Freemasonry in WikiTree

Question

Hi All,

I just joined WikiTree.Of course, I've been adding profiles from my family, helping out on other profiles, etc.

The question of Freemasonry.....

There are many men who are (or have been) Freemasons. Go to any cemetery and you will inevitable run into them. You can tell because many of the symbol of the Square and Compasses on the gravestone or marker.

Yet the organization of this on WikiTree, I think, is lacking.

I see the the Category for Freemasonry here: http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Freemasonry.

But this has some wording inconsistencies, extremely specific lodges and doesn't really do the topic justice.

Remember that Masonic Lodges can also be a great genealogical resource and historical resource. Every lodge records when their members received the degrees of Freemasonry. This can help trace someone's location, and who they might know, etc.

Having a better organization of this information, can also lead to some type of style guide, on how to note this information on a profile. This could be a way to honor those who were a Freemason. It can also lead to consistent terminology, especially for relatives and descendants who may not be familiar with the terminology and don't know what to make of it when they run across it. (I've seen this already when searching in forum posts.)

And yes, I'm a Freemason.

I don't know what level of project this should be, but it needs more than just a Category with miscellaneous stuff in it.

Terminology:

Freemason: A man who is a member of a Masonic Lodge.

Freemasonry: A fraternal organization with a long history.

Masonic Lodge: The smallest chartered organizational unit of Masons. A Masonic Lodge belongs to some Grand Lodge who charters Lodges.

Grand Lodge: The largest organizational unit of Freemasonry. There can be a single Grand Lodge for a country (e.g. United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE), Grand Lodge of Scotland, etc.). In the United States, there is no Grand Lodge for the country, but one for each State. There can be multiple Grand Lodges within a country (e.g. Germany), and there are also Prince Hall Grand Lodges that were historically set up for African Americans. The subject of "regularity" and "recognition" is a complex topic.

At the lowest level there needs to be a way to identify a profile as a "Freemason". There needs to be some credible evidence for this. In my opinion, if they can show that the gravestone / marker has a Square and Compasses on it, they can be considered a Freemason. For many older profiles, this may be all that we know. For newer profiles that are just entered by genealogists (i.e. not by a family member), this can be the easiest way to start with identification.

For those who know which Lodge the person belonged too, there needs to be consistent naming. An example could be:

"Enlightenment Lodge #198, Grand Lodge of Colorado A. F. & A. M."

Name of the lodge, lodge number, Grand Lodge. Yes, the "A. F. & A. M." is important. This is part of the name of the Grand Lodge. These are abbreviations that have historical significance. Not every U.S. State is the same.

There are probably other standard ways of identifying a Lodge for Grand Lodges in other countries.

For those who know dates for the degrees taken, then consistent wording:

Initiated: YYYY-MM-DD

Passed: YYYY-MM-DD

Raised: YYYY-MM-DD

Sometimes the above information is recorded. Sometimes it can only be obtained from the member's Lodge.

There needs to be consistent naming for other Masonic bodies and further degrees: The Scottish Rite, The York Rite, etc. This also needs to include other Masonic bodies in other jurisdictions (e.g. UGLE, Scotland, Ireland, etc.)

Women can be identified as Eastern Star, which is a related Masonic body. Many times Freemasons' wives were in this organization. You can see gravestones / markers with the Eastern Star symbol on them too. I'm not as familiar with their organization or terminology.

There is a reason why many Freemasons chose to be buried with a gravestone or marker with the symbol of the Square and Compasses. It was important to them, and they wanted future generations to know it.

I'm open to suggestions as to how this should be moved forward. Maybe there are others who are more familiar with WikiTree who would like to help with this. I don't know what level of project this should be.

All I know is that I would like to mark the profiles that I manage with this information, using consistent terminlogy, tagging (or whatever), and be able to search for this information across profiles. I would like to be able to help other profiles as I run across them. At the very least by letting people know that they were a Freemason.

Thanks.

Comments

Apparently, Freemasonry was more important to our ancestors than it is to most of us. The weekly email newsletter from the New England Historic Genealogical Society has online surveys on a variety of topics. I quote from a recent newsletter that reported the results of the previous week's survey about Mason ancestors. According to the NEHGS:

4,190 people answered the survey. More than one answer could be selected. The results are:

• 3%, I am a Mason
• 23%, My father is/was a Mason.
• 34%, One or both of my grandfathers were Masons.
• 26%, At least one of my great-grandfathers was a Mason.
• 29%, At least one of my more distant ancestors was a Mason.
• 23%, I don't know if any of my ancestors were Masons.
• 12%, No, none of my ancestors were Masons.. 

So 65% of respondents were aware of a family connection with Freemasonry, but only 3% are themselves affiliated with the Masons. (I'm one of the 62% who reported an ancestral connection, but neither I nor anyone in my immediate family is a Mason.)

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I actually didn't know there was a section for Freemasons - I've quite a number in my family tree.

I will have to revisit those profiles that have been created.

Thank you for sharing the information.

Answer 1

You can start by creating a Free-Space Project to organize the information. http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Free-Space_Projects

You might want to work with the Categorization Project in order to create subcategories under the Freemasonry category (maybe organize by Grand Lodge and then Lodge?) http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Categorization

I don't really know anything about Freemasonry but I know at least one of my ancestors was a Freemason, so I'd really like to learn more.

Comments

Categories might work. The current category of "Freemasonry" though needs some serious work.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Freemasonry

There shouldn't be subcategories of "Masonic Lodge", as that is inherently meaningless.

There shouldn't be subcategories for a specific Lodge like "Masonic Lodge 129, Bryan, Texas" (as an example), mainly because there needs to be Grand Lodge categories, then there can be specific lodges under the categories.

Categories like "Knights Templar Commandery 19, Fort Worth Texas" needs to change too. Knights Templar is a separate Masonic body, and should have its own category, then States, then specific lodges.

But I would like to have naming guidelines available. Giving just a lodge number is not sufficient. These lodges have names too.

Should this be part of Categorization? Should it have its own project?

From the Projects FAQ:

"One of the most important purposes of topical projects, i.e. projects covering a group of profiles, is to work out styles and standards for editing those profiles and to help everyone apply them."

From the FAQ, a top-level project also has:

"A unique tag in G2G that members follow."

That would certainly be good to have, to be able to help others with terminology, formatting, research possibilities, etc.

Certainly there might be advantages for a full-fledged project. 

 

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Projects can work with the Categorization project to create naming standards and a hierarchy that makes sense. This includes retiring categories that are misnamed or don't fit.

If you want to skip doing a Free-Space Project stage (which also gives you a unique tag) and go straight to a full-fledged project the steps are here: http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Starting_a_Project

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Ok.

http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/225123/announcing-the-freemasonry-free-space-project

The Freemasonry Free Space project:

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Freemasonry

Answer 2

Thank you for this! As EVERYONE apparently on both my maternal and paternal lines have been Masons. I have looked before for some Mason type specific page on here, but couldn't find it!

The Pasadena Scottish Rite in California has been my only communication so far, but they have gone above and beyond with helping me with some questions. BUT some of the info has only created more questions, if that makes sense? They sent me a photo of my great grandfather's membership index card which had 2 addresses, where he was from, his wife's name, and his death date, with an internal note written on the card that said they sent his wife flowers and a card. Then the person I was communicating with told me that the lodge he was a member of merged with another nearby lodge, and if I need more, that would be my "go-to" contact. Also listed were his degrees given at time of membership, which happened over a 4 day course, it appears- up to 32. The addresses were the best clues in my brick wall. The rest I knew, or was irrelevant to what so was researching, but fun.... I say this for others who haven't gone the Masonic records route.

I would love to see an area for questions- like what I'm posting on now, the wiki3g or whatever this is called. Where a lodge or area specific question can be posted, but then, there would have to be someone of the 3% family research population (like you) to be there to answer some questions that are not too "secret" to answer! Another thought would be links to Masonic "educational" websites, like one for the big Masonic museum and research place in US. Or a link to a reliable symbols, hand gestures, and jewelry identification source. (Web gives you satan worship conspiracy theory propaganda, and a bunch of useless info on Kanye West). I came across a link to all (not sure if it's ALL) known lodges in California between 1850 and 1950 in California or something similar, on a Marin historical society site or some-such online, and links like that, with tools for reference could help too.  

I can see where the specifics of degrees and orders and lodges might be of some help with one's specific research, especially if you are a current Mason, because you then know who to contact down to the last phone number for info on a particular ancestor, and because of your affiliations, you will probably get more information than a woman who is not allowed to be a Mason in the first place! I also think that most folks probably don't know WHICH kind of Mason they are dealing with, but saw the symbol on the grave, and know that said ancestor was a member of some type of Masonic brotherhood. You really have to know your Masons to be able to deduct specifics like A.F& A.M. or Order of Eastern Star or "Blue lodge" out of a symbol on a grave! If research takes you down the path, like it has for me, you start with area where they last resided, contact the local lodge, then expand, and specify. I know my 2nd great grandfather and grandmother are buried in the Masonic cemetary in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and I could start research with the cemetary, or figure out the local lodge and contact them, and go from there. I haven't started on him yet, but his jewelry has gotten me going. I may or may not get any kind of info, then, I would have to have a set of "important" identifying questions to ask of the lodge if I find it, but since I am not a Mason, I wouldn't know which questions to ask, and the answers that I would take and share, may not be worded properly, and make me sound like a complete a**!   An example of incorrect wording: "he was blue because lodge #150 said that 19 degrees made his level A.F.&A.M." See? Best to keep it simple and contact direct for specifics.

Maybe keeping a short template for the layman, with just: was this person a  Mason? Y/N/unknown and known lodge could suffice, and a section in "notes" for additional info or questions? This would be where you could put degrees with dates obtained, and any known additional info. Maybe also the other lodge memberships, like Elks- but are the Elks Masonic? I don't know...

Either way, I might use you as a contact if I need some help, now that I know you are a Mason, and it certainly means quite a bit to you, otherwise, this post would not be here!

Good luck on your petitioning!

Erin

Comments

Hi Erin,

The Freemasonry Free Space Project page is here:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Freemasonry

It should help answer some of the basic questions, as you suggested. 

Feel free to shoot some questions over to me, whether on the Forum, or via Private Message, and I'm happy to answer what I can.

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Hi Eric! Late to the party, but...

I've been trying to figure out for years how to get a response from the Freemasons in Mississippi, but no one has responded to any e-mails.

I believe most of my father's direct male ancestors (to around 1800, if not earlier) & also understand that complete lineage is provided to the lodge when a person joins.

How does one go about determining if/where such records may exist & seeking permission to obtain copies or at least view these records?

Thanks!

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Hi Liz,

Can you describe what you have done so far to get in contact with the Freemasons in Mississippi? Are you contacting some local Lodge? Or are you trying to contact the Grand Lodge of Mississippi (i.e. for the whole state)? Have you tried calling, instead of just email? And then who are you trying to contact? What I recommend is to reach out to the Grand Secretary for the Grand Lodge of Mississippi and start there.

But something to be aware of.... as far as I know, it is NOT a requirement to provide a complete lineage to any Lodge when the person joins. The most that you would get might be information about the specific person that you're trying to research. And even then, it would probably just be limited to their Masonic Record, i.e. when they received each of the three degrees of Masonry, which Lodge they belonged to, maybe an address (if they're no longer living), etc.

Let me know if there's something I can do to help.

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Thanks for the info Eric! I'll start over as you suggest, and with lower expectations :D