Liberty-Pickering Lodge #219

Ancient Free and Accepted

Masons
Liberty-Pickering #219 is composed from the
membership of three different Lodges which
have merged together over the last few
years. Each Lodge has brought very real
assets to the table, giving the Lodge a true
sense of History, Community, and Fraternity.
The most recent merger was with the eldest
of these three Lodges, Adherence #88.
Adherence #88 AF&AM formed on January
tenth in 1846 and as such is rich in history.
This Lodge has records dating back to 1852
and at a glance you see that its membership
filled the office of Most Worshipful Grand
Master three times. Charter Member of

world, Freemasonry still requires a man to

be free born, so as to be free from improper
solicitation. If you are going to make
application to join you should seriously
consider your motives. Do you have a desire
for knowledge? Do you have any mercenary
of financial motives? Am I just curious? The
right answers are obvious to the mind of
anyone, but ask yourself is your heart truly
upright.

is a well-known figure in our century. His son

John H.B.Latrobe was a prolific artist, writer,
and engineer. With a full military career, he
practiced law, and served in several
government jobs for the state of Maryland
such as Chairman of Public Parks,
Commissioner of Maryland, and Counsel for
Foreign Creditors. H.B.Latrobe was the first
Grand Master to serve in the Temple on
Charles Street and also sired a Major of this
city, Ferdinand C. Latrobe.

factors. Applicants must have attained 18

years of age, although there are youth
organizations for young people who are
interested. Belief in some type of Supreme
Being is essential to Masonry and its moral
system. In Lodge a Christian, a Jew, a
Muslim, a Rational Deist and persons of any
other faith can all sit together in reverence
of the same Creator. Masonry is designed
specifically NOT to interfere with Religion or
Politics, and strives only for Truth and Light.

A closer look at the records show that

Adherence was instrumental in the
formation of certain Maryland Masonic Laws
and in 1903 appears the first known record
of a Ladies Night

It cannot be too strongly emphasized that

Freemasonry is not a benefit Society,
although the practice of charity is a
fundamental virtue taught in Freemasonry.
We do not pay so much a year to entitle us
to draw sick pay or other benefits, or to
make provisions for those we leave behind.

Liberty-Pickering and Adherence were both

There are excellent societies founded for

this purpose.
Loyalty to ones country is an essential
qualification in Freemasonry, and only those
are acceptable who conform to legal
authority. Disloyalty to your country or state
is against the basic teachings of
Freemasonry.
It is desirable that the Candidate to a
Maryland lodge has resided in the state of
Maryland for at least one full year. In special
cases the state in which the Candidate
resides will grant a waiver and let him join in
another state. We would like all of our
Brothers, as well as our Lodges to be active
in their respective communities.
Although it may seem antiquated in todays
todaworld,

Adherence, Dr. Charles H. Ohr, later became

Grand Master and during his term, the
Grand Lodge of Maryland carved a stone
bearing the mark Charles H. Ohr M.D.,
M.W.G.M. Today this stone is part of the
Washington Monument in D.C.
John Summerfield Berry, a very active
member of Adherence #88, was the
Baltimore County Delegate to the Maryland
General Assembly, where he was also
Speaker of the House. Mr. Berry was
appointed to serve as Adjutant General
during the years when the Maryland
National Guard was formed and was Most
Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in
Maryland during the Civil War.
Benjamin H. Latrobe, Architect of the Capitol

Reading a screenplay of a famous persons

biography is simply not the same as being
that person.
Bear in mind that this is the opinion of the
writer, who loves our ritual. Every Brother
has a different opinion as to what the
Fraternity is and does.

meeting at the Masonic Temple in Hunt

Valley on the same night of the month for
years. On January first 2012 Adherence
merged with Liberty-Pickering.

Entry to the Fraternity is limited by a few key

One Year prior, on January first 2011, Liberty

Lodge #219 and Pickering Lodge #146
merged. Pickering Lodge was formed on
March 31st 1869 and named in honor of
Brother Samuel Pickering who left a
charitable donation in his will, of $25,000, to
the Grand Lodge of Maryland. Pickering held
its meetings in Mount Washington until
1870 when it moved to Woodberry and in
1884 established itself permanently in
Hampden. Until the Annexation Act in 1888
these three communities were in Baltimore

heard to date usually centers around

Brotherly Love. I have formed friendships I
know will last a lifetime the newer mason
says. I made these friends a lifetime ago
an older Brother said. Some Brothers are
very hip to the social events. I always
enjoyed formal events, but never enjoyed
the company, until I started going to events
at Lodges. The Galas and Balls I have been to
with the various Masonic Organizations,
have been to me, among the best times of
my life (My wife likes them too!) Some
Brothers enjoy less formal events such as
crab feasts or bull roasts. Family events are
held for the smaller children and our Youth
Organizations are run by the kids who
belong to them, with minimal oversight by
parents. All Masonic Organizations support
some type of charity. Charity is an important

1992, he decided to start stringing lights

across the block. That single city block in
Hampden has become a world-famous
destination during the holiday season. If
you look closely on Bobs porch you see the
Square and Compasses, to let brother
masons know they are visiting a friend.
More recently Liberty-Pickering has, in
conjunction with MDCHIP, sponsored a child
I.D. program at Hampdens Honfest. Any
parent who wishes can receive a CD-Rom
with fingerprint, voiceprint, and
photographs of their child as well as a DNA
cheek swab. The CHIP, or child I.D. pack
goes home with the parents, and is there
sole property. In the event a child is missing,
the I.D. can be given over to law
enforcement; it is already designed to work
in conjunction.

Joining the Order

Until relatively recent times it was not wellknown that a candidate had to ask to join.
After a few generations of sons waiting for
their fathers to ask, and of course the father
could not, the ASK12B1 program started.

County. In 1901, when most of the City

Lodges were asked to move to the Charles
Street Temple, Pickering met there.
Remember in 1901, Brothers were mostly
walking from Woodberry to Downtown and
back. In the 1980s Pickering moved to the
Temple at Hunt Valley.
As stated above Pickering established itself
permanently in Hampden. With the merger
into Liberty-Pickering the connection to the
Community of Hampden grows stronger.
Past Master Jon T. Kerr has been running the
Mayors Christmas Parade for the past 39
years. In 2011 the Grand Lodge of Maryland
won the Mayors Trophy for best marching
unit in the parade. . Past Master Robert L.
Hosier has been decorating his house for
Christmas since he was eleven years old. In

premise behind Masonry. The feeling of

acceptance I have received upon entering
another Lodge is unparalleled by any of my
other travels.
All of these are good answers to the big
question, but it seems to me you can do
most of these things elsewhere. The truth
not a lot of Brothers speak of, yet every
Brother knows very well is simple. We Have
a Ritual. The three degrees of symbolic
masonry touched me deeply, that is why
today I am an officer of the lodge today and
honored to serve as such. Few parts of this
Ritual are actually secret, and rightly kept
as secret. Our ritual is a simple play
wherein the candidate is involved. If you
have read the script or seen the play before,
it does not make quite the same impression.

1992, he

Liberty Lodge #219 instituted on November

19th 1930 was the last AF&AM Lodge formed
in Baltimore City until 2012. Even though in
terms of Freemasonry, we think of Liberty as
a newer lodge it was instituted when
money was scarce, due to the depression. In
1930, right before Libertys first meeting,
Pluto was discovered and named a planet.
The Zippo lighter was introduced, later than
Liberty Lodge. Today lodge officers think
about how hard the Brothers of the 1930s
must have worked, without cell phones,
photocopiers, computers or email. It is easy
to forget that in the generations
immediately preceding there were no
phones, no typewriters, no cars, and regular
addresses were not in use everywhere.
Liberty is dedicated to its ritual work with a

great deal of passion. On one occasion it

raised 20 Fellowcrafts to the Sublime Degree
of Master Mason in a single day, in full-form.
Stephen J. Ponzillo III, currently Most
Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in
Maryland was Raised in and is a member of
Liberty. Stephens father Stephen J. Ponzillo
Jr. was also Grand Master, and the founding
father of our Library and Museum. This is
the first time Maryland has had a father and
son serve in the office as Most Worshipful
Grand Master.
THE BIG FAQ
The question every non-mason, and most
new masons ask: What do we do? Every
Brother asked has a different answer to this
question. The most common answer I have