The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1910-02-22

1
movement to erect a permanentk ma
sonic memorial to George Washing
ton took its first definite form today,
when President Taft, General j. M.
Dickinson, secretary of war and the
grandmasters of many masonic grand
lodges met here with other distin-
guished men of the fraternity to form
a National Masonic Memorial associa-
ton. Perhaps no masonic celebra-
tion ever held anywhere in America
has been more elaborate.
In this quaint old town of ivy-cov-
cred walls and rambling gardens, up
on street laid out by the young sur
jveyor near the spot where in 1854
Braddock's young colonel quartered
his troops before the fateful march to
the Ohio; near the historic old lodge
where he was a master and in the
midst of field rich in the events of
his life and memory, 1t will be the
purpose Of this association to erect a
temple to George Washington, a Ma
son. Set apart in the structure will
be q hall of fame in which space will
be allotted to all the grand jurisdic-
tion in the country to place tablets
to the memories of their distinguish
ed sons.
The memorial would stand on Wash
ington street. Close by is the old
Christ Church where, in his mature
years, Washington served as vestry-
man. On field not far off he held
his last military review. Across a
shaded green in the stately old court
house he cast his last vote, and there
his will is filed.
Alexandria, by undisputed consent,
is the natural site for the memorial.
Washington moved to Mount Vernon
when he was sixteen with his half
brother Lawrence, and until the chill,
raw day of his death it was his home
and Alexandria was his home town.
He became member of its council,
represented it in the house of Bur.
gesses, endowed it's schools, establish
ed its fire department and was master
of its lodge.
The men who will form the asso-
citation met today in the same Alexan-
dria in Washington lodge room,
where Washington occupied the mas
ter's chair. While no fixed plan
could be announced prior to the as
sembly of all the grand masters, it is
in short the purpose of the lodge to
raise $1000,000 to build and endow
the memorial The institution will be
unique among the memorials of the
world and will permit every grand
jurisdiction to honor every Mason it
esteems to be deserving with leaf
in its hall of fame, a photograph and
a biography
The gathering of such men Of
prominence in the old lodge was i'm
pressive. Alexandria Washington
Lodge No. % made Washington its
worshipful grand master in 1888. At
his request in 1871 it laid the corner
stone of the District of Columbia and
two years later assisted in laying the
corner stone of the national capital.
In 1899 it performed the masonic
ceremonies at his funeral.
In its halls, crowded with precious
his memorial was organ
lied today. There hangs the old char
ter granted by Edmund Randolph,
grand master of Masons in Virginia,
in 1888. lose by. its pendulum ord
cut and its hands pointed to twenty
minutes after ten in the evening-the |
hour and the minute of his death
stands the old bed chamber clock. No
money could buy this silent old tale
bearer Nearby in case is the |
little trowel he used at laying the |
capitol cornerstone. In another are
his wedding gloves, his pocket com
passes, farm spurs. piece of his tent
used at Yorktown, his old fashioned |
medicine scales and an eloquent to-
ken of his reverence for his mother
4 little knife she gave to him as re-
ward for his obedience and which he
for 56 years.
The Williams picture. painted from