Victoria's Jewish Cemetery, consecrated in 1859, is small and quaint and continues to hold present day internments. Jennifer Skinner, Leon Underwood and myself, Sara Cawsey, approached the cemetery with curiosity. With some research under our belts prior to our field work, we found that there are nine men who were Masonic Brothers of Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon (Freemasons, 2002). We wanted to know if these nine men were all within the same quadrant of the cemetery, if they all had large, obelisk monuments indicating family wealth and if there was any Masonic symbols engraved on the gravestone.
With our research questions in mind, we ventured into the cemetery equipped with a digital camera, a GPS and a pen and pad of paper. For each of the individuals listed as a Freemason, we took the coordinates, captured the gravestone on camera, transcribed the gravestone to the best of our ability and indicated absence or presence of the Masonic Symbol. The nine men we recorded were: David Berman, Harry Burns, Isador Lancaster, Lewis Lewis, Max Harvey Macara, David Oppenheimer, Morris Price and Marcus Wolfe. The gravesites were plotted onto an inter-active Google Map (Figure 1) shown below.
View Anth 392: Freemasons Within the Victoria Jewish Cemetery in a larger map
Figure 1: Map of Jewish Cemetery with plotted grave-sites.
The universal symbol for a Freemason is a compass and square, both open angled to each other with a capital G in the opening. When looking upon engraved stone, the Star of David and the Masonic Square and Compass look very similar; careful inspection of each gravestone was required to ensure accuracy. Six of the nine known Freemasons, Berman, Burns, Lancaster, Levy, Lewis and Macara, had the Masonic Compass and Square on the gravestone. Morris Price was the first internment within the cemetery in 1861, but did not have an elaborate gravestone and thus did not have symbolic indications of his religion or hobbies. David Oppenheimer's family plot was located, but a distinct inscription of his internment was not found, nor was one for Marcus Wolfe.
Marcus Wolfe was the mystery of the group. We could not find his gravestone, nor was his gravestone available on the Grand Lodge of B.C. and Yukon website. What we did find was an excerpt from a Daily Colonist article dated to November 22, 1896 (Freemasons, 2002): the day after Wolfe's death. Wolfe was the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of B.C. and Yukon (Freemasons, 2002). His absence from the cemetery is speculated to be due to the manner of his death: suicide. We propose more research on Wolfe and Jewish burial customs would be beneficial to finding Wolfe's final internment.
With exception of Price and Levy, the location of the Freemason graves are all within the same two rows. Price was the first internment of the cemetery and his grave is positioned in a direct Eastward line from the main gate. All of the graves within the cemetery, regardless of monument, are aligned East-West, with the majority of gravestones at the West. This likely indicates the head of the body is at the West so the individual can rise to face East. The cemetery is speckled with minute shrubbery spotting the unclaimed landscape and shrouded with large Garry-Oak trees along the border and with one central to the land. This is dissimilar from the description by Knufinke (2007) who states that Jewish cemeteries in Germany since the 17th Century have a multitude of buildings including a cemetery chapel and a cleansing house. Since the land is small, it is speculated these buildings are off-site. A Protestant chapel is to the East and adjacent with the cemetery, but because of the difference in beliefs, it is not ceremonially associated. Frankaviglia (1971) suggests that the cemetery is a reflection of the cultural landscape and style of grave marker and housing are very similar. He indicates four cultural and stylistic stages in Oregon, Washington (1971, pp. 507-508): Pioneer, 1850-1879; Victorian, 1880-1905; Conservative, 1906-1929 and Modern 1930-1970. Of these four stages, Francaviglia notes six styles of grave marker: tablet, obelisk, scroll, block, raised top and lawn type. The observations of Francaviglia have been applied to the Victoria Jewish Cemetery and the findings are concurrent (Table 1).
Surname | Date of Internment | Grave Marker Style | Masonic Square and Compass | Corresponds with Francaviglia? |
Berman | 1966 | Block | Yes | No |
Burns | 1929 | Tablet | Yes | Yes |
Lancaster | 1924 | Scroll | Yes | Yes |
Levy | 1926 | Tablet | Yes | Yes |
Lewis | 1904 | Obelisk | Yes | Yes |
Macara | 2001 | Raised Top | Yes | Yes |
Oppenheimer | - | Obelisk | No | Yes |
Price | 1861 | Raised Top | No | No |
Wolfe | 1896 | - | No | - |
Table 1. Comparison of data from Victoria Jewish Cemetery with the stylistic observations by Francaviglia (1971) in cemeteries in Oregon, Washington with internments dating from 1870-1970.
There is no known reason for the absence or presence of the Masonic Square and Compass on each gravestone. It is likely determined by the individual or his family who wished to signify membership to the Brotherhood. As shown in Table 1, the use of the Masonic Square and Compass does not adhere to the stylistic changes as described by Francaviglia (1971). Also determined by family are the size and shape of grave monument. Some Freemasons, such as Price had a single plaque within the ground while others, such as the Oppenheimer family, had a large cement slab and obelisk. The Oppenheimer plot appears to have held four family members. The other obelisk monument was for Lewis Lewis and his stone was a rose coloured granite, contrasting the other grey cement and grey granite slabs.
Through the patterns found in Table 1, we can suggest the possible gravestone style for the missing Wolfe grave. Because Wolfe died in 1896, we can infer he had an ornate grave, much like Lewis and the Oppenheimer family plot. Also, because of the ornate nature of the grave marker, we can assume David Oppenheimer’s date of death is around or between 1880 and 1905.
Although the nine men are bound by a brotherhood of the Freemasons, their membership does not significantly alter the burial location or monument for the individual. The indicator for membership is the Masonic Square and Compass symbol, and not all Freemasons choose to have the symbol displayed at his internment. Without the information from the Grand Lodge of B.C. and Yukon (2002), the unmarked Freemasons would not have been identified. We can relate this knowledge to excavations and interpretations of past cemeteries for we know that today not all memberships, be it economic or social, will be marked clearly. We also can use past research of similar settlements to monitor stylistic changes throughout the use of a cemetery. With the known data, we can infer dates of death or suggest the most plausible type of grave marker for an individual whose grave cannot be found.
Resources
Freemasons of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon., 2002. <http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/info.html>
Francaviglia, R.V., 1971. The cemetery as an evolving cultural landscape. Annals of the Association of American Geography, 61(3), pp. 501-509.
Knufinke, U., 2007. The architecture of Jewish cemetery structures. Architectura-Zeitschrift fur Geschichte der Baukunst, 37(2), pp.169-194.
