Edward Asa Raymond
Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1849-1851
Edward Asa Raymond (1791–1864) also, Asa Raymond, Junior was a Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Massachusetts from 1849 to 1851.
Raymond was born in Worcester, Massachusetts as "Asa" and inserted the name "Edward", officially changed his name on or around February 24, 1825. He was a member of the Amicable Lodge of Masons in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, he served as Grand Treasurer and later Grand Sovereign Commander (1851–1860). The end of his tenure as Grand Commander created a schism in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction which resulted in two competing organizations that both claimed legitimacy.
In 1860, at a meeting of the Supreme Council, Raymond "refused to act on a motion, blocked a motion to adjourn, and then declared the Council closed. The next day, immediately after the opening and the reading of the minutes, he closed the Council 'sine die,' or indefinitely, and walked out." Killian Henry Van Rensselaer was elected as Lieutenant Grand Commander in his absence, who then served as acting Grand Commander. In 1862, Van Rensselaer expelled Raymond from the Scottish Rite.
This schism was eventually resolved in 1867, three years after Raymond's 1864 death in Brookline, Massachusetts.
“Edward Asa Raymond” enters the record as grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1849-1851. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Edward, Raymond and Grand can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Edward Asa Raymond” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Edward, Raymond and Grand provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16237472. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1791, 1864, 1849 and 1851.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Edward Asa Raymond”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Edward Asa Raymond primary sources, Edward Asa Raymond archive and Edward research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Edward Asa Raymond”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Edward Asa Raymond” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.