Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-04-28
FIFTY YEARS AGO"
A Paper Read By Townsend A.
Thomas February 8.
An Autobiography Which Will Prove
Interesting Reading-A Career in
Masonry That Has
Few Parallels.

AT the celebration of his fiftietl
anniversary as mason, held Febru
uary 8, 1892, DR.. Townsend a
Thomas read the following pape
that will prove more than passaDl.
interesting to the reader:
February 8, 1912, initiated Febru
ary IA, 1912, passed to F. c.; Febru
ary q, 1912, raised to M. M; Sep
tember, 1912, J. D.; September, l843
J. W.; September, 1874, S. W.; Sep
tember, 1916, w. M; September
1847, w. M. in Clarksville Lodge, No
80. Moved to Nashville, Tenn, il
1S4S and organized Sequonah Lodge
No. - and was first W. M. unit
1850.
Left Nashville for California il
April, 1850; crossed the plains anC
arrived at Sacramento October, 1860
in December, 1850, elected w. M. o
Tehama Lodge No. 8 (its second mas
teri May, 1851, elected Cir. Treas
of Grand Lodge Of California May
1852, elected d. G.. M. of g. L. o.
California in 1868 elected ID. G. M
of G. l.. of California; in 1854 served
on Committee on Ritual, perfectine
the same; served on Committee Of
Masonic Jurisprudence until the
time of leaving California Novem.
ber, 1857 served as secretary of TIE
hama Lodge No. until time of leav.
ing California for Clarksvile. In
1862 was elected W. M. of CIarks.
vile Lodge, No. SO and served four
consecutive years; then moved to
Cincinnati.
There are a few members Of that
period present who know the i'm.
mense work and good done during
those four years. 1868 or9 served
one year as ID. G. M, of G. l., of
Tennessee. .atS g%@T5 ,t
Served annually on the committee
of Masonic Jurisprudence with Bro.
James McCallum and with him
drafted the present constitution of
the G. l.. of Tennessee.
By a resolution introduced by me
the Masonic Text Book of Tennessee,
now in use, was ordered. 1t was
complied by Bros, John Frizzell, P.
G. M; Chas. A. Fuller, P. G. M. ;
Thos. McCulloch, p. G. M; James
McCallum, p. g. M. and Townsend
A. Thomas, p. ID. G. M. TO meet the
committee | travelled from Cincinnati
to Winchester, Tenn, and spent
eight days on the work, which had
teen submitted by Bro. Frizzell,
Paid my own expenses. Whilst
ID. G. M. / visited nearly every sub
ordinare lodge in the State of Ten.
nessee and instructed them in the
uniform ritual as adopted by the G..
L., which was then made concise.
Conferred the several degrees for
most of the lodges l visited,
In 1874 l became member of the
G. l.. of Tennessee, and am now a
permanent member thereof.
During the meeting of the 6. l..
when considering the establishment
of a Masonic college, under its juris-
dictiOn, | took an active part.
To the liberality of the citizens OF
Clarksville and the noble working
Masons of CIarksville Lodge 80, and
Tannehill Lodge 116, we are indebt-
ed to for our South Western Presby-
terian University that is doing so
much for the present and coming
generations.
have now related from memory
my past fifty years work in the Blue
Lodge and will proceed to remin-
iscence OF California in lis early days
of Masonry.
A resident of Sacramento City was
a Master and Royal Arch Mason in
good standing-a good lawyer
and a good man. The terrible
confagration of Nov, 1852, destroyed
the whole city. His valuable library
and all his possessions were burned.
Myself and wife and three children
hardly escaped with cur lives, but
went to work at once to retrieve our
losses, and soon by energy overcame
them. Not so with the law
yer. On the contrary, his losses
disheartened him, and from the
time of the fire, 1862, till 1857 he
went down and down until he be-
came an outcast and ceased to receive
recognition from any OF his former
friends, except one clever man, who
would OCCASIONALLY give him a clean
shirt and pay the barber for shaving
him. He slept in the shavings oi
new houses and lived on what he
could get at free lunch stands late al
night.
Conceiving the idea that his was 6
case for a humane experiment,