In 1882, a Senior Warden of a Lodge passed away. He was buried in a town of some great distance from the location of his residence and Lodge. Traveling today between these two locations would take about three hours by car.
His Lodge appointed a committee and pallbearers to accompany his body to its final resting place, which involved traveling by train and wagon. The Lodge covered the expenses of this trip. The Lodge further resolved for its members to go into mourning for sixty days and the Lodge hall itself was draped in remembrance of the fallen Senior Warden for a full year. He was not a Grand Master. He was not a District Deputy Grand Master. He was simply a Master Mason that was elected to be the Senior Warden of a rural, Southern Lodge.
4 comments:
Palmetto Bug,
Thank you for the touching story. I agree, that is the foundation of Freemasonry. Though I am in a jurisdiction that is unrecognized by Mainstream Masonry, I feel an obligation to any Mason that should cross my path. Brotherhood is the bottom line, and should always be put into practice whenever the opportunity arises.
I shared this in Lodge the other night, and it's appropriate here, I think.
I was in Savannah, and visited a couple of old cemeteries. In the Jewish section of one, I noticed the large number of Masonic Stones. In Jewish tradition, when you visit a grave, you place a stone, in token of a prayer, on the tombstone. You can tell who has been visited by the number of pebbles on the tombstone.
Many of the Masonic graves had no pebbles. Of course, many were old. I gathered a pocket full of pebbles and looked for Masonic graves, and visited each of them, and placed a pebble on them, Jewish or not.
At one, where the man was noted as WM of his lodge, and his wife was a Matron in OES, as I placed a pebble, his granddaughter drove up. She thanked me for visiting her granddaddy and memorializing my visit.
Go out of your way a bit. Visit some of our Brethren who have gone on, and leave a token of your visit so others can know that we don't forget.
Palmetto Bug,
Where are you in SC? I'm passing through Eastern SC in about a week.
Gingerman: Thanks for sharing your story. It was appropriate and I'll be certain to remember it the next time I'm in a cemetary.
I'm located in the Lowcountry of SC in Hampton County - about an hour inland from Beaufort and about an hour or hour & a half from Savannah.
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