The author of this history has been identified with Free Masonry for more than a third of a century. He was raised in Tippecanoe Lodge No. 492, LaFayette, Indiana, May 13, 1900, and in 1902 he was dimitted to Columbus Lodge No.30, Columbus, Ohio. In 1915 he dimitted and became a Charter member of University Lodge No.631, Columbus, Ohio. The following year he was elected Master. He is a life member of Temple Chapter No. 155, Columbus, Ohio, and a member of York Council No. 115, Columbus. He became a Charter member and was made a Knight Templar in Columbus Commandery No. 69, January 31, 1920. He affiliated with Scioto Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in 1908, and in Detroit, Michigan, on September 15, 1931, in the Supreme Council A. A. S. R. 33E N. J. he was Crowned with the Honorary Thirty-Third Degree. He also holds membership in Aladdin Temple Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Since 1925 he has been the Historian of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. In1924 he was elected a member of the Correspondence Circle of Quatour Coronati Lodge No. 2076, London, England, and in 1928 he was elected to Author's Lodge No. 3456, London, from which he recently withdrew. He also holds membership in Lodge of Research, Dublin, Ireland; American Lodge of Research, New York City; the North Carolina Lodge of Research, and is a fellow in the Philalethes Society. He is also a member of the Masonic Veterans' Association of Ohio. On February 17, 1930, he was elected an honorary member of American Union Lodge No.1.
In these years he has excelled in other directions, notably as a member of the faculty of The Ohio State University, Columbus.
Someone has well said that Areadable history is melodrama." If so, the admirable work just completed is rich in melodrama. It has been a labor of love on the part of the author, and much of the material was gathered and edited while suffering physical pain and discomfort following a severe accident.
His facile pen may make us forget the hours spent in research and inquiry and the many miles he traveled in order to complete and at times verify historical facts. American Masonry owes much to Brother Charles Summer Plumb for undertaking and completing a history of this unique Lodge. With the task now happily completed, it may be the portion of the reader to realize that he, too, is making Masonic history, and surely a member of the old Lodge can well say with the Psalmist: "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage."
For the History Committee of American Union
Lodge No.1.
JOHN KAISER, Senior Past Master (1893)
Marietta, Ohio, March 1, 1934.
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