Nathaniel Hyatt's Mark Medal--New to the Collection

As regular readers of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library blog know, we love to talk about new acquisitions.  Recently we were lucky to add another intriguing mark medal to our collection, this one likely made for Nathaniel Hyatt (1781-1873) of New Castle, New York.  You can read previous posts discussing mark medals crafted for Frederick Phile, Ezra Bennet and Ezekiel Bascom.   

Hyatt’s medal is a plain circle, about two inches in diameter.  A hole punched in a sturdy tab at the top of the medal likely accommodated a loose ring so the silver disk could be suspended from a ribbon.  On both sides of the medal, simple engraved patterns decorate the outer edge.  On one side, pictured to the left, the mnemonic HTWSSTKS, engraved in script letters, surrounds Hyatt’s personally selected mark, a square and compasses on top of an open Bible.  The other side of the disk, illustrated below at right, bears Hyatt’s name, the name of a Masonic lodge--Armour’s Lodge No. 100--and a sun with a face enclosed by a delta.

Information about Armour’s Lodge No. 100 or any mark lodge associated with it, is scarce.  Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of New York, note that Armour Lodge, located in Rye, New York, received a warrant in 1803.  Members named their organization after one of the petitioners, Samuel Armour (dates unknown).  The lodge made its last return to the Grand Lodge in 1827.  In that same year, a New York City directory listed Armour Lodge as meeting in Sawpits, a village of Rye.  By 1834 the lodge had forfeited its charter.  (Later New York Masons revived the name for a lodge in Port Chester, Armour Lodge No. 186, founded in 1850.)  Proceedings of the Grand Chapter of New York record that in 1818 members of the Armour Lodge submitted a “…petition for Armour Mark Lodge, No. 100, [which] was not proper either in form, address or recommendation, and should be returned.”  From the proceedings, it does not seem that the petition was re-submitted. Although the records in the Grand Chapter Proceedings are not clear,  Hyatt’s medal, bearing the name of the lodge, suggests Armour Lodge members eventually established a mark lodge.

The 1830 census lists a Nathaniel Hyatt as a resident of Rye, New York, with a family of seven children. This man likely owned the medal and is quite possibly the man listed in an online resource, Craft Masonry in Westchester and Putnam Counties, New York, as a member of Hiram Lodge No. 72 in Mount Pleasant, New York, along with his father, Abraham Hyatt (1747-1830).  Abraham Hyatt signed the original petition for the lodge in 1796.  Nathaniel Hyatt (son of Abraham) and his wife, Amy Van Wart Carpenter Hyatt (ca. 1786-1848) were Quakers who married and worshiped in Chappaqua, New York.  Both born in New Castle, New York; they had at least nine children. 

Hopefully, further research will add to our understanding of the commissioner of this medal, his Masonic participation and the lodges he belonged to.  In the meantime, Hyatt’s handsome silver token offers enduring evidence of Armour Lodge No. 100 and one of its members. 

Photo credits:

Mark Medal, 1803-1827. Probably New York, Museum Purchase, 2013.054.2. Photos by David Bohl.

References:

Compiled by Gary L. Heinmiller, Craft Masonry in Westchester and Putnam Counties, New York.  (Onondaga & Oswego Masonic Districts Historical Societies, May 2011).

Harold W. Jack, Mark Lodges of New England.  (Boston, Massachusetts:  The Massachusetts Chapter of Research, 1976).

Proceedings of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the State of New York, Volume 1. 1798-1853. (Buffalo, New York:  Grand Chapter, 1871).

Transactions of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York, 1816-1827.  (New York: Masonic Publishing and Furnishing Co., 1880).