The warm heart of a good man and exemplary Freemason beats no more. In San , Francisco, Cal., shortly before sunrise on the morning of June 13, 1894, Bro. Albion Bernard Emery stepped from the shore of time to the threshold of his eternal home. When the sad news was announced in this city and became known throughout Utah the shadow of a great sorrow fell upon many a heart, and the pain it brought to them will not be assuaged this side of the grave. But few men in this community had so many friends as he, but few so many admirers, but few stood so high in the esteem of his fellow men as did Albion Bernard Emery. He was loved by all who knew him for his manly character, his genial disposition and his true, noble and charitable heart. He was a live man and a companionable gentleman. He always kept abreast of the times, took deep interest in the advancement of his fellow men and the progress of civilization. He lived in sympathy with the people of this region and was “their friend.” And they mourn his loss because they know there is no other to fill his place.

“When such men as he die
Their places ye may not well supply
Though ye may among the thousands try
With vain endeavor.”

Bro. Albion Bernard Emery was born in South Berwick, York county, Maine, June 26, 1846, and when twenty-two years old pushed his was to Chicago, where he remained a few years. He crossed the rocky Mountains in 1869, arriving in Idaho in November of that year, where he worked in the Snake river placer mines. He came to Utah in 1870. He first tried mining in Big Cottonwood, then went to Ophir and Dry Canyon in 1872. He was the first Gentile County Clerk in Tooele county, and held the office from August, 1874, to May, 1875. For the following three years he had charge of a smelter in Ophir and resided most of the time in Salt Lake City. He then made a short trip to Arizona and returning from there mined a short time in Custer county, Idaho. In the fall of 1880 he located in Park City, which place has ever since been his home. He was Postmaster in Park City from 1881 till January, 1886. From that time on he was with the Daly Mining Company and an extensive operator in mines. In the spring of 1882, fortune smiled upon him and he became part owner of one of the richest and best paying mines in Utah.

Bro. Emery was a self-made and self-cultured man. He was well versed in literature and loved to delve in the history of nations, both ancient and modern; but more especially in the political history of his own native land. His mind was a store house filled with the choicest passages and grandest thoughts of English and American authors, and he being a ready conversationalist used them to the best advantage. These accomplishments coupled with his own warm heart, his great good sense, keen mind and business qualifications made him a leader of the people among whom he lived. He presided at several important political conventions and was appointed by the Governor of Utah a delegate to the Chicago Silver Congress held July, 1893. In November, 1893, the citizens of Summit county elected him to the thirty-first Utah Legislature, and when that August body met in January, 1894, the Republican majority elected Albion B. Emery unanimously Speaker of the House. At the close of the Legislature both parties united and presented him with a beautiful finished gavel made of mountain mahogany trimmed and bound with gold. The gavel bears the inscription: “Presented to Albion B. Emery, 31st Legislative Assembly of Utah Territory. By the members of the House, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 8, 1894.” The name of each member is engraved on the gold bands of the gavel. At the time of his death he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Utah Insane Asylum, at Provo

November 11, 1884, our deceased Past Grand Master, Judge P. H. Emerson, united Bro. Emery in wedlock with Susie E. Bransford. It was a happy union. Ten years full of love and peace. And when the parting hour came his dear companion watched over his failing breath, smoothed his pillow and closed his eyes.

“A devoted woman’s hand
Lead him to a better land.”

Bro. Albion Bernard Emery was made a Mason in Pleiades Lodge No. 478, Chicago, Ills., July 12, 1874, he affiliated with Wasatch Lodge No. 1, Salt Lake City, of which Lodge he was Senior Deacon in 1876 and `77, and Senior Warden in 1878. He dimitted from Wasatch Lodge, October 8, 1880, and assisted in the formation of Uintah Lodge U. D., Park City, being its Senior Deacon. When, November 10, 1880, Uintah Lodge No. 7, received a charter, Bro. Emery was its first Senior Warden and its Master in 1881 -`82 -`83, and from that time up to the time of his departure to the Grand Lodge above he has ever been a constant attendant of the Lodge and its leading spirit.

Bro. Emery appeared for the first time on the floor of the Grand Lodge of Utah in January, 1882, and he was appointed Grand Sword Bearer. In 1884 he was elected Junior Grand Warden, in 1891 Senior Grand Warden, in 1892, Deputy Grand Master and in 1893, Grand Master. When retiring from the Grand East he presented to Grand Master A. S. Chapman a ring to be used by all future Grand Masters as their official seal, which will bring forth for all time to come sweet recollections of the loved Brother Albion Bernard Emery. He was the Grand Representative of the Grand Lodges of Wisconsin and Illinois, and a member of the Veteran Masonic Association of the Pacific Coast. He was a Royal Arch Mason, member of Ontario Chapter No. 3, Park City, and a member of Utah Commandery No. 1, Salt Lake City.

Bro. Emery loved Freemasonry, it was a part of his very life. He considered it a high honor to be elected Speaker of the first Republican Legislature of Utah, but he told the present writer on several occasions that the highest honor ever conferred upon him was that of having been elected Grand Master of Masons in Utah. He was a bright Mason in every sense of the word. He was a Masonic jurist and ritualist and well versed in Masonic history. As Grand Master he never swerved to do his whole duty. In his decisions he was always firm and at the same time careful and wise. He demanded obedience to the laws and obeyed them himself. From the Annual Communications of the Grand Lodge of Utah Bro. Emery was absent but once in twelve years, in 1889, when he was lying dangerously ill at home in Park City. His absence was noted by the Correspondent of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin, which the Utah Correspondent answered as follows: “Bro. Emery is a Mason all over. Whether he trampled over the hills and through the valleys of this western country with a pick and shovel and a blanket and frying pan strapped on his back, prospecting for precious metals, or whether he worked deep down in the earth digging them out, he never neglected his Masonic duties. Neither did he when he was postmaster at Park City, nor does he now when manager of a rich mine. He was born a Mason and will die a Mason.” When mother earth took him back she took to her bosom a true and faithful Mason. The Grand Lodge of Utah is better because Bro. Emery presided in its Grand East, and his grave in Mt. Olivet Cemetery will for all time to come be a honored grave and a shrine for Utah Masons. He is no more, but he has left behind him a legacy that will remind future Utah Masons that he has lived and that his life was one full of deeds of love and charity.

Wreaths will fade and wither on his tomb; remorseless time will raze the mound where he sleeps; monuments will rust and granite will crumble; but Bro. Emery’s achievements as a man and Mason will be imperishable.