The Gallery Lodge

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On 4^th September 2025, Bloomsbury Rifles Lodge met at Mark Masons’ Hall.

Whilst the meeting was not unfamiliar to any English Masons, towards the end of the meeting W Bro Adrian Hodgson rose and recounted the following historic story of the connection between The Statue of Liberty, Freemasons and this Lodge.

On the windswept and rain-soaked Island of Bedloe in the Upper Bay off the Shoreline of Manhattan, on the 5^th July 1884, RW Bro John Vrooman, Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of New York, took post for the laying of the cornerstone of a massive pediment.

The US Army band played and then the working tools were presented to the MW Bro William Brodie, Grand Master, who in turn, presented them to the Wardens, RW Bro John W. Vrooman, Senior Grand Warden; and RW Bro James Ten Eyck, Junior Grand Warden.

A copper box was secreted under the cornerstone; containing a list, on parchment, of the Grand Lodge Masons of New York, 20 bronze medals of the American Presidents, all the current newspapers and a specially written poem entitled "Liberty". A newspaper report the next day said, "By traditional ceremony, the cornerstone was then tested, and being found Square, Level, and Plumb, the Deputy Grand Master RW Frank R. Lawrence, completed the work by applying the mortar and having the stone firmly lowered into place.

The Grand Master then struck three blows with the Gavel and declared the stone duly laid. The elements of consecration, corn, wine and oil, were next presented by RW Brothers Lawrence, Vrooman and Ten Eyck and scattered; and addresses were given by various Senators, the Grand Master and the Governor.

The Most Worshipful Grand Master posed the question: “Why call upon the Masonic Fraternity to lay the cornerstone of such a structure as is here to be erected?”

His answer was: “No institution has done more to promote liberty and to free men from the trammels and chains of ignorance and tyranny than has Freemasonry.”

The Statue of Liberty was still to come. Dismantled in Paris, every copper plate, beam & section was numbered & coded. 350 huge, separate sections were packed into 214 cases; and the whole shipment carried on a special 70-car train to the coast. It was craned onto the ship "Isere", and after a month at sea, arrived at Bedloe's Island in June 1885. It took 15 months to assemble the 125 tons of internal steel support columns and to clad them with the 80 tons of copper sheeting, 3/32 of an inch thick, the whole structure being bolted & riveted together. 300,000 rivets were used and the whole external structure weighed just over 100 tons.

Unveiling day was 28th October 1886 – over 10 years late. A public holiday was granted but sadly, the weather was again rainy & foggy too! But the spirits of the more than one million people lining the streets and shores in the bunting and tricolour decorated area could not be dampened. A parade of more than 20,000 passed through New York, led by the Grand Marshall and including many Masonic Lodges. As the parade passed, the office boys in Wall Street, the only area of the city working that day, unreeled hundreds of spools of "ticker" tape from the windows. It was the very first New York ticker-tape parade.

Freemasons everywhere can be humble in the knowledge of the part that our Fraternity had in the creation and erection of this remarkable structure, and each should recall his vows and obligations to further spread the light of Freedom, Truth, Tolerance, and Justice, which the Statue of Liberty and Freemasonry so grandly symbolise.

During an official visit to London in 1890, Most Worshipful Bro. John W Vrooman, now Grand Master of New York, accompanied by the Chairman of the Trustees and Chief Commissioner of Appeals, was invited to a Lodge consecration.

The minutes of the first ever meeting, 9th July 1890, record the following:

“The WM then rose and said a most pleasing task was now before him and nothing could give him more satisfaction than to propose as the first act of the Bloomsbury Rifles Lodge that they should elect as Honorary Members the GM of New York (recorded in the minute book as Bro. John Vrooman) and the two Officers who accompanied him. This having been unanimously carried, the WM addressed the GM of New York and said he had the greatest possible pleasure in welcoming him as the first elected member of the Lodge.”

Unfortunately, it appears that in October 1894, the Founders’ Jewel presented to MW Bro Vrooman was destroyed in a fire. In writing to the Lodge, he requested to obtain a replacement at his own costs and the Lodge arranged for a replacement to be sent out along with the best wishes of the Lodge for his personal safety.

On a balmy May afternoon in 2025, a young Kentuckian Mason, Bro Jason Rudder, of McKee Lodge No144 and Lexington Lodge No 1, was wandering the shops and stores in Columbus, Ohio. He happened to browse the display case in the Heritage Square Antique Mall. There, among forgotten treasures and relics of a bygone era, something caught his eye. It was a tarnished silver Masonic breast jewel with a tattered ribbon, beautifully crafted and radiating a sense of history that spoke to him from across the display.

Upon closer inspection, he saw it was a jewel of Bloomsbury Rifles Lodge No 2362. But it was the inscription on the back that revealed the story of its profound significance. It was presented to the Most Worshipful Brother John W. Vrooman, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York, in commemoration of his visit to the Lodge’s consecration on 9th July 1890.

Standing there in that quiet shop, an American Mason from Kentucky, holding a piece of English Masonic history, Brother Rudder recounts “I knew in my heart that I could not allow it to simply sit and gather dust, forgotten in that display case. I felt a deep compulsion to rescue it – to ensure its journey and its story were preserved. My first thought, therefore, was not ownership, but stewardship. My first question was, does this Lodge still exist?"

“I immediately set out to discover if the light of Bloomsbury Rifles Lodge was still burning brightly. When I confirmed that you were, indeed, still active, I felt it was my duty to reach out. I wanted the Brethren of this Lodge to know that their history had been found, that it was safe and that I considered myself merely its temporary guardian. I gave my solemn promise that it would remain protected under my watch, and that if ever given the opportunity, I would see it returned to its rightful home.”

“That opportunity arose in the form of your Summons for September’s meeting. When it arrived, I knew the time had come. I knew I had to do everything in my power to make this journey, to cross the ocean, and to fulfill the promise I had made not just to myself but to the history this jewel represents. So without even having a passport, I booked flights, lodging and contacted my own Grand Lodge to make the official introductions.”

The journey of this jewel, from London to New York, its subsequent travels unknown, and its eventual discovery in a quiet corner of America, is a story in itself. But its final journey is the most important. A piece of history like this does not truly belong to an individual; it belongs to the institution it represents. It belongs to all Brothers.

In open Lodge, Brother Rudder returned the Jewel once lost, back home and concludes “on behalf of all those who have safeguarded this treasure, knowingly or not, over 135 years, I had the distinct honor and privilege of completing its journey from East to West, and back again. I was not giving you a gift, but rather, restoring a piece of your heritage. I felt it was my obligation to return it home.”

One can only imagine the awe that the night’s initiate, Bro Philip Tieu, will have felt having undertaken his first step in Freemasonry to see an American Brother undertake a 5,000 mile journey to return a 135 year old piece of Lodge history, reflecting one of the superpowers of Freemasonry.

This article is part of Arena Magazine Issue 59 – Christmas 2025.
Arena Magazine is the official online magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in Arena Issue 59 here.

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