Masonic books ?

[Keith]

These are Masonic books that belonged to my wife's great grandfather.We do not know anything about the Mason's,however i thought it was an interesting find.One of them says it is the Judicial Laws Decisions and Digests Grand Lodge of Mississippi 1914.

The small blue one is titled Blue Lodge Text Book Mississippi 1919.
1919 was the year that her great grandfather was accepted into the Masons.

Just wondering if you think they had any collectors value?Thanks for any information that anyone could give.

God bless,Keith

[railman44]

Masonic items, like any fraternal items, are really only worth something to a person who is a member.  He should have been buried in his Masonic apron. 

[Keith]

Thanks railman,that's interesting to know(the fact he should have been buried in the apron).The family also kept the apron of his son.They have all passed on now,so there is no one that i could ask that would know why.
Keith

[Tim]

The family would have had to request a masonic burial service from the lodge. A lot of Masons sometimes tend to drift away from the lodge as they get older, hence your grandfather or the the family may not have requested a masonic service and the apron stays stored away.

The Tylertown lodge or other Mississippi lodges may be interested in the literature. There are collectors of such.

[Keith]

Thanks for the reply,Tim.If my wife ever decides to let it go,that would be something to consider.

Keith

[KC]

Many men were involved with the Masons over the years and there has been a lot of controversy about the exact makeup of the group (beliefs, group structure, loyalty system).  That's neither here nor there now.

But, more interestingly is that many wives and families became very jealous of the time spent away and the "secrets" that were kept as a part of this organization.  You need to think of the era which the great grandfather lived. Thus, there have been many buried that their families intentionally didn't request a masonic service and most likely didn't know about the burial of the apron.  Apparently they weren't so opposed to it to keep it around and may have kept it for family history.  (One of my grandfathers was a Mason and stories like these did occur more often than thought!)