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The Great Parade of the Nobles of Murat
By Paul Page
In 1882, the world was changing. The last bare-knuckled championship fight was held. Jesse James was shot in the back. In Indianapolis, John Brush decided on another project that would change the face of Indianapolis forever. Brush, who was raised to the sublime degree in New York, pulled five of his Masonic brothers together and traveled to Cincinnati to visit the sixth temple in Shrinedom, Syrian Temple, established February 6, 1877. They wanted a Shrine temple in Indianapolis. At the time there were 450 symbolic lodges in Indiana.
Right from the start, the Indianapolis Shrine was special. While we don't know why the name was chosen, our name was the first to not have Arabic origin. The founders chose the name of the son of an innkeeper in France who left theological studies at the outbreak of the French Revolution. His name was Joachim Murat (Mur-ah) and he became a general serving Napoleon in Italy and Egypt. He was so good he was proclaimed the king of Naples in 1808. In the Nubian Desert, there is also an oasis called Bir Murat the general visited often to refresh his soldiers. Actor Rene Auberjonois, most noted for his shape shifter roles in Star Trek, is General Murat's great-great-great grandson. Murat was executed by a firing squad after a failed attempt to regain control of Naples.
The country was finally developing a firm sense of unity and brotherhood. The great struggle that pitched state against state, brothers against brothers, and fathers against sons was behind the country by 10 years. Masons after the Civil War, as during the Revolution, played a role in forming the basic fabric of the country.
The heat of summer was beginning to leave New York City. Without any air conditioning, most fled the canyons of Manhattan for the cool breezes of the shore and Long Island during the dog days of August. But the start of school and the fall brought the crowds back downtown. The Masonic Hall at 114 East 13th near Union Square was beginning to resume Lodge meetings. Dr. Walter Fleming had an idea. He reasoned Masonry needed something in contrast to the serious ritual of the Blue Lodge. He saw a chance for Master Masons to gather with less ritual and more fun and even a libation now and then. September 26, 1872, he brought 13 brothers together to form the Ancient Accepted Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Many saw the Shrine as the playground of Masonry. They formed Mecca Temple and started a movement that would later become the greatest philanthropy in the world though that wasn't the plan at the time. The idea caught on and quickly 11 other temples formed.
Dr. Walter Felming
Indianapolis was a growing state capital. Union Station, which opened in 1853, made the city a crossroads with more than a hundred trains a day passing through. The Ober Building at 107 South Pennsylvania housed a large clothing store. The owner was a Freemason of considerable repute. John Brush was a dark haired, thin faced man with hooded eyes and fragile health. He served in the Union Artillery in the Civil War. Brush was a huge sports fan. He was the co-owner of the Indianapolis Red Stockings, the baseball team that would later become the Cincinnati Reds, and the New York Giants. He helped put forward the idea of a baseball championship. He persevered until the World Series became a reality. But he had a tough streak too. When the Giants won the 1904 NL pennant, Brush refused to allow his team to meet Boston's defending champions in the World Series due to his animosity toward Boston. A permanent agreement between the leagues was eventually made after meeting some of Brush's conditions, and the Giants won the 1905 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics.
By Boucher, Jack E.
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/in0069.photos.065104p, Public Domain,
In 1882, the world was changing. The last bare-knuckled championship fight was held. Jesse James was shot in the back. In Indianapolis John Brush decided on another project that would change the face of Indianapolis forever. Brush, who was raised to the sublime degree in New York, pulled five of his Masonic brothers together and traveled to Cincinnati to visit the sixth temple in Shrinedom, Syrian Temple, established February 6, 1877. They wanted a Shrine temple in Indianapolis. At the time there were 450 symbolic lodges in Indiana.
Brush, along with Henry McGaffey, Charles Meyer, Ted Pfafflin, and Cortez Holliday, met with Syrian Temple Potentate William Melish on November 17 and received the future Imperial Sir's full cooperation and support. That night the five crossed the Hot Sands and became nobles of Syrian Temple. The five then worked through the Scottish Rite and Raper Commandery #1 Knights Templar to make an Indianapolis Shrine a reality. In March of 1884, they received demits from Syrian Temple and a charter was issued to the new temple, the 17th in Shrinedom.
Right from the start, the Indianapolis Shrine was special. While we don't know why the name was chosen, our name was the first to not have Arabic origin. The founders chose the name of the son of an innkeeper in France who left theological studies at the outbreak of the French Revolution. His name was Joachim Murat (Mur-ah) and he became a general serving Napoleon in Italy and Egypt. He was so good he was proclaimed the king of Naples in 1808. In the Nubian Desert, there is also an oasis called Bir Murat the general visited often to refresh his soldiers. Actor Rene Auberjonois, most noted for his shape shifter roles in Star Trek, is General Murat's great-great-great grandson. Murat was executed by a firing squad after a failed attempt to regain control of Naples.
Murat was now a reality. Eight men signed the charter and elected John Brush the Potentate of Murat. Brush took the charter home and tucked it away. At the same time, Brush was serving in the Scottish Rite as Sovereign Inspector General 33¾. Brush had climbed the ladders of York Rite as well, being made a Sir Knight at Raper Commandery #1 in November of 1879. He also served as the Thrice Potent Master of the Adoniram Lodge of Perfection for two years. He was a Mason's Mason.The new temple was not ready to conduct its own ceremonial at first so the next 12 candidates were inducted without proper ceremony in October of 1884. At that time, it was necessary to be a 32¾ to enter the Shrine. A month later on November 21, 1884, 15 men were given the work as Murat's first ceremonial conducted by our mother temple, Syrian of Cincinnati, and Illustrious Sir Melish. The following spring, March 27 of 1885, Murat conducted its own ceremonial with 27 candidates. What a class it was. It became a predictor of Murat's greatness. General Lew Wallace, Civil War hero and author of Ben Hur, and later governor of the New Mexico Territory, was inducted along with Thomas Taggart, later a U.S. senator.
Nov. 15, 1884
Nov. 27, 1885
Once underway, it was hard to slow down. Brush and his Divan oversaw two more ceremonials that year in May and November. At the first annual meeting on December 18, Murat had 103 members and $75.58 in the bank. In 1886, 44 more had joined as Murat got ready to host its first Imperial Session. Regular meetings were held at the old Scottish Rite at the Townsley and Wiggans Pork House in the first block of South Pennsylvania.
The first Imperial Session to be held in Indianapolis may have started another Shrine tradition. Many of the out-of-town nobles stayed downtown at the Denison House Hotel between Delaware and Pennsylvania along with the Bates and the Grand, one of the top hotels in the city. On June 20, 1887, Murat nobles went to the hotel to escort the Imperial Potentate, Sam Briggs, to the Scottish Rite. The Murat men all wore Fezzes and were well dressed. The procession became more of a parade and was well covered by the newspapers. In his book Parade to Glory, Fred Van Deventer said that moment started the tradition of giant conventions and the Shrine Parade.
*Historical content referenced includes negative depictions of cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than ignore content of this type, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and, as in the teaching of Freemasonry, spark conversation to drive a more inclusive tomorrow.
June
Scottish Rite (old), and Majestic Building, 1906 (Bass #7268)
Bass Photo Co Collection, Indiana Historical Society.
Murat's tradition of service to mankind began that year. Yellow fever raced through Jacksonville, FL, and Murat nobles sent $100 to Morocco Temple to aid in its fight of the deadly fever. In 1890, Murat sent monetary help to Kosair Temple in Louisville, KY, for flood relief. Murat also sent aid to the victims of the Johnstown, PA, flood. At the same time, the strong relationship Murat has with the Indianapolis Fire Department began by supporting the Indianapolis Fireman's Fund. Murat was now 342 strong and continued to see men like U.S. Senator Harry New, who later was the Postmaster General, join Murat.
" There is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.” That sentence rang out at the Grand Opera House in the second block of N. Pennsylvania. Noble DeWolf Hopper, a famous Broadway actor who helped open the New York Music Hall, brought his troupe to town. He always closed with "Casey at the Bat,” a poem he recited publicly more than 10,000 times. It was March 14, 1893, and Murat began its relationship with theater as the crowd of nobles and ladies applauded the great player.
In its first years, Murat depended on other Masonic groups to help provide space for Shrine activities. The early years they met at the Scottish Rite at the Pork House in the 100 block of S. Pennsylvania. Just before three in the morning of November 3, 1894, a fire started in the offices of the Indiana Medical College* on the northeast corner of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Patrolman Cleary saw and reported the fire. Soon the flames broke through the walls into the Scottish Rite and by five that morning, all that was left was the front wall. Now the beautiful costumes and props were all lost in the blaze and Murat activities, including the ceremonial, were canceled. Very little was found in the ruins except a scimitar. It was later given to the insurance agent for the building.
Once underway, it was hard to slow down. Brush and his Divan oversaw two more ceremonials that year in May and November. At the first annual meeting on December 18, Murat had 103 members and $75.58 in the bank. In 1886, 44 more had joined as Murat got ready to host its first Imperial Session. Regular meetings were held at the old Scottish Rite at the Townsley and Wiggans Pork House in the first block of South Pennsylvania.
The first Imperial Session to be held in Indianapolis may have started another Shrine tradition. Many of the out-of-town nobles stayed downtown at the Denison House Hotel between Delaware and Pennsylvania along with the Bates and the Grand, one of the top hotels in the city. On June 20, 1887, Murat nobles went to the hotel to escort the Imperial Potentate, Sam Briggs, to the Scottish Rite. The Murat men all wore Fezzes and were well dressed. The procession became more of a parade and was well covered by the newspapers. In his book Parade to Glory, Fred Van Deventer said that moment started the tradition of giant conventions and the Shrine Parade.
Tomlinson Hall, 1903 (Bass #1726)
Bass Photo Co Collection, Indiana Historical Society.
The New York Giants baseball team was now occupying much of Potentate Brush's time. Over the objections of the nobles, Brush stepped down as Potentate in 1897. Chalmers Brown would take over as Illustrious Potentate and the nobility flourished. But the need for Murat to have a building of its own became more and more apparent as the 20th century dawned and Murat's membership climbed to more than 2,000 nobles.
In 1906, the world was rapidly changing. The Wright Brothers were granted a patent for a flying machine as President Theodore Roosevelt became the first sitting president to travel outside the United States, and the first legal forward pass was thrown in American football. In Indianapolis, a well respected attorney who had represented primarily railroads and was very active in Masonic orders appeared on the Murat scene. Elias J. Jacoby cut an impressive figure with bright eyes and a bushy but well trimmed moustache. Jacoby became the fifth Potentate of Murat in 1907 and set to work to provide the Indianapolis Shrine with a much needed home of its own. But first on his agenda was to find Murat's charter. After an extensive search, it was assumed the founding document was lost in the Pork House fire and a duplicate was arranged. In 1908, in the first of a series of purchases, the land on the northwest corner of Michigan and New Jersey Streets was acquired for $37,000. Noble Oscar D. Bohlen was directed to design a temple in the form of a mosque.
By March 13, 1909, the project was ready for construction. Three blocks west at North and Illinois Streets, the Grand Lodge of Indiana was under construction and out on the far west side, a two and a half mile race course was being finished with a surface of crushed stone and tar, due for opening in August. This day just may have been the biggest in Murat history as the nobles celebrated their 25th anniversary and laid the cornerstone for their new temple. Shriners from other cities poured into the city and headed for the German House, now the Athenaeum, to kick off the party. Murat's old friends from Syrian Temple were there including now Past Imperial Sir Melish who as Potentate at Syrian helped get Murat started. The Grand Lodge of Indiana opened and the Murat nobles, along with the Arab Band and Patrol, escorted the Most Worshipful Grand Master Walter O. Bragg and Grand Lodge officers to the Murat site.
At noon a copper box was carefully prepared to be sealed in the cornerstone. Inside were photographs of the officers and members and the newspapers of the day. Letters from most of the other temples in Shrinedom were placed in the box along with photographs of views of the city. The box was sealed and brought to the corner. It still remains inside the cornerstone. No date was given to open the time capsule.
Waiting for the ceremony to begin were representatives of Antioch Temple in Dayton, Medinah of Chicago, Kosair from Louisville, and the Imperial Potentate Edwin I. Alderman. The band from Syrian Temple played and the cornerstone was laid in the same form Masons had used to lay the cornerstone for the National Capitol and many other historic buildings—using corn, wine, and oil and a silver plated trowel. The trowel hangs at Murat. That night, back at the German House, the celebration continued. The headline speaker was Noble Charles W. Fairbanks, former vice president of the United States.
The building was finished in just under a year at a cost of $200,000. The theater opened on February 28, 1910, with the Schubert Organization of New York leasing the property and, as became the tradition, the Murat nobles and ladies were treated to opening night. The main entrance and marquee was on New Jersey Street a few feet north of Michigan. The theater seated 1,950. Broadway came to Indy with the Ziegfeld Follies and many wonderful shows. The performers all loved the style and, more importantly, the acoustics at Murat. The theater was formally dedicated May 16, 1910, followed by a ceremonial with 190 candidates.
By September, the ballroom in the basement was ready and the nobles and their ladies joined the fun. It was the largest such room in the city. It was a great time to be a Shriner.
John Brush, the founding Potentate and the only person to single-handedly stop a World Series, passed to the Unseen Temple. His widow was clearing out her husband's things when she came upon a parchment roll. The lost charter of Murat had been found! Our first Potentate had carefully preserved this key document. Now the temple had two charters but Mrs. Brush was committed to seeing the original that her husband worked so hard to make a reality be properly displayed. She took it to Noble Alfred B. Lyon. Lyon restored the document and encased it in an elaborate frame, and it still hangs in the temple 125 years later.
By 1913, his work on the temple complete, Elias Jacoby passed the office of Potentate to Denton F. Billingsley. That same year the federal income tax was approved. And the world was getting the first hints of a European war with action in the Balkans. By August of the following year, Germany declared war on France and WWI begins. Murat nobles worked hard to sell Liberty Bonds. By 1917, the U.S. declared war on Germany and joined in the Great War. Imperial Shrine Sessions were subdued in keeping with the national attention to the war.
Murat Temple, interior, 1915 (Bass #43392F)
Bass Photo Co Collection, Indiana Historical Society.
Shriners parade, New Jersey street scene, 1919 (Bass #66873-F)
Bass Photo Co Collection, Indiana Historical Society.
The war to end all wars saw many Shriners put down their working tools to pick up a rifle. Noble Eddie Rickenbacker left town to be a driver for Noble and General Black Jack Pershing. Brother Mark Wayne Clark began his path toward four stars and a place in history. Noble Omar Bradley was commanding the Infantry School at Fort Benning, and Noble Douglas MacArthur was helping form the Rainbow Division. The war all but stopped the activities of the Shrine with subdued Imperial Sessions. While proper to do so, it saddened Elias Jacoby who had been moving up the Imperial line and was due to be Imperial Sir in 1919.
It was the morning of November 11, 1918, and Jacoby was on business in New Orleans. Outside his hotel window church bells began to ring, horns honked and people cheered. The report was "All quiet on the Western Front." The war to end all wars was over. Jacoby jumped on the phone and began changing plans for the Imperial Session to be held in Indy in June of the following year.
The word went out officially on February 1, 1919. Elias Jacoby wanted to return the nobles of the Mystic Shrine to the fun of the pre-war days. His motto was "Shake with Jake." Jake invited every band, patrol, and noble to come to Indiana and parade for the Glory of the Shrine and Masonry. The nobles responded. The post-war euphoria helped set the stage for two of the most important events in Shrine history, and they happened under Murat's jurisdiction in Indianapolis.
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June 9, the old Union Station, that now saw the passing of more than 200 trains a day, was bustling with the arrival of Shriners. The old National Road brought an assortment of cars from the East and West, and U.S. 31 was jammed from the North and South. Jake's Imperial session was getting underway. It seemed like there was a band or some form of entertainment on every corner. The red Fez was everywhere. Every participating temple brought something new to the city.
Jake also decided on a night parade. As it stepped off, 5,000 nobles in costume and 2,000 others in Fezzes and regalia began what was to be called "THE PARADE." Just try and imagine the moment—cheering crowds, happy nobles and their ladies, wonderful colors, and endless entertainment. When it was over, the Indianapolis News reported, "There are conventions and conventions but only one Shiners' Convention. It is unique, unsurpassed and unsurpassable, inimitable, incomparable, sovereign, unparalleled, supreme." While the parties rolled on, Imperial got down to the business of the session out at the fairgrounds. As the end of business was approaching, Philip D. Gordon, a noble from Karnak Temple in Montreal, offered the suggestion that the Shrine do some humanitarian work. That short offering, without any discussion or debate, would grow into the establishment of the then Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children. The new Imperial Sir, W. Freeland Kendrick from Lu Lu Temple and mayor of Philadelphia, picked up the idea and ran with it. In 1922, the first hospital was opened in Shreveport, LA.
With the great show at the 1919 session and the hospitals a dedicated humanitarian purpose, the Shrine grew even more. Potentate John E. Milner bought more ground adjacent to the temple and theater for a great ballroom. Jake Jacoby's daughter, Helen Eaton Jacoby, had a knack for décor and began work with architects Rubush & Hunter to build the new addition. Helen conceived an Egyptian motif in keeping with the Arabic themes of the Shrine. She saw and created the Egyptian Room with hieroglyphics and drawings found in ancient palaces and tombs near Thebes. Part of the newly decorated Murat opened on December 15, 1922, and the rest was dedicated March 24 the following year. A great historical moment occurred between the design and the opening. While work was being completed at Murat, thousands of miles away Lords Carter and Carnarvon discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen in Egypt. It was the only such tomb that had not been pillaged and produced great treasure. The Egyptian style was now in fashion. But Helen Jacoby figured it out well before the discovery. Murat was a fashion plate.
The twenties ushered in Prohibition. A Shriner without a drink was not possible. Many made bathtub beer. Several Indiana counties totally ignored the new amendment and produced some fine sippin'. Noble Eddie Rickenbacker, who earned the Medal of Honor in the Great War, bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The new Scottish Cathedral opened at the corner of North and Meridian Streets in 1928. In 1929, with the crash of the stock market and the Hoover Depression, the country slowed. The nobles decided to start Starlight Musicals to provide a distraction from so many losing their jobs. Again the winds of war were blowing around the world. The pace of Masonry in general slowed as the men and leaders of the time focused on more important duties.