T:.T:.G:.O:.T:.G:.A:.T:.U:. 

Dear Brethren,

A few days ago marked the 225th anniversary of the formation of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of New Jersey. On January 30, 1787 thirty eight Master Masons met at White Hall Tavern in New Brunswick, NJ to officially open Grand Lodge and install its first set of officers who are detailed below:

RW David Brearley - Grand Master
Honorable Robert L. Hooper - Deputy Grand Master
William Leddell - Senior Grand Warden
Daniel Marsh - Junior Grand Warden
John N. Cumming - Grand Secretary
Maskell Ewing - Deputy Grand Secretary
Joshua Corshon - Grand Treasurer

It is amazing to consider that these brethren were able to dedicate a significant portion of their time to organize and establish a Grand Lodge given the variety and depth of needs during this period of American history for nation building. Throughout 2012, we will have a series of messages in the Atlas Pythagoras trestle board commemorating the achievements of our Grand Lodge which will be comprised in a paper called New Jersey Freemasonry: "Our Founding Fathers". Our own 1st Grand Master RW David Brearley himself was a remarkable man and Freemason. He served as the First Grand Master for the years 1787-1790. He was born on June 11, 1745 near Lawrenceville, NJ and was a lawyer by profession. During the War for Independence, he was commissioned a Captain, 2nd Regt, for the NJ Continental line in 1775 and eventually was promoted to the rank of Colonel. After the war, he was elected Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1779. In 1789 he was appointed First Judge of the United States District Court in New Jersey, by then President and Brother George Washington. He was also one elected as a delegate to the First Constitutional Convention held at Philadelphia in July 1787. Brother Brearley was very active in the Episcopal Church and was a member and Elder of St Mary' Episcopal Church in Trenton, NJ where he was buried. While active in the church he was sent as a delegate to the convention held in Philadelphia, which set forth and ratified The Book of Common Prayer for the Episcopal Church in America, in 1789. His lodge affiliation was not known, and it is presumed he was initiated into Military Lodge No. 19 A.Y.M. of Pennsylvania sometime between 1776 and 1778.  While heavily researched, it is not known if he was ever affiliated with a lodge in NJ, and never held the chair of Worshipful Master. In point of fact, he did not attend the organizational meeting held on December 18, 1786 that met to consider the formation of the NJ Grand Lodge, nor did he sign the document which founded the Grand Lodge of New Jersey. He died August 16, 1790 in Trenton, at the age of 45. The Grand Lodge of New Jersey honored his memory as the First Grand Master of Masons, by installation of a large granite grave stone over his grave in 1924. The main building of the Masonic Home was also named in his honor, and a Lodge was formed and named after him-- Brearley Lodge No. 9 (now number No. 2) of Bridgeton, New Jersey in 1791. In case you are wondering why he is titled as a RW and not MW, it is because that nomenclature did not come into use until the term of New Jersey’s sixth Grand Master in 1807, MW Aaron Dickinson Woodruff.

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Moises I. Gomez
Worshipful Master