William H. Sherer

Most Worshipful William H. Sherer was “an able parliamentarian, impartial and quick in his decisions, conservative, independent, sanguine, cool, but magnetic.”

Originally born in Kentucky in 1837, William H. Sherer moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York at the age of 14, and began volunteering as a fireman with Engine Company No. 17. He later became manager of the New York Clearing House Association, and second vice president of the Metropolitan Savings Bank, where he earned a reputation as “a man of wonderful executive ability.”

During the outbreak of the Civil War, Sherer approached the local recruiting station and signed his name onto the rolls as a volunteer in Company G of the 23rd New York Infantry, serving as commissary sergeant. As Confederate General Robert E. Lee mobilized his forces in Gettysburg, Lee’s Cavalry rode north toward Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, aiming to disrupt and attack union resources. Sherer bravely stood alongside his regiment during the defense of Pennsylvania’s capital city, where the regiment emerged unscathed.

In 1868, at the age of 31, Sherer was entered upon the rolls as a Master Mason of Anglo-Saxon Lodge No. 137, later being appointed District Deputy Grand Master of the Third Masonic District of Brooklyn in 1878.

At precisely 10 o’clock, on June 3, 1891, the hour appointed for the election of Grand Lodge Officers, Grand Master Vrooman retired from the Grand East and called upon Past Grand Master Frank R. Lawrence to preside. Upon taking the gavel, Past Grand Master Lawrence was greeted with immense applause, and after giving a few remarks, the elections began. Right Worshipful William H. Sherer, Deputy Grand Master was nominated, and after running unopposed, was duly elected the 40th Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York.

Most Worshipful Sherer was a compassionate man, and a model Mason, who from the podium in the Grand East once exclaimed, “he who doeth all things well will guard the widow and the orphan.”

Sources:
American Legion of Honor. (1891, August 8). The Brooklyn Daily Times.
Grand Master Sherer. (1891, June 3). The Brooklyn Daily Times.
Masonic. (1891, July 12). The Buffalo Sunday Morning News.
Secret Society News. (1891, February 22). The Buffalo Sunday Morning News.