~ OF HEROES, MASONS TROWELS AND JEWELS ~

By Eric A. Meace, PM
Seaside Lodge #419 AFM
 

The following article was edited from the 1994 Edition of Transactions published by The South Carolina Masonic Research Society.

This paper was conceived to tie together the events which have surrounded the Lafayette Silver Trowel and the people prominently associated with it and then to read the finished text in Open Lodge as part of the Masonic education program. It is well known that the Trowel was made to be used by the Marquis de Lafayette at the reinterring of the Revolutionary War Hero, Baron de Kalb, at Camden in 1825.

Lafayette (1757 1834) was born at Auvergne, in the Central Massif Region of France, of an aristocratic family and succeeded to the family title of Marquis de Lafayette at the age of two, after the death of his father in the French Indian (Seven Year) Wars. He entered military service in 1771 and, following an arranged marriage at the age of 16, was commissioned a Captain of Dragoons in 1774.

He left France, despite opposition from his Government, in the company of 12 associates all of whom had offered their services to the Continental Forces.The group arrived in American waters after successfully running the British naval blockade aboard the 200 ton merchant vessel, La Victoire. Lafayette came ashore in the company of de Kalb at South Inlet near Georgetown, SC, on Friday,13 June 1777, where a roadside historical marker still records the event on Route 17 South, two miles north of that City. The following Monday they traveled to Charles Town, SC, arriving there on Wednesday, 18 June 1777, in time to greet the arriving La Victoire and theh rest of their party. They then made their way over the next 32 days to Philadelphia, PA, and eventually to a meeting with Washington, on 31 July 1777.

In these modern times we have a difficult time identifying with the privations of travel or the length of time involved in the journey when our ancesters traveled 200 years ago. The Lafayette party spent almost six weeks working their way to Philadelphia from Charles Town after a rough Atlantic crossing. I have included this data to emphasize the extreme hardship undertaken of necessity, in those days by the traveler.
In 1779 Lafayette returned home to France and spent the following year successfully negotiating aid for the American cause, with the support of Benjamin Franklin, at that time an American Commissioner in France and a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania. The result was a considerable ongoing supply of armaments to the Continental Army, backed by strong naval and land reinforcements. He arranged the Rochambeau expedition and took part in it’s successful operations around Yorktown (1781), which played a major role in trapping the British, resulting in their surrender, 19 October 1781.

The General was an idealist, inspired by men such as Rousseau and his philosophy of a free society and the Rights’ of Man, which were years away from reality in his native country. Lafayette was also inspired by a desire for personal achievement and, to some degree by a wish to avenge his Father’s death at the hands of the British as stated above.

Following the cessation of hostilities, he returned to France where he continued to actively promote American interests. In 1784, a return trip to America provoked wild enthusiasm from the people and he was conferred permanent citizenship by the State of Maryland for his contributions in the late struggle for Freedom. In 1824, at the invitation of President Monroe and a grateful Nation, he again arrived in this Country as an honored guest and triumphantly toured the Land for 15 months. During his travels he performed many civic and masonic duties, visited all 24 states of the Union, and was made an Honorary member of the Grand Lodges of Pennsylvania, Missouri and Tennessee along the way. During his four visits to this Country, Lafayette spent a total of four years, nine and one half months here.

Across the years, two Craft lodges in South Carolina have honored his name, Lafayette Lodge #330, instituted 23 February 1921, which is located at Gaffney in Cherokee County, now in the 22nd District and the former Lafayette Lodge #390, instituted 26 April 1956, at Georgetown which surrendered its Charter and was consolidated into Winyah Lodge #40 in the 29th District, November 1983.

No record of Lafayette’s initiation into the Craft has ever been found and it therefore cannot be positively established where he was made a Mason. There are two popular theories on the subject. The first suggests that he was initiated in the Continental Army American Union Lodge at Morristown N.J. shortly after his arrival in this Country, but there are no surviving minutes from the mobile field lodges for the difficult war year of 1777 to substantiate this possibility. The more likely scenario one which I believe to be true, stems from the Committee of Enquiry convened by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania on 9 September 1824, to determine the status of his (Lafayette’s) membership, and which reported that he was indeed “an Ancient York Mason”. He was most probably raised as an 18 year old, when garrisoned at Metz, France in 1775. The General also stated in an address to the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, 4 May 1825, according to the minutes of that Grand Body, that he had long been a member of the Order, having been initiated, young as he was, even before he entered the service of our Country in the Revolutionary War. We are indebted to Bro. Paul D. Fisher 33°, who presented this data covering Lafayette’s entry into the Craft, at the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania F&AM, 1 September 1976.

An invitation was extended to the General, by the Town Fathers of Columbia S.C., during his 1824 stay in Baltimore Md., to visit this State the following year and to include in his itinerary the duties of officiating at the planned reinterrment of his old colleague Baron de Kalb. The ceremonies were to be under the general charge of Kershaw Lodge #29 AFM and to include the cornerstone laying for the monument to the dead hero which was to be located in front of Camden’s Presbyterian Church. Columbia’s emissary to Lafayette was no less than the nationally acclaimed architect and engineer Robert Mills (1781 1855), a native son of Charleston S.C., who was at that period residing in Baltimore Md. I initially made several efforts to find a Masonic affiliation for Mills without success. The volumes “10,000 Famous Freemasons” list him, but state that although no documented evidence exists that he was a Mason it is claimed that in a speech (at the reinterrment ceremony) he greeted Lafayette as “Illustrious Brother” - an unlikely comment if he (Mills) were a profane.

It is known that Mills spent most of the years 1800-1821 and again from 1831-1855 in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area. I can find no reference to any Masonic activity in South Carolina but with the prompt, enthused assistance of our Grand Secretary MW Bro. G. Ray Marsh, the Grand Lodge of Maryland was asked to research its’ records from 1802, Mills’ 21st year, through 1855. A report was subsequently received, that a Robert Mills had indeed entered the Fraternity, having been initiated 12 June 1815, passed 19 August 1816 and raised 1 January 1821 in Cassia Lodge #45 of Baltimore, operating under the Grand Lodge of Maryland AF&AM. He resigned from the Lodge 21 October 1821 and have no evidence of any later Masonic activity. It is reasonable to suppose that his delayed raising, almost five years after receiving the Fellowcraft degree, followed by a demit 10 months later, anticipated a permanent return to South Carolina residency. Unfortunately Cassia Lodge has no record of Bro. Mills’ occupation which would have confirmed his identity as the architect, but from the information presented, I believe it to be a very high probability that we are discussing one and the same person and that the architect was indeed a Mason.

In 1821 Mills returned to South Carolina as State Architect and over the next decade became a prominent figure in the Classic Revival of Charleston. He designed a number of jails, hospitals, and churches but was particularly well known for the design of courthouses including those in Walterboro, Georgetown, Conway, and Camden. This latter structure was the venue for a Special Communication of Grand Lodge, 10 November 1936, when the Grand Master the MW Bro. Joseph E. Hart dedicated the building as Camden’s new Masonic Hall, it having been conveyed to Kershaw Lodge #29 AFM by the Ladies of Hobkirk Hill Chapter of the DAR, who had received control of it some years earlier from Kershaw County (ref. History of Richland Lodge #39 AFM, Pg. 494).
Bro. Mills also earned a considerable reputation as an engineer with achievements in the design of canals, including one to cross the Appalachians, bridges and railroads. He was a major force behind the introduction of railroads, first in Baltimore and later in South Carolina, where he pressed the subject to the Legislature and to commercial interests. His efforts resulted in the construction of a road between Charleston and Hamburg on the Savannah River, claimed to be the longest passenger system in the world when it opened in 1833. Considerable time was also spent in the development and design of public buildings to render them fireproof. His 1825 political Atlas of South Carolina is still regarded as an achievement and still available in our libraries.
In 1830 he was appointed U.S. Architect and shortly thereafter returned to the Washington Area where he designed and supervised the construction of the Federal Treasury Buildings, Post Office and Patent Office. He submitted the winning design for the Washington Monument, one of several creations based upon the Egyptian monolith known as Cleopatra’s Needle, a second example was of course the de Kalb Memorial, which brings us back to the morning of 9 March 1825 and the reinterrment ceremonies.

General Lafayette arrived in Cheraw S.C. to appropriate public acclamation on 6 March 1825 and three days later fulfilled his commitment at the Camden Monument site.
Baron de Kalb, (1721 1780), was born at Hutendorf, Germany, but raised in France where he served with the Army, 1743-1764 as a line officer, before being appointed a special Government envoy. He was in this country at least once to watch and report on the deteriorating political situation with the British Government during his time as envoy.
In 1777 he returned to America with Lafayette, when both offered their services to the Continental Army as stated earlier and were commissioned Majors General effective 31 July 1777. Fate caught up with him at the disastrous First Battle of Camden (Battle of Gum Swamp) 16 August 1780, when as second in command of the Continental Forces under General Horatio Gates, attempting to reverse the misfortunes of the day, e was cut down leading the Delaware Regiment against Cornwallis and succumbed to his several wounds three days later. According to Cook’s “Colonial Freemasonry” Pg. 53

“…he (de Kalb) was carried off the field a prisoner and propped against a wagon. He had pulled himself to his feet, gripping the wagon with both hands, head bowed and bleeding to death from his wounds when Lord Rawdon, second in command of the British Forces, rode by and ordered him carried to his own tent. There he saw that de Kalb received every attention (until) his death three days later.”

He was buried with Masonic and Military Honors in Camden by his respectful enemies in the 60th year of his life, the burial service being performed by brethren of a British Field Lodge.

Mackey in his Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry Pg. 514-515 states,

“It is not positively known where de Kalb received the degrees of Freemasonry, though there is reason to believe that it was in Army Lodge #29, Chartered 27 April 1780, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for the benefit of the Brethren of the Maryland Line”.

De Kalb Lodge#63, the first lodge established in Marlboro County at Bennettesville S.C., was named to honor the dead hero. The Warrant was issued 7 March 1843 but due to the death of it’s Officers, work ceased in 1845 and in 1847 the Lodge became extinct. Labor resumed in the County 1 March 1853 with the issuance of a new Warrant for Marlboro Lodge #88, now in the 25th District, which has remained active to the present day.
On 9 March 1825, almost 45 years after his death, de Kalb’s remains were reinterred as stated above at Camden’s Presbyterian Church in the presence of a large gathering of military and civic dignitaries. The dispensation, granted by the Most Worshipful, the Grand Master of Masons in South Carolina, MW Bro. John Geddes, together with the usual implements and the now treasured Lafayette Trowel, were presented by Abraham de Leon, Master of Kershaw Lodge #29 AFM to the General, who completed his required tasks and returned the tools to Bro. Robert Mills.

The Lafayette trowel has an ivory handle and a blade manufactured from silver coins bearing the inscription “Made for Bro. Lafayette to lay the cornerstone of de Kalb’s monument 1825”. The Craftsman who made the item was the very reputable silversmith, watchmaker and jeweler, Alexander Young of Camden (1784-1856),a past master of Kershaw Lodge #29 AFM. He is listed in the Lodge records as Senior Warden in 1818, but as the records for the following year are missing, we cannot be certain that 1819 was his year as Master. Referring again to The History of Richland Lodge #39, we read, pg. 56, “This Master Mason is no stranger to us …. When listed among us -- as he was, subsequent to the 1841 revival of the Lodge, -- he was recognized among us as “Past Master.” Wor. Bro. Young opened a branch of his Camden business in Columbia in the 1830’s and took up residence in that City shortly thereafter, to better manage his affairs and to tend his son Edward who was in poor health at the time. He was appointed Senior Deacon of Richland Lodge after the revival of that body, but did not progress further through the chairs.

There are several other references in the Richland Lodge History identifying Wor. Bro. Young as a Past Master of Kershaw Lodge presumably based upon records no longer in existence.
The “History of Richland Lodge” is a 20 year labor of love by Bro. Clare M. McCall 33°,which gives a detailed insight into the life of the early Craft in the Columbia area and continues to describe events in the Lodge through 1991. The book is a “must” for any serious collector of South Carolinian Masonic Literature.

When I began to gather data for this paper I came across several references stating that Mexican silver coins were used to manufacture the Lafayette Trowel; however, I can find no substantiation for these claims and have come to the conclusion that the metal was United States coinage, as I believe it was, with other Masonic silver based items produced by Wor. Bro.Young. I have been fortunate to have received counsel on this subject from M. W. Bro. J.B. McQuirt PGM, an authority on Camden and Kershaw Lodge history, who refers the reader to pg. 29 of the “History of Kershaw Lodge #29 AFM” and the “Legend of the Lafayette Trowel”. Lodge minutes for the 1825 period were unfortunately destroyed in the fire of 1902 but Bro. Wallace in his history of the Lodge up to the year 1933, states that two brothers, James I. Villepigue and F. Leslie Zemp, told him that
“…this trowel was made by Brother Alex Young…in 1825. This is verified by a Past Master who is living here today, who tells me that he saw the record in the original minutes (lost in the fire of 1902) stating that a collection of silver dollars was taken up among members and the trowel made therefrom”.

From the discussions with M.W. Bro. J.B. McQuirt referenced above and by a process of elimination, it appears highly probable that the Past Master “living here today” was W.Bro. Dr. J.W. Corbett, Master in 1899-1900. The inference in the above statement, is that a number of (US) coins in everyday circulation were donated by several brethren of the Lodge, rather than one special collection of Mexican coins being purchased, which surely would have been sufficiently unusual to have merited mention in the minutes.
The trowel remained the property of Kershaw Lodge for many years and is mentioned in various proceedings as being used at the dedication of public buildings throughout the State, for example, at the new Masonic Temple in Charleston, 20 December 1871, when it was loaned for the occasion by W.Bro. J.B. Kershaw (later Grand Master of Masons in SC. 1873 1874).

Finally, at the Annual Grand Lodge Communication of 1893, a motion was approved to purchase the trowel from Mrs. Ann C. Salmond of Camden, the widow of Bro. Dr. Edward Anderson Salmond (1819-1858), - a member of Kershaw Lodge until his premature death at the age of 39, - for a sum of at least $400.00 of which $350.00 were to be raised by subordinate lodges. An appeal was made by Grand Lodge for contributions but it was not until 1895, in a time of depression, that final payment was made and the treasure passed into the possession of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina AFM.

I have not been able to determine how the trowel passed from Kershaw Lodge into the hands of the Salmond family. The Lodge history references (pg. 29) a legend of the transfer taking place in the 1870’s and states that “we entertain no regret over the event, but rather feel that it was all for the best because had it been in our Lodge Room at the time, it would have been destroyed along with the other silver articles made by W. Bro. Alexander Young and lost in the fire of 1902.”

It is interesting to note that the “other silver articles”, were the old jewels of Kershaw Lodge, believed lost in that tragedy. Sometime after the fire (perhaps a year), Past Master Dr William Robinson Zemp (1877 1964), the son of F. Leslie Zemp (1851 1915) who was a prominent druggist, two term Mayor of Camden and DDGM for five years until 1909, saw that a black youth rummaging through the debris which was then being removed from the site, had found something resembling a lodge jewel. A small reward was offered and further search brought to light a Master’s jewel, two Wardens’, two Stewards’ and a Tilers’ jewel. They were put into storage for some years when, after publication of the Wallace History (1933), which had reported them lost, they were again examined, cleaned and found to be the original treasures made by W. Bro. Alex Young. The age of the jewels is uncertain, but they were made after the Union of 1817 between the former Ancient York Grand Lodge and the Grand Lodge of South Carolina AF&AM, when Kershaw Lodge was renumbered from #55 to #29. The AFM warrant is dated 26 December 1818 and the jewels are engraved Kershaw Lodge No.29 AFM. They were certainly in place at the dedication of the de Kalb Monument in 1825.

Two other treasures belonging to the Craft in South Carolina fall within the scope of this paper. The first is a silver trowel also made by W. Bro. Alexander Young from silver coin which is the property of Richland Lodge. It is somewhat shorter than the Lafayette Trowel but otherwise the two are almost identical. This item predates the Lafayette relic, being made three years earlier in 1822 to commemorate the founding of the Columbia Lodge Hall, 22 April 1822, (see pg. 25 of the “History of Richland Lodge #39 AFM”).
The second treasure is the Lafayette Jewel. The story is related in the “Albert G. Mackey Library and Museum”, booklet that on
“…the afternoon (of 8 August 1825) before the (de Kalb) cornerstone laying ceremony, Kershaw Lodge #29 convened at 4pm to receive General Lafayette. On being presented in the Lodge he was welcomed by Bro. Abraham de Leon Worshipful Master of Kershaw Lodge #29. Bro. de Leon, also French, addressed and welcomed General Lafayette in their Mother tongue. Bro. Lafayette being overjoyed at this reception removed his Grand Master’s Jewel of France, approached Bro. de Leon and placed it around his neck as a personal gift and souvenir of the occasion. Bro. de Leon, a physician, came to Camden from Charleston SC., to which he later returned and affiliated with Friendship Lodge #9. After his death his family presented the Lafayette Jewel to Friendship Lodge to be preserved for posterity”.

In 1944 an exact replica of the Jewel, made from a gold nugget, was presented by the brethren of Friendship Lodge to Kershaw Lodge as a token of Fraternal Affection.

The original Jewel is approximately ten cms. long made of a high gold content alloy and is intended to be worn around the neck, suspended from a purple ribbon. It is made with the points of the compasses resting on a quadrant, surmounted with a crown at the pivot to which the ribbon is attached. The large blazing sun on the Jewel carries a triangle engraved with certain Hebrew characters. It is generally accepted both here in North America and in Europe that Lafayette never was the Grand Master of the (then) Grand Orient of France or the Master of a subordinate lodge. How then did he come to be wearing a Grand Master’s jewel and where did it originate?. These questions have not yet been answered although inquires are continuing.
The gold alloy used to cast the Jewel and the purple ribbon infer a Grand Lodge origin and the crown and lettered triangle suggest an Ancient York connection (Lafayette was raised in an Ancient York Lodge). The blazing sun is also of an unusual design, by American practice. These several peculiar features might eventually be the keys to solving the origin of the Jewel. For the present, might I suggest that by the early 1800’s Lafayette had become such a celebrity in Masonic circles and the recipient of so many Masonic honors that he obtained the Jewel as a token of high esteem from a European Grand Body.

The passing of General Lafayette marked the end of an era as he was the last surviving General Officer of the Revolutionary War. He is buried at Picpus, Paris, in a small cemetery at the rear of the Convent of the Order of Perpetual Adoration. Since his death, (20 May 1834), the Stars and Stripes, replaced every 4 July by members of the American Community, have constantly decorated the grave. The story is told that during the dark days of World War II, the Convent Nuns piled scaffolding and building rubble around the site to conceal the grave from the Occupying Axis Forces. It was a fitting expression of defiance against tyranny, that the only American Flag to fly continuously in Occupied Europe, was over the grave of this Hero Mason who spent his adult life fighting for the cause of Freedom and the Basic Rights of Man.

Bibliography
1. Colonial Freemasonry”, Missouri Lodge of Research, Cook Pg 53.
2. Gould’s “History of Freemasonry” Vol. IV Pg. 24.
3. “A History of Freemasonry in South Carolina, The years 1860 1919”. Cornwell-Willis. Ref. Years 1871 and 1893.
4. “A History of Kershaw Lodge #29 AFM and Rite Bodies of Camden, South Carolina” Wallace-Funderburk.
5. “History of Richland Lodge #39 AFM of South Carolina (1991)”.
6. B. McQuirt Personal Library, Camden, SC.
7. Bennett’s “Lafayette In America Day by Day.”
8. Mackey’s “History of Freemasonry in South Carolina”
9. Mackey’s “Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry” Vols. 1 and 2.
10. Mill’s Atlas of South Carolina (1825).
11. Famous Freemasons” Pg 206.
12. Schlesinger’s “The Almanac of American History”
13. “The Northern Light” Vol. 8, No. 3, June 1977. (Paul D. Fisher 33°)
14. South Carolina “An Illustrated History of the Palmetto State.”
15. Grand Lodge of Maryland and Cassia Lodge #45 AF&AM.
16. “Welcome to the Albert G. Mackey Library and Museum” Charleston

Copyright © 1997 by South Carolina Masonic Research Society. All rights are reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced without the express written consent of the South Carolina Masonic Research Society. The opinions expressed herein represent those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SCMRS or the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free Masons of South Carolina.