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Appendix II MASONIC EULOGY OF WILSON R. BACHELOR (1903) The following eulogy of Wilson R. Bachelor was published by his local Masonic lodge, Lowe’s Creek Lodge No. 346, in Franklin County, Arkansas, in May 1903.A copy of the eulogy,1 which appears to have been published in either a local newspaper or a Masonic publication, is in the scrapbook he began maintaining in the 1890s, and which members of his family continued to maintain following his death. Resolutions of Respect to the Memory of Dr.W. R. Bachelor We, your committee appointed to draft resolutions of respect suitable to the memory of Dr.W. R. Bachelor, beg leave to report as follows: Whereas, on the 5th inst., the Great God of heaven and earth saw fit to remove from our midst Bro.W. R. Bachelor, “to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no travelor ever returns,” we can but bow in humble submission to His will. Dr. Bachelor was born in Lawrence County,Tenn., Nov. 29th, 1827, came to Arkansas in 1870 and settled in Mill Creek T’p. Franklin County, where he continued to reside ’till his death. He was made a mason about the year ’73 in Ozark Lodge No. 79, F.A. M.Was a charter member of Lowe’s Creek Lodge No. 346. In 1884 he wrote a book entitled “Fiat Lux” in which he disputed the divinity and authenticity of the Bible, the great light of Masonry and the world, for which he was tried by the lodge and expelled about the same year and remained thus ’till about two months ago, when he petitioned the lodge for restoration, setting forth the necessary declaration in said petition, and was restored to membership April 11th, 1903.Ten years ago he wrote the following lines to a friend: “I freely adopt what two of the pioneers of freethought have said, ‘the world is my country, to do good, my religion.’ ‘The place to be happy is here, the time to be happy is now, the way to be happy, is to make others happy.’”We are very sorry he was unable to attend lodge meeting after restoration. He had expressed a desire to make a public declaration regarding his belief prior to this time. His record as a citizen was such as endeared him to all who knew him. He was noted for the gentleness of his manners and kindliness of disposition. He possessed pleasing and winning manners, and in 153 all his social relations, he bore the character of an estimable, generous, kindly and true man. Like many other bright men he was not without faults and with a resourceful mind wielded a strong influence over the community in which he lived an honored and respected citizen. His one mistake in life being his attack on the Bible and the Christian religion, which he himself fully realized but too late in life to counteract the influences set in motion by his teaching. His theory during this period of life was: “Be just and kind to all men, do right because it is right, without the recognition of or the intervention of a higher power and without the fear of future punishment, or the hope of a blissful immortality beyond the grave, but that life ends in physical death.” Let us thus throw the mantle of charity over his mistakes and remember that he was but a frail mortal and strive to emulate those virtues that characterized his life. Therefore be it Resolved. First.That in his death our lodge has lost one of her most intelligent and respected members; our country a just, patriotic and upright citizen, and the family, an indulgent and affectionate husband and father. Second.That this lodge extend its sympathy to the grief-stricken wife and aged mother and family and pray God’s grace to sustain and comfort them in this their sad bereavement, and commend them to Him who has promised to be “a husband to the widow and a father to the [fatherless].”2 154 Appendix II ...

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