The 1790 Liverpool pitcher decorated with an image of an Independent Boston Fusilier was one of 100 given to each member of that company by Charlestown Mason Samuel Jenks, and it is decorated with Masonic elements.
The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, which was St John's Lodge, convened originally at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in Boston, moving later to the colonial hotspot, the 1643 Green Dragon Tavern, which the lodge purchased in 1764 and used until 1818. The Green Dragon was also the unofficial headquarters of the American Revolution. Samuel Adams, Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, the Committee of Correspondence and the Sons of Liberty all met there. The participants in the Boston Tea Party set forth from the Green Dragon, and Revere set out on his midnight ride from there.
The lower floor was the tavern; an upper floor was for meetings and events for Freemasons and others; the top floor provided sleeping accommodations for travelers. While many of the leading lights of the Revolution were members of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, British soldiers occupying Boston were also among the brethren.
The tavern was marked by a large and ferocious-looking copper dragon, which had oxidized to green. When the building was torn down to make way for the widening of the street in 1828, the dragon disappeared mysteriously and the Lodge of St Andrew commissioned a sandstone replacement, which was installed in the new building in 1855. That dragon is on view in the exhibit.
"The Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts" tracks the history of American Freemasonry through the impressive collection of artifacts and documents gathered over the existence of the lodge. In 2004, the Grand Lodge and the National Heritage Museum entered into a partnership under the terms of which they would share objects and documents. As a result, some 12,000 objects came from the lodge to the museum. Another 70,000 historic pieces remain at the lodge and are yet to be cataloged. The exhibit is arranged chronologically, yet it allows each object to tell its own story.
The Masonic apron was made from an engraving by Edward Horsman in about 1814. —David Bohl photo
The objects are decorated with Masonic symbols, which are based on the tools used by stonemasons, and refer to careful construction and the analogous development of good character and morality. Such images include, but are not limited to, the all-seeing eye, the beehive, the compass and square, the serpent of astral light, pillars and the temple and the checkerboard floor, the extended hand and the bible or other sacred text. The various stonemasons' tools speak to the careful workmanship necessary to one's labors and personal, fraternal and community life.
The all-seeing eye represents the supreme being and is drawn from the ancient Hebrews and Egyptians, for whom the eye signified divine watchfulness. The beehive refers to the lodge and its precise and intricate construction, as well as to the industry within. It is used less regularly today than in the Nineteenth Century. The compass and square allude to virtue and rectitude and revelation, righteousness and redemption. The pillars signifying King Solomon's Temple indicate strength and stability and stand on three stone steps that represent the three ages: youth, manhood and old age and the corresponding degrees of masonry: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft Mason and Master Mason.
The letter "G" is an integral part of Masonic symbology and is said to have been originally a reference to geometry, key to Masonic craft, but is thought to have gained wider meaning as a reference to God.
Freemason Paul Revere made wise use of his Masonic fraternity. He produced Masonic medals and officers' jewels and the circa 1765 silver punch ladle. He also engraved and sold Masonic summonses and certificates.
A gold urn on view in the exhibition was commissioned from colonial silversmith Paul Revere by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Created in the midst of the national mourning of the death of fellow Mason George Washington, it holds a lock of the president's hair. The lodge continues to use the urn for events such as the installation of a Grand Master.
Masonic aprons have been traditionally embellished with fraternal symbols derived from the stonemason's trade. A white lambskin apron, denoting innocence, is presented to each newly raised master Mason. It is not worn because of its fragility; members instead rely on cloth aprons, also decorated with symbols. The apron itself refers to the work aprons worn by stonemasons of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
An Eighteenth Century Liverpool creamware pitcher on view is one of 100 commissioned in about 1790 by Captain Samuel Jenks, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and a Mason, and presented to the Boston Fusiliers. It is polychromed and decorated with transfer ware images of a fusilier and Masonic imagery. A border proclaims, "Success to the Independent Boston Fusiliers, Incorporated July 4th, 1787."
The ritual and symbolism of Freemasonry gave rise to fervid anti-Freemasonry sentiment and conspiracy theorists in the Nineteenth Century. Several cartoons and other images on view are published examples. What had been trade secrets, passed from stonemason to stonemason, when adopted by Freemasons, assumed the proportions of sorcery, leaving nonmembers to imagine the worst. Regalia and ceremonial objects emblazoned with Masonic symbols confounded many and outraged the uninitiated.
Early colonial Freemasons included — in addition to Grand Master Price and Revere, who was the Deputy Grand Master — John Hancock, Samuel Adams and William Dawes. Others of note were Washington and Benjamin Franklin, who served as the Grand Master of Pennsylvania; 15 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were Freemasons; of the 40 signers of the Constitution, 28 were members or had Masonic affiliation.
The Chinese Export porcelain punch bowl is decorated with Masonic symbols of columns, a square and compass and beehives.
George Washington was sworn in as president by Robert Livingston, Grand Master of the New York lodge; many of his generals were also Masons. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall was also a Mason. American presidents who were Freemasons along with Washington were James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Howard Taft, Warren Harding, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Gerald Ford. Abraham Lincoln applied for membership but withdrew the application lest it be viewed as a means of gathering votes. Lyndon Johnson received his first degree; however, his political duties prevented him from pursuing additional degrees. Ronald Reagan was an Honorary Mason
"The Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts: Celebrating 275 Years of Brotherhood" remains on view at the National Heritage Museum through October 25.
The National Heritage Museum is at 33 Marrett Road. For additional information,
www.nationalheritagemuseum.org
or 781-861-6559.
