By Bro. L. G. CLARKE 33°
Sovereign Grand Inspector General
The Masonic Analyst Vol. VIII No. 7
December 1930, Pages 6-9
“To know just where the trail doth lead, is more important far than speed; No toilsome journey daunts the soul, When vision sees a worthwhile goal.”
In the summer and fall of 1869 there were within the jurisdiction of Oregon the following brethren of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite:
Capt. John C. Ainsworth 33°, Rockey P. Earhart 32°, Ferdinand N. Shurtleff 32°, Dr. James R. Bailey 32° and Harry C. Morrice 14°.
These Brethren had received their degrees in Washington, D . C. Illustrious Brother Ainsworth, who had received the appointment of Active Inspector General for Oregon, Washington and Idaho, by dispensation communicated the degrees from the Fourth to the Thirty-second upon the following Brethren:
John C. Ainsworth 33 °, John McCracken 32°, A. B. Richardson 32°, Josiah Myrick 32°, L. F. A. Shaw 32°, Simeon G. Reed 32°, William W. Upton 32°, Theodore Wygant 32°, Richard B. Knapp 32°, William M. Francis 32°, Harry C. Morrice 32°, James A. Chapman 32°, Albert Zieber 32°, John D. Biles 32°, Elwood M . Burton 32° Joseph N. Dolph 32° and Joseph Kellogg 32°.
In January, 1870, these became the Charter members of Oregon Lodge of Perfection.
Ainsworth Chapter of Rose Croix was instituted November 1, 1871, and Multnomah Council of Kadosh January 8, 1872. The above mentioned officers held their respective offices in Chapter and Council.
The first person to receive the degrees in the Lodge of Perfection was Brother Charles F. Weigand. His was the first name on the roll of the dead. During the year several took the degrees to the Eighteenth; the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth being conferred and the others communicated. The fees for the degrees were very high. When the Council of Kadosh was instituted several brethren came in, having taken the 18th degree. The first class received the degrees from the Nineteenth to the Thirtieth together. This evidently was the beginning of our Scottish Rite Reunions as we know them today and the dawn of a new era in the order.
In the first class were the following:
William B. Atlee, James W. Cook, John R. Foster, James H. Hatch, Levi W. Hill, Kenneth McCleeg, Irving W. Pratt, Thomas M. Richardson, George L. Story, Thomas H. Veasey, John W. Brazee, James R. Cardwell, William H. Harris, L. C. Henrichsen, Robert Irving, Daniel C. McKercher, Seth L. Pope, Andrew Roberts, John F. Steffen, Charles W. Weigant.
All of these then received the Thirty-first and Thirty-second from Ill. Bro. John C. Ainsworth 33° April 30, 1872, All the above charter members and those of the first reunion achieved distinctive honors in Masonry.
About the time that Oregon Lodge of Perfection was instituted, Salem and Corvallis were granted charters but, for lack of leadership, their charters were forfeited and the brethren affiliated with the Portland bodies. Those affiliating from Salem and Corvallis were:
F . N . Shurtleff 32°, Henry L. Hoyt 32°, Benj. F. Goodwin 32°, George A. Pease 32°, John B. Congle 32°, James R. Bailey 32°, George McD. Stroud 32°, Robert R. Thompson 32°, Rockey P . Earhart 32° and William Underwood 32°.
Thus were grouped together in the bonds of the fraternity men who took active part in the early struggle of the Rite, through the vicissitudes of time and fortune, and to whom is due the laying of the foundation on which the super structure of Scottish Rite Masonry was builded in Oregon.
It was my pleasure to know these men personally. They were men of character and courage, who while busy building a western empire, opening up this vast Oregon country for settlement and industry, found time also to establish Masonry in the great Northwest. Lest we forget these names are here reverently inscribed.
Oregon’s first Sovereign Grand Inspector General-1870 to 1874-was John Commingers Ainsworth 33°, the founder of Scottish Rite Masonry in Oregon. He had the distinctive honor of being the first active member of the Supreme Council for the jurisdiction of Oregon. He was born at Springboro, Warren County, Ohio, June 6, 1822. He received his first lessons in steam boating on the Mississippi River. He came to the Pacific Coast in 1850. As transportation on the Columbia River developed he became the executive head of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. He was the founder of the Masonic Educational Fund. Ainsworth Chapter Rose Croix was instituted by him and bears the honored name of this distinguished man and Mason. He died December 30, 1893.
John McCracken 33° was Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Oregon – 1874 to 1878. He was born in London July 11, 1826. When six years of age his father came to New York. In October, 1850, he came to Portland, later establishing himself in business. He was presiding officer of all the Scottish Bodies. He died February 15, 1915.
Rockey P. Earhart 33°, Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Oregon -1883 – 1892 – was born at Columbus, Ohio, June 23, 1836. He came to Oregon via the Isthmus of Panama in 1855. He joined Salem Lodge No.4 April 19, 1865. He served as Secretary of State of Oregon under Governors Chadwick and Moody -1878 to 1887-and died May 11, 1892.
Irving Washington Pratt 33°, Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Oregon – 1892 to 1908 was born March 17, 1838, at Waterloo, N. Y. He came to Oregon March 9, 1867, via the Isthmus of Panama. He received the Fourteenth degree in Oregon Lodge of Perfection April 18, 1871. He was crowned Thirty-third in 1876 by John McCracken, S.G.I.G. in Oregon. He later succeeded John McCracken as Sovereign Grand Inspector General. He was connected with the Portland Public Schools for forty-nine years, serving five years of that time as Superintendent. He died July 11, 1908.
Philip Schuyler Malcolm 33° Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Oregon -1911 to 1929 was born in Oswego, New York, October 30, 1847. He joined the Masonic Order December 1, 1868, being initiated in to Sodus Lodge, N. Y. In 1869 he started a roaming career which took him to many parts of the world. He first visited Panama, where he remained until 1876, working in the operating department of the Panama Railroad. While in the zone area, he received the Scottish Rite degrees from the Fourth to the Thirtieth. From Panama he moved to London, England; from there to Melbourne, Australia. He came to Portland in 1882 and was employed in the construction department of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. He was made a Thirty-second degree Mason on his return from the Antipodes and crowned a Thirty-third Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in 1890 by Sovereign Grand Inspector General, Rockey P. Earhart, and succeeded Irving W. Pratt as an active member of the Supreme Council in 1911. He was elected Grand Prior of the Supreme Council, which office he held at the time of his death, February 1, 1929.
Part 2 of this essay coming next month.
About the editor of this essay:
Michael D. Robinson 32° KSA, was the second Master Mason Raised in Esoterika Lodge #227, and the first member Raised in that Lodge to serve as Worshipful Master. He was elected Master in 2013 and 2014, and currently serves as Chaplin for that Lodge. Brother Robinson was appointed Historian for the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Orient of Oregon in December of 2014, and Secretary of the Eugene Valley in March of 2015. He also serves as Historian for Research Lodge #198 and Eugene Lodge #11. He is the recipient of the “Novus Astorum” from the Scottish Rite in 2010, and the Hiram Award from Esoterika Lodge in 2012.
Brother Robinson has a degree in History from Colorado State University, class of 1982, and is a Historian, Genealogist, Certified Vertebrologist, Artist, Craftsman and Bishop Emeritus of the Essene Church.
Thank you for your work and scholarship on our history. It is great to have our history taken from the myths of time and brought to facts of history.