The Sovereigns of Industry

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Gregory Knott

I found a small booklet recently entitled “Ritual of the Sovereigns of Industry”. This booklet had a ritual for initiation of persons who became members of the Sovereigns of Industry (SOI). But exactly who were the Sovereigns of Industry?

In my research I found that the group was founded in 1874 and was inspired by the The National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry and had its origins in Massachusetts when Dudley W. Adams, National Master of the Grange in 1873 asked his old friend William H. Earle to organize the Grange in Massachusetts.

There was a great deal of agriculture in Massachusetts, however the state was more heavily focused on industry and manufacturing. Earle saw the potential to create an organization to unite American Workers and formed the Sovereigns of Industry as a labor reform organization.

The SOI had a much different approach to solving problems than the labor unions that were forming about the same time. The SOI approach was described as cooperative instead of confrontational. They were in some aspects the forerunner of the modern cooperatives in bringing their collective purchasing power together. But as organized labor gained strength during this period, they did not like the means used by the Sovereigns of Industry. Instead of cooperation, the unions utilized the confrontational methods (i.e. labor strikes) as method to improve their working conditions.

Like the Grange at the time, The Sovereigns of Industry chose to become a secret society. They developed a ritual and a set of by-laws. The ritual was very short and could be conferred upon men or women of 16 years age or older. The obligation said in part:

“You do now, in the presence of this Council, solemnly affirm that your only motive in seeking to become a member of our Fraternity, is to aid in establishing those principles and measures of reforms proclaimed by the Order; that you will never unlawfully reveal any of the secrets of the Order; that you will, to the best of your ability, fulfill all the obligations which membership in the Order impose upon you; and that you will not print, write, or cause to be printed or written, any part of this Ritual, or any of the unwritten work of the Order…” (Ritual of the Sovereigns of Industry, 1874)


Unlike the Grange, The Sovereigns of Industry didn’t survive long. Their membership peaked at 27,984 in 19875 and they were out of existence by 1880.

~GJK

WB Gregory J. Knott is the Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No. 970 in St. Joseph (IL) and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL) and Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington, DC. He’s a member of the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Eastern Star and is the Charter Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign-Urbana. He is also a member of ANSAR Shrine (IL) and the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. Greg serves on the Board of Directors of The Masonic Society and is a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society and The Philathes Society. Greg is very involved in Boy Scouts—an Eagle Scout himself, he is a member of the National Association of Masonic Scouters

Little Things Mean A Lot

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

I'm a big fan of the Masonic Roundtable.  It's a weekly online videocast with five Brothers on a panel discussing a variety of Masonic topics.  Rather than have me spend a few paragraphs convincing you how great it is (which I could do), you can check it out yourself at http://www.themasonicroundtable.com/.  It's well worth the click.

The technological age we live in has brought us many gifts, not the least of which is the ability to produce and distribute programs like this without a large investment.  Just think about it — five guys with an idea and a few resources get together and in very short order have, in a manner of speaking, a national broadcasting network.  After many years in IT, stuff like this never ceases to amaze me.

Still, it's not free.  The Brothers all need the equipment and bandwidth to make it happen; and there are distribution costs, too.  So I sent them a donation.  In return they sent me a Masonic Roundtable lapel pin.  It's a really nice one and I wanted to show it off.  Not usually wearing something with lapels, I stuck it in my ball cap.

Fast forward a few days... I took my motorcycle in for maintenance.  My wife Carolyn picked me up and we left it in the shop overnight.  At home, I got my cap to show her the pin and — ACK!  The pin wasn't there.

When we returned to the dealership the first thing I did was to scour the bike’s storage area for the pin.  It wasn't there.  Phooey.  So, life goes on, and Carolyn and I took the motorcycle and went to lunch.  Afterward, I had a very hard time starting the bike, called and the service department told me to bring it back to check things out.

We rode back to the dealer and parked outside the service area door, right where I had parked when I went in for service the day before.  While I was talking to the manager, Carolyn happened to look down at a big crack in the pavement right behind the parked bike and saw something shining inside it.  She reached down, picked it up and... you guessed it... found herself holding my new pin.  The back was down there also.  We discovered the back had a very weak grip which caused the lapel pin to drop out.  At home I replaced the defective back with one of the myriad of extra pin backs I have and the pin is secure in its rightful place in my cap.

I wasn't happy when the motorcycle didn't start after lunch but if it had, I would never have found my pin.  If the pin hadn’t fallen in the crack, it could have been smashed by any one of the many motorcycles going in and out of the service garage.  A lot of things can go wrong in any given day but this is something that went right.  It won't change the world, but I'm glad I got it back.  Sometimes, little things mean a lot.

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33°, is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is the editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine, author of the book Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research and also its Worshipful Master. He is a dual member of Kearney Lodge #311, St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite, Moila Shrine and a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. His latest book, Freemasons: Tales From the Craft, will be released later this year.

The Cup

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

Bro. Jerry Henderson

Since I have been in the craft, I have seen people from all walks of life. The rich, the poor, the young, different races and religions. But, when it all comes down to it, we are all trying to do one thing, be better.

In my previous post, I mentioned as to how I came about in the craft, which was a lot of networking. Now, I compare brothers in the craft to cups. Some of you may question me as to why I use cups, but follow me and I assure you, it will all make sense.
In the Bible, Psalms 23 Verse 6 states, 

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over” (KJV).

When the term cup was used, it was referring, in my opinion, to a man. Now, when we see a cup, we look at the outside and might like the way it looks. Some people like mugs, some people like glasses. But, the real thing we look at is the inside of the cup. Is the cup clean? Does it have a hole in the bottom? Things of that nature.  

Freemasonry is the same way. Instead of looking at the outer person, we look at the inside of the man. We don’t care about your tattoos, piercings or anything else of that nature. All we care about is if you are a good man of good morals who is trying to become better. So, if you are interested in becoming a Freemason or you are a Freemason, make sure you have a clean “cup”.

~JH

Bro. Jerry Henderson is a member of St. James Lodge #114 a subordinate lodge of the MWPHGLNY. He is also a member of Abu Bekr Temple #91, A.E.A.O.N.M.S

Leadership in the Little Things

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley

"No leader is worth his salt who won't set up chairs." –Peter Drucker

In my time as Leadership Development Chairman for the Grand Lodge of Illinois, I’ve collected hundreds of quotations about leadership, and last year I collected 366 of them in a book of meditations on servant leadership. Of those 366, Peter Drucker’s line about setting up chairs is one of my favorites. It makes a fundamental point about the nature of leadership, because leadership, at its core, is influence, and our influence, for good or ill, is based on our behavior. I saw an example of this principle in action not long ago.

I’ve taught at Eastern Illinois University for a while now, and have seen university presidents come and go. Our current president, Dr. William Perry, who is retiring at the end of this academic year, is my fourth. He’s a brilliant man, a mathematician and historian, possessed of a keen wit, a gentle manner, and a genuine concern for others. He’s a real leader, and something I saw the other day drove that point home.

I was stopped at a stoplight in front of Old Main the other day, and saw President Perry walk out of the building. He was about to turn left when he noticed a pop bottle on the sidewalk about thirty feet to his right. Reversing direction, he walked over, picked it up, and headed off toward his original destination, no doubt intending to deposit the bottle in a recycling bin. It didn’t take long, he didn’t know anyone was watching, and it wasn’t a big moment in his day. It was just something he did as a matter of course. But it said something important about his way of doing things that is important for Masons to consider: details matter, and getting them right is the job of everyone in the lodge. If you’re a leader, and President Perry certainly is one, you have to notice and take care of the little things.

The best leaders treat everyone with respect and kindness, especially those who are powerless before them. If we are leaders, we show up first, make sure everything is as it’s supposed to be, and do whatever is necessary. If the chairs aren’t set up, start setting them up, because leadership is doing what’s necessary for everyone to succeed, and no leader is too good for small tasks. That’s especially true for Masons. We meet on the level, as Brethren, from the youngest Entered Apprentice to the Worshipful Master who presides in the East; we are all Master Masons. Details matter, picking up trash matters, sweeping up matters. The Master of a lodge should be the first one to do the meanest work. Like Dr. Perry, he should go out of his way to pick up a pop bottle, because the thing we ignore is the standard we set. As we set out to adjust the rough ashlars in our lives with our working tools, we have to set the highest standard for ourselves. Our influence, our leadership, depends on the standards to which we hold ourselves. We won’t attain perfection, for that is beyond our reach, but if we stretch for it, we will grasp that much more. And maybe, just maybe, we will inspire others to reach a little farther, to go out of their way to give attention to a detail they might not have noticed otherwise, as President Perry inspired someone he didn’t know was watching to spend more time picking up trash. It’s what a leader does.

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He currently serves the Valley of Danville, AASR, as Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. The author of several articles on British history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com