Early Masonic Lecture Cloth ca 1806

This is a Masonic Lecture Cloth dating from 1806.  It is about two feet square.   It is much larger than it looks in the above photo.   There are nearly fifty Royal Arch and  Masonic Symbols spread across the cloth.  It has four verses of a Masonic Song written across the top, and four verses of another song across the bottom.  Unfortunately it is torn in the center, near where there is the letter "G" being suspended from the arch.  The images look like they were engraved on a metal plate and then multiple copies of this lecture cloth were made.

The original owner was Francis Tabb, daughter of John Langhorne and Nancy Anderson Tabb.  Francis Tabb was born in 1785 in Virginia, she married Luke Terhune in Mason County, Kentucky on June 19, 1804, and died in 1873, and is buried in Mason County, Kentucky.  She "found" this item about 1806.  This "Masonic Cloth" was passed down through four generations.  Frances Tabb Terhune gave the "Masonic Cloth" to her daughter, Jane Madden, who in turn gave it to her daughter, Francis Boston, who gave it to her son, John Hobday Boston. 

John Hobday Boston, was a resident of Nicholasville, Kentucky for over fifty years.  He was a Master Mason and served as Master of Hart Lodge, No. 61, F. & A. M., in Nicholasville, Kentucky for the years, 1933, 1934 and 1938.  He was extremely active in the Nicholasville Christian Church.  He owned real estate in Nicholasville, and was a shoe repairman.  He is known for repairing indigent childrens' shoes free of charge.  He died in 1971 in Nicholasville at the age of 85.  When he passed away, he left all of his household possessions and personal effects, including his Masonic Apron and the old "Masonic cloth" to Mrs. Berniece Vincent Foster, widow of Patrick Doland Foster, a past Master of Hart Lodge.   These items were retained by the Foster family until 2008, when they were given to Glen Teater, Historian of Hart Lodge, by Mrs. Foster's son, Rev. Terry Foster, the minister that had preached the funeral of Mr. Boston in 1971.
 

The pictures and history of this wonderful little Lecture cloth were submitted by Brother Glen Teater, the historian for Hart Lodge No. 61 "In Memory" of Brother John Hobday Boston.

 

              

               

Museum Home Page     Phoenixmasonry Home Page

Copyrighted © 1999 - 2019   Phoenixmasonry, Inc.      The Fine Print