Letter from Giles F. Yates to John James Joseph Gourgas, 1827 June 25

Letter from Giles F. Yates to John James Joseph Gourgas, 1827 June 25

Letter from Giles F. Yates to John James Joseph Gourgas. Dated June 25, 1827. In this letter, Yates, a member of the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, and Sovereign of Sovereigns of the Albany Sovereign Consistory, apologizes to Gourgas for his late reply. He cannot send his official reply until answers from “two sublime brethren” have been received. Yates will send the official correspondence through James M. Allen, M.D., a postmaster and fellow Mason. Yates includes with this letter some of his Masonic writings, so that the two men can become better acquainted. Topics include Yates’ opinion of Masonic publications, the impact of Webb’s Illustrations of Masonry in “prompting uniformity of works in the blue & red” degrees, and the possibility of publishing a book on “Sublime Freemasonry to assist the Brethren and promote” the uniformity of the Scottish Rite degree system. Yates laments to Gourgas that the rules of Sublime Freemasonry do “not accord with the genius + spirit of the Republican institutions of this country” and may affect the Albany Consistory’s decision to submit to the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.

Collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Lexington, Massachusetts. SC 300.002

1827 06 25

This image is presented for research and educational purposes only, and may not be distributed or republished without permission from the Scottish Rite Mason Museum & Library.

English

A2019/178/0072b

Records and correspondence of the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. See the Museum Archives for more information regarding this collection.

1 item (4 pages) ; 25 x 20 cm.

Gift of the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite