Painted Ambitions: The Masonic Murals in the Elisha Gilbert House
Issue: Vol 6 No. 2 (2015)
Journal: Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism
Subject Areas: Religious Studies
DOI: 10.1558/jrff.27087
Abstract:
This article investigates the masonic murals in the Elisha Gilbert House in New Lebanon, NY, looking into the circumstances of their creation, and their relationship to the role that freemasonry played in the region. The murals are found to be similar to those in the Calvin Hall Tavern in Cheshire, MA, and posits dating and a potential artist for both cycles, and investigates their relationship to the standardization of early American printed masonic iconography.
Author: Margaret Goehring
References :
Letters of Daniel Bartling, Buckmaster-Curran Family papers, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.
Boston Price Current (Boston, MA)
Chatham Courier (Chatham Four Corners, New York)
Connecticut Herald (New Haven, CT)
The Federal Gazette & Daily Advertiser (Boston, MA)
Federal Gazette and Baltimore Daily Advertiser (Baltimore, MD)
Masonic Standard (New York)
Niles Weekly Register (Baltimore, MD)
Northern Whig (Hudson, New York)
Norwich Courier (Norwich, CT)
Oracle of the Day (Portsmouth, NH)
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)
Providence Gazette Providence, RI)
The Rising Sun (Keene, NH)
Salem Gazette (Salem, MA)
Ulster Plebian (Kingston, New York)
Abstract of the Proceedings of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of New York and the Grand Stewards Lodge from August 28th to June 8th, 5834, inclusive. New York: Wm. A. Mercein, 1834.
Abstract of the Proceedings of St. John’s Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York; from November 1st, A.L. 5837, to the present date inclusive. New York: Theodore C. Baldwin, 1839.
Allyn, Avery. A Ritual of Freemasonry. New York: William Gowans, 1853.
Bernard, Elder David. Light on Masonry: A Collection of all the Most Important Documents on the Subject of Speculative Free Masonry…. Utica, NY: William Williams, 1829.
Bowman, Morris Gidley. ‘History of Unity Lodge 1788 to 1938 printed on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of Unity Lodge No. 9’. New Lebanon: 1938.
Brooke, John L. Columbia Rising: Civil Life on the Upper Hudson from the Revolution to the Age of Jackson. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2010. https://doi.org/10.5149/9780807838877_Brooke
Brown, Ann Eckert. American Wall Stenciling, 1790-1840. Hanover, NE: University Press of New England, 2003.
Brown, Richard D. ‘The Emergence of Urban Society in Rural Massachusetts, 1760-1820’, The Journal of American History 61.1 (June 1974): 29-51. https://doi.org/10.2307/1918252
Bullamore, George W. ‘The Beehive’, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum 36 (1923): 219–33.
Bullock, Steven C. ‘The Revolutionary Transformation of American Freemasonry, 1752-1792’, The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, 47.3 (July 1990): 347–69.
—Revolutionary Brotherhood: Freemasonry and the Transformation of the American Social Order 1730-1840. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.
—’Publishing Masonry: Print and the Early American Fraternity’, Freemasonry, Anti-Masonry and Illuminism in the United States, 1734-1850: A Bibliography, I. Worcester: American Antiquarian Society, 2003, lxi-lxxxi.
Burgess, Richard B., et al. A Sublime Brotherhood: Two Hundred Years of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. Lexington, MA: Supreme Council, 33°, 2013.
Cross, Jeremy. True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor. New Haven, CT: Flagg & Gray, 1819.
—The True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor… 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: John Gray, 1820.
—True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor, 3rd ed. New Haven, CT: Amos Doolittle, 1824.
Curran, Nathaniel B. ‘Anna Durkee Tauzin Young, 1753-1839: Connecticut Lady, Illinois Pioneer’, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (Summer 1984), 94–100.
Early History and Transactions of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York 1781-1815. New York: Masonic and Miscellaneous Publishers, 1876.
Extracts from the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of New-York at the Emergent Meetings on the 5th and 6th and at the Quarterly Meeting on the 7th of December, A.L. 5836 and at the Quarterly Meeting on the 1st of the March, A.L. 5837. New York: J.M. Marsh, 1837.
Extracts from the Proceedings of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of New York and of the Grand Steward’s Lodge from August 26, 5835 to Sept. 1st, 5836 Inclusive. New York: J.M. Marsh, 1836.
Extracts from the Proceedings of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of New York from the 7th of March to the 8th of June, A.L. 5838…. New York: J. M. Marsh, 1838.
Glassie, Henry. ‘Meaningful Things and Appropriate Myths: The Artifact’s Place in American Studies’, Prospects 3 (1978): 1–49. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0361233300002544
Hamilton, John D. Material Culture of American Freemasons. Lexington, MA: Museum of Our National Heritage, 1994.
Hardie, James. The New Free-Mason’s Monitor; or Masonic Guide. New York: George Long, 1818.
Holbrook, Moses, ‘notebook of Moses Holbrook (1783-1844)’ (excerpt) in Collectanea 7, no.1 (1958): 45–48.
Jachin and Boaz; or, An Authentic Key to the Door of Free-Masonry, Ancient and Modern. Albany, NY: Charles R. & George 1797.
Jachin and Boaz; or, An Authentic Key to the Door of Free-Masonry, Ancient and Modern. Poughkeepsie, NY, 1811.
Jachin and Boaz; or, An Authentic Key to the Door of Free-Masonry, Ancient and Modern. Lancaster, PA: Joseph Ehrenfried, 1812.
Jachin and Boaz; or, An Authentic Key to the Door of Free-Masonry, Ancient and Modern. New York: 1814.
Jaffee, David, ‘The Village Enlightenment in New England, 1760-1820’, The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, 47.3 (July 1990): 327–46.
— ‘The Peddlers of Progress and the Transformation of the Rural North, 1760-1860’, Journal of American History, 78.2 (September 1991), 511–35. https://doi.org/10.2307/2079532
—New Nation of Goods: The Material Culture of Early America. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.
Kuhlke, Olaf, Geographies of Freemasonry: Ritual, Lodge, and City in Spatial Context. Edwin Mellen Press, 2008.
Lang, Ossian. History of Freemasonry in the State of New York. New York: Grand Lodge of New York, 1922.
Lipman, Jean. ‘An Early Masonic Meeting Place’, Magazine Antiques (May, 1949), 355–57.
Little, Nina Fletcher. American Decorative Wall Painting 1700-1850. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1989.
Lockwood, Revd John, et al., Western Massachusetts: A History 1636-1925, 4 vols. New York & Chicago: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1926.
Mackey, Albert. A Lexicon of Freemasonry. Philadelphia, PA: Moss, Brother & Co., 1858 (New and Improved Edition).
One of the Gilbert Family of New England: ancestry of Sarah Rebecca (Gilbert) Bloss, (wife of John B. Bloss, of Washington, D.C.), Eighth descent from Jonathan Gilbert of Hartford, Conn.. Washington D.C.: Judd & Detweller, 1902.
Moore, William. ‘American Masonic Ritual Paintings’, Folk Art 24.4 (1999/2000), 58–65.
—Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2006.
Quarterly Communications of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Boston, MA)(13 September 1922).
Proceedings of the Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons of the State of New York, from its Organization in 1798 to 1867, inclusive, vol. 1 (1798–1853). Buffalo, NY: Order of the Grand Chapter, 1871.
Proceedings of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Massachusetts from its Organization 1798-1860. Worcester: Press of Comps. Tyler & Seagrave, 1876.
Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts…1792-1815. Cambridge, MA: Press of Caustic-Claflin Company, 1905.
Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the years 1815 to 1825 Inclusive. Boston, MA: Caustic-Claflin Co, n.d.
Proceedings of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of New York…From the 12th of July, A. L. 5837 to the 6th of September, A.L. 5837. New York: J.M. Marsh, 1837.
Raynor, Ellen M., and Emma L. Petitclerc, History of the Town of Cheshire, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Holyoke/New York City: Clark W. Bryan & Co., 1885.
Records Relating to the Early History of Boston Containing Boston Marriages from 1752 to 1809. Boston, MA: Municipal Printing Office, 1903.
Reprint of the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, vol 5 (1822–827). Philadelphia, PA: Grand Lodge, 1900.
Ross, Peter. A Standard History of Freemasonry in the State of New York. NY & Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1899.
Schultz, Edward T. History of Freemasonry in Maryland. Baltimore, MD: J. H. Mediary & Co, 1885.
Scottish Rite Masonic Museum of Our National Heritage. Bespangled, Painted & Embroidered: Decorated Masonic Aprons in America, 1790-1850. Lexington, MA: Scottish Rite Masonic Museum, 1980.
Scottish Rite Masonic Museum of Our National Heritage. Masonic Symbols in American Decorative Arts. Lexington, MA: Scottish Rite Masonic Museum, 1976.
Smith, Henry Perry. Columbia County at the End of the Century, vol. 2. Hudson, NY: The Record Printing and Publishing Co.,1900.
Transactions of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York 1816–1827. New York: Masonic Publishing and Furnishing Co., 1880.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of New York at the Annual Communication on the 5th, 6th and 7th of June, A.L. 5839…. New York: J. M. Marsh, 1839.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of New York at the Annual Communication on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of June, A.L. 5840…. New York: J. M. Marsh, 1840.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from the 2nd day of Sept. A.L. 5840, to the 2d day of March, A.L. 5841. New York: Joseph M. Marsh, 1841.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from the 1st day of Dec A.L. 5841, to the 4th day of June, A.L. 5842. New York: Joseph M. Marsh, 1842.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from the 7th of Sept A.L. 5842 to the 10th June, A.L. 5843…. New York: Joseph M. Marsh, 1843.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from Nov. 29, A.L. 5843 to May 29, A.L. 5844. New York: Joseph M. Marsh, 1844.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from the 4th of Sept, 1844 to the 6th of June 1845. New York: Joseph M. Marsh, 1845.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from the 3th of Sept 5845 to the 5th of June 5846. New York: Joseph M. Marsh, 1846.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from the 1st of Sept 5846 to the 3rd of June 5847. New York: Joseph M. Marsh, 1847.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of nNew York from the 1st of Sept 5847 to the 9th of June 5848. New York: Joseph M. Marsh, 1848.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from March 6th, A.L. 5849 to June 11th, A.L. 5849. New York: Bro. Narine, 1849.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from September 4th A.L. 5849 to June 8th, A.L. 5850. New York: Bro. Narine, 1850.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from October 18th, A.L. 5850 to June 3d, A.L. 5851. New York: Bro. James Narine, 1851.
Transactions of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York from June 30th, A.L. 5851 to June 5th, A.L. 5852. New York: Bro. Narine, 5852.
Two Hundred Years of Lebanon Valley Cookery. Lebanon Springs: The Ladies’ Guild, Church of Our Savior, 1953.
Waring, Janet. Early American Stencils on Walls and Furniture. New York: Dover, 1968.
Webb, Thomas Smith. Freemason’s Monitor or Illustrations of Freemasonry. Boston, MA: 1797.
—The Freemason’s Monitor; or Illustrations of Masonry: in Two Parts. Salem: Cushing & Appleton, 1818.