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The Hands of the Workmen
The Hands of the Workmen

Reid Gardiner
Reid Gardiner, R.W. Past Grand Secretary, Editor, R.W. Past Grand Secretary, Editor
John Gri th Bair
47th Grand Master (1912-1913)

John Gri th Bair was born December 4, 1858, at
Gerrardstown in Berkeley County, West Virginia. He began life
without special advantages in education and through his e orts
acquired an excellent literary education. He tted himself for
the law while teaching school in Indiana. He was admitted to
the Indiana bar in 1886. On the rst day of September 1886 at
Heltonville Indiana, Mr. Bair married Miss Mary Ramsey. In
1889, they moved Montana and initially resided in Great Falls
where he was connected with the Great Falls Leader, and in
the interest of that newspaper made a trip through Northern
Montana and decided to settle in Choteau. He was o ered the M.W. Brother John G. Bair died on December 1, 1915; he was
position of teacher of the Choteau Public Schools and was head buried at the Choteau Cemetery.
of the local schools for three years and in 1893 was elected
as the Superintendent of Public Instruction. After two years
as Superintendent of Public Schools, he resigned and returned
to the practice of Law. Mr. Bair was an able representative of
his profession, and always enjoyed a successful practice, and
as a citizen, he performed a valuable and honorable part in his
community and state. Mr. Bair was a longtime member of the
Methodist church and served on the board of trustees.

On June 15, 1901, Mr. Bair was appointed Collector of
Customs for the District of Montana and Idaho; this was a
presidential appointment he held for four years. He was one of
the most popular Federal o cials in Montana, and for many
years has enjoyed a large and in uential acquaintance with the
public and prominent men of the state. Mr. Bair was a delegate
from the state of Montana to the national convention of the
Republican party held in Chicago in 1908 he voted with the
rest of the Montana delegation for the nomination of William
H. Taft.

In 1882, Brother Bair became a member of Bedford Lodge No.
14, A. F. & A. M., at Bedford in Lawrence County, Indiana. He
became a charter member of Choteau Lodge No. 44, October
11, 1893, at Choteau, Montana. He served as Worshipful Master
of Choteau Lodge three times. He was known as an e ective
and pleasing speaker. His frequent attendance at Grand Lodge
demonstrated his Masonic capabilities and won recognition for
him in the Grand Body. In 1897, Brother Bair was appointed
Junior Grand Deacon, and in September of 1912, he was elected
Grand Master of the Masons of Montana.
He was also a member of the York Rite having taken the
degree of the Royal Arch, being a liated with Chapter No.
9, R. A. M., at Great Falls. He has also attained the Knights
Templar degree with Black Eagle Commandery at Great Falls.
He was a member of Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at
Helena. Just before his death, he had achieved the Scottish Rite
Degrees in the Helena Consistory. In 1906, he served as Grand
Patron of the Grand Chapter of Montana Eastern Star.
Montana Freemason Page 7 July 2019 Volume 95 No. 5