King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter (MA) Mark Book

Conservation of Masonic Treasures: Saving the Mark Book

A92_001_1Thwing_cropped The King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter mark book (1825-1838) is a key Masonic treasure for both exhibition and research at the National Heritage Museum.  Because of renewed interest and fresh research related to this particular manuscript volume (as seen in three previous blog posts by National Heritage Museum staff members), the Library and Archives decided to explore the possibilities of having conservation work done on this object. The mark book contains the "marks" of men who received the Mark Master Mason degree in King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter in Greenwich, Massachusetts. The book is nearly two hundred years old and it shows its age: the book's binding is detached and the beautiful pages with watercolored Masonic "marks" are coming loose. I contacted Northeast Document Conservation Center and spoke with Deb Wender, Director of Book Conservation. We spoke about the mark book and what type of repair it needed.  We then sent the item to NEDCC via US Art, a company that transports fine art, so that the NEDCC staff could physically evaluate the object and provide us with cost estimates for different conservation treatments.

Soon thereafter, I received a treatment proposal from Mary Patrick Bogan, Senior Book Conservator at NEDCC.  This treatment proposal first described the condition of the piece upon receipt.  Bogan described the bound manuscript as worn and deteriorated.  The paper and leather were detached from the frontboard and backboard.  The binding was nearly detached.  The watercolored pages were dirty, discolored, acidic, and stained. She described the paper as flexible, however some of the pages had small tears and were cockled along the edges. 

The second part of the treatment proposal contains the recommended conservation treatment. Bogan describes step by step how repair will proceed.  NEDCC always provides both a written record of treatment plus before and after conservation photographs. The pages of the mark book would be collated where necessary, vacuumed, and surface cleaned to remove loose dirt.  Then the item would be disbound, removing the sewing and separating the sections.  Stains along the folds of the pages would be treated using moisture.  The blank pages at the end of the item would be washed in water to clean and reduce acidity.  The pages with watercolors would be alkalized by immersion in a calcium hydroxide bath to protect the paper from formation of acid in the future.  Small tears in the pages would be repaired with Japanese paper and wheat starch paste.  The text would then be reassembed and pressed to flatten.  Linen thread would be used to sew the pages into sections. A92_001_1T1Tabbot_cropped

Bogan gave me two options for the binding of the mark book. First she proposed to bind the manuscript in cloth using a case structure.  The second option would be to repair the existing binding by rebacking the piece with airplane linen and Japanese paper and constructing a custom-made storage box for it.

After further discussions with Bogan, we decided to move forward with the recommended treatment of the piece. We chose the second option for rebinding the manuscript because this will preserve the mark book's artifactual value as well as the inner informational value.

The mark book will likely be at NEDCC for six to eight months.  However, after the conservation work is complete and item returned, we will have a Masonic treasure that is more physically stable, has a longer life, and has its future ensured at the museum!

Captions for this post: 

Right: Mark of William K. Talbot, King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter Mark Book, 1825-1838, Martha S. Harding (1813-1841), New Salem, Massachusetts, Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives, National Heritage Museum, Museum purchase, A92/001/1, photograph by David Bohl.

Left: Mark of Thomas Thwing, King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter Mark Book, 1825-1838, Martha S. Harding (1813-1841), New Salem, Massachusetts, Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives, National Heritage Museum, Museum purchase, A92/001/1, photograph by David Bohl.


New to the Collection: Ezekiel Bascom's Mark Medal

P1030275 In previous posts, we’ve shared the King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter mark book, one of the treasures of our archives collection, and our discovery of its artist.  The excitement around this book continues as the National Heritage Museum announces the recent acquisition of a silver Masonic mark medal originally owned by one of the members of King Hiram Chapter!

Mark medals were often made to order for men who received the Mark Master degree, part of the York Rite, a Masonic organization through which a Freemason may pursue additional degrees.  The degree is named after the marks that stonemasons chiseled into the stones of buildings to identify their work.  Like medieval stonemasons, Masonic Mark Masters create their own symbol, which they register in their chapter’s Mark Book.P1030277

Originally owned by Ezekiel Bascom (1777-1841), this medal was made in Massachusetts around 1816.  Ezekiel Lysander Bascom was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts in 1777 and pursued a vocation as a Congregationalist minister.  In 1806, he married Ruth Henshaw (1772-1848), who is known today for her prolific work as a rural artist.  Ruth Henshaw Bascom drew profile portraits in pencil, pastel and watercolor (follow this link to see an example of her work).  Ezekiel joined Boston’s St. Andrew’s Royal Arch Chapter in 1806.  Ten years later, in 1816, when King Hiram Chapter was formed in Greenwich, Massachusetts (much closer to his home than Boston), Bascom became its initial High Priest, or leader.  The design on the mark medal closely resembles the depiction of Bascom’s mark in the Chapter’s mark book (as you can see in the photo below). 

Mark Book Ezekiel L. Bascom The medal was purchased with the assistance of the Kane Lodge Foundation and the Cogswell Beneficial Trust.  The National Heritage Museum deeply appreciates their support.

Masonic Mark Medal (front and back), 1816, probably Boston, Massachusetts, National Heritage Museum, acquired through the generosity of the Kane Lodge Foundation, Cogswell Beneficial Trust and William W. Lewis, 2009.031.

Mark of Ezekiel Bascom, King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter Mark Book, 1825-1838, Martha S. Harding (1813-1841), New Salem, Massachusetts, Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives, National Heritage Museum, Museum purchase, A92/001/1.


Exciting Discovery - Artist of Mark Book Identified!

A92_001_1T1Tabbot One of the staff’s favorite objects in the Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives collection at the National Heritage Museum is the mark book for King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter (see Archivist Catherine Swanson’s previous post about the book).  For several years, we theorized that the artist of the book, an “M.S. Harding” who signed several pages, might be a young woman.  The technique exemplified in the drawings and the use of watercolors to create them suggest the kind of work taught in numerous New England academies for young ladies during the early 1800s (see an image of one page on the left).

New research has led to the exciting discovery that “M.S. Harding” was indeed a young woman, Martha S. Harding of New Salem, Massachusetts.  Born in 1813, Martha was the daughter of Alpheus Harding (1780-1869) and Sarah Bridge (b. circa 1788).  Her father belonged to King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter, which was established in nearby Greenwich, Massachusetts in 1815.  Massachusetts history buffs will recognize Greenwich as one of the towns submerged in the 1930s to create the Quabbin Reservoir.  Alpheus Harding, the pastor of New Salem Congregational Church, chose a mark that reflects his vocation.  It shows a lamb holding a Christian cross.  Two other pages from the book are shown here; the one on the right depicts the mark chosen by Thomas Thwing and shows Martha’s signature at the bottom.A92_001_1Thwing

Alpheus also served as a preceptor at New Salem Academy.  School records show that his children - including Martha, who was a pupil from 1822 to 1829 - attended.  It is possible that she learned to draw and paint while at the Academy, perhaps even making the mark book while she was a student.  When she was 25, in 1838, Martha married Asarelah M. Bridge (1810-1865), who was a student at New Salem Academy in 1830.  Sadly, Martha contracted consumption soon after her marriage and died in 1841 at the young age of 27.  But her drawings live on in the King Hiram Chapter mark book, allowing us to admire her artistic skill and teaching us that the families of 19th-century Freemasons were familiar with the symbols and values of the fraternity.

Left: Mark of William K. Talbot, King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter Mark Book, 1825-1838, Martha S. Harding (1813-1841), New Salem, Massachusetts, Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives, National Heritage Museum, Museum purchase, A92/001/1, photograph by David Bohl.

Right: Mark of Thomas Thwing, King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter Mark Book, 1825-1838, Martha S. Harding (1813-1841), New Salem, Massachusetts, Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives, National Heritage Museum, Museum purchase, A92/001/1, photograph by David Bohl.


The Mark Book: A Way to Remember Masons

Ma001_003_mark_book_george_plumb_we The exhibition Remember Me at the National Heritage Museum contains many documents and books from the VGW Library and Archives.  One of these pieces is a Mark Book (MA 001.003), or registration records of King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter, Greenwich Village, Massachusetts dated 1815-1835.  Each mark or symbol is in the outline of a keystone which is the symbol associated with the Mark Master degree, the 4th degree in York Rite Freemasonry.

The circle in the center of each keystone is filled with a symbol, or Mark, chosen by a Mark Mason upon his initiation.  The designs, or symbols, were then drawn and the owner signed his name to it.  Chosen marks could never be changed.  The symbol did not have to be Masonic in nature.  Often the initiates chose an image associated with his profession or trade or family coat of arms.

The tradition of speculative Masons having unique marks goes back to the stone masons of the Middle Ages.  Each stone mason, or operative mason, had a mark that they put on each stone that they shaped.  This helped assuring quality and craftsmanship.  Many Gothic cathedrals are filled with stone masons' marks. The early 18th-century Masons in Great Britain and American modeled many of their traditions after these stone masons.

George Plumb, whose mark is seen here, chose symbols that were definitely Masonic in nature.  Inside the circle is a woman supporting an anchor, which for Masons symbolizes Hope.  Above the woman is the all-seeing eye which for Masons symbolizes watchfulness and the Supreme Being.  Below the keystone is the signature of the illustrator, M. S. Harding.