing that degree. On July 17th, 1799, the same form of entry occurs.

In the State of New York several Chapters existed for several years before March 14, 1798, the date of the formation of the Grand Chapter, and there seems to have been quite. a number of Mark Lodges. These latter, indeed, were so numerous as to force the suggestion that as soon as a Lodge of Master Masons became fairly prosperous some of the more enterprising brethren managed to have a Mark Lodge established in connection with it. It is fair to suppose that these bodies, Chapters and Mark Lodges were just and regular-that is, that they worked under written authority received from some body then recognized as entitled to confer such power, even although that authority should have been. some previously existing Chapter or Lodge. We have a notable and often quoted illustra

tion of this in the first warrant given to Union Lodge, No. 1, Albany. Mackay's contention that the Royal Arch Chapters were formed on warrants issued by Athol Lodges seems untenable, as all that the Athol Lodges did concerning the Arch was in connection with their own work. However this may be, no clear evidence exists to show where the warrants for the early charters and Mark Lodges came from, and on that point there is really nothing to offer but surmise and theory. Theory is often accepted as history. In the annals of Ancient Chapter, No. 1, New York, we find the following:

In 1763 the Grand Lodge at London, England, granted a warrant to several members of the craft, in the city of New York, to form themselves into a Masonic body, to work the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason and Royal Arch degrees, with authority to issue warrants for the establishment of other Lodges and Chapters.

sons

Under, and with the said warrant from the Grand Lodge of England, a Chapter of Royal Arch Mawas constituted, the companions of which, by virtue of the power conferred upon them, assumed the title and exercised the prerogatives of a Grand Chapter.

They also continued for a number of years to confer the R. A. degree, the only degree, beyond the symbolic degrees recognized at that time in this country, as a part of Ancient Craft Masonry. and bestowed upon none but Master Masons who had been elected, installed and served as Masters of Lodges of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

In the course of time, when the number of Royal Arch Masons increased in the province and afterwards State of New York, it was determined by many of the members of that Grand Chapter to leave it, and under its auspices to establish other Chapters, which they did and to which the names of Independent, Rising Sun, Fredonia and Washington were given.

Later than 1804 no traces of the four Chapters can be found. The inference to be drawn is that they either came in under this jurisdiction, or that they were dissolved and their members affiliated with the Chapters that received charters from the Grand Chapter of the State of New York.

This Chapter appears to have been known as "Old Chapter" until in 1806 it took a charter from the Grand body and became known

as Ancient Chapter, No. 1, the name it now bears. The information, however, so succinctly set forth in the quotation above is mainly founded on tradition. That it existed. before the formation of the Grand Chapter at Albany is certain, but there is no record of the issuance of the warrant in 1763, referred to, by the Grand Lodge [Ancient] of England. The minute books in existence of Ancient Chapter commence with November, 1806, but it contains a copy of that agreement made in 1804 between its members and the Companions of Washington Chapter. In the same record we are told that "Companion James Wood was, in consideration of his having been the first officer of the Old Grand Chapter, elected Deputy Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter in March, 1807, and was re-elected to the office three consecutive years." Could the early history of this Chapter be told, could its primal charter be printed, what a positive gain to our knowledge of the beginning of Capitular Masonry in this State would be the result! But as we have said, as seems to be acknowledged by the authorities of Ancient Chapter, most of what is contained in the above extract is based on tradition. In spite of what it says, we have to fall back on theory, and the one we feel most disposed to entertain is that the Royal Arch and the Mark were first introduced here by the military Lodges, that they issued copies of their warrants to whomsoever they liked, as was the case at Albany, and that these in their turn issued warrants to other bodies on formation and request. This, of course, was delightfully informal and altogether opposed to our notions of regularity, but modern Masonry was then in its infancy and things were tolerated then, nay, were perfectly right and proper, which would not now be so regarded.

When on March 14, 1798, the Deputy Grand Chapter was organized in the rooms of Temple Lodge, Albany, the Lodges which met and took part in the proceedings were: Hudson, Hudson, Columbia county.

Temple, Albany, Albany county. Horeb, Whitestown, Oneida county. Hibernian, New York, New York county. Montgomery, Stillwater, Saratoga county. These were only apparently a fraction of the Chapters then existing in the State, for a resolution was adopted at the meeting appointing a committee "to receive applications from different Chapters and Mark Lodges within this State for warrants of constitution to confirm them in their proceedings according to the resolution of this Convention, and to grant such warrants to all Chapters and Lodges aforesaid that are under the authority of this Deputy Grand Chapter."

The invitation thus issued was not, however, either very promptly or very cordially accepted. In New York city two notable Chapters appeared determined to stand aloof. Of these the Old Chapter was admitted, seemingly, to all the dignity which is associated with seniority in point of age, but Washington Chapter-the Mother Chapter it used to style itself was, so far as we can determine, the most influential and important. It was apparently looked upon as a Grand Chapter in itself, if it did not regard itself in that light, as did the Old Chapter. At all events, we do know that it issued warrants, or charters, to several chapters, among them being:

Hiram Chapter, No. 1, Newton, Conn., April 29, 1781.

Franklin Chapter, No. 2, New Haven, Conn., May 20, 1795.

Washington Chapter, No. 3, Middleton, Conn., March 15, 1796.

Franklin, No. 4, Norwich, Conn., March 15, 1796.

Solomon Chapter, No. 5, Derby, Conn., March 15, 1796.

"Hiram Chapter," says J. H. Drummond, "kept two records for many years, one for the Chapter proper and one for the Mark Lodge, which exercised jurisdiction over the degrees of Mark Master, Master in the Chair and Most Excellent Master; Washington, No. 3,

had had a previous continuous existence since 1783, acting under the warrant of St. John's Lodge, and Solomon's Chapter had been in existence previously to the date of its charter, but how long cannot be ascertained." It will be seen from this that Brother Drummond is not a believer in the degree of Most Excellent Master being an invention of T. S. Webb. Washington Chapter undoubtedly, as we have indicated, chartered other bodies than those named, but the records are gone. We do know that in the very year the Grand Chapter was formed it issued a charter to Van der Broeck Chapter.

In spite of the multiplicity of Chapters and Mark Lodges there is no doubt that Royal Arch Masonry, as we have it in America, had its origin in 1797, when T. S. Webb, then a resident of Albany, published the first edition of his Freemason's Monitor. On Oct. 24, 1797, a meeting of members of or representatives of Chapters was held in Boston for the purpose of considering the advisability of forming a Grand Chapter for the Northern States. Webb presided at this convention

and it was through his efforts undoubtedly that the matter was favorably received and the Grand Chapter finally organized in January, 1798. A year later that body assumed the title of General Grand Chapter, leaving the title of Grand Chapter to be assumed by the State divisions, when formed. "It is," says Mackay, "undoubtedly to the influence of Webb that we are to attribute the disseverance of the degree [Royal Arch] from that jurisdiction [Lodge] and the establishment of independent Chapters." As we have shown even in these pages, this statement is not correct, for we have seen that Washington Chapter, for instance, not only had a separate existence, but granted power to others to exist, but there is no doubt that Webb was the means of establishing Royal Arch Masonry as an independent yet integral part of what is called "York" Masonry. But for his genius the Royal Arch system in America would never have had an existence, and at best we would have to have sought for the stone which the builders rejected according to the method in vogue in England.

Sabastian Vischer, S.

Chapter.

Caleb B. Merrill, H. P. | Horeb

Jedediah Sanger, K.

George Kasseck, S. f Chapter.

Thomas Smith Webb (proxy), Hibernian Chapter.

Daniel Hale, Jr., H. P. Montgomery
Ashbel Meacham, K. Chapter.

Of course the moving spirit in the formation of this Deputy Grand Chapter—which became a Grand Chapter in the following year was Webb. But the real introducer of what might be called "standard" Royal Arch work was the High Priest of Temple Chapter, Thomas Hanmer. In his interesting sketch of Royal Arch Masons in the appendix to the American reprint of Gould's History, Drummond says: "In 1793 John Hanmer came to Albany from England bearing a certificate that he was well skilled in the Ancient work and lectures. He soon became acquainted with Thomas Smith Webb, Ezra Ames and others to whom he imparted his lectures and mode of work. They at once adopted his system, and the institution in that vicinity was

substantially reorganized under his supervision and instruction. He remained in this country until 1800, when he returned to England. But his pupils and disciples remained to perfect his system and teach his work; the most conspicuous among these was Thomas Smith Webb and Ezra Ames, although tradition tells us that Ezra Ames was deemed the most reliable for verbal accuracy. On Nov. 11, 1796, a charter was granted for Temple Lodge at Albany, with Hanmer for Master, Webb for Senior Warden and Gideon Fairman for Junior Warden. But their work was not confined to the symbolic degrees. On Feb. 4, 1797, a meeting of nine Royal Arch Masons was held, a symbolic Lodge being opened. Companion Hanmer presented the subject of opening a Royal Arch Chapter and urged the importance of it so strongly that those present voted unanimously in favor of his views. Companion Webb was elected High Priest and regularly installed in Ancient form.' The Chapter was then opened. Three brethren, 'after being passed by the chair [by Brother Hanmer] and acknowledged as Past Masters' were exalted. The following week the Chapter met and opened as a Master's Lodge and these three candidates were installed as Past Masters. A Lodge of Most Excellent Masters was then opened by Webb, and the degree conferred on several candidates, including Hanmer. Then followed the Royal Arch. The Chapter continued during the summer to confer these three degrees.

"On Sept. 27, 1797, a Mark Master's Lodge

was held with Webb presiding and Hanmer as Senior Warden, thus reversing their positions in Temple Lodge. Candidates, a part of whom were Royal Arch Masons, received the degree. Meetings were regularly held till Jan. 17, when the Lodge was practically, though without any special vote, consolidated with the Chapter." In the proceedings at Hartford, on Jan. 24, 1798, which led to the formation of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the Northern States of America it should here be said that New York was represented by the Chapters of Hudson, Temple and Whitestone."

Outside of Hanmer and Webb very little is known of anything of the personality of the other brothers mentioned in the above pioneer roll, with one exception—that of Jedediah Sanger, whose personal popularity, enthusiasm for Masonry and social position must have been very helpful in giving strength to the movement thus inaugurated on a legitimate basis for extending the lines of symbolic Masonry. He was born at Sherburne, Mass., in 1751, but settled in the northern part of New York State when a young man, probably after graduating and being admitted to the bar. He was one of the founders of New Hartford and he also was one of the promoters of Hamilton Oneida Academy, the cornerstone of which was laid with Masonic ceremonies in 1794. In that year Sanger was a member of the Assembly and two years later a member of the State Senate. In 1798 he was appointed the first judge of Oneida county and he held that office until 1810, when he was disqualified through age. He died in 1829 and was buried in New Hartford, but his remains were afterward removed to Forest Hill cemetery, Utica. New York never had a more enthusiastic Mason than Judge Sanger. For many years Amicable Lodge met in his own house with himself as Master. It might well claim to be called a mother of Lodges. His name is yet kept fresh in Masonry by Sanger Lodge, No. 129, at

Waterville, and by the town of Sangerville, both of which were called in his honor.

When the preliminary business of organization had been completed, the following officers were chosen:

DeWitt Clinton, Deputy Grand High Priest.

Thomas Frotheringham, Deputy Grand King.

Jedediah Sanger, Deputy Grand Scribe. John Hanmer, Deputy Grand Secretary. Ami Rogers, Deputy Grand Chaplain. Thomas S. Webb, Deputy Grand Treas

urer.

John C. Ten Broeck, Deputy Grand Marshal.

Benjamin Whipple, Deputy Grand Sentinel. Isaac Sturges, Deputy Grand Tyler.

DeWitt Clinton was at once installed and in turn installed his associate officers. Then we are told he "delivered a pathetic and affectionate address on the laudability of this institution and the necessity of adopting the same." The Deputy Grand Chapter was then opened in "ample form." The proceedings lasted over three days, and the business done-by-laws, warrants and the like-was purely formal. A committee was appointed "to receive applications from different Chapters and Mark Lodges within this State for warrants of constitution, to confirm them in their proceedings according to the resolution of this convention and to grant such warrants to all Chapters and Lodges aforesaid that are not under the authority of this Deputy Grand Chapter.

It is the custom nowadays to throw doubt upon the devotion of DeWitt Clinton to Masonry and that mainly because, although accepting high office at the hands of the brethren, he rarely attended meetings after his political position had been assured. Readers of this history have had many evidences of the close and devoted attention he paid to symbolic Masonry until he became Grand Master, and if his practical share in the work was not