The North Carolina Mason

Page 14 The North Carolina Mason November/December 2019 From the Grand Historian A story behind our own Bahnson Manual By Ludwik Wodka Grand Historian Every North Carolina Mason today is familiar with the small black North Carolina Lodge Manual which we refer to as the "Bahnson Manual." Contained in it are the monito- rial selections from the ritual. It is designed to serve as a companion volume to our secret work as codified in the OSW. ough the Bahnson Manual was first published in 1893, records show that the Grand Lodge of North Carolina approved of several other Masonic monitors that were published during the 19th century. e first Masonic monitor in the United States was published in 1797 by omas Smith Webb, titled e Freemason's Monitor. His book consisted of selections drawn primarily from William Preston's lectures, published in England as Illustrations of Masonry in 1772, as well as from sundry other sources. Not long after, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina took measures to prepare its own monitor. e proceedings of the Grand Lodge in 1803 report the following: "Resolved, at Brother John C. Osborne, of St. John's Lodge, No. 3, Newbern, be requested to compile an edition of Himan Rezon (sic.), and submit the same to the inspec- tion of the most worshipful Grand Master, the Deputy Grand Master, the Grand Senior Warden, and the Grand Junior Warden, and if approved by any two of them, that he publish the same and furnish the Grand Lodge with 50 copies for which he shall be paid his reason- able charge." e Ahiman Rezon and Masonic Ritual was published in 1805 in New Bern, containing much of the common monitorial content of Webb's monitor, along with numerous songs, orations, public ceremonies, and other notes on Masonry in the state. e book is rare, presumably from the small number of copies produced. It contains much longer and more elaborate monitorial selections as well as addenda that were hitherto unknown in earlier exposés and monitors. Along with its high-level description of the degrees, it also includes the Grand Lodge Constitution, a digest of Masonic law and regulations, and other related miscellanea. It even included the oration given at Richard Caswell's funeral in 1789. However, it seems this work was quietly abandoned and not mentioned again in the proceed- ings of the Grand Lodge, nor is it referenced by any of the subsequent lecturers or custodians. Several editions of Webb's Monitor were published in the early 1800s and the book enjoyed wide- spread popularity across the United States as the American Grand Lodges began to adopt the Webb ritual. In 1819, one of his pupils, Jeremy Ladd Cross, published the True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor. is was one of the first to include the illustrations we have become so familiar with in our monitors and lecture presentations. Following the first Baltimore Convention in 1843, a revised monitor was prepared by Charles Moore of Boston, titled e Masonic Trestleboard. is book, like others of its kind, attempted to collect the A copy of the North Carolina Monitor with Charles F. Bahnson's photo. Well-wishers and attendees of the Grand Lodge in- stallation want to get a closer look at the Grand Master's new ring. Read more about it in the story on Page 1 of this edition of The Mason. Photo by Michael Harding various ritual passages that were not included in the secret work. e ritual workings and Masonic Trestleboard were reviewed and vetted by Benjamin Gleason, one of Webb's surviving pupils, confirming that the deliberations of the Balti- more Convention had indeed recovered the Webb work. In 1852, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina proceedings reported, "many of the Grand Lodges have recommended and adopted the new Chart, by Brother Moore, of Boston; and as the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of this State has lately adopted it, we recommend that this Most Worshipful Grand Lodge do the same." Other monito- rial works were also recommended for use by the Grand Lodge, including Stewart's Freemason Manual (1851) and Leon Hyne- man's Freemason Manual (1852). It is worth noting that each of these were recommended, not exclusively adopted, by the Grand Lodge. Many lodges continued to use Webb's Freemason Monitor and Jeremy Ladd Cross' True Masonic Chart as well. Most of these works republished the same passages, prayers, charges, and monitorial selections, although some intro- duced a few minor modifications. In 1892, Grand Master Heze- kiah Gudger appointed Charles F. Bahnson to prepare a lodge manual for North Carolina. e majority of the book was adapted from the Standard Masonic Monitor, published by George Simons and Robert Macoy. e first edition of it appeared in 1878, but it was the 1891 edition that Bahnson appeared to use, for that was the one which contained the "Apron Lecture." Bahnson trimmed down much of the material, but included many of the same illustrations, songs, and prayers peculiar to the Simons Monitor. He also added some summaries of the beginning of each of the degrees, along with some brief comments at other points in the book. e book he produced was formally adopted by the Grand Lodge in 1893 and has been in use ever since.

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