Daily Kennebec journal., 1910-02-23
PLAN MEMORIAL.
Permanent Masonic Me-
mortal to Washington
Takes First Definite Form
Al Alexandra, Va.
Pres. Taft and Many Distinguished
Men Of Masonic Fraternity Meet.

Alexandria, Va, Feb. 22.-The move.
ment to erect a permanent masonic
memorial to George Washington took
its first definite form today when
Gereral J. NJ. Dickinson, sec
retary of wan and the grand masters
of many Masonic Grand Lodges met
here with other distinguished men of
the fraternity to form a National Ma
sonic Memorial Association. Perhaps
no Masonic celebration ever held any
where in America has been more elab-
crate.
In this quaint old town of ivy-covered
walls and rambling gardens, upon a
street laid out by the young surveyor,
near the spot where in 1754 Braddock's S
young colonel quartered his troops be-
fore the fateful march to the Ohio:
near the historic old lodge where he
was a master and in the midst of a
field rich in the events of his life and
memory, it will be the purpose of inis
association to erect temple to George
Washington, a Mason. Set apart in
the structure will be a hall of fame in
which space will be allotted to all the
grand jurisdictions in the country to
place tablets to the memories of their
distinguished sons.
The memorial would stand on Wash :
inston street. Close by is the old
Christ church where in his mature
years. Washington served as vestry-
| man. ON 4 field not1far off he held his
last military review. Across a shaded
| green in the stately hold court house he
cast his last vote; ;.iand there his will
| is filed. ,n -r
Alexandria. by undsputed consent, is
| the natural site for the memorial
Washington moved to Mount Vernon
when he was sixteen with his halt
| brother Lawrence, and until the chill
| raw day OF his death it was his home
| and Alexandria was mis- home town. he
became member of it's council, rep
| resented it in the house of Burgesses
| endowed it's schools, established it's fire
department and was master of its
| lodge.
The men who will form the associa- :
| tiOn met today in the same Alexandria =
Washington Lodge room. where Wash
ingtOn occupied the masters chair
While no fixed plan could be announced
Prior to the assembly Of all the grand
masters it is in short the purpose of
the lodge to raise 81 100000 to build and
cndow 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 a leaf in
its hall of fame. photograph and a
biography.
The gathering of such men Of prom
inence in the old lodge was impressive.
Alexandria Washington Lodge No. 90
made Washington its worshipful grand
master in 1TSS At his request in 1891
it laid the corner stone of the District
of Columbia and two years later assist
ed in laying the corner stone of the
national capitol In 1899 it performed
the Masonic ceremonies at his funeral.
In its halls. crowded with precious
momentoes. his memorial was organiz-
ed today. There hangs the old charter
granted bv Edmund Randolph. grand
master of Masons in Virginia, in 1888.
Close by, its pendulum cord out and its
hands pointing 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
a case is the little travel lie used at
laying the capital cornerstone. In an
other are his wedding gloves, his pock
ct compasses. farm spurs. piece of
his tent used at Yorktown, his old
fashioned medicine scales and an eIo-
Quent token of his reverence for his
mcther--a little knife she gave to him
as reward for his obedience and
which he Treasured for Sc years.
The Williams picture, painted from
life in 1874. hargs on, another wall. 1t
cannot escape the eye, for it is much
unlike the accepted likenesses of Wash
ington. 1t shows the man in his eX-
treme old age and is the only original
picture extant, in Masonic regalia His
masonic apron embroidered in gold
with French and American flags en-
twined. presented to the lodge IN 1872
by his nephew Lawrence Lewis. hangs
nearby. The only original painting OF
Lord Fairfax Washington's carly pa
tron and friend, is also there.
The masters chair, occupied by Cen
eral Washington in presiding over the
lodge. stands in a glass case. from
which it is removed only on extraordi-
nary occasions is 122 years old and was
in constant use for III years. Scores
of other things of his day the old
chairs and benches of the lodge still in
use. the front door key of the Bastle,
presented in 1925 by Lafayette. which
have come from relatives and friends.
are valued beyond estimate.
I4aThere had been sentiment against
choosing new site for the memorial,
but, for a great many reasons the one
proposed on Washington street is bet
ter fitted to the purposes of national
undertaking and the necessities have
|outwei9hed the patrioticsaapfiueut. and