Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Masonic Knights Templar Collar with Jewel
1842
Maker not marked
USA
metal, silk, sequins, bullion
Gift of Samaria Lodge #438 and Monroe Commandery #19
2012.060

Masonic Knights Templar collar with jewel. Beige watered silk collar with pleated rosette at point. Rosette has rows of red, white and dark blue pleating. At center is a star of gold bullion and sequins. Suspended from the point of the collar is a star-shaped jewel. One side is engraved with a triangle or delta with a lamb carrying a flag and some Hebrew characters. Above the lamb is a delta or triangle surrounded by glory rays. The other side also shows a triangle or delta in the center with a circle in the middle. Lettering around the circle reads "In Hoc Signo Vinces." In the middle is a Christian cross and serpent. Lettering around the delta reads "Silas Pratt. Columbian Encampment No. 1 New York, Nov. 4th 1842."

A star-shaped jewel from 1842 is suspended from this red, white, and blue collar. One side of the jewel is engraved with a triangle, a lamb carrying a flag, and some Hebrew characters. The other side shows a triangle with a circle in the middle. Lettering around the circle spells out the Knight Templar motto, "In Hoc Signo Vinces." In the center is a Christian cross and a serpent. Lettering on this side of the jewel reads "Silas Pratt. Columbian Encampment No. 1 New York, Nov. 4th 1842." According to family history recounted in a letter written by Ruth V. Pratt (1907-1988) in 1938, Silas Pratt (1804-1881) worked as a contractor building the Erie Canal. Columbian Encampment received a warrant from the Grand Encampment of New York in 1816, but there is evidence that it began meeting in 1810. Unfortunately, its published history for 1842 does not suggest the significance of November 4th, when Pratt presumably received this jewel. It is unclear whether the date had personal significance for Pratt or if it had significance for the Encampment.