Operative
to Speculative
An
Evolution of Freemasonry
From
Ancient to Modern Times
Copyright © 2011 by RWB
Wesley F Revels
This article published in The Missouri Freemason, Fall 2013
Official Publication Of The Grand Lodge Of Missouri A.F&A.M. U.S.A.
This article published in The Missouri Freemason, Fall 2013
Official Publication Of The Grand Lodge Of Missouri A.F&A.M. U.S.A.
In A.D. 546 St. Columba, an ordained Culdee Priest
founded with a college or fraternity of Operative Masons, an abbey at Derry
Ireland. Seventeen years later in 563 he
with 12 Brethren called the Apostles of Ireland, founded a monastery at the Isle
of Iona in Scotland. Both the abbey and
monastery exist to this day. The Royal Order of Scotland (ROS), a Masonic order
from Iona is its descendant and Freemasonry as we know it today from the Grand
Lodge of England descended from the Royal Order of Scotland. The earliest Lodge of which can be found at
Edinburgh, Scotland, Edinburgh Masonic Lodge No.1, the oldest surviving Masonic
minutes there being recorded in the year July 1st A.D. 1599.
The two patron saints of the Culdees are Saint John the
Baptist and Saint John the Divine. Saint
John the Baptist was primarily known as the person who conducted the initiation
ceremony of Baptism to new Christians.
Saint John the Divine was the person who declared Jesus The Christ, the
“Logos” or “Word” which is found in KJVJohn 1:1-9:
“In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The
same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him;
and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life
was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the
darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose
name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness
of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He
was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world.”
An early account of Hiram Abiff and
the building of King Solomon's Temple, the archetype for building the Spiritual
Temple of man, is found in the writing of 4th century Christian Mystic, John
Cassian. In his 11th book "The
Conferences" he writes in detail about symbolism in the 3 Degrees of monks. Throughout the Ages, Masonry has professed
two sciences, one being Speculative or Symbolic and the other being
Operative. The path here described being
Speculative, fore it would not be possible to write at any reasonable length a
description of them together although both Operative and Speculative being
intertwined throughout history in the "Old Charges" of Operative
Freemasonry.
Reference to Operative guilds in
antiquity are found in the Holy Bible.
In Mark 6:3 we find, "Is not this the [Tekton], the son of Mary,
the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his
sisters here with us?" The English translation "carpenter"
actually in Greek is Tekton meaning construction worker or stone cutter. In the original Greek language there is no
word "carpenter". Justin
Martyr, A.D.165, wrote that Jesus made yokes and ploughs. This verse also clearly refers to the family
of Jesus. In 2 Samuel:5-11, "Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys [Masons] to
King David to build him a palace." 1 Kings 5:17,18 & 6:1-38. 1 Kings
7:1-51, Also Amos:7-7. "Thus he
shewed me. And the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline
in his hand...".
The histories of the old and new
charges of Masonry evolve through the teachings that include King Solomon and
Prophets of the Old Testament, The Christ Jesus, his family and Disciples,
Euclid and Pythagoras, and the ancient philosophies of Egypt, Persia and
India. Indeed Masonry spans the entire
evolution of human culture. But with the
Industrial Age superstructures were now made of iron rather than stone and
Operative Masonry fell into decline, and officially came to a close by edict
during the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral at London in A.D. 1703 when
Christopher Wren, then Grand Master resolved, "That the privileges of
Masonry shall no longer be confined to Operative Masons, but be free to men of
all professions, provided they are regularly approved and initiated into the
Fraternity." The Edict was instituted four years later in 1721.
Manuscripts of Operative
Masonic Fraternities are mentioned throughout antiquity. Surviving documents
resembling what we recognize today as Speculative Craft Masonry in Britain
include among others the Regius Manuscript dating to not before A.D. 1390 and
the Matthew Cooke M.S. dating not later than the fifteenth century current
era. Both the Regius and Matthew Cooke
Manuscripts are prototypes of Masonic Ritual recognized today. Written in poetic form, they are Codes of
Moral Duties, using Euclid and Geometry in symbol, presenting the Points and
Articles for the well governed Rule of a Heavenly School in the guise of a
Philosophic Trade Guild on Earth.
In A.D. 1717, in London, after
the suppression of the first Jacobite uprising, with the resolution declared by
Christopher Wren, four Old Lodges met to reestablish Freemasonry under new
Charters. The Goose and Gridiron Ale-house, Crown Ale-house in Parker's Lane,
Apple Tree Tavern and Rummer and Grapes Tavern, with Lodges meeting at the
Apple Tree Tavern forming a Grand Lodge. "Some old Brothers met at the Apple-Tree, and having
put into the Chair the oldest Master Mason, constituted themselves a Grand
Lodge pro Tempore and forthwith revived the Quarterly Communication of the
Officers of Grand Lodges, resolved to hold the Annual Assembly and Feast, and
then to choose a Grand Master from among themselves, till they should have the
Honor of a Noble Brother at their Head."
In 1721, George Payne, being the
current Grand Master, compiled from
ancient charter documents a series of charges and regulations based on the
"Charter of York", a constitution written previously in A.D. 926 by
Edwin, the grandson of Alfred the Great, and Grand Master of the fraternity
prefaced with a history saved from the fires and pillage of the invading Danes
of Scandinavia. Payne submitted his
document to a committee of 14 containing the body of law and doctrine for use
in Lodges of England. Dr. James Anderson
a Presbyterian, (at right) born in Aberdeen, having a Master's in the liberal
Arts at Marischal College, under the direction of the committee wrote
"Anderson's Constitutions", and included a telling of the legendary
history of the Old Charges of Masonry.
It is important to note that
Operative Masonry developed over the globe throughout the millennia of time,
separating Itself from religion and politics. The New Charges making
Freemasonry more accessible to the masses however brought new challenges to the
fraternity. As with any human endeavor to exemplify the supreme perfection of
our Creator, there also is the corruption of humanity's failing when
individuals or groups develop oligarchies to elevate their egos or control
humanity under the cover of politics and religion. May we ever remember that
Freemasonry's Moral Tenets have always been Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. "It may be said that Truth is
the Column of Wisdom, whose rays penetrate and enlighten the inmost recesses of
the Lodge of society; Brotherly Love, the column of
strength, which binds us as one family in fraternal affection in the world; and
Relief, the column of Beauty, whose ornaments, more precious than the lilies or
pomegranates that adorn the pillars of the porch, are the widows tear of joy
and the orphan's prayer of gratitude." (Mackey) It is the interior and not the exterior quality that is important to
Freemasons.
_________________________________________________________
St.
Joseph Lodge No.78, Chartered October 14th 1846
An Artist's view of St.
Joseph in 1858 looking across St. Michael's Meadow Northwest
toward Wyeth Hill, the Missouri River and site of the Court House built in 1871.
toward Wyeth Hill, the Missouri River and site of the Court House built in 1871.
By the late 1720s in the newly formed colonies of America
several Masonic gatherings were reported in newspapers at Boston
Massachusetts. And Ben Franklin's
newspaper "The Pennsylvania Gazette" he not yet being a Freemason,
reported meetings of St. John's Lodge, meeting at the Tun Tavern whose records
begin in 1731. On July 30th 1733, after
Viscount Montague, issued a deputation appointing Brother Henry Price,
Provincial Grand Master of New England, a Provincial Grand Lodge in Boston
Massachusetts was formed thus beginning the building of Free and Accepted Masonic
Lodges in Colonial America. The Constitution of the United
States was only 58 years of age and the Missouri Territory was only 44 years of
age when a petition for the Dispensation to create the first Masonic Lodge in
Buchanan County was applied through Liberty Lodge No.31, Missouri, issued May
11th 1841 by R.W.B. Joseph Foster Deputy Grand Master, Secretary Protem, Grand
Lodge of Missouri U.S.A., named Katzell Lodge located in the village of Sparta.
Eli Hubbel was elected to be the first Worshipful Master
of Katzell Lodge with John Browning, Senior Warden; Simeon Kemper, Junior
Warden; R. Duncan, Treasurer; Frederick Waymore, Secretary; and J. Selsil,
Tiler. James Highly was also a charter member .
Eli Hubbel was originally a member of Wisdom Lodge located in
Massachusetts, John Browning from Liberty Lodge No.31 Missouri, Simeon Kemper
from Montgomery Lodge No.23 Kentucky, Frederick Waymore from Lipton Lodge No.33
Indiana. Also chartered with this first
Dispensation were John Edgar from Liberty Lodge No.31, Cornelius Gilliam from
the Lodge at Jefferson City, Missouri and S.K. Waymore from Lipton Lodge No.33
in Indiana. Katzell Lodge, met in
regular stated communications until a Charter was issued as Sparta Lodge No.46
by the next annual Grand Lodge proceedings October 8th 1842. The following account can be found in the
book "Old Saint Jo, Gateway To The West" by Sheridan A. Logan, ©1979
John Sublett Logan Foundation:
In 1827, there was a Trading Post along the Missouri River
at the mouth of Blacksnake Creek, owned and operated by Joseph Robidoux, who
traded with most all Native Americans in the region including the Pottawatomi,
Musquakee, Kickapoo, Iowa and Otto.
Robidoux made an arrangement with the American Fur Company a few years
before to operate a business called Blacksnake Hills, and for many years
Robidoux was the only evidence of European settlement as far North as Council
Bluffs, Iowa and South to Independence, Missouri. With a large log house surrounded by a
stockade built by Robidoux himself he conducted his business. The journal of
Richard Hayes McDonald from Kentucky wrote a description at the time. The
journal is now deposited in the Library of the Commonwealth of Virginia in
Richmond, Virginia: "From his
cousin's, Richard went to where the city of St. Joseph is now located, and
where the only occupant and owner of a business house was a Frenchman named
Robadoux [sic], (pictured below) who had lived there a number of years as an
Indian trader, and who was at that time still engaged in the occupation. He was
moving around dressed in an old, red flannel shirt, his trousers strapped
around his waist, on his head a slouched hat, and so tanned and weather-beaten that is was
difficult to tell whether he was a white man, a mulatto, or an Indian. His
establishment consisted of three log-cabins, one or more of which were filled
with furs of otter, beaver, buffalo, deer, bear, and other skins; in the other
buildings were stored provisions, trinkets, and supplies for the Indians, the
latter chiefly in whiskey, tobacco, and liquors. The old man seemed to be a
very energetic, enterprising, shrewd business manager. He was familiar with
several dialects of Indian language, and was highly respected by all the
natives who dealt with him...', 'From this trading outpost grew the city of St.
Joseph, in many respects, perhaps, the most promising city west of St. Louis
and this side of the Rocky Mountains."
In 1843 Robidoux contracted two surveyors to create
plats for a town he had proposed to build next to his outpost in the area named
Saint Michael's Meadow. This area was mentioned by Meriwether Louis, in his
journal on July 7th in the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804. Brothers Frederick W. Smith and Simeon
Kemper, both members of Sparta Lodge No.46 surveyed plats for the
settlement. Brother Frederick W.
Smith named his plat Saint Joseph after
Mr. Robidoux's Patron Saint and Simeon Kemper named his plat Robidoux.
Frederick Smith's plat was selected and was recorded at St. Louis, Missouri in
July 1843. The population at that time
was about 200. By 1845
St. Joseph was called “Queen of the Riverboat Towns” North
of St. Louis and a Dispensation was created the same year for a new Lodge to be
built on ground donated by Robidoux called DeWitt Lodge. The Dispensation was recommended by Savannah
Lodge No.71, located North in Andrew County that is still active today. In 1846 the County Seat for Buchanan 1861 is known as the year of the “Rebellion”, and the beginning of the Civil War. From the first Post Office, the Pony Express carried President Lincoln’s Inaugural Address west to Sacramento, CA., and Confederate and Union men, some of whom were Masonic brethren, battled in the streets of St. Joseph and citizens watched as the American Flag was torn from the Post Office flag pole by an angry mob.
William H. Carpenter At left, served as Worshipful Master
at St. Joseph Lodge No.78 in 1886. In
1891 he was a member of a Knights Templar excursion party which visited
important places in Germany, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, France, England and
Wales. Upon his passing in March 1916,
WB Carpenter was permanently interred at Mount Mora cemetery in St. Joseph,
Missouri.
