In December 1867, Edward Holland Caldwell (1844-1872) of Mobile, Alabama, received the fourteenth degree at the newly established Mobile Lodge of Perfection #1. The following year he received the eighteenth degree, and later, the thirty-second degree. Caldwell’s handsome jewels for the eighteenth and thirty-second degrees survive and are now part of the collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Crafted of silver and cut-glass stones, Caldwell’s jewels were formed in the shape of symbols associated with the eighteenth and thirty-second degrees. The eighteenth-degree jewel is in the shape of a compass topped with a crown. Within the compass is a cross highlighted with red stones and a pelican feeding seven chicks. Caldwell’s thirty-second degree jewel is in the shape of a crown on top of a cross, with arms of equal length and leaves or a wreath between the arms. At the center of the cross is the number 32 reverse-painted on glass in gold and black. On the back side of the jewel, at the center of the cross, two crossed swords are reverse-painted on glass in black and gold.
Before he took his Scottish Rite degrees, Caldwell likely became a Mason in Mobile Lodge #40, the largest Masonic lodge in Alabama, in the 1860s. He later joined Athelstan Lodge #369.
In 1868, when he took the eighteenth degree, he was the father of two young sons and involved in a local business. Caldwell and Emil Oscar Zadek (1848-1908) owned Zadek & Caldwell, Importers and Manufacturers of Fine Jewelry, opening it circa 1866. The firm advertised “handsome jewelry of every description. Also watches, silver ware, plated ware, opera glasses, etc.,” for customers in search of “an elegant article at reasonable prices.” Zadek was, according to the local newspaper, an accomplished craftsman who was not “surpassed in Mobile as a gold or silver smith.” Caldwell’s Scottish Rite jewels are not marked with the name of the manufacturer, so it is not known if his firm produced them in Mobile, or if Caldwell obtained them from another source.
Caldwell had grown up in New Orleans, the son of the remarkably successful actor, theater owner, and entrepreneur, James Henry Caldwell (1793-1863). As a young student, Edward Caldwell attended Spring Hill College in Mobile from 1856-1857. Only a few years after Caldwell joined with Zadek in the jewelry business, his business and circumstances changed dramatically when his older brother died. In 1870 Edward Caldwell inherited a large estate and his brother’s position as president of the Mobile Gas Light and Coke Company. The firm had been founded by the brothers’ father.
Caldwell’s time as the head of the Mobile Gas Light and Coke Company was short-lived. He died just two years later while visiting New York City. An obituary in a New Orleans newspaper lauded Caldwell as “noted among his friends for the geniality of his disposition and his boundless liberality.” The writer also described Caldwell’s philanthropy, observing that “no call for charity” made to him was unnoticed. All appeals to him, the writer continued, received “a cheerful response” from Caldwell.
As a sign of respect, when Edward Caldwell’s body arrived from New York, area Freemasons escorted it to the depot in New Orleans before it was put on a train to Mobile, where Caldwell was later buried. Caldwell’s two handsome Scottish Rite jewels serve as a reminder of his involvement in Freemasonry and speak to his pride in his association with the fraternity.
Want to see Edward Caldwell’s impressive Scottish Rite jewels for yourself? The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library in Lexington, Massachusetts is located just two hours from Portland, and welcomes school, adult, and community groups. Visit www.srmml.org for more details.
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By Hillary Anderson Stelling
Director of Collections and Exhibitions
Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library
Lexington, Massachusetts
