The North Carolina Mason

Page 8 The North Carolina Mason January/February 2015 In this issue of The NC Mason page 1 The North Carolina Mason The Grand Lodge of North Carolina, AF&AM 600 College Street Oxford, North Carolina 27565 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED NON-PROFIT ORG. AUTO U.S. POSTAGE PAID OXFORD, NC 27565 PERMIT NO. 56 Dallas Historic Courthouse rededicated by GL page 8 Traditional observance lodges in NC page 8 Who was Crissie Wright? On the cover Gaston County's first courthouse was rededicated by the Grand Lodge and Dallas's Gaston 263 in November. DeWayne Gore photo see CRISSIE WRIGHT, page 2 see TOs, page 4 Historic courthouse rededicated The Mason NORTH CAROLINA JAN/FEB 2015 The story of Crissie Wright Who was Crissie Wright? SMYRNA — We don't have many lodges named for women. No, French Broad 292 does not count. It's named for a river. But, there is Crissie Wright 741. Crissie Wright Lodge was chartered in this coastal Carteret County fishing community in 1969. at lodge was founded by members of Franklin 109 in Beaufort to serve the Down East portion of the county, a more rural, com- mercial fishing oriented community. It is the home lodge of Past Grand Master Gerry Smith. According to charter member Charlie Goodwin, the lodge wanted a name that would tie it to the history of that unique por- tion of the county. Crissie Wright was at the center of one of the area's most widely known stories. We learn part of the story from Mary Warshaw of Beaufort. It is hosted on her website, "Beaufort, North Carolina History." On January 7, 1886, the Philadelphia schooner Crissie Wright, on her way from Baltimore to Savannah, was forced to beach her- self three miles east of Beaufort during the bitter winter of 1886. Six of the crew drowned or froze to death. Two of the crew were lost at sea, and three were buried in a common grave in Beaufort's Old Burying Ground. In the History of the Methodist Church, Amy Muse described "…that winter so cold that no one remembered its like before or has acknowledged its equal since. e winter when the Crissie Wright foundered on Shackelford Banks, the crew lashed to the rigging and freezing while men who would rescue them could only signal helplessly from our shore unable to put out a boat in the storm. By Ric Carter "e Nellie B. Dey, Mr. Dey's fish boat, finally brought the vic- tims in to the wharf at the foot of Turner Street. But one man was revived; the others were laid out in the sample room of Mr. Billy Dill's hotel on the southwest corner of Front and Turner Streets, and Mr. Jurney buried them in the graveyard back of the Church. "Miss Daisy Hatsell tells of standing in the cold of the up- per piazza of her home on Queen Street watching as the men were borne to the cemetery on improvised biers, and Miss Lutie Jones tells of the feeling of awe that came over her when, as a child, she ran into the cemetery and saw so many graves open at the same time. None of the men were from Beaufort, but it was an incident that would have stirred any people, and to a people as compassionate by nature as those in Beaufort, it left such an impression that voices are hushed today as the story is retold. A small compensation for the tragedy was the establishment of the Cape Lookout Lifesaving Station in 1887 which is said to have been a direct result of the event." On May 26, 2007, "Only One Survived Sinking of Jersey- built Schooner in 1886" by C. G. Rickards (great grandson of the Crissie Wright's captain) was published in e Courier Post, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. "e Crissie Wright set sail from Baltimore on December 31, 1885, with 500 tons of phosphate headed for Savannah, GA. Af- ter making her way through the Chesapeake Bay, the ship entered the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. On or about January 7, the Crissie Wright was off the coast of North Carolina when a winter Simkhovitch's rendering of the wreck at the Beaufort City Hall By Speed Hallman SALISBURY — North Carolina's first traditional observance lodge, Sophia 767, received its charter from Grand Master Dalton Mayo on October 22. Sixty-five members and visitors attended the ceremony. One week later, Veritas Lodge in Asheville, our second traditional observance lodge, was given a dispensation to begin working as a lodge. Traditional observance lodges come to North Carolina Traditional observance (TO) lodges are marked by high stan- dards of admission, solemn and dignified meetings and ritual work, ample time between the degrees for candidates to study and absorb their meaning, and a quest for deeper understanding of Freemasonry. ey are often also associated with formal dress, fine dining, and higher dues. Sophia's formation was sparked by Andrew Hammer's lecture at Wilkerson College Lodge 760 in April 2013. Hammer's book Observing the Craft calls for "nothing but the utmost personal ef- fort and commitment to be put into the operation of a Masonic Lodge, and the experience of a Masonic meeting, in search of the transformational experience." ey soon began planning to launch a traditional observance lodge. ey chose Salisbury for its central location. eir July 2013 organizational meeting attracted about 50 interested Ma- sons. at September, Grand Master Dewey Preslar issued So- phia's dispensation. e charter and lodge number were approved at the 2014 annual communication. Sophia launched with 37 Sophia 767 chain of union after their institution. Michael Harding photo/Genesis Group Ric Car ter photo

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