Stored in the Oakland Scottish Rite archives we came across an interesting set of certificates from a variety of Masonic orders belonging to father and son, Charles Denning and Charles L. Denning, respectively. The elder Denning began his Masonic journey during the early years of the United States (1809), while the son followed in his father’s footsteps in the 1860s.

It is not known if these certificates were brought to California by the younger Denning, if they were donated by a relative, or were simply collected and given to the Oakland Scottish Rite library. Nevertheless, they provide us with not only an American Masonic legacy, but also one of family–now seen in three thousand miles away two centuries later in the case of the elder Dunning, and over one hundred and fifty for the younger.

Imagine…during the elder Denning’s Masonic activity, California belonged to another empire and when his son began his Masonic journey, our little corner of the earth had only been a state for less than twenty years!