Edward H. Chamberlin, Grand Master, 1883

Brother Chamberlin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1842, and at the age of thirteen years removed with his parents to Prince William County, Virginia, where he lived until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he left the State and went to Northern Pennsylvania and volunteered his services in support of the Union, but was denied enlistment on account of the loss of the sight of one eye. He subsequently went to New York State and made another effort to enlist, but failed from the same cause. In 1862 he took up his abode in the District of Columbia, where he continued to reside until the date of his death, September 23, 1901. From the year 1867 to the time of his death he was engaged in the produce commission business, and established and enjoyed an enviable reputation for business probity and fair dealing.

He was initiated, passed, and raised in 1867 in The New Jerusalem Lodge, No. 9, F. A. A. M., of this jurisdiction, and served as its Worshipful Master in 1874, and again in 1890. In 1878 he served as Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge, and successively filled the offices of Junior Grand Warden, Senior Grand Warden, and Deputy Grand Master, and in 1883 served as M. W. Grand Master. He was exalted in Columbia R. A. Chapter, No. 1, May 17, 1871, was High Priest in 1875, and served as Secretary from 1877 to 1901. He was greeted as a Royal and Select Master in Washington Council, No. 1, March 30, 1889, and was Th. 111. Master in 1893. He was knighted in Columbia Commandery, No. 2, K. T., August 4, 1871, and served as its Eminent Commander in 1886, and as its Treasurer from 1896 to 1901, and was Treasurer of the Grand Commandery, K. T., of the District of Columbia from its organization in 1896 until his death. He was also a member of Mithras Lodge of Perfection, Evangelist Chapter Rose Croix, Robert de Bruce Council of Kadosh, and Albert Pike Consistory, A. A. S. R., for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, and was Treasurer of Almas Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. f at the time of his death and for many years prior thereto. His death occurred September 23, 1901, at Phoenix, Arizona, where he had gone in the hope of restoring his health which had been impaired during the previous year.

Brother Chamberlin was a man of many noble traits of character and of a high order of natural ability and force of character. He possessed a kindly heart and never turned a deaf ear to an appeal for charity, and in his daily life faithfully and conscientiously practiced the sublime teachings of our Fraternity, and endeavored to do his duty to God, to his neighbor, and to himself. With an enthusiasm for the Craft that knew no bounds, he won high honors in all branches of Masonry and was a potent factor in the up-building of the Fraternity. A plain man in everything, honest and sincere, he did not hesitate to oppose what he conceived to be wrong, and to champion the cause of that which he conceived to be right.

AHGP District of Columbia

Source: History of the Grand Lodge and Freemasonry in the District of Columbia, compiled by W. Brother Kenton N. Harper, 1911.