The Seal
The minutes and early history of the Lodge make no mention of the design adopted for its seal, or who drafted it. The sole reference is contained in the minutes of January 8, 1857 which states that Bro. Samuel H. Jackson (then Master) was chosen "to procure a seal as soon as possible."
In choosing a seal, it is customary whenever possible to select a design which relates to the Lodge's name. Evidently both the name and design were taken from a passage of ritual which notes that Pythagoras is supposed to have exclaimed "Eureka" upon reaching a solution to the problem from which his theorem, known to every student of geometry, was developed.
This historical anachronism had its origin in the legendary Gothic Constitutions handed down from the medieval guilds of operative masons. Claiming to trace the development of masonry back to a time before Noah's flood, they describe Euclid as a teacher of geometry during the evolution of the liberal arts and sciences.
The fact that Pythagoras is understood to have solved the problem a couple of hundred years before Euclid was born; that Euclid's only connection with it was through its appearance in one of his books; and that the exclamation "Eureka" is generally attributed to Archimedes rather than Euclid, seems to have been either unknown or ignored by the early ritualists.
Nevertheless the theorem is appropriate as showing the evolution of present day Freemasonry from operative builders, who used it extensively in their work.
The seal also shows the name, number and location of the Lodge. The latter sometimes causes confusion among those not familiar with the area. No evidence can be found that the location was ever officially changed from St. George to Tenants Harbor. In the early days and in the Charter, St. George is used. While the Lodge has always been in the Town of St. George, its first meeting place was in the village of Martinsville. In 1860, it moved to quarters in Tenants Harbor (also a village in the Town of St. George) and has met there ever since.
The 1891 Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Maine contains the first reference to the Lodge being in Tenants Harbor. In the "Proceedings" of the next few years, the names St. George and Tenants Harbor are used interchangeably, until finally Tenants Harbor came to be used exclusively, and is so today. As will be noted, the seal was never changed.
The present seal is believed to be the original, although the minutes of August 1, 1929 show that it was voted to pay a bill from the Ames Sword Company for "repairs to the seal."
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