VOLUME XXIX

NUMBER 1

WR

WHEN a freemason attains high honors in the Grand Lodge, the members of the Craft are apt, from that time forward, to think of him as a dignitary wearing "the purple of our Fraternity" and lose sight of the red-blooded American who is justly proud of the honor of wearing a white apron and being classed as a Master Mason by the world at large. It is the same in political and civil life. The name of Andrew Jackson brings to the mind's eye either the American Commander at the Battle of New Orleans, or the forceful President of the United States from 1829 to 1837, who is classed among the super-men who have held that high office. Never does the name Andrew Jackson recall to us the fourteen-year-old boy, fighting in the War of the Revolution, nor the young lawyer practicing in the courts. of Tennessee, nor the popular political leader of that same state from 1790 to 1820, nor the Masonic worker attending the Lodge meetings and temporarily filling vacant stations just like ourselves.

We think it nothing out of the ordinary for a man of thirty-four years to be attending lodge meetings as a fellow-worker with us. He is a young man compared to the average Mason.

The Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee for the year 1822, page 77 (reprint) show that Andrew Jackson was elected Grand Master of

Tennessee, and regularly installed in that office on October 7, 1822, and reelected the following year in 1823. Also, at the meeting of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, held at Nashville on April 25, 1825, for the purpose of welcoming Brother the Marquis de Lafayette, Brothers Andrew Jackson and G. W. Campbell were the committee appointed to introduce the distinguished visitor. In our admiration for the Freemason who attained distinction in civil and political life, elected President of the United States as well as to the high office of Grand Master, we have lost sight of Andrew Jackson the Mason whose Masonic history covers the interesting period long prior to his election and installation as Grand Master in 1823, and long prior to his election as President of the United States in 1828, or re-election in 1832.

In what Lodge was Andrew Jackson made a Master Mason? The generally accepted belief is that he was made a Mason in Philanthropic Lodge No. 12 held at Clover Bottom, Davidson County, Tenn. This statement is made in the NEW AGE MAGAZINE for August of 1920 in the very readable article by Brother William L. Boyden.

Examining the history of Andrew Jackson's life, we find that he was born on March 15, 1767; and as he became of age on March 15, 1788, it is clear that at some time between the date of

March 15, 1788, and that of his election as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee on October 7, 1822, a period of thirty-four years, he must have received the Masonic degrees.

In the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina for the year 1805 (which Grand Lodge had then three lodges in the State of Tennessee), in the returns from Harmony Lodge No. 29 of North Carolina (No. 3 of Tennessee), located at Nashville, Andrew Jackson is returned as a member of that Lodge. At that time the Grand Lodge of North Carolina met in December, and the return of members was made out for October 31, immediately preceding. This clearly shows that Andrew Jackson was a Master Mason on October 31, 1805, and affiliated with Harmony Lodge No. 29 at Nashville.

According to the History of Freemasonry, by H. L. Stilson and W. J. Highan (1899), on page 331, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky warranted Philanthropic Lodge No. 12 at Clover Bottom,

Davidson County, Tenn., on September 18, 1805. Was it, then, possible, in the intervening fortythree days for the warrant to be forwarded from the Grand Lodge of Kentucky at Lexington to Clover Bottom, Tenn., an air line of 175 miles, the Lodge to be called and set to work, a petition be presented from Andrew Jackson and lie over for the required one month, he then receive the three degrees, dimit and petition Harmony Lodge No. 29 at Nashville for affiliation, that petition also lying over for one month was it possible, we ask, for all this to be done in the forty-three days between September 18, and October 31, 1805, on which date the returns of the Lodge were made to the Grand Lodge of North Carolina at Raleigh?

This inquiry clearly shows that Andrew Jackson was not made a Mason in Philanthropic Lodge No. 12, located at Clover Bottom, Tenn., under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky.

In the archives of the Grand Lodge

of North Carolina at Raleigh is the original transcript of minutes of Greenville Lodge, U. D., of Greenville, Tenn., dated September 5, 1801, in which it is recited:

Lodge Room, Greenville, September 5th, A.L. 5801. A.D. 1801.

Agreeable to a Dispensation from the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, directed to the Right Worshipful George W. Campbell, Master; Jenkin Whiteside, Senior Warden; John Rhea, Junior Warden, met at the house of Daniel Harrison, when, Brothers Jenkin Whiteside and John Rhea not attending, the Right Worshipful George W. Campbell, Master, proceeded to open the Lodge in due form on the first degree of Masonry under the said dispensation, when were present Brothers Daniel Kennedy, William Dickson, John Gass, John Newman and Andrew Jackson. Brother Andrew Jackson was appointed by the Worshipful, S. W. Pro Tem; Brother Daniel Kennedy, J. W. Pro Tem; Brother William Dickson as Secretary and S. D., Pro Tem; John Gass, J. D., Pro Tem, and John Newman, Tyler.

On motion of Brother A. Jackson, Resolved that Brothers Daniel Kennedy and William Dickson be appointed a committee to Prepare Bye Laws for the government of this Lodge and report the same to the next meeting.

Resolved, on motion of Brother J. Gass, that the next regular meeting of this Lodge be on the Friday after the fourth Monday in October next.

The Lodge then closed in due form.

This shows that Andrew Jackson was a Master Mason on September 5, 1801, and had been made so prior to that date.

At that time he was one of the three

Judges of the Court of Tennessee, and as the date of September 5 was Saturday, and court (according to a revisal of 1827) was held for Greene County the first Mondays of March and September, we can picture the frontier village on the eve of a semi-annual term of court; and, overshadowing all in importance were the Judges. This transcripta four-page sheet - also shows the minutes of meetings held September 19, September 29 and October 27, but in them Jackson's name is not mentioned. Evidently the business of the court required his pres

ence elsewhere, which is the reason of his absence.

The Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina for 1798, page 24, (reprinted as Appendix No. 2 in the Proceedings for 1902) sets forth, "Another dispensation constituting a Lodge in Greenville, in the County of Greenville, in the State of Tennessee," has issued from the Grand Lodge. In the proceedings of the Grand Lodge for December, 1800, it is stated, "It is ordered by the Grand Lodge that a charter be warranted and issue to the Lodge No. 41, heretofore established by dispensation in the town of Knoxville, in the State of Tennessee, directed to His Excellency John Sevier, Esquire, Governor of the State of Tennessee, Master; James Grant, Senior Warden, and George Washington Campbell, Junior Warden." The dispensation for that Lodge had been reported as having issued and the Lodge constituted, as is shown by the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge for 1799.

Also, the Proceedings of 1799 show that there was issued "dispensation to constitute a Lodge by the name of 'Read' in the camp of the Sixth United States Regiment." Summarizing what has been set forth above, it is definitely established that Andrew Jackson was a member of Harmony Lodge No. 29, in Nashville, Tenn., in 1805, and was a Master Mason as early as 1801, when he acted as Senior Warden pro tem at the time Greenville Lodge U. D. (afterwards No. 3 of Tennessee), commenced work under its dispensation.

The Lodges in which he could have taken his degrees are therefore - restricted as follows:

Harmony Lodge No. 29 of North Carolina and No. 1 of Tennessee, at Nashville, chartered in December, 1796.

Tennessee Lodge No. 41 of North Carolina and No. 2 of Tennessee, chartered December, 1800. Its warrant was outstanding when the Proceedings of December, 1799, were issued, at which time Col. William Polk was Grand Master.

Greenville Lodge No. 43 of North Carolina and No. 3 of Tennessee, which was first warranted about 1798, and again in 1800, and chartered in December, 1801.

Read Lodge, U. D., in the Sixth. United States Regiment of Infantry, warranted December, 1799. The history of this Lodge has not been traced, and it should be treated in a separate article. It is supposed to have camped in Tennessee. The regiment was mustered out, June 15, 1800.

Old Cone Lodge No. 9, Salisbury, N. C., which was in existence in 1787, . and whose charter was long since arrested.

It is possible (but hardly probable) that Andrew Jackson may have received the degrees in Old Cone Lodge No. 9 at Salisbury, where he and Judge John Louis Taylor, afterwards, for six years, Grand Master of North Carolina, read law together under Judge Spruce McKay (and later read under Colonel John Stokes, afterwards U. S. District Judge, who lived in Surry County); but this is doubtful, as he was then under age, and upon getting his lay license, moved from Salisbury to Guilford County, N. C., where he remained but a short time

and then moved to Greenville, Tenn., where he began his legal and political

career.

At the November term, 1787, of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Surry County, North Carolina, the following minute was made:

"William Cupples and Andrew Jackson, Esquires, each produced a licence from Honorable Samuel Ashe and John Williams, Esquires, two of the Judges of the Superior Court of Law and Equity, authorizing them to practice as attorneys in the several Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions within this State, with the testimonials of their having heretofore taken the necessary oaths and are admitted to practice in this Court."

In 1798, North Carolina Grand Lodge proceedings, page 16, shows the list of officers and members of "Old Cone Lodge No. 9, Salisbury," which is headed by "Wm. Cupples, Master"; and