By Midnight Freemason Contributor
RWB Michael H. Shirley
Owen Scott was born on July 6, 1848, on a farm in Effingham
County, Illinois, and remained a central Illinois resident for the rest of his
life. A teacher, attorney, and newspaperman, he served as superintendent of
schools for Effingham County from 1873 to 1881, published the Effingham
Democrat, and served as Mayor of Effingham in 1882, and City Attorney in 1883 and
1884. After moving to Bloomington, Illinois, in 1884, he continued in the
newspaper trade, publishing the Bloomington
Daily and Weekly Bulletins. Elected to Congress in 1890, he served one
term, and in 1899 moved to Decatur, Illinois, where he managed the Decatur Herald, before going into the
insurance business in 1904, from which he retired in 1921.
His Masonic career was equally peripatetic and even more
distinguished. He was initiated on December 17, 1870, passed on January 21,
1871, and raised on February 28, 1871, at Watson Lodge No. 602, in Watson,
Illinois. He affiliated by demit to Effingham Lodge No. 149 in 1873, then by
demit to Wade Barney Lodge no. 512 in 1885, and then by demit to Macon Lodge
No. 8, in Decatur, in 1903; he remained a member of Macon No. 8 for the rest of
his life. He was elected Junior Grand Warden in 1889, and Grand Master in
1895. After his time in the Grand East,
he continued to serve the Grand Lodge on several committees, before being elected
Grand Secretary in 1921. He died in office on December 21, 1928, having
attended fifty-one consecutive Grand Communications.
Which brings us back to his announcement in 1927. Becoming a
Grand Officer of any kind is a remarkable achievement, and to be both Grand
Master and Grand Secretary is truly notable, but Brother Owen Scott thought it
important to announce his fifty years at Grand Lodge, as if it were more worthy
of special mention than his other accomplishments. And perhaps it was. His
fidelity to his trust, his constancy, and his willingness to serve were all
inherent in his traveling year after year to Chicago in service the Fraternity.
And he was not—is not—alone. Perhaps he was more distinguished than most
Brethren who continue to serve Freemasonry, and perhaps he was fortunate in
being able to attend without fail, but there have been and still are other
Brethren who make the trek year after year, serving Freemasonry with their time
and fidelity. Like Most Worshipful Brother Owen Scott, they are worthy of
admiration and emulation, not just for their work, but for their constancy.
They are the Masons who continue to show up to degrees, to work the pancake
breakfasts, to help with roadside cleanup, who attend schools of instruction,
and who cycle through the chairs over a long Masonic life. They’re the ones who
can be counted on. Like Brother Owen Scott, they serve. Like him, they deserve
our thanks.
~MHS
R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves
the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development
Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A
Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of
Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F
& AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. A Scottish Rite Mason, he is past
Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the
Valley of Danville, AASR-NMJ; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge
of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied
Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars
of Lebanon.The author of several articles on British history, he teaches
at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at:
m.h.shirley@gmail.com
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