History
Hancock Lodge #311 meets in Boughton Memorial Hall
The following text is taken from The Statutes at Large of the Sixty-Sixth Congress Session I, Chapter 8, Sub-Chapter III, page 130, Approved 11 July 1919, for fiscal year ending in 30 June 1920.
Actual text of the Statute
BOUGHTON MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION : That the Boughton Memorial Association, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Kansas, be, and is hereby, authorized to erect and maintain a suitable building, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe, in and upon the United States military reservation at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the plans of such building to be first approved and to be constructed in such location as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War : Provided, That the use of such portion of the ground floor of said building as may be necessary shall be given to the Post Office Department of the United States, free of charge, for the post-office service of the reservation .
Who was Major General Hancock and COL Boughton?
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock is one of the United States Army’s most distinguished officers. He was born on 14 February 1824 at Montgomery Square, Norristown, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1844 and shortly thereafter served in the Mexican War where he was breveted First Lieutenant for gallantry in action. In 1885 he saw service in the Seminole War around Fort Myers, Florida.
In 1857-58 he was stationed in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, during the period of the so-called “Border War” between the pro-slavery and abolitionist factions. He arrived at Fort Leavenworth on 1 August 1857 and departed for Utah and California in the Spring of 1858.
His first assignment in the Civil War was at Williamsburg, where as a Brigadier General of Volunteers, he commanded the Brigade which turned the Confederate flank and carried the field. General McClellan, in his official report, stated that “Hancock was superb”. At Antietam, Hancock assumed command of the First Divission of II Corps, and led it in the bloody battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. At Fredericksburg his Division distinguished itself in the fruitless assault which Burnside ordered on Marye’s Heights; and at Chancellorsville, they bore the full weight of Lee’s attack down the Plank Road, holding a salient which enabled Hooker to extricate himself from Jackson’s wide envelopment.
At Gettysburg, Hancock was ordered by Meade to select the ground for the Union dispositions, and Hancock commanded all Union forces the first day. Thereafter, as Commanding General of II Corps, he commanded the Union left wing, and his Corps repulsed Pickett’s famous charge. Hancock continued in command of the II Corps to the end of the war, distinguishing himself repeatedly at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Petersburg. He became renowned throughout the Army as “Hancock the Superb”.
After Lincoln’s assassination, Hancock was immediately ordered to command the District of Washington where he apprehended, tried and executed Booth’s accomplices.
On 6 August 1866, Major General Hancock returned to Fort Leavenworth to command the Department of Missouri. There he remained until September of 1867, when he was transferred to New Orleans. In 1880 Hancock was nominated by the Democratic party as their candidate for President of the United States; and in an election where over 9 million votes where cast, he lost to President Garfield by a scant 7,018 votes.
Major General Hancock received all three Masonic Degrees by special dispensation in Charity Lodge No. 190 of Norristown, Pennsylvania on 31 October 1860, while on leave. He was also a member of Norristown Chapter No. 190, Royal Arch Masons and Hutchinson Commandery No. 32, Knights Templar, both of Norristown, Pennsylvania.
Major General Hancock died at Governor’s Island, New York on 9 February 1886.
Colonel Daniel H. Boughton
08/27/1858 – 08/24/1914
Buried at: Section 3 Site 1664-SS
Arlington National Cemetery
Born August 27, 1858, in Nunda Minnesota. He was a graduate of the United States military academy (appointed from Iowa), 1881; of the United States infantry and calvary school, 1887; of the St. Louis law school; Washington university (LL.B.), 1897; and of the Army War college, 1910. Served in the campaign of Santiago, Cuba (battle of San Juan and siege of Santiago), and in the Phillipines during the insurrection, 1900-1903, where he filled several important positions, including the management of the emergency rice fund in Luzon. Has was assistant professor of law and history at the United States military academy, and head of the departments of law and military art, and assistant commandant at the Army service schools at Fort Leavenworth. Was a Lietenant Colonel on the general staff in Washington. Was active in Masonic circles, having been instrumental in organizing the higher bodies of the Scottish Rite at Fort Leavenworth – bodies composed of military men exclusively.
He was promoted to COL in April 1914. Assigned to the 10th Cav in July, assumed command of the regiment on 1 August and died 24 August.
The Masonic bodies of Fort Leavenworth, in whose organization and perpetuation Colonel Boughton had been most active, sent special representatives to be present at the funeral. In addition to the usual military escort and ceremonies, the Washington Chapter, Knights Rose Croix, officiated in the beautiful and impressive Masonic services of the Scottish Rite, in the presence of a circle of his devoted family and friends. Some months later, the Masonic bodies of Fort Leavenworth mourned his loss in a Lodge of Sorrow: the eulogy of Colonel Boughton’s life and character being delivered by a devoted friend and Masonic Brother, Reverend H. Percy Silver, who came from West Point, New York, for this purpose.
Masonic History
Elected to Hancock Lodge. No. 311 of Fort Leavenworth. KS, and degree conferred. April 9, 1906: Charter member of Chapter, May 19, 1906; Charter member of Council, February 24, 1907: Charter member of Consistory, October 27, 1907. Offices held: Senior Warden (1906): Worshipful Master (1907); Venerable Master (1907); Master of the Kadosh (1908). Source: Annual Report of Graduates of USMA 1915.
Excerpt from The Washington Post – September 1, 1914
Daniel H. Boughton – The funeral of Colonel Daniel H. Boughton, Tenth Cavalry, was held at Arlington at 10 o’clock yesterday morning. The military escort consisted of a battalion of engineers from Washington Barracks with the Engineer Band. The burial ceremony was conducted by the Washington Consistory of the Scottish Rite. A committee from the Masonic Lodges by the Rev. Taylor Snyder of this city and was followed by a solo, Perfect Peace by J. Walker Humphrey of the Church of the Covenant. The ceremonies were concluded by the firing of a salute and the sounding of Taps. The pallbearers were General Frank McIntyre, Colonel Joseph E. Kuhn, Colonel J.E. McMahon, Colonel H.C. Hodges, Major Parker West and Major Charles Crawford.