THEODORE ROOSEVELT, MASTER MASON
BY BRO. HERBERT S. HOPKINS. ILLINOIS
THE BUILDER JANUARY 1920
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, former President of the United States, was initiated in Matinecock Lodge, No. 806, F. & A. M., at Oyster Bay, N. Y., on January 2, 1901 , while Governor of the state of New York. He was passed on March 27 of the same year and was raised on April 24 in the presence of a distinguished assemblage of Masons with the Grand Master of New York in the East and three past Grand Masters taking an "important" part in the work.
An account of this meeting in the Masonic Standard (New York City) of April 27, 1901, says:
"R.W. Edward M. L. Ehlers, Grand Secretary, presided as Master. The candidate passed a perfect examination in open lodge. R. W. Frank E. Haff, D.D.G.M. of the 1st district, and R.W. Theodore A. Taylor, Grand Treasurer, assisted in the first section. Br o. Dr. Root of Matinecock Lodge, a warm personal friend of the candidate, acted as senior deacon.
"In the second section M.W. John Stewart, M.W. Wm. A. Brodie and M.W. John W. Vrooman, Past Grand Masters, rendered valuable assistance. TheGrand Master, M. W. Charles W. Mead, raised the candidate. The historical lecture by M.W. Wright D. Pownall was an eloquent and ornate explanation of the symbolism of Freemasonry. "
There were present in addition to those named, the full official corps of the Grand Lodge of New York, the Grand Master and two Past Grand Masters of Connecticut and two Past Grand Masters of New Jersey.
So much for the ceremony by which Theodore Roosevelt was made a Master Mason.
That Masonry made a deep and lasting impression upon the mind of the candidate is evidenced by some of his recorded Masonic addresses. Perhaps the most notable of these was the address before the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of the initiation of George Washington, which was held on November 6, 1902, in Philadelphia. In this address, perhaps the most widely quoted Masonic utterance of the last quarter century, Bro. Roosevelt, then President, after a brilliant reception by the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge, told the Grand Master that he enjoyed meeting wit h his brethren in some little lodge room "the one place in the world where brothers m eet on the level and where they can speak their thoughts without being misquoted and misunderstood."
In the course of his speech, Bro. Roosevelt said:
"One of the things that attracted me so greatly to Masonry that I hailed the chance of becoming a Mason was that it really did act up to what we, as a government and as a people are pledged to, - of treating each man on his merits as a man. When Brother George Washington went into a lodge of the fraternity he went into the one place in the United States where he stood below or above his fellows according to their official position in the lodge. He went into the place where the idea of our government was realized so far as it is humanly possible for mankind to realize a lofty ideal. And I know that you will not only understand me, but sympathize with me, when I say that, great as my pleasure is in being here as your guest in this beautiful temple and in meeting such a body of men as this that I am now addressing, I think my pleasure is even greater when going into some little lodge, where I meet the plain, hard working men - the men who work with their hands - and meet them on a footing of genuine equality, not false equality, of genuine equality conditioned upon each man being a decent man, a fair dealing man....
"Masonry should make, and must make, each man who conscientiously and understandingly takes its obligations a fine type of American citizenship, because Masonry teaches him his obligations to his fellows in practical fashion....
"Masonry teaches and fosters in the man, the qualities of self-respect and self -help, the qualities that make a man fit to stand by himself, and yet it must foster in everyone who appreciates it as it should be appreciated the beautiful and solemn ritual - it must foster in him a genuine feeling for the rights of others and for the feelings of others; and the Masons who help one another help in a way that is free from that curse of help, patronizing condescension."
Such was the Rooseveltian theory of Masonry enunciated only a few months after he was made a Mason. It was the theory which he held to until he died.
In one of his last interviews, Bro. Roosevelt is quoted in the July, 1919, McClure's Magazine as saying:
"I violate no secret when I say that one of the greatest values in Masonry is that it affords an opportunity for men in all walks of life to meet on common ground, where all men are equal and have one common interest.
"For example, when I was President, the Master was Worshipful Brother Doughty, gardener on the estate of one of my neighbors, and a most excellent public-spirited citizen, with whom I liked to maintain contact. Clearly I could not call upon him when I came home. It would have embarrassed him. Neither could he, without embarrassment, call on me. In the lodge, it was different. He was over me, though I was President, and it was good for him and good for me.
"I go to the lodge, and even the folks who do not belong to or believe in the order rather like it that I should go. They seem to feel it's part of the eternal fitness of things. Whenever I return from one of my journeys, I always go there to tell of the lodges I have visited, in Nairobi in Africa, in Trinidad, or the quaint little lodge I found away up on the Ascension River. They sort of feel I am their representative to these lodges, and they like it. There's a real community of interest."
No sketch of Bro. Roosevelt would be complete without reference to the important discovery made by the Grand Master of the District of Columbia when the cornerstone of the Masonic Temple in Washington was laid. In the minutes of the special communication of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia for June 8, 1907 w e find:
"The President of the United States, Bro. Theodore Roosevelt, accompanied by his Secretary. Bro. William Loeb, Jr., and his personal escort, Bro. William B. Hibbs, arrived, his coming being signaled by 'The Star Spangled Banner' by the Marine Band. He was invested with an apron by the Grand Master." And just them, according to tradition, a gust of wind lifted the Presidential coat-tails revealing a healthy pistol on each hip!
In his speech that day, Bro. Roosevelt said:
"I have but a word to say to you and that word must always be appropriate in any Masonic meeting where the name of Washington is mentioned. I ask of each Mason, of each member, of each brother, that he shall remember ever that there is upon him a peculiar obligation to show himself in every respect a good citizen; for after all, the way in which he can best do his duty by the ancient order to which he belongs is by reflecting credit upon that order by the way in which he performs his duty as a citizen of the United States."
Bro. Roosevelt's last lengthy Grand Lodge address, before the Grand Lodge of New York in 1917, was so widely quoted and is so recent that extracts from it are needless.
BY BRO. HERBERT S. HOPKINS. ILLINOIS
THE BUILDER JANUARY 1920
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, former President of the United States, was initiated in Matinecock Lodge, No. 806, F. & A. M., at Oyster Bay, N. Y., on January 2, 1901 , while Governor of the state of New York. He was passed on March 27 of the same year and was raised on April 24 in the presence of a distinguished assemblage of Masons with the Grand Master of New York in the East and three past Grand Masters taking an "important" part in the work.
An account of this meeting in the Masonic Standard (New York City) of April 27, 1901, says:
"R.W. Edward M. L. Ehlers, Grand Secretary, presided as Master. The candidate passed a perfect examination in open lodge. R. W. Frank E. Haff, D.D.G.M. of the 1st district, and R.W. Theodore A. Taylor, Grand Treasurer, assisted in the first section. Br o. Dr. Root of Matinecock Lodge, a warm personal friend of the candidate, acted as senior deacon.
"In the second section M.W. John Stewart, M.W. Wm. A. Brodie and M.W. John W. Vrooman, Past Grand Masters, rendered valuable assistance. TheGrand Master, M. W. Charles W. Mead, raised the candidate. The historical lecture by M.W. Wright D. Pownall was an eloquent and ornate explanation of the symbolism of Freemasonry. "
There were present in addition to those named, the full official corps of the Grand Lodge of New York, the Grand Master and two Past Grand Masters of Connecticut and two Past Grand Masters of New Jersey.
So much for the ceremony by which Theodore Roosevelt was made a Master Mason.
That Masonry made a deep and lasting impression upon the mind of the candidate is evidenced by some of his recorded Masonic addresses. Perhaps the most notable of these was the address before the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of the initiation of George Washington, which was held on November 6, 1902, in Philadelphia. In this address, perhaps the most widely quoted Masonic utterance of the last quarter century, Bro. Roosevelt, then President, after a brilliant reception by the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge, told the Grand Master that he enjoyed meeting wit h his brethren in some little lodge room "the one place in the world where brothers m eet on the level and where they can speak their thoughts without being misquoted and misunderstood."
In the course of his speech, Bro. Roosevelt said:
"One of the things that attracted me so greatly to Masonry that I hailed the chance of becoming a Mason was that it really did act up to what we, as a government and as a people are pledged to, - of treating each man on his merits as a man. When Brother George Washington went into a lodge of the fraternity he went into the one place in the United States where he stood below or above his fellows according to their official position in the lodge. He went into the place where the idea of our government was realized so far as it is humanly possible for mankind to realize a lofty ideal. And I know that you will not only understand me, but sympathize with me, when I say that, great as my pleasure is in being here as your guest in this beautiful temple and in meeting such a body of men as this that I am now addressing, I think my pleasure is even greater when going into some little lodge, where I meet the plain, hard working men - the men who work with their hands - and meet them on a footing of genuine equality, not false equality, of genuine equality conditioned upon each man being a decent man, a fair dealing man....
"Masonry should make, and must make, each man who conscientiously and understandingly takes its obligations a fine type of American citizenship, because Masonry teaches him his obligations to his fellows in practical fashion....
"Masonry teaches and fosters in the man, the qualities of self-respect and self -help, the qualities that make a man fit to stand by himself, and yet it must foster in everyone who appreciates it as it should be appreciated the beautiful and solemn ritual - it must foster in him a genuine feeling for the rights of others and for the feelings of others; and the Masons who help one another help in a way that is free from that curse of help, patronizing condescension."
Such was the Rooseveltian theory of Masonry enunciated only a few months after he was made a Mason. It was the theory which he held to until he died.
In one of his last interviews, Bro. Roosevelt is quoted in the July, 1919, McClure's Magazine as saying:
"I violate no secret when I say that one of the greatest values in Masonry is that it affords an opportunity for men in all walks of life to meet on common ground, where all men are equal and have one common interest.
"For example, when I was President, the Master was Worshipful Brother Doughty, gardener on the estate of one of my neighbors, and a most excellent public-spirited citizen, with whom I liked to maintain contact. Clearly I could not call upon him when I came home. It would have embarrassed him. Neither could he, without embarrassment, call on me. In the lodge, it was different. He was over me, though I was President, and it was good for him and good for me.
"I go to the lodge, and even the folks who do not belong to or believe in the order rather like it that I should go. They seem to feel it's part of the eternal fitness of things. Whenever I return from one of my journeys, I always go there to tell of the lodges I have visited, in Nairobi in Africa, in Trinidad, or the quaint little lodge I found away up on the Ascension River. They sort of feel I am their representative to these lodges, and they like it. There's a real community of interest."
No sketch of Bro. Roosevelt would be complete without reference to the important discovery made by the Grand Master of the District of Columbia when the cornerstone of the Masonic Temple in Washington was laid. In the minutes of the special communication of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia for June 8, 1907 w e find:
"The President of the United States, Bro. Theodore Roosevelt, accompanied by his Secretary. Bro. William Loeb, Jr., and his personal escort, Bro. William B. Hibbs, arrived, his coming being signaled by 'The Star Spangled Banner' by the Marine Band. He was invested with an apron by the Grand Master." And just them, according to tradition, a gust of wind lifted the Presidential coat-tails revealing a healthy pistol on each hip!
In his speech that day, Bro. Roosevelt said:
"I have but a word to say to you and that word must always be appropriate in any Masonic meeting where the name of Washington is mentioned. I ask of each Mason, of each member, of each brother, that he shall remember ever that there is upon him a peculiar obligation to show himself in every respect a good citizen; for after all, the way in which he can best do his duty by the ancient order to which he belongs is by reflecting credit upon that order by the way in which he performs his duty as a citizen of the United States."
Bro. Roosevelt's last lengthy Grand Lodge address, before the Grand Lodge of New York in 1917, was so widely quoted and is so recent that extracts from it are needless.
