Eduardo Camareno, Jr., 32°, K.C.C.H.
P.O. Box 193212, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00919

Masonic Bros. Bailey K. Ashford (1873-1934) and Ill. William F. Lippitt (1865-1958) are significant figures in the history of Puerto Rico.

Bro. Bailey K. Ashford, M.D. Source: Luis Muñoz Foundation

Outstanding leaders, many of them Masons, grace the history of Puerto Rico. Prominent among these distinguished Brethren are Col. Bailey K. Ashford, M.D., and Colonel William Fontaine Lippitt, 33°, Grand Master of Puerto Rico, 1910-1921. During the Spanish-American War, Dr. Ashford arrived on July 28, 1898, at the port of Guánica, Puerto Rico, as part of the Medical Corps of the American Expeditionary Force. The hundreds of soldiers of the 11th Infantry Regiment aboard Bro. Ashford's ship, the transport vessel Mohawk, played a very important role in the war under the command of General Schwan. They attacked the right flank of the Spanish forces as they advanced toward the town of Mayaguez, the third most important city of the island.

Soon after their arrival, many of the soldiers, who had been garrisoned for quite some time at Mobile, Alabama, became very sick with typhus fever, a common illness of soldiers during those days. Placed in charge of nearly 100 severely ill soldiers, Dr. Ashford managed to get them to the Military Hospital in Ponce and to effect their recovery. During the occupation of the island, many American Masons-officers, soldiers, and civilian employees connected with those forces-looked for a Lodge. With Dr. Ashford, they selected Saint John the Baptist Lodge No. 12 in San Juan. Also, Bro. Ashford soon fell in love with the island and a Puerto Rican lady whom he married.

His success with curtailing typhus fever, foreshadowed the important role he would play in the public health of the island, which, in turn, would improve the Puerto Rican economy. One year later, during the disastrous hurricane of 1899, which killed over 3,000 people, Doctor Ashford was very active treating the hurricane's victims, but he was also concerned with a permanent health problem, anemia, that plagued the island. Among the most notable services he rendered was the discovery of the real cause of anemia. The sanitary conditions of that time were very poor, and the Puerto Rican farmers, or campesinos, walked barefoot, the perfect situation to pick up parasites. Bro. Ashford's first studies of anemia among the peasants made possible the creation of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, which came to treat not only anemia but also a wide variety of other tropical diseases and to establish the vital elements of nutrition for the entire population. This, with the Anemia Commission headed by Dr. Ashford, resulted in a definite improvement in the well-being of all Puerto Ricans. Over several years, the Anemia Commission treated at least 310,000 people at the cost of 68 cents each. In six years, deaths from anemia dropped by 85 percent.

On September 14, 1922, at the parade grounds of El Morro Fortress in San Juan, Colonel Ashford was honored with the Distinguished Service Medal for his outstanding medical performance at several hospitals and in the Military Sanitary Corps. An extraordinary group of military officers, fellow doctors, Brother Masons, clergymen, the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Mayor of San Juan, the Consul of France, and a large assemblage of the general public gathered to honor this extraordinary man and Mason. Today, one of the most important streets in the historic section of San Juan, El Condado, is named Ashford Avenue in his honor.

Col. William Fontaine Lippitt also contributed much to Puerto Rico. Bro. Lippitt was born in Charleston, West Virginia, on September 15, 1865. After obtaining a degree as Doctor in Medicine in 1884 at the age of 20, he joined the U.S. Army in 1891 as a doctor serving in the Philippines until 1903 when he was transferred, with the rank of Colonel, to Puerto Rico as Chief Surgeon of the United States Army in Puerto Rico. Like Dr. Ashford, Dr. Lippitt, after his first wife died, married a Puerto Rican lady.

As a member of the U.S. Army Medical Corps, Col. Lippitt's responsibility was to give physical exams to recruits, Puerto Ricans having become United States citizens by act of Congress on March 2, 1917. In each municipality around the island, a local board was organized to foster the inscription of Puerto Rican men into the World War I effort. All members of the 76 local boards served free and performed their work with great diligence and patriotism. Many young Puerto Ricans enlisted as volunteers long before the obligatory service law went into effect.

Bro. Lippitt (pictured left) was raised a Master Mason in the Saint John the Baptist Lodge Number 12 of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on January 22, 1907, and served his Lodge as Worshipful Master the very next year. During the same year, Brother Lippitt was Grand Senior Warden of the Grand Lodge of Puerto Rico, in 1909 he was the Deputy Grand Master, and in 1910 he was elected as the Grand Master of the Masons of Puerto Rico, serving as such until 1921. During his administration as the Grand Master, M.W. Lippitt acquired the building of the Grand Lodge of Puerto Rico located at the Old San Juan Cristo Street. In addition, he created the Masonic Bank, the Masonic Insurance Company, the Masonic Farm, and a Masonic Print Shop. Also, under his administration, 27 regular Lodges were created.

Joining the Scottish Rite in 1910, he helped translate portions of the Degrees into Spanish, assisted Ill. Charles B. Parker, 33°, then Deputy in Puerto Rico (which was attached to the Orient of Alabama at the time), and advanced the work of the Rite by fighting the establishment of the Bodies of the Orient of Spain in Puerto Rico. He was invested a K.C.C.H. in 1911 and coroneted a 33°, I.G.H., in 1915. Appointed the first Deputy of the Supreme Council when Puerto Rico was detached from the jurisdiction of Alabama, he served from January 1916 to October 1941. He was also the founder of the Eastern Star in Puerto Rico and served as the first Grand Patron for five years.

On April 1, 1912, Ill. Lippitt was appointed the first Commissioner of Health of Puerto Rico. Two months after his appointment, the island was stricken by the bubonic plague. Grand Master Lippitt confronted this serious health problem energetically and with full determination. The drastic scientific measures adopted by him controlled and eliminated the plague in less than eight months. Also, he organized a very good Health Department for the entire island, the Medical Society of Puerto Rico, and the Nurses' Association of Puerto Rico. In addition, he was very active in civic affairs especially those of a charitable nature like the Children's Refuge, the American Legion, the Veterans of the Spanish-American War, and the American Red Cross.

Past Grand Master Lippitt was awarded the Honor & Constancy Diploma during the Annual Assembly of the Grand Lodge of Puerto Rico in 1957 in recognition of his 50 years of uninterrupted Masonic labors. Ill. William Fontaine Lippitt passed away on June 13, 1958. A Masonic service and memorial ceremonies were held at the Masonic Temple of the Grand Lodge that night, as his body lay in state under an honor guard. His Masonic burial took place at the National Cemetery of Puerto Rico on June 14, Flag Day, with full military honors. Attendance was extraordinary with the presence of a large number of Grand Lodge Officers and Brothers from all over the island of Puerto Rico. Lippitt Street in the Barrio Obrero ward of San Juan bears his name.

Eduardo Camareno, Jr. is an Attorney at Law and is a member of the Valley of San Juan, Orient of Puerto Rico. He is also a member of the York Rite and a Past Worshipful Master of his Lodge, Patria No. 61 in San Juan. A Shriner of Abou Saad Temple, he presently is the Secretary of the Shrine Club of Puerto Rico and also the Chairman of the Hospital Committee for the Outreach Clinics of the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Puerto Rico.