
THE BUILDER

THE STORY OF "OLD GLORY"--THE OLDEST FLAG
BY BRO. JNO. W. BARRY, IOWA

THE ONLY FLAG OF THE REVOLUTION KNOWN TO EXIST

In Fig. 32 (Color Plate) is a photograph of the only flag now in
existence known to have been carried as a regimental flag during
the Revolution. If you should enter the flag room of the State
House at Annapolis, Maryland, you would see there this most
treasured flag labeled as follows:--

"NO. 1--OLD GLORY" (56)

This flag is cherished as THE flag of the Revolution. It is the
flag shown by Trumbull in his "Princeton," in his "Burgoyne" and in
his "Cornwallis," it is the flag shown by Charles Wilson Peale in
his "Washington at Trenton." It is the flag ordered by Washington
to be made by Betsy Ross, the wife of a Master Mason, of whom a bit
of personal history is now in point.

IN IOWA--THE ORIGINAL MASONIC CERTIFICATE OF THE FLAG MAKER'S
HUSBAND

Betsy Griscom married John Ross (57) a nephew of George Ross,
signer of the Declaration of Independence. He lost his life in the
service of his country, January, 1776, only a short time before
Betsy made the first flag. Betsy married Captain Ashburn in 1777.
He was soon captured and in a few years died a prisoner of war in
Mill Prison, near Portsmouth, England. John Claypoole, a lineal
descendant of Oliver Cromwell, (58) had been his friend and fellow
prisoner. When released from prison, Claypoole returned to his home
in Philadelphia and delivered to Betsy the keepsakes and last
message sent by her husband. Later John Claypoole married Betsy, a
union blessed with a family of four daughters.

Betsy Ross-Claypoole continued the flag making for her new husband
who like those she had heretofore taken, had devoted his life to
the service of his country, had been wounded at Germantown and long
confinement in Mill Prison had broken his health. So as the bread
winner, Betsy Ross-Claypoole continued to make flags until 1827
when she turned the business over to her daughter Mrs. Clarissa
Sidney Wilson who in turn continued it until 1857, when she moved
to Fort Madison, Iowa Here ended all known record, so I wrote
Brother L R. Traverse, P. M. of Claypoole Lodge of Fort Madison,
for further information about the descendants of Betsy
Ross-Claypoole. In response I received a letter from Mary C.
Albright Robinson saying her great grandfather John Claypoole was
a Mason and that she had his Masonic certificate under seal of the
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania--that it is written on vellum and in
English, French and Italian. Here was something worth while. And
immediately I got secretary A. C. Rowland on the long distance
cable tow and urged him to secure the loan of that certificate--a
most rare find. Here it is in Fig. 33 (Frontispiece, August), the
actual certificate of the soldier husband of the flag maker. It is
dated March 30, 1780, and was issued on a request accompanied by
the following certificate:

"Chester Town, 17th Dec., 1779. (59)

"I do hereby certify that Mr. John Claypoole was regularly entered,
passed and raised in Lodge No. 7, at "Chester Town, Maryland.

"By Order of the Master.

Signed "James Claypoole, Secy. Lodge No. 7."

Pennsylvania had previously constituted a number of lodges in Kent
County on the "eastern shore of Maryland" of which No. 7 was one,
hence the petition. Issued 136 years ago, it is a little the worse
for wear, but

"Little of all we value here
Wakes on the morn of its hundredth year
Without both feeling and looking queer--
In fact there is nothing that keeps its youth 
So far as I know but our flag and truth."

Therefore, this flag shown in Fig. 32, being of the series made by
the Mason's wife, is cherished because of that association but it
is also cherished because it is an actual battle flag, and the only
one now left, carried in the war of the Revolution. It is the flag
of the Third Maryland regiment commanded by Bro. John Eager Howard
(60) at the battle of Cowpens, Jan. 17, 1791, and was carried by
William Bachelor, who, being wounded was sent to his home in
Baltimore, but was allowed to take his flag with him. His death
soon followed and the flag was inherited by his son, William
Bachelor, Jr., who carried that same flag against the same old
enemy again during the War of 1812 in the battle of North Point
near Baltimore. (61) After the War of 1812, William Bachelor
carried this flag on many gala occasions as an attraction. Finally
in 1907 it came into the keeping of the state of Maryland in trust
for the people of the whole United States. All honor to Maryland--
well is she guarding her trust. Finally this flag is cherished
because it is the victory flag used in that pivotal battle of
Cowpens of which Avery said:

"In point of tactics, the battle of Cowpens was THE most brilliant
battle of the war." (62) It was the turning point leading directly
to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown nine months later, when
occurred a most rare bit of retributive justice. But a year before,
General Benjamin Lincoln had been driven to a humiliating surrender
by Cornwallis at Charleston. Now Washington directed that the sword
of Cornwallis should be delivered to Benjamin Lincoln--a brother
who eight years before had been raised to the sublime degree of a
Master Mason in St. Andrew's Lodge at Boston, Mass. (63) Therefore
this "Old GLORY No. 1" is cherished above other flags because it
commemorates the devotion of the patriotic flag maker, the wife of
a Mason, whose descendants are today honored citizens of our own
Iowa; it is cherished because it commemorates the devotion of
Masons to liberty in the defense of which they surrendered their
lives rather than betray their trust; finally it is cherished
because it is the victory flag leading directly to that final
surrender of Cornwallis to Washington and his Masonic brothers in
arms at Yorktown. Therefore, as in the beginning and all through
the strife, so it was at the close, Masonry was in the saddle and
the sword of the vanquished first opposed by Masons at Lexington,
Concord and Bunker Hill was now directed by a Mason to be delivered
into the hands of a Mason. Well, did he receive it not only in
token of the surrender of Cornwallis, but as signalizing the final
triumph of the TILER in putting out of the new nation all cowans
and eavesdroppers. May we be ever mindful that the first great care
of Masons is to see that the Lodge of The Nation is duly tiled to
the end that all cowans may be kept out.

MASONRY IN THE HOMES BEHIND THE SOLDIERS

Had the Revolution been a soldiers' war only, this story would end
here, but the fact is it was a Masons' war as well and there were
Masons outside of the army working "without any tool of iron" and
what they wrought fitted with remarkable exactness into the things
wrought in "the clay grounds" by Washington and his generals. The
printed proceedings of the grand jurisdictions of the several
states give many names which when followed through into their
connection with the events of their time show what seems wonderful
"team work." It suggests a wide field of Masonic Research.
Following are a few illustrative of the many -all reproduced from
Lossing's Cyclopedia of U. S. History.

Here are six governors respectively of Virginia, North Carolina,
New Hampshire, South Carolina and New Jersey, honors which came to
these brothers as a recognition of their efforts for liberty
through the long struggle and everyone of them rich in Masonic
honors. On the bench, in Congress and in the state legislature, the
team work was consistent and persistent. Further illustrating the
fact, here in No. 47, is Grand Master Marshall, Chief Justice of
the United States Supreme Court. As a boy he followed his father in
the Revolution and was fit inspiration for the well known picture,
"The Spirit of '76." While he was Grand Master he laid corner
stones with the lodge opened on the First Degree only.

IN CONGRESS THE PEN WROTE WHAT THE SWORD WROUGHT

Peyton Randolph, Grand Master of Virginia, was president of the
first Congress in 1774, and from that date to the final victory
Masonry continued to be a dominating influence at each and every
session of Congress. The place of meeting was the old state house
known as Independence Hall--Philadelphia.

There are many shrines of American liberty but perhaps none more
revered. In No. 49 you see it as it appears today, with the Statue
of Bro. Washington in front.

But if you could go back to 1776--and then around to the other or
Walnut Street side of it, you would see it as shown in No. 50.

David Rittenhouse had erected the tower to observe the transit of
Venus and it was used to herald the proclamation of Mars. Here hung
the "Liberty Bell" to "proclaim liberty throughout the land to all
the inhabitants thereof." The tower has been made higher --the
clock taken from the end and placed in the tower, while the bell is
carefully treasured in Independence room. Here Independence was
declared. Here Congress sat during the Revolution and here a
Massachusetts Mason, Bro. John Hancock, succeeded Peyton Randolph
as president. But the crowning glory of the old building, erected
in 1736, was the formation there of the Constitution of the United
States under the guidance of Bro. Washington as chairman and Bro.
Benjamin Franklin, a Grand Master of Pennsylvania.

Benjamin Franklin both at home and abroad did more by his wisdom
and diplomatic skill than any other one Mason, Washington alone
excepted, to place Old Glory high among the nations. He helped make
both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and is a
signer of both documents. In the treaty of peace in 1783, he
secured such favorable concessions as to astound the nations of
Europe and they were not slow to manifest their displeasure. It was
a rare triumph of American diplomatic skill, seldom equaled and
never exceeded even in our one hundred years of brilliant
achievement. Well did he use the trowel.

THE MASTER'S CHAIR

The most historic furniture in America now in Independence Hall,
Philadelphia, consists of the two pieces shown in No. 53. Elson
says: "These two pieces of furniture were used for both the
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. On the chair a
half sun is carved." (65) When the Constitution was being signed,
Franklin said with a meaning well understood, referring to the
half-sun emblazoned on the center of the back of the chair here
shown, "Painters have found it difficult to paint a sun near the
horizon so as to tell whether it was a setting or rising sun, but,"
said he, "after the Constitution had been passed and the members
were signing, I looked at the sun behind President Washington and
I saw for the first time it was a rising sun." (66) In very truth
may we not call this the Master's Chair? From this chair the pen
wrote what the sword wrought. As the sun rises in the east to
govern the day so rose the Constitution in the east to govern the
nation with equal justice and regularity.

"SECOND TO NONE IN PRIVATE LIFE"

When the war was over, Washington returned to his farm but never
for a moment did he cease to be actively true to that vow he made
to his officers on that memorable day in the "Temple" when he faced
the ruffians. From 1783 to 1789 when there was only the semblance
of a government, Washington's course endeared him more and more to
every true patriot. His character was so aptly described by Bro.
Henry Lee in a single sentence known the world over. How often you
have heard the first part of that renowned sentence --and alas, how
seldom the second! Here is the full sentence:--"First in War, first
in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, HE WAS SECOND
TO NONE IN THE HUMBLE AND ENDEARING SCENES OF PRIVATE LIFE."
"Second to none in private life," in itself may not have made him
president but it did give him the distinction of being the only one
ever elected president of the United States by unanimous vote.
Washington was inaugurated President at New York April 30, 1789.
Grand Master Robert Livingston administered the oath of office to
him using a Bible from St. John's Lodge. Well did he remember the
vow he voluntarily made to his officers on that memorable 15th of
March, 1783. Here is his first cabinet--all Masons but Jefferson.
He appointed no one but those he considered best able to serve the
country, but among the men he knew so well in other scenes, he
found the right kind of nerve and loyalty to promote the best
interest of all.

In the second office in power was an honored Mason of Philadelphia,
(68) the Hon. F. A. Muhlinberg, Speaker of the House. Thus was "Old
Glory" again sponsored by those taught to yield their lives rather
than their honor.

FIRST NATIONAL CORNER STONE LAYING

September 18, 1793, the corner stone of the new capitol at
Washington was laid by the Grand Lodge of Maryland, Washington
using the trowel, which is a treasured relic of Alexandria
Washington Lodge No. 22. In the description, two odd things occur
as they appear to us now, first, the stone was laid in SOUTHEAST
corner and second, in the grand procession was a place for

"1. Masons of the first degree
2. Masons of the second degree
3. Masons of the third degree."

The event is commemorated in one of the panels of the Crawford
Bronze Doors, which open from the Senate Vestibule upon the
portico. This is the north wing of the Capitol. The door is double
with eight panels, each of which commemorates in high relief an
important event in the life of our country. The door was designed
by an American sculptor, Thomas Crawford.

'Tis well, yea 'tis meet and propel that our brothers of 1776
should be thus commemorated in undying bronze in the inner chamber
of the national capitol at Washington. But me thinks that if these
bronze lips could but speak to us we would hear familiar words--
thus--"Go therefore and may the blessing of God attend you.
Heretofore you have had brothers to speak and do for you. Now you
must speak and do for yourselves and for those to follow you--even
as we have done. We leave you the working tools bright from
service--here is the emblem "Old Glory" with a star for every
state. Go, see ye to it that there shall ever a state FOR EVERY
star." So mote it ever be.


(56) Vide Battle Flags in State House Md. Clinton L. Riggs p. 5
(57) Vide Canby's & Lloyd Balderston Evolution of the American
Flag, p. 104-5. 
(58) Vide Preble p. 265. 
(59) Vide Old Masonic Lodges of Pa. Julius F. Sachse p. 210. 
(60) Vide Shultz History of Freemasonry in Maryland, Vol 1, p. 67,
says that a picture of Bro. John Eager Howard hung in a Baltimore
Lodge room; that his son B.C. Howard also a general was a Grand
Master of Masons in Md. Later John Eager Howard was governor & U.S.
Senator. 
(61) Battle Flags in the State House, Annapolis, Md., p. 5. 
(62) Vide Avery, V. 6, p. 288. 
(63) Vide Centennial Memorial St. Andrew's Lodge, p. 112. 
(64) Vide Elson's History of the United States, V. 2. 
(65) Vide Elson's History of the United States, V. 2. 
(66) Vide Elson's History of the United States, V. 2, p. XVI.
(67) Vide Washington Man and Mason. 
(68) Member Lodge No. 3 Vide Old Lodges of Penn. by Julius F.
Sachse, p. 248. 
(69) Vide Washington, Man and Mason. 
(70) Hired Handy of Washington. D. C., to make for Research
Committee

THE FIVE POINTS SYMBOLISM

1. Foot to foot that we may go, 
Where our help we can bestow; 
Pointing out the better way,
Lest our brothers go astray. 
Thus our steps should always lead 
To the souls that are in need.

2. Knee to knee, that we may share 
Every brother's needs in prayer: 
Giving all his wants a place, 
When we seek the throne of grace. 
In our thoughts from day to day 
For each other we should pray.

3. Breast to breast, to there conceal, 
What our lips must not reveal; 
When a brother does confide, 
We must by his will abide. 
Mason's secrets to us known, 
We must cherish as our own.

4. Hand to back, our love to show 
To the brother, bending low: 
Underneath a load of care, 
Which we may and ought to share. 
That the weak may always stand, 
Let us lend a helping hand.

5. Cheek to cheek, or mouth to ear, 
That our lips may whisper cheer, 
To our brothel in distress: 
Whom our words can aid and bless. 
Warn him if he fails to see, 
Dangers that are known to thee.

6. Foot to foot, and knee to knee, 
Breast to breast, as brothers we: 
Hand to back and mouth to ear, 
Then that mystic word we hear, 
Which we otherwise conceal, 
But on these five points reveal.

--N. A. McAulay.

