THE MYSTERY HAS NEVER BEEN SOLVED. Charles Silser Hoskinson’s mysterious disappearance has never been solved. He resided at 1037 Maple Ave., Zanesville and had an insurance business at 45 N. 4th Street (across the street from the Masonic Temple) at the time he disappeared. It was a rumor he had financial trouble and because of his social position his family spent more than he could afford. It seems that he went to Columbus, Ohio the weekend before Easter in 1926, and since his car had broken down he went by bus. This was the last time the family saw or heard from him. The story goes that he was on the bus returning to Zanesville, got off the bus at Jacksontown and was never seen again. The Amity Lodge historian looked through the local newspapers for several months after he disappeared and there was no mention in them of his disappearance. There is no record in Muskingum County Probate Court of his estate being probated or a record that he was declared dead.
M. W. Brother Hoskinson received the Entered Apprentice Degree May 29, 1891; passed to the Degree of Fellowcraft December 18, 1891; raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason April 26, 1895, all in Amity Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., Zanesville, Ohio.
M. W. Brother Hoskinson paid his last dues on April 2, 1926 and Amity Lodge carried him on the Lodge records until they suspended him for N. P. D. in 1932.
This is a compilation of two pieces of correspondence that has been received.
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One of the outstanding events of M. W. Brother Hoskinson’s year, was the making of President, William Howard Taft a Mason at sight. The following is a commentary of that ceremony.
William Howard Taft President, Chief Justice, Mason at Sight
Brother William Howard Taft was made a Master Mason at sight by Grand Master Charles S. Hoskinson on February 18, 1909. At the time, Taft was President-elect of the United States of America.
The ceremony was performed in the presence of a great gathering of Brethren assembled in the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Cincinnati. Numerous high-ranking Masons from around the country and the world were present, including: 18 visiting Grand Masters; 12 Grand Masters of Ohio; the General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter, U.S.A., 3 officers of the Grand Encampment K. T., 7 Past Grand Commanders; 11 visiting thirty-third Degree Masons and a large number of honorary Thirty-third Degree members of Ohio. The Grand Chapter, Grand Council and Grand Commandery, all of Ohio, were also represented. Three hundred and two of the five hundred Worshipful Masters of the Ohio Lodges were present, as were twenty of the twenty-five District Lecturers.
The actual ceremonies were simple and brief, lasting only one hour. Grand Master Hoskinson opened an occasional communication of the Grand Lodge for the purpose of conferring upon Mr. Taft the degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason. After propounding the customary questions and receiving the required answers, Hoskinson obligated the candidate in the Entered Apprentice degree and instructed him in the unwritten work of the degree. The same was done for the Fellow Craft and Master Mason degrees. After the reading of the Master Mason charge, the Grand Master proclaimed that Brother William Howard Taft, having received the degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Mater Mason, to be a Master Mason in good and regular standing.
Following the ceremony, Brother Taft was greeted in the east by his brother Charles P. Taft, a member of Kilwinning Lodge #356. Grand Master Hoskinson presented him with a new morocco leather Bible, which Brother Taft inscribed: “To Grand Master Hoskinson, with gratitude and fraternal good wishes of William H. Taft, made a Master Mason February 18, 1909.” This Bible, with several other Taft artifacts, is now displayed at the Grand Lodge Museum in Worthington.
At 7:30 p.m. that evening, Brother Taft, seated with the visiting Grand officers on the stage, watched the officers and craftsmen of Kilwinning Lodge # 356 confer the sublime degree of Master Mason on Brother Frank H. Heitman. At this time, the members of Kilwinning Lodge presented Brother Taft with a lambskin apron.
Brother Taft was considered a Mason at large, paying his dues to the Grand Lodge until April 14, 1909, when he affiliated with Kilwinning Lodge #356. Both his father and brother had been members of Kilwinning Lodge, and he maintained his membership there until his death on March 8, 1930.