Massachusetts Masons To Rededicate Bunker Hill Monument June 16th

Photo: National Parks Service

by Christopher Hodapp

As the 250th anniversary (the Semiquincentennial, in case you were wondering) of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution gets underway this year, Boston-area Freemasons and the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts A.F.&A.M. will take part in a rededication of the monument marking the Battle of Bunker Hill at Charlestown next Monday, June 16th.

From the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge website yesterday:

On Monday, June 16, Charlestown will become the center of national remembrance as the Bunker Hill Monument Association leads a full-day commemoration marking the 200th anniversary of the laying of the Bunker Hill Monument’s cornerstone and the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Titled “Two Centuries of Glory,” the event will blend pageantry, history, and patriotism. The day begins with a ceremonial procession at 9:30 AM from the Charlestown Navy Yard, featuring more than 500 participants — Freemasons in full regalia, veterans, military groups, civic leaders, and historical reenactors — retracing the symbolic path toward the monument.

At 10:00 AM, a traditional Masonic cornerstone-laying ritual will take place at the base of the Bunker Hill Monument, replicating the original 1825 ceremony that drew thousands and helped define the commemorative landscape of early America. Attendees will witness stirring musical tributes form 20 musicians and historical readings, including portrayals of Daniel Webster and the Marquis de Lafayette — key figures in the monument’s founding.

The celebration continues in the evening at 6:00 PM at the Old South Meeting House with “It Has Begun!” — A Grand Monumental Celebration. This culminating event will include authentic spirited toasts each followed by a lively interpretation form the Dee Orchestra and Chorus of the orginal odes and songs that 60,000 people heard in 1825. Lafayette’s 1825 tribute to freedom and liberty, read aloud once more in the very city where American independence first found its voice will be followed by the Marseillaise and the Star Spangled Banner.

Presented by the Bunker Hill Monument Association in collaboration with Boston National Historical Park, The Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, Revolutionary Spaces, the American Friends of Lafayette, and additional partners, the day promises to be a fitting tribute to two centuries of American memory and the enduring legacy of Bunker Hill.

For details about the Grand Lodge's involvement and for contact information, visit the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts event page HERE.

Photo: Steven Markos

Unfortunately, the article doesn't explain just how much the Freemasons in the Boston area really had to do with the battle and with the erection of the monument itself a century ago, in 1825. Dr. Joseph Warren was the Master of St. Andrews Lodge and Provincial Grand Master under the Grand Lodge of Scotland (St. Andrews originally started out as a completely independent, un-chartered lodge of its own, but finally took enough flak over it that they obtained a charter from the GL of Scotland to give itself more legitimacy.) Warren died leading revolutionary troops against the English on Breeds Hill. After the revolution, King Solomon Lodge purchased the land in 1783 and erected a monument to Warren and the other Masons who died there with him during that desperate fight. 

To prepare for the 50th anniversary of the battle, the city of Charlestown decided that a more impressive monument needed to be constructed. In 1823, King Solomon Lodge donated their property to the newly-formed Bunker Hill Monument Association, with the provision that any future monument had to preserve 'some trace of its former existence.' 

Photo: National Parks Service

The Association did just that, and built a replica of the original Masonic monument inside the building adjacent to the present obelisk. Today, visitors can see a beautiful marble sculpture of WB Warren, and his Masonic apron is also on display there.

Photo: Sarah Oliver/flickr

When the official dedication of the cornerstone was done in 1825, it coincided with the visit of Brother Maj. General LaFayette on his nationwide tour. He symbolically laid the cornerstone, and Brother Senator Daniel Webster gave the address to the crowd. In fact, Webster was still alive in 1843 when the monument was finally completed, and he spoke again at that ceremony. At that time, the country was still in the final vestiges of its anti-Masonic period, and the Masons chose not to take an official role at the event.

LaFayette's grave in Paris (Photo: Parisology)

One final connection to Lafayette was that he took a box of soil from Bunker Hill back home to France, which he had spread over his grave in Paris upon his death. The General wanted to be buried on both French and American ground, and the flags of both nations have flown over his resting place ever since 1834.

Local ABC station WCVB-TV in Boston put together a great feature on the monument and the Masonic involvement HERE.

Read the story of the Monument and the Freemasons on the National Parks Service site HERE.

And to keep with the many activities and events being planned as part of the Semiquincentennial (I'll never get used to THAT one) celebrations over the next two years, visit the America 250 website.

NOTE: In case you're wondering, Massachusetts and Hawaii are the only two U.S. grand lodges that do not number their lodges. Massachusetts did it because of the confusion immediately after the Revolution caused by the formation of multiple competing grand lodge bodies in that state. (By 1784, there were two competing grand lodges, plus two completely independent upstart lodges, PLUS Prince Hall's African Lodge No. 459, which had just been issued its own charter from the Grand Lodge of England/Moderns.) 

Once they finally all settled down, buried the hatchet, and merged into one single Grand Lodge of Massachusetts (except for African Lodge), ego arguments began to fly over whose lodge was oldest, which No. 1s should really be THE No. 1, etc. King Solomon Lodge was the 9th oldest lodge in the state, but that number is not assigned to them or anyone else there.

And Hawaii doesn't number theirs because their first lodges were originally charted without numbers by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and they've followed that practice ever since.