Any one who wants to join Eastern Star
must
petition to do so. A petition may be obtained
from any member of the Eastern Star. Click
here for a Petition. Petitions are carefully
read, eligibility investigated and election to
membership must be by unanimous vote. Please contact
our Grand
Secretary for more
information.
Tell me the history of Eastern
Star.
Compiled
by Mamie Lander, Past Most Worthy Grand Matron and
Right Worthy Grand Secretary - 1955
In 1867 and 1868, Mr. McCoy
compiled and published a Ritual, using Dr. Morris'
Rosary as a guide. This was the beginning of the
organization of Chapters of the Order of the Eastern
Star in the States as well as internationally. He
immediately attempted to make the work more
systematic and succeeded in adapting it to organized
Chapters in such a way as to assure their success.
Dr.
Morris traveled extensively in foreign countries. He
spent nearly a year in the Holy Land. He organized
the first Masonic Lodge in Jerusalem, Royal Solomon
Number One, and became its first Worshipful Master.
He was
an author of great ability and wrote numerous and
valuable works on Masonry and its kindred subjects.
The most popular were, "The Lights and Shadows of
Masonry" and "Free Masonry in the Holy Land." He
contributed to columns in almost every Masonic
publication.
He was
also a poet of unusual attainment, having written
over four hundred poems. His best-known poem is "The
Level and the Square." Many of these poems were
devoted to the Order of the Eastern Star and are
still used by Chapters.
Aside
from his work in Masonry and Eastern Star, he wrote
many religious songs, which are used by Churches and
Sunday Schools. While seated on the shore of the Sea
of Galilee in Palestine, he wrote the beautiful song
"0, Galilee."
In
1858-1859, Dr. Morris served as Most Worshipful
Grand Master of Masons in Kentucky. In 1860, he
drafted the Constitution of the Grand Lodge. Having
passed through the chairs in the Blue Lodge, Royal
Arch Chapter, Council, Commandery, Consistory and
Grand Lodge, and having spent most of the strength,
thought and wisdom of his early manhood in a close
study of the Rituals, codes, principles and tenets
of Masonry, he was conceded to be one of the most
versatile and learned Masons of his day.
In 1880
the General Grand Chapter conferred on Dr. Morris
the title of "Master Builder of the Order of the
Eastern Star" and August 31st, the birthday of this
illustrious man, was set apart as the Festal Day of
the Order, to be observed by having special programs
on that day. He also had the Degrees of Doctor of
Philosophy and Doctor of Laws conferred upon him
later in life.
The
crowning event in the career of this remarkable man
occurred in 1884 when over 500,000 Master Masons
throughout the world expressed their desire that he
be crowned with the laurel wreath, symbolizing Poet
Laureate of Masonry. One hundred years had elapsed
since the first Poet Laureate, Robert Burns, had
received this honor. Dr. Morris was the first poet
thought capable of filling this place after Robert
Burns. In the presence of more than seven hundred
dignitaries, this honor was conferred for the second
time in the history of the craft.
The
first Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star
was organized in Michigan in 1867. Three years later
Grand Chapters were organized in Mississippi, New
Jersey and New York. Before the close of 1876, Grand
Chapters were organized in California, Vermont,
Indiana, Connecticut, Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri,
Arkansas and Massachusetts.
Meanwhile the publication of different Rituals and
revised editions thereof brought confusion and
diversity in the work where there should have been
uniformity. It therefore became necessary that this
be corrected with all Grand Chapters united under
one body and using the same Ritual; thus the General
Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star was
organized in Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 16,
1876. Committees were appointed to compile and edit
a Ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star. The one
now in use has been evolved from the Ritual edited
by the Committees appointed at that time.
The
Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star now
encircle the earth. The General Grand Chapter has
jurisdiction over all Grand Chapters in the United
States (except New York and New Jersey which are
independent Grand Chapters), the Provinces in
Canada, and the Grand Chapter of Puerto Rico. There
is a Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland with
jurisdiction over Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales,
South Africa, and New Zealand. The States,
Territories and Dependencies of Australia are under
the jurisdiction of the United Grand Chapter of
Australia, which was established in 1985.
Chapters
have been organized subordinate to the General Grand
Chapter in Alaska, Aruba, Austria, Bermuda, Taiwan,
Panama, Germany, Guam, Hawaii, Japan, Mexico,
Okinawa, Italy, Philippines and Saudi Arabia. The
membership in the Order numbers over 1,000,000
members in over 8,000 Chapters.
In 1950,
the General Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern
Star, observed the One Hundredth Anniversary of the
Writing of the Ritual with appropriate ceremonies
held in Washington, D.C.
The International Eastern
Star Temple and the offices of the General Grand
Chapter are located in Washington, D.C. In the
Reception room of the International Eastern Star
Temple, over the mantel, hangs an oil painting of
this distinguished Master Builder of our Order. This
was a gift from the Grand Chapter of Kentucky and
was unveiled by his grand daughter, Miss Ella Morris
Mount, Past Grand Matron and Grand Secretary of
Kentucky.
Dr.
Morris spent a great part of his life in
Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. The last
twenty-six years were spent in LaGrange, Kentucky,
where his family was reared and educated. His home
is now the property of the Grand Chapter of Kentucky
and is maintained as a Shrine in honor of the Master
Builder of our Order.
The
"Little Red Brick School Building in Mississippi" is
owned by the Grand Chapter of Mississippi and is
maintained as a Shrine in honor of Dr. Morris'
writing of the Ritual in Mississippi.
On July 31, 1888, when the
news of his death was sent to all parts of the
world, profound grief was expressed at his passing
as his whole life had been devoted to the uplifting
of humanity. He was buried in the cemetery in La
Grange, Kentucky, where admiring friends from all
over the world have erected a tall marble shaft in
his memory. On one side of the shaft is the Square
and Compasses and on the other side is the Five
Pointed Star.
Dr.
Morris was generous, tender of heart and loving in
disposition. He was happiest when sharing with
others that which the Lord had bestowed upon him.
As the
stars which bedeck the canopy of heaven are the
beauty and glory of the night and light the pathway
of man on his journey through life, so may the
beautiful Star in the East, with all its
significance, ever remain the glory of the Order of
the Eastern Star and light the pathway of the
members in the fulfillment of their vows.
His Own Words:
"The
five Androgynous degrees ... are supposed to have
been introduced into this country by the French
officers who assisted our Government during the
struggle for liberty"....1852
"The
degree called the Eastern Star... is strictly my own
origination. By the aid of my papers, and the memory
of Mrs. Morris, I recall even the trivial
occurrences connected with the work- how I hesitated
for a theme, how I dallied over a name, how I
wrought face to face with the clock that I might
keep my drama within due limits of time, etc. The
name was first settled upon, The Eastern Star." 1852
First in
the array of Adoptive Degrees, highest in the ranks
of brilliant and impressive thought, comes the
Eastern Star, with its fixed points of Jepthah's
Daughter, Ruth, Esther, Martha, and Electa. Those
who have heard our lectures in different sections of
the United States are aware that we value it both
for what it has done and for its future promise. We
have personally communicated The Eastern Star to
more than three thousand ladies, the wives,
daughters, sisters, and widows of Master Masons. The
degree is never communicated as from man to man- to
impart it at all requires the consent and presence
of five or more ladies who must be, if unmarried, at
least 18 years of age. This degree is of French
extraction, and has all the embellishments of that
fanciful race. It is properly conferred in a regular
organization styled a Constellation, which in its
American form will be shortly placed before the
public- when generally adopted in our fraternity, as
we doubt not it will be, it will add greatly to the
practical importance of the degree." 1854
"My
first course of lectures was given in November,
1850, at Colliersville, Tennessee.... At
Colliersville, likewise, I conferred the degrees of
the Eastern Star and Good Samaritan. Both of these I
had received some years before, the latter by
Brother Stevens, the same who presided at my passing
and raising. The restrictions under which the
Eastern Star was communicated to me were 'that it
should only be given to Master Masons, their wives,
widows, sisters and daughters, and only when five or
more ladies of the classes named were present';
these rules I have always adhered to." 1862
"When I
was initiated into Masonry in 1846, I received my
Third Degree from Brother William H. Stevens,
afterward Grand Master of Mississippi. He was a
Mason of considerable ability, burning zeal, and a
warm advocate of Ladies' Masonry. In 1847, he
conferred upon Mrs. Morris and myself the Degree of
Heroine of Jericho; and from him I acquired my first
appetite for this whole system of Adoptive Masonry."
1873
"I wrote
every word of the original lectures and composed the
songs. For twenty-eight years I have been
communicating it as my own origination. I am the
founder of the system, and no one can show any proof
of its existence prior to 1849." 1877
"In the
winter of 1850 I was a resident of Jackson,
Mississippi. For some time previous I had
contemplated, as hinted above, the preparation of a
Ritual of Adoptive Masonry, the degrees then in
vogue appearing to me poorly conceived, weakly
wrought out, unimpressive, and particularly
defective in point of motive. I allude especially to
those degrees styled The Mason's Daughter, and the
Heroines of Jericho. But I do expressly except from
this criticism The Good Samaritan, which, in my
judgment, possesses dramatic elements and machinery
equal to those that are in the Templar's Order, the
High Priesthood, and the Cryptic Rite, and other
organizations of Thomas Smith Webb. I have always
recommended The Good Samaritan, and a thousand times
conferred it in various parts of the world.... About
the first week of February 1850, I was laid up for
two weeks with a sharp attack of rheumatism, and it
was this period, which I gave to the work at
hand.... The only piece of mechanism difficult to
fit into the construction was the cabalistic motto
known as *****; but this occurred to me in ample
time for use.... The theory of the whole subject is
succinctly stated in my Rosary of the Eastern Star,
published in 1865.... So my Ritual was complete, and
after touching and retouching the manuscript, as
professional authors love to do, I invited a
neighboring Mason and his wife to join with my own,
and to them, in my own parlor, communicated the
Degrees in 1850. They were the first recipients- the
first of twice fifty thousand who have seen the
signs, heard the words, exchanged the touch, and
joined in the music of the Eastern Star... In 1855,
I arranged the system of 'Constellations of the
Eastern Star' of which the Mosaic Book was the
index, and established more than one hundred of
those bodies.... Four years later I prepared an
easier plan styled 'Families of the Eastern Star'
intended, in its simplicity and the readiness by
which it could be worked, to avoid the complexity of
the 'Constellations.' This ran well until the war
broke out. This ended my work in systemizing the
Eastern Star, and I should never have done more with
it, save to confer it in an informal manner as at
first, but for Brother Robert Macoy of New York, who
in 1868, when I publicly announced my intentions of
confining my labors during the remainder of my life
to Holy Land Investigations, proposed the plan of
Eastern Star Chapters now in vogue. He had my full
consent and endorsement, and thus became the
instigator of a third and more successful system."
1884
"Robert
Macoy proposed the plan of Eastern Star Chapters now
in vogue."
What is Eastern Star?