Most Worshipful Brother Arthur Edward Smith

Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Utah 1929.

Connecticut--a State which produces hats, tobacco, and, it is alleged, a good quality of wooden nutmegs, not to speak of men-gave Utah its present Grand Master.

The forebears of our Grand Master it seems came to this country along about the middle of the 17th century, and one of them, to-gether with a half dozen companions, somewhat later tramped overland from Long Island into Connecticut and there established a settlement to which they gave the name of Danbury. His immediate ancestors, on both sides of the house, lived at Bethel (at one time a part of Danbury), and this was the home of his parents, save for a short time spent in Norwalk where he was born February 19, 1880.

The industrial opportunities offered by his native state did not appeal to our Grand Master, but mining did, and so at the suggestion of a relative-a resident of Salt Lake-he turned his steps westward in the summer of 1896, arriving in Utah in July of that year. A few months later he entered the University of Utah, taking the course in mining engineering. During the summers of this period of preparation, and after he left the University, he spent the time in the Mercur mining district.

With the discovery of placer mines in Nome, Alaska., in 1900, the lure of the gold fields proved irresistible, and he joined the long line of fortune seekers in the north country. One season there, however, was sufficient to convince him that Alaska was not the place for him and he returned to Utah, richer in experience but with fewer dollars. For the next ten years he continued in the mining business, at the end of which time, owing to the fact that his work required him to be absent from home the major portion of the time, he engaged in the machinery business and this has since been his vocation, his position now being that of Secretary and Manager of the Richmond Machinery Co.

In 1903 Brother Smith returned to Bethel, Connecticut, where he married Miss Fannie E. Durant, a former class-mate in high school. This event was followed immediately by a trip to Cuba where he examined and reported on some mining properties and then with his bride he returned to Salt Lake, which place has since been his home. Three children have come to bless and brighten our Grand Master's home: Edward Durant, a member of Mt. Moriah Lodge No.2, and Laura E. and Harriet F., now students in the East Side High School and Westminster College respectively.

In the summer of 1908, on the occasion of Brother Smith's visit to his old home, Bethel, Connecticut, he expressed a desire to become a member of his father's Lodge, Eureka No. 83 A. F. & A. M., and in due time the matter was arranged, by dispensation from the Grand Master of that Jurisdiction. This permitted the Lodge to receive his petition, ballot upon the same and confer the E. A. Degree on the same night; a week later he was given the F. C. Degree and in the following week the M. M. Degree. He affiliated with Mt. Moriah Lodge No.2, Salt Lake, October 13, 1913, and served as Master of the Lodge in 1920. He received the Scottish Rite Degrees, in the Salt Lake Bodies, January 23-25, 1919; was advanced to the rank and decoration of a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor October 18, 1927, and is at present Master of Kadosh in the Utah Consistory. He became a member, by initiation, of El Kalah Temple, Mystic Shrine, October 27, 1922.

In the Grand Lodge of Utah the Grand Master was Grand Lecturer during the years of 1924 and 25; was elected Junior Grand Warden, January 20, 1926; regularly advanced thereafter until January 16 of the present year, when he was elected Grand Master. He has been a consistent and efficient worker in the field Masonic, and his natural aptitude for, and abiding interest in the work of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry have given him an enviable position in the Bodies, as is evidenced by the exceptionally heavy load that he carries at the Reunions.

Brother Smith has other contacts which tell not only of the sort of man he is, in relation to his kind, but also of forces and influences which have contributed to his preparation for the duties and responsibilities of the position he now occupies as head of the Craft in this Jurisdiction. He is a member of the Utah Society of Engineers, Sons of the American Revolution, the Chamber of Commerce, the Alta Club, and is a past President of the Salt Lake Rotary Club, and, under pressure he will sometimes admit (though this information is not for the public), that he plays golf!

The foregoing paragraphs indicate somewhat of the training, experience and affiliations of our Grand Master. In addition, he is alert, active, business-like, genial and likeable and stands high in the community. If one may not safely predicate a progressive, successful administration upon such an equipment, then this scribe will permanently abandon the Tripod, and confine himself to the less venturesome task of recording only the events of the fleeting yesterdays.

Utah Grand Lodge Proceedings, 1929.

PGM, Arthur Edward Smith died on March 3, 1957 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah Grand Lodge Proceedings, 1958, page 107.