Pythian knighthood, it history and literature; being an account of the origin and growth of the order of Knights of Pythias

Front matter

n xM

Gass.

Book.

Preface

IN the following pages we have designed to give to the student of Pythian Knighthood an outline account of the purposes, objects and aims of our Order, directing attention more especially to the salient features in its history, connected with its inception and organization, as well as its early struggles, failures, successes, and growth into what we believe to be its permanent establishment as one of the greatest Fraternal Societies of the World. It has not been considered desirable, nor have we attempted, to set forth every special act of legislation of the Supreme Lodge, in its minutest details, or to give an exhaustive history of the various Grand Jurisdictions, as the seeker after dry statistics may find these items recorded in the published proceedings of the several Supreme or Grand Lodge Sessions.

It has been our aim to deal justly with all who have had a part in the making of the history of the Order, and " with malice toward none."

We have endeavored to present the advantages and beauties of the Order, as shown by its past history, with the hope that many more "good men and true" may be attracted to our portals, who will seek and obtain admission to our Castle Halls and aid us in exemplifying and disseminating the glorious lessons taught therein. The work was undertaken at the suggestion and solicitation of others, with much hesitation and fear on our part, which, however, soon gave place to an absorbing interest, as the study and research required brought to light newer beauties and grander possibilities

VI PREFACE.

for the future of the Order of Knights of Pythias, and now, at the completion of our task, we lay aside the pen to take up the sword and wield it with greater devotion to our chivalric organization than ever before.

As the work progressed it has grown on our hands, and, despite our efforts to the contrary, has far exceeded the limits within which we expected to confine it. For this reason — and we herewith offer our apologies — it has been impossible to publish very many articles of literary merit which were kindly furnished for that portion of our book devoted to the literature of the Order, and which we have reserved with the intention of using in another work to be published in the near future. The articles we have given are sufficient, however, to show the diversified literary talent of our membership, and to produce the desire for a work that shall be devoted exclusively to that feature of our Order.

Brother Knights, we now commit this volume to your kind consideration, asking only that a brother's judgment shall be meted out to it in kindness, and if the reading of it shall lead you to a higher and better appreciation of the Knights of Pythias, we shall feel that our labor has not been in vain.

Fraternally,

JAMES R. CARNAHAN.

May i, 18880

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Portrait of James R. Carnahan, frontispiece.

Execution Scene, Facing page 44

Portrait of Justus H. Rathbone, .

Portrait of Samuel Read, . . . .

Portrait of H. C. Berry, . . . .

Portrait of S. S. Davis,

Portrait of D. B. Woodruff, . . .

Portrait of Geo. W. Lindsay, . .

Portrait of Joseph Dowdall, . . .

Portrait of John P. Linton, . . .

Portrait of John Van Valkenburg, Portrait of Howard Douglass, . .

Portrait of Gen. William Ward, Portrait of John W. Thompson, .

239 286

Chapter I

Secret Societies— Two Classes of— Antiquity of— Sought for by- Learned Men — The Promoters of Letters, Science, and Art — The Avenues by which the early Christians spread the Gospel — Have Stood the Test of Ages — The Spirit of

Chapter II

Sicily and the Grecian Period — Syracuse— The Home of Culture and Wealth — Political Condition of Syracuse — The Reign of Gelon — Syracuse as a Democracy — Dionysius, the Tyrant — How he came into Power — His Wars with the Carthaginians — Tyranny and Tyrants — Review of the Life of Dionysius . .

Chapter V

Origin of the Knights of Pythias — Declaration of Principles — Founders, Declaration of the Supreme Lodge as to — " Brief Sketch " — Affidavit of Authentication — Justus Henry Rathbone —Robert Allen Champion — Wm. Henry Burnett — David L. Burnett — Edward Sullivan Kimball 102

Chapter VI

Early History — Washington Lodge, No. 1, D. C. — Organization of Grand Lodge, D. C. — Franklin Lodge, No. 2, D. C. — Columbia Lodge, No. 3, D. C. — Potomac Lodge, No. 4, D. C. — Alexandria Lodge, No. 1, of Virginia — Grand Lodge Session,

X TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE.

1865— G. L. Officers Elected— Condition of the Order June, i865~'66 — A Struggle for Life — Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 5, D. C. — Reorganization of the Grand Lodge, D. C. — J. T. K. Plant Expelled— G. L. Sessions 1866— G. L. Officers Elected— Liberty Lodge, No. 6, Granted a Charter — Rituals to be Retained in Lodge Room — Regalia of Subordinate Lodges Adopted — G. L. Installation Work Adopted — Webster Lodge, No. 7, Charter Granted — Condition of Lodges September 30, 1866 — Amended G. L. Constitution Adopted — Lodges Instructed to do Work in Knights '' Degree " — Attendants Provided For — Banker of Subordinate Lodge — Duty of— Condition of Lodges December 31, 1866 — Grand Lodge Working Regalia — Decision on Assessments — Qualifications for Membership Defined — The Order Established in Philadelphia — Excelsior Lodge, No. 1, of Pennsylvania — Pennsylvania to be Represented in the Grand Lodge — Condition of the Order March 31, 1867 — Columbia Lodge, No. 8, of District of Columbia, Granted Charter — Friendship Lodge, No. 8, Instituted — Officers of Excelsior, No. I, of Pennsylvania, made P. C.'s — G. L. Officer's Election of 1867 — Condition of Lodges June 30, 1867 — Keystone Lodge, No. 2, of Pennsylvania, Charter Granted — Chosen Friends Lodge, No. 3, of Pennsylvania, Charter Granted 120

Chapter VII

Provisional Supreme Lodge — Grand Lodges, how instituted — Convention preparatory to Supreme Lodge — First Session Supreme Lodge, 1868 — Adjourned Session Supreme Lodge, 1868 — Address of Supreme Chancellor Samuel Read — First intimation of Higher Rank — Conclaves — Adoption of Supreme Lodge Seal, and description — Adoption of Supreme Lodge Mark, and description — Adoption of Supreme Lodge Regalia — Adoption of Ritual for Supreme Lodge — The German Ritual for Subordinate Lodges — Supreme, Grand and Subordinate Lodge Constitutions — Members of First Supreme Lodge — First Incorporation of Supreme Lodge, August, 1870 — Amended Act of Incorporation, October 5, 1875 — Amended Act of Incorporation, May, 1882 161

Chapter VIII

Principles on which the Order is Founded — Construction — Semi- Military, Patterned after the Ancient Chivalry — Ranks — Page — Esquire — Knight — Declaration of Principles — Triplicates —

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI

PAGE.

Friendship — Charity — Benevolence — Expenditures for Relief—Caution—Bravery—Examples of Hines, Reynolds, Wood, Early, Dickinson, and Woodland — The Heroes of the Indian Territory 218

Chapter IX

The Supreme Lodge 1869 to 1872 inclusive — Administration of Supreme Chancellor Read— Growth of the Order — The " Conclaves " — " Degrees " changed to " Ranks " — Translations of the Ritual — Action in regard to Establishment in Foreign Countries — New Ritual Adopted — Amplified Third — Its Author — Titles of Subordinate Lodge Officers changed — Positions and Duties of— Samuel Read, P. S. C 239

Chapter X

An Interview with the Founder — The School-boy — The Schoolmaster — In Michigan — Writing the Ritual -Establishing the Order — The Conclave — Return to the Supreme Lodge — Survivors. . , 267

CHAPTER XL

Supreme Lodge Sessions 1873-1874 — Administration of H. C. Berry as Supreme Chancellor — Growth of the Order — Barton Defalcation — Financial Embarrassment of the Supreme Lodge — Expulsion of Barton — Troubles in Pennsylvania — Amended Supreme Lodge Constitution — Titles of Supreme Lodge Officers Changed — Establishing the Order in Europe — Britannia Lodge, No. 1, of London, England — Henry Clay Berry, P. S. C 2 86

Chapter XII. 1874— 1878

Administration of Stillman S. Davis as Supreme Chancellor — Supreme Lodge Debt — Struggles and Doubts — Joseph Dowdall, Supreme Keeper of Records and Seal — Condition of the Order — Hawaiian Islands — Petitions for the Natives — Yellow Fever at Savannah, Ga. — Uniform Rank Adopted — Stillman Samuel Davis, Sketch of 307

FAGH.

Xll TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter XIII. 1878— 1880

Administration of D. B. Woodruff— Yellow Fever Epidemic 1878— Condition of the Order— Three Years of Endowment Rank — Uniform Rank Established— D. B. Woodruff, Sketch of . . . 324

Chapter XIV. 1880— 1882

Administration of S. C. George W. Lindsay — Prosperity of the Order — Grand Lodges of Arkansas and Oregon Instituted — Obituary, Joseph Dowdall, S. K. of R. and S. — William Bryce Thompson, Supreme Prelate — Hugh Latham, S. M.A. — Joseph T. K. Plant, P. S. C— Ritual Revised— Sketch of Life of George W. Lindsay, P. S. C 339

Chapter XV. 1882— 1884

Administration of John P. Linton, as Supreme Chancellor — Growth during — Legislation for Uniform and Endowment Ranks — Election of John Van Valkenburg as Supreme Chancellor . . 354

Chapter XVI

Administration of John Van Valkenburg, Supreme Chancellor — Growth of the Order — Financial Condition — Toronto Session and Reception — Major-General Added to the List of Supreme Lodge Officers— Death of P. S. C. S. S. Davis— Eulogy by S. C.Van Valkenburg — John Van Valkenburg, P. S. C, Sketch of 361

Chapter XVII. 1886— 1888

Howard Douglass, Supreme Chancellor — His Administration — Trouble in Pennsylvania — Gen. William Ward, Supreme Vice Chancellor — John W. Thompson, Supreme Outer Guard . . 374

CHAPTER XIX. The Uniform Rank 414

TABLE OF CONTENTS. Xlll

CHOICE SELECTIONS.

PAGE.

The Military Valu-a of the Uniform Rank. By John T. Thompson,

Lieut. 2d Artillery 451

Faithful Unto Death. Poem. By T. O. Winslow 464

Address at the Dedication of a Castle Hall. By M. L. Stevens, P.

G. C, of Maine 466

An Acrostic. Friendship, Charity and Benevolence 475

Response to Welcome Address, at Kokomo, Ind., July 3, 1884.

By Hon. Walter B. Richie, S. R. of Ohio 476

Pythian Poem . 480

Our Conflict and Leader. A Sermon delivered in St. Matthew's Church, Bloomington, 111. By the Very Rev. Sir Wm. T. Whitmarsh, Dean of Bloomington, and Brigade Chaplain, U. R. K. P. of Illinois 482

Chivalry. An Address delivered at the Dedication of a Castle Hall at Battle Creek, Mich., 1884. By Hon. D. F. Glidden, P. G. C. and S. R. of Michigan 492

Anniversary Address. By R. L. C. White, S. K. of R. and S . . 498

A Brother's Hand. Poem 512

Our Order ; its Aims and Objects. By Hon. Geo. W. Lindsay, P.

Hymn. Dedicated to the Knights of Pythias. By S. F. Smith . 517

Address at Pythian Banquet, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, February

9,1876. By Hon. John VanValkenburg, P. S. C 518

Pythian Knighthood; its Basis, Ends and Principles. Address delivered at Fall River, Mass., June 15, 1885. By Rev. L. V. Price, of Somerville, Mass 524

Pythian Address, at Newton, Kan., February 19, 1884. By Hon.

G. W. Holmes 536

The Uniform Rank. Poem. By Gen. Frank Parson, of Missouri 547

Address. By John A. Hinsey, P. G. C. and S. R. of Wisconsin . 548

Lieut. Frederick F. Kislingbury. Memorial Address. By William Mill Butler, Editor of The Pythian Knight 553

The Pythian Flag Up North. Poem. By William Mill Butler,

Editor of The Pythian Knight ............. 560

I

PYTHIAN KNIGHTHOOD: ITS HISTORY AND LITERATURE.

Chapter I

Secret Societies — Two Classes of — Antiquity of — Sought for by Learned Men — The Promoters of Letters, Science, and Art — The Avenues by which the early Christians spread the Gospel — Have Stood the Test of Ages — The Spirit of.

HERE is nothing new under the sun " is an old saying, and one of much truth. The adage may be applied to secret societies, for it must have been a very early period in the history of man in which they were not found. They came into existence as the natural outgrowth of the social nature of enlightened humanity. We seek companionship not from an artificial culture, but from a natural desire, and so came families, tribes, peoples, nations, banded together for companionship, for strength, for protection, for profit, for culture of mind and soul.

That we may not mislead nor be misunderstood, it may be well to understand what is the true definition of a secret society ; for while the number of these organizations is increasing with the growth of civilization, and the wants and necessities of mankind, there are those who oppose them and denounce them. This opposition comes almost wholly from the fact that the objectors do not realize fully what secret societies are, either from a legal stand-point, or from an actual or personal knowledge. They refuse to, or

i cannot, by their social life and standing, enter within the portals, and be enlightened on the subject.

Secret societies may be divided into two classes :

First, those societies whose secrecy consists in nothing more than methods by which the members may be able to recognize each other, and thus be enabled to contribute to the comfort of those who may need assistance, and aid the truly worthy, who might otherwise be left to suffering and want, and at the same time to protect those whose hearts may be sympathetic from impostors and mercenary persons, who may fear the punishment of the law too much to steal, and yet are not "too proud to beg." In this class of secret societies are taught certain lessons, doctrines, and symbols, which can only be learned or obtained after a process of initiation, and under the promise, or binding obligation, that these mysteries shall not be made known to any who have not passed through the same ordeal and instructions and in the same manner as those who have been initiated. This class of secret societies, with the exception of things here mentioned, has no further private or secret matters from the public. Their membership is published to the world in the processions and parades that are seen on our public streets every day, and in their public acts and declarations throughout the civilized world.

The second class of secret societies are those which, in addition to the secret initiations, and their private manner of recognition, add also a secret doctrine, and an entire secrecy as to the objects and aims of their association; the membership is concealed, the times and places of meeting are kept from the knowledge of all who have not entered into these dark and mysterious bodies.

These secret societies of the second class find no avowed advocates or defenders to-day among law abiding and loyal subjects in any civilized and enlightened country. In the first-named class are found all of the great body of those moral and religious and benevolent secret societies that have come down to us from the early morning of civilization and culture of mankind, or have sprung up from the higher civilization of a more recent date, or have found their birth through the patriotism or philanthropy that finds its highest joy in ministering to the wants of a brother.

These societies seek to enlist the noblest of humanity in their ranks. To this end their times and places of meeting are advertised by magnificent structures. Brick and stone and marble are gathered, and the brightest architectural talent is employed in their arrangement and combination, until the building stands complete in its perfect and pleasing shape to attract the attention and thought and desires of men to learn the inner mysteries of an organization that only proclaims ' ' Peace on earth, and good will to men." Such, too, are the modern as well as the ancient secret societies that have guarded their portals by secret signs and signals, only that their social enjoyment, which is one of the divine gifts to man, may be more fully developed into a purer and more perfect system, without the intrusion into their midst of those who may be so gross in nature and disposition that they would cast a cloud over the otherwise brightness of a social gathering, or mar the pleasure of those whose sympathies are in accord each with the other. These, too, look well to that system of benevolence, which is so far-reaching in its aims and purposes that it stretches out its arms to carry the trembling orphan, dries the tears of the widow, supports the tottering steps of the aged, nurses the sick, smooths the way of the dying, and buries the dead, and keeps alive only the good words and deeds of those who have passed beyond the river and rest on the other side. Such societies are secret only in their signs and in the lodge room. Otherwise, and in so far as the fruits that result from the secret meetings, either by day or by night, in practical exemplification of the tenets and doctrines taught and enforced by obligations or vows about the altar of the lodge or castle hall, these societies are as open and as easy to be observed of all men as the sun at midday. "By their fruits ye shall know them;" fruits that are gathered in a full and abundant harvest.

Secret societies of the second class are such as first sprang up in the Middle Ages, formed for absolutely secret purposes, and, in so far as their designs and purposes have become known, were for unlawful objects and aims, and against the rights of man, and not for his protection and defense, as in the first class of secret societies. The second class, where it has been revealed by subsequent events, was formed for the overthrow of thrones and nations and peoples. The first class has ever taught and proclaimed loyalty to the government under which its votaries found a home. The records of the world show that the second class has found its greatest enjoyment in the torturing of humanity, the groans, the cries, the blood of the oppressed. The societies of the first class have found their chiefest joy, their greatest strength, in relieving suffering and want, in lightening the burdens of the oppressed, in prolonging life instead of shortening it, in lifting men up and not pulling them down, and thus each member, one with the other, finding his greatest ambition and pleasure in striving which shall best work and best serve; and so working and striving they have made the world the brighter, mankind all the happier, and they themselves better by their acts and living.

So those of us who are members of these modern as well as older secret societies, say to those who are not of us, answer the question and answer it truthfully : are there not two classes of secret societies, as here defined ; and if we are classed with the first, as we claim to be, then where is the sin; and if the fruits be good and are "for the healing of the nations," as is found in every day's experience, then why not cease condemning, and join in the good work?

These societies of the first class have been tried by all the standards of the world, as men and nations try and test the affairs of men, that is, by what is done for man's betterment and purification, and it has been pronounced "good." And thus will the verdict of the mighty jury stand until time shall be no more.

The Rev. DeWitt Talmage, D. D. , certainly one of the greatest divines of this age, on this question of secret societies says: "But I was talking about secret societies. There isn't a day but the question is asked : 'Are the societies which do their work with closed doors, and admit their members by passwords, and who give each other the secret grip, right or wrong ? ' It all depends whether the object for which they meet is good or bad, and whether they propose to meet the end by lawful or unlawful means. If they come together for purposes of revelry and wassail, or to plot mischief to the state, then with emphasis I say ' No, they are not right. ' But if they gather together for the protection of a craft, for the reclamation of inebriates, for the advancement of art and literature, or as mutual benefit societies, to take care of orphans and widows, or to help support men who, through accident or sickness, are no longer able to earn a livelihood, then just as emphatically I say 'Yes.'

1 ' There are secret societies centuries old in this land and in other lands. They have been very largely denounced as demoralizing institutions ; but I have hundreds of friends who belong to them who are consecrated men, pillars in churches, examples of piety and virtue. My common sense tells me that those men would not belong to a bad institution. Those are the men I would like to have for my executors, if I am so fortunate as to leave anything for my household when I die. They are the men who I would like to have carry me out to my last resting place when my work is done. They are the men who would be the first to put their foot on anything like iniquity, and I must, as a common sense man, take their testimony in regard to certain institutions rather than the testimony of those who, having been sworn into certain societies, by their attack of them afterward, prove themselves to be perjurers.

' ' Whose testimony shall I take as a common sense man, standing from the outside ? One of the great secret societies that has been largely condemned during the past few years, in 1883, in this country, gave $1,490,000 to take care of the sick. There are other secret societies which have for their foundation good citizenship and the Bible. Some of them have poured a heaven of sunshine and benediction into the houses of the suffering and the jDOor.

"Of course, there are secret societies and secret societies ; but here's a test for them : ' By their fruits ye shall know them. ' A bad society makes bad men ; a good society makes good men. A bad man will not stay in a good society ; a good man will not in a bad society. That is common sense as well as gospel. In most of the secret societies character is the test. The applicant must be a man of good repute. He must possess the best elements of citizenship. Men are social beings. To cry out against it is to cry out against something divinely appointed. Men are by nature gregarious."

The secret societies were the first great schools for the arts and sciences, and in them were taught the principles of architecture. This was especially true among the Chaldeans, the Ethiopians, and the Egyptians. The youth entrusted to their care were taught the mysteries of religion of that day, and whether true or false, they were made the best citizens of their times; but they were required to give their greatest time to architectural designs, and from out the minds of these men came those magnificent temples and palaces, whose ruins alone are sufficient to put to shame the feeble efforts of the artisans of modern days.

HISTORY AND LITERATURE. J

It was from these men, who had gained their great knowledge in the secret sessions of their brotherhoods, came the kings, the statesmen, the warriors of ancient Egypt ; it was from their skill and by their genius that the land of the Pharaohs yet speaks to-day. It was this class of men that drew away from their homes in search of "more light" the renowned and illustrious men of ancient Greece— her law-givers, her philosophers, her statesmen, her poets, her musicians and historians. Thither went Solon, Pythagoras, Orpheus, Plato, Herodotus, JLycurgus, and others, that they might take upon themselves the vows and be initiated into the mysteries.

These mysteries were passed from father to son, and to those novitiates who were brought in and down from the Egyptian era to the Greeks and the Romans. To the members of these fraternities was given the exclusive building of the temples, and they by law were made a privileged class, free from the burdens of taxation. They had their appointed places of meeting, and at these places they received the candidates for admission into their ranks, and were bound to one another by oath to afford to each other all needed assistance and support. They had their signs of recognition, and their symbols which were to illustrate the principles and doctrines taught. These organizations, fraternities, spread from Rome into the surrounding nations, everywhere carrying with them the arts and sciences, and in that way strengthening each separate people, whether in Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, or Britain. They were the aggressive agents of a higher and better civilization. They went with Roman legions in their campaigns. They mapped out the lines of road and superintended their construction ; their designs were put into execution in the bridges that spanned the rivers, and they directed and superintended their construction. Wherever they went they carried the higher arts and civilization of the Roman Empire, carrying into nations, with the sword as their protector, the arts, the sciences, and civil law. In the British Isles they found a lodgment early in the Christian era, and here they founded towns and cities.

It was afterward that the early Christian missionaries found their way into these countries through the lodges of these fraternities, and under their care and protection that the gospel was first preached in Britain, and was preserved in that country when in all others it seemed to have gone out in darkness.

It was through these fraternities that the cities were rebuilt after the invasion of the Danes in the ninth century. But why add further words? The* history of the world has been written by these fraternities. Their cultivation of the arts and sciences, the fostering care given by them to letters and literature, the protection vouchsafed by them to the early Christians, has transformed the world from a wild waste to one of beauty, comfort, and joy.

So then, as the friend and defender, the founder and propagator of the arts and the sciences, the supporter of the Christian believer, and the preserver of Christianity, the fraternities, secret societies, are good.

Let us apply another test, and try secret societies from that stand-point. "Time proves all things." By this test we, who are friends and members of secret societies, are willing that they shall be tried. By this trial He who "spake as never man spake" taught the multitudes that gathered on the plains and mountain sides, by the rivers and on the shores of the lakes of Judea, listening to his words of wisdom as He advised them, to prove all things whether they were true or false, human or divine, the trial by long life, permanency. And so we now challenge those who find fault, who criticise, who denounce secret societies as immoral and unholy in their tendencies, and we say to them if they be not of God, for good, why is it that through all the years of persecution and of trial by fire and sword, by scourgings and torturings, by burnings and death, they have not been everlastingly destroyed and blotted out of existence ? Why is it that from the days of Zoroaster, 2000 B. C, these secret societies have lived and flourished ? True, their votaries were driven from their homes, and were forced to flee to the mountains and dens and caves of the earth, but they came forth after each period of persecution only to take a firmer hold on the hearts of men.

I think we may find that one great cause for the early establishment of secret societies among men was and is the inherent belief in a higher power than man, the spiritual striving for a higher and purer life. So we find the ancient secret societies were formed for moral and religious training ; such were what is known as the ' ■ Ancient Mysteries, " whose object was, by their initiations to cultivate a purer worship than the popular one. Each of those organizations or bodies, whether gathered about Pythagoras or Plato, found a God to worship ; not one of their own class, nor fashioned by human hands, but one who to them was King of Kings and Lord of Lords. A faith in a God whom they believed to be endowed with omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence, was the central point in all their universe of thought and desire. Such were the schools — societies of the old philosophers. Antedating the Jewish religion, the Supreme Being that was made the central figure in the teaching of Zoroaster was identical with the Jewish idea or conception of Jehovah. He is called the " Creator of the earthly and spiritual life, the Lord of the whole universe, at whose hands are all the creatures." They taught that " He is wisdom and intellect ; the light itself and the source of light ; the rewarder of the virtuous, and the punisher of the wicked." These societies, long before Judaism had its birth, taught the idea of a future life and the immortality of the soul. Here too was first taught the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and an eternal existence in a heaven or a hell. The