Straight from Jim

"Straight from Jim - 2"

Straight from Jim is information that has been provided by Past Master, Jim Strait. Worshipful Jim has provided these tidbits from research he does in various books. The link title "Straight From Jim" is a play on Worshipful Brother Jims' last name, which is spelled "Strait". Keep on the lookout for future "Straight From Jim" columns. Please enjoy!

1. General George E. Pickett, who commanded the Confederate lines at Gettysburg and led the final assault, was a Freemason.

2. Col. David Crockett, former member of Congress, and well-known backwoodsman and freemason,
was captured by the forces of General Santa Ana and by him order to be executed in 1836.
Santa Ana was a Mexican Freemason!

3. Three Presidents, James Madison, James Monroe, and Thomas Jefferson, participated in the Masonic cornerstone laying of Central College at Charlottesville, Virginia on October 6, 1817.

4. Pope Pius IXM, (Giuseppe Maria Ferrero Mastai Ferretti), joined freemasonry in Santiago, Chile, in 1832. He was the secretary of the Papal Nuncio at the time.

5. The body of John Paul Jones, "Father of the American Navy" was lost for thirteen years. It was eventually discovered in the St. Louis cemetery for foreign protestants in Paris and removed to the Naval chapel in Annapolis. He was a member of St. Bernard's Lodge #122, Kirkcudbrigth, Scotland.

6. Operative Lodge #150, Aberdeen, Scotland, is composed entirely of Masons who are or have been operative stonemasons.

7. King Gustaf V Grand Master of Swedish Masons, spent his spare moments embroidering altar cloths for churches.

8. Gibraltar is the oldest Masonic District under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of England. (Note: this dated September, 1953.)

9. Massachusetts Lodges are not numbered.

10. During the years 1737-1779, two plied up and down the Eastern seaboard of North America. One was named the "Freemason" and other the "Mastermason." The "Freemason" caught fire in the harbor of Marblehead, Mas. in 1779 and sank.

11. Henry Clausen, Past Grand Master of California, narrates that a nervous Tiler in one of the Lodges in his state, when he had to announce the arrival of the Grand Master, announced the arrive of the Great Architect of the Universe. "But I knew," adds the Grand Master, "that this could not be, for I am a lawyer."

12. In answer to the question of what the DeMolay expects from Masons, DeMolay leaders at the 46th Annual Session of the International Supreme Council of the Order of DeMolay answered; "We would rather see your shiny bald heads than your shiny silver dollars." They had other sage comments, too, but this seems to be the best starting point.

13. What we get without effort, is more of a curse than a blessing. What we get out of Masonry is no exception to the rule!

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