Most Worshipful Brother William Littlejohn

Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Utah 1939.

Our 65th Grand Master is a real Scotchman. He was born in Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland, May 8, 1875. His father was a coal miner-as his forebears had been for generations-and our Grand Master, the firstborn of a family of thirteen, soon after he had reached the age of twelve years (the laws of Scotland at that time did not permit anyone under that age to work in a mine) was taken into the mine by his father and taught the art of coal mining. This was the beginning of a varied experience in the production of coal which extended from the position of helper to his father to that of executive.

It seems that the coal mining laws of that period permitted a man upon reaching the age of sixteen to go out for himself, and as other boys were coming along in the family it was necessary that young William should procure diggings for himself so that his father could begin the training of these younger brothers.

Ambitious to secure an education, during those early years he attended night schools until he had obtained the equivalent of a high school training, and then having gained a knowledge of the practical side of mining he decided to supplement this with the theoretical and for this purpose he entered a technical school. In this work he appears to have been eminently successful leading his classes two years in succession, and in 1893 following an examination held in the George Watson College, Edinburg, he was given a first class mine manager's certificate and later in the same year he was awarded a First Advance certificate in the Science and Art of Mining. In 1894 he was made Under Manager in one of the mines owned by the largest producers of coal and iron in the United kingdom.

On May 1st, 1907, our Grand Master left his native land and two weeks later he arrived in Dawson, New Mexico, with a slim purse "* * * and with a steadfast resolution to earn an honest living and give full value for money received," he tells us. Day wages in Dawson at that time were 29½ cents per hour, ten hours a day, with no extra pay for overtime or Sundays, we are told.

We cannot follow in detail the experience of our Grand Master from that time to the present. It must suffice to say that in Dawson it included that of gas inspector in mine number 2 and mine foreman in the same mine. Coming to Utah in 1910 he was employed by the Utah Fuel Company at its Sunnyside No.2 mine as gas inspector and then as mine foreman in the same mine; transferred to Castle Gate as underground inspector, then made Superintendent of operations in that place, and in 1919, upon the death of General Superintendent J. S. Thompson, he was appointed to fill the vacancy and placed in charge of all of the properties of the Utah Fuel Company in Utah. This position he held until late in 1926 when he decided to give up the coal mining business.

It was during this period that he was elected (in 1924) president of the Rocky Mountain Mining Institute, the district of which in-cluded New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, with a few members from Idaho and Montana. He was also a member of the Price Rotary and Helper Kiwanis Clubs, and in 1926 he served as president of the Price Chamber of Commerce. In the same year he formed a family corporation of Littlejohn Theaters Company, Incorporated doing business in Price and later in Helper. This is his business at the present time.

The Grand Master was made a Mason in St. Matthews Kilwinning Lodge No. 549, A. F. & A. M., Dreghorn, Ayrshire, Scotland, March 19, 1907; transferred, to become a charter member of Vermejo Lodge No. 136, A. F. & A. M., Dawson, New Mexico in 1908, and to Carbon Lodge No. 16, F. & A. M. of Price, Utah, September 2, 1911. He was elected Master of this Lodge December 14, 1918, and from 1928 to 1938 he served as its Treasurer.

In Grand Lodge he was appointed Junior Grand Deacon in 1935, and in the following year elected Junior Grand Warden and regularly advanced, becoming Grand Master September 26, 1939.

In the York, or American Rite, he received the Royal Arch Degree in Price Chapter No.6 R. A. M., Price, Utah, December 9, 1916, and was elected High Priest December 22, 1933. He was Knighted in Charles Fred Jennings Commandery No.6, K. T., Price, Utah, in 1929.

He received the Scottish Rite Degrees in the bodies of that Rite, Salt Lake City, with the Spring Class of 1922. This class was known as the Scottish Class he tells us, not because of his presence in it, but in honor of the three Scotchmen: David Reed, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Scotland; Joseph Inglis, and John Forrest who came to this country to testify in the Thomson Masonic Fraud. Case.

He was created a Noble of the Mystic Shrine in EI Kalah Temple, Salt Lake, October 27, 1922. He is also a member of Naomi Chapter No. 13, O. E. S., of Price, Utah, in which he was Patron in 1935.

Our Grand Master is an ardent lover of the principles of Freemasonry, and of the writings of "Bobby" Burns-their birthplaces were only ten miles apart-and holds and believes with that immortal Poet:

In 1899, at Dreghorn, Scotland, Grand Master Littlejohn was married to Mary Lindsay. To this union six children were born: Janet S., William A., (deceased), Alex L., Jean C., James C., and Robert L. This wife and mother died in 1919 and three years later he married Elsie Hass Tanner, a widow and mother of two children, Naida E. and Malcolm T. These children were legally adopted by the Grand Master.

The Grand Master states that he is not" ... strong on speech making." The present writer has had a brother-in-law and a son-in-law, both born in Scotland and, speaking advisedly, he is of the opinion that tongue-tied Scotchmen are exceedingly rare.

Utah Grand Lodge Proceedings,1939.

PGM, William Littlejohn died on June 14, 1944 in Price, Utah. Utah Grand Lodge Proceedings, 1945, page 127.