So this morning I spent about 4 hours at the lodge sorting through old artifacts in an effort to catalog them. We recently had a brother pass away who had devoted much of his life to the craft and saved out lodge during the 60's and his family had swept everything into a box and given it to us. While sorting it I came across a letter from one brother to another (neither was the brother who the letter used to belong to) detailing some of our lodge's history. None of it was of very great importance, but folded inside the letter there was a small pamphlet. The pamphlet was an education piece about the symbolism of the acacia tree. At the top there were a few sentences that had been typed onto the paper after its printing. The first was a biological description of the acacia tree. The second read something like this:
At the time of his visit, our lodge building would have been 2 years old, still the only 3 story building in the state of Tennessee, and of a very unique and new architectural style. That, combined with the fact that it was a Masonic Lodge (no doubt one of the biggest in the country) would have made it a very logical spot for Lafayette, the very devoted Mason, to visit on his tour.
After discovering all of this it was very strange to sit in that room and think that such a key figure in the establishing and securing of our nation had walked those same halls.
It was the first time I have ever "discovered" anything and even though all I did was read a letter I still feel accomplished
And I thought you guys would think it was cool
And that was it. Of course the General mentioned was the Revolutionary War General Gilbert de Lafayette, the Marquis de Lafayette. It was very well documented, and even known to a brother present this morning that Lafayette had visited Nashville (about 25 min. by car from our lodge) during his tour of the country to celebrate 50 years of independence. But until now, the idea that he had visited out lodge was unknown, much less that he had given us a gift that had lasted for over 100 years. We are now beginning a search of other documents, including newspapers of the time, to determine if we can get any other sources to back this up, or even a picture of the lodge to determine where the tree was planted.
At the time of his visit, our lodge building would have been 2 years old, still the only 3 story building in the state of Tennessee, and of a very unique and new architectural style. That, combined with the fact that it was a Masonic Lodge (no doubt one of the biggest in the country) would have made it a very logical spot for Lafayette, the very devoted Mason, to visit on his tour.
After discovering all of this it was very strange to sit in that room and think that such a key figure in the establishing and securing of our nation had walked those same halls.
It was the first time I have ever "discovered" anything and even though all I did was read a letter I still feel accomplished
And I thought you guys would think it was cool 
