Personal Papers

This certificate was given to J. Otis Bosley in 1919, after he made a contribution to the Masonic Home or Lodge in his area. This was the first document or artifact in the Bosley Trunk that suggested J. Otis Bosley was in fact a Freemason. After this initial discovery, my grandparents revealed that they had no idea Bosley was a member of the Freemasons.

Upon further discoveries within the trunk and from other family papers, I was able to determine that J. Otis Bosley was definitely a Mason. His name appears in lists of members from meeting pamphlets, and other items related to Masonry have been discovered in family collections. These objects include a compass set, tokens with Masonic symbols, and aprons that Bosley might have worn during meetings with his fellow Masonic brothers.

This is a great example of some of the surprises you might discover while looking through the documents and artifacts kept by your family packrat. I hope this encourages you to conduct your own research, or at least to consider donating collections to your local historical society or museum where students or staff can perform their own research.