It was a beautiful day as accounts noted. September 18, 1793, found President George Washington decked out in his ceremonial Masonic apron festooned with the universal Masonic square and compass symbols.
That day, in a Masonic ritual, the president laid the cornerstone to the U.S. Capitol along with a dedicatory silver plate.
In a mysterious turn of events sometime thereafter, the priceless plate and cornerstone disappeared. Eluded by investigators and searches and clouded by false claims of discovery throughout the decades, the issue remains a puzzlement. Further complicating the matter is bureaucratic incompetence and a cover-up by the office of the Architect of the Capitol.
The disappearance of the silver plate and cornerstone is but one of many mysteries surrounding Washington’s beloved Masonry. Perhaps long ago these artifacts were taken covertly by the Masons in order to protect them from people bent on destroying them and their legacy.
Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown’s next book will delve into the secrets of Masonry in the nation’s capital. But it is almost certain he is unaware of a recent and crucial discovery: A piece of the long-missing cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol has been found.
Covered in a veil of secrecy and abstruseness, the Masonic order is known as The Craft, The Brotherhood, Freemasonry but, most commonly, Masonry. A philanthropic fraternity, the organization has been dogged by rumors of devil worship and occult practices. Some around-the-bend conspiracy theorists have charged that Masons orchestrated the assassination of JFK, but even Oliver Stone did not go there.
Masonry is an organization whose origins are shrouded in mystery and ancient secrets. Their rituals and meetings were and are furtive, which led to a long-forgotten national scandal and alleged murder of an out-of-favor Mason, William Morgan, which just might have a direct bearing on the missing cornerstone.
The “Morgan Affair” as it became know exploded across American in the early 1800’s and drove Masonry deep into the shadows of American society.
It is not known when the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol was discovered missing. In fact, its precise and initial location continues to be the subject of some dispute to this day.
In spite of developing extensive cornerstone laying rituals the Masons had not in their earlier years included a regularization of precisely where to put a building’s cornerstone. In fact, it wasn’t until the 18th century that Masons would begin to perform their rituals in the northeast corner of a structure.
The hunt for the treasured cornerstone and silver plate became a national challenge. One of the first organized searches started with the 100 year anniversary of the US Capitol, but neither the stone nor the plate were found. Again an attempt was made in the 1950’s and again, nothing.
In 1985, yet another attempt to find the long lost cornerstone failed.
In 1991, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey were drafted in an effort to find the long-missing plate and cornerstone. But they failed. Once again neither was found even with the advantage of technology.
But two years later, in 1993, then-Capitol Architect, George M. White, felt the immense political pressures of the Capitol’s nearing bicentennial closing in on him.
Suddenly and remarkably, the Washington cornerstone was announced “found” in the face of all previous failed attempts. It was claimed to be composed of gray granite.
Miraculously…and suspiciously after missing for 200 years… the Washington cornerstone was “discovered” just weeks before the celebration of the U.S. Capitol’s 200-year anniversary, in which President Clinton participated.
Great detail was given to the description of the newly found cornerstone. Then-U.S. Capitol Historian, William Allen, pronounced to The Associated Press that the stone was, “well cut, its edges are square … it shows a promising level of finesse.” The Architect’s office also produced a lengthy report in October 1993 detailing the discovery of the long-lost stone.
Written at the time, “The Architect of the Capitol believes it is in fact the ‘missing’ stone,” in a book, The Search for the Capitol Cornerstone.
That was then when a stone was needed for the 200th anniversary.
Today, according to spokeswoman Kristen Wandell, the official position of the Architect’s office regarding the whereabouts of the appearing-disappearing-reappearing cornerstone is that it is missing … again.
Also, as photos of the 1993 stone are studied, Capitol Historian Allen’s description of a smooth and well-cut stone are demonstrably false. The photos are nothing like that described by Allen.
The Architect’s office also contradicted itself, at first describing the stone as gray granite, and then later saying it was “Meta-greywacke,” a type of metamorphic sandstone that is nothing close to the granite White claimed. Sandstone is to granite what a wheelbarrow is to a Formula One race car.
In every painting and drawing (and there are many) of President Washington laying the cornerstone, the stone portrayed was highly polished with sharp edges. Some representations show the year “1793” chiseled on one side.
Referring to the 1793 laying ceremony, David Ovason wrote in his book The Secret Architecture of Our Nation’s Capital, “The occasion has been recorded in many works of art…”
Not one painting or etching depicts an irregular and, yes, ugly cornerstone as the one photographed in 1993.All accounts of Washington’s ceremony clearly show a handsome gray stone, worthy of such a momentous event.
The day was filled with pomp, music, food, ceremonial corn, wine and oil brought by Washington’s fellow Masons.
It is hard to imagine Washington, who wrote often and fondly about Freemasonry, (“the beautiful path of initiation”) would have allowed the ceremony to go forth without a proper cornerstone. Washington was fussy about such things. He never appeared in public without being dressed in his finest uniform or formal outfit.
Washington and his peers did not know the U.S. Capitol would become one of the best-known buildings in the world, but they knew what they were doing was very important.
The ceremony began with a procession across the Potomac led by Washington. He then met up with other Masons in the District accompanied by bands playing music and crowds cheering. The parade marched onward and made its way up what was then known as Jenkins Hill, now known as “Capitol Hill.”
Once at the site, after several religious observances and speeches, Washington slowly descended into the enormous trench and placed an elaborately engraved silver plate on the ground. As the crowd watched, Washington gradually lowered the cornerstone onto the silver plate. The president then ascended to listen to a patriotic speech, which was punctuated by the firing of artillery.
The engraving on the plate noted the date, location and principal participant; “whose virtues on the civil administration of his country have been conspicuous and beneficial, as his military valor and prudence have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in the year of Masonry 1793, by the Grand Lodge of Maryland, several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge 22 from Alexandria, Virginia.”
More Masonic prayers and speeches were made and then the real partying started with beer, wine, rum and a barbecued, 500-pound ox. They went late into the night.
The silver plate was never seen again. The cornerstone itself was seen by a few workers after the ceremony. Then the construction of the Capitol commenced in earnest and the cornerstone was eventually forgotten.
Time moved on until the Capitol’s 1893 centennial drew near. But the cornerstone could not be found to mark the occasion. Then, decades later during the1950s, the Capitol underwent extensive work to create the new East Front Extension. The foundation of the original Capitol was completely exposed and government officials, once again, set about to find the missing original cornerstone and the silver plate. Once again, neither the cornerstone nor the plates were found.
With the whereabouts of the cornerstone now unknown again, the investigation moved forward to 2000.
That year, the Architect of the Capitol, Alan Hantman, backed away from his office’s earlier strong assertion, telling The Washington Post that the “dog turd” cornerstone in question now was only, “our best guess.”
Mr. Hantman, as well as Mr. Allen, declined to be interviewed for this article despite repeated requests. A spokeswoman, Ms. Eva Malecki, acidulously stonewalled all requests to speak to either of them about the obvious contradictions and the ongoing effort to obscure the questions about the existence of the stone.
After all, the first rule of the bureaucracy is to protect the bureaucracy.
Finally, after being pressured by the office of Congressman Scott Garrett, in the summer of 2006, Hantman’s office reluctantly agreed to cooperate with an investigation to determine once and for all where the stone was … or was not.
Accompanied by Rachel Houston of Garrett’s office and Ms. Wandell, we visited several sites including an unremarkable hallway deep in the bowels of what was part of the original U.S. Capitol.
This is the location of the rush-to-judgment cornerstone of 1993. But there is no plaque, exhibit or commemoration at the site. The site is pathetically and deliberately ignored as evidenced by the worn and bolted-down piece of plywood unceremoniously covering the excavation hole. The Architect was unwilling to pull back the plywood for further inspection.
Clearly embarrassed about the false pronouncements of their 1993 “finding,” it seems U.S. Capitol officials would like the entire matter to simply fade away. Bureaucratic bungling strikes again.
Congressman Garrett has since sent a follow-up letter to the Architect’s office requesting the site be opened for inspection. The AOC has not responded according to Garrett’s Chief of Staff, Michelle Presson. That request was made in the summer of 2006.
In another location, on the Senate side of the Capitol, a plaque that was placed in 1893 to commemorate the building’s centennial claims it is the site of the original cornerstone. But the Senate has long prohibited excavation of the area to determine if this claim is factual.
This location is dubious at best because accounts of the 1793 laying ceremony clearly indicate the southeast corner, the “House side” of the U.S. Capitol, where the original and only cornerstone was placed by Washington.
So the mystery remains, abetted by bureaucratic bungling and obstruction. But the disappearance and suspected murder of William Morgan in 1826 may shed light on strange happenings surrounding the missing stone.
William Morgan, a New Yorker by way of Virginia and Canada, was a ne’er-do-well by every account and finally, at 45, married the 16-year-old daughter of a minister.
Morgan, a Mason with disputed credentials himself, unsuccessfully petitioned to create his own lodge of Royal Arch Masons (part of the York Rite of Masonry). After being turned down, Morgan in a fit of pique threatened to reveal the secrets of Masonry, and he even securing a roman a clef book contract.
According to author William Preston Vaughn, “The question of Morgan’s Masonic membership has fascinated fraternal historians for generations, but exhaustive research … in the various areas where Morgan lived has failed to unearth any evidence of his ever having taken any … Masonic degrees. Lodge record keeping in those days was casual by today’s standards, and it is conceivable that in the anti-Masonic hysteria that followed Morgan’s death, the minutes of the meeting during which he received these degrees might have been destroyed by embarrassed lodge officials.”
But before Morgan could cash in with his “tell all” book he was abducted one night. The allegation was he was put forcibly into a boat, his body was weighted down and he was pushed overboard to drown in Lake Ontario. The inquest determined that Morgan had indeed been kidnapped.
Yet no one was ever charged in the crime despite eyewitness testimony. Most of the investigating officials were Masons. The sheriff, the judge and most of the jury conducting the investigations also were Masons. It looked to all like the Masons had let one of their own get away with murder.
The public outcry across America was fierce and immediate. Citizen “Morgan Committees” sprung up, attacked the Masons and set fire to their lodges. Editorialists and preachers denounced the retreating Masons and membership shriveled.
Two-thirds in New York alone left the organization. Lodges were shuttered and the Masons went underground as Morgan Committees evolved into the Anti-Masonic Party which won quickly gubernatorial and state as well as congressional elections in several states.
This Anti-Masonic Party sought to purge the American government and culture of all things Masonic. Many believed “America could be saved only by driving Masons out of church and office—and eventually destroying the lodges themselves,” wrote Steven C. Bullock in Revolutionary Brotherhood.
Masons went into hiding. The few closed lodges that were not burned to the ground altered their records to protect their remaining members. They maintained low profiles as many of their most prominent members renounced their ties to Masonry.
After the anti-Masonic fires had been banked, forsaken and forlorn, the once power elite of the Founding Fathers slowly began a public relations campaign to repair their image. Continued... |