Episode 39. Masonic Family Tree (ft. Charley Beekman)

This week we sit down with Charley Beekman, a 5th generation Minnesota Freemason. Charley shares fascinating insight on Masonic history, and the huge role Freemasonry plays in our lives to this day. 

Episode Transcript

(00:20):
Hello again, everyone.
Welcome back to MinnesotaMasonic Histories and Mysteries.
If you've been listening overthe past few months, you've
likely noticed that our focushas been on getting to know our
members and stakeholders better.
Dr.
Yee, the director of the MasonicCancer Center shared some
fascinating insight into medicalresearch and the strides being

(00:41):
made at our Masonic CancerCenter.
Our friend and brother,worshipable brother, Paul
Hodnafield, author, We alsospoke with staff members from
the Masonic home in Bloomingtonwho are recognized as champions
of care Three of the mostselfless caregivers who are
really among a larger staff ofcommitted incredible people at

(01:03):
the Masonic home This recap ofvarious guests is to add
perspective to our collectiveeffort to remind ourselves That
we as Freemasons are in therelationship business
Relationships are the truefoundation of our brotherhood
and commitment to servingothers.

(01:23):
Our guest list, that said, isalways evolving.
We are going to pivot all overthe place, now and in the
future.
And really, with there being somany Masonic podcasts out there
focused on heavier, insidertopics, well, for us, we want to
always bring it back to gettingto know our people better.
Building a foundation formeaningful friendship.

(01:45):
That brotherly love that youhear Masons talk about and
ideally motivating each other toreach higher in life and in
Lodge.
So that said today's focus isgoing to be a fun journey into
history.
I have been excited to welcometoday's guest who is a busy,
busy friend and brother.

(02:05):
He is the most recent pastmaster of Arcana Lodge number
187.
He was raised in 2016.
He's the current senior wardenof Education Lodge 1002.
He is a regular, a fixture, ifnot a bulwark of the Scottish
Rite Minneapolis ValleyEducation Committee.
He has been standing in front ofclasses for five years or more

(02:27):
and was one of the guys in thatgroup that helped come up with
the current education program.
He also lays claim to be a fifthgeneration Freemason in
Minnesota.
Our guest today was described byhis Lodge brother as being a
true gem, maybe one of the mostunderutilized brothers in the
craft.

(02:47):
How do you feel about that?
Welcome, Charlie Beekman.
Who's spreading lies about melike that?
Amazing.
I will not divulge.
I know exactly.
Welcome.
It's great.
Great to have you here.
By the way, last week, wechatted with most worshipable
brother, Donald Severson.
when he stops by.
Let's record a conversation andchat.
I've got to say that afterspeaking with him again, the

(03:09):
pride, the friendship, thepositive vibes coming out of
Arcana, truly special.
Yeah, Arcana is, uh, it's a veryspecial group of guys.
And, and Severson, DonaldSeverson is a, is a big, big
part of that.
He's, uh, He's just an amazingindividual.

(03:31):
Completely strip away all of,all of the Masonic titles and
all of that.
He, uh, just a quick littleside.
He, when I first joined and Iwas looking for a lodge, I
reached out.
Um, this is prior to thewonderful system we have now of
going on the internet andfinding the Grand Lodge and then
coming and finding you.

(03:52):
Um, When I joined it was justkind of stab in the dark and
hope that lodge is still open.
So I went with Arcana and Justinwas the first one to reach out
But the first guy I met outsideof Justin was Donald and I had
the second time I met him heremembered my name Wow and that
That really impressed me.

(04:13):
I mean just the I don't know.
The guy just, he just feels likea grandpa and that, and that,
and honestly that it's becauseof him that drew me into the
group, which then having met therest of the group, I, I realized
that these are my guys.
So Arcana 187.
Great place in Arcana beingclose to home for you.

(04:34):
You're born in Minneapolis.
Tell us about you.
Where'd you grow up?
Where'd you go to school?
Born and raised south side ofMinneapolis.
I went to a million schoolsbecause I'm the generation of,
uh, them trying to figure outhow to run schools.
And they would open and closethem and move them.
And, um, I'm not quite everyyear of my school life, but

(04:54):
pretty close to switchingschools.
So I went to a lot of places.
Um, ultimately ended up going toNorth Hennepin Technical College
right out of, right out of highschool and became a carpenter.
And the rest is history.
You owned your own company,correct?
Uh, hard beaks, hardwood floors.
I do.
I, uh, I am what Iaffectionately refer to as the

(05:16):
last of the hippie carpenters.
I am a, a hardwood floorspecialist.
I do a lot of restoration work,um, build a lot of stairs,
things like that.
The, the name of my company isactually the, the family
nickname.
We've, we've all been beaks.
And my grandfather, um, hestarted a restaurant called

(05:38):
Beak's Pizza.
And when he died in 1975, therewere seven of these restaurants.
They were real, real popular inthe city.
I, I roll around with that nameon the side of my van, and I
still have people come out ofMenards and tell me stories of
my grandfather, so.
Yeah, I named my company withpride.

(05:58):
That's really cool.
I did not know about therestaurant.
And you are married, dad,grandfather?
I am, uh, married to a wonderfulwoman who puts up with all my
nonsense.
And I have, uh, one child of myown and she has two of her own.
And we come together and, uh, Idon't know, all the kids are

(06:20):
adults so it's, it's prettyfunny to say I'm stepdad or
anything like that.
But I, I try to be a positiverole model for everybody and we
got grandkids and it's great.
See that, as, as a fellow GenXer, it's, I still feel like
I'm, I don't know, early 30s inmy heart or in my mind.
I am.
And to be, and so many friendsand peers around are, Multiple

(06:44):
grandparent now there's there'smultiple grandkids and you're
soon to have number four.
Yeah, right.
Yeah.
Yeah, my My actual daughter'shaving a daughter and my my
stepdaughter is having adaughter and they are going to
be born Um, minutes apart, well,literally months apart,
September, October, that type ofthing.

(07:04):
Uh, so yeah, we're reallylooking forward to Christmas
this year with a bunch ofbabies.
That will be an excitingproduction on, on multiple
levels and I appreciate youbeing here.
I know you do keep a massivelybusy, busy schedule with work
and family and your Masoniccommitments.
And you and I share an affinityfor history.

(07:28):
And not long ago, I visitedMonticello Lodge and was
admiring a portrait on the wall,one of our past grandmasters of
the state of Minnesota.
It's a true story.
As I was taking a photo, as Ilike to take photos all the
time, a lodge brother walked byand said, Hey, do you know that
Charlie Beekman is related tothat guy on the wall?

(07:50):
And I did not know that.
At first I thought he wasjoking, but I would please tell
Our listeners more about yourgreat great grandfather Henry
who dates back to what 1850 inMinnesota This lineage and fifth
generation is fascinating.
Yeah Grandpa Henry Henry RiceAdams.

(08:10):
He is He's actually the son ofthe real supermason.
Um, I have five generations, orwe go back five generations in
this state, which is thebeginning of the state.
Um, and his dad is one of theguys that's here in Minnesota at

(08:32):
the very beginning.
Um, he's here when masonry firstarrives.
He, he's here in 1855.
So, Henry's born here.
Um, and Henry's fascinatingbecause he's, he's a bit of
trivia.
He's, uh, they're fromMonticello.
Um, Henry is raised inMonticello, but the interesting

(08:54):
part is that, uh, that'sactually where grandma and
grandpa, Sam.
Really, that's their house.
Uh, they, they, Sam's one of thefounders, founding men of
Monticello.
So, um, Henry is born and raisedin that area.
That building.
So they literally as a child,you're saying he's he's
literally born in that lodgeroom.

(09:15):
The story is, is that, uh,Grandma Augusta is in labor.
Um, Monticello Lodge is rentingthe back room.
They are dark for the summer,but the room has just been
carpeted, so it's cooler andcooler.
More comfortable than the restof the residents.
So, um, the doctor, who wasactually the junior warden of

(09:38):
Monticello at the time,convinces everybody that
grandma's gotta go into thelodger room.
And Henry is literally born inthe room that they still meet in
today.
That is unbelievable.
It's wild.
So is it safe to say then youhave a family connection to,
Your family were working closelywith, what, Alfred Ames and

(10:00):
other founding members in the1850s?
Yeah, so, uh, Henry's dad,Colonel Samuel, Lieutenant
Colonel Samuel Emery Adams.
Um, he is, uh, he's fromVermont.
He's, he's convinced to come outhere.
He's suffering from a bronchialcondition, and I find this

(10:21):
fascinating that people did thisto people back then.
Come to Minnesota.
It'll be good for your, good forwhat ails ya.
I read the same thing, a quickinterruption, about Alfred Ames.
When he came, it was, it wasencouraged that somehow the
climate here was allegedly goingto help.
By people who have never beenhere.
That had to be it.
Yes, that was it.

(10:42):
So yeah, Sam's here at the verybeginnings of Minnesota.
He is, uh, he's already a Mason.
So when he comes here, I, I justassume, just like today, when
you travel and you go to anothercity, you can ring up the lodge
that, that you're going to bestaying closest to.

(11:02):
People do this all the time withArcana.
Um, hey, I'm going to be intown.
I want to come, come to lodgeand have dinner and hang out
and, The beautiful thing aboutbeing a mason is that that that
guy's already our buddy, we justhaven't met yet So you really
get welcomed with open openarms.
So I assume he comes into townin 1815 and they just You know,

(11:24):
they welcome him and then theyfind out that this guy is one of
the guys that that wants to dothings So then they Quickly suck
up every few minute he has andthey make him committee of this
and chair of that and he's inthe Grand Lodge Ames taps him
and he's Ames is Grand Marshalreally and that's Sam.

(11:45):
This is Sam.
This is Sam.
Okay.
This is Sam.
Sorry.
This is This is going to get alittle funny because, because
everybody in my family has beena mason.
Well, we'll try to, I've gotstories about, oh, this is
incredible.
So Sam was working very closelywith Ames.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And Ames, uh, ATC Pearson, guyslike that.
Um, ultimately when Albert Pikestarts coming around, he is.

(12:11):
Albert Pike gives him his 33rddegree.
In the flesh, you know, so oneof the times he traveled here
via Mississippi River.
Yeah.
Yeah, so he's in town doing histhing and my my Third whatever
grandfather gets his 33rd degreedirectly from Elbert Pike Yeah,
I believe it was a TC Pearsonthat gave him the previous

(12:34):
degrees Wow.
Yeah We could talk about thatfor hours and hours, but in the
interest of, of I'll try not todo too many pivots on you and
then Henry was born when?
Oh, Henry is, uh, well, look atthis.
I got my notes.
Henry is, uh, he's born in 1861,September 15, 1861 in

(13:00):
Monticello.
Um, And follows the familytradition and footsteps.
I've thought about Henry a lot.
Um, Henry is born to a guy thathe's hanging out with Albert
Pike and A.
T.
C.
Pearson.
And, like, even before Henry'sborn, you know, Sam is a, is a
formidable man.

(13:21):
We're talking about a man thathas three presidential
commissions.
We're talking about a man that,after the Civil War, Helps found
the Grange and the Grange isresponsible with stitching the
country back together usingagriculture.
That's honestly one of the, oneof the things that kind of

(13:42):
pushed me towards pursuingmasonry.
When I did was because I, I wasreally trying to figure out who
my family was.
You know, I'm being handed this,this idea that I am now going to
be the patriarch of the family.
I mean, I'm in my 40s.
Um.
And, and so in 2015, we arecontacted by a genealogist

(14:05):
working with the Grange andthey're looking for the
descendants of the founders ofthe Grange.
Wow.
This is a 150 year anniversaryor something.
Did your family know about this?
No clue.
Prior?
2015, you get a call from thegenealogy specialist saying, Oh,
by the way, you know, And, and Ijust, at that point, I'd already

(14:28):
known about his, his Civil Warcontribution a little bit,
which, so here again,Presidential Commission, uh,
Abraham Lincoln, he is thepaymaster of Missouri, and he
volunteers to go there, andthat's just, that's pure
insanity to me.
You know, he's the guy that'sprobably riding around on a
horse with a few guards, andhe's bringing money to the, to

(14:50):
the generals, so that they cankeep the, the war effort going.
And he volunteers for this, youknow, it's a monster of a man.
When you were made aware ofthis, did it, how did you feel
reading this?
I would imagine there's a, a,maybe a component of that
thinking, this is my family mem,I'm related to this.

(15:13):
Yeah, and, and honestly, it's,it's, uh, it's being a Mason
and, you know, Pursuing some ofthe same activities that that my
ancestors did because it's notjust Sam It's not just Henry,
you know, my grandpa Chuck was aMason my dad did DMA prior to
Sam being in the in Minnesota in1850 you go back previous to him

(15:36):
His father was a Mason hisfather was a Mason and it goes
back to the Revolutionary War soThe masonic, the philosophy that
comes with masonry can reallyhelp shape your character.
And we're talking about men thatwere very passionate about
masonry and, and uh, It, itreally puts you in a place where

(16:00):
you, you, you're trying tofigure out how to be serviceable
to mankind.
Um, and that's a lot of whatpushes these guys and, and I
didn't know that about theircharacter at first until I
started becoming a Mason and,and finding it for myself and I
really found it in the ScottishRite, which is, um, that's where

(16:21):
Sam finds it.
You know, he, he gets his 33rddegree from ATC Pearson and it,
and it, you can just see it.
He, he gravitates to that, to,to being a part of the Scottish
Rite and promoting the ScottishRite.
Um, and that it's really where Ithink he, uh, he really sees the

(16:42):
value in, in the lessons that itteaches and the, and the
philosophy that promotes.
And so he, he just really spentall of his time toward the end
of his life, um, in the ScottishRite.
So as you pursued becoming aMason and following in those
footsteps, as the valueteachings, the core values, as

(17:02):
certain things were.
you were made aware of withinthe lodge and within the degree.
Did you have that moment ofreflection where this particular
value teaching or attributereally is what I think of with
my, my ancestors, whether it wasSam or Henry or whomever, did,
did, did you start having thatalmost checklist?

(17:24):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Immediately upon joining theScottish Rite.
That's where it really, yeah.
With the, you know, it, uh,Sorry to people who are not
Masons that might be listening,but, uh Well, we can, just for
anyone who is not a Mason, sothe, the, we're initially
discussing that the Blue Lodgeof Freemasonry confers the
first, second, and third degree,and the Scottish Rite is a,

(17:47):
well, basically continuation of,of some of the It's a retelling.
Yeah, retelling.
It's nothing new.
It's just a different way oftelling the story.
The allegory.
The allegory.
There it is.
And that confers, Scottish Riteconfers degrees four through 32.
And, uh, you had mentioned the33rd degree, an honorary degree
that is pretty rare, veryspecial and bestowed by some

(18:08):
very huge players within the, doyou think, I don't want to
forget to ask you this, did,maybe it's, it's different for
us looking back in thehistorical context, but do you
think these guys at the time.
I don't know what the word is.
Appreciated or, They werespending personal time with

(18:29):
Albert Pike and, and others thatwere, is that, is some day, is
the history book that they'regoing to look back on for us in
today's world that we get tohang out with guys like Art De
Hoyos or James Cole?
But yeah, that at Arcana, I getto hang out with.

(18:50):
Guys like Justin and Billy, twoof the, two of the nicest guys
you'd ever meet who are sowilling to help you.
I had a horrible snowmobileaccident and Justin came and
shoved my sidewalk.
Um, the conversations I havewith those guys are brilliant.
I have the opportunity to hangout with, with, uh, some of you

(19:13):
may know Hans and Hans is justthis brilliant mind.
And I don't know any other placeI would.
I would never ever come incontact with that guy unless he
was like sitting on a jurysomewhere that I had to face,
maybe.
No, it, uh, yeah, I do thinkthat people will, you know, I

(19:33):
look back on having had theopportunity to speak and be
friends with some of the peopleI've been friends with, and
that's just how masonry is.
Um, You know, and in the moment,I don't think we really
recognize the fact that we'retalking to the next Albert Pike.
He's just a guy in my lodge thatI'm having dinner with and he's

(19:54):
a part of my family and he's myfriend.
And I, you know, it isn't about,all of that stuff drifts away
pretty quick when we're, whenwe're meeting in lodge and, or,
or anytime we get together, youknow, it's really about the
friendship and the camaraderieand, and, uh, You know, it feels
silly even being invited tolike, speak on this podcast and

(20:15):
being singled out for who I ambecause that's not, it's not
what this is about.
You know, we're not, we're notlooking for accolades where, you
know, it's about service.
It's about, you know, for me andmy lodge life being past master,
it's really look at it now as,as, uh, you know, it's my job to
help with the new masters thatare coming in and, and help

(20:39):
them.
With the experience I have whennobody tells you, you know, Hey,
you're going to be master.
Oh, that's great.
Well, what it really means isI'm in charge of an organization
that has about 100, 200 guys init.
About 75 really active guys inyour lodge in my lodge.
Um, it's a nonprofit charitythat, you know, I think when I
was in lodge, we had somethinglike half a million dollars in

(21:01):
the bank, you know, it's it.
It's experienced that.
If you would have asked me 15years ago if I'd be heading up a
group like that, I would havelaughed at you.
And, and it's, it's real weird,real word, world, excuse me,
experience that, that they don'treally tell you you're going to
get.
So having the guys in the, inthe background help you with

(21:21):
that.
So that I feel like that's mypart of my role.
And then, and then the otherpart is, is.
Making sure that we're havingreally successful and
entertaining nights when we gettogether.
You know, giving a guy a reasonto put down his phone and come
in and hang out with his buddiesand have dinner.
Exactly.
It's the uniquely analogexperience that is Freemasonry.

(21:42):
That is an opportunity to putdown your device and go meet and
hang out with other people.
like minded men, uh, qualitypeople that are focused on Just
having friends.
Core values, yeah.
Quality friends, yes.
And that's, uh, you touched onsomething earlier that I get

(22:05):
asked a lot in my role withworking for Grand Lodge, and
when someone comes and asks, uh,maybe they're thinking about
joining or pursuing, and I'llget asked frequently, well,
What, what do you, what do youlike or what's, what's kept you
involved so long?
And the thing that comes back tomind so frequently is I can't
imagine life without all ofthese friends and brothers that

(22:28):
I've met over the years.
It's very difficult to thinkabout what life would look like
minus void those people, thosepersonalities than in having
been through the roller coasterof life together, the
celebration of a wedding or ofother good things that happen
or.
Those same brothers that attenda funeral or of a loved one of

(22:50):
of someone that they may noteven, probably didn't even know,
but they're there to support,they were there to support me
and my family.
And, it's it's very impactfullooking at that through that
lens and and also as you and Ifellow GenXers and being in our
50s now, it's a strangetransition, but it's a reality

(23:12):
knowing that.
Our age now is the mentor menteerelationship that it was just
yesterday that it feels likewhen I was in my 30s and sharing
the challenges of life with someof the what I perceived as older
in air quotes guys at lodge thatwere probably our age now and
the real joy of that intentionalor unintentional mentoring just

(23:37):
through life of just being agood friend and being a good
listener and You Our ritualwe've talked about a lot is a
rule and guide to life.
How do you think we better focuson the meaning behind the words
as opposed to simply looking atthe degree process or even the

(23:59):
proficiency as merely anexercise in rote memorization?
That's a good question.
Um, I can hear my buddyscreaming at you right now that
you're not talking to aritualist, and they were very
quick to remind me of that.
I study the ritual.

(24:20):
I like, I study the words.
The idea of getting up andperforming it is a little scary
to me, but I do understand thatevery single word in that whole
process is there for a reason.
And when you dig into thosewords, You find a pathway to a

(24:40):
philosophy that can, can donothing but bring happiness to
your life.
It's amazing.
So, the ritual is, is really,really, really important to
remember, you know, what, whatare those, those words we're
saying.
You know, we've, we're taking,we're, we're, basically, we're
making these oaths to, to beeach other's, you know, brother

(25:03):
and, and guide and help.
And there are all of thesebeautiful, beautiful notions
that you just don't get anywhereelse in this world.
You know, the idea that you andI have committed to each other
to take care of each other as weage.
You know, as we're, as we'resitting in Bloomington next to
the Masonic home.
Um, you know, we've, we've takenvows to each other that if, if

(25:26):
something were to happen to me,that, you know, you would help
take care of my family in myabsence.
it's very powerful, verymeaningful, and it's ritual work
and philosophy that hasabsolutely changed and benefited
my life in so many ways.
And some of them are very, verysimple, where I now have, I have

(25:47):
more friends than I can hang outwith.
My wife and I, we throw this big4th of July party, and I had 50,
60 guys show up.
And all but maybe two or threeof them were masons.
I've got more friends than I canput in my house.
It's silly.
But that's one of the, one ofthe beautiful things about
masonry and that, that wholething is cooked into the ritual

(26:10):
work.
And if you're paying attentionand you're studying it and
you're actually trying to applyit to your life, you know, you
get these, these weird littlebenefits.
Like now all of a sudden, you'renot lonely in a society of
people that live in apartmentsand don't know their neighbors.
That's so true.
And in those friends youmentioned are, Like you had
alluded to, we're, we're here tohelp and support one another

(26:32):
when maybe life becomes a bitmore challenging, but also here
and together in life's journeyto celebrate the good times and
to, to be a united front as we,as we traverse life.
And our organization is builtupon principles of.
religious tolerance and beingapolitical, non sectarian.

(26:56):
And sometimes I wonder, am I tooclose to it?
This or am I too close to whatwe do and what we stand for?
Or does what I just describedsound like something the world
has been seeking and especiallythe last couple of years is the
most.
Yeah, that, well, here we goback to the history thing.

(27:18):
Um, and Masons have Uh, anallegory, a story that we use to
teach ourselves these things,and that thing says we, we date
back to antiquity, to the, tothe darkest recesses of, of
man's memory.
Um, we don't necessarily, not tospoil this for everybody, we as

(27:38):
masons don't necessarily dateback to that, but we ascribe to
philosophies that came from thattime.
And when what we really are iswe're a We're a group of guys
that are trying to be the bestversions of ourselves that we
can be.
And we are encouraged in this bya philosophy that is in the

(28:02):
imagination.
It's not visual.
I can't tell you what this is.
But I know that there are toolshere for you to figure out.
You know, we're not, we're notteaching you how to be a good
man.
We're giving you tools so thatyou can figure it out on your
own.
And on that path, you discoverthat you're, you're connected to

(28:24):
the, to a greater thing thanyourself.
And Masonry encourages you to,Let that be your guide, this,
this spark that we have insideof us, the soul, whatever,
whatever flavor of thing youwant to call it.
There's the tolerance coming outbecause I, I can't tell you what
that is.

(28:44):
Right.
I can't tell you.
It's hard to articulate.
I can't tell you that.
I can tell you what it means tome and I can go on for hours
about that, sir.
Um, yes, we, we could.
And that's, they had aconversation earlier with it.
A gentleman who was seeking somemore information and we talked
to very similar Word tracks towhat you just said in that we

(29:07):
are as freemasons Seeking tobecome a better version of
ourselves every day knowing willnever be perfect.
The game of perfection is notattainable but Having that
awareness each day of sure.
What did I do?
Well, what went favorably today?
but what could I be better attomorrow as far as You A

(29:28):
husband, a father, a neighbor, acolleague.
Sometimes we underestimate thepower of a small act of kindness
to someone in the world, a purestranger.
Oh, yeah.
And man, we need more of thatright now, and, and our
organization providing thatopportunity to have meaningful

(29:50):
community engagement, to giveback in a certain, whatever
capacity that might be.
It is such a powerful thing andwe, we really coalesce around
that.
Yeah, that, that's, that's myLodge life.
My Lodge life at Arcana is,we're a group of guys that we
really, really, truly do enjoyeach other's company.
So we really want to hang outas, as much as we can.

(30:12):
Um, and when we get together asa Lodge, as an organization, we
want to, we want to reach out,we want to do something, we want
to give back to the community.
Um, and so we actively seek togo out and do charity together.
Um, we don't write checks, we'renot that large, we actually,
we're all tradesmen.
I, I'm, I'm a carpenter, I goto, go to lodge with a bunch of

(30:36):
electricians and HVAC guys andthings like that.
And the thing that we do for ourcharity is we help maintain a
kids camp for inner city youth.
And we go up there and it's inthe woods in Wisconsin, Camp
Bovee.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, Camp Bovee is a greatprogram.
But we're the guys that show upin the spring and in the fall
and, you know, we'll fix decksand we'll, you know, patch walls

(31:00):
and things like that.
We do all the heavy lifting and,and, but what it is, it's, it's
the idea that we are physicallygiving of our time and our
energies and, and our spiritsand, and, and we're doing it
together.
And it's, we always walk awayfrom that with just this amazing
Um, and you can, you can seethere's a lot of, of like
camaraderie and feeling witheach other where all of a sudden

(31:22):
going out and doing charitydoesn't feel like you're, you're
giving.
You're actually gettingsomething out of it in return.
So you, you know, you're reallydriven to go out and do it more.
And that's one of the things Ilove about my larger arcana is
because that's, that's my outletfor that.
You hit on something that's apretty regular topic of

(31:42):
conversation in just how when wereally take a step back and look
at how.
wide ranging, a wide variety ofbackgrounds amongst our members.
There's a place for everyonewithin Freemasonry.
We have, uh, white collar,Fortune 500 guys through the
full ranks of, of craftsmen andlaborers.

(32:05):
And, uh, I don't know if youever met my good friend of mine,
David Epling.
He, uh, he passed away a fewyears ago in a battle with
cancer.
And then, he, uh, grew up inDetroit.
And was a, didn't finish highschool, had a rough, rough
background, but worked for theFord plant in St.
Paul for years.
And was such a I drove a Rangerfor years.

(32:27):
Very proud There you go.
This guy was just an oracle forlife experience and another that
plays into our prior, what wetalked about with the
conversations, the, the mentormentee, the life perspective
that is shared, that's.
It's a special thing within ourranks that there, there's

(32:48):
everyone, everything, everybackground is represented both
career wise, maybe a religiousbackground, but to be able to
come together the way we do witha focus on being apolitical and
nonsectarian and open minded toone another.
It really is a special, specialplace to be in and we talked a

(33:12):
few minutes ago about thelooking backwards and looking at
some of the giants, the names ofboth big names nationally,
globally, like Albert Pike andwithin our state, your, your
family members along with Amesand, and Pearson.
But as you and I have talkedabout, these were normal dudes.

(33:33):
These were regular guys who hada civic commitment and really
was it safe to say didn'tweren't looking for anything in
return The effort and the timethat they gave of themselves.
They just wanted to make adifference.
These were these were brothermasons who Put those value
teachings from their heart intoaction.

(33:56):
I Think about my Sam grandpa Samwhen you talk about these things
the idea of Trying to be apositive force in civil society
Sam's a guy that He's living asthe United States is, is
expanding and he moves out intothe frontier.
And he does this because he's, iI, I believe these are, these

(34:17):
are my thoughts about him.
I believe he understands thatcivil society is the only way
this is gonna work.
You know, it doesn't work as afree for all.
It doesn't work as the WildWest.
Sam, that's why he becomes aterritorial legislator and then
when the state becomes a state,he's in the first state
legislation.

(34:38):
Like he really truly believesthat you need, you need honest,
true, fair dealing people inpositions of power that will
promote the idea of a civilsociety.
So that's why he's, he's apostal root.
Agent in, you know, his veryfirst job in, in 1850, no,

(35:04):
eight, he's, he's 25 years old,so 8, 18, 30 something.
He, he gets his firstpresidential, presidential
commission from Pierce.
He's the, he's the postal routeagent between Massachusetts and,
and Burlington, Vermont.
Vermont.
Okay.
So he's basically, he's goingfrom the Bay, Massachusetts Bay
to, Lake Champlain?

(35:24):
Am I saying that correctly?
Um, it's the border of Canadaand New York with Vermont.
And he's the postal worker, thepostal route agent.
So, back then the postal routeagent wasn't like we think of
today.
This is a guy that functions atthe bank.
He functions, you know, he verywell could be, you know,
adjudicating over issues for thecommunity.
Wow.
And, and he, he's doing thisbecause it's his duty, you know.

(35:47):
He, he wants to promote.
The idea of a civil society and,and the benefits that come with
that and, and back then the onlyway a lot of times that you knew
there was a civil society isbecause your town had a post
office.
Wow.
So, you know, it's, it's, it'sthat type of thing.
He's, I truly feel he just feelslike it's his duty.

(36:08):
You know, it's the same reasonwhy my grandpa Chuck died.
joined the National Guard whenhe was 21, not even considering
what was going on in worldpolitics.
And Is that about, what, late1930s?
Yeah, he joins in 39, the warbreaks out, and he ends up in,
you know, a couple years later,he's coolin in a prison camp.
Like, I bet he wasn't thinkinabout that at all.
This wasn't in the plan.

(36:28):
Yeah, but, but he, but he did itbecause of a sense of duty.
When things started to happen inthe late, late 1930s, he said, I
have to go do this.
I have to serve.
Yeah.
And then that, that's just overand over again.
And that's not, that's not themen in my line.
That's that, that's a Mason,right?

(36:50):
That's what Masonry teaches usis to be the kind of guy that's
going to step up when nobodyelse will.
And.
And try to figure things out ina way that best benefits
everybody to be a giver andexpecting nothing in return, but
but the focus on those corevalues that are timeless.
We talk about regularlykindness, integrity, honor and

(37:13):
respect the trustworthy factor.
It's uh, I hope that at somepoint.
You pursue writing a book,putting all of this together
with that family lineage,because this has been really
insightful, wildly interesting.
I can't even imagine gettingthat call in 2015 that, Open

(37:35):
this door so that the bigger onefor me actually was I was at the
Scottish right?
I was going through the wholeprogram.
We got about just to the end Ithink it was probably the that
maybe the 30th of the 31stdegree We're we're walking from
the from the theater where wesee the degree back to the
candidates room where we get theeducation And I look up and I
see grandpa Sam's photo hangingon the wall really and that was

(37:58):
the first time it clicked in myhead who that guy was and And
David Kampf shot over real quickand went, Who are you?
You have to remember that, uh,as, as far as local masonry
goes, Sam is credited with thegrowth of the Scottish Rite.
Um, when he passes away, the,uh, the Supreme Council writes

(38:21):
a, a memoriam for him in, in, inthere.
He published it, published this.
Yeah, yeah, this is, this issent out to everybody.
I'm looking at it right now,it's incredible.
Um, I'm looking at it right now.
I'm paraphrasing in here, butthey basically say that he's
responsible for takingMinneapolis Scottish Rite and
the bodies from being, um, 60,160 members and 60 various

(38:43):
lodges to being somewhere in theneighborhood of 2, 500 members.
And he, he does that in a matterof a few years.
You know, the guys up in Duluth,he helps, helps them establish
that Scottish Rite up there.
And, you know, they write abeautiful thing about him, how
he just, like, let them do theirthing, and he was really easy to

(39:04):
work with.
Everybody called him Uncle Sam,you know.
In his outside life of masonry,he, uh, he comes to Minneapolis.
He goes to Monticello because hethinks that's where the big,
everything's going to happen inMonticello.
And then it doesn't, and so hemoves back to, he moves down to
Minneapolis.
Um, and he's actually in yourlodge.

(39:25):
Really?
Henry is past master of 19.
That's right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, but, in the end, he, at theend of Sam's life, he's, he's
got a homestead on Cedar Lake.
He's got several acres on CedarLake and it is affectionately
known as Adam's Woods.
And he allows the public topicnic in his woods along the

(39:45):
lake, and he's known for hislibrary.
Seriously, this would be so, ohmy goodness, so much just
fascinating.
All these anecdotes put togetherin the sequence.
I'm going to encourage anyonelistening who wants to speak
about, All of this in a moredetailed way with you, would you
be open to a Lodge educationpresentation at any various

(40:08):
Lodge in our state?
Yeah, I'd come talk about thisstuff.
I already did it for Monticellobecause you know that, that was
their home.
You know, Sam is one of thereasons why Monticello has a
Lodge.
Not to mention, born in theLodge room.
Well, and then there's Henry,but it's not just him.
Uh, there's another guy there,uh, when Sam is there, and he

(40:32):
ends up becoming, ultimately,Henry marries this guy's
daughter, Cora.
This guy's truly the, the, thereal mason here.
So his name's Henry Christ.
He's born in 1821, comes fromMaryland, and he's a
tobacconist, originally in hisyouth, but he becomes a
carpenter, this, we're talkingabout a grandpa of mine now, um,

(40:55):
and he builds railroad bridges,and ends up in Monticello, um,
he is in the lodge when thelodge is finally established,
Sam's the, the senior warden,and then becomes the first
elected master, and then shortlyafter him, Henry Christ sits in
the master's chair for fiveyears.

(41:17):
And he only steps aside in thattime so that, that Henry Rice
can be master of Monticello.
And then he goes back to, tobeing in it.
So if you want to talk about asuper Mason and a guy really
that, that held it down for acommunity that, that would be
Henry, yeah.
This has been a real privilegeto chat with you today and to

(41:39):
learn more about some of thedetails in this family lineage
that goes back multiplegenerations in Minnesota and
beyond.
And, uh, Charlie Beekman, youare a Mason's Mason and the
giver's heart, and it's justbeen so fun to Just a regular
guy.
That's all it is.
And that's what we love aboutyou.

(41:59):
This has been Masonic historiesand mysteries.
And thank you so much, CharlieBeekman for being our guest.
We'd love to have you backsometime.
Happy to come.