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St. Joseph Lodge No.78 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons

605 Robidoux Street, St. Joseph, MO

OPEN LODGE NIGHT THE PUBLIC IS WELCOME

TUESDAY MAY 17th 2011 Refreshments Served At 6:30PM Presentation Will Begin at 7:00PM

Based On Dan Brown's Best Selling Novel.

Interpreting The Lost Symbol With Lecture by RWB Douglas Reece District Deputy Grand Lecturer

7th Masonic District of Missouri

A documentary that takes a

closer look at Dan Brown's

novel and motion picture

"The Lost Symbol",

including lesser-known

historical facts about

George Washington, our

Nation's Founding Fathers,

Washington D.C. and the

history of Freemasonry.

For more information contact:

RWB Dennis R. Bonjour, (816) 262-1258

This Issue Is Dedicated To Our Beloved Brother

RWB Paul Hunt

� In Memoriam �

Recently Departed Brethren of St. Joseph Lodge No.78

Wm E. Hurst Jr., 9 Jan 2009 Raymond K. Alt, 11 Jan 2009 Mickey R. Gill Sr., 8 Feb 2009

Ben Rich, 27 May 2009 Charles W. Petitt, 13 Aug. 2009 Gilbert E. Vogel, 11 Sept. 2009

Henry C. Kirschner, 28 Nov. 2009 Darrell W. Casey, 20 Dec. 2009 Harold W. Cole, 28 Dec. 2009

Guy D. Saxton, 12 Jan. 2010 Harold E. Schaeffer, 21 Jan. 2010

Leo Shanks, 22 Feb. 2010 Steven F. McGuire, 19 Mar. 2010

Elmer E. Bosley, 20 Mar. 2010 LeRoy R. Walker, 20 Mar. 2010 Kenneth H. Hawk, 4 Nov. 2010

WB. Jerry L. Burris Jr., 9 Jan. 2011 J. Bruce Clark, 20 Feb. 2011

2007 King Solomon's Passport Contest Winner Continues To Travel

If you have regularly attended Lodge meetings in Missouri chances are you have sat with Br. D. Brian Carroll, winner of the Missouri Grand Lodge King Solomon's Award in 2007. And chances are you may know Br Carroll who has visited over 200 Lodges throughout the U.S., Canada, Asia, Africa and Europe. A Millwright by profession repairing turbines at Power Plants, Br Carroll says his travels to foreign lands have opened opportunities

not only to visit some of the most ornate Masonic Lodges in the world but he has met some of the greatest and helpful Masons one could meet. His favorite Lodge to visit is Yorktown Lodge No.1154 where WB Frank Rendina, current Ass. Commissioner of New York City is a member. Dressed in tuxedos for Lodge meetings, "They take their Ritual very seriously. It is in the Ritual

where we learn what Freemasonry is about", says Br. Carroll. After returning from one meeting Br Carroll was asked by co-associates at work, "Did they show you where the treasure is?" (Referring to the motion picture National Treasure). "Well I had to tell them, I have seen the treasures. The treasures lie within all the Masonic Lodges. The treasures are not all the material items, not all of the marble columns, fancy woodwork, and fantastic architecture that one can see all over the country. The true treasures are us. Our charity and friendships. Freemasons, are the people that can make it happen, the ones we can count on and trust. The true treasure is in every Master Mason's heart. I can say that in all the places I have been and seen I have not met one Master Mason that wasn't friendly, didn't have a heart of gold. And in today's society it is hard to find people like us. I only wish more people could experience what I have experienced in my travels."

Br Carroll's travels in the U.S. have taken him not only to many of the Lodges in his home state of Missouri but also to Lodges in Texas, Michigan, California, Ohio, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Illinois, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Indiana. He has toured many of the Grand Lodges. One recent trip took him to Buenos Aires Argentina and a meeting with the Grand Secretary of Foreign Relations, Alejo Neyelof, in February of 2011 where he was given a tour of the Grand Lodge Hall. Since his work schedule does not always allow him the flexibility to be free during the day or on Lodge meeting nights, Br Carroll says when making contact with members of Lodges in cities where he visits they are always ready to open their Lodges to visiting Masons for tours.

Pictured is the interior Grand Lodge Hall at Buenos Aires Argentina

Br D. Brian Carroll was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in January of 2007. "The Lodges I have seen, the histories I have heard, and the friends I have made along the way are priceless. It is great to see how all the other states conduct their Lodge meetings." Br Carroll told me, "I have seen some Lodges that pack the balconies for meetings and other Lodges where there are hardly enough to open their Lodge." Perhaps, future King Solomon's Passport Contests could help stimulate Lodge membership in Lodges suffering low attendance. Say what you?

Operative to Speculative

An Evolution of Freemasonry From Ancient to Modern Times

asons, historians and theological critics alike wrestle with the question how Masonry as we know it today came into being. Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry,

describes a group called “Culdees”, Christian priests distinguished for their pure and simple apostolic religion. The Culdees trace their traditions and teachings long before Abraham the first Patriarch of Israel, and Pythagoras of Samos, but in the current Age originating when Joseph of Arimathea and the Apostle John traveled to Britain from Israel around A.D. 63, and there introduced Christianity to the Gaelic speaking people. The word Culdee is an Anglicization of the word "Céili Dé" meaning, client/companion of God. To the Céili Dé, the Christ path is rooted in a contemplative search for the Divine Reality Within, with deep reverence for the creations of God, leading toward Christ Consciousness fulfilled in unconditional love.

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.

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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 word "carpenter" in Hebrew is Tekton meaning construction worker or stone cutter. 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." 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.

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 County was relocated from Sparta to Saint Joseph and a Charter was granted at the Grand Lodge Annual Communication for St. Joseph Lodge No.78 October 14th 1846. Sinclair K. Miller (at left) its first Worshipful Master; Simeon Kemper, Senior Warden and James

Highley, Junior Warden. Within the first year Samuel E. Love would be the Lodge's first Secretary. Although Joseph Robidoux was not known to be a Freemason, one of his six sons Felix was a charter member of St. Joseph's first Masonic Lodge. William

R. Penick, (shown at left) Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.78 in 1858, was the 21st Grand Master of Missouri in 1861.

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. R.W.B. Penick entered the Union Army in 1862 as a Colonel in the 2nd Regiment, Missouri Militia and wrote his address to the Annual Grand Lodge Communication from the field. Such is a history of Masonry and its travel to the town of St. Joseph, Missouri in the United States of America. Freemasons, some being from the same Lodges separated to both sides of the fence during the American Civil War. One such Brother was RWB William H. Carpenter. Brother Carpenter enlisted in the Confederate army at the outbreak of the war and enlisted in

Company H. First Missouri Cavalry under Col. Elijah Gates. Carpenter participated in the battle of Pea Ridge, Ark. and after returning the next year engaged in battle at Baker's Creek, Champion Hill and Black River, and was engaged in the siege of Vicksburg and the battle of Kenesaw Mountain where General Polk was killed. At the battle of Franklin he was wounded with grapeshot and recovered in a hospital as a prisoner for six months. His regiment surrendered in April 1865.

William H. Carpenter 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.

WB William H. Carpenter shown at left.

The Parting Shot

From the Front, RWBs Theodor "Ted" Pixaurau, Mel White, Jim Brown, Dennis Vogel far left and Virgil Grossman far right.

Just A Little Lodge Room George B. Staff

Just a little Lodge-room, but a mighty force for good, With its loyal band of Brothers, Learning more of Brotherhood. Striving, stumbling, but progressing down a pathway of the right; Just a humble bunch of plain folks, reaching, seeking for the Light.

Just a quiet little Lodge room, how it stirs the heart and soul, With thrill of great endeavor, toward a high and common goal.

With each pledge of faith and courage, to maintain the forward fight; On the road that leads them onward, even onward to the Light.

We Welcome Our New Brothers Recently Raised

Brian W. Loe, Jul. 2008 Thomas C. Mangos, Jul. 2008 Rudy M. Armes, Oct. 2008 Robert S. Bledsoe, Mar. 2009 LeRoy H. Maxwell, Apr. 1009 Nighram M. Johnson, Jul. 2009 Marc M. Pournazari, Jul 2009 Richard L. Phillips, Aug. 2009 Junichiro Ichikawa, Mar. 2010 Thomas M. Curtin, Apr. 2010 Wayne R. Welch, Sept. 2010 John A. Fulkerson, Sept. 2010 David J. Hawkinson, Nov. 2010 David W. Standiford, Jan. 2011 Michael T. Olinger, Mar. 2011 Christopher Olinger, Mar. 2011

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