By T.S. Akers
Clarence Brain
(Courtesy of Cyrus Chapter No. 7, Royal Arch Masons)
Those actively seeking further light in Masonry are likely familiar with the names of Masonic scholars today. These are the men that write prolifically on the topic, ranging from books, to articles, and even blogs. These are the men who travel the Masonic speaking circuit. These are the men who often provide sound bites for the occasional documentary on Freemasonry, even the dubious ones. Oklahoma has been fortunate to claim several of these Masonic scholars as residents. Clarence Brain was one such scholar who was active in the Golden Age of Fraternalism.
Brain was
born in Rowan County, Kentucky on 13 June 1875. He made his way to the Indian
Territory in the employ of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad as a train
operator.[i] The M-K-T Railroad, often
referred to as the Katy owing to its stock symbol being the letters K-T, was
formed in 1870. The Katy operated rail lines west of the Mississippi and
crossed the Red River into Texas in 1872, five years before any railroad
arrived in San Antonio.[ii] Brain would remain with
the Katy until 1920, holding the position of dispatcher at Lehigh, in Coal
County, and later chief dispatcher at Oklahoma City. Upon leaving the railroad,
Brain entered the insurance profession in Oklahoma City, retiring in 1947.[iii] During that period, he
served as a field representative for the Paul Revere Life Insurance Company.[iv]
While
working in Lehigh, Brain took the degrees of Freemasonry in Savanna Lodge No.
20 in 1901.[v] Savanna Lodge No. 20 would
eventually consolidate with Coalgate Lodge No. 211 in 1925.[vi] Southeastern Oklahoma was,
in many regards, the “cradle of life” for early Freemasonry and it was there
that Brain began to pursue the higher degrees of Freemasonry. He was exalted to
the august degree of the Holy Royal Arch in Savanna Chapter No. 4, also at
Lehigh, in 1901.[vii]
That particular chapter of Royal Arch Masons was still quite young, having only
been chartered in 1886.[viii]
A new
Masonic order to the Indian Territory at the time included the degrees of Royal
& Select Master. On 5 November 1883, a dispensation to form a Council of
Royal & Select Masters was granted to Companions at Atoka.[ix] The driving force behind
this was Joseph S. Murrow, who had received the Cryptic degrees in Texas.[x] Oklahoma Council No. 1, as
it was styled, was duly chartered in 1886.[xi] For several years the
Council of Royal and Select Masters at Atoka was in effect a Grand Body of
itself, holding jurisdiction over all of Indian Territory.[xii] It was under the
jurisdiction of Oklahoma Council No. 1 that Brain received the degrees of Royal
& Select Master in 1902.[xiii]
Brain’s
career ultimately took him to Oklahoma City. He was dubbed and created a Knight
of the Temple in 1917 in Oklahoma Commandery No. 3.[xiv] Brain would soon
transfer his other York Rite memberships to Oklahoma City, joining with Cyrus
Chapter No. 7, Royal Arch Masons and Alpha Council No. 18, Royal & Select
Masters in 1918.[xv]
It was in Oklahoma City that Brain began to enter the circles of Masonic
leadership. Brain served as High Priest of Cyrus Chapter No. 7 in 1923.[xvi] He presided over
Oklahoma Commandery No. 3 as Eminent Commander in 1924.[xvii] Brain next attained the
office of Illustrious Master of Alpha Council No. 18 in 1926 and was installed
as Grand Steward at the 32nd Annual Assembly of the Grand Council of
Royal & Select Masters that same year.[xviii] He would go on to
serve as Worshipful Master of Oklahoma City Lodge No. 36 in 1928.[xix]
Past Commander Jewel of Clarence Brain
(From the collections of the McAlester Scottish Rite)
Brain took
the degrees of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry at Guthrie on 20 November 1919.[xx] He later affiliated with
the Valley of McAlester in 1936.[xxi] Brain was also a member
of India Shrine of Oklahoma City, having become a Noble of the Mystic Shrine in
1918.[xxii]
Brain was a
collector of Masonic rituals; his entire collection was gifted to the McAlester
Scottish Rite Valley. It is noted that among Brain’s collection was a ritual
hand written by Albert Pike himself, the location of this manuscript is not
presently known.[xxiii]
Prior to 1932, the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Oklahoma was using a
ritual prescribed by the General Grand Chapter. One version of the ritual, this
from the Brain collection, was the Signet
of Royal Arch Masonry published in 1896 by A.J. Hendricks and Frederic
Speed. The General Grand Chapter’s ritual was by no means popular in Oklahoma
and in 1931 a committee was appointed for the purpose of writing a new ritual,
Brain was ultimately made chairman.[xxiv] The committee returned
a ritual that was met with approval by the Companions of Oklahoma the following
year, a ritual that mostly remains unchanged today. Brain would ultimately spend
fifteen years as chairman of the ritual committee for the Grand Chapter of
Oklahoma.[xxv]
When the
chair degree of Thrice Illustrious Master was established for those who had
presided over a Council of Royal & Select Masters, Brain was instrumental in
bringing the degree to Oklahoma.[xxvi] Brain’s dedication to
Freemasonry in Oklahoma was first rewarded by the Grand Council of Royal &
Select Masters. He was elected Illustrious Grand Master of that order in 1930.[xxvii] Brain took office
following the Crash of 1929 and the gravity of the situation was not lost on
him. In his remarks to the Craft he stated:
It is unnecessary to call your
attention to the unusual and unprecedented depression which has hung over our
country and state during the greater part of the year. Many of you come from
localities where it has been apparent to the must unobserving. For these
reasons, I have hesitated to spend the funds of the Grand Council without
seeing the hope of benefit or permanent results.
Brain went
on to recommend that the Grand Council consider reducing or remitting the dues
owed by the constituent Councils so that they might survive.[xxviii]
The first
part of the Twentieth Century saw the proliferation of numerous invitational
Masonic orders. Brain’s love for ritual would lead him to achieve membership in
most. The Grand College of America of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests
was formed in 1933 in North Carolina.[xxix] This highly selective
order, limited to thirty-three members in each tabernacle, soon spread across
the United States. Brain would become one of the charter members of Joseph of
Arimathea Tabernacle No. 4 in Oklahoma.[xxx] He would in time serve
as Grand Preceptor of the Grand College of America in 1940.[xxxi]
The Grand
College of Rites was formed in 1932 for the purpose of publishing rituals of
long defunct Masonic orders. It was the Egyptian Masonic Rite of Memphis which surrendered
its sovereignty to form the Grand College of Rites, Brain had become a member
of the Egyptian Rite sometime prior.[xxxii] Brain’s membership in
the newly formed College of Rites fit quite well with his prolific ritual
collecting. The Grand College of Rites would eventually honor Brain by electing
him Grand Chancellor in 1946.[xxxiii]
Other orders
in which Brain became involved included the whimsical Order of the Bath, which
he joined in 1940.[xxxiv] He was also a member
of the Royal Order of Scotland, an invitational body associated with the
Scottish Rite.[xxxv]
A number of these Masonic orders began meeting together in Washington, DC,
officially in 1938, but had loosely convened together as early as 1932. The
weeklong series of meetings, dubbed Masonic Week is convened annually in
February.[xxxvi]
The 1940s
were a very busy period for Brain. While he was serving the Holy Royal Arch
Knight Templar Priests as their national presiding officer, he was also
progressing through the offices of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of
Oklahoma. In 1941, Brain was elected Grand High Priest of Oklahoma.[xxxvii] Brain’s tenure as Illustrious
Grand Master of Royal & Select Masters was beset with a depression. His
tenure as Grand High Priest would see the United States enter into the Second
World War. Brain’s remarks upon being elected to office where almost prophetic.
He noted:
If adversity or misfortune should
befall us, let us never be discouraged but rest secure in the knowledge that we
are, in fact, triumphant. Let us subscribe to the idea that there is a mutual
dependence between ourselves and all of our branches and agree, wholeheartedly,
with a Grand Master of England who said a century ago: “The great power of
Masonry is example and the chain extends from the highest to the lowest, and if
one link shall break, the whole is endangered. Equity is our Principle, Honor
our guide, and my recommendation always is Order, Regularity, and Observance of
Masonic duties.”[xxxviii]
Past High Priest Jewel of Clarence Brain
(From the collections of the McAlester Scottish Rite)
Brain’s
national Masonic career would continue to grow. It is interesting to consider
that while Oklahoma rejected the adopted ritual of the General Grand Chapter of
Royal Arch Masons, Brain found himself serving on the Ritual Committee of the
General Grand Chapter, becoming chairman in 1944.[xxxix] He would go on to
serve the General Grand Council of Royal & Select Masters as General Grand
Steward from 1945-1948.[xl] While Brain was serving
as Grand Chancellor of the College of Rites, he would receive one of the
highest honors in Masonry. The Society of Blue Friars was formed in 1932 to
honor Masonic authors. With membership being limited to twenty individuals, it
is one of the most exclusive Masonic groups.[xli] Only three Oklahoman’s
have been inducted into the Society of Blue Friars, Brain would become the
first in 1946.[xlii]
The following year, Brain, who was quite ill, was invested with the Knight
Commander of the Court of Honor designation in the Scottish Rite at his home in
Oklahoma City.[xliii]
In his time,
Clarence Brain was known throughout the Masonic world. He laid down his working
tools on 3 March 1951. He was survived in death by his wife Emma Carolyn
Tennent, the two had married in 1903.[xliv] Mrs. Brain herself was
active in the Daughters of the American Revolution and had helped organize the
Social Order of the Beauceant in Oklahoma, an organization for the wives of
Knights Templar.[xlv]
Brain was laid to rest in Memorial Park Cemetery of Oklahoma City.[xlvi]
[i] “Brain, Clarence” (member profile, McAlester
Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite).
[ii] Hugh Hemphill, “Missouri Kansas Texas,” Texas Transportation Museum, accessed
January 22, 2017, http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/history-rr-missouri-kansas-texas.php.
[iii] “Clarence Brain is Dead at 76; Rites
Pending,” The Oklahoman (Oklahoma
City, OK), March 4, 1951.
[iv] “Brain, Clarence” (member profile, McAlester
Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite).
[v] Norman E. Angel, Kenneth S. Adams, and
William A. Hensley, History of the Grand
Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons of Oklahoma (Oklahoma: 1964), 131.
[vi] Robert G. Davis and James T. Tresner II, Indians, Cowboys, Cornerstones and
Charities: A Centennial Celebration of Freemasonry in Oklahoma (Oklahoma: 2009),
170.
[vii] The Grand Council of
Royal and Select Masters of Oklahoma, Proceedings
of the 37th Annual Assembly (Oklahoma: 1931).
[viii] Angel, 23.
[ix] Charles E. Creager, History of Freemasonry in Oklahoma (Muskogee, Oklahoma: Muskogee
Print Shop, 1935), 115.
[x] Charles E. Creager, A History of the Cryptic Rite of Freemasonry in Oklahoma (Muskogee,
Oklahoma: Hoffman-Speed, 1925).
[xi] Creager, History
of Freemasonry in Oklahoma, 115-117.
[xii] Ibid., 115.
[xiii] Angel, 131.
[xiv] The Grand Council of
Royal and Select Masters of Oklahoma, Proceedings
of the 37th Annual Assembly.
[xv] The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of
Oklahoma, Proceedings of the Fifty-third
Annual Convocation (Oklahoma: 1942).
[xvi] The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of
Oklahoma, Proceedings of the
Thirty-fourth Annual Convocation (Oklahoma: 1923).
[xvii] “Brain, Clarence” (special collection,
McAlester Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite).
[xviii] The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters
of Oklahoma, Proceedings of the 32nd
Annual Assembly (Oklahoma: 1926).
[xix] “Brain, Clarence” (member profile, Most
Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma AF&AM).
[xx] The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters
of Oklahoma, Proceedings of the 37th
Annual Assembly.
[xxi] “Brain, Clarence” (member profile, McAlester
Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite).
[xxii] The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters
of Oklahoma, Proceedings of the 37th
Annual Assembly.
[xxiii] “Clarence Brain Rites Are Today,” The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK), March
5, 1951.
[xxiv] The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of
Oklahoma, Proceedings of the Forty-first
Annual Convocation (Oklahoma: 1930).
[xxv] “Brain, Clarence” (member profile, McAlester
Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite).
[xxvi] Angel, 131.
[xxvii] The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters
of Oklahoma, Proceedings of the 37th
Annual Assembly.
[xxviii] Ibid., 12-14.
[xxix] “History,” The Grand College of America Holy Royal Arch
Knight Templar Priests, accessed January 22, 2017, http://www.hraktp.org/history.html.
[xxx] Angel, 131.
[xxxi] Harold V.B. Voorhis, Masonic Organizations and Allied Orders and Degrees: A Cyclopaedic
Handbook (New Jersey: Press of Henry Emmerson, 1952), 67.
[xxxii] “G.C.R. Historical
Summary,” Grand College of Rites of the
United States of America, accessed January 22, 2017, http://grandcollegeofrites.org/history/.
[xxxiii] “Past Grand Chancellors,” Grand College of Rites of the United States
of America, accessed January 22, 2017, http://grandcollegeofrites.org/pgc/.
[xxxiv] “Membership Roster,” The Masonic Order of the Bath in the United States of America,
accessed January 22, 2017, http://bath.albertpikedemolay.org/.
[xxxv] “Clarence Brain Rites Are Today.”
[xxxvi] James Hodgkins, “Masonic Week for the
Uninitiated,” The Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, last modified August 2011, https://scottishrite.org/about/media-publications/journal/article/masonic-week-for-the-uninitiated/.
[xxxvii] The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of
Oklahoma, Proceedings of the Fifty-second
Annual Convocation (Oklahoma: 1941), 37.
[xxxviii] The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of
Oklahoma, Proceedings of the Fifty-second
Annual Convocation, 38-39.
[xxxix] “Brain, Clarence” (member profile, McAlester
Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite).
[xl] The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters
of the State of New York, Proceedings of
the 124th Annual Assembly (New York: 1947), 73.
[xli] Wallace McLeod, “The Society of Blue Friars
(Masonic Authors),” The Society of Blue
Friars, accessed January 22, 2017, http://www.societyofbluefriars.org/information.html.
[xlii] “Former Blue Friars,” The Society of Blue Friars, accessed January 22, 2017, http://www.societyofbluefriars.org/fbf.html.
[xliii] “Brain, Clarence” (member profile, McAlester
Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite).
[xliv] The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of
Oklahoma, Proceedings of the Fifty-third
Annual Convocation.
[xlv] “Carolyn Brain is Dead at 83; Rites Pending,”
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK),
January 14, 1957.
[xlvi] “Clarence Brain Rites Are Today.”
