The Masonic Leader

Lake George was wilderness. It was the void between two encroaching European frontiers. Just a few miles north of the lake, stood Fort Carillon, the French fortress, designed to guard the area north from any English advance into Canada. Several miles south and east of the lake stood Fort Edward, on the Hudson, the northern terminus of the English foray into this forested area. Between the two stood the 26 mile long Lake George.

Named Lac Du St. Sacrement by the French, the place was renamed Lake George by William Johnson in 1755, shortly before he had defeated a French force there in the Battle of Lake George, to leave no doubt as to English sovereignty in the area. A road, constructed to link Fort Edward to the lake, now needed protection. In addition, a fort at this site could prove to be a launching and resupplying point for assaults against the French outposts and beyond. Thus was born Fort William Henry, designed and situated by Captain William Eyre along with Johnson.

On June 7, 1756 General Daniel Webb arrived to assume command of the fort and lead the upcoming planned offensive. At both ends of the lake, French and English garrisons were increased, entrenchments built, and preparations undergone. Over the course of the next year, a series of raids, counter-raids, and scouting missions occurred leading to some casualties and gathered intelligence.

It soon became apparent that Fort William Henry was becoming a thorn in the side of New France. General Marquis de Montcalm, in command at Fort Carillon, decided to invest and reduce the log structure at the south end of the Lake. Departing from his post on Lake Champlain, Montcalm led a force of 6 French Regular battalions consisting of 2570 soldiers. Augmented by an almost equal number of Canadian militia, 300 volunteers, along with a large contingent of invaluable Indian allies – between 1500 & 1800 from a large number of tribes – this French force became almost invincible, in this situation, by the presence of 200 men of the artillery units firing their 36 cannon and four mortars.

By contrast, the garrison at Fort William Henry, under the able leadership of Lt. Colonel George Monro – once General Webb decided to turn tail and survey matters from Fort Edward – had a total, as the siege began, of 2372 men. Only a maximum of 500 could man the fort. The remainder settled into an entrenched camp just east of the fort. No preparations were undertaken to resist French attempts to make landings on the shore. The English merely waited. Expecting the attack to come from the west – the east side being swampy and fortified by the camp – Monro had the heaviest of the artillery pieces along the west wall. And so it was to be …

Montcalm chose the northwest bastion to bear the brunt of the artillery barrage he planned. Arriving during the night of August 2-3, 1757, he immediately set to work building a road and then a series of entrenchments to inch ever-closer to the fort walls. Meanwhile, Indian and militia marksman positioned themselves between the entrenched camp and Fort Edward, straddling the road, and harassed the beleaguered British.

As the days went on, the French artillery moved closer, the British casualties mounted, and hope of reinforcement continued to dwindle. Couriers were routinely dispatched between the British forts, often times being intercepted by the French or their Indian allies. One such message, from Webb, encouraged surrender, as at the time, he felt he could not aid Monro. On August 7, Montcalm ordered his aid-de-camp, Captain Bougainville, forward under a flag of truce to make this intercepted letter known to the garrison. By the next morning, the French trenches were a mere 250 yards outside the fort wall. Within the fort, ammunition was low, spirits were lower. There was little hope.

And so, just after dawn on the 9th of August, following a conference of the fort’s officers, a flag of truce was visible flying over Fort William Henry. Montcalm offered generous terms, even for the typically gentlemanly terms of the day … the entire garrison would be allowed to march off in military parade, colors flying, to Fort Edward. A cannon would even be allowed to accompany the procession. In return, the English would not bear arms against France for the next 18 months. No ammunition would be granted, and the sick and wounded would be returned when well. One British officer would remain as hostage, until the French escort attached to the retreating column, returned safely from Fort Edward. In European terms, all was well. The paid French soldiers had earned their victory. Once burned, there would no longer be a British post on the shores of Lake George. The British, though defeated, had retained their honor. The siege of Fort William Henry was over.

The British evacuated the fort, leaving about 70 sick and wounded to the care of the French. Almost immediately, Indians entered to plunder – their form of payment – what baggage the British had left behind. Cries and screams for help were heard outside the fort. A missionary, Pere Roubaud says of one particular warrior, “[he] carried in his hand a human head, from which trickled streams of blood, and which he displayed as the most splendid prize that he could have secured.” Accounts vary, but somewhere between four and seventeen were killed within the fort. In light of upcoming events, it is reasonable to assume that they perhaps resisted. French troops soon restored order.

The tribes were restless. They wanted booty. It was their only reward. Clothing, arms, ammunition, supplies, rum … many felt deprived. They lingered. Tensions mounted. A proposed march from the entrenched camp to Fort Edward was postponed, at Montcalm’s suggestion, until the following morning, as hostile Indians gathered in the vicinity. They pestered the soldiers, wanting their baggage. Montcalm posted French guards. It was a long, tension-filled day and night. Two-thirds of the Indians were not in their camps.

At dawn’s light on August 10th, the English assembled by companies, Monro on horseback, and attempted to leave from the entrenched camp. A French escort of 200 was on the scene. When the last British regiment had left, Indians fell upon 17 helpless wounded left behind in huts. They were scalped and killed. At the rear of the column was a Massachusetts regiment, some New Hampshire militia, and camp followers. The Indians next fell upon them. “… than the savages fell upon the rear killing and scalping.” A “hell whoop” was heard. “ … the Indians pursued tearing the Children from their Mothers Bosoms and their mothers from their Husbands, then Singling out the men and Carrying them in the woods and killing a great many whom we say lying on the road side.” Not surprisingly, despite a halt being ordered, many fled, these images indelibly stamped upon their minds. Hundreds, up to 1500, were reported killed by those panic-stricken souls arriving at Fort Edward. It is easy to imagine it as so. The column was unarmed. The Indians fully armed. Eyewitnesses claimed this “slaughter” went on for “three hours“. Accounts were typified by this:

this Day when they Came to march the Savage Indiens Came upon them and Stript them of their Packs and Cloths and the most of their Arms then they Pickt out the negrows Melatows and Indiens and Dragd them Away and we Know not what is Become of them then they fell to killing of our men At A most Dredfull manner they Ravesht the women and then Put them to the Slaughter young Children of the Regular forces had their Brains Dasht out Against the Stones and trees

It is easy to visualize nearly the entire column being slaughtered under these circumstances, much like what one sees in the movie, The Last of the Mohicans. How could it be otherwise? 1600 armed, frenzied warriors falling upon a defenseless, panicked column of some 2400 (including women & children) for nearly three hours. It certainly is very easy to imagine. In reality, however, it just didn’t happen. Col. Monro, speaking of his regular troops, gave 129 killed and wounded – including the siege – as his estimates. Regarding the militia, he says, “No Regular Accot Could be got from the Provincials but their Numbers Kill’d Could not be Less than Four Officers & about 40 Men. And very near as many Men Wounded.” Roubard stated killed could number “hardly more than forty or fifty.” Another man stated, “Near Thirty Carcasses, however, were actually seen …” There is no doubt some killing occurred, but, by and large, the picture was one of Indians taking, from terrified soldiers, baggage and clothing they felt was due them. It was a scene of pawing, grabbing, poking & touching. When a soldier resisted stiffly, he may have been knocked down, beaten, scalped or killed. Indians had learned from Oswego that a soldier was worth more alive than dead. The French would pay handsomely for the return of prisoners. So, as the soldiers broke and ran, the Indians pursued. They gathered booty, and collected prisoners. It was undoubtedly a scene of utter pandemonium and terror, but the “massacre” as film and some historians have presented it, just never did occur. At some point, the French did help restore some semblance of order. Though hundreds streamed in well before, the remnants of the column, including Col. George Monro, did arrive at Fort Edward, under French guard, on August 14.

Note that Lake George Lodge, a military Lodge was situated within the fort.  After evacuation, the records were seized and transported back to Quebec.  These Lodge records are believed to be in the possession of the Grand Lodge of Quebec.

According to Ian K. Steele’s Betrayals, the most recent and exhaustive study on the subject, of the 2308 soldiers who left Fort William Henry on August 9, 1783 had shown up at Fort Edward by August 31, an additional 217 appearing by year’s end. Considering the fact that only 500, including “wives, servants, & sutlers” arrived with Monro, it is obvious that many fled into the woods to make their way alone or in parties over the next weeks. Among those captured, most were paroled at some point. By the new year, only 308 were considered killed or missing. It seems reasonable to assume that of these, many were those who fled but never, for one reason or another, went to Fort Edward. Again, according to Steele’s study, the maximum number killed on August 10 “including those who happily or unhappily lived the rest of their lives in the villages and forests of New France’s Indian allies, could not have numbered more than 184.” His minimum figure is 69.

Fort William Henry’s impact on history had been accomplished. The French burned the fort. Today, a reconstruction stands where the original once stood. There is a marker on the site of the entrenched camp, and several other markers and monuments nearby. The ruins of a portion of Fort George, built a couple of years later near where Fort William Henry stood, can still be found. Fort Edward is marked merely by a couple of blue signs. Fortunately, there is excavation work being done in the vicinity, and this may someday change. Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) stands proudly today, as it did nearly 250 years ago, as a silent reminder to all that once took place.

Austin Holden was born in White Creek in Washington County, New York in 1819.  He was raised by his dad and step-mother from the age of four.

He arrived in Glens Falls in 1836 at the age of 17 and studied law with Hon. William Hay.  He stopped after one year and became a cabinet maker in order to make money.

He taught school in Saratoga County, Fort Edward, and Glens Falls.  He was county superintendent for the Common School District from 1846 -47.

He then studied medicine under Dr. Tabor Reynolds of Saratoga.  He graduated from Albany Medical College in 1848.  While in Medical School, he served as Warren County Superintendent of the Common School District.

On April 24, 1851 he married Elizabeth Buell and they had three children, James, Horatio, (died at age 27) and Pauline, (died at 11 months).

He was a leader in State and National Homeopathic medical groups and became Chief of Staff of Ward’s Island Homeopathic Hospital in New York City.

At one time Holden was editor of the Glens Falls Times, a daily newspaper.  In 1854 he was a partner with Goodspeed, Mott & Co. that made stone castings. He was also Director of the Public Library from 1857 – 63.

He was the first man in Warren County to enlist for Union duty in the Civil War…22nd Regiment, Co. F., known as the Iron Brigade.  He fought at the Second Bull Run, Antiem, Fredericksburg, and South Mountain.  He served on the medical staff as an assistant surgeon.  Holden was commissioned as Brevet Major for meritorious service.  He carried the following in his field case:  pocket case for pills, sewing kit, sulfur matches, pocket knife, soldier’s pocket booklet with verses from the New Testament, some favorite psalms and hymns.

He was elected to the State Assembly as a Democrat in 1874 from Warren County, which was primarily Republican.  He served on the first Board of Trustees of the Unified School District from 1881 -87.

He collected historical materials for a life time and wrote the History of the Town of Queensbury.  The materials from his collection became the core of the Holden Collection at the Crandall Public Library.   He was considered the Dean of Local Historians and was awarded an honorary degree of AM from Union College.

He was an active Temperance man, trustee and secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Old Glens Falls Academy, a member of the Vestry of the Church of Messiah, as well as clerk, Warden and lay reader.  A brass plaque is in the church in his honor.

He was a member of  Glens Falls Lodge 121 and  Senate Lodge 456. He was the only member to hold mastership of both lodges.  He was also a member of GAR, (Veteran of the the Civil War: Grand Army of the Republic)

Abraham Wing III loaned Holden all his personal papers, and while they were in Holden’s possession, the Wing house burned to the ground.  Thus, the Wing papers were preserved for history.

It is said that Holden befriended a member of the “older generation” to gain data for his records, and later his book.

The Anti-Masonic Party was the first Third Party to emerge into the American national political field and they entered during the election of 1832.  The Anti-Masons opposed the secrecy of the Masonic Order, an exclusive society in which everything was kept secret. They were also an Anti-Jackson party because he was a member of the Masonic Order. This was the first political party to add formal platforms, publicize their political positions, and to hold a nominating convention.

The party was founded in 1827-1828, after the disappearance of William Morgan, a Freemason, who was going to reveal the secrets of the Masonic order.  This disappearance started a wave of anti-Masonic sentiment, and it decreased the membership of the Masons.  The party was formed in 1828 after 15 of their candidates for the New York State offices were elected to  the state Assembly.  The party reflected the extensive hostility towards Masons holding public office. Thurlow Weed established two newspapers that led the press attack on Freemasonry and endorsed anti-Masonic candidates.  They were called the Anti-Masonic Enquirer and the Albany Evening Journal, which became the chief party organ.  Anti-Masonic papers rapidly spread throughout the states.  In 1831 they held their first national nominating convention.  Their main political force was in New York, but they spread their influence  to the middle Atlantic and New England states.

The Anti-Masonic Party appealed to the long-standing American suspicions of secret societies. The secret societies were condemned as a fortress of privilege and monopoly. The reason believed that  the Masons were exempt from criticism was because George Washington and other statesmen and soldiers of the Revolutionary period had been members.   The Anti-Masonic members insisted that people could achieve almost any social, economic, or political goal by going to polls and voting.  Many evangelical Protestant groups who were seeking to use political power to effect moral and religious reforms supported the party.

In 1831 they held their first national nominating convention, nominating William Wirt, who was a Freemason.  Wirt was up againstAndrew Jackson for the presidency. Amos Ellmaker was nominated for the vice presidency. In the election, Wirt only got one state, Vermont, but the effect of the third party drew support from Henry Clay and helped Jackson to win. The party did gain seats in the 23rd Congress, and an Anti-Masonic governor of Vermont, William A. Palmer.

In 1834, the party disbanded when several prominent leaders founded the Whig Party or shifted to the Democratic Party. Many of their former members who despised the secrecy of the Know-Nothings were influential in founding the Republican Party.

Harry Houdini, an American magician, was the son of Jewish parents. His father was a very learned Rabbi. Houdini was born on April 6, 1874 in Appleton, Wisconsin.  His real name was Erich Weiss, but he took the name of Houdini after the French magician, Houdin. When he was nine in 1882, he started out to earn his living as a
contortionist and trapeze performer in a 5-tent circus, located in his hometown. His mother disliked his occupation, or at least thought he might improve upon it, and much to his regret took him to a locksmith.

It was an inspiration on the good lady’s part, for it is owing to his knowledge of locks
and keys that Houdini climbed into fame and later became world famous.

However, at that period of his career, the trade of locksmithing had no charm for him.
To use his own expression, “One day I made a bolt for the door and never again
entered my master’s workshop.” The youthful Houdini ran away from home and
traveled with a show as a sleight-of-hand artist, a clown and a Punch and Judy
performer, and became world famous for his feats of magic. Eventually, he sought to
rival the Davenport Brothers in their rope-tying feats and was very successful.

Subsequently, he showed astounding ability in extricating himself from handcuffs,
ropes, locked trunks, jail breaking, and bonds of any sort. At one time, he had himself
roped and locked in a packing case, which was bound with steel tape and dropped into
the harbor off the battery in New York City. He appeared on the surface of the water
in 59 seconds.

After brilliant tours in vaudeville in this country, he went to Europe and created a
furor in England, France, Germany, and Russia with his sensational escapes from
prison cells.

Houdini attributed all of his feats of magic to natural, physical effects and explained
how many of his tricks were performed. He exposed the tricks of fraudulent
spiritualistic mediums, often producing “spiritualistic” phenomena himself which he
explained in non-mystical, physical terms. Before he died, Houdini arranged a
definite test of spiritualism, He devised a ten-word code, which he would
communicate to his wife, if possible, within ten years after his death. After he died,
various mediums maintained that they were able to establish contact with him, but
none was able to transmit to his wife the prearranged code.

Houdini’s collection of playbills and programs of eminent magicians, living and dead,
constituted a veritable history of natural magic and prestidigitation, to say nothing of
the largest library of books in the world. His house in New York is a storehouse of
information for magicians. Houdini is the author of a number of books on magic and
kindred topics, the most ambitious of which is A Magician Among the Spirits, New
York, 1924.

Brother Houdini was raised to the degree of Master Mason in St. Cecile Lodge, New
York. He was a noble of Mecca Temple, Mystic Shrine, of New York.

The Moderns

The Grand Lodge constituted in 1717 was titled’”The Right Worshipful Fraternity
of Accepted Free Masons,” and later became “The Most Ancient and Honorable
Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons under the Constitution of England” more
generally known as The Premier Grated Lodge or The Grand Lodge of England. Their
purpose was to revive the institution from its depressed state. Their original
jurisdiction extended for about three square miles, not all England, but they were
certainly the start of today’s Grand Lodge system.

They are often called “The Moderns,” a term that probably originated with their
rivals. And rivals there were. Some lodges felt that the creation of a Grand Lodge was
in violation of Masonic law, while others simply were against being ruled from the city.
By 1725 the Lodge in York had declared itself a Grand Lodge. The ultimate problem
arose when Dr. James Anderson, D.D. was commissioned “to digest the (Gothic
Constitutions) into a new and better method.” His Constitutions were adopted in 1723
and the 1738 edition included changes in the modes of recognition to tell the true from
the impostor – a change that was greatly disapproved in some circles, and possibly was
the immediate cause of the formation of the “Ancient” Grand Lodge.

The Ancients

On July 17, 1751 “The Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and
Accepted Masons, according to the Old Institutions” usually referred to as the “Ancient
Grand Lodge of England” or “Athol Grand Lodge” was formed by six lodges that
appear to have been mostly of Irish Masons. The work of this Grand Lodge was similar
to that used in both Ireland and Scotland. Laurence Dermott was its guiding hand,
serving as Grand Secretary from 1752 to 1771 and then Deputy Grand Master until
1787. He wrote its Book of Constitutions – the Ahiman Rezon (i.e. the Law of Prepared
Brothers, or A Help to a Brother.) This title will be found in the law of many US Grand
Lodges, including that of Virginia.

A key provision of the Ancient work was the inclusion of the Royal Arch Degree
as a part of the working. This was a stumbling block for all proposals to unite the two
Grand Lodges, and was also source of problems among lodges in the US.

Although Freemasonry in the United States was no longer influenced by that of
England, we should note in passing that on November 25, 1813 the two Grand Lodges
united as “The United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England.” The key
compromise in The Articles of Union “declared and pronounced, that pure Ancient
Masonry consists of three degrees, and no more, viz., those of the Entered Apprentice,
the Fellow Craft and the Master Mason (including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal
Arch.)”

Others

Although early Irish Masonic records are lacking, there is a Freemason’s Stone in
Dublin which appears to date from about 1602, and a lecture given in Dublin University
in 1688 makes references that imply that Masonry was not unknown at that time. The
Grand Lodge of Ireland was established no later than 1725 and followed the Ancient
form of work.

Scotland had many operative lodges, but apparently speculative members were
not very welcome, and a central authority even less so. (John Robinson notes that
American Freemasonry can be classed as Reformed, English – Conservative, and
Scottish – Orthodox.) The example of England and Ireland proved too strong, however,
and in 1736, thirty-three lodges met in Edinburgh and constituted the Grand Lodge.

In addition, four other Grand Lodges were established in England prior to 1800,
but most of these had no influence on Freemasonry in the United States. The notable
exception was the Lodge at York which declared itself a Grand Lodge in 1725. While
never particularly successful, it expired in 1790, it was the lodge of William Preston,
whose Illustrations of Masonry as revised by Thomas Smith Webb form the basis for
most of our Lodge ritual today.

Without a doubt, Masonry has existed from the time when “the memory of man
runneth not to the contrary” – that is from “time immemorial.” Some Masonic writers in
the late 190′ Century claimed Noah as our founder. Those of us who have had the
pleasure of witnessing Springfield Lodge’s presentation on Cleopatra’s Needle are
aware of the very Masonic symbols that were found under the base of an Egyptian
obelisk that was erected about 1500 B.C. John Robinson in Born in Blood provides
much evidence that we owe our lodges to the Knights Templar who needed a cover
following their suppression by the Catholic Church in 1307.

The most generally accepted view, points to the guilds of Freemasons. Operative
masons have always been involved in the building of temples and other monuments
from antiquity to the present day. Written evidence indicates that sometime before
926 AD masons had formed guilds or lodges but appear to have had some problems in
their government. The Regius Poem or Halliwell Manuscript, which dates from 1390,
tells how Athelstan, King of All England, called an Assembly at York in 926 to consider
the government of the Master Masons and Craftsmen. At this assembly, fifteen Articles
were adopted for the government of the Master Mason. These Articles include that:

• The Master must be steadfast, trusty and true.
• His apprentice must be of lawful blood and have his limbs whole.
• The Master must teach his apprentice.
• The Master must do nothing that would turn the craft to shame.

In addition, Fifteen Points were adopted for the government of the Craftsmen. These
include that:

• The Craftsman must love well God and holy church and his master and fellows.The Craftsman must keep his Master’s counsel in chamber and in lodge.
• The Craftsman must respect the chastity of his master’s wife and his fellow’s concubine.
• The Craftsman must swear never to be a thief and never to help any of false craft.

The poem ends in a manner well known to us: “Amen!, Amen!, So mote it be! Say we
all for charity” These so-called “Gothic Constitutions,” with later restatements, were the law for the government of the craft for the next 750 years.

In the middle of the 17th Century, joining the Masonic Lodge became a desirable thing
for gentlemen to do. Kilwinning Lodge No. 0 in Kilwinning, Scotland was primarily an
operative lodge claiming descent from the lodge formed when the abbey was built in
1140. Their minutes of 1672 show the admission of Lord Cassilis as a speculative
Mason. The diary of Elias Ashmole, who donated the Ashmolean Museum to Oxford
University, records under the date of October 16, 1646 that he was made a Free
Mason at Warrington in Lancashire. From this and other notes by other writers, it can
be concluded that there were a number of small lodges located around England and
Scotland, and that many of them included speculative members.

Until 1717, however, Masonry remained a truly secret society – one whose very
existence, let alone its membership, was not publicized. Its lodges met in various
taverns and ale houses for dinner, sociability, and a little degree work. (Since the new
members paid for the banquet, the degree work was probably an essential activity.) Its
membership, especially in the cities, was increasingly made up of speculative masons,
not operative ones. Then on June 24, 1717 at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House in St.
Paul’s Churchyard, London, Freemasonry came out of the closet. Speculative Masonry
had become too popular an activity, and four lodges felt that some sort of control
should be exercised. They had met at the Apple Tree Tavern in 1716 and there formed
a Grand Lodge pro tempore. At the meeting in 1717 they elected one of their number,
Anthony Sayer (“Oldest Master Mason and then Master of a Lodge”) as Grand Master
and agreed to hold a Grand Feast once a year. Sayer also appointed Grand Wardens
and “commanded the Master and Wardens of Lodges to meet the Grand Officers every
Quarter in Communication.” The four lodges were those that met at the Goose &
Gridiron Ale House, the Crown Ale House, the Apple Tree Tavern, and the Rummer and
Grapes Tavern. (Masonry had a different view of taverns in those days.) They agreed that only the Grand Lodge would have the authority to issue a warrant, and that lodges without warrants were unlawful.