Anti-Masonic Collection for Sale: 60 items collected by Epaphras Hoyt

Anti-Masonic Collection belonging to Epaphras Hoyt, of Deerfield Massachusetts.  60 items, bound.

Courtesy Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association’s Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield, MA.

 Epaphras Hoyt (1765-1850), historian, surveyor, postmaster, justice of the peace, register of deeds, High Sheriff, a member of the 1820 Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, and a vice-president of the Antimasonic Convention of Massachusetts.  He was a major-general in the Massachusetts militia and published a Treatise on the Military Art in 1798, and a work on the movement of armies in the field in 1816.  He was editor of the anti-Masonic newspaper the Franklin Freeman, and also published scientific, military and genealogical articles, and left unpublished studies on the Burgoyne Campaign and on the French & Indian War. “He was deeply interested in military science, and George Washington offered him an appointment in the United States Army…He is best known for his Antiquarian Researches: comprising a History of the Indian Wars in the Country bordering the Connecticut River and parts adjacent.”- see Stearns, Ephaphras Hoyt: Public Servant, a Topical Biography (1939). 

Books remaining on this list are being sold individually.  The price for each is a link to their individual sale page.

$300
Bernard, David.  Light on Masonry: A Collection of all the most Important Documents on the Subject of Speculative Free Masonry: embracing Reports of the Western Committees in relation to the Abduction of William Morgan, Proceedings of Conventions, Orations, Essays, &c., &c.  With All the Degrees of the Order Conferred in a Master’s Lodge, As written by Captain William Morgan; All the Degrees Conferred in the Royal Arch Chapter and Grand Encampment of the Knights Templars, with the Appendant Orders, As published by the Convention of Seceding Masons, held at Le Roy, July 4 and 5, 1828.  Also, a Revelation of All the Degrees conferred in the Lodge of Perfection, and Fifteen Degrees of a still Higher Order, with Seven French Degrees: making Forty-Eight Degrees of Free Masonry.  With Notes and Critical Remarks.  Utica: William Williams, 1829.  First Edition, Third State.

Full calf with tilt-ruled spine & red leather title label, 41/2 x 7 1/2 inches, front paste-down with “Epaphras Hoyt, Deerfield, Mass, 1830 | Arthur W. Hoyt, Deerfield Mass, 1850” both signatures in the same hand and with the medial “S” as the first “S” in “Mass.”  Engraved portrait of Wm. Morgan, blue tissue guard, engraved scene “The Masonic Assassination of Akirop,” [i]-x; Recommendations; Table of Contents; [13]-552; [i]-xxxvi.  Tight, light to moderate foxing.  Very good.

Walgren 3051. 
Starr, A Baptist Bibliography, B2372.
Samson 40.  “Usually found in poor condition.”
Williams, pp. 122-  “An engraved frontispiece of William Morgan…printed at their office at Utica.  Also an engraved copy of A. Cooley’s painting ‘Masonic Assassination of Akirop’ by Joubert.  Mr. Spencer painted a miniature copy of Cooley’s portrait of Morgan, which was in the possession of Mr. Williams, from which this frontispiece was taken.”
Cummings p. 18. “This book may well be termed ‘The Bible of the Anti-Masons,’ most of the works against Masonry published since its issue being largely reprints of Bernard’s book.”

Baptist Elder David Bernard of Warsaw, Genesee County, New York, “Once an Intimate Secretary in the Lodge of Perfection; and Secretary of the Convention of Seceding Masons, held at Le Roy, July 4 and 5, 1828.”

“To that book and its author permit me, my fellow‐citizens, while recommending it to your perusal and meditation, to offer the tribute of unfeigned respect—a tribute the more richly deserved for the slanders which Masonic benevolence and charity have showered upon them. Elder David Bernard was a minister of the Genesee Baptist Association in the State of New York. He was a man of good repute, and of blameless life and conversation.  He was one of the first seceders from the order, and from that time underwent every possible persecution from Masons, and the frequent danger of his life…To David Bernard, perhaps more than to any other man, the world is indebted for the revelation of the most execrable mysteries of Masonry, nor could he, as a minister of the word of God, have performed a service to his country and his fellow‐ Christians more suitable to his sacred functions. It was principally by his exertions that the Le Roy Convention of Seceding Masons assembled and published the oaths, obligations, and penalties of the higher degrees of the order.” - John Quincy Adams, Letters on the Masonic Institution (1847).

$6000
Two collected volumes of 31 Anti-Masonic pamphlets.  Bound for Epaphras Hoyt, of Deerfield Massachusetts.  Two volumes in full leather with brown leather title labels - “Anti- | Masonry” - and gilt rules to spines.  5 1/2 x 9 inches (vol. i.), 5 3/4 x 9 1//2 inches (vol. ii.); handwritten list of contents at front of each volume, “Particular Articles” within different pamphlets noted on verso of both lists of contents.  For instance, the first item in vol. i. is “Antimasonic Convention of Mass. in 1830, 48 pages”.   The note on the verso is Col. Merrick’s Speech, 1 - 26.”  So within the first item (1) on p. 26 (of 48) you find Col. Merrick’s Speech.  Both volumes tight and very good, handwritten numbers corresponding to the Contents on the front of each.  Wrappers not included, nor are they included in the additional collected volumes below.  Contents with varying degrees of foxing; in order as bound:

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Volume One.

A Brief Report of The Debates in the Anti-Masonic State Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Held in Faneuil Hall, Boston, December 30, 31, 1829, and January 1, 1830.  Boston: John Marsh.  1830.  48 pp.

Walgren 3337.  Cummings p. 10.  “McCarthy refers to this as of special importance in connection with the national organization of Anti-Masonry.”

An Abstract of the Proceedings of the Anti-Masonic State Convention of Massachusetts, Held in Faneuil Hall, Boston, Dec. 30 and 31, 1829, and Jan. 1, 1830.  Boston: John Marsh, Jan. 1830.  32 pp.

Sabin 45548.  Walgren 3334.  "This is the first Massachusetts Anti-Masonic State Convention."  Cummings p. 10.

Includes an address on the false antiquity of Freemasonry, by Moses Thacher; a Report on the connection between French Illuminism and the higher degrees of Free Masonry, by Ethan Smith; and a list of the delegates to the Convention, including Gen. E. Hoyt.

An Abstract of the Proceedings of the Antimasonic State Convention of Massachusetts.  Held in Faneuil Hall, Boston, May 19 & 20, 1831.  Boston: Printed at the Office of the Boston Press, 1831.  78 pp.

Epaphras Hoyt is listed as one of the Vice-Presidents of the Convention.

Sabin 45548, where he groups the First & Second State Conventions as one entry.  Walgren 3499.  Cummings p. 10.

Reports focus upon the murder of Morgan and the expediency of breaking up the Masonic conspiracy, calling upon Masons to open their meetings to the public, and the corruption of the courts by the Masons - specific court cases are described at length.  Another topic is the importance of defeating Freemasonry at the ballot box.  A report by Mr. Hallett describes the investigation of a Masonic pamphlet written in code.  It was found among the papers of a Mason from Rhode Island who died at sea.  Includes the list of delegates.  Includes correspondence with Richard Rush, former US Attorney General who in his career held many important legal and diplomatic positions in the federal government.

[Third AntiMasonic State Convention] AntiMasonic Republican Convention, of Massachusetts, Held at Worcester, Sept. 5th & 6th, 1832.  For the Nomination of Candidates for Electors of President and Vice President of the United States, and for Governor and Lt. Governor of Massachusetts.  Proceedings, Resolutions, and Address to the People.  Boston: Printed by Perkins & Marvin. 1832.  55 pp.

Walgren 3652. "Includes Benjamin F. Hallett's Reply of the Convention to the Declaration of 1200 Masons.  Cummings p. 11.

Last appeared in the 1963 Midland Notes. No. 88. Americana catalogue.

The Convention the nominated William Wirt and Amos Ellmaker as candidates for president and vice-president, and Samuel Lathrop and Timothy Fuller for governor and lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.  Includes letters from Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Emmons, James Madison, and letters refuting Masonic claims of connection with George Washington.  The nominating address by Mr. Hallett delineates the danger the country faces from the evils of Freemasonry.  Includes the list of delegates; Hoyt does not attend this year.

No. 4. Fourth AntiMasonic State Convention.  AntiMasonic Republican Convention, of Massachusetts, Held at Boston, Sept. 11, 12 & 13, 1833, For the Nomination of Candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor of the Commonwealth, and “For the purpose of ‘Consulting upon the Common Good, by Seeking Redress of Wrongs and Grievances Suffered’ from Secret Societies.”  Boston: Printed by Jonathan Howe, for the Convention.  1833.  48 pp.

Walgren 3756.  Cummings p. 11.  

Includes a list of 60 allegations against Freemason and Freemasonry.  Continues the discussion of Washington’s involvement with the Masons, that all of Washington’s correspondence was in the keeping of Jared Sparks, and that claims of letters written by Washington to various Lodges are false, there being no manuscript evidence of them.

John Quincy Adams was nominated for governor and Samuel T. Armstrong for Lt. Governor.  Adams accepts, Armstrong declines; William Reed is chosen in his stead.  Includes 12 point discussion of and warning against Masonic jurors.  Includes the list of delegates, including Epaphras Hoyt.

No. 5. Fifth AntiMasonic State Convention, for 1834.  AntiMasonic Republican Convention, for Massachusetts, Held at Boston, Sept. 10 and 11, 1834, For the Nomination of Candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and to Advance the Cause of Equal Rights, by the Suppression of Secret Societies.  Boston: Printed by Leonard W. Kimball, for the Convention.  1834. 40 pp.

Walgren 3835.  Cummings p. 11.

Last appearance, Goodspeed catalogue, 1968.

Contains a report by Epaphras Hoyt [the collector of these pamphlets] expressing the sense of the Convention by proposed resolutions: 1. The nation has a great lack of moral courage, 2. The exposure of Freemasonry has left previous national leaders unable or unwilling to provide necessary leadership, 3.  “…there can be no violations of the constitution of more fatal bearing…than those which have feloniously deprived the United States of one of its free citizens, and suppressed the impartial administration of criminal justice,” 4.  “That a power unknown to the laws [Freemasonry]…cannot exist but in contravention of the rights of free men,” 5. That the growth of AntiFreemasonry is gratifying, and if the claims of Freemasons of being for what is right are true, the society will collapse as they learn the truth, 6. The signs of the times are auspicious for AntiFreemasonry, 7. The patriotism of any party will lead them to exclude Masons, 8. American political leaders must avowedly separate themselves from secret societies, 9. That the Antimasonic Republican Party is a national party, 10.  “Whenever public virtue shall have become so far extinct in a country as to look with indifference upon an association which claims a right to kidnap and murder its members, and has carried that ‘prerogative’ into effect, in defiance of the laws, the people of that country have lost their patriotism and no longer deserve the name of freemen,” 11. “That on this 8th anniversary of the Masonic outrage committed on a free fellow citizen, William Morgan,” the people of the country must gird themselves for battle agains Freemasonry.  

There are memorials for the recently deceased William Wirt; Hon. John Bailey is nominated for President due to Wirt’s death, and there is an appendix of the nominating address.  A call for reform of the Law of Naturalization due to a flood of immigrants from the Old World - including a renunciation of oaths to foreign powers and secret societies, implying Roman Catholicism as well as Freemasonry.  Includes the list of delegates, including Epaphras Hoyt.  Hoyt is also nominated to attend a National Convention to be held in Philadelphia.

A Letter on Speculative Masonry: by Charles Pinckney Sumner, Sheriff of Suffolk County.  Being an Answer to a Letter addressed to him on that subject by the Suffolk Committee.  Boston: John Marsh, 1829.  20 pp.

Sabin 93694.  Walgren 3215.  "State a."  Cummings p. 36.

Last record a Goodspeed catalogue, 1968.

Charles Pinckney Sumner (1776-1839), b. Milton, MA; d. Boston, MA.  Sumner graduated at Harvard, studied law under Josiah Quincy, practiced law for about 15 years, and was appointed Sheriff of Suffolk County in 1825.  A close associate of William Ellery Channing, he was an early abolitionist; his son was the abolitionist and US Senator Charles Sumner, the victim of the famous beating with a cane in the Senate chamber after delivering his speech, The Crime Against Kansas.

There is a duplicate of this pamphlet in volume i. of The Anti-Masonic Review, and Magazine, below.

Stereotype Edition.  A Letter on Freemasonry, by the Hon. Richard Rush, to the Committee of the Citizens of York County, Pennsylvania.  Boston: Kimball and Johnson, Pollok Press, 1831.  The edition printed by John Marsh appears below.

Sabin 74261.  Walgren 3562, with 12 locations.  "Not in NUC."  See Cumming p. 66 for variations; this imprint not included. 

Last record an Anderson Galleries auction, 1920.  

Richard Rush (1780-1859), son of Benjamin Rush, former US Attorney General who in his career held many important legal and diplomatic positions in the federal government, holding posts under six successive Presidents.  He served in the administrations of James Madison and James Monroe (as AG); James Monroe (as Secretary of State); James Monroe and John Quincy Adams (as Minister to the UK); John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (as Secretary of the Treasury); and James Polk and Zachary Taylor (as Minister to France).

Arguments against Freemasonry with the murder of Morgan taking prominence.

Supplement to the National Observer, March 4, 1829.  Speech of Solomon Southwick, at the Opening of the New-York Anti-Masonic State Convention, at the Capital, in Albany, February 19th, 1829.  Containing, 1. A concise statement of every important fact, relating to the Masonic outrages on William Morgan and David C. Miller.  2. A concise statement of every important fact, amounting to a presumptive proof of the murder of William Morgan near Fort Niagara.  To which is added, The Declaration of Independence, agreed upon and published by the Convention of Seceding Masons, at Le Roy, on the 4th of July, 1828, with the names of the signers.  Albany: Printed by B. D. Packard & Co. 1829.  Outer margin trimmed too close, affecting the first/last letter of many lines.

Sabin 88653.  Walgren 3213.  Cummings p. 69.  “Southwick was a master of invective.  He was editor of the ‘National Observer,’ a strongly Anti-Masonic paper.”

Last seen in the 1928 Henkels Catalogue no. 1419, Americana: Rare and Scarce Books, Pamphlets…&c.  The 1911 Merwin-Clayton auction no. 387 offered a copy with the note, “One of the rarest of Anti Masonic tracts.”

Solomon Southwick (1773-1839), b. Newport, RI; d. Albany, NY.  Southwick was primarily a journalist and publisher, beginning in NYC and by 1792 in Albany.  He was a respected member of his community and held at different times the offices of sheriff, postmaster general, and was a regent of the State University.  His periodicals and publications were varied - political, religious, agricultural, and controversial.  He established the National Observer as an AntiMasonic paper.  By the mid 1830's he retired from political strife and devoted himself to public lectures and writing upon Christian themes, which were met with success.

The Trial of James Lackey, Isaac Evertson, Chauncy H. Coe, Holloway Howard, Hiram Hubbard, John Butterfield, James Ganson, Asa Knowlen, Harris Seymour, Henry Howard, and Moses Roberts, for kidnapping Capt. William Morgan; at the Ontario General Sessions, held at Canandaigua, Ontario County, Aug. 22, 1827.  New-York: Printed for the Publishers.  1827.  24 pp.

Sabin 38467.  Walgren 2873.  Cummings p. 56.

M&S Rare Books sold a copy in 2002.  The only other record is from 1954 (Goodspeed).

This was the third in a series of trials regarding the Morgan kidnapping.  Previous guilty verdicts had been served with sentences of one month or less.  The results of this trial further inflamed the growing anti-masonic sentiment.

Trial for alledged [sic] Embracery, and Challenge of a Juror decided by Triors.  Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Ebenezer Clough.  Before the Municipal Court of Boston Judge Thacher.  October Term, 1833.  For the Prosecution - S. D. Parker, Commonwealth’s Attorney.  For the Defendant - B. F. Hallett.  Reported by B. F. Hallett.  [This is the first trial for Embracery, in this country, of which any record has been found.  Its novelty, and the great importance of the principles it involves, connected with the administration of justice and the impartiality and purity of the trial by Jury, seem to render it desirable that it should be preserved in a permanent form.  It will be found a valuable treatise upon the duties of jurors themselves, and of citizens in their intercourse with jurors; a subject but little understood, though it directly interests the whole community.]. [Copy Right Secured.]. Boston: Printed by Beals, Homer & Co. 1833.  52 pp.

Sabin 96850. “Relates to service of Masons and Antimasons as jurors.”  Walgren 3735.  "Trial of Ebenezer Clough for embracery, which is 'wickedly and unlawfully intending and devising to hinder a just and lawful trial.'  During the trial of Moore and Sevey for a criminal libel on Samuel D. Greene, Ebenezer Clough (an anti-Mason and partisan of Greene), was alleged to have committed embracery by delivering to Nathaniel Frothingham, one of the jurors in the Moore and Sevey trial, a printed letter by Samuel Dexter responding to letters from Josiah Bartlett, Grand Master of Massachusetts.  Clough was acquitted by the jury."

No sales or auction records at RareBookHub.  

Masonic Lecture, spoken before the brethren of Union Lodge, New-London, on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24, A. L. 5825.  Second Edition.  By Brother Wm F. Brainard, Esq. [A Royal Arch Mason]. Published at the Request of the Brethren.  New-London, Printed by Samuel Green, 1825.  Boston: Re-Printed for John Marsh, and Sold at the Anti-Masonic Book Store.  1829.  “The climax of masonry” in faint pencil on front.  Tidemark in the top margin throughout.

Evidently printed by Marsh to show the frame of mind of the Masons just before the Morgan affair.  Great confidence is expressed by the author, which was soon to be dashed.

Walgren 3056.  "Antimasons reprinted this oration - originally delivered before Masons - to draw attention to the power and arrogance of the Craft."

The only reference we find is to a 1914 auction catalogue of Americana by Merwin Sales Company.  No copies at WorldCat.  AAS has a copy; not at LOC.

Volume 2.

An Investigation into Freemasonry by A Joint Committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts.  Printed by Order of the House of Representatives.  March, 1834.  Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, State Printers.  1834.  76 pp.  Appendix containing the Testimony and Documents Received in Evidence by the Committee.  54. pp.  The whole is House Doc. No. 73.

Walgren 3837.  Cummings p. 43

A Legislative Investigation into Masonry; Being a correct History of the Examination, under Civil Oath, of more than Fifty Adhering and Seceding Masons, before a Committee of the General Assembly of Rhode-Island, Held at Providence and Newport, between December 7, 1831, and January 7, 1832.  Reported from Minutes taken at the time, by B. F. Hallett, Geo. Turner and Others, and carefully compared.  Boston: Office of the Boston Daily Advocate.  1832.  85 pp., printed in double columns, with Index.

Sabin 29888.  Walgren 3636.  "Unofficial version of Rhode Island legislative report of committee appointed to investigate Freemasonry, with commentary."  Cummings p. 46.

Last appearance was a 1937 Goodspeed catalogue. 

The New York Register and AntiMasonic Review.  Vol. I. No. 1-6.  New York: Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Dana Ward.  6 consecutive issues with dates from Jan. 1, 1831 to March 15, 1831.  96 pp. total.  A complete run of this rare periodical.

The first no. is Sabin 54844; the other five are not included.  “Ward appears to have published a few numbers only.” - note on Sabin 101298.

Referenced in Walgren but no entry.  Not in Cummings.  Not located at AAS.  LOC indicates they have the title but without information on number of issues.  There are no sales records for this item at RareBookHub.

Henry Dana Ward (1797-1884), b. Shrewsbury, MA; d. Middletown, CT.  He was the grandson of the Revolutionary War major-general Artemas Ward.  Henry graduated at Harvard with an A.B. in 1816 and an A.M. in 1819.  Ordained as an Episcopal minister, he had a parish in Virginia.  He renounced his involvement with Freemasonry in the 1820's, authored Free Masonry: Its Pretensions Exposed in Faithful Extracts of its Standard Authors (1828), and was an influential figure in the Antimasonic movement.  H was also active in the Temperance and Abolitionist causes.  He also embraced the Millerite sect and was counted among their supporters.  He was pastor of several Episcopal parishes during his career, in Virginia and New York City.

Rev. H. Tatem’s Reply to the Summons of the R. I. Royal Arch Chapter.  No imprint, written from Warwick, March 22, 1832.  8 pp.  

Walgren 3695, first state mentioned, without the "c" in "March" at end.  Cummings, p. 71.  Not in Starr.

Last recorded sale was in a group of seven pamphlets listed in a 1925 Anderson Galleries catalogue of Unusual & Important Americana.

Elder Henry Tatem, a Free Will Baptist, was pastor of churches in Rhode Island.  The substance of this pamphlet “has recently appeared in the Providence Advertiser…”. Tatem had been a Mason, but had not been in a lodge for some 14 years, and had quietly withdrawn his interest after becoming convinced that Freemasonry was not in keeping with his Christian testimony.  At the request of a fellow clergyman, he affirmed in writing the content of a Masonic oath.  On this basis he was summoned before the Chapter, to which Elder Tatem here responds in print.

Mr. Colden’s Letter.  [By Cadwallader D. Colden.  Boston: Eastburn, Printer.  1829].  8 pp.

Walgren 3070.  Cummings p. 23.  “Colden had held many Masonic offices and honors, but for some reason, best known to himself, abandoned Masonry and joined the forces of its enemies.


Hon. Cadwallader D. Colden responds to a letter sent, and the suggestion of Henry Ward Dana, to several prominent Masons in New York state, to ask their opinion of the “general character and tendency of Masonic Societies.”  His reply is more than satisfactory to the anti-Masonic element.  “The pretence that Masons are possessed of any peculiar knowledge, is as fallacious as their claim to a supernatural and ante-diluvian origin.”

We were able to find a sale record in a 1908 Goodspeed catalogue. 

A Letter on Freemasonry, by the Hon. Richard Rush, to the Committee of the Citizens of York  County, Pennsylvania.  Boston: John Marsh & Co. 1831. 20 pp.

Sabin 74260.   Walgren 3561.  Not in Cummings.  No sale or auction records at RareBookHub. “Text of a public letter from Richard Rush to the Anti-Masonic Committee of Correspondence of York County, dated May 4th, 1831, discussing the William Morgan affair and supporting the anti-Masonic movement.” - WorldCat.

Reasons, assigned by The Church at North Wrentham, for withdrawing from their Masonic Brethren and Others, and being formed into a Distinct and Separate Church.  Published by Vote of the Church.  Boston: T. R. Marvin, Printer, 1830.  32 pp.

Sabin 95154.  Walgren 3340.  "Petition of the Pastor, Moses Thacher, and others, asking dismissal from the Church of Christ in the North Parish of Wrentham, and claiming the right to separate and style themselves, 'The Church in North Wrentham.'"  Cummings p. 73.

No sale or auction records.

Rev. Moses Thacher leads a portion of his church in separation from the Masonic members of it.

Rev. Moses Thacher (1795-1878) b. Princeton, MA; d. Cambridge, IL.  He was one of the founders of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, was active in the Temperance movement, and editor of the New England Telegraph and Eclectic Review (1835-6).  “He is a gentleman of great modesty and worth - great moral courage in every cause - great perseverance, industry and talent.  He is deeply interested in the cause of emancipation…” - Wm. Lloyd Garrison, June 29, 1832 Letter to Ebenezer Dole, on the occasion of Thacher’s 4th of July Address before the Anti-Masonic State Convention held at Augusta.  He is the author of several tracts below.  No original copies of any of his pamphlets are for sale at BookFinder as of September, 2021.

An Address delivered before the Members of the Anti-Masonic State Convention; assembled at Augusta, Maine, July 4, 1832.  By Moses Thacher, Pastor of the Church and Minister of the Cleaveland Religious Society in North Wrentham, Mass.  [Published by Vote of the Convention.]. Hallowell: Published by Herrick and Farwell.  1832.  32 pp.  Errata printed at end.

Referenced in Sabin 95158.  Walgren 3700.  Cummings p. 73.

Last appearance, Goodspeed 1931.

A July 4th Sermon denouncing Freemasonry as dangerous and antithetical to a free society of patriots.  He describes  a chain of oaths, “the very constitution and laws of the order”; these oaths demand secrecy, subordination, submission - Thacher says what the oath of each of the first seven degrees demands; he then shows that the rites and ceremonies of Freemasonry degrade the participant, mock the Scriptures, and bind the conscience, &c., with particulars of the first seven degrees; “Who, then, in view of what has been said, can deny, that Freemasonry is repugnant to the Constitution of these United States?” p. 16; he goes on to say that it is against the Constitution and laws of the United States for there to be a society with separate laws and oaths that form a secret bond in opposition to them; he references the Morgan affair and other events that show the unAmerican nature of the craft; “The masonic institution being an empire within an empire, a distinct and independent government, exercising juridical jurisdiction over the liberty and lives of its own members; it is evident that its members, by their oath of allegiance and pertinacious adherence to such independent power, constitutionally disenfranchise themselves from any civil immunity under our own national compact.” p. 21; he finishes the speech with warnings of how Masons corrupt the civil courts and the churches.

An Oration delivered at Stoughton, Mass, July 5, 1830.  In Commemoration of the 54th Anniversary of American Independence.  By Amasa Walker, of Boston.  Boston: John Marsh, and William Souther.  1830.  “Presented by the Author,” top front.  31 pp.  

Sabin 101036.  Walgren 3438.  Cummings p. 75.

Last recorded sale a Eberstadt catalogue, 1938.  

A warning against the vast conspiratorial power of Freemasonry.  Walker says that Freemasonry is a “gross imposter,” that its claims to antiquity, to promoting science & religion, to being a charitable organization, are all false; that “its government consists of a code of laws, in other words, a system of oaths, the most barbarous in the requisitions, the most inhuman and bloody in their penalties, that human depravity ever devised, or savage ferocity ever inflicted”; he references the murder of Morgan; he compares the patriotism and heroism of the leaders of the American Revolution - their principles - with the principles of Freemasonry.  

Amasa Walker (1799-1875), b. Windham, CT; d. North Brookfield, MA.  Walker was successful in commercial businesses, enabling him to retire from them in 1840 to devote himself to public affairs.  He was president of the Boston Temperance Society (1839); lectured on political economy at Oberlin College (1842-48); the same at Harvard (1853-60); and at Amherst College (1859-69).  He was a frequent contributor to the press, as an economist.  

Walker was an abolitionist and one of the founders of the Free Soil Party (1848).  He fulfilled terms in the Mass. House & Senate, was Secretary of the Commonwealth for three years, cast his ballot for Abraham Lincoln as a member of the Mass. electoral college, and was a member of the US House of Representatives as a Republican (1862-63).

A Freeman on Freemasonry.  No imprint.  8 pp. Printed in double columns.  Written “To the Editor of the Massachusetts Yeoman.”

Sabin 25800.  Walgren 3596.  Cummings p. 17, “Published anonymously.”  WorldCat with 3 locations; attributes authorship to George Allen.

No sale or auction records.

A response to the printing in the Commercial Gazette of Boston, Dec. 31, 1831, of a Masonic “Declaration,” in which a wholesome and blameless Masonic character is claimed.  Our anonymous author argues in refutation, anchoring his argument on the kidnapping and murder of Morgan.

Appeal of Samuel D. Greene, in Vindication of Himself against the False Swearing of Johnson Goodwill, Morgan Conspirator, in the case of Commonwealth vs. Moore & Sevey, Editors of The Masonic Mirror, for A Libel on said Greene.  Boston: 1834.  64 pp.  Errata slip pasted on verso of front.

Sabin 28610.  Walgren 3815.  Not in Cummings.  WorldCat holdings are reproductions from an original at AAS.

Last record, a 1920 Anderson Galleries auction catalogue.

Greene was a member of the same lodge as William Morgan, in Batavia, NY.  His disclosure of the plan to kidnap Morgan and Miller made him a hunted enemy of the Masons (he claims).  He details attempts to ruin his reputation, includes court documents, and refutations of claims against him.

Proceedings of the Sangerfield Meeting, held at the Presbyterian Meeting House in the Village of Waterville, January 14, 1830.  With the Address of Elder Nathan N. Whiting, on the Subject of Speculative Free Masonry.  Utica: William Williams, 1830.  16 pp.  “Gen. Epaphras Hoyt, Deerfield, Mss.” at top front.  “Wm. Ferguson, Sangerfield, N. Y.” top of first page.

Sabin 65908.  Walgren 3379, with 4 locations.  Not in Cummings.  Not in Williams.  Not in A Check List of Utica Imprints.  Not at AAS or LOC.  WorldCat record has no holdings, but records  "Meeting of professors of religion of different denominations, for the purpose of consulting on the moral qualities and tendency of the institution of Free Masonry, and the proper measures to be pursued by the Churches in relation to it ..."--Page [3].

“About three hundred members were present, from the following denominations of Christians, to wit - Congregational, Methodist, Presbyterian, Dutch, Reformed, Baptist, Seventh Day Baptist, and Reformed Methodist.” - p. [3].

Several witnesses affirm that they had been initiated into Freemasonry, and affirmed the William Morgan and Bernard’s Light on Masonry were substantially correct in their representations of it.  Then follows an address, the substance of which is “To scrutinize the moral qualities and bearings of Free Masonry, and to recommend…some uniform Gospel course to be pursued in relation to it…”  Followed by resolutions to that effect.  There is the Address by Elder Nathan N. Whiting of the Baptist Church in Vernon, NY.  His discourse defends those who have left Masonry, and instructs them on how to answer their former friends when they are questioned.  William Morgan is a central theme.

Oration, delivered at the Antimasonic Celebration, at Syracuse, July Fourth, 1831.  By the Hon. William H. Seward.  Syracuse: Printed by Campbell & Newton.  16 pp.  “Gen. Hoyt from W. H. Seward” in pencil, top front.

Walgren 3567.  Cummings p. 67.  5 locations at WorldCat.  No sale or auction records at RareBookHub.

Extolls American patriotic virtues and history and compares them with those of Freemasonry.  Says “Morgan has brought us in by a secret way…”  “This Society, thus extensive and organized, we, as Antimasons, believe to be dangerous to the constitution and laws of our country, & inconsistent with the equal rights and liberties of the whole people.  Thus believing, we seek to abolish it by the omnipotent power of public opinion, to be expressed through the ballot boxes.”  He gives his reasons why Freemasonry must be so opposed.  He uses Morgan as an imaginary guide, holding a lamp and exposing the different aspects of Masonry.

William Henry Seward (1801-1872), a NY State Senator at the time he gave this speech; later governor of NY state, and US Senator.  He is best known as Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State.

No. 186. In Senate, February 20, 1830.  Report of the Hon. Addison Gardiner, circuit judge of the 8th circuit, relative to the testimony given on the late trial of Elihu Mather, in Orleans county. 20 pp. No imprint.  This is a NY State Senate Report.

Walgren 3370, 4 locations.  Cummings p. 36.  WorldCat with 2 copies.

Only sales record is from a 1920 Henkels catalogue of Valuable Americana.  “This is the celebrated case where the illegibility of a juror was challenges on account of being a Free-mason during the trial of Elihu Mather, also a Free mason.”

Witness testimony on the obligation of a Mason to respond to a secret sign given by a brother in trouble, and that they were obligated to help him, “whether right or wrong.”  Testimony regarding Morgan and Miller, as Mather was one of the conspirators. Judge Gardiner herein reports to the New York Senate the testimonies and pertinent statements of the case.

"Elihu Mather was indicted on charges of conspiracy to kidnap and abduct William Morgan and the case came to trial in November 1829 with Circuit Judge Addison Gardner presiding. The case was prosecuted by a Special Commissioner appointed by the Legislature, John C. Spencer, son of Justice Ambrose Spencer, and Colonel D. D. Barnard was counsel for the defense. The trial lasted ten days and Elihu Mather was acquitted.

"During the trial, Commissioner Spencer objected to certain of Judge Gardner’s rulings on juror disqualification and the refusal of a witness to answer a question. At the trial’s conclusion, Spencer moved for a new trial and the motion came before the New York Supreme Court of Judicature in May, 1830.  The Court denied Mr. Spencer’s motion..." - Historical Society of the New York Courts online.


$3800
Collected volume of 19 Anti-Masonic pamphlets.  Bound for Epaphras Hoyt, of Deerfield Massachusetts.  

Full leather with leather spine title label, edges rubbed yet without cracks or damage, 4 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, front end papers with dark stain.  Handwritten list of contents tipped to the ffep - these two leaves very loose.  The list of contents omits the second tract and has only 18 titles; there are 19 titles bound in the book.  Contents generally good+ with light foxing, elsewise noted below.  Contents in order as bound:

An Account of the Savage Treatment of Captain William Morgan, in Fort Niagara, Who was subsequently Murdered by the Masons, and Sunk in Lake Ontario, for publishing the Secrets of Masonry.  By Edward Giddins, Formerly Keeper of the Fort and a Royal Arch Mason.  Sixth Edition.  Boston: Published and Sold at the Anti-Masonic Bookstore, 1830.  Title page with woodcut of “View of a Mason taking his First Oath,” Introduction on verso.  Then follows A Statement of Facts relative to the Confinement of William Morgan in Fort Niagara…&c. with the running title, “Giddins’ Narrative.”  [15]-24.  Tidemark throughout.  

Walgren 3299, 3 locations.  Cummings p. 37 where An Account of the Savage Treatment is listed as a separate publication from A Statement of Facts.

Sabin 27331 with same pagination as above.  WorldCat locates only one copy, at AAS.

Giddins published an Anti-Masonic Almanac at Utica for several years.

Anti-Masonic Tract, No. 4.  Containing an Important Correspondence between The Suffolk Committee, The Faculty of Harvard University and Andover Theological Institution.  Also, Rev. Moses Thacher’s Address, delivered before the Anti-Masonic Meeting at Faneuil Hall, on the Evening of Sept 8, 1829.  Boston: John Marsh, 1829.  [1]-12 pp., tidemark throughout.

Walgren 3046.

The letter from the Committee inquired in to the authentic antiquity of Freemasonry.  The responses are from Josiah Quincy, Rev. Leonard Woods, and Professor Moses Stuart.  Then follows the Address by Rev. Moses Thatcher.  Thatcher’s name is printed this way in the text, and as “Thacher” on the title page. 

Last recorded sale at RareBookHub is from a 1937 Goodspeed catalogue.

Rev. Moses Thacher (1795-1878) b. Princeton, MA; d. Cambridge, IL.  He was one of the founders of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, was active in the Temperance movement, and editor of the New England Telegraph and Eclectic Review (1835-6).  “He is a gentleman of great modesty and worth - great moral courage in every cause - great perseverance, industry and talent.  He is deeply interested in the cause of emancipation…” - Wm. Lloyd Garrison, June 29, 1832 Letter to Ebenezer Dole, on the occasion of Thacher’s 4th of July Address before the Anti-Masonic State Convention held at Augusta.  He is the author of several tracts below.  No original copies of any of his pamphlets are for sale at bookfinder.com as of September, 2021.

Anti-Masonic Tract, No. 5.  Masonic Obligations Unlawful: As Proved and Substantiated in a Court of Justice on Empannelling the Jury at the Trial of Elihu Mather for a Conspiracy to Kidnap William Morgan, at the Orleans County Court, Nov. 11, 1829.  Boston: John Marsh, 1829.  16 pp.

Walgren 3047.  "Transcription of truakif 'The People vs. Elihu Mather' for conspiracy, Orleans County, 11 Nov. 1829, before Judge Gardiner."

A record of the trial proceedings at the time of forming the jury in which Masons were rejected due to their supposed obligations to the defendant, and member of their secret society.

Proceedings of the Anti-Masonic Republican Convention of the County of Cayuga, Held at Auburn, January 1, 1830, with their Address to the Farmers and Mechanics of the County.  Auburn: Thomas M. Skinner, 1830.  21, [1] pp.

Sabin 65820.  Walgren 3358, 7 copies.  Cummings p. 61.

5 copies at WorldCat.  Last recorded sale, 1910 Merwin-Clayton catalogue of the library of Henry Clay.

Renunciation of Free Masonry.  By Hiram B. Hopkins, Esq., Deputy Sheriff of Lockport, N. Y.  Boston: John Marsh & Co. 1830.  12 pp. plus 2 pp. catalogue of Anti-Masonic books.  

Sabin 32918.  Walgren 3303.

Last sale 1980, M. & S. Rare Books cat. 26.

An Oration: delivered, by appointment, on the Fourth Day of July, A. D. 1828, in presence of the Convention of Seceding Free Masons, and a vast concourse of their Fellow-Citizens, at the Presbyterian Church, in the Village of Le Roy, in the County of Genesee, and State of New-York.  By Solomon Southwick, President of the Convention, and once a Mark Master Mason.  Albany: Webster and Wood, 1828.  81 pp., 3 pp. adverts, including a prospectus for Bernard’s Light on Freemasonry.

Walgren 3009, with many holdings in Masonic libraries. "'More Revelations.  We understand, says the Batavia Times, that Solomon Southwick, in his sermon of three hours' length, delivered at the Le Roy 'show' on the 4th, stated most unequivovally that Buonaparte was murdered by Masons!!  And that Masonry was the sole cause of introducing sin into the world, in the Garden of Eden!!!!  This is a thumper - if the Masons have got to father all the sins that have been committed since Adam and Eve, they will most assuredly have a dreadful account to render at the last day.'"   - American Masonic Record and Albany Saturday Magazine, Aug. 2, 1828.

Samson 34.  “Very rare…”  Cummings p. 69.  WorldCat locates 3 copies.  Last sale was 1977, Swann Galleries.

A Solemn Warning against Free-Masonry, Addressed to the Young Men of the United States.  With an Appendix, Containing the Correspondence between Eliphalet Murdock, of Le Roy, Genesee county, N. Y., and the author, relating to the supposed murder of Mr. Murdoch’s father, through Masonic vengeance, at Rensselaerville, in the county of Albany, in October 1803, - and several other interesting matters.  By Solomon Southwick, Editor of the National Observer, Albany.  Albany: Printed by Geo. Galpin, Office of the National Observer.  1827.  Title woodcut of a woman with two small children weeping over a coffin; in background two men each holding a white cloth with black skull & crossbones.  Signed “Genl. Ep. Hoyt” top front.  v., [1], [3]-138.  Hoyt's manuscript Index has 138 pp., Walgren says 140, so lacking one leaf of the appendix, as Hoyt's copy.

Walgren 2862.  "First edition.  Title page woodcut of Lucinda Morgan and her two fatherless children weeping over her husband's coffin while being observed by two Masons in skull-and-crossbones aprons.  Deposited for copyright 22 October, 1827."  Cummings p. 69.  Samson 32.  “Contains a curious woodcut on title with two Masonic figures.”  The last complete and fine copy was from the 1911 Samson sale.  A defective copy sold at Heritage Auctions in 2015.

Publication No. I. - Boston, 1833.  Letters on the Entered Apprentice’s Oath.  By John Quincy Adams, Ex-President of the United States; Demonstrating that The First Step in Masonry is Wrong.  Stereotype Edition, Published by the Young Men’s Antimasonic Association for the Diffusion of Truth.  24 pp.

WorldCat note: "Comprising letters addressed to William L. Stone in response to his 1832 defense of Freemasonry, 'Letters on Masonry and anti-Masonry.’"

Walgren 3723.  Cummings, p. 5.  “These letters written with a strong political and Anti-Masonic bias, had a wide circulation, probably due to the high standing of the author as a citizen.  Being a non-Mason, Adams had to depend upon Anti-Masonic writer for his information concerning Masonry, consequently his opinions are not of much value.”

Last sale record is a 1978 M & S Rare Books, Inc. catalogue.

Free-Masonry, in reply to Anti-Masonry, in the American Quarterly Review, for March, 1830.  With An Appendix to ‘Free-Masonry,’ in Reply to Anti-Masonry, in Walsh’s Review, for March, 1830. By a Free Republican. Boston: John Marsh & Co. 1830.  40 pp. Lacks 2 pp. of publisher's adverts at end.

Sabin 25805.  Walgren 3297.  Cummings, p. 7.  

“A reply to Robert Walsh's review of Henry Brown's A narrative of the anti-masonick excitement …” - WorldCat.

The last sale record is from a Goodspeed’s catalogue, 1967.

An Address delivered before Montgomery Lodge, in Medway, Mass. at their Regular Communication, April 22, 1829; Also at a subsequent Communication of St. Alban’s Lodge, Wrentham, May 13, 1829.  By Moses Thacher, Pastor of the Church at North Wrentham.  Boston: Published by Request.  1829.  23 pp.

Walgren 3220 with good representation in Masonic libraries.  Preface p. [3]: "'With the Masonic and Anti-Masonic discussion, which has raged for two years past, the writer of the following Address has had, and wishes to have, nothing to do.'  The address is, nevertheless, critical of Masonry in many respects.  Within two weeks of his second delivery of the address (in Wrentham), Thacher published his renunciation of Masonry."  [See our next entry below].  Not in Cummings.  WorldCat locates only one copy, AAS.

Last sale record (and there is only one) is from a 1920 Anderson Galleries catalogue.

An Address to the Church and Congregation, under the care of the Author, on his Seceding from The Masonic Institution.  Delivered May 24, 1829.  By Moses Thacher, Pastor of the Church at North Wrentham.  Published by Particular Request.  Boston: T. R. Marvin, Printer. 1829.  12 pp.

Sabin 95154. Walgren 3221.  "At this meeting, Thacher publically renounced Freemasonry." First state in order as identified by Walgren (of two).  Cummings p. 72.  “On May 13, 1829, Thacher delivered an address before St. Alban’s Lodge at Wentham, and on May 24th, made a public renunciation of Freemasonry.”

Last sale record is from a 1920 Anderson Galleries catalogue.

Letters addressed to A Brother in the Church, on renouncing The Secret Principles of Freemasonry: In Answer to Three Communications from Him, on the same Subject.  By Moses Thacher, Pastor of the Church at North Wrentham.  Boston: T. R. Marvin, 1829.  68 pp.

Sabin 95155. Walgren 3222.  Cummings p. 73.  

Last sale record is from a 1967 Goodspeed catalogue.

The Good Man in Bad Company: or Speculative Freemasonry a Wicked and Dangerous Combination.  A Sermon delivered in Belchertown, (Mass.) July 8, 1830.  By David Pease, Pastor of the Baptist Church in Conway.  With an Appendix, Containing a Brief Narrative of the Author’s Masonic Course, What Influenced him to become a Mason, and the Cause of his Renouncing and Denouncing It, with a passing Notice of some of the False Representations of a Masonic Writer under the Signature of a Royal Arch.  Published by Request.  Brookfield, [MA]: Printed by E. and G. Merriam.  1831.

Starr P1262.  Walgren 3533.  "First edition." Cummings p. 58.  

Last sale record (and there is only one) is from a 1923 Anderson Galleries catalogue.

Elder David Pease (1783-1878) b. East Windsor, CT; d. Ashfield, MA.  He also wrote a genealogy of the Pease family, published in 1869.

Minutes of an Address, delivered before the Anti-Masonic Convention of Reading, Mass. January 15, 1829.  Together with a Review of Mr. Knapp’s Defence of Masonry.  By Rev. P. Sanborn.  Boston: Printed at the Office of the Free Press.  1829.  19 pp.

Sabin 76255.  Walgren 3204.  Cummings p. 66.  WorldCat has one copy, AAS, the rest being modern reprints.  The Review is of Samuel Lorenzo Knapp (1783-1838), Genius of Masonry, or a Defence of the Order…

Last sale record is from the 1963 Midland Notes No. 88 Americana catalogue.

Rev. Peter Sanborn (1766-1857) b. Kingston, NH; d. Reading, MA.  He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1786, for some 30 years pastor of the Third (now Old South) Church at Reading, Massachusetts.  His home in Reading is in the National Register of Historic Places.

Freemasonry, A Covenant with Death: A Discourse, delivered at a Public Meeting in Hornby, Steuben County, June 3, 1828.  By Reuben Sanborn, Once a Royal Arch Mason.  Published by Request.  Bath, N. Y.: Printed by David Rumsey.  1828.  11 pp.

Sabin 76257.  Walgren 3002.  Cummings p. 66.  “A somewhat rare item.  Sanborn was a seceding Royal Arch Mason.”

The last sale record is from Americana Rarissima: A Notable Selection of Books, Broadsides, Letters…&c., conducted by The American Art Association, 1921.  “Rare Anti-Masonic Pamphlet by a Once Royal Arch Mason published soon after, and on account of the abduction of William Morgan.  Not in Sabin.”

Sanborn was one of the Seceding Masons of their Convention held at Le Roy, NY, July 1828.

Evenings by the Fireside; or Thoughts on some of the First Principles of Speculative Free-Masonry.  By Amariah Chandler, Pastor of the Congregational church, in Waitsfield, Vt.  Danville, Vt.: E. & W. Eaton, Printers.  1829.  24 pp., brown ink splotches on the front.

Walgren 3060.  Cummings p. 22.

Last recorded sale is from a dealer catalogue in 1933.

Amariah Chandler, D.D. (1782-1864) b. Deerfield, MA; d. Greenfield, MA.  He graduated at the University of Vermont in 1807, and was ordained pastor of the Church in Waitsfield, Vt., in 1810 where he remained for twenty years.  Afterwards he preached two years at Hardwick, and was installed over the Church in Greenfield, Mass., in 1832, and died there in pastoral office. “Dr. Chandler was a delegate to the Massachusetts Convention for the Revision of the State Constitution in 1853.  He published several sermons and treatises, including A Review of Dr. Willard’s Historical Discourse (1857).  His mind was strong and independent; his manners were simple; he was much beloved for his kindness and sociability, and his sermons were solid and impressive.”- M’Clintock & Strong.

Candid Reply to the Address of The Rev. Alfred Ely, Of Monson, Mass. on the Subject of Speculative Free Masonry.  By an Impartial Examiner.  Boston: John Marsh, 1829.  20 pp.

Walgren 3100.  "The MBFM [Massachusetts Grand Lodge Library, Boston, MA] copy has handwritten note: 'by Jas Morton of Milton.'"  Cummings p. 8.

This anonymous pamphlet last appeared in a Goodspeed catalogue in 1967.

A reply to Rev. Alfred Ely, who published An Address in relation to the subject of Masonry, delivered to a Church Conference, in which he attempted to reconcile Christianity and Freemasonry.

Free Inquiry Recommended on the Subject of Freemasonry; A Sermon, Preached at Woodstock, Sept. 11, 1829, before a large and respectable number of Citizens, there Convened, and Published at their Request.  By Daniel Dow, Pastor of the Church in Thompson.  Norwich: Printed by L. Huntington Young, 1829.  20 pp.  damp stain in long margin; Hoyt has written in large ink letters across the front, “Messrs Currier & Fogg - Deerfield Mass Publishers of the Sermon, [?] Lyman, Woodstock Conn.”

Walgren 3080, "Although the author appears to be detached, encouraging honest inquiry into the merits of Freemasonry, he quotes from Bernard's Light on Masonry in his Appendix, [16]-20, and concludes: 'I can only observe, at this time, that if Free Masonry be the handmaid of religion, she is most intolerably profane; and if it be  a religious institution of any kind, it is altogether different from Christianity.'"  Cummings p. 28.  WorldCat with 5 locations.

The only sale record is from a 1967 Goodspeed catalogue.

Daniel Dow (1772-1849) b. Ashford, CT; D. Thompson, CT.  Dow graduated with honor at Yale in 1793, “studied theology while teaching psalmody for a livelihood, and on 20 April 1796, was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Thompson, Conn.  His discourses were never written, but were remarkable for their logical arrangement and clear and forcible style.” - Appleton’s Cyclopedia.

Lamentation of Freemasonry; A Poem of Modern Times.  By Charles Chisel, Esq.  Norwich: L. Huntington Young, Printer. 1829.  24 pp.  “Ep. Hoyt” top of front.

Walgren 3061.  Cummings p. 23. “Curious.”

Last appeared in a 1966 Parke Bernet auction.

The poem is the voice of Freemasonry describing the claim to antiquity that it knows is false, its rise in power, the death of Morgan - “O cursed MORGAN! to reveal our plan, And give to a babbling world to scan; My bloody rites and mysteries to expose, And all my precious secrets to disclose…What punishment severe enough can be To inflict upon him for his treachery?  My trusty sons, indeed, did what the could, The kidnapp’d, tortured him, then took his blood; Then sunk his body in Niagara, Then lied Masonically, to escape the law…” - the persecution felt from the public, and a prediction that Masonry will rise again with the assistance of the Antichrist.

$450
Collected volume of 3 Anti-Masonic pamphlets.  Bound for Epaphras Hoyt, of Deerfield Massachusetts.  Red leather spine with plain red paper-covered boards, 5 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches, Hoyt’s signature and date on the front paste-down.  Very good contents, page numbers per item below.  Renunciation, by Isaac Flagler, clipped from wrapper of one of the items and pasted to the rear paste-down.

The Proceedings of the United States Anti-Masonic Convention, Held at Philadelphia, September 11, 1830.  Embracing the Journal of Proceedings, the Reports, the Debates, and the Address to the People.  Philadelphia &c.  I. P. Trimble, &c.  Includes William Williams, of Utica.  164 pp.

Sabin 97959.  Walgren 3426, "First national political convention held in the United States.  Cummings p. 10.

Includes 14 different reports, including Mr. Whittlesey’s report on the abduction and murder of William Morgan; the Debates; the Address to the People of the United States; &c.  The Address has it’s own title page and imprint, yet the pagination continues consecutively with the rest of the Proceedings.  The entire 164 pp. is continuous on one side of the pages, while the individual reports and address also have their own page numbers.  For instance, the Address has page numbers [1]-22 on one side of the page, and numbers [143]-164 on the other.

Sabin (no. 97955) has a reprint of Whittlesey’s 24-pp. report printed at Hallowell, ME, 1832.  “An interesting and authentic narrative of the abduction and probable murder of William Morgan, by Freemasons, in the state of New York, September, 1826. Being the Report of a committee, appointed by the National Anti-Masonic Convention, assembled at Philadelphia, September 11, 1830, ‘to report a succinct and lucid account of the abduction and murder of William Morgan, and of the conduct and measures adopted by the fraternity, jointly and as individuals, to prevent a conviction of their more prominent fellow masons in that abduction and murder’; compiled either from the judicial evidence ... or from well authenticated documents, or from personal knowledge of the facts therein stated …"

The Proceedings of the Second United States Anti-Masonic Convention, Held at Baltimore, September, 1831: Journal and Reports, Nomination of Candidates for President and Vice President of the United States, Letters of Acceptance, Resolutions, and the Address to the People.  Boston: Stereotyped at the Boston Type and Stereotype Foundry. 1832.   88 pp.

Sabin 97960. Walgren 3704.  "Proceedings of the first national nominating convention in American political history."  Cummings p. 10.  

Last appeared, Goodpeed 1967.

The Convention nominated William Wirt for President and Amos Ellmaker for President and Vice President of the United States.

Vindication of General Washington from the Stigma of Adherence to Secret Societies, by Joseph Ritner, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Communicated by Request of the House of Representatives, to that Body, on the 8th of March, 1837, with The Proceedings which took place on its Reception.  Harrisburg: Printed by Theo. Fenn. 1837.  This pamphlet is not bound in, but it tipped in to the rear paste-down.  Siogned Ep. Hoyt at top.  26 pp.

Walgren 4052.  "In his 1836 message to the legislature, Pennsylvania's Governor Ritner stated that Freemasonry was 'a lawless combination, unknown to our open and equal institutions and opposed to the genius of republicanism, against which the Father of his country sent forth his last and most solemn warning.'  A house committee asked Ritner to defend this statement, especially with regard to George Washington's Farewell Address.  Ritner's lengthy response, dated 8 Marth 1837, asserts that Washington became disinterested in Masonry by the early 1780s and that his purported letters to lodges are forgeries.  Page 23: 'No one can doubt that if Washington had lived within the last few years, his public relation to masonry would not have been different from that of Marshall, olden and Wirt.'" 

Cummings p. 64.  “Reprinted in Masonry and Anti-Masonry by Alfred Creigh.”

This 1837 first edition was seen last in a 1963 Midland Notes. No. 88. Americana.

$350
Odiorne, James C.  Opinions on Speculative Masonry, relative to its Origin, Nature, and Tendency.  A Compilation, embracing Recent and Important Documents on the Subject, and Exhibiting the Views of the most Distinguished Writers Respecting It.  Boston: Perkins & Marvin, 1830.  First Edition.

Cloth spine with plain boards, 4 3/4 x 7 7/8 inches, printed paper spine label, light soil, edge-wear.  “Ep: Hoyt, Deerfield Mass.” on front paste-down.  Lacks ffeps.  viii., 280 pp., tight, foxing.  Good+

Walgren 3383.  "Anthology of anti-Masonic writings."  Cummings p. 55.

A compilation of rare pamphlets previously issued separately.  27 addresses or tracts, herein reprinted, as well as a chapter entitled, “Renunciations of Freemasons,” and “Trial of Elihu Mather.”

James Creighton Odiorne (1802-1879), b. London, England; d. Framingham, MA.  His father was a Boston merchant, and while in England on business married James’s mother where he was born.  James was educated at Phillips Academy, Andover, and graduated from Yale College in 1826.  He joined with his father in the iron and nail business from 1828 to 1837, at which time he retired from business to continue his historical & natural history studies.  A member of the State Anti-masonic Committee of Massachusetts, the Committee examined and approved of this publication (1830).  In 1832 he assisted in the formation of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, serving for many years as its treasurer.  - see Yale Obituary Records online.

$250
Stearns, John G.  An Inquiry into the Nature and Tendency of Speculative Free-Masonry: with an Appendix.  To which are added, Plain Truth: A Dialogue’ and the Author’s Reasons.  Utica: Northway & Porter, 1829.  Fifth Edition - Revised and Corrected.  Published for the Author.

Linen spine with plain blue paper-covered boards, 4 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches, printed paper spine title label, “Ep: Hoyt, Deerfield Mass.” on front paste-down. 1/2” closed tear top of ffep.  iii. pp. Recommendations.  xvi., 211 pp., foxing, tight.  Very good.

Sabin 90896.  Walgren 3214.  Cummings p. 69.  “In all of Stearns’ writings he takes the same stand as many other Anti-Masonic writers, viz: that because Freemasonry is not essentially a Christian institution, it is necessarily anti-Christian.”

Starr S8320.

“In the fall of 1819 I was received as a student in the Literary and Theological Seminary at Hamilton, N.Y.  In my examination I was inquired of whether I was a Mason.  I answered the affirmative.  I was then requested to dispense with Masonry while a member of that school.  I replied that I already made up my mind never to have any thing more to do with Masonry.”  p. vii.  

John Glazier Stearns (1795-1874), b. Ackworth, NH; d. Clinton, NY.  Baptist minister, educated at Madison University (now Colgate), was the pastor of several churches in central New York State.  Besides this work on Freemasonry, Stearns contributed many theological works to the press.

$1500
Ward, Henry Dana.  The Anti-Masonic Review, and Magazine; published monthly in the City of New York.  Intended to Take Note of the Origin and History, of the Pretensions and Character, and of the Standard Works and Productions, of Free Masonry.  New York: Vanderpool & Cole, Printers.  1828-30.  Two volumes with two additional tracts bound in to the back of the first volume, list below.

Two volumes in speckled calf, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches, page edges dyed yellow, each vol. signed by Hoyt on the front paste-down.  A couple of small chips top of spine to vol. ii.  388, 344 clean pp., table of contents to each, tight and very good.  Vol. ii. is about an eighth of an inch shorter than vol. i.  The rear paste-down of vol. i. has the back of a wrapper from one of the issues pasted in - a list of books on art and architecture “At the Literary Rooms, New-York.”

The complete 24 issues of this rare periodical.  

The bookseller Charles P. Everett noted in a letter dated October 10, 1925, of an incomplete set: “When we catalogued it, I neglected to say it was the nearest to a complete set ever offered…You will find that the De Puy set, which lacked three numbers, was the nearest to a complete set known.  This set lacks one number, and four pages…”

Sabin 101298.  “Published somewhat sporadically, the dates of the numbers appearing on the cover titles.  Continued through vol. 2, 1830…Superseded by the New York Register and Antimasonic Review, of which Ward appears to have published a few numbers only.”  A Merwin-Clayton catalogue had a set in 1911, “Fine copy.  Exceedingly scarce.”  2 complete sets of 24 nos. were sold in the 1920’s, one by Goodspeed and the other by The Anderson Galleries.

Walgren references this periodical where other publications reprinted articles from it, but has no separate entry for it.  Cummings p. 76

Two additional tracts are bound in at the end of the first volume.  

A Letter on Speculative Freemasonry: by Charles Pinckney Sumner, Sheriff of Suffolk County.  Being an Answer to a Letter addressed to him on that Subject by the Suffolk Committee.  Boston: John Marsh, 1829.  20 pp.

Sabin 93694.  Walgren 3215.  First in order of the two states mentioned.  Cummings p. 36.

Last record a Goodspeed catalogue, 1968.

Charles Pinckney Sumner (1776-1839), b. Milton, MA; d. Boston, MA.  Sumner graduated at Harvard, studied law under Josiah Quincy, practiced law for about 15 years, and was appointed Sheriff of Suffolk County in 1825.  A close associate of William Ellery Channing, he was an early abolitionist; his son was the abolitionist and US Senator Charles Sumner, the victim of the famous beating with a cane in the Senate chamber after delivering his speech, The Crime Against Kansas.

A Letter on Speculative Free Masonry, by Pliny Merrick, Esq.  Being his Answer to Gen. Nathan Heard and Col. Gardner Burbank upon their application for his Views on that Subject.  Worcester: Dorr and Howland, 1829.  20 pp.

Walgren 3137.  "This is the first edition of Merrick's Renunciation, reprinted in 1830."  Cummings p, 49..

Last sale record, Goodspeed, 1967.

Pliney Merrick (1794-1867), graduated at Harvard Law School (1814), Massachusetts attorney and politician, sometime Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.  
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Samson numbers refer to Americana: Books Relating to New York State and the Indians; The Collection of W. H. Samson, Rochester, N. Y.  Catalogue of The Anderson Auction Company, no. 928 (1911)

Williams numbers refer to John Camp Williams, An Oneida County Printer, William Williams: Printer, Publisher, Editor, with a Bibliography of the Press at Utica, Oneida County New York, from 1803-1838.

Cummings page numbers refer to Dr. William L. Cummings 33°,  A Bibliography of Anti-Masonry, Second Edition (1963).

Starr numbers refer to Edward C. Starr, A Baptist Bibliography: Being a Register of Printed Material By and About Baptists…&c.  (1975).

Walgren numbers - Kent Logan Walgren, Freemasonry, Anti-Masonry and Illuminism in the United States, 1734-1850: A Bibliography.

Sales records from data accumulated at RareBookHub.