My father grew up in the Bridgewater, VA Church of the Brethren, and was enrolled as a preacher there while in college. After college he never lived in an area with a CoB. While I was growing up we attended a Presbyterian Church; at one point my father was asked to serve as an Elder in this church, but it was then discovered that despite his active participation in the church he was not actually on the church rolls, so they requested that he transfer his "letter of faith". My father said he would officially join the Presbyterian Church and serve as an Elder IF he was allowed to do so while still maintaining his membership in the Bridgewater CoB. I'm not sure of the legalities [or lack thereof], but that is what happened. Upon my father's death his ashes were placed, with approval of that church, in the Bridgewater CoB Memory Garden. Perhaps Mr. Davis, like my father, considered himself "Dunkard" despite not having a local congregation. In the absence of a local congregation, there would be no one to tell him he couldn't belong to a secret society. I assume you know that there were active CoBs south of Sacramento [I think at least in Modesto]. Thom Flory -----Original Message----- From: David Myers <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, Jun 21, 2011 8:03 pm Subject: [BRE] Brethren doctrine and Free Masonry I am researching Jacob Z. Davis (1818-1896), a wealthy resident of San Francisco. I was under the impression that, although his ancestors were important factors in the history of the Germantown COB, he himself was not Brethren. However, there was reference in one of the newspaper articles that I've read to Jacob Z. Davis being a "Dunkard." So, now I'm a little unsure. I am sure that he belonged to the Free Masons, and was Grand Chamberlain of the San Francisco chapter. The Brethren Encyclopedia says that it was forbidden to join secret societies such as the Free Masons but goes on to say that there was a lot of debate about this as the memberships in various secret societies proliferated throughout the 1800's. Does anyone know how much of an impediment it would be to belonging to the COB in the 1850-1900 time period if a man were an officer in the Free Masons? Also, I should say that there would be a problem with Davis attending the Church, not only because of his Free Masonry, but also due to the fact that there don't appear to have been churches in Sacramento and San Francisco during his lifetime. Thanks. David Myers