Rev. Dr. William A. Shanklin

SHANKLIN, LAMBERT, EATON, GULLBERT, PARVIS, HENDERSON

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 8/22/2008 at 00:29:05

Daily Dubuque Herald
December 5, 1899

Honor for Dr. Shanklin
St. Luke’s Eminent Pastor Installed in High Position in Masonry
Is Grand Chaplain of Iowa Order.
Installation at Masonic Temple Last Night a
Brilliant Event Attended With Much Ceremony.

Last evening was one of great interest to the Masons of Dubuque. Metropolitan Lodge held a special communication for the purpose of enabling the grand officers to install Rev. Dr. Shanklin as Grand Chaplin of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. Previous to the installation the sublime degree was conferred upon a candidate. This was followed by the installation services with the Lodge opened as a Grand Lodge under the direction of the Most Worshipful Grand Master, Hon. Thomas Lambert. The lodge room was filled to the utmost capacity. Many brethren were present from the lodges at Guttenberg, Farley and Dyersville, and the whole work of the lodge room was of a most interesting character.

At the close of the secret work of the lodge adjournment was had to the banquet rooms, where covers were laid for 200. When those present had satisfied the cravings of the inner man cigars were passed around and Worshipful Master Walton arose, facetiously remarking that the cigars were inexpensive ones but that they “made lots of smoke.”

He also stated that he hoped none would be “perforated” with smoke as a brother put it on a former occasion. Most Worshipful Grand Master, Thos. Lambert, was then introduced and occupied the attention of those present on the toast, “Why We Are Masons,” The Worshipful Master’s address was a good one in which he told in a concise and interesting manner what mainly induced a man to become a mason. The reasons as advanced by the speaker why one becomes a mason might be epitomized by stating that one is bettered socially, morally and politically. At the conclusion of this address the Worshipful Master read a telegram from Past Grand Warden, W. L. Eaton, of Osage, stating that he had missed the train and conveying his regrets.

Past Grand Master, E. A. Gullbert, was on the program for an address, but was unable to be present on account of sickness.

Grand Secretary T. S. Parvis, of Cedar Rapids, was introduced and responded to the toast, “Masonry and religion in their relation to each other, to their votaries and to the public.” Mr. Parvis is the oldest Mason in Iowa and holds the unique honor of being the founder of the only Masonic library in the world. His address was very entertaining and was listened to with the closest attention. He stated that there was a misconception in the popular mind as to Masonry being a religion. He declared that Masonry is a religion but is not the religion. It doesn’t antagonize the Christian religion, but works in harmony with it. It is the handmaid of religion. Many anecdotes some of them humorous, were interspersed throughout the discourse to show that there is no antagonism existing between the Christian religion and Masonry. The difference between the two, the speaker declared, was that the one was a divine institution and the other was the origin of human integrity.

Masonry, said the speaker, is the most and only really cosmopolitan institution in the world. While it requires from its members a belief in a Supreme Being still it numbers among its members thousands of Hindus and Mohammedans, whose god is not the God of the Christians. The speaker felicitated the Masons of Iowa on the fact that the representative branch of the American congress has chosen for its speaker, Col. D. B. Henderson, a Mason, “one who has knelt at the same altar with you.”

At the conclusion of the Grand Secretary’s address Rev. Wm. Arnold Shanklin in a scholarly address thanked the Iowa Grand Lodge for the honor it had conferred upon him.

The event will long be remembered by those present, both on account of its impressiveness of the ceremony and because of the session of feasting, speech making and good fellowship which followed.