George Washington's apron stops home in Shepherdstown for a day

[jason]

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. —
A Masonic apron given to George Washington in 1784 by the Marquis de Lafayette was the guest of honor Sunday at the 200th birthday celebration of the local Masonic lodge.

The apron came home for a day.

It decorated a wall in the upstairs meeting room of Mount Nebo Lodge No. 91 at 121 E. German St. from 1820 to 2009, when it was sent to curators at Mount Vernon to verify its provenance.

The lodge was founded Dec. 11, 1811.

For decades, the Lafayette Apron was known as “the lost apron” among historians and curators at Mount Vernon.

“It was right here all the time, hidden in plain sight. It was never a secret that we had the apron,” said George Alwin, master of Mount Nebo lodge.

more George Washington's apron stops home in Shepherdstown for a day - herald-mail.com

 

[Duncan1574]

Makes my wonder what is 'hanging' around my Lodge. We have the first Master's desk/table is the lobby. There are more corners there with 'stuff' in them than I would have time to root through. There is an old safe full of old Lodge records.

 

[Bob Franks]

Makes my wonder what is 'hanging' around my Lodge. We have the first Master's desk/table is the lobby. There are more corners there with 'stuff' in them than I would have time to root through. There is an old safe full of old Lodge records.

One of my Brothers was at the nearby state historic site of an early community in our area and noticed an inlaid Square & Compasses in the bottom of a wooden bowl. The bowl was in a retired place in the building and the brother asked if it was going to be displayed. The curators indicated they had no idea what to do with it, so the brother asked if he could take it to a local lodge. We have cleaned it up and polished it and realized the intricacies of its construction, over a hundred separate pieces.
It's not an antique, it has the maker's name and "1968" inscribed in the pedestal base. The maker was apparently a member of lodge in the state capitol, but passed to the Celestial Lodge Above several years ago. We are going to try to explore its provenance, without the brothers from the lodge in the capitol claiming it.

S&F

 

[PatrickWilliams]

Makes my wonder what is 'hanging' around my Lodge. We have the first Master's desk/table is the lobby. There are more corners there with 'stuff' in them than I would have time to root through. There is an old safe full of old Lodge records.

Be very careful, Brother. When I was Secretary, I went into the archives of the Lodge and found correspondence from the 1800's. Amazing, but true, they were getting invites to pancake breakfasts and fish fries all the way back then. AND THEY KEPT THEM ALL!!! Yep, there's no packrat like a Masonic packrat.

 

[Custer148]

Be very careful, Brother. When I was Secretary, I went into the archives of the Lodge and found correspondence from the 1800's. Amazing, but true, they were getting invites to pancake breakfasts and fish fries all the way back then. AND THEY KEPT THEM ALL!!! Yep, there's no packrat like a Masonic packrat.

Do you suppose the pancakes & fish were any different than they are now?????

As Secretary, I note the invites in the correspondence area of the minutes and post the actual invite on the bulletin board for a short time, then I file 13 it.

 

[PatrickWilliams]

Do you suppose the pancakes & fish were any different than they are now?????

Yes. The fish were fishier and the pancakes were pancakier. Or so my elder Brethren tell me.

As Secretary, I note the invites in the correspondence area of the minutes and post the actual invite on the bulletin board for a short time, then I file 13 it.

Yep, did that, too, during my time as Secretary. I once thought to clean out the rat's nest that exists in our vault; get rid of all that garbage. But some of the elder Brethren vociferously objected. Apparently, fish fry invites from the late 1800's are history.