A Consignment of Tea December 16th, 1773

By 1770 British troops stationed in Boston were uniformly resented by the public, and the 29th and 64th Regiments were in for special scorn. Street fights were common, and the city was in an ugly mood. Yet, the records of the Freemsason-owned Green Dragon Tavern, ground-zero for the most notorious of Boston’s rabble-rousers, show that they rented their meeting room to military lodges from both the hated 29th and 64th regiments of the British Army, and even cooperated with the Masonic troops when they applied to the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a charter. (The lodge purchased the tavern in 1764).

For years, the saying was that if you were in Boston's Green Dragon Tavern and ordered tea, you were a Tory. If you ordered coffee, you were a Patriot. This was a tough sacrifice, tougher than it sounds. The Colonists loved their tea, as syrupy sweet as they could make it, and it was hard to give it up for a mere political principle.

Boston’s Green Dragon Tavern was a popular public house with the largest private meeting room in town, and many organizations connected with the early days of the revolution made use of its facilities. The North End Caucus, the Selectmen, the Long Room Club, the Loyal Nine, the Committees of Correspondence, and the Sons of Liberty were all groups engaged in various subversive activities in and around Boston. It was in this tavern that the Boston Tea Party was undoubtedly planned, and with plenty of men who shared membership in St. Andrew’s Lodge.

In 1770, the Crown finally responded to the shrieking from British merchants who were losing their shirts from the trade boycott in the Colonies, and repealed all but the Tea Tax. Tea ranked fourth among all of Britain’s exports to the Colonies, in spite of the fact that three fourths of the 1.2 million pounds per year of it Americans drank were illegally smuggled in from the Dutch. The tax on tea was a piddling one, but when Parliament had reluctantly repealed the rest of the taxes on the Colonies, King George III had insisted the tea tax remain, as proof that the Crown still had the right to tax its colonial citizens. Americans didn’t happen to agree. Benjamin Franklin, in London to plead the case for the Colonies, made no headway.

On November 29th, 1773, the tea ship Dartmouth arrived in Boston. Attendees at a Town Meeting declared that they would never allow the tea to come ashore, but the Admiral of the British Navy announced he’d sink any ship loaded with tea that tried to leave the harbor without unloading it first. The Sons of Liberty sent guards to stand on the wharf to make sure the tea stayed on the ships. In response, the governor called out his Cadet Corps, and gave their colonel orders to keep peace at the wharf. Unfortunately for the governor and the Customs Office, the colonel of the Cadet Corps was St. Andrew’s member John Hancock, so there probably wasn’t a lot of peacekeeping to be in the offing. But the Sons of Liberty were in a bind, and the clock was ticking. The rules were that cargo had to be cleared by customs within twenty days, or it could be confiscated by the Crown revenue officers and distributed.

On the 15th of December, Grand Master of North America for the Moderns, John Rowe, and Grand Master of North America for the Ancients, Dr. Joseph Warren, met to discuss something other than a disagreement over Masonic rituals. Rowe owned one of the tea ships in the harbor, and Warren was a powerful ringleader in several Revolutionary organizations. Both men agreed that the Governor needed to act fast to avoid the potential danger to ships, cargo or people. Warren knew what was coming, even if Rowe did not.

On the last day of the Customs deadline, Brother John Hancock and Grand Master Rowe, along with the owner of the tea ship Dartmouth, met to convince the governor to step in and find some kind of compromise, but to no avail. The ships were not going to leave Boston Harbor without unloading the tea and paying the tax.

Brother Rowe’s nephew John attended the Boston Town Meeting that night and wondered, to the amusement of the crowd, whether tea would mix properly in salt water. The Dartmouth’s owner arrived at the meeting and reported the results of the day’s meeting with the governor. Seven thousand Bostonians surrounded the Old South Meeting House to hear the news. At the same time, almost one hundred badly disguised Mohawk Indian imposters gathered at Benjamin Edes’ print shop, waiting for Samuel Adams’ signal to come from the Town Meeting.

At last, Adams stood and said, “This meeting can do nothing further to save the country.” The word was passed to the street, and the “Indians” made for the harbor. Thousands of spectators made their way to the wharf and watched quietly as the raiders boarded three ships and sent 342 boxes of tea into the sea. The crews of the ships stayed below decks and did not put up a fight, and Governor Hutchinson’s Cadet Corps moved away from the wharf. The British ships did nothing to stop the raid – a sixty-gun warship was within easy range – but its commanding officer, Admiral John Montague, watched the whole operation from his nearby home.

When the task was completed, the men shook their shoes out over the side of the ships to dump out any possible incriminating tea leaves. They then swept off the decks, and made each ship’s first mate attest that only tea had been destroyed. As the weary “Indians” marched up the street, they passed the open window of Admiral Montague, who yelled down at them, "Well boys, you have had a fine, pleasant evening for your Indian caper, haven't you? But mind, you have got to pay the fiddler yet!"

Three months later, Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill, closing the harbor until somebody paid back the value of the destroyed tea, £9,659 and 6 shillings, just to be annoyingly precise about it, plus the lost duty on it. Not everyone was so pleased with the actions of the Sons of Liberty. In London, Ben Franklin recommended Boston pay for the cargo, but got little support. It is said he even offered to pay for it himself.

The original Green Dragon Tavern, known for many years as the Freemason Arms, was demolished in 1854. Boston's current current Green Dragon Tavern is at 11 Marshall Street in Boston's North End, despite its lofty historical claims, it is not the original.

(excerpted from Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington DC)

PGM Fred Parris of Prince Hall GL of New York Murdered

M:.W:. Past Grand Master Fred D. Parris 33° of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York was murdered on Sunday, December 12th in Barbados. Brother Parris was 90 years old, and was found stabbed to death on Brighton Beach, St. Michael, Barbados.

He served as a director of New York's Harlem Hospital for 25 years, and was elected as Grand Master in 1995. He lived in the U.S. for 35 years. Parris was the son of the first black captain of police in Barbados, and he retired back to the island ten years ago.

From Nationnews.com:

Preliminary investigations into the death of 90-year-old Fred Parris have ruled out robbery, and police sources have indicated the Stanmore Crescent, Black Rock, St Michael senior citizen received several stab wounds about the body, including to the neck, stomach and back.

Parris’ body was found about 5:30 a.m. lying in a small track leading to the popular beach. He was dressed in a short bathing pants and shirt.

Distraught family members who gathered at the scene shortly after the incident reckoned their loved one might have lost his life because he witnessed some sort of illegal activity in the area.

Nicholas Harrison, one of Parris’ nephews, said he could see no other motive for his uncle’s killing, since he (Parris) was carrying no personal possessions when he met his death.

“Going to the beach was an every morning passion for my uncle, except on Sundays when he would go to church,” Harrison said.

He added that Parris did not even wear a watch while going for his daily sea bath and noted that he (Parris) even hid his house keys outside his home before going to the beach.

Brother Parris would have turned 91 in January. His death was untimely, and his brethren mourn.

Verdict in Haas vs. Grand Lodge of West Virginia AF&AM

Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Carrie Webster ruled on Tuesday that the Grand Lodge of West Virginia AF&AM violated its own internal rules in the manner in which PGM Frank Haas was expelled without a Masonic trial. However, today the jury awarded NO remedy or damages on the breach of contract. The upshot: Grand Lodge was wrong to expel Haas in the manner it did, but there are no legal penalties of any kind against them for breaking those internal rules.

Haas was not reinstated as a Mason by the Court. His lifetime membership in West Virginia remains forfeited.

Haas was made a Mason on April 17th in Steubenville Lodge No. 45 in Ohio, where he has since been installed as Senior Deacon. As a result of that action, the Grand Lodge of West Virginia has unrecognized the Grand Lodge of Ohio, and West Virginia Masons risk expulsion by visiting Ohio lodges.

UPDATE:
See the article Jury sides with Grand Lodge in Mason expulsion case in the Charleston Gazette.

Also Jury finds Masons not guilty in case in The Charleston daily Mail.

Media Watch: Haas vs. Grand Lodge of West Virginia

This entry will be updated with ongoing press reports in the civil trial between the Grand Lodge of West Virginia AF&AM and expelled Past Grand Master Frank Haas.

---

12/3/2010
Jury to be selected in Masonic law case
This extensive story gives a recap of the background of the case so far.

---

12/6/2010
Member of Masons says he was wrongly expelled
Testimony began today in Haas vs. GL of WV AF&AM

---

12/7/2010
Testimony describes tensions within W.Va. Masons
A Kanawha County jury heard more testimony Tuesday about how an internal struggle within the West Virginia branch of the Masons led to the sudden expulsion of two longtime members.

---

12/8/2010
Expelled Masons leader says meeting was worst time of his life
A former "Most Worshipful Grand Master" of Masons in West Virginia told a Kanawha jury that the meeting during which he was unexpectedly expelled from the organization was the worst 45 minutes of his life.

---

12/9/2010
Former Masonic grand master denies allegations of racism
A former grand master of the West Virginia branch of the Masons said Thursday in Kanawha Circuit Court that any allegation or insinuation of racism within the organization is "ridiculous." "[That suggestion] makes me feel disgusted," said Charles F. Coleman II, who served as grand master of the state's Grand Lodge between October 2006 and October 2007.

[snip]

On Wednesday, defense lawyers asked Judge Carrie Webster to dismiss Haas' lawsuit based on the state Supreme Court's recent ruling that the state Secondary School Activities Commission, as a private, voluntary organization, had the right to enforce its own rules as it sees fit. The Supreme Court's decision Tuesday reversed Webster, who had granted a temporary restraining order and injunction against the SSAC to prevent it from enforcing suspensions against four South Charleston football players.

The Masons, similar to the SSAC, are a private organization, and with no public policy at issue, how they enforce their own laws should not be up to a court to decide, the motion argues.

---

12/10/2010
Former Grand Master explains decision to expel Mason

Charles L. Montgomery, of Williamstown, said he asked Frank J. Haas, who was himself a past Grand Master of the state's Grand Lodge, to be honest about his involvement with a website called Masonic Crusade during a 2007 meeting at Haas' home lodge in Wellsburg. When Haas claimed to know nothing about it, Montgomery pulled a pre-written edict expelling Haas from his pocket, effectively excommunicating Haas from the fraternal organization.

"I tried to give [Haas and another Mason] every opportunity to say something, that they were sorry, that they would discontinue that activity [involvement with the Masonic Crusade]," he said.

When they refused -- Montgomery recalled Haas as saying, in reference to the Masonic Crusade, "The dream lives on, and will not die" -- Montgomery felt he had no choice but to kick them out of the Masons.

[snip]

As Coleman had on Thursday, Montgomery disputed any suggestion that the West Virginia branch of the Masons is prejudiced against blacks.

"Nowhere in Masonry do we discriminate," he said. He conceded that the state branch, which dates back to 1866, had never had a black member until after Haas filed his lawsuit in 2008. There are now two black members, he said.

Earlier on Friday, defense lawyers John Tinney, Jack Tinney and Jim Tinney called on Greg Wentzel to testify. Wentzel said that he set up the Masonic Crusade website, and that Haas was unaware of Wentzel's involvement even though the two were part of a group of Masons from around the state who occasionally went out to dinner together and formed a discussion group on the website Yahoo.

"I never discussed [the Masonic Crusade website] with him, no," Wentzel said.

---

12/14/2010
Judge: Grand Lodge did not comply with its own rules

The trial ended today at about 6pm, and deliberations will begin tomorrow morning. Judge Webster gave a summary judgement today that the Grand Lodge did breach its contract, and did not follow its own rules in the way Haas was expelled. The outcome of that will be given by the judge at the end with the other decisions. The jury will deliberate on compensatory damages concerning defamation of Haas, and about four other items.

---

12/14/2010
Masons broke own rules, lawyer argues in closing

If the West Virginia branch of the Masons had followed its own rules regarding due process, an administrative law judge expelled from the fraternal organization would not have had to sue the group, his lawyer said Tuesday.

But Charles F. Coleman II and Charles L. Montgomery, the two men who succeeded Frank J. Haas as Grand Master of the state's Grand Lodge, were so upset with Haas for trying to enact progressive reforms that they summarily expelled him, said Haas' attorney Bob Allen during his closing argument in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Defense attorney Jack Tinney maintained that Haas was wrongly seeking monetary compensation for an internal dispute within a private, voluntary organization after he was ousted for failing to follow Masonic laws...

---

12/16/2010
Jury sides with Grand Lodge in Mason expulsion case

A Kanawha County jury sided Wednesday with the Grand Lodge of the West Virginia branch of the Masons against a former grand master who sued after he was expelled from the group, claiming the organization had violated its own rules.

The jury declined to award Frank J. Haas, an administrative law judge from Wellsburg, any damages, even though Kanawha Circuit Judge Carrie Webster ruled that the Masons breached its contract with Haas.

The jury also decided that the state's Grand Lodge and past Grand Masters Charles F. Coleman II and Charles L. Montgomery had not defamed Haas, placed him in a false light, or committed outrageous conduct toward Haas, who was also a past grand master...

---

12/16/2010
Jury finds Masons not guilty in case

A jury has determined that the Masons did not defame or damage a former Grand Worshipful Master when they threw him out of the organization.

Frank Haas, 53, of Wellsburg filed a lawsuit against the Grand Lodge in Charleston and two members of the Masons hierarchy - Charlie Montgomery and Charles Coleman. Those two men succeeded Haas as state leader of the men's brotherhood.

Haas claimed he suffered emotional distress after being unexpectedly expelled as a member in 2006, shortly after his term ended. He said other Mason leaders were unhappy that he attempted to change some of the group's restrictions on race, age and disabilities.

But after more than a week of testimony from both sides, the jury decided against Haas on all counts...

The Death of George Washington, 211 Years Ago Today

"'TIS WELL"

“To enlarge the sphere of social happiness is worthy [of] the benevolent design of the Masonic Institution; and it is most fervently to be wished, that the conduct of every member of the fraternity, as well as those publications which discover the principles which actuate them may tend to convince Mankind that the grand object of Masonry is to promote the happiness of the human race . . . I sincerely pray that the Great Architect of the Universe may bless you and receive you hereafter into his immortal Temple.” — George Washington

On Thursday, December 12, 1799, George Washington rode out to inspect portions of his five farms, as he had nearly every day since the end of his presidency. Unfortunately on this particular day, he was caught in the rain, wind and sleet of a terrible winter storm. When he returned that afternoon, his hair caked with snow, he was quite wet in spite of his woolen greatcoat.

The next day, he went out into three inches of new snow and freezing weather and insisted on marking trees he wanted cut down. His throat was sore, and he became hoarse as the day progressed. By late evening, it was clear that he was having trouble breathing.

On Saturday morning, he had a severe fever and could hardly speak. He asked his personal secretary, Tobias Lear, to send for his family physician, Dr. James Craik, who had served with the general during the French and Indian War and all through the revolution. Washington’s wife Martha also sent for Dr. Gustavus Brown, who was living across the river from Mount Vernon in Maryland, in case Craik was otherwise detained.

Washington anticipated that Dr. Craik would prescribe “bleeding” to draw off the “bad blood” that was believed to cause fever and illness, so, he also had Lear send for Albin Rawlins,one of Washington’s overseers from his nearby Union Farm, a veterinarian who was also proficient in the practice of bloodletting. The general wanted him to get an early start, even if the doctors hadn’t yet arrived. Martha was alarmed over the amount of blood that Rawlins drained from her husband, even though Washington kept encouraging him to draw “More! More!”

Dr. Craik arrived shortly thereafter and concurred that bleeding was the proper treatment, especially since the general couldn’t manage to swallow any throat-soothing mixtures that were offered. One attempt to gargle nearly choked him to death. Craik drew more blood, but he desperately wanted another opinion. Since Dr. Brown had not yet arrived, he sent for Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick, a resident of Alexandria and Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22, where Washington was a member.

Eventually, all three doctors were in attendance and attempted to diagnose Washington’s deteriorating condition. Brown and Craik decided it was “quinsy,” an inflammation related to tonsillitis. Dr. Dick was considerably younger than the other two physicians, and his education was more recent and better informed in new methods of diagnosis. He believed that Washington’s throat membranes had swollen shut. The general was literally choking to death, and he recommended an immediate tracheotomy. Such a radical procedure had never been done in the United States at that time, and Brown and Craik rejected both the diagnosis and Dick’s recommendation. The two older doctors continued to bleed him over the protests of both Martha and Dick, eventually drawing nearly five pints of blood from the dying man – almost half his body’s blood supply. Unbeknownst to them, his larynx had swollen shut and he was dying of asphyxia aggravated by dehydration and the loss of blood.

A few minutes before ten o’clock on Saturday night, as the helpless doctors looked on, Washington whispered his final words to Lear.
“I am just going; Have me decently buried; and do not let my body be put into the vault in less than three days after I am dead. Do you understand?” Lear promised he would do as Washington asked. The general nodded slightly, and said, “’Tis well”.

For a moment, his breathing became less labored, less ragged. A short time later, he felt for his own pulse and then died. The father of the nation, its greatest war hero, its first president, quietly slipped away into history. His friend, his doctor and his Masonic brother, Dr. Elisha Dick, turned away from the scene, knowing that he might very well have saved him had he been allowed to do what he knew was right. Doctor Craik would later admit with great sorrow that Dr. Dick had been correct and that their friend might have survived if they had listened to him.

Brother Dick walked across the general’s bedroom to the clock that sat on the fireplace mantel. He reached into his pocket for his folding knife, opened the back of the clock, and sliced through the catgut string that operated its mechanism. The ticking stopped, and the hands froze at 10:20, where they remain to this day in the George Washington Masonic National Memorial’s museum.

News traveled slowly in those days. Congress was in session in Philadelphia, and they would not know of Washington’s death until the day of the funeral. Martha Washington followed the general’s wishes for his burial. He would never be placed in the crypt being prepared under the rotunda of the Capitol House being built across the river in the new city that would bear his name. Nor would he be enshrined in a new monument that would eventually be erected in geometric alignment with the Congress House and the President’s House. He was, first and foremost, the master of Mount Vernon, a Virginia farmer, and there he would remain.

Washington’s body had been placed on a bed in Mount Vernon’s front drawing room. So that the cold would preserve him, no fires were lit. On December 17, the lead-lined mahogany casket arrived.

The next day, Wednesday, December 18, the procession began to form outside Mount Vernon’s mansion. Servants had cleared the snow between the house and the crypt, and mourners began to gather just before noon. The Virginia Militia was delayed, so the gathering was given a last opportunity to view the body. At 3:00 p.m., the procession at last lined up and made their way to the place of burial. As they went, a schooner anchored out in the Potomac fired its cannon in salute.

The Freemasons of Alexandria Lodge No. 22 assembled to perform their final duty to their fallen brother, sending him on to the celestial lodge above. His friend and brother, Dr. Elisha Dick, performed the Masonic funeral service, and the Reverend James Muir assisted with the prayers and Bible readings.

The Reverend Thomas Davis read the Episcopal Prayer Book’s funeral service and praised Washington’s character and virtues in the sermon that followed. Then, as is still the practice today, the Masons stepped forward to conduct the final ceremony due a Master Mason. Worshipful Master Dick stood at the head of the casket and Reverend Muir at its foot, and they recited the service from memory.

“From time immemorial,” Dr. Dick intoned, “it has been the custom among the fraternity of free and accepted Masons, at the request of a brother upon his death-bed, to accompany his corpse to its place of interment, and there to deposit his remains with the usual formalities.”

He spoke the same words used for all men of the fraternity—dustmen, cobblers, bankers, doctors, blacksmiths and presidents, “whose memory we revere, and whose loss we now deplore.” In death as in life, all Masons meet upon the level, act upon the plumb, and part upon the square, and the loss of one brother weakens the chain by which all Masons are united.

Finally, Dr. Dick approached the body of Washington and deposited within the coffin his Masonic apron – an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason. It was followed by a sprig of evergreen representing the acacia plant, a Masonic symbol of immortality and rebirth. When they finished, the lead seal was laid in place, then the casket lid. The wooden box was closed, and a black cloth pall was laid over the top.

Washington’s remains were carried into the vault, and its door was closed. The artillery and infantry assembled nearby simultaneously fired three volleys, the traditional symbolic military ritual marking the end of the battle of life. The funeral party returned to the mansion, and after some light refreshments, sadly went their separate ways.

Several years later, the simple brick crypt was deemed too small for George and Martha’s remains, and perhaps a little too simple. After three decades, a new crypt was built nearby. The gates were flanked with two matching Egyptian-style obelisks, foreshadowing the Washington Monument years before it would be constructed.

Washington’s will is fascinating to read. Apart from the many specific pieces of property he designated to family, friends and servants, he made remarkable provisions for a man of the period. He freed his slaves upon the death of his wife Martha (the majority of them actually belonged to her) and saw to it that those who could not make their own way in the world would be provided for. He left money to start a “free school” for orphans. He established a university.

But one seemingly small passage especially caught my eye as I looked over the carefully handwritten document. In it, he left his military swords to each of his nephews,

“. . . accompanied with an injunction not to unsheath them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self defence, or in defence of their Country and its rights; and in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands, to the relinquishment thereof.”

Honor remained his watchword, even as he contemplated his own death. Moreover, it was a lesson he insisted be passed on to the next generation. In short, Brother George Washington was in death as he was in life, a living example of Masonic principles of truth, honor, faith, hope and charity.

(excerpted from Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington DC)


The Freemasons of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 will lay a memorial wreath at Washington's tomb this morning at 8:30AM, just as it has done for over 200 years.

Stifani, GM of GLNF, Challenged In French Court

The Grande Loge Nationale Française' (GLNF) Grand Master, François Stifani, continues to battle opponents within his obedience. Now they have taken their complaints to the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris, The TGI is the French equivalent of the civil court system in the U.S., which settles disputes between individuals, corporations and associations.

From La-Croix.com (any translation errors are mine and Google's):

Freemasons: Judgment against the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, who is appealing.

Paris, December 10, 2010 (AFP)

The Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris has ordered the current Grand Master of the Grande Loge Nationale Française (GLNF), Francois Stifani, to convene a general meeting which will [consider] his dismissal, his representatives announced on Friday.

The TGI gave its judgment on Tuesday and Mr. Stifani appealed.

He had been sued by [his opponents], who criticized his method of governing as too personal and opaque in its accounting and decisions. They felt that the last such meeting was not consistent with their statutes, and the district court ruled in their favor.

It serves notice on the current Grand Master to convene a new General Assembly that will [audit] the 2009 accounts, establish a new budget, and decide on the dismissal of the Grand Master.

On Friday Francois Stifani informed the members of the obedience in writing of the ruling, saying that "the Board of Directors of the GLNF, meeting on December 10, 2010, notes the decision of the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris on December 7, and its enforceability." The Board decided to "unanimously appeal the decision and request the suspension of the provisional order."

In March, the General Assembly had rejected the accounts and report of the GLNF. The Grand Master asked for an audit of the accounts of 2008-2009, which did not calm his opponents, who want the departure of the Grand Master and of the current Board of Directors (the majority of whose members are appointed by the Grand Master), an opponent told AFP under condition of anonymity.

The date of the judgment on appeal is not yet known.

The only obedience recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England, the Grande Loge Nationale Française is the second largest [French] obedience in number of Brothers (after the Grand Orient of France) and boasts more than 41,000 members and 1,700 Lodges.

National Geographic Explores: Did David and Solomon Really Exist?

In the Elah Valley, where the Bible says David slew Goliath, excavations at the fortified city of Khirbet Qeiyafa in 2008 unearthed a multi-chambered gate and artifacts dating to David's time, around 1000 B.C.

"Was the Kingdom of David and Solomon a glorious empire—or just a little cow town? It depends on which archaeologist you ask."

National Geographic Magazine features an extensive article in its December 2010 issue about the archeology and controversy over King Solomon and King David, and whether they and the legendary Temple of Solomon even existed.

From Kings Of Controversy by Richard Draper:

In no other part of the world does archaeology so closely resemble a contact sport. Eilat Mazar is one of the reasons why. Her announcement in 2005 that she believed she had unearthed the palace of King David amounted to a ringing defense of an old-school proposition under assault for more than a quarter century—namely, that the Bible's depiction of the empire established under David and continued by his son Solomon is historically accurate. Mazar's claim has emboldened those Christians and Jews throughout the world who maintain that the Old Testament can and should be taken literally. Her purported discovery carries particular resonance in Israel, where the story of David and Solomon is interwoven with the Jews' historical claims to biblical Zion.

That narrative is familiar to any student of the Bible. A young shepherd named David from the tribe of Judah slays the giant Goliath from the enemy tribe of the Philistines, is elevated to king of Judah following the death of Saul at the close of the 11th century B.C., conquers Jerusalem, unites the people of Judah with the disparate Israelite tribes to the north, and thereupon amasses a royal dynasty that continues with Solomon well into the tenth century B.C. But while the Bible says David and Solomon built the kingdom of Israel into a powerful and prestigious empire stretching from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, from Damascus to the Negev, there's a slight problem—namely, that despite decades of searching, archaeologists had found no solid evidence that David or Solomon ever built anything.

Pottsville, PA Masons Donate Christmas Trees To Needy

Brethren of Pulaski Lodge No. 216 in my long ago hometown of Pottsville, Pennsylvania have created a wonderful annual program to help needy families in their community have a Merry Christmas.

See Christmas trees up and decorated for the Pulaski Masonic Lodge's annual Christmas Gala:

Bob Thomas can't imagine a child's Christmas without a tree.

"A tree sort of makes Christmas," Thomas said as he walked through a room filled with about 20 decorated Christmas trees for the third year as part of the Pulaski Masonic Lodge's annual Christmas Gala in Pottsville.

Thomas said local businesses or organizations are asked to donate and decorate a Christmas tree that will be displayed for two weeks at the lodge, then given to a local needy family, an idea he came up with after attending a similar event several years ago.

"There are a lot of organizations that do things for the needy - Toys for Tots for instance - around the holidays, but we fill a niche. No one is giving trees," Thomas said.

Thomas wasn't alone in the feeling.

George Moyer, Pottsville, a member of the lodge, said, "There's something about a tree that just makes Christmas. The tree, the snow, the decorations, and of course the real meaning for it. It all comes together to make the holiday."

Moyer especially liked the decorations on tree 17, donated and decorated by Lisa's Ladle and the youth group at Trinity Lutheran Church, Pottsville.

Moyer didn't say if it was his favorite, but said trees that pay attention to what children are drawn to were more likely to receive his vote in a contest for best tree, which Thomas said garners the winning group a trophy.

Thomas said groups that donate trees can also ask that they go to a specific family after the event and trees not asked to go to a specific family are given to those identified by local churches as families in need.

"You imagine, buying a real tree, a tree stand, decorations, lights - you're talking upwards of 100 bucks or more," Thomas said. "When we're able to give a family a tree, then that's not taking food off anyone's plates. They can put the money that is stretched to other things they need."

[snip]

A total of 25 trees were donated, Thomas said, and the event, including voting for a favorite tree, is scheduled next weekend as well.

The event will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday and again on Sunday from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Masonic Building. Members of the lodge are accepting nonperishable food items and toys at the event for the local food pantry and Toys for Tots respectively, and food is on sale at the event.

Needy families interested in a tree can contact 622-9260. All trees come with the stand and decorations included.

The Pottsville Masonic Building

Cormac McCarthy's The Stonemason

I just finished reading Cormac McCarthy's 1994 play, The Stonemason. McCarthy won the Pulitzer for his book, The Road, and is also the author of the novels, No Country For Old Men, The Crossing, and more. His work is evocative and is often compared to William Faulkner.

In The Stonemason, McCarthy tells the story of four generations of the Telfairs, a black family in Louisville in the early 1970s. Papaw, the 90+ year old patriarch, is a stonemason, and he has passed the craft down to his son, and to his grandson Ben, who narrates much of the story. The construction of the play is unual, and it is rarely staged. One actor portrays Ben onstage, while another periodically appears off to the side as the voice of Ben's diary.

Much of Ben's narration concerns his grandfather's philosophy of the stonemason's craft, and he makes several references of interest to Freemasons:

Anything excellent is always rare.
p. 8

The trade was all they had, the old masons. They understood it both in its utility and in its secret nature. We couldn't read or write, he says. But it was not in any book. We kept it close to our hearts. We kept it close to our hearts and it was like a power and we knew it would not fail us. We knew it was a thing that if we had it they could not take it away from us and it would stand by us and not fail us. Not ever fail us.
p. 32-33

All honors are empty and none more than honorary masonry. Because there is nothing that will separate from the work itself. The freemasons were right in their suspicion that in the mysteries of stonemasonry were contained other mysteries. Speculatives, they were called. Noblemen who were made honorary masons. And if it is true that laying stone can teach you reverence of God and tolerance of your neighbor and love for your family it is also true that this knowledge is instilled in you through the work and not through any contemplation of the work.
p.64


But that the craft of stonemasonry should be allowed to vanish from this world is just not negotiable for me. Somewhere there is someone who wants to know. Nor will I have to seek him out. He'll find me.
p. 91

Christmas List II

Looking for a very special Masonic apron that isn't like everyone else's?

Look no further than The Craftsman's Apron. Artist Patrick Craddock creates hand crafted, leather and silk painted aprons in the style of the 18th and 19th centuries. No two designs are alike, and Brother Craddock's attention to detail is incredible. These aprons take time to create, so don't expect it to arrive by Christmas, but they are well worth waiting for.

Look through his website at the tremendous variety of decoration.

---

Washington DC's Potomac Lodge No. 5 has given permission to the US Capitol Historical Society to reproduce a replica of the gavel George Washington used at the US Capitol Masonic cornerstone ceremony in 1793. The gavel features a hardwood handle and a cast resin head mixed with particles from the marble from the original House wing steps. It can be yours for a paltry $145.00.

---

In 2004, The Grand Lodge of Utah sponsored the design and production of a Tartan fabric that would represent Freemasonry in Utah and elsewhere, created by Anne Carroll Gilmour, an internationally known tartan weaver. Colors were chosen to represent the various Masonic family organizations including the Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite, York Rite, Shriners, Job's Daughters International, DeMolay International, Order of the Eastern Star, and more.

Kilt and Thistle Scottish Shoppe is offering a complete line of products using the tartan, from ties and cummerbunds to a full kilt. If you have the knees for it.

Frugal Corner sells the kilt in acrylic at considerable savings, if wool isn't important to you.

The Scottish Trading Company, meanwhile, has a line of Masonic sporrans.

---

Rap star Jay-Z has coyly skirted the "Is he, or isn't he" Masonic membership questions for several years, making the game a lucrative marketing ploy. (No masonic body has conclusively claimed him.) His clothing line “Rocawear” has incorporated obvious Masonic and occult symbols in its designs.

Like in this "Snake Crest Shirt"

---

Don't leave the ladies in your life out this Christmas.

The Illuminati swimsuit, featuring the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States, from Black Milk Clothing, for $85.

Sure to be a hit among Eastern Star ladies, female Masons, and conspiracy lovers everywhere.

Gentlemen Masons should use extreme decorum when showing wearers how to make the word "MASON" and a Seal of Solomon from the letters in Annuit Coeptis...

---

Transexual Divides Portuguese Freemasonry

The Grand Orient of France voted in September to allow women to join its lodges, because of a man headed for his lodge's Master's chair who underwent a sex change operation. Now, Portugal's Grande Oriente Lusitano (Grand Orient of Lusitania) is facing the same circumstance.

From Diario Beiras (errors in translation are mine and Google's):

Figueira [Portugal] Resident Who Had Sex Change Divides Portuguese Freemasonry

December 6, 2010

A legal or an ontological question? Emanuel Alves, 37, [became] Emma Sofia Alves, 37 years old. The ongoing sex change process of this Figueiran citizen did not "only" mean to change the gender: there are prejudices and practical issues to overcome. Some of these obstacles have been overcome. Others, however, show a high degree of difficulty.

Emanuel Alves was a masseuse for [the Navy's soccer team], but [quit] when he decided on a sex change. However, Ema Sofia continues to pursue his profession, passing from [being a male] nurse to [a female] nurse in the District Hospital of Figueira da Foz. As a man, he still belonged to the Consistency Masonic Lodge, but left it about a year ago, just when he started the process of gender reassignment.

The transformation has agitated the Masons, according to "Saturday" [magazine]. However, the "Daily As Borders" found that Emma would like to return to the fraternity, but the statutes do not allow it. "I do not understand how a progressive organization like the Grand Orient of Lusitania is so conservative," says one of its members, who requested anonymity. "Gradual, not progressive," correct the historians Pedro Brandao and Antonio Fidalgo.

The Grand Orient of Lusitania was founded in 1802, and is the oldest Masonic Obedience in Portugal. It is recognized by the Grand Orient de France, and regarded as irregular by North American and Anglo-Saxon derived mainstream GLs.

The "Regular Grand Lodge of Portugal" (GLRP) was created under a warrant from the Grande Loge Nationale Française in 1991, but recognition by the GLNF has since been withdrawn. Most regular GLs in the world now recognize the Grande Loja Legal de Portugal (GLLP, the Legal Grand Lodge of Portugal), which was created in 1996 after a dispute within the GLRP.

NYT: Power of Secrets Inspires Public Art

I was briefly quoted in an article in the New York Times today. Monumentally Mystifying: Power of Secrets Inspires Public Art by John Schwartz talks about Jim Sanborn's CIA sculpture, Kryptos, along with other "secret code" artwork and popular culture references:

“The human mind is comforted by the notion that a greater power has all the answers. A world in which secret messages swirl around us is exciting because it helps reinforce our belief that true enlightenment is within our reach,” Mr. Brown said. He says his home has “dozens of hidden codes, secret passageways, artifacts and symbols embedded within the design.”

Of course, it’s possible to take such things too far, and many experts say that Mr. Brown and the makers of films like the “National Treasure” series have done just that in their insistence that the Freemasons laid out the city of Washington and its buildings as part of a conspiracy to hide treasure, or, you know, something.

Christopher L. Hodapp, the author of several books on the Masons, including “Solomon’s Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington, D.C.” and “Freemasons for Dummies,” said that it just didn’t happen that way. Of the major planners of the city, he notes, only George Washington was a member of the order, and “he had little to do with the design.”

Cathy Schultz, chairwoman of the history department at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill., said, “While it’s true that pyramids and obelisks and other Egyptian motifs are common in D.C., it’s not because of some secret ‘message,’ but because Enlightenment figures loved to harken back to the wisdom and architecture of the great ancient civilizations — Greece, Rome, Egypt.”

One American city actually was laid out with the Masonic symbols of square and compass integrated into the ordering of its streets: Sandusky, Ohio. No blockbuster film, apparently, has been based on this fact.

We must take comfort, then, in the fact that some mysteries are indeed out there in the world by intention and design, albeit in Sandusky...

I tried once to get in to see Kryptos. Didn't work.

Damn CIA.

I'll bet that brown noser Tom Clancy has his own parking spot in there.

While we're at it, what are the Georgia Guidestones, and who put them there?

Massachusetts Traveling Man Masonic Passport

Massachusetts Masons have created a program to encourage brethren to visit other lodges. The Traveling Man Masonic Passport is a great way to keep a personal record of your lodge travels. The passport has blanks that are signed and dated by the visited lodge Master and Secretary, and then embossed with the lodge's seal.

In addition, there is an online component to the program. After registering your passport on the website, you return to the site to report your visits. When you travel to 3, 5 & 7 different lodges you will be awarded a Certificate of Recognition, presented to you in your Mother lodge. When you have traveled to 9 different lodges, you will be awarded a custom "Franklin Key" lapel pin.

UPDATE in 2016:

If you stumbled across this post while searching for the online portion of the passport program, it has unfortunately ended. I received the following message:

The Masonic Passport program...is not operating any longer.

The best I can gather is that it was last operational in mid-2013: http://web.archive.org/web/20130613200601/http://masonicpassport.com/

This project seems to have originally been put together by a volunteer group from an education and training seminar we run annually called the Masonic Leadership Institute (or M.L.I.).

I vaguely recall our Grand Lodge Membership Committee being in charge of some iteration of this program as an engagement/retention initiative when it started, but it's not clear to me when that stopped.

We still encourage our members to visit other lodges and get to meet the brethren in the jurisdiction. The online portion of this program is no longer operational.

Respectfully,

Bro. Christopher D. Rooney
Associate Director
Communications & Development
Grand Lodge of Masons of Massachusetts

"Building Solomon's Temple" at London's Library and Museum of Freemasonry

In the 17th century, Rabbi Jacob Jehudah Leon, also known as Leon Templo, created a model of Solomon's Temple, extrapolated from the Book of Kings and the Book of Samuel, with some additional references in the Book of Chronicles, the final book of the Hebrew Katuvim. In 1675, he took the model to London, where it was became a popular attraction. King Charles II and Sir Christopher Wren both viewed it, and at 13 feet high and 80 feet in circumference, it must have been impressive. Leon's "Temple and the Tabernacle" became the basis for a widely circulated etching. Leon's artwork was subsequently incorporated in the coat of arms of the Grand Lodge of the Antients, and eventually of the merged United Grand Lodge of England in 1813. It is entirely probable that Leon's Temple model had a strong influence on the creators of what became speculative Masonic ritual.

The Library and Museum of Freemasonry at London's Freemasons Hall will present a new exhibit January 17th through May 27th, 2011. Building Solomon's Temple will tell the tale of how Freemasonry took the biblical account of Jerusalem's Temple of Solomon and made it real within its lodge halls. It will also explore how archeological expeditions to the Holy Land in the 1800s inspired Masons like Rob Morris and Robert Freke Gould. Morris chronicled his own trip in his book, Freemasonry In The Holy Land, or Handmarks of Hiram's Builders in 1872.

See this excellent paper on Leon Templo by Brother W. J. Chetwode Crawley, LL.D.

"A View of the Inside of the Court of the Priests in Solomons Temple with the manner of the Preparing & Offering the Sacrifices according to the Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel, printed for Robt. Sayer at the Golden Buck opposite Fetter Lane Fleet-street, London" c.1760.

H/T The Square Magazine

Classical Christmas at Indianapolis Scottish Rite Cathedral

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, with conductor Raymond Leppard, will be performing Classical Christmas at the Scottish Rite Cathedral Indianapolis on December 11th, 2010 at 8pm. The program features the Apollo's Voice Choir, the Indianapolis Children's Choir, and tenor Barry Banks. ISO is offering all Freemasons and their friends a discounted fee for this great holiday event.

Tickets can be ordered online through www.IndianapolisSymphony.org
Make sure to use promotional code 9187 to get your Indiana Freemason discount. (Note the ISO Special Events website says "Saturday, December 12th." Wrong date.)

Lawsuit Against WV Temple for Elevator Malfunction

Creaky old elevators in our aging temple buildings are more than just an eccentric nuisance, and failure to keep them maintained can be more costly than just the repairs. Now an Ohio couple is suing the Huntington, West Virginia Masonic temple for negligence after being trapped in a malfunctioning elevator.

From the West Virginia Record:

On April 24, 2009, Chrystal Shepherd was in an elevator on the defendants' property when it malfunctioned, according to a complaint filed Nov. 12 in Cabell Circuit Court.

Shepherd claims the elevator fell about two stories before coming to an abrupt halt, rising briefly and then falling another short distance.

After the elevator's fall, Shepherd was trapped in the elevator for an extended period of time due to the failure of the doors to open and failure of the emergency communication equipment in the elevator to operate, according to the suit.

Shepherd claims she eventually was rescued by the Huntington Fire Department which responded to the scene only after individuals in the building heard her cries of distress and called for assistance.

While waiting in the elevator for assistance to arrive, Shepherd "noted that the inspection card posted by the State of West Virginia indicated that the elevator was four months overdue for periodic inspection," the complaint states.

Yes, people actually do read those inspection certificates, especially when they have a lot of time on their hands waiting for the fire department to show up.

The Spokane Masonic Center just spent $350,000 on theirs, partially funded by a grant from the Washington State Heritage Capital Projects Fund and National Park Service.

Christmas List

I am always looking for great Masonic gift ideas, in addition to books. I have absolutely no connection to any of these companies, and simply throw them out to you in the spirit of encouraging fraternal capitalism.

Check this posting occasionally. I will update it as I find more.

---

Koyote Loco Belt Company
Masonic belts, also available for the Shrine, and with customized plates.

---

Brother Andrew Horn's The Master's Jewel.
I have long admired his reproduction of the jewel worn by Sean Connery in The Man Who Would be King, and Alice made me a gift of this beautiful piece last year.

I had the opportunity to meet Drew in San Francisco in 2007 at the Grand Lodge of California's annual meeting. He does beautiful work that's unlike any other Masonic jewelry you'll find.

Drew is also the operator of the Masonic Ink website, dedicated to the growing universe of Masonic tattoos.

---

Freemasons seeking an appropriate beverage for their post-meeting gatherings, festive boards and especially Robert Burns nights, take note. In honor of the 250th anniversary of Burns' birth, Scotland's Arran Distillers offers a Robert Burns single-malt and Robert Burns Blend.

6,000 bottles of Robert Burns 250th Anniversary Malt have been produced from 15 ex-sherry casks that were especially selected from their 1998 distillation. Each gift box carries an image and signature of Burns.

I was able to order it directly from my local liquor store who regularly has Arran's products.

---

Masonic Tuxedo vest sets
Uniformal Warehouse






Mister Bobo, the Masonic Dyna-Monkey. From the Shirt-Woot website.

The occult scientists in the Masonic Labs thought they were perfecting the ultimate soldier for Freemasonry, a chimpanzee who would carry out any mission against the enemies of the Masons (the Internation Scrabble Federation, the Girl Scouts, the NRA, and especially those stuck-up Rosicrucians). But while the radiation enhanced Bobo’s physical and mental abilities to superchimp levels, it did not render him docile. To the contrary. He mastered the secret mysteries in about half an hour, and now sits upon the Masonic Throne. And the covert global network of Fremasonry, all the power amassed through the centuries, will now be an instrument of mankind’s ultimate downfall at the hands of our chimpanzee cousins. Tremble, humanity!

I especially like the PM jewel, made from a banana.

---

Crystal Head Vodka, perfect for the KT on your list.

Created by, of all people, Dan Ackroyd:

"I commissioned my friend and internationally known American landscape painter and portrait artist John Alexander to design and create an anatomically correct glass rendering of a human head," says Aykroyd. "Our head is based on the 13 crystal skulls that have been found all over the planet, and as legend goes, each was carved from a single quartz crystal."

The actor says there are seven in man's possession and several bear no discernible tool marks.

"We believe they were handed down to be polished from one generation to the next," he says. "Some might have taken hundreds or thousands of years.

---

Hand-carved Masonic meerschaum pipes from Turkey, by MeerschaumPipeMaster.com.
I own a couple of these. Excellent quality, at very reasonable prices.



If you prefer briar and a straight design, check out V2 (V-squared) Pipes.

---

While you're thinking about it, why not treat yourself to membership in the Masonic Society? Membership card, lapel pin, the most drop-dead beautiful hand-sealed membership patent you will ever receive in all of Masonry, access to our members-only online discussion forum, two major gatherings a year with terrific speakers, automatic membership in state or regional "Second Circle" groups, plus four issues of the very best Masonic magazine available, the Journal of the Masonic Society.

All for a paltry $39 a year.

Virtual Museum of Fezology

As Grandpa Barney said in the movie Peggy Sue Got Married, "It wouldn't be a lodge without hats."

Some may prefer the jaunty trilby, some the humble homburg, and others the noble fedora, but Brother Seth Andrews in Pennsylvania loves fezzes. He is obsessed with all things fez. He is the penultimate fraternal fez fanatic. Others may ridicule the tassel-festooned felt flower pot as a sartorial catastrophe, but not Seth.

In his capacity working for DeMolay in Pennsylvania, he has even designed a limited edition DeMolay fez as a fund raiser, spreading his fuzzy fez fetish to another generation.

Now he has turned his personal collection into an online virtual museum.

Drop in and visit the Virtual Museum of Fezology.

(Photo by Dan Chusid)

My friend Richard Johnson passes along this clip, showing the new Doctor Who is fond of the headgear, even when others are not.

Has Your Lodge Held A Burns Supper?

If your Masonic lodge has held a Burns Supper in honor of Brother Robert Burns, please contact me at hodapp@aol.com. I would like to hear of your methods and experiences.

MSA's Richard E. Fletcher Announces Retirement

(Photo: From left: Judy Fletcher, Nicolas Cage, Darlene Alban,

and Richard E. Fletcher, at the premier of

National Treasure: Book of Secrets in New York City in December 2007)

M:.W:. Brother Richard Fletcher has announced his resignation as Executive Secretary of the Masonic Service Association of North America, to be effective at the close if the MSA's annual meeting in Denver next February. He has served with great devotion in this position since 1987.

Dick Fletcher has been a tireless advocate for the fraternity. He is a Past Grand Master of Vermont and a 33° Scottish Rite Mason, and he came to MSA after a long career in banking. Under almost a quarter century of his leadership, the MSA established the Masonic Information Center, "Operation Phone Home" providing prepaid calling cards to overseas military personnel, and created the Twain Award, to reward excellence in Masonic awareness among individual lodges in North America. His travel schedule would be daunting for men half his age, and he attends dozens of grand lodge sessions each year, often with his lovely wife Judy. I seem to see them everywhere I go. His departure marks the end of an era for MSA, and I personally wish Dick and Judy a happy and well-earned retirement.

The MMSA was created in 1919 to provide services to its member Grand Lodges that they would find difficult to provide for themselves. It is the one organization that provides a national voice for mainstream Freemasonry in North America, and is a commission of the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America.

The Executive Commission is accepting resumes and proposals from interested individuals who seek to fill the executive secretary's position.

Contact:
M:.W:. Thomas Galyen, Chairman of Recruitment, MSAofNA
9112 Fern Cove East
Olmsted Falls, OH 44138
Email: tophat97@aol.com


Don't know about the MSA? Have a look at this video from their website.

Remnant Trust Document Collection Moves to Northern Indiana

The Remnant Trust, an Indiana public education foundation that shares a collection of more than 1,100 original and first edition works dealing with the topics of liberty and dignity, will conduct community open houses in its new Winona Lake, Indiana location on December 4 and 5, 2010.

The Remnant Trust has moved its headquarters from Jeffersonville in southeast Indiana up to Winona Lake in the north-central part of the state, on the campus of Grace College and Theological Seminary. The Trust has moved into the former Billy Sunday Museum space (which has itself moved, as well).

The Remnant Trust’s collection includes the Emancipation Proclamation and writings from authors like Thomas Paine, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, John Milton and Ralph Waldo Emerson. It owns some of the first copies of the Magna Carta, early printings of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and one of only two existing copies of the ancient Book of Enoch. (The photo above is of the 1777 third Dunlap printing of the Declaration of Independence, and the only known copy in a private collection). The collections will be on public display at select times at Grace and will tour other universities around the country. The collection is often loaned to colleges, universities, and other institutions for display and research by students, faculty, scholars and the general public.


As for ardent Billy Sunday enthusiasts, Grace College moved their exhibit over the summer, and provides tours of the nearby Billy Sunday home, which is still furnished exactly as his widow, Helen "Ma" Sunday, left it. Sunday was an early 20th century firebrand evangelical preacher, whose biggest accomplishment was promoting the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1919, starting Prohibition. Have a toast with your favorite adult beverage next Sunday (appropriately) December 6th, which is the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition in 1933.

Brad Meltzer's Decoded Airs Thursday

Last December, Alice and I were hired to develop a ten episode series for the History Channel. Tentatively titled, "Decoded" (not our choice - it came with the project), the idea was to explore some of the more mysterious monuments, buildings and artifacts in America, from a different point of view. Our concept was to borrow from the structure of the classic James Burke PBS series "Connections" to show how one seemingly insignificant thought or idea or symbol led to another and another, to finally get you to the Statue of Liberty, and so on. We spent three months providing research, stories and episode outlines, and novelist Brad Meltzer ("Book of Fate") was hired to headline the show.

The result begins to air this week. "Brad Meltzer's Decoded" begins Thursday, December 2nd at 10PM. The first episode centers around the missing White House cornerstone.

From an article in today's Washington Times:

In 1792, the very first piece of the White House was laid down in a Masonic ceremony. Within 24 hours, it mysteriously went missing. For over 200 years, everyone from Harry S. Truman to Barbara Bush has looked for it, but to no avail.

Truman literally tore up the White House looking for it. He went as far as gutting the entire interior of the presidential home to search for the long lost relic. “It's the first piece of the White House and how is that no none knows where it is,” asks Meltzer.

What was so special about the first cornerstone? Was it hollow? I so, what was inside, a time capsule or maybe something of even more historical significance?

The series premiere attempts to answer those riveting questions. And there’s even an appearance by history’s most notorious secret society, the Masons.

The Freemasons are central to the plot of the premiere episode, and it was an idea that grew out of the suggestion from the head of the network. “I owe the whole show to the Masons. The head of the History Channel read my book (“Book of Lies”) and said, ‘we should do a show about this,’” recounts Meltzer.

“What I want to accomplish with ‘Decoded’ is to separate what’s truth and what’s myth. Freemasons are always portrayed as bad guys but they were incredibly helpful, they couldn’t have been easier to work with,” recalls Meltzer.

“What I want to accomplish with ‘Decoded’ is to separate what’s truth and what’s myth. Freemasons are always portrayed as bad guys but they were incredibly helpful, they couldn’t have been easier to work with,” recalls Meltzer.

Along for the historical cold case adventure is an investigative field team of comprised of an attorney, Scott Rolle, a mechanical engineer, Christine McKinley, and a journalist, Buddy Levy. Meltzer appears in more of an explanatory and narrative role while the research team beats the streets for clues.

“I didn’t want to be on TV at all. Who wants to see me? Trust me, there’s no one nerdier in regards to geeky historical mysteries than me, you don’t need me on screen,” explains Meltzer.

The subject matter of each episode increasingly gets better and better with upcoming stories about the mummified body of John Wilkes Booth, secret codes transmitted between Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and Clark and the true meaning behind the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

I make no claims or promises for the show. Our participation ended after the initial episode proposals, but if it stays even a little bit close to what we offered, it should be something more involving than the same old hoary "map in the streets of Washington" fare.