Roy Schwartz, 32°

A philatelic Brother highlights the historical and Masonic background of several U. S.
stamps that honor Masons.

Meriwether Lewis, 1774-1809
(Lewis & Clark stamp) 3-cent stamp; Scott #1063; Issued July 28, 1954

Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, Brother Meriwether Lewis served as an Army Captain in several Indian Campaigns before becoming secretary to his friend President Thomas Jefferson in 1801. Following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Lewis selected William Clark as his associate for the historic expedition of the American Northwest, 1805-06. Appointed Governor of Louisiana Territory in 1807, he died suddenly in 1809 en route to Washington to prepare his journals of the expedition.

Brother Lewis received his Degrees in Door of Virtue Lodge #44, Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1797, which went out of existence in 1801, with most members, no doubt including Lewis, transferring to Widow's Son's Lodge in Charlottesville, Virginia. He served as the first Master of St. Louis Lodge #111, St. Louis, Missouri. Also a member of Staunton Lodge #13, Staunton, Virginia, it was there that he received the Royal Arch Mason Degree. [The Scottish Rite Journal featured articles relevant to Lewis and Clark in the March 1990 and September 1993 issues.]

William Clark, 1770-1838
(Lewis & Clark stamp) 3-cent stamp; Scott #1063; Issued July 28, 1954

Born in Caroline County, Virginia, Brother William Clark was the ninth child in a family much involved in the Revolutionary War. His second oldest Brother, General George Rogers Clark, gained fame when he commanded the defeat of the British and Indians at Vincennes in 1799. At age 22, William Clark was commissioned a Lieutenant of the infantry in the U.S. Army under the command of General Anthony Wayne. In 1794, he met Lewis during campaigns, such as Fallen Timbers, against allied Indian tribes. They became close friends, and Lewis chose him to participate in the Northwest Expedition. When Lewis joined other Brethren in forming St. Louis Lodge #111, Clark was one of the first men to be raised, and he was proud to be known as a Freemason the rest of his life. His journals and maps describe the expedition. Thereafter, Clark served as an Indian Agent and a Superintendent of Indian Affairs before being appointed Governor of the Missouri Territory (1813-20). [See William Denslow's, Transactions of Missouri Lodge of Research, vol. 14, p. 218.]

Robert R. Livingston, 1746-1813
1-cent stamp; Scott #323; Issued April 30, 1904

Robert R. Livingston was educated in Kings College and afterwards at Columbia University, where he graduated in 1765 and was admitted to the bar in 1773. Elected to the Provincial Assembly of New York in 1775, he was sent by that body as a delegate to the Continental Congress where he was one of the committee of five (including Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and Sherman) who drew up the Declaration of Independence. He was also a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777 and 1779-81. In his capacity as Chancellor of New York (1777-1801), he administered the oath of office to George Washington upon his inauguration as the first President of the United States. Bro. Livingston was Chairman of the New York Convention which was pivotal in voting for the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and he served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the fledgling Federal Government.

In 1801, when Jefferson became President, he was appointed Minister to France. When Spain sold to France the great province of Orleans, Jefferson sent James Monroe to assist Livingston in negotiating the Louisiana Purchase. Napoleon, much in need of money to support several wars, conceived the idea of selling the entire Territory to the United States. After several meetings, Livingston and Monroe decided to make the purchase, and the treaty was signed, calling for a payment of $15,000,000. By this one act, the territory of the United States was doubled. Livingston said to Monroe, "That which we have done today will stand out as the noblest work of our lives."

Robert R. Livingston was Worshipful Master of the Old Union Lodge under English constitution in 1771 and was elected the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York from 1784 through 1801. Livingston did a great and lasting work in building up Freemasonry in New York State. When the Grand Lodge presented him with a jewel on his retirement, he responded: "I shall wear, with pride and pleasure, the jewel with which the Fraternity has honored me, and consider it as a memorial of the pleasing connection which binds us to each other." [Denslow, vol. 3, p. 90]

(Arctic Explorations stamp) 4-cent stamp; Scott #1128; Issued April 1959

Elisha Kent Kane, 1820-1857
Polar Explorers; 22-cent stamp; Scott #2220; Issued 1966

There were many early attempts to reach the North Pole. Each carries its own story of courage and hardship. The disappearance of Franklin, an English explorer, gave rise to more than 40 search parties. In 1850, Dr. E. K. Kane served as surgeon aboard the Advance which, with another ship, embarked on a 10-month rescue mission to find Franklin. Kane's medical skill did much to fight scurvy and bring back the party alive. Then, in 1853, he commanded the Advance, but the ship became frozen in the ice, and Bro. Kane led a difficult trip to Greenland by foot. Bro. Kane received all three Degrees in Franklin Lodge #134 in Philadelphia. His father had been a Master of the Lodge. Kane Lodge #454 of New York City was named after him.

Adolphus W. Greely, 1844-1935
Polar Explorers; 22-cent stamp; Scott #2221; Issued 1966

Adolphus W. Greeley, born in Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1844, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, was wounded three times, and was promoted from Private to Major. Remaining in the Army after the war, he rose to the rank of Major General. During 1876-79, he constructed 2,000 miles of telegraph line in Texas, the Dakotas, and Montana, but his greatest fame came in 1881 when he was placed in charge of a U.S. expedition to establish a chain of 13 circumpolar weather stations. His party of 25 reached the northernmost point yet achieved at that time before hardships threatened to end the mission. By the time a third relief party found them after three years, all but seven had starved to death. Bro. Greely survived to build telegraph lines in Cuba, China, Philippines, and Alaska.

Bro. Greeley was a member of St. Marks Lodge of Newbury-port, Massachusetts, and was knighted in Newburyport Commandery, K. T., on June 17, 1867. He carried the banner of the Commandery at the dedication of the Masonic Temple in Boston. An honorary member of Kane Lodge #454, the "Explorer's Lodge," he later made a Masonic flag that was carried in an exploration of the Polar Sea. In 1935, just before his passing, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Robert E. Peary, 1856-1920
(Peary/Henson stamp) Polar Explorers; 22-cent stamp; Scott #2223; Issued 1966

By 1881, Bro. Peary was a Civil Engineer in the U. S. Navy. From 1887-88, he was the engineer in charge of the Nicaragua Canal surveys, and he invented the rolling lock gates for the canal. He started his Arctic explorations with a exploration to the interior of Greenland, and this was followed by other Arctic trips in 1891 and 1892. In 1893-95, Peary set out to be the first man to reach the North Pole, but failed. In 1907, granted a five-year leave of absence from the Navy, he began a series of other attempts, but did not have success until his 1908-09 trip, with his assistant Matthew A. Henson and four Eskimos. They made a final attempt for the North Pole, which Perry and Henson reached April 6, 1909.

Bro. Peary was a member of Kane #454 of New York City, receiving his Degrees in 1896. He presented to his Lodge a Masonic flag that had been displayed at Independence Bay, Greenland, in 1895.

Matthew A. Henson, 1866-1955
(Peary/Henson stamp) Polar Explorers; 22-cent stamp; Scott #2223; Issued 1966

A member of Celestial Lodge #3, Prince Hall, City of New York, Brother Henson was born in Charles County, Maryland, on August 8, 1866. He served as Brother Peary's assistant for 20 years. D. B. MacMillan, a member of the North Pole expedition, described Henson in the following words: "As a carpenter, he built the sledges; a mechanic, he made the alcohol stoves; an expert dog driver, he taught us how to handle our dogs. Highly respected by the Eskimos, he was easily the most popular man onboard ship. Strong physically, and, above all, fully experienced, he was of more real value to our Commander than all the rest of us put together. He went to the Pole with Peary because he was better than the rest of us."

Richard E. Byrd, 1888-1957
25-cent stamp; Scott #2388; Issued 1988

Polar explorer, naval officer, and pioneer aviator, Richard E. Byrd, with Floyd Bennett, was the first, on May 9, 1926, to fly over the North Pole. Then, in 1927 he made a trans-Atlantic flight of 4,200 miles from New York to France. His Antarctic expeditions of 1928-30 and 1933-35 resulted in many discoveries and included his spending five months alone near the South Pole. In 1939, as Commander of the U. S. Antarctic Service, he discovered five new mountain ranges and five islands.

Raised in Federal Lodge #1, Washington, D.C., in 1921, he affiliated with Kane Lodge #454, New York City, and he became a member of National Sojourner Chapter #3 in Washington. He and his pilot, Bernt Balchen, dropped Masonic flags on the North and South Poles, and Balchen added his Shrine fez. In the Antarctic expedition of 1933-35, 60 of the 82 members were Freemasons, and on Feb. 5, 1935, they established First Antarctic Lodge #777 of New Zealand constitution. [Denslow, vol. 1, pp. 165-66]

Roy Schwartz Valley of Ocala, Florida, was raised a Master Mason in Maspeth Lodge, Maspeth, New York, in 1946, and is now a Life Member of Silentia Lodge #168, Butler, New Jersey, as well as an Honorary Member and Chaplain Emeritus of Dunnellon Lodge #136, Dunnellon, Florida. Retired from the Oriental Rug Department of R. H. Macy & Co., he is a member of the Masonic Study Unit of the American Topical Association. Contact: 9530 SW 85th Ave., Apt. D, Ocala, Florida 34481-6650; roy678@webtv.net