The North Carolina Mason

Page 14 The North Carolina Mason July/August 2019 Masons in History How human nature impacts our history Steven Campbell Blackmer Lodge No. 127 Every day in our lives, events take place that influence decisions we choose to make. Human nature impacts each of us. Witness a few instances in history displayed by two of our nation's foremost Freemasons: eodore Roosevelt, and George Washington and family. Since the time of the ancients, human nature has not truly changed. e traits of goodness, evil, kindness, courage, cowardice, anger, humility, avarice, greed, generosity, and indif- ference have always been present. Yet, what has changed is technology and the ability to further unlock the untapped treasures of earth and the heavens. What truly influences man are those experiences in life that each of us are exposed to, the places, events and people who influence the actions that each of us take. For example, we do learn from people in a positive and negative manner. We learn what to do or what not to do by their example. Positive life experiences guide us to do good and valued things. Unfor- tunate experiences perhaps harden our outlooks, actions and decisions. Now, let us review examples of events and actions taken from historical figures we are acquainted with, and how the loss of loved ones, disappointment, expectations, success and uncertainty affected their actions: George and Martha Washington's personal losses throughout their lives, the grief they shared, and how it tempered their resolve to move forward, preparing them for the difficult journey they shared while shepherding the founding of our Republic. eodore Roosevelt's life upon the world's stage was a never-ending challenge. Loss & Perseverance As a boy of 11, George Washing- ton's loss of his father, Augustine, in 1743, impacted his life. His mother, Mary Ball Washington, was an orphan and the second wife to George's father. Mary was overprotective of her children, more so than her stepchil- dren, and was constantly concerned about money. She was somewhat overbearing and stern. When her husband died, she insisted that her son read his father's eulogy at his graveside. At 16, George had actually planned, with the influence of his half brother Lawrence, to join the British Navy. But when Mary caught wind of this plan, she quickly halted his effort. Meanwhile, George became a self-taught surveyor, and at the age of 17, left home and became his own man, earning his own money and obtaining tracts of land from the wealthy landowners for whom he surveyed vast tracts of western land (Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania). e death of his beloved half brother, Lawrence, forever stayed with George. Young Martha Dandridge had married wealthy Daniel Parke Custis, 20 years her senior. Together they would have four children, of whom only two would survive to young adulthood. e loss of her children and the death of her husband were hard on her, leaving her the wealthiest widow in the colony of Virginia, if not all of North America. In January 1759, 27-year-old George Washington and 28-year- old Martha Custis began their 40-year marriage. Unfortunately, Martha's daughter, Patsy (George's stepdaughter), suffered from epilepsy. On a June evening in 1773, while the family dined at Mount Vernon, Patsy suffered a seizure and died. Martha's son, Jacky, in 1781 would accompany his stepfather George to Yorktown where he would witness Brother Lord Cornwallis' ssurrender before contracting a fatal case of typhoid. Jacky had married and produced a son and daughter, whom George and Martha would adopt and raise as their own upon the remarriage of Jacky's widow. Meanwhile, George and Martha were involved in the armed revolt against the British government and shepherding the birth of a new nation. e fortitude, strength and will- power to forge ahead each day was inspiring. So personal loss and the ultimate responsibility for so many others were determining factors in the decisions both George and Martha Washington made in their work to create a new republic. An Uncertain World eodore Roosevelt was born into wealth and the American ruling class. While he was a sickly child (asthma and poor eyesight), the later loss of his father hardened his exterior. Upon breaking up with his long- time love interest (Edith Carow) he soon became enamored with the heiress Alice Lee Hathaway. e couple wed and within a year they ushered in the birth of their daughter, Alice. Tragically soon after their daugh- ter's birth, eodore's wife and his mother would perish within two hours of each other on Valentine's Day 1884 in the same house. "e light has gone out of my life," he said. Overwrought with grief, eodore entrusted his daughter to the care of his sister and immersed himself in a rugged frontier life in the Dakota Territory, where he became a lawman. Living in the harsh terrain prepared him for future challenges. Rekindling his relationship with Edith Carow, they wed in London. Meanwhile, eodore entered into the New York State political world (youngest NY legislator) then went on to federal appointments (Civil Service Commission, Assistant Navy Secretary). When war erupted with Spain in 1898 Roosevelt was pivotal in the forming of the First U.S. Volunteer George Washington Martha Washington Theodore Roosevelt ■ see HISTORY, page 15 Photos: Librar y of Congress

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