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Many years after the civil war had
ended, a son of brother L.J.Williams of Downville Lodge
No.464, New York reported in Lodge of a story his father
had told him of an Masonic experience he had during
the war.
When the war broke out the entered
apprentice arid the Fellowcraft degrees had been conferred
on him in New York. He went out in defense of his country
without having been raised to the degree of Master Mason.
It was-his misfortune te be taken a prisoner of war
while at or near Savannah, Georgia.
While he lay in the southern prison
he communicated through letters with some of his friends
in the north. His, lodge in New,York, through proper
officials, got in touch with Serubbabellodgein savannah
and made the request that the, savannah lodge, as a
favour to the brethren of the north, confer the Master
Masons degree on the Fellowcraft brother, I..J.Williams.
One night my father was taken -from
his prison cell and conducted to the savannah Lodge
room. It was a remarkable occasion. He wore his Bedraggled
blue uniform, a token of his sympathy with the cause
of the north. All of the chairs were occupied by confederate
officers. He was surrounded by men who wore the gray.
They were on opposite sides ofa struggle to the death,
but they were brethren. Then and therehe was raised
a Mastttr mason and acclaimed a friend and brother by
his enemies.
But the more significant feature of
the story was yet to follow. For on the same night my
father escaped from his prison and joined his companions
of the north. I have visited Savahnah since then and
looked up the record of his raising. In red ink, on
the same page that records the fact that the degree
was there conferred, is the brief annotation: "on
this night Brother Williams escaped from prison."
I have talked with my father about
the matter a number of times. When asked about his 'escape'
he always smiles peculiarly. You may put it down as
an escape, he told me, but it wasn't an escape, strictly
speaking. For on that night some men came to my prison.
They put me in a boat and carried me off some distance.
Then they deposited me on some neutral soil between
the lines. From there I found my way back to my friends.
Who my rescuers were, I have never
learned. It is their own secret, and it had never been
disclosed. But in my mind I know exactly to whom I may
attribute the 'escape' in question. His name is Hiram.
- Courtesy Lodge Indus No.284
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