Written By: R∴ W∴ Don Goss A Narrative Portrait with His Masonic Influence The story of Paul A. Goss begins in the shadow of the Great Depression, a decade that shaped him long before he ever stepped into a Masonic lodge. The 1930s were years of scarcity, but they were also years that taught him …
Freemasonry has always taught that a well‑governed life is a moral life. Among the Craft’s many lessons in balance and duty, few are as practical—and as often forgotten—as the traditional 8–8–8 rule. It divides the 24 hours of the day into three equal portions: This simple framework is more than a time‑management tool. It is …
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Written by: Don Goss 32° KCCH Brethren, Tonight I want to offer a concise overview of the first eleven degrees of the Scottish Rite, the 4° through the 14°, known collectively as the Lodge of Perfection. These degrees are sometimes called the Ineffable Degrees, because they explore our relationship to the Ineffable Name of God—that …
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Researched and Written By: Don Goss I don’t think anyone realizes they’re living through a defining decade while they’re in it. At the time, the 1970s just felt like life—busy, loud, full of responsibility, and moving faster than I could always keep up with. But looking back now, I can see how those years shaped …
Read more ““The 1970s, As I Lived Them” — A First‑Person Narrative from Paul A. Goss”
Researched and Written By: Don Goss Chapter I — The Croft at the Edge of the World The dawn mist clung to the hills of Axminster like a veil, softening the edges of the world. At the center of that quiet landscape stood Gosseton Croft, a modest freeholding of barley fields, grazing meadow, and a …
Researched and Written By: Don Goss Chapter I. The Edge of England (c. 1550) The wind came screaming off the Channel long before the storm clouds appeared. In the village of Charmouth, where the cliffs of Dorset rose like broken teeth above the sea, the Goss family had learned to read the weather the way …
Read more “The Wind before the Crossing – An Ancestral Saga of the Goss Family, 1550–1662”
Researched and Written By: Don Goss CHAPTER I — The Leaving of England I will never forget the sound the ropes made as they were cast off — a heavy, final thud against the wooden posts of the Weymouth dock. It was the sound of a door closing behind us, the last sound of England …
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Researched and Written By: Don Goss Prologue — The Wind Before the Storm England in the mid‑1600s was a land of tension. The Civil War had left scars on every village, every hearth. Taxes rose, harvests failed, and the old fishing towns along the southern coast felt squeezed between poverty and the sea. Rumors drifted …
Read more “The Coming of the Goss Family to America — A 17th‑Century Story”
Written by: Don Goss 32° KCCH Brethren, when we speak of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in the United States, we are really speaking about two sister jurisdictions that share a common heritage but have grown into distinct expressions of the same Masonic tradition. These are the Southern Jurisdiction (SJ) and the Northern Masonic …
Read more “Southern vs. Northern Jurisdictions — and Why It Matters for the Valley of Tallahassee”
April 30th, 2026Written By: R∴ W∴ Don Goss Including the Masonic Legacy of Its Namesake, Past Master J. Edwin Larson When the Grand Lodge of Florida convened in the spring of 1967, one item on its agenda would quietly shape the Masonic landscape of the state capital for generations to come. On April 27, 1967, …
Read more “Historical Narrative of J. Edwin Larson Lodge No. 361”