Gus Loehr - Silvester Schiele - Hiram Shorey - Paul Harris
Rotary 3 - Founders
Included in this section is information on the Founders of Rotary Clubs International. There are excerpts from a few articles with historic background on each individual as well as on Rotary itself. These articles and documents will show that the founders of Rotary were involved in other clubs and institutions as well.
These include such institutions as the Masonic Lodge, Bohemian Club, and various Press Clubs, as well as association with the United Nations. In fact, Rotary was involved in the first UN meeting in San Francisco in 1945 and still hosts an annual Rotary-UN Day.
The first founder to be highlighted below is Gus Loehr, who was also mentioned in the previous section on the Masonic Roots of Rotary Clubs International. The excerpt below is from Biographies of Famous Freemasons.
Rotary 3 - Founders
Included in this section is information on the Founders of Rotary Clubs International. There are excerpts from a few articles with historic background on each individual as well as on Rotary itself. These articles and documents will show that the founders of Rotary were involved in other clubs and institutions as well.
These include such institutions as the Masonic Lodge, Bohemian Club, and various Press Clubs, as well as association with the United Nations. In fact, Rotary was involved in the first UN meeting in San Francisco in 1945 and still hosts an annual Rotary-UN Day.
The first founder to be highlighted below is Gus Loehr, who was also mentioned in the previous section on the Masonic Roots of Rotary Clubs International. The excerpt below is from Biographies of Famous Freemasons.
Gustavus Henry Loehr
1864 - May 23, 1918
Chicago jeweler, promoter, mining engineer, and freemason, Gus Loehr was one of the four founding members of the Rotary Club with Hiram Shorey, Silvester Schiele, and attorney Paul Harris, whose idea the association had been.
It was at Gus's office in the Unity Building on Dearborn Street, Chicago, that on the night of February 23, 1905, the meeting took place which led to the formation of the first Rotary club. The world's first service club, it has since spread to 166 countries and now claims 1.2 million members in 31,000 clubs.
MEMBER OF MASONIC LODGE NO. 739:
Initiated: August 8, 1886
Passed: September 30, 1886
Raised: April 10, 1886
Suspended NPD: May 27, 1896
Reinstated: May 27, 1903
Lakeside Lodge No. 739
Source: Lakeside Lodge No. 739 records; The Book of Chicagoans, a Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the City of Chicago Chicago : A. N. Marquis & Company, 1905. Also see rotaryhistoryfellowship.org.
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/index.html
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/loehr_g/loehr_g.html
Another of the four founding members of Rotary is Paul Harris. Rotary Club was founded in 1905 in Chicago by attorney Paul P. Harris and three other businessmen. Harris was a big private club person in Chicago area as well, involved in the press clubs and in something called Bohemian Club.
This club had overlap with the larger national club that meets annually at the Bohemian Grove. This is a group that goes a step even beyond Masonry that worships at the brazen alter of a huge statue in the form of an owl called Moloch, the accursed idol singled out in the Bible.
Moloch was the false idol that the Hebrews had adopted from the heathen religion of their pagan neighbors ...and the 'deity' to which they sacrificed their firstborn children. These practices were 'utterly despised' by the Lord God:
"But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity." Amos 5:26-27
It almost seems anti-climatic at this point to mention that Paul Harris was also a member of the freemasons, but it is foundational to what Rotary is really all about. Although Harris would later deny his association with freemasonry, it is well documented in several Masonic and historical records.
This club had overlap with the larger national club that meets annually at the Bohemian Grove. This is a group that goes a step even beyond Masonry that worships at the brazen alter of a huge statue in the form of an owl called Moloch, the accursed idol singled out in the Bible.
Moloch was the false idol that the Hebrews had adopted from the heathen religion of their pagan neighbors ...and the 'deity' to which they sacrificed their firstborn children. These practices were 'utterly despised' by the Lord God:
"But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity." Amos 5:26-27
It almost seems anti-climatic at this point to mention that Paul Harris was also a member of the freemasons, but it is foundational to what Rotary is really all about. Although Harris would later deny his association with freemasonry, it is well documented in several Masonic and historical records.
Paul P. Harris
Sons of Liberty Lodge # 301
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LISTED UNDER 'H' -
Harris, Paul P. - Co-Founder of the Rotary Club. (Co-Fundador del Rotary Club.)
http://www.sonsofliberty301.com/fAMOUS%20H.htm
http://66.218.71.231/language/translation/translatedPage.php?lp=es_en&text=http%3a%2f%2fwww.sonsofliberty301.com%2ffAMOUS%2520H.htm
Perhaps even more telling, and disturbing, than this is Harris' vehement denial of this fact.
Navigating through Turbulence in Rotary
Although some Rotarians were Freemasons, Paul Harris argued forcefully that the movement had no special connection with Masonry. "I will answer by unequivocally stating that I have never been a Freemason, nor have I either directly or indirectly had any dealings or relationship with them," he wrote in a letter to Romanian district governor Agripa Popescu in 1937.
"I can say that Rotary has never been in any manner associated with Masonry, and I have never heard of Masonry's having influenced or attempted to influence Rotary."
http://www.rotaryeclub3310.org/sub_articles_25.asp
These are unfortunately outright lies as, even from its inception, Rotary has been integrally linked with Masonry. We have already seen that co-founder Gus Loehr was a freemason, and there is very strong evidence that Paul Harris was as well.
In addition to this, "Many of the early Rotarians were Masons" and that, according to C.R. Hewitt in 'Towards My Neighbour', "Some Rotary clubs recruited exclusively from Freemasons until the practice was banned in the 1920s." http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/07/342519.shtml
Below is an excerpt from an article showing the fact that Rotary Clubs often met in Masonic Halls in various locations. The article mentions in particular the Phelps Masonic Hall in Farmers, KY as well as Franklin Masonic Temple in Alton, IL, and even that the original Rotary 'chair' was given to the Franklin Temple.
In addition to this, "Many of the early Rotarians were Masons" and that, according to C.R. Hewitt in 'Towards My Neighbour', "Some Rotary clubs recruited exclusively from Freemasons until the practice was banned in the 1920s." http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/07/342519.shtml
Below is an excerpt from an article showing the fact that Rotary Clubs often met in Masonic Halls in various locations. The article mentions in particular the Phelps Masonic Hall in Farmers, KY as well as Franklin Masonic Temple in Alton, IL, and even that the original Rotary 'chair' was given to the Franklin Temple.
HISTORIAN’S CORNER
Phelps Rotary Club
By Don Tiffany
The Community Trader, July 29, 2006, Northeastern Ontario County, New York
April 20, 1938 was Charter Night. 162 visiting Rotarians from 20 clubs attended the dinner and ceremonies held at the Phelps Masonic Hall, Farmers, KY. Greetings were also received from 10 foreign clubs and 35 in the United States.
http://www.comtrader.com/archives/122904/history/history.html
altongodfreyrotary.org/page1.htm
- ... 23,1905, of the first Rotary Club in Chicago by Paul P. Harris. Organized in 1921 ... The original chair was given to Franklin Masonic Temple in Upper Alton, Illinois ...
There is not a great deal of information on the other two founding Rotarians, Hiram Shorey and Silvester Schiele, however there is enough 'guilt by association' to go around. Shorey served as recording secretary during the club's first year, but was a Rotarian for only a few short years.
Another early leader of Rotary was printer and salesman Harry Ruggles. After enlisting this 'fifth member', the group was formally organized as the Rotary Club of Chicago. Ruggles served as Rotary Treasurer in the early years of the club and was responsible for the first printed emblem of Rotary, the 'wagon wheel'.
Silvester Schiele was Rotary's first President and later served as Treasurer. After their initial chance meeting, he and Harris became lifelong friends and neighbors. Even in death the two men lie close to each other in the Mount Hope Cemetery. https://www.rghfhome.org/first100/leaders/schiele/
Schiele and Harris had shared a hotel room in the early years of the 20th century when both were still bachelors. They also often dined together at Madame Galli's where, on February 23, 1905, the 'gang of four' met to discuss the formation of what later became the Rotary movement.
(Next Page - Rotary 4)
Another early leader of Rotary was printer and salesman Harry Ruggles. After enlisting this 'fifth member', the group was formally organized as the Rotary Club of Chicago. Ruggles served as Rotary Treasurer in the early years of the club and was responsible for the first printed emblem of Rotary, the 'wagon wheel'.
Silvester Schiele was Rotary's first President and later served as Treasurer. After their initial chance meeting, he and Harris became lifelong friends and neighbors. Even in death the two men lie close to each other in the Mount Hope Cemetery. https://www.rghfhome.org/first100/leaders/schiele/
Schiele and Harris had shared a hotel room in the early years of the 20th century when both were still bachelors. They also often dined together at Madame Galli's where, on February 23, 1905, the 'gang of four' met to discuss the formation of what later became the Rotary movement.
(Next Page - Rotary 4)
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