Freemasonry in Old Buffalo: James Leroy Nixon’s History of Buffalo Consistory

Purchase through Amazon   Buffalo had a reputation for being the “last city in the East” in terms of social mores, and in its heyday supported clubs and societies that had much in common with those in New York and Philadelphia. Some of these still survive, such as the Consistory of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.… Continue reading Freemasonry in Old Buffalo: James Leroy Nixon’s History of Buffalo Consistory

The Genius of Freemasonry: William B. Clarke’s Leaves From Georgia Masonry

Purchase through Amazon  The reader with a curiosity about the secrets of Freemasonry is confronted with a vast and eccentric literature, much of which is highly fanciful and often completely fictional. Finding books that have their feet on the ground, so to speak, is not easy. This is one, solid and truthful, and a good starting place… Continue reading The Genius of Freemasonry: William B. Clarke’s Leaves From Georgia Masonry

The Thomas Starr King Dispute: Acceptance and Unveiling of the Statues of Junipero Serra and Thomas Starr King

Purchase through Amazon  The Reverend Thomas Starr King left the amenities of bookish and comfortable Boston, where he was lionized as a charismatic and courageous preacher, to take a struggling Unitarian pulpit in a San Francisco that in the 1850s was hardly the sophisticated city that it is today.  He soon found himself involved in… Continue reading The Thomas Starr King Dispute: Acceptance and Unveiling of the Statues of Junipero Serra and Thomas Starr King

The Pope and the Freemasons: The Letter “Humanum Genus” of the Pope, Leo, XIII against Free-Masonry and the Spirit of the Age

Purchase through Amazon   By Pope Leo XIII Popes have never been enthusiastic about Freemasonry. Clement XII condemned the order in 1738, as did Benedict XIV in 1751. This was followed by interdicts by Pius VII in 1821, Leo XII in 1826, Pius VIII in 1829, Gregory XVI in 1832, and Pius IX 1646. The encyclical… Continue reading The Pope and the Freemasons: The Letter “Humanum Genus” of the Pope, Leo, XIII against Free-Masonry and the Spirit of the Age