In 2001, the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library purchased this impressive assemblage of tintypes and ambrotypes of members of an unidentified Mason lodge from a Massachusetts antiques dealer. Each of the photographs is displayed in its own individual frame within the larger frame that measures 21 ¾ by 38 ¼ inches. The names and ages of the men pictured are written on the reverse of almost every photograph in the frame. Many of the men’s cheeks were tinted pink—as was commonly found in photographs of this era. At the center of the collection of images is a photograph of a Bible topped with the Masonic square and compasses. According to the seller, the framed portraits dated from the 1860s and likely originated from a New Hampshire lodge. In the past year, research volunteer Robert Brown uncovered the story behind this photograph.
To initially identify where the photographed men were from, Bob checked the names on the back of the photographs against U.S. Federal Census data from 1860-1880. The search revealed that fifty-two of the fifty-six men photographed lived near Peterborough, New Hampshire, around the time the portraits were taken. The ages noted on the photographs, when compared to the ages of the men as recorded in the census helped to date the images to between 1860 and 1863.
One Masonic lodge met in Peterborough in the 1860s—Altemont Lodge No. 26. Eleven of the names on the back of the photographs matched up with the names of members of Altemont Lodge noted in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire, suggesting that the collection of photographs portrayed members of that lodge. Chartered in Dublin, New Hampshire, in 1815, the lodge moved to Peterborough in 1827. The lodge did not meet from 1833 to 1840, but revived in 1848. By the early 1860s the lodge appeared to be doing well. In minutes preserved at the Peterborough Library, the lodge secretary recorded “remarks from several Brothers in regard to having our miniatures taken and placed in the Lodge Room,” in March of 1861. At the next meeting, members agreed to pay for a “Miniature Frame” out of lodge funds and approved a motion that “every Master Mason in regular standing in town”—be they a member of Altemont Lodge or not—“be invited to deposit their Ambrotypes with those of the Brothers of the Lodge.” The frame cost the lodge $7. Members paid for their own photographs displayed within the frame. To have their portraits taken, lodge members may have worked with George H. Scripture, a Peterborough photographer. Raised in Soughegan Lodge in Masonville, New Hampshire, Scripture’s own portrait appears in the frame.He joined Altemont Lodge in 1865.
Though we do not know what prompted the brethren of Altemont Lodge to assemble their portraits, they doubtless displayed their collected portraits with pride when they moved into a new meeting room in the new Peterborough Town Hall in 1864. Their preserved photographs help tell the story of their lodge and are an unusual example of a Masonic portrait.
Photographs of 64 Members of Altemont Lodge No. 26, 1861-1863. Peterborough, New Hampshire. Museum Purchase, 2001.063.
Photograph by David Bohl.
To view the photograph in detail visit our flickr page at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalsrmml/albums/72157655910817021
Many thanks to research volunteer Robert Brown, David Simpson and Bob Coppo of Altemont Lodge, Peterborough Public Library and the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire for their help with this project.
