M.W. John Henry Barlow 1880
John Henry Barlow
The subject of this sketch, John H. Barlow, was one of the best loved and most widely-known Masons among the Fraternity of Connecticut. He was born in Ridgefield, November 7, 1832, and at the age of seventeen removed to Birmingham, a part of Derby, where for four years he was engaged as clerk in a grocery and hardware store. In 1854 he entered the employ of the Shelton Company, manufacturers of tacks, and remained in the employ of the company until he became Grand Secretary.
He was raised in Hiram Lodge, No. 12, October 12, 1858, passed through its various chairs and presided in the· East in 1861 and 1865. He was exalted in Solomon Chapter, No.3, R. A. M., April 25, 1859, and was High Priest during the years 1864, 1865, 1866, 1870 and 1871, He was received and greeted in Union Council, No. 27, R. & S. M., January 26, 1860, and was Thrice Illustrious Master from 1864 to 1865, inclusive. He was knighted in New Haven Commandery, No.2, Knights Templar, August 5, 1863. He was a member of E. G. Storer Lodge of Perfection, Elm City Council, Princes of Jerusalem, New Haven Chapter of Rose Croix and Lafayette Consistory. He was a member of the Actual Past Masters Association of Hartford County and a noble of Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Hartford.
In1871 he was elected Grand Junior Deacon in the Grand Lodge and passing regularly through the chairs, was elected Deputy Grand Master in 1879, assuming the position of acting Grand Master upon the death of Grand Master Israel M. Bullock. In 1880 he served as Grand Master and upon the death of Grand Secretary, Joseph K. Wheeler, in September 1894, he was appointed Grand Secretary, which office he continued to hold until his decease.
He was Secretary of the Board of Managers of The Masonic Charity Foundation of Connecticut.
M. W. Brother Barlow was Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M., of Connecticut in 1870 and 1871 and was Past Most Excellent President of the Convention of Anointed High Priests in R. A. M. He was Most Puissant Grand Master of the Grand Council, R. & S. M., in 1874. At the time of his death he was Venerable Master of the Connecticut Masonic Veteran Association. He had long been deeply interested in the Order of the Eastern Star and was Past Patron of Ivanhoe Chapter, No. 10.
Brother Barlow was a man of deep and earnest religious faith who made his belief a part of his daily walk in life. Genial in temperament and quiet in demeanor, with a sincere and pleasant greeting for all, he made and retained a host of friends who will hold him in grateful memory as a true man and Mason and one who lived up to the high teachings of the Order and the principles on which it is founded.
His death occurred at his home in Hartford June 16, 1908. The ceremony of commitment was in charge of the Grand Lodge, M. W. Grand Master Fuller officiating. His picture appears in the Proceedings of 1881 and 1909.
