Henry P. H. Bromwell

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Bromwell moved with his parents to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1824, and thence to Cumberland County, Illinois, in 1836. He attended private schools in Ohio and Illinois, including Marshall Academy (Marshall, Illinois), becoming an instructor in that academy in 1844. In 1867 he obtained an honorary degree of Master of Arts from McKendree College for his wide reputation for scholarship. On June 20, 1858, Bromwell married Emily E. Payne. They had three children together, Emma M. Bromwell (1864–1865), Henry Pelham Payne Bromwell (1862–1881), and Henrietta Elizabeth Bromwell (1859–1946). Emma died around the same time as his wife in February 1865. Henry Jr. caught typhoid fever and died in Denver at the age of nineteen; he was studying law at the time. After twenty years fighting sickness, Bromwell died in Denver, Colorado, January 9, 1903. He was interred in Riverside Cemetery. ==Law and politics==

In 1848 the family moved to Vandalia, Illinois, where Bromwell worked for his father's newspaper, The Age of Steam, and studied law. Bromwell was admitted to the bar in 1853 and practiced in Vandalia until 1858. serving in the House of Representatives, and appointed Commissioner to revise the laws of the state in 1881. ==Freemasonry==

Bromwell was made a Freemason in Vandalia, Illinois, in 1854. That same year he served as Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Colorado. During the 1889 Grand Lodge annual communication he was unanimously elected as honorary member of the Grand Lodge of Colorado 1889 "in consideration of his distinguished services to the Craft" Among his pall bearers were eight Past Grand Masters, and the religious services were conducted at his residence. ==Free and Accepted Architects==

Bromwell was the originator of the Free and Accepted Architects, a new branch of freemasonry "the object of which was to restore and preserve the lost work [rituals] These degrees were not innovations introduced into freemasonry but rather "designed to impart to students of the Craft a knowledge of Masonic symbolism not otherwise obtainable." On March 1, 1862, a grand lodge of Free and Accepted Architects was formed, "known as King Davids Grand Lodge F.&A.A." The Grand Lodge moved to Denver in 1879, the first meeting in the new location being on June 9 of that year. In the twenty-one years of the Grand Lodge's existence there were nine Grand Master Architects and five lodges mentioned in their minutes: King David's No. 1 Charleston Illinois; King Solomon's No. 2 Washington D.C.; King Hiram's No. 3 Springfield Ill.; Hillsborow No. 4 Hillsboro, Ill.; Pentalpha No. 5 Denver, Col.; with a dispensation issued to Triangle, Los Angeles, Cal. The Grand Lodge continued until 1883, when it held its last meeting on March 6. After the last Grand Lodge meeting Frank Church, the Grand Master Architect, continued obligating people into the rite. Several attempts were made to revive the lodge, but they all ended up in failure. Finally Harry Bundy, the Grand Secretary of Colorado, gained access to the rite and on December 29, 1958, Bundy obligated several individuals and opened the Grand Lodge of Architects. At this meeting they elected George B. Clark as Grand Master Architect and Harry W. Bundy as the Grand secretary. Afterwards they agreed to meet in Washington D.C. to elect the remaining officers. On February 20, 1959, the Grand Lodge of Architects met, elected a total of fifteen officers, and then turned the ritual over to the Allied Masonic Degrees and placed it in the custody of the Grand College of Rites; "there would be no initiations and the Rite would remain dormant as far as extension of its membership and authority would be concerned." ==Restorations of Masonic Geometry and Symbolry==

In 1884, Bromwell began work on what was to become his life work, entitled Restorations of Masonic Geometry and Symbolry. This book, in a resolution passed by the Grand Lodge of Illinois, is described as "The most remarkable contribution, along the lines of which it treats, yet made to Masonic Literature." To write this "ponderous volume" it is claimed that Bromwell spent "sixteen hours a day for six years and two months" working on what he described as "a dissertation on the lost knowledge of the Lodge." The year that Bromwell died, the "Henry P. H. Bromwell Masonic Publication Company" was formed for the sole purpose of publishing Restorations of Masonic Geometry and Symbolry The board of directors for this company was composed entirely of Past Grand Masters. The Grand Lodge of Colorado met on the year of his death and discussed how to best honor Bromwell's work. After the character of the work was explained, "showing that it would be one of the most valuable Masonic publications ever produced", the Grand Lodge of Colorado voted "that the proper officers of the Grand Lodge be authorized to guarantee $2000 towards the expenses of the publication of the work." The book was published in 1905. ==References==