Regular Meeting and Installation of 2017 Officers
MMRS Regular Meeting
Saturday, December 3rd, 2016
at the
Grand Lodge of A.F. & A.M of Maryland
304 International Circle
Cockeysville, MD 21030
Meeting in the basement of the main building
Lunch at 12 noon
$15 payable at the door
Please contact the Secretary (mmrs1979@gmail.com) to confirm your attendance
Meeting and Presentation 1 pm
together with the installation of 2017 officers
“Anti-Masonry in Upstate New York – Why?”
By Chuck Crossett, outgoing President of MMRS
The disappearance of William Morgan in 1826, know as the Morgan Affair, is widely regarded as the start of the incredible backlash against Freemasonry, which had been very popular and widespread in the still-young United States. Such an event, even a possible murder, cannot explain the breadth and depth of the anti-Masonry movement that resulted. This talk is meant to illustrate upstate New York at the time Morgan decided to publish the Masonic rituals, his sudden departure, and resulting huge membership decline, hundreds of closed lodges, and the loss of Masonic esteem and power. Religious revivals, blue laws, the Erie Canal, Shakers, and the prediction of the end of the world all played a part!
Chuck Crossett is the 2016 President of MMRS, as well as a member of Freedom Lodge #112, Druid Chapter #28, and the Alexandria Valley Scottish Rite. He is an engineer and historian.