In 1884, Eastland Lodge 467, Texas, inherited an estate from a recently departed Brother. The inheritance included The Brother's farm, belongings and livestock as well as John and Nathan Tracy, both of his sons! The transaction was legal and administered by T.H. Connor, Chief Justice of the Second Court of Appeals. In 1932, Nathan Tracy became Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery, K.T. of Texas.
Three men laid claim to being the world's smallest Mason: Charles Stratton (1838-1883) at 40" and 70 pounds, St. John's Lodge 3, Bridgeport, CT; Vance Swift (1916-1946) at 26" and 34 pounds, Pythagoras Lodge 355, New Albany, IN; and Reuben Steere (1838-1904) at 44" and 43 pounds, Friendship Lodge 7, Chepachet, RI. The distinction seems to go to Brother Swift, who also claimed to be the world's smallest man. Stratton, raised in 1862, was the shortest Mason of his time and by far the most famous of the three, better known by another name, "Tom Thumb."
In 1920, Gate City Lodge 522, Kansas City, met every single day except Sundays, conferring an average of over 21 degrees a week, for a record 1,107 degrees.
Wheelock Commandery 5, Texas, ceased to exist when its 55 members joined the Confederate Army in 1861 and all were subsequently killed.
Martha Washington was terrified of battlefields, yet she spent fully half of the American Revolution with her husband George, a courageous act that has been largely lost to history.
William Jennings Bryan, US Secretary of State, presidential candidate, Lincoln Lodge 19, Nebraska, may be best known for prosecuting and winning the 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial." In what was one of the great media circuses of the 20th century, the court found John T. Scopes guilty of teaching evolution in a high school science class. Six years earlier, in 1919, Brother Bryan gave the commencement address at the high school in Salem, Illinois. In the audience on that occasion was graduating high school senior John T. Scopes!
Brothers George Washington, Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson each became President of the United States without having anything more than a grade school education.
Brother Theodore Roosevelt traveled to Panama in November, 1906 to view first-hand the progress on the construction of the Panama Canal. With that, he became the first US President to leave the country while still in office.
Worshipful Brother Sam Houston (1793-1863), was an American patriot, congressman, US Senator, governor of Tennessee, hero of the Texas fight for independence, president of the Republic of Texas, governor of Texas, Past Master, member of several Lodges, Royal Arch Mason and more. Yet, in 1828, one of his Lodges suspended him for unmasonic conduct!
The proceedings list no reason for Brother Houston's suspension, but it may relate to an earlier dueling incident or, being Governor of Tennessee at the time, it may have been a political matter. Whatever the case, he was reinstated and remained a "true and faithful Brother among us" for the remainder of his life.
Warren G. Harding, a member of Marion Lodge 70, Marion, Ohio, was the 29th President of the United States. He died in office August 2, 1923. In failing health, he visited Lafayette Lodge 241 in Seattle just days before his death. He canceled all appearances after that, making the Lodge visit his final public function, and the final time Brother Harding signed his name was in the Lodge's Bible.
Senator Henry Clay, Past Grand Master of Kentucky, was instrumental in setting up a meeting of Freemasons held in Washington, DC, on March 9, 1822. The meeting resulted in a resolution to establish a General Grand Lodge. Although that body was never formed, the meeting itself is significant in that it is the only Masonic meeting on record ever held in the United States Senate chambers.
