| Los Altos Lodge No. 712: | Last Updated on November 28 2005 |
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Well here it is November already and the Masonic activity has not in the least diminished. October was a very busy month, and I had the great opportunity of visiting our Grand Lodge Annual Communications, a visit to the Masonic Home, our Grand Master's annual reception at the San Jose Scottish Rite, and a visit to 3 youth group meetings.
These visits included a presentation of $1,000.00 to each youth group as directed by the membership of our lodge. In addition I have now received the youth group tickets for the youth group's visit to the Sunday December 18th matinee production of the Nutcracker Ballet, and as per your direction I will distribute them equally to the five Masonic youth groups in our area, where the members of each group are interested in attending.
Our new Grand Officers are listed on page 11 herein, and anyone interested in the new Grand Lodge legislation, or changes to the CMC, should contact our Secretary for details of same.
Our November Stated Meeting will be elections night so I hope you will attend.
The following day, Tuesday will be a special state election day and I encourage each of you to vote.
As usual I will ask those who attend lodge on Monday to remain a short time after the meeting, and help set up the polling place which as in former years will be set up in the lodge room the next day.
Friday November 11 will be Veterans day and I want to share with you a recent experience I had concerning our returning wounded veterans.
You will recall that one of our dinner guests this year talked about the "Fisher Houses," and what they do for the families of our returning wounded veterans.
As a Volunteer at our local Palo Alto Veterans Hospital Chaplain's Office, I regularly have the chance to serve our wounded by visiting them in their hospital rooms.
We hear a lot about there being over 2,000 service people killed in Iraq but almost nothing about our 22,000 returning wounded from all over the world.
Because of today's modern medicines greater numbers of our service people are surviving wounds received in combat, and in many cases these wounds are truly debilitating. Last week I visited a young Marine who at 19 years of age was severely wounded when 1/4 of his head was blown off. His home is in Texas, but he was sent to Palo Alto Veterans Hospital because we have the best brain surgeons in the country.
His mother who speaks no English visits him daily, but all she can do for him is pray. We did arrange for a Spanish-speaking chaplain to visit them, and that did help, however the cost of her having to be here for such an extended time is much more than she could financially handle.
There are no government funds to help parents who need to be close to their wounded sons and daughters, but private funds are being accepted to help build housing close to our VA Hospitals. There are places called "Fisher Houses" and hopefully they will assist in this tragic situation.
In addition there is a great need for more volunteers at our local VA Hospital, as well as the great need for financial donations. Please contact the VA Chaplain's Office at 650-493-5000 and find out how you can help. You can also learn more by going on the web to HTTP://www.fisherhousepa.com on the web.
Fraternally,
Luis Oroczo
Master
What happened to William Morgan? Well, you may recall from the previous Trestleboard he had suddenly disappeared. We all know he was murdered. But his death is shrouded in mystery. Enemies of the Craft said Freemasons had kidnapped and murdered him, to prevent the publication of his expose.
Freemasons, of course, indignantly denied the charge. As time went on and Morgan was not found, members of the Craft disavowed any approval of any such act, if it had been committed.
Governor Clinton, Past Grand Master, issued proclamation after proclamation, the last one offering two thousand dollars reward "that, if living, Morgan might be returned to his family; if murdered, that the perpetrators might be brought to punishment."
It was not too difficult to discover that Masons were concerned in Morgan's hundred and twenty-five mile journey to Ft. Niagara.
Three members of the Craft, Chesebro, Lawson, and Sawyer, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to "seize and secrete" Morgan, and, together with the Sheriff Eli Bruce and John Whitney, all served terms in prison for the offense.
But murder could not be proved for no body was found. In October, 1827, a body was washed ashore forty miles below Ft. Niagara. Morgan's widow "identified" the body, although it was dressed in clothes that her husband had not worn alive; was bearded, although Morgan was clean shaven; had a full head of hair, although Morgan was bald! Thurlow Weed, was accused of having the corpse shaved and of adding long white hairs to ears and nostrils, to simulate the appearance of Morgan. The first inquest decided that it was the body of William Morgan. Three inquests were held in all. The third decided, on the unimpeachable evidence of Mrs. Sara Munro, who minutely described the body, its marks, and the clothes it wore, that the corpse was not William Morgan, but Timothy Munro of Canada, her husband. Regardless, Freemasons had been convicted of abducting him.
A body had been found and identified as Morgan. Better evidence and a less excited jury later reversed this identification and was clearly anti-climatic. The stories of Morgan's "murder" persisted.
Weed died in 1882, but on his death bed, he stated that in 1860 (twenty-two years before) John Whitney, who had been convicted in the conspiracy charge, confessed to him the full details of the murder of Morgan. According to this alleged confession, Whitney and four others carried the abducted Morgan in a boat to the center of the river, bound him with chains, and dumped him overboard. Weed stated (and here his memory failed him) that Whitney had promised to dictate and sign this confession, but died before he could do so. But Whitney died in 1869, nine years after!
Whitney did indeed tell a story; not to Thurlow Weed, who was his accuser in the conspiracy case and whom he hated, but to Robert Morris. This story is both the most probable and the best attested of any we have, as to the true fate of William Morgan.
Fraternally,
Hal Bain
Senior Warden
This year we have had a major disaster in our United States. It will have far reaching ramifications in how our government responds and how, we as citizens should respond. There is no way we can predict future catastrophes but we can be sure they will occur. We, and our lodge will be hard pressed to support such future events.
I pray the G. A. O. T. U. will guide us and spare us. Relief is one of our prime tenants. So lets look into our hearts and help those that require relief and pray for their safe recovery.
The autumn leaves are turning and we will be having some spectacular autumn scenery. Luckily I will be in the east coast for a couple of days, later this month and hope to rejoice in seeing part of this colorful event in New Jersey. One of the few things I miss in California is the change to crisp autumn weather.
The changing weather patterns here are interesting but we have to go into the mountains to really get those crisp cool nights.
This years Grand Lodge will prove to be an interesting event. As this article is written prior to the event, I know not what will happen. But one thing is certain, it will be interesting. Tune in next month.
I urge all the brethren to attend our November meeting. It is election month and as we have had some unexpected interruptions in the line of officers, we need all our members to attend and support the election process. This lodge can only remain healthy if the brothers support it by attending and participating at its meetings. These elections should prove to be very interesting.
I must apologize as I was unable to attend the October meeting for personal reasons. I understand we had an interesting meeting and many worthy things were accomplished.
I just finished reading the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. It was written in the early years of WW II. It is a witty and thought provoking book. I found it to provide an understanding of Moral Turpitude during that period of time.
Today's societies have changed so radically from the norms of those days that the standards have changed. When looking at Masonry I think we have a similar problem. Standards have changed and modern Masonry will have to accommodate some of these changes. I hope our lodge is progressive enough to recognize and adapt.
As I have to prepare for Grand Lodge and will be on travel immediately after, this will be a short article. Let us all look forward to the lasting glories of a brighter and better land.
Fraternally,
Ernie Castillo,
Junior Warden
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