The following history was reprinted with
permission of:
Under the Auspices of:
The Grand Lodge of Alberta A.F. &
A. M.
This paper and additional information
was presented in The Internet Lodge of Research, GRA on 15 May 2002
(showing how current the information is) by a visitor to Lodge
Terry W. McCammon, Most
Excellent Great Chief, 2002 - 2003, Knight Masons.
A History of Knight Masonry
in the United States of America
Douglas L. Jordan, Grand Scribe.1
The Arrival: 1932-1937:
The history of Knight Masonry in the United States of America starts in North
Carolina, for it was in this State that the first three Councils were formed. J.
Edward Allen, John Raymond Shute II, and Frederic F. Bahnson, all prominent in
North Carolina Masonry in the 1930's, became interested in Masonry on the
worldwide basis. The visit of Lord Cassillis, Grand Z of the Supreme Grand Royal
Arch Chapter of Scotland, to North Carolina in 1931 furthered this interest. It
appears from correspondence that J. Ray Shute and twenty others received the
degrees of Royal Ark Mariner and Knight of the Sword during this visit. In
February 1932, he requested charters from Scotland for three Councils of Knights
of the Sword and Lodges of Royal Ark Mariners, certifying that he would properly
confer the degrees. Charters were granted on 21 March 1932 to Councils and
Lodges named Saint Andrew's in America No 1a in Monroe, Cassillis No 2a in
Raleigh, and Howell No. 3a in Charlotte. The Lodges continue to exist today as
Councils chartered under the Allied Masonic Degrees; however, the associated
Councils of Knights of the Sword disappeared when the AMD charters were
accepted.
In 1934 a group of leading American Masons became concerned with the
possible suppression of Masonry in Europe. William Moseley Brown, Grand Master
of Masons in Virginia, and J. Raymond Shute, Sovereign Grand Master of the
Allied Masonic Degrees, were sent to Europe in 1934 as the representatives of
this group with the intent of bringing some of the lesser known Masonic degrees
to the United States. En route to Geneva, while in Dublin, they met J.H. Hamill,
the Grand Scribe of the Grand Council of the Degrees of Knight of the Sword,
Knight of the East, and Knight of the East and West (now the Grand Council of
Knight Masons) who conferred these degrees on them on August 5, 1934. These were
the same degrees as conferred in the Scottish Council of Knights of the Sword.
On their return, Shute inquired of Dublin on how to introduce the Irish work
into the United States. Grand Scribe J.H. Hamill
replied on October 19, 1934:
Personally it would seem to
me that the most direct
way of introducing our degrees to America is for you and
six or seven others who
got the Scottish degrees to apply to us for a Warrant. I
would suggest that seven of you should sign one of the enclosed application
forms and return it with a covering letter stating that the Illustrious Order of
the Red Cross as conferred in your K.T. Commanderies and our degrees of Knight
Masonry are quite different and distinct.
This last sentence contained the
sticking point since the North Carolinians did not have authority to speak for
the Grand Encampment. On October 30, 1934, Shute submitted membership lists and
names for three Councils: Saint Patrick's in America in Monroe, North Carolina,
Shamrock, Thistle and Rose in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Harp, Cross and Eagle
to be in Alexandria, Virginia. At the same time an application for a Provincial
Grand Council was made with the following officers:
Provincial Great Chief ...............................J.
Ray Shute
Provincial Deputy Great Chief...............J. Edward
Allen
Provincial Senior
Grand Knight.. William Moseley Brown
Provincial Junior
Grand Knight.......Luther
T. Hartsell, Jr.
Provincial Grand
Scribe......................Clarence J.
West2
Provincial Grand
Treasurer......................James W. Clift
Provincial
Captain of the Guard.......Frederic F. Bahnson
In his
covering letter he states,
"...we have 51 sovereign Grand Lodges in U.S.A.; to
attempt to secure any
approval in any national movement such as this will run
into state discussions
that will do nothing but hurt the matter and my
suggestion is that you let us
proceed with this matter to the best of our judgment, as
we know just how to
handle the situation."
Hamill was not satisfied, and
after reviewing a Knight
Templar ritual provided by Shute, on February 20, 1935 he
sent a letter to the
Grand Encampment of the USA which ends, "I shall be
glad to have an expression
of opinion from your Knights Templar authorities with
regard to the Illustrious
Order of the Red Cross." As Shute had suggested to
Hamill, the Grand Recorder of
the Grand Encampment was unwilling to give such an
opinion and suggested that it
was a matter for Bro. Hamill to decide.
On May 25, 1936
J. H. Hamill, writing
officially to Allen, transmitted warrants dated May 20,
1936 for three Councils:
Council #26 in Monroe, Council #27 in Raleigh, North
Carolina, and Council #28
in Alexandria, Virginia. He held up on the Grand
Provincial Council until the
three Councils actually came into being. He also asked
that the designated
Excellent Chiefs of each Council to come to Dublin to be
installed and the
Councils constituted.
Frederic M. Bahnson, designated to
be Excellent Chief of
Shamrock, Thistle and Rose Council #27 wrote J.H. Hamill
in June 1936 concerning
a planned trip to Europe in July. He suggested that while
his family was
visiting London he would go to Dublin, receive the
degrees and be deputized to
constitute the other Councils. Hamill's response on July
1, 1936 was a
cablegram:
GRAND COUNCIL HESITATES CONSTITUTION IN ABSENTIA
EITHER 3
REPRESENTATIVES FROM EACH COUNCIL PRESENT IN DUBLIN OR
COMMISSION FROM GRAND COUNCIL MUST PROCEED AMERICA=
HAMILL
When his ship arrived in Southampton,
Bahnson received a request from J.H. Hamill to visit
Dublin. While there he paid
the necessary warrant fees for the three new Councils and
received the degree of
Installed Chief. In reporting this to Allen, he suggested
that funds be raised
to invite the Deputy Great Chief and other officers to
visit the U.S. as guests
and confer the degrees. Allen recognized this suggestion
as the best solution,
although it would cost some money.3The next twelve months
were spent in planning
the events of the following summer.
On April 17, 1937,
J.H. Hamill wrote that a
commission of R.E. Sir Kt. E. H. Burne, Deputy Great
Chief, accompanied by V.E.
Sir Knights. T. J. Smalley, G.W. Hamill, F.E. Davies,
A.H. Kirkpatrick and
himself planned to come to America at the end of August
or the beginning of
September 1937 to constitute the three American Councils.
J. Edward Allen, as
Grand Commander of North Carolina, immediately sent an
official letter to Dublin
assuring them that a commission would be "heartily
welcomed; that its purposes
as stated are not in the least objected to but on the
other hand that it is
believed that the cause of Masonry in general will be
promoted thereby."
It was originally planned to locate Harp, Cross and Eagle
Council at Alexandria,
Virginia, with William Moseley Brown as Excellent Chief.
However, Shute, Allen,
and Bahnson determined that attempting to achieve a
peaceful entry in more than
one Masonic Grand Jurisdiction at a time would cause many difficulties. If all
three Councils were in North Carolina and all the members
residents of that
state their combined influence in Masonic circles should
be able to take care of
those who believed that there were already enough Masonic
organizations. In late
May 1937 Shute proposed that the third Council be located
in Allen's hometown,
Warrenton, North Carolina, and the Grand Council
ultimately accepted this.4
The itinerary was planned in detail during the summer, with
particular efforts being
taken to assure that the wives of the visitors would be
well entertained. Bahnson and Allen met them in Washington on September
9th and drove them to Winston-Salem with stops at the Luray Caverns and Natural
Bridge in the beautiful Valley of Virginia. From there they went to the
Great Smoky Mountains. Then they returned to the Oxford (Masonic) Orphanage
where they were entertained
at an outdoor picnic with the children. Then on to
Warrenton and Washington,
North Carolina for a formal dinner at the Hotel Louise
with toasts back and
forth, customary in England and Ireland, but not in
U.S.A. Then to the Masonic
Lodge building in Washington, North Carolina where the
degrees were actually
conferred on 22 candidates and the Councils constituted
on September 14, 1937.
At this time each Council was presented with a copy of
the old trowel used by
the Knights of the Sword in Ireland in laying the corner
stone of the Parliament
Building by the Grand Master of Ireland, and more
recently used by the Supreme
Council of the 33rd Degree in Ireland. It had been in
constant use for over 120
years before our Councils were constituted. The wooden
handles on these trowels
came from Speakers Platform of the Irish House of
Commons.
The remainder of the
year was occupied in assessing the results. There was a
universal belief that
there should be a Provincial Grand Superintendent to
oversee the American
Councils. The Grand Council agreed with the Americans in
thinking of a nation
wide organization but felt that the country was too large
for a single
Superintendent. Thus, on December 16, 1937 Frederic F.
Bahnson was appointed
Provincial Grand Superintendent for the USA, Southern
Jurisdiction. The bounds
of this "Southern Jurisdiction" would not be
defined until 1946.
II. The Bahnson
Years: 1937-1944
In a letter to Harold V.B. Voorhis in
September 1938, Fred
Bahnson expressed his philosophy as the Provincial Grand
Superintendent:
As
representing Grand Council I have held my approval of all
the names proposed, as
I feel we should not rush to increase of membership.
Membership is by invitation
only, and we are anxious to select the membership with
such discriminating care
that it will always be considered an honor to be, or to
be invited to become, a
member of this group. That means that by starting slowly,
we can easily
establish proper precedent which should be almost
impossible to acquire if we
are less sure of what we do at the start.
There certainly
was no rush to
increase membership. Voorhis and Ward St. Clair had been
proposed early in 1938,
yet invitations were not extended until 1941. This
inactivity led E.H. Burne, on
the eve of his election as Chief, to write on September
6, 1940:
I have for many moons had in my thoughts my fine
Brethren who hold in
trust for our Grand Council 3 Warrants bearing good Irish
names and many times I
am asked how they are progressing. I would love to have
something in the nature
of a report that I could give to Grand Council at its
November Meeting which would give them an insight as to how the Brethren of the
Order across the
Atlantic are carrying on.
Bahnson found his solution was
at the annual Masonic
Meetings in Washington, D.C. On February 22, 1941, Harold
V.B. Voorhis of New
Jersey, Ward K. St. Clair and George O. Linkletter of New
York and Clarence
Brain of Oklahoma were initiated, and in July, Henry F.
Evans of Colorado was added. Linkletter and St. Clair immediately set about
starting a Council in New
York. This was warranted on December 17, 1942 as Paumanok
Council, No. 32,
following a request submitted a year earlier. It was
essentially inactive until
1945.
The entry of the U.S. into World War II and
Bahnson's ill health
effectively ended activity by Knight Masons in America
for the duration. Following Bahnson's death on March 18, 1944, J. Edward
Allen was appointed
Provincial Grand Superintendent for the Southern
Jurisdiction on September 13,
1945.
III. The Allen-Shute Years: 1945-1950
In 1945,
Paumanok Council conferred
the degrees on a class of six, and the following year
added three more. In 1946,
during the annual Masonic Week in Washington, D.C., the
four Councils resumed
the practice of a joint conferral of the degrees. Over
the following three
years, 51 members were added in this way. In addition,
Paumanok Council
initiated another 12 members at their meetings. Then in
December 1949, J. Edward
Allen resigned from his Masonic activities.
This
unexpected resignation had two
consequences: 1) the Councils ceased to make new members
for the next two years,
and 2) it forced action on making Knight Masonry a
nation-wide organization. On August 3, 1950, J. Raymond Shute, II was appointed
Provincial Grand
Superintendent for the Southern Jurisdiction, and Harold
V.B. Voorhis was
appointed Provincial Grand Superintendent for the
Northern Jurisdiction.
According to Voorhis, during the Masonic meetings in
Washington in 1946, he and
Allen drew a line across the United States defining the
two jurisdictions. This
map was provided by Voorhis to Shute and the Grand
Council, and became the
official alignment. At that time, the three original
councils were in the
Southern Jurisdiction, and only Paumanok Council No 32 in
New York was in the Northern Jurisdiction.
However, Shute was under heavy
pressure at work. In
November he suggested to Voorhis that the two
jurisdictions be merged and
Voorhis take over as Provincial Grand Superintendent for
the USA. Voorhis
agreed, and forwarded the suggestion to Dublin. Upon
Shute's resignation on
December 31, 1950, the change was accomplished.
IV. The
Voorhis Years: 1951-1967
Voorhis had the objective of strengthening Knight Masonry
in the United States
by spreading the membership and the Councils across the
country. During the next
17 years a pattern was established. New members were
regularly initiated - an
average of more than 75 each year. To support these, six
new Councils were
chartered:
The Gateway to the West Council No 58
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 19
March 1951
Kilwinning Council No 62
Zanesville, Ohio
17
February 1954
Erin
Council No 63
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 22 October 1957
West Virginia Council No. 64
Clarksburg, West
Virginia 13 December 1958
Kincora Council No 70
Denver, Colorado
24 June 1961
Maryland Council No. 72
Maryland
23 June 1965
When the original Councils were
chartered in North
Carolina, the founders had insisted that there was no
intention of breaking off
from the Grand Council. However, by 1966, Bahnson was
dead, while Allen and
Shute were no longer active in Masonry. For the new
leaders, the matter of
independence from Ireland was simply a question of time.
This led Voorhis on June 1, 1966 to write the Councils:
At the next meeting
of the Sir Knights in
Washington, D.C. in February 1967, the matter of forming
a Grand Council of
Knight Masons in the United States will be discussed. I
trust each Council will
have their Excellent Chief, or a representative present
to express an opinion.
By early July he had received enough response to cause
him to write to the Great
Chief, M.E. John H. Keers on July 2, 1966. In the letter
he detailed the
problems of administering a membership of over 1000 in
ten Councils through a
Grand Body so far removed from the U.S.A. After
discussing the Annual Meeting in
Washington, he concluded, "I am certain that at such
a Convention meeting in
1967, we will form a Grand Council of K.M. for the
U.S.A., issue them new
Charters and elect Grand Officers." This initiated a
period of tension as the
Americans awaited the reaction of the Grand Council.
On
July 14, 1966 a letter
went to all Councils informing them that all the records
had been transferred to
Provincial Grand Scribe J. Landis Randall. Voorhis
continued:
After sending in
your Annual Return, do not initiate ANY new members until
after our next meeting
in Washington, February 1967. The reason for this is that
we contemplate the
formation of a Grand Council, Knight Masons for the
United States. In such an
event new Charters will be issued to our ten Councils,
among other changes.
By
the end of August he had completed the basic framework
for new Grand Council.
This included a draft set of Statutes, a slate of
officers, and the preparation
of forms for charters, certificates, and stationery. On
September 1 a letter went to all Councils advising them of the status and
requesting that they be in
position to vote at the February meeting. The tension was
relieved when on
October 20, 1966 Grand Scribe James McC. Allen provided
the official reaction to
the proposed new Grand Council:
If our members in the
U.S.A. consider that their
interests can best be served by a Grand Council of their
own, we will be pleased
to facilitate them and launch it with the dignity it
deserves.
V. Constituting a
New Grand Council: February 18, 1967
The minutes record:
A Convention of the
Provincial Grand Council of Knight Masons (Ireland) for
the United States of
America was called by the Provincial Superintendent R.E.
Sir Knight Harold V.B.
Voorhis for 3:00 p.m. on February 18, 1967 in the Hotel
Washington, Washington, D.C. for the purpose of organizing a Grand Council of
Knight Masons of the
United States of America...
Sir Knight John Ballinger
seconded a motion by Sir
Knight Bird H. Dolby and the representatives unanimously
approved the formation
of the Grand Council of Knight Masons of the United
States of America.
After adopting a Constitution and Statutes, they
elected as the first Grand Officers of the Grand Council of Knight Masons in
the U.S.A.:
M.E. Harold
Van Buren Voorhis (4) .................. Great Chief
1967,68
R.E. Henry Emmerson
(4)......................Deputy Great Chief
Gr.Ch.1970
V.E. Murray C. Alexander
(1)...............Grand Senior Knight
Gr.Ch.1969
V.E.
William L. Ramsey (2)
.................. Grand Junior Knight
Died 1970
V.E. J.
Landis Randall (5)............................... Grand Scribe
1975(H)
V.E.
Edwin E. Gruener (5)......................... Grand Treasurer
Died1968
V.E.
Charles A. Harris (3) ..................Grand Senior Warden
Died 1980
V.E.
Robert L. Grubb (1).................... Grand Junior Warden
Gr.Ch.1971
V.E.
William J.J. Fleming
(7)..Grand Director of Ceremonies
Gr.Ch.1972
V.E. Harry
W. Bundy (8)................................. Grand Priest
Died
1967
V.E. Bird H. Dolby (9)................................. Grand Steward
Died
1970
V.E. Andrew W. Drumheiser (5)................... Grand Sentinel
Gr Tr
1968
The newly elected
Great Chief installed his officers, but postponed his
installation until it
could be accomplished properly by representatives from Ireland.5
Charters were
then issued to nine of the U.S. Councils. The Grand Lodge
of Ohio had a law that
any new Masonic bodies in Ohio required approval from the
Grand Lodge. Approval
could not be obtained at that time, and Kilwinning
Council No. 62 remained under
their original warrant from Ireland.6
Thus, at its
Constitution the Grand Council
of Knight Masons of the U.S.A. had nine active Councils
and 872 members. At the
Constitution meeting, Great Chief's Council No. 0 was
chartered with Sir Knight
DeWitt D. Sager of New Jersey as the first Excellent
Chief. Its purpose is to
receive in membership deserving Masons who live in areas
in which no Council is
chartered. Formerly, Paumanok Council had been receiving
these as Associate
Members, but this practice now ended and the Associate
Members were enrolled as
regular members either in Great Chief's Council or in
some other Council as they
desired. The actual paperwork to accomplish this occupied
most of the ensuing
year.
As his first official act, the new Great Chief
admitted Ill. George A.
Newbury, 33°, the Sovereign Grand Commander of the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite, Northern Jurisdiction to membership in Great
Chief's Council of the Knight
Masons.
VI. The Grand Council of Knight Masons in the
U.S.A.: 1967 -1997
Getting
Organized: 1967-1968
The records of the first year are
filled with letters of
the Grand Scribe, the Great Chief, the Grand Council in
Dublin, and the American
Councils as they rearranged their organization. It fell
to the Grand Scribe, J.
Landis Randall, to establish procedures and create forms
for the administration
of the new Grand Council. These activities included:
devising subordinate
Council by-laws, procuring regalia for the Grand Council
and the new Great
Chief, prodding the Ritual Committee to complete
revisions to remove references
to Ireland, procuring Council jewelry and regalia for
sale to the American
Councils, ordering new letterheads, charter forms,
dispensation forms,
membership cards etc., and answering questions from the
Scribes of the various Councils including one who in November
was still not sure if
the Grand Council had been Constituted!7
In the midst of
this activity, on June
7, 1967, a letter from Ireland informed the Americans
that it would be necessary
to return their original Warrants for cancellation.
Otherwise the Councils would
be liable for annual dues. Kincora Council No. 70
encountered a problem when
their Scribe, Harry W. Bundy, who was also the Grand
Priest, died on July 5,
1967 leaving the whereabouts of the Warrant a mystery. A
Photostat copy was
provided from the Grand Superintendent's records, and the
Warrants were all
canceled. New Charters were issued to the nine Councils
in October.
On February
17, 1968 the Grand Council met in Washington to review
the work of its first
year. Voorhis summarized the accomplishments:
The new
Grand Council closed (last
year) to meet on February 17, 1968 with the necessary
groundwork and business of
organizing the Grand Council being placed in the hands of
the Grand Officers.
During the year 1967 new Charters were issued, proposed
by-laws for the Grand
Council were approved in Committee and the business of
the Grand Council
proceeded. During the year, dispensations for the
formation of three new
Councils were issued by the elected Most Excellent Great
Chief Sir Knight Harold
V. B. Voorhis and sent to the Committee on Charters and
Dispensations for
recommendation at the next meeting of the Grand Council.
These Councils were
Northern New Jersey Council UD located at Sussex, New
Jersey, Southern New
Jersey Council UD located at Glassboro, New Jersey, and
Virginia Council UD
located at Arlington, Virginia.
This first year of the
Grand Council of the
United States was a year of organization. The Councils
proceeded to work and new
members were knighted. The Grand Council showed a
respectable growth for a new
Grand Council and great promise lies ahead.
Voorhis also
suggested, and the
Grand Council agreed, that Honorary Membership be
conferred on M.E. Great Chief
John H. Keers, R.E. Grand Scribe James McC. Allen, V.E.
Deputy Grand Scribe
Arthur Mowlds, and V.E. Provincial Grand Superintendent (N.I.)
Robert W. Stuart,
in appreciation of the fine way they had helped in
creating the new Grand
Council. M.E. Great Chief Keers was also appointed Grand
Representative by
Voorhis.
The loss of Kilwinning Council and its 282
members had been offset by
the affiliation of the 207 former Associate Members and
the rapid growth of the
Maryland Council, so that 916 members were reported at
this meeting. In
addition, Charters were issued the three new Councils,
and two others were
placed under dispensation. Sir Knight Dewitt D. Sager was
elected Grand Priest
of the Council. The Grand Officers were properly invested
with their Collars and
Jewels and the Grand Council moved ahead into its second
year. Later in the
year, Voorhis appointed James R. Case of Connecticut as
the Excellent Chief of
Great Chief's Council.
The year 1968 was marked by the
death of two Grand
Officers. The death of V.E. Dewitt D. Sager, Grand Priest
on April 22 caused
Grand Secretary Randall to comment, "The office has
a spell on it to lose two in
a row."8 Then on November 9, 1968 the Grand Council
suffered a serious loss with
the death of Grand Treasurer Edwin E. Gruener. As
chairman of the By-Laws
Committee he had labored diligently over the past year
endeavoring to get the
Councils to adopt reasonable by-laws.
Recognition: The Concordat
A major order of
business for the Grand Council
was to establish formal relations with the Mother Grand
Council in Dublin. In
January 1969 James McC. Allen, Grand Scribe in Dublin
wrote:
We are anxious to
complete our recognition of the Grand Council of Knight
Masons of the United
States of America and have been in communication with the
Supreme Grand Chapter
of Royal Arch Masons in Scotland to ensure that they will
join with us in
recognizing your Charters and Certificates.
He also
provided a draft "Concordat"
to be considered at the February meeting. Because a
strike had caused delay in
the mails, the letter was not received until March 3,
1969, thereby preventing
any consideration at the February meeting. Voorhis
replied, in his last letter
as Great Chief, that he saw no problem with the Concordat
and suggested that it
be dated and signed.
Great Chief John H. Keers signed it
at Freemasons Hall in Dublin on June 25, 1969, but the Grand Scribe delayed
sending the approved
document to the United States until October 9th when he
was able to report that
the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland had also
agreed to its
provisions. On October 15, 1969, Great Chief Murray C.
Alexander signed and the
Grand Council of Knight Masons of the United States of
America became an
officially recognized independent Masonic body.
Although
the Supreme Grand Royal
Arch Chapter of Scotland joined in the Concordat, for
some reason there was no
direct fraternal correspondence between the two Grand
bodies until 1996. During
the summer of 1996 this omission was rectified and Grand
Representatives were
exchanged.
______________________________________________________________________________
1The quotations in this history are taken from
the documents in the archives of the Grand Council of Knight Masons of the
U.S.A. References are provided as footnotes when the source is not obvious in
the text. With the kind permission of M.E. Past Great Chief Otis Jones,
extensive use has also been made of his Knight Masons, A History. While
recognizing that the Grand Council has a worldwide jurisdiction, ease of
reference has frequently forced the use of the word "Ireland" to
distinguish it from the Grand Council in the U.S.A.
2West and Clift were never recorded as members of Knight Masons.
3Reported by J. Edward Allen in letter to J. Ray Shute dated July 30,
1936
4Brown did not affiliate with a Council in the U.S.A. until 1952, and
no Council was chartered in Virginia until 1968.
5Because of the expenses involved, at the suggestion of Great Chief
J. H. Keers, he was installed on April 12, 1967 by the Deputy Great Chief, V.E.
Henry Emmerson a Past Grand Senior Warden of the Grand Council.
6In spite of the optimism of the persons involved, approval was not
given until 1996.
7Voorhis' handwritten note was. "I don't understand this."
8Randall letter to Voorhis 24 January 1969
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