Robert Morris

Early life

Many references state that Rob Morris was born on August 31, 1818, near Boston, Massachusetts.^[1] However, there is some evidence that he was born Robert Williams Peckham, in New York, and that he adopted the name of his foster parents after the death of his birth parents, later shortening his name to Rob to avoid confusion with another poet named Robert Morris.^[2] He grew up in New York, where he (apparently)^cite? also went to college.

He worked as a teacher for 10 years before moving to Oxford, Mississippi,^[3] where he continued teaching at Mount Sylvan Academy, a school established by Freemasons. While living in Oxford, he met Charlotte Mendenhall, whom he married on August 26, 1841.

Eastern Star

After he became a Mason on March 5, 1846, he became convinced that there needed to be a way for female relatives of Masons to share in some measure in the benefits of Freemasonry. While teaching at the Eureka Masonic College ("The Little Red Brick School Building") in Richland, Mississippi in 1849-1850, he wrote Eastern Star's first ritual, titled The Rosary of the Eastern Star. He organized a "Supreme Constellation" in 1845 to charter Star chapters. In 1866, because of his planned travel abroad, he handed over the organizational authority of Eastern Star to Robert Macoy.^[1]

He later served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky in 1858-9.^[4] Upon being given a job as professor of the Masonic University, he moved to La Grange, Kentucky in 1860.

Poetry

Over the years, he wrote over 400 poems, many of which were devoted to Eastern Star and Masonry. While traveling in the Holy Land, he wrote the words to the hymn "O Galilee". In 1854, he wrote "The Level and the Square", which may be his best-known poem.

Poet Laureate

Because of his many works on Masonic subjects, on December 17, 1884, he was crowned the "Poet Laureate of Freemasonry", an honor which had not been granted since the death of Robert Burns in 1796.^[3]

Death

His health began to fail in 1887, and in June 1888, he became paralyzed.^[2] He died on July 31, 1888, and is buried at La Grange, Kentucky. The Rob Morris Home is kept as a shrine to Rob Morris by the Kentucky Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.