Reginald E. Goldsmith: 20^th Century Masonic Leader

by Brother Mark E. Furber, St. John's Lodge No. 1 and P.M. and Editor, Anniversary Lodge of Research No. 175

 

 

 

Few New Hampshire Masons in the 20^th Century have occupied so many prominent roles in the Craft as Brother Reginald E. Goldsmith, our Eightieth Grand Master.

 

Reginald Entwistle Goldsmith was born in Portsmouth, NH, on 13 October 1886. He was the son of Oliver and Georgianna (Entwistle) Goldsmith. He received an education in local schools and, at the young age of 16, entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as an apprentice machinist. He retired from the Shipyard some 47 years later as Master of the Inside Machine Shop (Shop 31), where he had supervised the work of some 7000 men during the World War II years. His record in government service was outstanding.

 

After his retirement from the civil service, when it became legal for him to do so, he entered local politics as a Police Commissioner for the City of Portsmouth. He instituted a study of police pay scales and worked to ensure that the Portsmouth Police Department should be second to none in the State. At the time of his death, he was conducting further studies of police departments across the nation.

 

He married Marion Leach, the daughter of Charles Leach, a Portsmouth baker, and Elizabeth (Merrill) Leach, on 27 April 1909. They had two sons, Kennard E. Goldsmith, who served as Mayor of Portsmouth, and Lawrence L. Goldsmith, a pipefitter at the Shipyard but better known in Portsmouth as a trumpet teacher, both at the high school and in his downtown studio. Both of his sons became Masons in St. John’s Lodge No. 1, Portsmouth. They also had four grandchildren.

 

Brother Goldsmith was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in St. John’s Lodge No. 1, Portsmouth, on 7 June 1911, and he served as Worshipful Master of St. John’s in 1919. 1919 was the first year after the end of the First World War, and was marked primarily by international events associated with the aftermath of the war. 1919 was also the year that the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire joined the Masonic Service Association.

 

In September 1932, Brother Goldsmith was part of a notable automobile expedition. Brother William Bates Randall of Portsmouth, who was, among other things, one of the leaders in the purchase and construction of the present Portsmouth Masonic Temple, had been selected to receive the 33^rd Degree at the Supreme Council session in Indianapolis, Indiana, some one thousand miles away. Brother Randall, accompanied by Brothers Goldsmith and Chauncey C. Hodgdon as relief drivers, drove to Indianapolis and back in Brother Randall’s new 1932 Graham Paige sedan. This was well before the advent of the Interstate Highway system or even the consistent numbering of roads in some states, and the journey took nearly a week. This trip was mentioned in the local paper.

 

In the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire, he was appointed Junior Grand Deacon in 1940 and advanced through the progressive line until his election as Grand Master on 18 May 1949. He was installed by Brother Warren H. Tucker, Grand Master during 1939-1940. Other Grand Officers serving with Brother Goldsmith were: Harold C. McAllister, Manchester, Deputy Grand Master; Walter E. Dunlap, Concord, Senior Grand Warden; Leslie F. Murch, Hanover, Junior Grand Warden; Robert C. Laing, Manchester, Grand Treasurer; and John M. Dresser, Concord, Grand Secretary.

 

During his term as Grand Master, there were 81 Lodges in New Hampshire. It was a period of growth in membership, for instance, in 1949 there were 15,176 New Hampshire Masons and in 1950 there were 15,550, an increase of 374 or a little less than 2.5%. It was a period of relative calm and prosperity in the Craft locally and nationally. It was a point of particular pride to him that he visited every Lodge in the Jurisdiction during his term in office. In those days, a Grand Master could expect to be entertained well. A program from his visit to St. John’s Lodge No. 1 in Portsmouth lists a dinner accompanied by a 16 piece orchestra playing selections from Gilbert and Sullivan and Victor Herbert, at the princely price of $2.00, which is roughly equivalent to $16.00 today.

 

An event of note during his term, on 25 June 1950, was the first worship service at the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, sponsored by Altemont Lodge No. 26 of Peterborough and St. John’s Council No. 7 of Keene.

 

Another event of note was the rare presentation of a 75 year medal to Brother Alfred D. Nute of Humane Lodge No. 21 in Rochester in 1949. The Masonic birthday of Brother Nute was celebrated with a special communication of Humane Lodge, with some 260 Masons in attendance.

 

Cutting the birthday cake for 75-year-Mason Brother Alfred D. Nute. Left to right: Brother George S. Snyder, W.M of Humane Lodge No. 21, Brother Nute and Brother Goldsmith. Photo: Masonic Pocket Magazine, November 1949

 

 

As Grand Master, Brother Goldsmith attended the 22 February 1950 unveiling of the giant statue of George Washington presented to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, VA, by the Order of DeMolay. His association with the Memorial continued and he was elected Vice-President of the Memorial Association.

 

At the close of his term as Grand Master, he was awarded the Jeremy Ladd Cross Medal by the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire and the Henry Price Medal by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, both the highest awards of the respective Grand Lodges.

 

Brother Goldsmith was elected to preside over the Conference of Grand Masters of North America held on 20-21 February 1951 in Washington, DC. That was an unusual honor for a small jurisdiction such as New Hampshire. As part of that conference, he attended a breakfast with Brother Harry S Truman, Past Grand Master of Missouri and President of the United States, arranged by Brother Frank S. Land, Founder of the Order of DeMolay. The breakfast allowed the Grand Masters to meet Masons serving in government, including Secretary of Defense George Marshall, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General of the Army Omar Bradley and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Frederick Vinson. Such an assembly is almost unimaginable today.

 

He became a member of the York Rite in Portsmouth in 1918 and 1919, and served as High Priest of Washington Chapter No. 3, Royal Arch Masons, in 1930 and as Thrice Illustrious Master of Davenport Council No. 5, Royal and Select Masters, in 1926-1927. He was a member of DeWitt Clinton Commandery No. 2.

 

He entered the line of the Grand Council of New Hampshire and served as Most Illustrious Grand Master in 1939-1940. He was elected and installed on 15 May 1939, by M.I. Companion William Bates Randall, his old traveling companion. His term as the head of Cryptic Masonry in the State was pleasant and uneventful, but he made reference to the clouds of the approaching World War in his address to the Grand Council. At that time there were fifteen Councils and approximately 1900 Cryptic Masons in New Hampshire, as opposed to eight Councils and 740 Cryptic Masons today.

 

He joined the Scottish Rite in 1920, and served as presiding officer of the three bodies in the Valley of Portsmouth-Dover: Thrice Potent Master of Ineffable Lodge of Perfection, 1933-1935; Sovereign Prince of John Christie Council, Princes of Jerusalem, 1935-1937; and Most Wise Master of New Hampshire Chapter of Rose-Croix, 1943-1945. He received the 33^rd Degree at the Supreme Council session in Pittsburgh, PA, on 25 September 1946.

 

Somewhat concurrently with his term as Grand Master, he presided as Commander-in-Chief of New Hampshire Consistory for an unusual three-year term, 1950, 1951 and 1952. The usual term in the Consistory then was and still is two years. The Consistory was known for large and splendid meetings and meals back then. At the 1951 Fast Day session on 23 April 1951, some 2000 Masons attended the conferral of the 31^o and 32^o in Nashua, using both the Junior High and the Senior High Schools.

 

He became a member of Bektash Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., on 16 October 1920 and of the New Hampshire Society of Veteran Freemasons on 19 May 1948.

 

Brother Goldsmith passed from labor to refreshment in Portsmouth Hospital on 2 November 1957, after a short illness. His funeral was held at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, with the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, the Right Reverend Charles F. Hall, a 33^o Mason in his own right, and some 300 Masons and fifty members of the Portsmouth Police Department in attendance. He was survived by his widow, sons and grandchildren.

 

In the Proceedings of the Supreme Council, 33^o, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction for 1958, we read, “Known familiarly to his many friends as ‘Reg’, his ready smile and his willingness to assume the responsibility of any task assigned to him with vigor and purpose were attributes of this man and Mason.”