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A Quarterly Journal of Research

Volu m e VI, No. 3 Ju ly 1996

ISSN 0951-497X



TH EOSOPHI CAL HI STORYA Quarterly Journal of Research

Founded by Leslie Price, 1985

Volume VI, No. 4 October 1996

EDITORJames A. Santucci

California State University, Fullerton

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Robert Boyd

John Cooper

University o f Sydn ey

April Hejka-EkinsCalifornia State University, Stanislaus

Jerry Hejka-Ekins N auti lu s Books

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University of Southern California

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Leslie Price

Former Editor, T heosophical History

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T heosophical H istory (ISSN 0951-497X) is published quarterly in

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Religious Studies, Californ ia State University, Fu llerton, CA 92634-9480

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covering a period o f two years. The journ al’s purp ose is to pu blishcontributions specifically related to the modern Theosophical Move

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Theosophy, Spiritualism, Rosicrucianism, and the philosoph y o f Emanuel

Swed enborg to give but a few examples) that have had an influence on

or displayed an affinity to m odern Theosophy.

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THEOSOPHICAL

HISTORY _________________________________________________________

ContentsOctober 1996

Volume VI, Number 4

Edi t o r ’s C om m en t s

Jam es Sa n tu cci.......................................................................................................................125

F r o m t h e A r c h iv e s

The Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to W.Q. JudgePart XV: Letter Dat ed N ovem ber 19, 1890

With N otes by Michael G o m es .........................................................................................129

C o m m u n i c a t i o n s

Response to Jerry H ejka-Ekins’ review o f

Psy chic In itiation: S ecrets o f 77 7

Mark MacD ou ga ll ................................................................................................................. 132

Rep ly b y Jerry H ejk a-Ek in s................................................................................................................136

From th e In te rn e t ................................................................................................................................. 138

A Com m unicatio n from Jea n Overton Fu lle r ................................................................................138

F ro m t h e T h e o s o p h i ca l Jo u r n a l s

William Q. Judge

Franz H artmann

(tra nslat ion w ith notes by Rober t H u tw oh l).................................................................140

Articles

Mrs. May Banks Stacey

David T. R o ck s ......................................................................................................................144

Book Reviews

The W hite Bu ddhist: The A sian Odyssey o f H enry S teel Olcott

An an da W.P. G u ru g e.......................................................................................................... 151

M odern Esot eric S pirit ualit y

Jam es Bur nell Ro bin son ......................................................................................................153

O n t h e c o v e r: Franz Hartmann, M.D. Restored photograph courtesy of Robert Hutwohl.



Editor's Comments In This Issue

On e o f my goals as editor of Theosophical Historyh&s

be en to bro ad en the range of subjects and to includ e

discussions of philosophies an d groups not directlyconnected with the modem Theosophical Move-

ment. PreBlavatskyite theosop hy , the ph ilosoph y of

Emanu el Sw eden borg, an d Rosicrucianism are three

such examp les o f sub jects that fit this description. I

am ther efore hap py to ann ou nce the first article of a

Rosicrucian topic: “Mrs. May Banks Stacey.” This is

an imp ortant article becau se it presents evid ence thatthe foun der of AMORC (the Ancient Mystical Ord er

Rosae Crucis), Harvey Spencer Lewis, may have

falsely given credit to Mrs. Stacey as being the co-

foun der of AMORC. The author, Dav id Rocks, has

produced enough genealogical evidence to lead us

to the in escapab le conclusion th at Mrs. Ban ks could

not h ave b een the agent wh ereby Mr. Lewis received

the legitimate transmission of the “ancient” Rosicrucian

lineage. The immediate lesson to be learned from

articles such as Mr. Rocks’ is obviou s: a health y

skeptical attitude must be taken when individuals

claim direct descendency from traditional teaching

lineages such as Rosicrucianism. Of course, one

might assum e the m ore extreme p osition of w hether

there was a traditional teaching lineage in the firstplace. This position will no d ou bt be v ery distasteful

to those w ho accept the doctrines of the lineage, but

it is certainly within the range of historical inquiry

and of historical journals such as Theosophical

History to raise such issues when necessary.

Theosophical History VIM 125



Mrs. May Banks Stacey1

By David T. Rocks2

Manly P. Hall (1901-1990) believ ed that

Rosicrucians actually existed; however, he also

wrote that “the whole subject of Rosicrucianism

has b een intensely comp licated by misrepresenta

tion and imp ostu re.”3As one of the most invidious

critics of Rosicrucianism in America, Hall was

convinced that the claims of “a nu m ber o f mod ern

orga nization s” w ere u tterly false.

Similar ly, in h is an alysis o f Am erican

Rosicru cianism Arthu r Edw ard W aite (1857-1942)

wrote that the Societas Rosicruciana in America

“obviously has n o tradition, no claim on the p ast

and no kn ow ledge th ereof.” Moreover, he con

clud ed that:

It wou ld serve no useful pu rpose to enlarge

upon later foundations, l ike that of Dr. R.

Swinburne Clymer, who seems to have as

sumed the mantle la id down by [P.B.]

Randolph, or Max Heindel’s Rosicrucian

Fellowship of California . They represent

individu al enterprises w hich have no roots

in the past .4

And, in sp ite o f the fact that Wa ite’s assessm ent

of American Rosicrucian groups did not include

Harvey Lewis’en terprise, it ca n n o t b e i n f e r re d

that Lewis’ claims of auth enticity w ere an y more

valid than the claims o f his rivals. Harv ey Sp encer

Lewis (1883-1939) was th e foun d er of the Ancient

Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, established in New

York City on April 1, 1915. Lewis introduced May

Banks Stacey (1846-1918) as co-founder of his

group in a biograp hy w ritten for the initial issue of

AMORC’s5 official organ, The A m erican R osae

Crucis.6 Approximately three years later, Lewis

w rote a comb ination obitua ry-biograp hy o f Stacey

together with a testimonial attributed to her in

su p port of his claims .7 Finally, in 1927, Lewis

condensed the data in both biographies and

incorporated the fragments into his autobiogra

phy, giving her some notoriety, albeit for his

benefit. Lewis wrote that:

he mad e his first contact with the w ork of the

Rosicrucians through obtaining copies o f the

secret manuscripts of the first American

Rosicrucians wh o established their headqu ar

ters near Philadelphia in 1694. A mem ber of

the English bran ch w hich sponsored the first

movement in America, Mrs. Colonel May

Ban ks Stacey, descen d an t of Oliver Cromw elland the D’Arcy’s of France, p laced in h is hand s

such p ap ers as had bee n o fficially transmitted

to her by the last of the first American

Rosicrucians, with the Jew el and Key of au

thority received by h er from the Grand Master

of the O rder in India wh ile an officer of the

w ork in that country.8

On the face of it, the gesture of includ ing Mary

Stacey in his au tobiograph y seem ed to b e a strategy

for the reinfor cemen t of Lewis’claim to Rosicrucian

authenticity. Althou gh Lewis publicized her as the

organization’s co-foun d er, Stacey never signed the

grou p’s original charter.9 Moreover, eviden ce of

Stacey’s m emb ership in “the English bran ch w hich

144 Mrs. M ay Banks Stacey



sponsored the first [Rosicrucian] movement in

Am erica” remains to b e discovered. In any case,

only Lewis and Stacey knew for certain the reasons

for, and, the extent of their association. Therefore,

a biographical sketch, supported by sources out

side of the Rosicrucian Ord er (AMORC), is essential

to determine whether or not Mary Stacey could

hav e functioned in the capacity ascribed to her by

Lewis.

Mrs. Stacey was born Mary Henrietta Banks in

Ju ly 1846, in Hollidaysbu rg, Blair County, Pen nsy lvania. Th e censu s o f August 30, 1850 record s Mary

H. Banks, age 4, in the household of Thaddeus

Ban ks.10 The exact day of her birth rem ains to be

discovered. Additionally, records relevant to her

formal education have yet to be located.

However, available records disclose that her

father w as a Presby terian11and a D em ocrat.12Also,Thaddeus Banks was a well known attorney in

Hollidaysburg, who in 1862 served in the House

of Representat ives of Penn sylvania.13Furth ermore,

he w as the son of Jud ge Ephraim Banks of

Lew istown, Pen nsylva nia14 and th e gran d son of

Jam es Bank s Jr., a m em ber o f the State Legislature

in 179015, as w ell as a Major Gen era l in the

Pen nsylva nia Militia dur ing the Wa r of 1812.16

Mary’s earliest kno w n imm igrant ancestor, Jam es

Ban ks Sr., w as b or n in Ayr, Scotland in 1732.17 He

and his wife Anna sailed for Am erica and landed

at Christiana Bridge, Delaware in 1755. From

Delaware they went to New London Crossroads,

Chester County, Pennsylvania, where they made

their first hom e in this count ry. In 1756, Jam esBanks Sr. enlisted and served two years in the

Indian campaigns w ith Captain Clinton ’s Volun

teers, who incidentally were under the command

of Colonel George Washington. In 1758, he en

listed in the army o f General Forbes an d m arched

against Fort Du Qu esne in the French and Indian

War.18 Mary’s m oth er w as Delia Cromw ell Reynolds

of Cecil County, Maryland, daughter of Reuben

Reynold s an d H enrietta Maria Crom w ell.19 In short,

since Mary Ban ks w as a fifth gen eration Am erican

on both sides of the family, her reported m emb er

ship in an English bran ch of Rosicrucianism could

serve o nly to ob scur e the issu e o f her origin.20

Meanwhile, Mary Henrietta Banks married

Captain May Humphreys Stacey on December 9,

1869, at her father ’s hom e in Hollid aysburg, P enn

sylvania. The cerem ony w as perform ed by Rever

end William Preston, Rector of Saint An d rew ’s[Episcopal] Chu rch o f Pittsbu rgh .21Ca p tain Stacey

was an adventuresome choice as a husband. In

1857 he crossed the plains to California with

Lieutenant Edward F. Beale, wh o was surveying a

w agon route betw een Alberquerque, N ew Mexico,

and th e Colorad o River. The on ly cam els that ever

crossed the con tinen t w ere taken by Lt. Bea le’sparty .22After reach ing Californ ia, May Stacey stayed

for over a year, then returned h om e on a merchant

ship via Calcutta and the Cap e of Good H ope. In

1859 he was appointed Master’s Mate of the

United States steamer Crusader. Soon afterwards,

Stacey joined the United States Coast Survey

steamer Corwin where he remained until his

app ointm ent as first lieu tenan t in the Un ion Army.23

He was promoted to captain Twelfth Infantry

August 19, 1864 and was three times breveted for

distingu ished serv ices.24

Brevet Lieuten ant Colon el, Captain May Stacey

and his bride Mary became the parents of a

daughter and two sons: Delia Van Dycke Stacey

bo rn at Hollidaysbu rg, N ovem ber 9, 1870; Au breyBanks Stacey, born at Angel Island, California,

February 29, 1872; and, Edward Cecil Cromwell

Stacey, born at Camp Halleck, Nevada, February

14, 1876.25

The Staceys were stationed at the most deso

late ou tposts the Army had to offer betw een 1869

and 1882. According to data in his personnel file

Theosophical Histo ry VI/4 145



Captain Stacey served as commanding officer at

the following posts: Fort Grant, Fort Lowell, Fort

Mojave, and Fort Thom as, Arizona; Camp Reynold s

on An gel Island and Fort Yu ma , California; Camp

Halleck and Fort McDermit, Nevada. Finally, the

Staceys sp ent th eir last four Army years at Plattsburg

Barracks, and Fort Ontario, N ew York .26 Captain

Stacey died at Fort On tario o n Febru ary 12, 1886

from p aralysis caused b y the w oun ds h e received

in th e Civil War.27 In a sh ort tim e, May H. Stacey

Post No. 586, Grand Army of the Republic waschartered in his hon or at Osw ego, N ew York.28

Captain Stacey was b uried in Chester, Penn syl

vania. Afterward, affidavits obtained by Mary

Stacey to secure her w idow ’s p ension ind icated

that she and her children lived with in-laws in

Chester during the p eriod 1886-1887, and with h er

sister ’s family in Baltim ore from 1887 to 1891. Thereport submitted to Congress by Mr. Brady of the

comm ittee on p ensio ns stated th at Captain Stacey’s

d eath left Mrs. Stacey and th ree childr en in n eed y

circum stances.29 H ence, the necessity of living

with relatives was evident. Initially, her pension

was $20.00 per month, plus $2.00 per month for

each child u nd er sixteen years o f age. Thr ee years

later, the United States Senate ap pr oved a pe ns ion

of $30.00 p er m onth .30Sup plem ented by finan cial

assistance from her children, she lived on that

amount for the remainder of her life.

Clearly, times were hard . From 1892 to 1897,

Mary Stacey lived in a board ing h ou se at 139 West

41st Street, New York City. Her landlord, Fred

Stanley Betts, comp lained to the War Departm entthat “Mrs. Stacey, the mother of Lieutenant Stacey

w as $450.00 in arrears for her boa rd bill.” Betts

w rote that “she an d h er son signed a note payable,

then m oved .”31Further p roo f of her sorry finan cial

circum stances may b e inferred from a letter writ

ten to Presid ent McKinley. O f her you ng est son,

she wrote, “He is my main support. . . . I have no

political influ ence, bu t I have given both my boys

to th e coun try. My eld est bo y is in Cu ba .” 32

In anoth er letter on beh alf of her young est son,

Mary Stacey also revealed information about her

person al life. On April 26, 1898, she wrote, “I am the

First Vice President of [the] New York Women’s

Republican Association, and worked hard in the

Presidential campa ign. My son is a New York soldier,

so I write to you as our Senator, begging you to use

your influence with the President and Secretary of

War, to ap point Sergeant Stacey as Second Lieuten-an t.”33Also, Febr uary 25, 1898, a friend of the family,

Thom as F. Reed, Surveyor o f Customs, Port o f New

York, w rote to General Alger of the War Depa rtm ent

on behalf of Sergeant Stacey. Likewise, his letter

revealed inform ation abou t Mary Stacey’s private

life. O f Mrs. Stacey, he wrote, “With the p rom inence

and loyalty of his father we can ad d the distinguishedand energet ic life and labors o f his mother Mrs. May

Banks Stacey, who is engaged in duties on the

rostrum, in ou r schoo ls, and before societies, teach

ing the young those lessons of patriotism, which

mak es our Republic the great and grow ing pow er of

the w orld .” 34Mary Stacey had be en teaching at the

Charlier Institute, a private school, on Sixth Avenue

at Fifty-ninth Street, op posite Central Park.35 Her

brother-in-law, Professor Elie Charlier wa s the found er

of the Institute and a French Episcopal minister as

well. Moreover, he w as Jean net te Stacey’s husband.

Consequently, w orking for her in-laws p roved

ben eficial for Mary Stacey. In ad dition to th e extra

incom e, she foun d plenty o f time to actively

camp aign for Crom w ell’s prom otions. Eventually,her efforts were successful. Cromwell was ap

pointed second lieutenant of Infantry at Fort

Leavenw orth , Kansa s, on Ju ly 15, 1898.36 Du ring

the Spanish American War, he d istinguished him

self in Pu erto Rico and a few years later in the

Ph ilip p ines,37 w hile h is old er broth er, Au brey,

nev er rose abo ve t he r ank of Sergean t.38 The




following extract is from one of Mary Stacey’s

letters to Secretary of War, Elihu Root:

You will see I am with the 19th U.S. Inf. now

at Camp Meade, [Middletown] Pa., with my

son Cromwell, 1st Lt. but who has acted

Captain all throu gh the Porto Rican Cam paign.

You may have seen how he covered himself

with glory by capturing the famous brigand

[Estaban] Garcia. The New York p ap ers [New York World, April 16, 1899] gave Cromwell’s

picture and a full accoun t taken from the Porto

Rican papers, in which they said Lt. Stacey

d eserved great things for thus saving the lives

and p roperty of the peop le.

Most important, Cromwell’s military service

reports made it possible to accurately document

his m oth er’s places of residen ce.39 Therefore, this

information combined w ith the know ledge of her

financial circumstances would seem to preclude

the no tion th at Mary Stacey served as an officer of

the Rosicrucian Order in India. In fact, existing

records supp ort the contention that her personal

and financial circum stances mad e it all bu t imp os

sible for her to travel anywhere other than from

relative to relative.Indeed, Mrs. Stacey prepared a holographic

will while residing with her daughter in Atlantic

City, N ew Jersey. She d escribed the exten t of her

wealth as: “all personal property, viz., jewelry,

clothes, bric-a-brack, books, mining shares, and

whatever I may possess at death ............”40 Mary

Stacey died41 on Jan u ary 21, 1918, and her d au ghter filed the will at the Circuit Court of Cook

County, Probate Division, on March 11, 1918.

Assets in th e estate w ere ab ou t $100.00.42 Sexton ’s

records from Graceland Cemetery and Cremato

rium, 4001 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois,

confirm that Mary Stacey was cremated and her

ashes scattered.

On the w hole, sou rces outside o f the Rosicrucian

Order (AMORC) pointedly suggest the following:

1. Although some of Mary Stacey’s relatives

were wealthy, her immediate family lived mod

estly. And, in spite of hardsh ips, Mary Stacey was

always completely devoted to her family. When

she died she was living with her daughter in

Evanston, Illinois, an d h er you ng est son Cromw ell

was stationed at nearby Fort Sheridan. It seems

unlikely that she would have forsaken her children to embark upon an arduous and expensive

jou rney to In dia. Con sequen tly, evid en ce o f Stacey ’s

service as an officer of the Rosicrucian Order in

India remains to be discovered. Likewise, it is

unclear how Mary Stacey could have been “a

mem ber o f the English bran ch w hich sponsored

the first [Rosicrucian] movement in America.”2. Finally, Lewis benefitted from their relation

ship in ways that w ere obvious. In contrast, on e can

only speculate concerning the benefits to Mary

Stacey. Therefore, the claims of Harvey Spencer

Lewis pertaining to th e d egree o f Stacey’s involve

men t with his organization m ust remain qu estion

able. And, since that is the case, it w ou ld ap pear th at

Lewis’claims of Rosicrucian authenticity were just

as incredulous as the claims of his rivals.

Notes

1Mrs. May (Ban ks) Stacey was Mary H enrietta Ban ks, th e w ife

of May Hu mp hreys Stacey. The referen ce to May Bank s Stacey

was a g end er role stereotype w hereby h er identi ty was d efined

by the re la tionship to her husband.

2Mr. Rocks is a former m em ber o f AMORC and currently the

head of Rocks and Associates (Orange, California). As a

historian, he is the author of W.C. Fields—A n A n notated

Gu ide: Chronology, Bibliographies, Discography, Filmograph ies,

Theosophical Histo ry VI/4 147



Press Books, C igarett e Cards, Film Clips, an d Imp ersonat ors

(Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarlane, 1993). Mr. Rocks is also

the author o f two bibliograph ies of Orange County (California)

history: “A Contribution Towar ds a Bibliograph y of Oran geCounty, California, Local History, Toget her w ith a Ch ecklist of

the Pu blications o f the Fine Arts Press of Santa Ana, California”

(1971) and O range Coun ty Local History, 1869 -1971: A Pre

l imin ary Bibliography (1972).

3Hall, Manly P. The Riddle of t he Rosicrucians (Los Angeles:

Philosophical Research Society, 1941), 2, 14-15.

4Waite, Arthur Edw ard . The Brot herhood o f the Rosy Cross (London: Rider & Co., 1924), 615-16.

5AMORC is an acronym for the A ncient Mystical Ord er Rosae

Crucis.

6Lewis, H. Sp en cer. “Mrs. May Banks Stacey Matre, Rosae

Crucis America.” The A m erican R osae Crucis. Vol. 1, No.1

(January, 1916): 16-17.

7_____

. “Th e Sup rem e Matre Emeritu s Raised to the High er

Realms.” Cromaat. D (1918): 26-27. [ E dit or’s note: D refers to

vol. 4 of the issue.]

8_____ . R os icru cian M an u al. AM OR C. (Charleston, W. Va.:

Lovett Printing Co., 1927), 13, 128.

Lewis claimed th at the Germ an Pietists w ere th e first Am erican

Rosicrucians. See Julius F. Sachse, The Germ an Pietists of

Provin cial Penn sylvania, 1694-1708. (New York: AMS Press,

1970), iv, 37.Man ly P. Hall, C ode x R osae C uc i s . (Los Angeles: Philosop hi

cal Research Society, 1974), 33-38 contains a com plete d escrip

tion of the so-called secret manuscripts of the first American

Rosicrucians.

Mrs. Stacey fervently believed that she w as a lineal d escend ant

of Oliver Cromwell. However, famed genealogist Francis B.

Culver was the first to discover the erroneous Cromwell

conn ections. “Unfortunately, every Cromwell w ho emigrated to

Maryland claimed d escenda nce from the Protector, but, no onehas prov en a relationship .” Additionally, the emin ent Maryland

genealogist Harry Wright N ewm an, w rote that “after stud ying

the foregoing [genealogical] outlines, it shows conclusively that

the Maryland Crom well’s are not d escend ed from O liver the

Puritan, unless they be from his son and nam esake, Oliver, w ho

is supp osed to have died without issue at the age of twenty-one.”

See N ewm an’s A n n e A ru n del Gent ry . A G en eal og ic al Hist ory o f

Twenty-Two Pioneers o f A n n e A ru n del Cou nty , M d., an d their

descendants, (n.p.: Maryland Pioneer Series, 1933), 4-5.

9Lewis, Ralph M. R os icru cian D ocu m en t s (San Jose : Sup reme

Grand Lodge o f AMORC, Inc., 1975), 6. Photo grap h o f the

Pronu nciamento [char ter] issued and signed on th e occasion of

the f irst meeting of the American Supreme Council of theAMORC in N ew York City, April 1, 1915. Mary Stacey wa s not

one o f the severa l w omen w ho s igned the docum ent .

10Un ited States. Census. Sched u le I. Hollida ysbu rg, Blair Coun ty,

Penn sylvania. Aug ust 30, 1850. Fam ily o f T haddeus Banks ,

House 53, Family 62, page 195.

11Letter to th e au tho r from Jam es M. Hanly, Pasto r, First

Presbyterian Chu rch, Hollidaysburg , PA, da ted 16 Septem ber

1985. “Thaddeus Banks united with this church in January 9,

1864. . . .”

12Dav is, Tarrin g S. an d Lu cille She nk . A H ist ory o f B la ir Cou nty,

Pennsy lvania (Harrisburg: National Historical Association,

1931), II-168. “He [Thaddeus Banks] was the Democratic

candidate for judge against Dean and Taylor in 1871, but was

defeated.”

13Wiley, Sam u el T. and W . Scott Ga rn er. B io grap h ic al an d Portrait Cy clopedia o f Blair County , Pennsylv ania. (Chicago:

Gresham Publishing Co., 1892), 92.

l4H istory o f that p ar t o f th e S u squ eh an n a a n d Ju n iat a V alleys ,

E m brac ed in t he C ou n t ies o f M iffl in , Ju n iat a, Perry , U n ion

an d S ny der in t he C om m onw e al th o f Pe nnsy l v an ia. In Two

Volum es. (Philad elph ia: Everts, Peck & Richard s, 1886), vol.

I, 467-68.

Ephraim Banks was a native of Lost Creek Valley (now Juniata

County); was bor n Jan uar y 17, 1791. He came to Lewistown in 1817, and

was app ointed pr othonotary o f Mifflin County in 1818 by Governor

Freedley. After studying law, was admitted to practice in 1823: was a

m emb er of the Legislature in 1826-7-8; a m emb er of the Constitutional

Convent ion in 1837; was elected aud itor-general of the State in 1850,

and re-elected in 1853. In 1866 he w as elected associate jud ge o f Mifflin

County, wh ich position he held at the time o f his death, in Janu ary, 1871.

15Jord an , Joh n W. A H istory o f th e Ju n iat a V alley a n d It s Peop le. Volume I. Illustrated. (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing

Co., 1913), 115.

16Mon tgom ery, Thom as Lynch . Penn sylv ania A rchives, Sixth

Series. Volume VII. (Harrisburg: Harrisburg Publishing Co., State

Printer, 1907),937. “A gener al retur n of the Militia of Pennsylvan ia

for the year 1812. Nam es o f Major Generals: James Banks.”

17Note that Jam es Banks Sr. was bo rn 38 years after the Germ an

Pietists settled near Philadelphia.

148 Mrs. May Banks Stacey



1BHistory o f that p art of the S u squehan n a an d Ju n iat a V alleys

em braced in the Counties o f M iff lin , Ju n ia t a, Perry , U n ion an d

Sn yder in the Comm onwealth o f Pennsylvania. I: 824-31. Note:

Captain Clinton w as also Ban ks’ landlord.

19The B io g rap h ic al C y clop ed ia o f R epresen tat iv e M en of' M ary

land an d D is tr ic tofColum bia . (Baltimore: N ational Biograp hi

cal Publishing Co., 1879), 556-57.

20Th e English b ran ch o f AMORC w as esta blish ed in 1921. See

th e R os icru cian Foru m , 26-4 (February 1956): 95.

21Stacey , Mary H. A ff id av it o f M ar ri ag e to M ay H . S tacey, dated

February 26, 1886. Thomas Dees, Clerk of Orphan’s Court,

Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

22Fow ler, H arlan D., Cam els to Californ ia. (Stanford: Stanford

University Press, 1950),46-67, 92-93. Also see Stacey, May

Humphreys. Un cle S am ’s Camels: The Jou rn al o f M ay H u m ph rey s

Stacey, S up plemen ted by the Report of E dw ar d Fit z gerald Beal e,

1857-1858, edited by Lewis Burt Lesley. (Cambridge, MA:

Harvard University Press, 1929).

23Mar tin, Joh n Hill. Chester an d It ’s V icinity, D elaware County

in P enn sylvan ia; with G enealogical Sketches o f Som e Old

Families. (Philadelphia: n.p., 1877), 47.

24Un ited States . Con g. Ho u se. R eport on M ay H. S tacey by Mr.

Brady from the committee on pensions. 49th Congress. 2nd

Session. Ho use Report 3694. Janu ary 20, 1887. N ote: A brevet is

a com mission giving a m ilitary officer higher n ominal rank than

that for which he receives pay. However, such a commission,carries no right of command. It may be conferred by the

President of the United States by and with the consent of the

Senate upon officers of the Army and Marine Corps for

distinguished cond uct and p ublic service in the presen ce of the

enemy.

25Stacey , M ary H. A ff id av it o f B ir th an d B ap t ism o f Children o f

Captain an d Mrs. Stacey , dated Mar ch 8, 1886. J. N. Shan afelt,

City Recorder, City of Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylva

nia . All three of the Stacey children w ere b aptized by Episcopal

ministers.

26Un ited States. Adjutan t G en era l’s Office. Person n el File2930,

M ay H. S tacey. 124 leaves.

27Un ited States. Cong . Ho u se. R eport on M ay H. S tacey by Mr.

Brady from the committee on pensions. 49th Congress. 2nd

Session . Hou se Report 3694. Janu ary 20, 1887.

2SB oy d ’s O swego City D irectory, 1 895 -96, 75. The original

Pos t Char te r and the m embership reg iste r is in the a rch ives

of the N ew York State Library a t Alban y. Note: The Gran d

Army o f the Repu blic w as a Civil War veter an ’s organ ization.

29Un ited States. Con g. Ho u se. R eport on M ay H. S tacey by Mr.

Brady, from the committee on pensions. 49th Congress. 2nd

Session. H ouse Report 3694. Janu ary 20, 1887.

30Un ited States. Con g. Sena te. R eport on M ay H. S tacey by Mr.

Padd ock from the comm ittee on pen sions. 50th Congress. 2nd

Session. Report 2560. February 8, 1889.

31Betts, Fre d Sta n ley. B il ls O w ed by M rs. M ay B an ks S tacey

since May 1, 1898. Letter to War Depa rtm ent, d ated May 1,

1899. Betts wrote, “Since that date I have heard not a word

from either of them , and i t seems to m e that I have b een d one

out of my money, unless the depar tment in some w ay ind uces

Lieutenant Stacey to u ph old the hon or o f a United States Army

Officer by m eeting his just o bligations.”

32Stacey, Mary H. Let ter t o Pres id en t M cKin ley re: Promotion of

Cromwell Stacey, dated [illegible], 1898. Her statement, “Again,Mr. President, I beg as a soldier’s widow , as a Grand Arm y woma n,

an d as a Mas on [?], for you r help .” This is puzzling. Since w om en

w ere not allowed into the fraternity proper, she m ay have meant

a w om en’s m asonic auxiliary, wh ich wou ld imply that Captain

Stacey was a Mason. To be sure, she did not mean Co-Masonry

because it was not established in America until 1903.

33Stacey , May Ban ks . Let ter to [N ew Y ork] S en at or concerning

pr om otion o f Cromw ell Stacey. April 26, 1898. Name of Senatorcovered by transmitta l notation to the Secretary of War.

34Reed , Th om as F. Let ter f rom O ff ice o f the Surveyor o f Customs,

Port o f N ew Y ork to G en eral R ussell A . A lger, W ar D epar tm en t

concerning Cromwell Stacey. February 25, 1898.

35Eyr e, Law re nce . Family R ecords of the Stacey Family an d t heir

Connections. (n.p., n.p., [1936]), 32-33.

36Stacey, Crom w ell. Oath o f Office. July 15, 1898.

37Un ited States. Army. Head qu arters Ph ilipp ines Div., Manila,

P. I. Janu ary 26, 1906. Gener al Ord ers N o. 6. Commendat ion

o f Cromw ell Stacey .

38Un ited States. Arm y. R egister o f En lis tm en t, A u brey B. S tacey .

May 7, 1904, Entry 1487, page 188. May 22, 1908, Entry 1353,

page 102. February 7, 1911, Entry 618, page 240.

Theosophical History VI/4 149



39Un ited States. Ad jutan t Gen era l’s Office. Person n el File 9250,

Crom w ell St acey. Microfilm, 1204 frames.

Extracted from O fficer’s In div idu al Service Report:

1898-1899 101 West 40th Street, New York City1899-1902 137 West 67th Street, New York City

1902-1903 47 West 63rd Street, New York City

1903-1904 160 St. Charles Place, Atlantic City, NJ

1904-1905 816 11th Street, NW, Washington, D. C.

1906-1907 Hotel Fredonia, Washington, D. C.

1908-1910 160 St. Charles Place, Atlantic City, NJ

1911-1917 26 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD

1917-1918 1003 Davis Street, Evanston, IL

40Stacey, May Banks. The Last W ill & Testament o f M ay B an ks

Stacey, Atlan tic City, N ew Jerse y, Febr u ary 16, 1904. 1 leaf.

41Certificate o f D eath, State of Illinois , Bu rea u o f Vital Statistics.

Mary B. Stacey. Date of Death: January 21, 1918. Filed:

February 5, 1918.

42N aram ore, Milton O. A t torn ey f o r D eli a (S tacey ) M uller. Let ter

to Bu reau o f Pensions, d ated Ju ne 6, 1918. “There w as no

property lef t by the widow except a few personal effectscontained in trunks w hich are in storage in N ew York City.”


who really was mrs may banks stacey (1846-1918)

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