Leon Zeldis, 33°

Brother Joel Poinsett, who helped make the poinsettia America’s Christmas flower, put his principles into practice.

Joel R. Poinsett was an extraordinary man and Mason who made an unforgettable contribution to the development of the United States and its neighbors. We do not know when Poinsett became a Mason, but he is recorded as being a Past Master of two South Carolina Lodges, Recovery Lodge #32, Greenville, and Solomons Lodge #1, Charleston.

In 1810, Poinsett was appointed as the first American diplomat to Argentine and Chile, at a time when South American countries were struggling to gain their independence from Spain. Chile was being governed by a revolutionary junta headed by José Miguel Carrera. The Chileans were divided, some of them—the Spanish-born wealthy land owners—wanted to remain under Spanish rule, while most of those born in Chile thought otherwise. Poinsett arrived in November 1811 during a critical time in the struggle for independence. Although Chileans had declared their indpen-dence in September of the previous year, Spanish soldiers still occupied the far south, and in Peru, the vice-roy for Spain was preparing to send an expeditionary force to regain control of the country.

Brother Poinsett became the friend and adviser to Carrera, also a Mason. He was invited to join an important project toward independence: writing a constitution for the new republic. Poinsett used the recently enacted U.S. Constitution as his model. In addition, he proposed the cultivation of cotton and other crops that could be valuable for international trade.

After Poinsett’s return to the United States in January of 1816, he entered South Carolina politics, being elected to the state legislature for two terms, where he sponsored a bill to limit the importation of slaves into the state. In 1821, both his Masonic and his political lives took dramatic turns. That year he was elected Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina, and he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he took a place on the Foreign Affairs Committee. In March 1825, Poinsett resigned from Congress to accept an appointment as the first American ambassador to Mexico. His instructions were to acquire Texas and convince the Mexicans to redraw the borderline farther south.

In Mexico, Poinsett met the new president, Manuel Felix Fernández, better known as Guadalupe Victoria. The vice-president was the conservative Nicolás Bravo, a Scottish Rite Mason, who had been elected in a futile move designed to bring peace between both camps. Soon after his arrival, Poinsett was approached by members of the newly formed York Rite Lodges. These included politicians and military men who wanted to get rid of the conservative faction in order to establish a firm republican form of government. Poinsett deviated from his role as diplomat by helping the York Lodges form their own Grand Lodge, which became the center of the opposition political force. Although later Poinsett would claim that he did not expect the York Masons to act beyond their legitimate functions of benevolence and charity, he could not have ignored the intense political forces that were behind the creation of the competing Masonic Body.

As Guadalupe Victoria’s presidential term came to its close in 1828, the conservative vice-president, Nicolás Bravo, a centralist, rebelled and issued a proclamation, known as the Montano Plan, which, among other rulings, prohibited all “secret” societies. Poinsett had overstayed his welcome by becoming too involved in Mexican political life. Plus, he was neither able to acquire Texas nor redraw the border. He returned to Charleston and became an active defender of the Union when the nullification dispute developed in South Carolina. Poinsett became the leader of those defending the authority of the federation. In the end, South Carolina remained in the Union.

Bro. Poinsett was always interested in the progress of science and art. He was actively involved in the creation of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, the forerunner of the Smithsonian Institution, and became its first president. Also, on his return from Mexico, Poinsett brought back plants of a bright red flower known in Mexico as the Nochebuena, the flower of Christmas Eve. We now know it as the poinsettia, named in honor of the man who brought it to America.

Brother Poinsett gives us an example of how a man, dedicated to giving others the benefits he himself enjoys at home, goes out of his way to put into practice the principles he professes to uphold. Poinsett believed that freedom must be defended and despotism fought. He risked his career and his own life to give testimony that his ideals were not abstract philosophy, but vital rules of conduct.

For the full story, visit the California Freemason online magazine at www.freemason.org.

Note: The above article, edited for Journal presentation, is reprinted with permission from the California Freemason magazine (Winter 2003).

Leon Zeldis is a Past Sovereign Grand Commander, Supreme Council, 33°, for the State of Israel, and Honorary Assistant Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Israel. Contacts: P.O. Box 5457, 46153 Herzlia, Israel, lzeldis@netvision.net.il.