My Visit to T.S. Webb #43

Last Night I had the privilege to visit Thomas Smith Webb #43, which meets in the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Cranston, RI for their visitation for the Most Worshipful Grand Master Richard Ault. Thomas Smith Webb was Grand Master of Rhode Island in 1813-1814 and is most known for authoring The Freemasons Monitor and his contributions to the York Rite.

The building itself is very impressive, there is the Scottish Site Cathedral on one side of the street and a Shriners Center opposite where the brothers retired afterwards for a drink and fraternal bonding.


The foyer to the lodge is filled with artifacts and memorabilia and really brings the history of the lodge to light. Photos, gavels, aprons, pins and much more, you will find items two hundred years old next to items from the last decade.


In fact there is a museum in the building with some of the best Masonic items in the state and is a much see if you visit the lodge. Below is a case of older gavels that really takes ones breathe away.


Because it is used for Scottish Rite, the lodge is laid out differently then other lodges I have visited. All the seats are in the North and are stadium style which gives it a much different feel from the smaller lodges I have been in.


The visit had a great turnout and it was something to see a lot of those seats filled with brothers, I can only imagine how it would have been fifty years ago when every seat was filled.



Additional links:
Thomas Smith Webb Wikipedia article
Scottish Rite - Valley of Providence
Webbs Masonic Monitor

My Visit to Howard Lodge

I ventured outside of Rhode Island for my latest visit, this time to Howard Lodge in South Yarmouth, MA. Every year my home lodge has a Cape Cod Getaway weekend and I went up a day early so I could attend the Fellowcraft Degree that Howard Lodge was imparting upon two Entered Apprentices.


The lodge room itself was surprisingly spacious and I was grateful for the very comfortable chairs, especially on a degree night. The degree work that the lodge presented was incredibly interesting; the differences between the ritual in Massachusetts and the ritual in Rhode Island were numerous and often times caught me off-guard.


The foyer to the lodge is filled with wonderful artifacts from the lodges history including the trowel used to lay the cornerstone of the lodge, past masters aprons from the late 1880's, and original artwork depicting the building of King Solomons Temple.


Everything added a sense of scope to the lodge, newcomers would be hard pressed not to be impressed by the history presented to them. Special note must be made of the four paintings in the lodge room depicting different sections of the middle chamber. It was the first time that I have seen the lecture done without the use of a floor tarp and I enjoyed the effect of having the decor of the room being used in a secondary manner.



Everything about the visit was memorable, the brothers were very friendly and I was invited to sit at the Worshipful Masters table during dinner where tales of the craft were swapped over a delicious stuffed chicken dinner. The newly passed brothers were interested in a traveling mans thoughts and the night was full of insightful exchanges. All in all I had a wonderful time and I am looking forward to returning to the area for one of the districts masonic themed plays that they will be presenting in the coming months.

Visitation tonight: Franklin Lodge #20

Tonight I will be visiting the furthest lodge from my home, Franklin Lodge #20 in Westerly RI for their annual communication. Keeping in mind how small Rhode Island is and the fact that I live in Warwick which is in the middle of the state, it will still take me 45 minutes to drive there.

A little information about the lodge from the RIMasons,org web site:

Their dispensation was granted December 30, 1856 and their charter was granted five months later on May 25, 1877. Their stated communtication is the second Tuesday in each month (except July and August) and their annual communication is the Saturday nearest to January 17 in each year.

I plan on taking some photos while I am there and will post them along with my thoughts on the visit soon!