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SOUTH Ho! --- A Masonic Journey
Barry J. Lipson, 33, PSP, Valley of Pittsburgh
The decade of the 1860's caused much disruption in this Nation, the "cornerstone" of which had been
laid Masonically by Brother George Washington seven decades before (U.S. Capital, 1793). The Civil
War in the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction (SJ) interrupted Grand Commander Albert Pike's
refashioning of Scottish Rite Rituals. In the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (NMJ) it delayed the
"Union of 1867," the merging of the NMJ Supreme Council, established by the SJ 1n 1813 (the same
year the two Grand Lodges in England merged into the United Grand Lodge of England), with the
competing Cerneau Supreme Council in New York, which awaited its end. But, the Northern and
Southern bonds of Masonic Brotherhood had survived even this, the greatest of upheavals on American
soil in American history.
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Take the incident of December 13 1862, a typical example. At Fredericksberg, the
Confederates under Gen. Longstreet had the Federals stopped cold and pinned down in front of
Maryee's Heights. The firing stopped about 4:30 PM. and soon after a white handkerchief on a stick
was raised from one of the shell holes on the plain. The Confederates waited to see what was wanted.
The man crawled on his stomach toward the Southern lines and tumbled over the stone wall in front of
Maryee's Heights. He asked if there was a Mason there." Who would think that in the middle of such a
bloody confrontation, with each side killing and demonizing the other, thoughts of seeking aid and
solace from the enemy could have even been conceived, or that a positive response would be received?
Well, sir, a "Confederate officer stepped
forward and said that he was a Mason. The Man
replied that there were two Masons in the shell
hole and if help didn't come soon they would
bleed to death. The Confederate officer sent two
litters out to get the men, and bring them in."
One would think that Masonic obligations had
thereby been met and POW procedures would
henceforth come into play, leaving them
incarcerated for the duration, and MIA's as far
as their Northern Masonic Brethren were
concerned?
No sir! "He took them to his own tent and had a
doctor come and treat them. Both lives were
saved."
The End? Not so, they were not to be MIA's, or even POWs.: "When they were able to travel,
assuring himself they would not be future belligerents, he paroled them both and sent them home."
A true act of Brotherhood, well above the call of Masonic
duty. Yet acts like this between our Southern and Northern
Masonic Brethren "were common on the fields of war and did
a lot to retard its horrors."
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Thus, the above hand sketch by
Harrisburg artist Frank Hummel depicting a similar, but
reverse, Civil War incident at Gettysburg between Northern
and Southern Masonic Brothers, is memorialized by a Grand
Lodge Of Pennsylvania statute on the Gettysburg battlefield.
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And these deep bonds of Masonic Brotherhood between the North and South continue today into the
21
st
Century, and this is so even though the boundaries of what is North and what is South may have
shifted a bit (as a slight attempt at humor, the original title of this article was Way Down South in DC
& WV, DC being where my modern Southern journey took me even though the Northern
Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army, President Abraham Lincoln, was headquartered there, and
WV which was that part of Virginia that broke off from the Confederacy to align itself with the North).
Having had the honor of becoming acquainted with the mysteries of the Thirty-third and last Degree
of the NMJ, officially The Supreme Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors-General of the Thirty-
third and last Degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of
the United States of America (1885 Constitution), initially at its meeting in Providence, Rhode
Island, I was most curious about the corresponding mysteries at the Mother Council of the World,
the Southern Scottish Rite Jurisdiction.
The U.S. is unique. In addition to the NMJ,
headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, there
is the Mother Council or SJ, headquartered at the
House of the Temple in Washington, DC (a
distinctive monumental building), officially The
Supreme Council (Mother Council of the World)
of the Inspectors General Knights Commander
of the House of the Temple of Solomon of the
Thirty-third degree of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern
Jurisdiction of the United States of America,
formed in Charleston, South Carolina on May 31,
1801; and two Prince Hall Supreme Councils, the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry Prince Hall Affiliation Northern Jurisdiction, U.S.A., Inc, and the United Supreme
Council, 33, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Prince Hall Affiliation, Southern
Jurisdiction, USA, Inc. I have had the honor of being with the Sovereign Grand Commanders of
each of these four Supreme Councils while they were extending the bonds of Brotherly Love to each
other at NMJ and SJ Supreme Council meetings.
In furtherance of this Masonic journey, I contacted C.B. Hall, 33, then SJ Grand Minister of State
and Sovereign Grand Inspector General in West Virginia (equivalent to the Deputy for Pennsylvania
in the NMJ), who invited me to participate in Washington, DC in the then forthcoming SJ Biennial
Session and Thirty-third Degree Conferral and Annual Meeting of The Scottish Rite Research
Society; and in Charleston, West Virginia in the then forthcoming Grand Celebration of the 100
th
Anniversary of the Charleston Lodge of Perfection, the Investiture of Knights Commander of the
Court of Honour (KCCH), and the Orient-wide Reunion and Initiation of New Members where
each Degree was being performed by a different Orient of West Virginia Valley (Charleston,
Parkersburg, Morgantown, Huntington and Clarksburg), which I did.
I had previously invited C.B. to Pittsburgh when I was Sovereign Prince (a position not used in the SJ,
but hidden in the SJ traditional 32 ritual), and Commander of the Scottish Rite Valley of Pittsburgh
Legion of Honor, to fulfill my strong desire to exchange degree presentations. He was instrumental in
helping to arrange for the Valley of Charleston to exemplify in the Valley Of Pittsburgh on November
2, 2000 their SJ 14
th
Degree (with yours truly as the exemplifier). During this visit C.B. was the
recipient of the second presented Valley of Pittsburgh Legion of Honor Medallion. Then, on April 25,
2001 the Valley of Pittsburgh reciprocated by exemplifying the NMJ 29
th
Degree in Charleston, West
Virginia (and did a NMJ Degree there again several years later when John Corey 32, was Sovereign
Prince).
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If you look closely at this
photograph taken during my 100
th
Anniversary trip to Charleston, you
can see in the accompanying
photograph the Valley of Charleston
Trophy Case with at the top two of
the first edition two-sided
commemorative cups (sans the h
in Pittsburgh the second edition
having the h) commissioned by
the Valley of Charleston to
commemorate this historic exchange
of SJ and NMJ Degrees. This, 100
th
Anniversary Grand Celebration
photograph shows myself (White
Hat), C.B. Hall (Purple Hat) and
John Corey (Yellow Hat).
Speaking of Caps, compare the above
Charleston photograph of C.B. Hall and
me, with this photograph of the two of
us a little earlier in DC. Does anything
appear to be out of the ordinary? Clue,
the 33 White Cap of the NMJ, bears
the Double-Headed
Eagle Wings Down
(as that of the
Supreme Council 33 Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
of Canada - authorized in 1874 by the
Supreme Council for England & Wales
which, in turn, had been warranted in
1845 by the NMJ - bears the Double-
Headed Eagle Wings Up). But the 33
White Cap of the SJ bears the red and
gold Patriarchal Cross instead. Note, I
am also wearing a Valley of Pittsburgh
Scottish Rite Legion of Honor Medal
similar to the one presented to C.B. Hall in
Pittsburgh, and the 32 Masonic
Learning Centers Teddy Bears tie.
Though I do not know if it is unique to C.B. Halls two decade long administration of the Orient of
West Virginia, one of the real joys to the participants, and to him [and me], are his Capping
Ceremonies, both to those being invested as KCCH (Red Hats) and to those receiving the Thirty-third
Degree (White Hats). As you can see in the above picture, I was honorarily part of his Thirty-third
Degree Capping Ceremony in DC, and had the extreme pleasure of observing the KCCH Capping
Ceremony in Charleston, West Virginia. Much brotherly love was exhibited at both uplifting occasions.
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One of the highlights of my traveling South and North Ho! was the opportunity of being able to
personally share some down home Rite Development Ideas with NMJ Sovereign Grand Commander
John Wm. McNaughton, 33, the most important of which, in my opinion, for both the Northern and
Southern Jurisdictions, being the "re-packaging" of the 32nd Degree. My point is that we need to treat
elevation to the 32nd Degree with the same degree of respect, admiration and awe as it is viewed by
our Blue Lodge Brethren and the general public, or we will lose forever this worthwhile and beneficial
Blue Lodge and public perception. The bottom line is that we have to take steps to make elevation to
the 32nd Degree special, by conferring the 32nd Degree on a separate day, and with all due clat and
acclaim (and possibly somehow including the wives). And I was very heartened by the Sovereign
Grand Commanders reaction: I believe you have a great idea about the importance of the degree
itself. Some would probably say that the 32nd degree is in fact the 33rd degree for the vast majority of
our Scottish Rite members.
Heres to our ongoing rededication to the Spirit of Fredericksberg even in the most peaceful of times.
May all of our Masonic adventures be Capping experiences!
Copyright 2011 by Barry J. Lipson
1
Arturo de Hoyos, "The Union of 1867," Heredom, vol. 5:7-45 (Scottish Rite Research Society,
Washington, DC 1995).
2
Leonard H. Freeman, Masonry and The Civil War, Educational Lodge No. 1002, A.F.&A.M. of
Minnesota, Paper No. 103, February 1982.