Part 20 (1/2)
In 1854, when the white Baptists occupied their new house of wors.h.i.+p on Princess Ann street, they turned over to the colored Baptists their old house on Water street. Prior to that the white and colored members wors.h.i.+pped together in the same building. Separated to themselves, but under the care of the white Baptist church, the colored people had Rev.
George Rowe to preach for them, which he continued to do, with success, until the Civil war came on.
After the war closed the colored people, being free to act for themselves, formed separate churches and selected pastors of their own color. The colored Baptists of the town formed a church, under the name of s.h.i.+loh, and called Rev. George L. Dixon to the pastorate. His pastoral care of the church continued for several years, when he was succeeded by Rev. L. G.
Walden and he by Rev. Willis M. Robinson.
In 1887 the church building collapsed and a division of sentiment arose among the members as to where they should rebuild, which resulted in a division of the church and congregation and the erection of another church building. A majority of the members of the church wanted to rebuild on the old site, but a large minority preferred to sell the old site and build on Princess Ann street, near the railroad depot. The contention was sharp, the feeling was intense, satisfactory terms of separation could not be agreed upon, and finally the controversy was carried into the circuit court.
Judge Wm. S. Barton, who was judge of the circuit court, advised a compromise, which was accepted by the parties, and a division of the church and property was the result. But then another perplexing question arose that promised to give trouble. Both parties strenuously contended for the old name, s.h.i.+loh, and no other name it appeared would satisfy either division. The wishes of both parties, however, were happily met when some one suggested that the Water-street party should be known as s.h.i.+loh Old Site and the Princess Ann party as s.h.i.+loh New Site. This proposition was agreed to, the separation took place peaceably and both parties proceeded to build substantial and commodious brick houses, which are a credit to the colored people of the town.
Rev. Willis Robinson, who was pastor of the old church s.h.i.+loh, went with s.h.i.+loh New Site and became its pastor. s.h.i.+loh Old Site extended a call to Rev. James E. Brown to become its pastor, which he accepted, and served the church for several years. For some time after the old church building became unsafe for occupancy the colored people wors.h.i.+pped in the courthouse.
In the year 1879 several members withdrew from old s.h.i.+loh church and organized under the name of the Second Baptist church. They erected a small, but neat, frame church building on Winchester street, near Amelia, and asked for the ordination of Albert Ray, whom they had selected as pastor. A few months later he was duly ordained, entered upon the pastorate of the church and continued as such until disabled by rheumatism in 1902.
Rev. Albert Ray's church was sold a few years ago and went into possession of a new religious sect. The pastor is Rev. Roland Burgess and the sect is known as ”The Church of G.o.d and the Saints of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The church has made but little progress up to this time.
In 1903 s.h.i.+loh New Site had a split on the question of pastor, when a large number of the members.h.i.+p withdrew and erected a frame building on Wolfe street, called Rev. Willis M. Robinson as their pastor, which organization is known as Robinson's church.
At present s.h.i.+loh Old Site has for its pastor Rev. John A. Brown and s.h.i.+loh New Site has Rev. W. L. Ransom. Both churches are in a thriving condition, with large Sunday schools, and both pastors are educated and fully qualified to lead and instruct their race.
CHAPTER XV
_Charitable and Benevolent Societies--The Mary Was.h.i.+ngton Hospital--Newspapers and Periodicals--Political Excitement--Strong Resolutions Condemning the Administration of John Adams--An Address Approving the President's Foreign Policy--The Names of Those who Signed the Address, &c._
Next in importance to the churches in a community, dedicated to the service of G.o.d, come the charitable and benevolent societies and inst.i.tutions. The former show the state of religion among the people, or their relations to their Maker, while the latter is an evidence of that fraternal feeling existing from one to another which binds all the members in one common cause for humanity. And as Fredericksburg is not wanting in her church privileges and accommodations, so she is not deficient in the number of her charitable and benevolent societies. The oldest of these societies is the Masonic inst.i.tution.
Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, was organized on the first day of September, 1752. Under what authority it was organized is not positively known, and therefore three authorities are suggested. The first source of authority claimed is that of Thomas Oxnard, Grand Master of St. John's Lodge, of Ma.s.sachusetts and ”Provincial Grand Master of all of North America.” A second claim is made that the Masons in the community organized themselves into a lodge and continued as a self-const.i.tuted body until a charter was obtained from Scotland. This could hardly have been true. The third claim is, and it is believed by the best authorities to be the original source of authority, that a dispensation was obtained from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and this was the authority by which the lodge was held until it was regularly chartered by said Grand Lodge. The lodge held its meetings under the authority of this dispensation for six years, and made Masons, among others, of George Was.h.i.+ngton, George Weedon, Hugh Mercer, Wm. Woodford, Thomas Posey, Gustavus B. Wallace, all of whom became general officers and did distinguished service in the Revolutionary war.
In the year 1758 Daniel Campbell, for several years master of the lodge, visited Scotland, and, at the request of the lodge, applied for and obtained a charter for the lodge from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, which was dated July 21, 1758, and designated the organization ”The Lodge at Fredericks-Burg,” Virginia. Possessed with this charter the lodge concluded it had the authority to charter other lodges, and exercised that authority in chartering one at Falmouth, Va., and one at Gloucester Courthouse, Va. The latter soon obtained a charter from England and the former from the Grand Lodge of Virginia. In 1775 the Fredericksburg Lodge united with four other lodges in the State and organized the Grand Lodge of Virginia, and received a charter from that Grand Body, dated January 30, 1787, under the name and t.i.tle of Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4. The lodge is holding its authority now under the Virginia Grand Lodge charter, but still has in its possession the old Scotch charter, which is well preserved. The original dispensation has disappeared and was probably lost more than a century ago.
In the years 1798 and 1799 the town was the seat of frequent and heated political discussions, and the strong, not to say bitter, feeling was shared in by the entire population of the town. It was during this excitement, and because of the bad feeling it engendered, a number of members of No. 4 Lodge withdrew their members.h.i.+p and organized Fredericksburg American Lodge, for which a dispensation was granted in 1799 by Gov. Robert Brooke, the Grand Master of Masons in Virginia. In the following year the lodge was chartered and given the number 63. It continued to flourish until the breaking out of the Civil war, when it suspended its meetings and finally became extinct.
In the bombardment and subsequent sacking of Fredericksburg on the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of December, 1862, by straggling Federal soldiers, all of the records of the Masonic Lodge were destroyed or carried away except those from 1752 to 1771, which were taken to Danville, Va., and preserved by Wm. Ware, Esq., a member of the lodge.
When No. 4 Lodge first organized its meetings were held in the market house, or town hall, then on Main street near Market alley, but in 1756 the time for holding the meetings was changed to ”the day before Spotsylvania county court,” which was then held at Germanna, on the Rapidan river, and the place of meeting was fixed at Charles Julien's, who lived between Fredericksburg and Germanna. The lodge continued there for about six years, when it was moved back to the market house to ”stay for all time to come,” and continued there from 1762 to 1813, when the building was torn down preparatory to the erection of the present town hall and market house.
When it was decided to remove the old market house the meetings of the lodge were moved to the ”Rising Sun Tavern,” the old frame building still standing on Main street between Fauquier and Hawke streets. In the year 1815 the present Masonic hall was completed, which stands on the corner of Princess Ann and Hanover streets. The Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge has, at various periods, embraced in its members.h.i.+p eminent men, including soldiers, Statesmen, professional men and private citizens. Among the first two cla.s.ses mentioned--soldiers and Statesmen--was the father of his country, George Was.h.i.+ngton, who, in this historic lodge, received the first degree in Masonry on November 4, 1752, the second degree on March 3, 1753, and the third degree on August 4, 1753, and continued his members.h.i.+p in the lodge to the day of his death. The Bible used in these interesting ceremonies is now in possession of the lodge in a fine state of preservation. It was printed by John Field, at Cambridge, in the year 1668. It is believed that John Paul Jones, the father of our infant navy, was also a member of this lodge.
By an order of the lodge, and by funds to the amount of five thousand dollars, raised by its exertions, a very beautiful and faithful statue of Was.h.i.+ngton, in Masonic regalia, was wrought out of white marble by the great Virginia artist, Hiram Powers, while he was in Rome, Italy. It was safely transported to Fredericksburg, but before it could be erected the war came on. For safe keeping it was sent to Richmond, and there perished in the terrible conflagration of April 3, 1865. Fredericksburg Lodge, No.
4, has furnished six grand masters to the Grand Lodge of Virginia, as follows: Judge James Mercer, in 1784; Governor Robert Brooke, in 1785; Major Benjamin Day, from 1797 to 1800; Hon. Oscar M. Crutchfield, in 1841; Judge Beverly R. Wellford, Jr., in 1877, and Capt. S. J. Quinn, in 1907.
Fredericksburg American Lodge, No. 63, furnished Hon. John S. Caldwell, in 1856.
In 1873 Fredericksburg Royal Arch Chapter, No. 23, was organized. This chapter took the place of Fitzwilson Chapter, that flourished in town some years before the Civil war, although it did not take the old name or number.
In the year 1875 Fredericksburg Commandery, No. 1, of Knights Templar, was inst.i.tuted, and has continued to flourish to the present. Some years ago the various bodies of the Scottish Rite branch of Masonry to the thirty-second degree, were organized in town of the Cerneau division, but as the question of legitimacy was raised as to that rite these organizations were abandoned. The three Masonic bodies, however, that are now in operation are in a flouris.h.i.+ng condition and can confer all the degrees in ancient York Masonry.
On the 22nd of December, 1753, a ”Royal Arch Lodge” was held in connection with the Fredericksburg Lodge, Simon Fraser, acting Grand Master. On that occasion the Royal Arch degree was conferred on Daniel Campbell, Robert Halkerson and Alexander Wodrow. The proceedings of this meeting were recorded in the record book of the lodge and are preserved to this day; and, strange as it may appear, the fact is well established and admitted by the Masonic historians of England that this is the oldest record, by nine years, of conferring this degree that has yet been discovered in any country. The next oldest record is found in York, England, which was made in 1762.
ODD FELLOWS LODGE.