Ritual , Secrecy , and Civil Society
a member of that lodge in 1774 . 3 This highly suggests that de Grasse-Tilly was a member of that lodge , given it was the only lodge extant in the city at that time where he resided and was regularly constituted by the Grand Orient of France .
The Minute Book of La Candeur . 1796 – 1798
The minute book of La Candeur
is preserved in an English typescript form and is held in the archives of the House of the Temple . It is a translation of the original minute book done in the late 1940s or early 1950s and the original was owned by Calvin Owens 33 ° 4 as indicated in a note at the end of the text . The original minute book , however , has yet to be located at present .
It covers the first years of the lodge from its founding on July 24 , 1796 and abruptly ends on February 4 , 1798 . It uses a dating code with the Masonic year beginning in November , and therefore all dates recorded in the minute book need two months added to them to yield the actual date , after subtracting 4000 years from the biblical creation to arrive at the actual year . The lodge met very often and was constantly in a state of expansion , as displaced French speaking brethren affiliated with the lodge . It answers many of our questions and more specifically how the lodge was chartered . Just like Etienne Morin , Delahogue had a travelling lodge charter from the second Grand Lodge of France . At the first meeting of the lodge , the brethren presented their patents and sought the means to charter it .
At that moment , a diploma of the Grand lodge of France under the distinct title of La Constance in the Orient of Paris , on January 9 , 1765 , of the Vulgar Era has been presented by the dear brother Delahogue , which gives him the special power of constituting now and forever a symbolic lodge under the unique title of La Candeur , be it in Paris or in such other place where it will please him to settle , to form , rule and govern the said lodge which then denies affiliation to the St . John ’ s lodge La Constance as well as all those founded by it in the future , which obviates the embarrassment in which the brethren now find themselves forming a legally constituted lodge and offering them the use of the power which is invested in it . 5
3 “ Degosse-Deloustele .” Gallica . Accessed October 2 , 2019 . https :// gallica . bnf . fr / ark :/ 12148 / btv1b 100003017 / f106 . image .
4 Calvin H . Owens 33 °. August 9 , 1879 to October 9 , 1959 . Member of Etiwan Lodge No . 95 , chartered November 17 , 1859 . Located in the 2 nd District in Mt . Pleasant , South Carolina . Entered Apprentice November 3 , 1917 . Fellow Craft November 11 , 1917 . Master Mason December 3 , 1917 . Served as Worshipful Master in 1933 . Many thanks to the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of South Carolina , Free and Accepted Masons , and for the kind assistance from Most Worshipful & Illustrious Gerald L . Carver , Past Grand Master , and Grand Secretary .
5 July 25 , 1796 . Minute book of La Candeur transcript . Archives of the Supreme Council , Southern Jurisdiction .
18