MILTON WALLACE WEST
MASONIC RECORD
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"Thou art gone on the Mountain;-
"Thou art lost to the forest,-
"Like a summer dried fountain,-
"When our need was the sorest." Coronach.
In the province of human conceptions, it is but natural that we miss and mourn for our friends who have passed beyond the range of our mortal vision, only a ! i. I.Me way, into the limitless life toward which we are ceaselessly journeying. 'One revered in the long ago, has been quoted as saying, "Death is a theme not lightly to be broached by those who are subject to its power." But may we not realize that it is only the human form which is amenable to the autocratic messenger. Only the garb of clay must eventually cease to function, and when the vital, living spirit has departed from the tabernacle of the flesh, the material activities are no longer manifest among the associations of earth.
But the spirit dieth not. It proceeded from the Infinite Source of Love and Light and Truth. It moves forever onward along the way of the limitless quest, seeking ever GOD'S Eternal Harmony, and its pilgrimage shall never cease. This is universal law and cannot be changed or set aside. Born into the material life in a garb of flesh, we journey along the winding way, in company with other human manifestations of GOD'S Infinite Wisdom, to some of whom we become warmly attached. We share with them the pleasures and vicissitudes of Time , until finally one is taken while others remain. "Tis but natural that we should miss the genial presence, the cheery voice, the ready hand outstretched to comfort and sustain in our hour of need. And so we mourn for the
departed.
The labor of the flesh is completed, else the Master of Life had not called them to advance from the uncertainties of our earth life, through the mystic portal which opens into the higher, broader life, where doubts and perplexities no longer exist, where the enfranchised spirit, emerging from its temporal school of preparation, enters, with freedom, fervency and zeal, upon the life of spiritual accomplishment, whose goal is Eternal Harmony and one-ness with the Wise and Loving Father of All, the Supreme Master of All That Is.
Into the inner circle of our Mystic Brotherhood, came but recently, the Silent Messenger of Peace, and to one of our most loyal and consecrated Builders, voiced the call which none may evade; the call which came to Moses on Mount Nebo; the call which was sounded to Hiram the Builder, ere his beautiful dream of accomplishment was fulfilled; the summons which came to the Galilean Master, nailed to the barbaric Roman cross, when He appeared to be forsaken and utterly desolate. It came to our Washington, after he had won for our Western World its priceless heritage of freedom; and must also come, sometime, somewhere, to every child of earth, but not while the Master hath need of us in the activities of Time.
To this summons, our devoted Craftsman yielded implicit obedience, and even as one of whom the poet has written, peacefully he wrapped about his gentle form the mantle of rest, of
On July 31, 1880, at Osage, Iowa, Brother West was united in marriage to Miss Ella A. Tague, a daughter of Henry and Mary Ann Cordelia Tague. They afterward located at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where they presided for a number of years, ere they removed to Tennessee, where they have since remained. Into the home circle which they founded, came at intervals, two sons and a daughter, Clarence Ardell West, Gertrude Roselia West, and Benjamin Harrison West, all of whom have attained to years of maturity, and aroung their respective firesides, happy children have gathered from time to time, hence, as the years progressed, the old roof-tree has re-echoed at intervals with the merry voices of their children's children.
In the summer of 1889, the family bade adieu to familiar associations, and journeying southward, located in the western portion of Cumberland County, Tennessee, where for a dozen years, they dwelt in the scenic valley of Caney Fork, until in May 1901, they located permanently at Crossville, where they established an attractive home. Brother West and the several members of his family were of a genial and kindly disposition, therefore, they readily formed new and lasting ties of friendship amid these environments. The spirit of love for humanity and readiness to serve where aid was needed, predominated in the household, where to friend and stranger alike, the latch-string ever hung without. They were devout and humble followers of the Galilean Master, and for many years, have been connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, surcease from the toil and strife of earth, and silently entered the Spirit Life. There is a vacant seat in our councils, while the tones of a cheery voice linger in memory, evermore.
Nativity:
Milton Wallace West was a son of Aaron Baxter West and his wife, Sarah West, who was formerly Miss Sarah Knox, of a prominent Scottish family, whose parents came from Ireland to Pennsylvania, a century or more agone. At an early age she married Owen Goff, and by this union had a daughter, Miss Rosa Goff, who became the wife of our revered Craftsman, David C. Wickersham, formerly a member of Crossville Lodge No. 483, and who passed away in 1928, leaving the venerable widow and several children to deplore his departure.
Mrs. Goff became the wife of Aaron Baxter West about 1845, and they were the parents of four sons and two daughters, of whom, our revered Craftsman was the third, and was born at Monteray, Minnesota, April 2, 1857. But little is known of his father’s lineage, but the family are of Scottish origin, some members of which long since attained international prominence.
Amid the peaceful environments of the home circle, our Brother passed the years of boyhood, acquiring a competent education, and experiences which prepared him for usefulness in the world's activities. As he approached the threshold of maturity, he chose for a vocation, the operative builder's art or craft, which he diligently pursued until the weakness of the flesh intervened to stay his efforts.
Domestic Life;-
It was early in 18 99, prompted by some unseen, urgent desire, that our Brother sought admissions among the "Sons of Light," and on April third of that year, was regularly initiated
as an Entered Apprentice Mason, in Crossville Lodge No* 483, He was passed to the Degree of Fellowcraft, May first, and on June fifth, was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.
Here in the tiled chambers of Mystery's abode, our aspiring Craftsman found an appealing voice which ever claimed his attention and loyal devotion. Well, indeed, may we esteem our ancient Circle of Brotherhood as the dwelling-place of those hidden philosophies whose symbolic teachings often veil, even from the one who has acquired many Degrees, the deeper meanings which they are designed to portray.
His early experiences in the construction of the Mystic Temple, inspired him with an ardent desire for a greater knowledge of Craftsmanship, and another year found him seeking entrance through the portals of Capitular Masonry. Thereupon, in Mount Pisgah Chapter No. 143, he received the Degrees of Mark master and Past Master, September 20, 1900, and that of Most Excellent Master, October first, while on January 19, 1901, he was regularly exalted to the August Degree of Royal Arch Mason. After more than a quarter of a century of active labor, the Chapter ceased its functions, and when Mount Pisgah Chapter No. 199, was erected on the former foundation, in 1921, Brother West became a charter member thereof.
In Capitular as well as Symbolic Masonry, he found a persistent incentive to further advancement, and when Drummond Council No. 8 6, of Royal and Select Masters was formed, our venerated Craftsman became one of its initiatory class, on April 29, 1905, and in each of these branches of Freemasonry, he remained a zealous and active worker until the ravages of Time, rendered him inactive for a season, ere his life record in the flesh was closed by Infinite Decree, just thirty years after he was made a Master Mason, on June 5, 1929.
The record of his official activities may be briefly stated, but their value can best be expressed in thoughts, not in words. For nearly a score of years, Companion West served the Chapter and Council as Sentinel, and during the greater portion of that time, was also Tyler of the Symbolic Lodge. In the latter body, having successively filled the Wardens important stations, he was chosen Master in December, 1921, and for a twelve-month, presided with marked success over the activities of the Craft, the labor of guiding the young noviciate along the winding way, being ever to him a source of lasting pleasure. During more recent years, he also ably participated in the ceremonial work of the Chapter and Council.
For three decades, as a recognized Master of the Mystic Builders1 art, our departed Craftsman pursued the rugged pathway of advancement which leads us ever upward into a broader conception of Love and Light and Truth.
Love, selfless, fervent and ready to perform the humblest service to a fellow traveller;-
Light, which illumes the inner-consciousness of the soul, and enables us to behold with clearer vision the good in all mankind;-
Truth, which reveals, in simplest form, the unutterable goodness of the Infinite, the wondrous wisdom, and unchanging harmony of the Supreme All-Father, whose we are and must be throughout the eternal ages.
The Broken Column, like the Broken Triangle, reminds us of the parting here, of the passing of a loved associate from the vanishing scenes of Time, while the endless Circle, symbol of Infinite Love, remains unbroken throughout the limitless hereafter.
The Star in the East;-
Brother West was also a loyal and consecrated member of the Order of the Eastern Star. On August 7, 1899, accompanied by the gentle and devoted wife with whom, for almost half a century, he pursued the devious pilgrimage of the life terrestrial, the attractive rite of initiation was accorded them by Amanda Chapter No. 4, one of Tennessee's pioneer Chapters, which united in the formation of the Grand Chapter, October 18, 1900.
In this Society, aptly designated "The Adoptive Rite of FreeMasonry, during the thirty years which have intervened since entering its illumed circle, they have been loyal exemplars of its exalted teachings as well as faithful and earnest in the performance of its requirements, have contributed much to the success of its undertakings. Devoutly selfless here as elsewhere, Brother West rendered important service in the humble capacity of Sentinel from December 1905 to 1909, and again serving through the years, 1914, 1916, to December, 1918. He also rendered efficient
service as Worth Patron during the year 1910*
Benison;-
To the sorrowing widow of our deceased Craftsman, to the mourning children and grandchildren, we earnestly tender our deeply abiding sympathies, which no language of earth can faithfully express; and for compensation in the loss from the home circle of one so inexpressibly dear to each of them, we can only commend them in all sincerity to the loving-kindness and protecting care of the "Good Shepard", who alone can console the desolate heart, and guide them in security along the shadowy way toward the Sunset Gate, beyond which lies the Land of Infinite Peace and Joy, where those who have passed onward await with ceaseless vigilence, our entrance there.
Sincerely, in the Spirit of Fraternity.
M. A. Reed, S. C. Bishop, U. S. Rose
Committee for Crossville Lodge No. 483, F. & A. M.
E. M. Roland, M. B. Bilbrey, Geo. F. Brookhart
Committee for Mount Pisgah Chapter No.199, R. A- ML
Orion 0. Jones, J. T. Wheeler, Chas. Comstock
Committee for Drummond Council, No. 86, R. & S. M.
This, August 5, 1929.