"I have held up a light in the obscurity of Philosophy, which will be seen centuries after I am dead. It will be seen amidst the erection of Tombs, Theatres, Foundations, Temples, Orders and Fraternities for nobility and obedience — the establishment of good laws as an example to the World. For I am not raising a Capitol or Pyramid to the Pride of men, but laying a foundation in the human understanding for a holy Temple after he model of the World. For my memory I leave it to Men's charitable speeches, to foreign Nations and the next Ages, and to my own Country after some Time has elapsed." -- Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning (1605), Bk II.

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Join me to explore the hidden tenets of arranged alignments of architecture and art. Structures as diverse as the Great Pyramid, Baalbek, The Tower of the Winds, Hagia Sopia, Basilica San Vitale, The Dome of the Rock, St. Peter's Square, Gisors, The Newport Tower, Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, and the Georgia Guidestones all may have a common origin.

Three reproductions of the Tower of the Winds in England help to display how this age old value is viewed through time. Along the way many legends and myths associated with the Holy Grail and other relics are examined.

Treasure myths such as the Oak Island Legend and The Beale Treasure Legend may have a common origin and hidden meaning. The tale of The Bruton Parish Church Vault (a.k.a. "Bacon's Vault) may also be a copy of an already existent mystery at Stirling Castle.

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The Kensington Rune, Ten Men Red With Blood, and the Washington Monument.


Part 1: Jules Verne, The Kensington Rune, and Washington Monument.

Cort Lindahl May, 9, 2018.

The discovery of the early map of the site of discovery of the Kensington Rune revealed many concepts directly related to not only the Cryptic Rite but all of Freemasonry. The Enochian overtones valued by members of the Wright family include family members named Enoch, Solomon, Hiram, David, and other Old Testament names that all seem to refer to a value this concept. Enochian and Solomonic clues and hints are present in the nine layers of logs at the Oak Island Money Pit and the entire story’s association with Philip Sidney’s “Arcadia” published long before the Money Pit story was revealed to the public. Along this path we have also noted how artists and authors, often part of organized guilds or associations also seemed to have included the very same imagery in some of their writing. Many of these artists and writers may have also been Freemason’s or members of other similar organizations.

In overall studies of the Kensington Rune some people have of late been associating specific numbers seen in these mysteries with the Cryptic Rite of Masonry. Mr. Paul Stewart was the first to notice this in association with numbers seen on the stone and also in the famous Beale Ciphers. Given what we are about to learn we may see that Mr. Stewart’s observations have some merit to them. Are there any other instances where similar imagery and numbers are revealed? (See Mr. Stewarts book “The Enigmatist Vol. I). Kensington Rune proponent Scott Wolter has also recently espoused the fact that numbers mentioned in the story on the rune involve Freemasonic concepts.

One of the most famous stone markers in the United States of America is the Washington Monument. This monument has many hidden overtones included in its dimensions and form. The Washington Monument was obviously inspired by the obelisks of the Egyptian culture. It is clear that western culture has a fascination with these Egyptian stone monuments going all the way back to Rome. Eight of these obelisks were imported to the City of Rome over time at great effort and expense. Still another was moved to Constantinople (Istanbul) during the same period. The Washington Monument is in part a veneration of the Greek, Egyptian, and Roman cultures that also valued these monuments.

Amazingly there are aspects of the Washington Monument’s construction that mirror the value of the Terminius as well as the presence of important numbers seen on the Kensington Rune as discussed earlier. Many people may not be aware of the fact that the Washington Monument contains 22 “cornerstones” including 14 from various Grand Lodges and 8 from individual lodges. These same three numbers including 22, 14, and 8 are among the numbers said to have Masonic connections not only on the Kensington Rune itself but on the earliest map of its discovery site.

“The Society solicited the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Sons of Temperance, and other fraternal orders as well. This action resulted in the donation of 22 Masonic memorial stones contributed by 14 Grand Lodges and 8 individual Lodges.”(Article from Gary T. Scott, 32, K.C.C.H; http://srjarchives.tripod.com/1997-06/Scott.htm : Shared with this author by Mr. Jim Mueller).

Is this occurrence of the same numbers in association with the Washington Monument and the Kensington Rune a coincidence? The lower portion of the original Kensington Rune map includes the names of the surveyors we have already looked into as well as the name of Minnesota Surveyor General at the time Levi Nutting who all may have been Freemason’s and had a value of this numerical scheme. This part of the map is a rectangle separated into cells where information such as the men’s names and date of their visit can be entered. This portion of the map includes a pencil written number 14 just outside the upper left had corner of this information block on the map. That is curious as this number is only present on the map in the designation of Section 14 of the Solem Township where the stone was eventually found. Why is this number marked there in pencil on this particular map possibly as early as 1861?

The "14" written in pencil on the Solem Township map. Why?

It is amazing that the story of the building of the Washington Monument includes the very same series of numbers and even associates them with Termnini or cornerstones in the Masonic tradition! Given what we have already learned about these cryptic numbers it is likely not a coincidence that we have Oak Island, The Kensington Rune, and now the Washington Monument displaying these tenets of Masonry. Just the name of the Cryptic Rite infers there is a mystery at hand that needs to be solved. Undoubtedly there are other similar stories and mysteries out there such as the Ames Pyramid and Maryhill Stonehenge that also include references to this series of numbers.

The crossover to these numbers being suggested in the story of the Washington Monument is even more amazing in that a similar monument was once planned at the discovery site of the Kensington Rune. In 1928 there was an active movement by local Freemason’s to include what would amount to as a half-sized Washington Monument there marking the discovery site of the Kensington Rune! Other sources state 1927 as the date this committee was formed. Is it possible that stones and associated numbers would have been also incorporated into this more modern Kensington Monument? Really their desire to build such a monument on the rune’s site of discovery speaks to their value of the rune stone itself.

The early history of Minnesota also shows us another odd connection between Minnesota and the Washington Monument. Discussed earlier is the fact that a man named Lawrence Taliaferro was an “Indian” land agent of the U.S. Government at Ft. Snelling which would become Minneapolis. Taliaferro had come from the famous family of Williamsburg Virginia that had owned Wythe House just north of the Bruton Parish Church were an additional “vault mystery” is located. His ancestor Robert Taliaferro is said to be who taught Thomas Jefferson the art of architecture.

For a time, Taliaferro was associated with an early settler in Minnesota named John Marsh. John Marsh is directly related to George Perkins Marsh who helped to create the final design of the Washington Monument we see today. Later John Marsh who had been associated with Taliaferro moved to California and went on to play a very large role in the Bear Flag Republic of California. John Marsh was instrumental in making California the 31st State so it is interesting that he had this association with the Washington Monument, Minnesota, Taliaferro and later California. 

The two Marsh family members and Lawrence Taliaferro are related to George B. Wright whose name appears as surveyor on the earliest Kensington Rune map. In turn all these men were also related to Chico Founder John Bidwell who also played an important roll along with John Marsh in the creation of the Great State of California. This is an amazing group of people who are all directly descendant of the first families of Hartford, Connecticut.

George Perkins Marsh may have been the perfect person to have influenced the later design of the Washington Monument. He was elected a member of the American Antiquary Society in 1851. Marsh was fluent In Swedish and other European languages. In relation to our studies here it may be no surprise that George Perkins Marsh owned an extensive collection of rare and very early Scandinavian literature. It is people like George Marsh that could have easily contributed to the production of an artifact like the Kensington Rune in the late nineteenth century.

It is simply not true that people at this time could not have produced such a relic. In addition, it would have been no problem for people like our geologist Winchell and Marsh to have accomplished this. In fact, the Marsh and Wright families of Vermont have many intermarriages and family relations linking them to George B. Wright land surveyor of Solem Township, Douglas County, Minnesota.

Originally the Washington Monument was designed to have a circular colonnade surrounding the obelisk. As time went on construction was stalled during the Civil War. After the war George Perkins Marsh was instrumental in the decision to leave out the circular colonnade and go with the more minimalist look we see today. Marsh had also studied Egyptian obelisks during his time as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and suggested the correct proportions for the structure based on his observations.

Later the obelisk at the site of the discovery of the Kensington Rune that was planned was to include the circular colonnade that had been included in Mills’ design of the Washington Monument. Somehow enthusiasm waned for the construction of the Kensington Obelisk and it was never built. The Great Depression may have been the largest reason this monument was never constructed. Proponents of the monument there hoped that it would help to draw tourists to the area. This obelisk would have marked the location of a “New Jerusalem” in early Minnesota that likely had nothing to do with people having come there in 1362. This newer obelisk in Kensington would have also aligned with the Newport Tower and Solem Church in the same way the Washington Monument aligns with the U.S. Capitol and Scottish Rite Temple of Washington D.C.

The era of the discovery of the Kensington Rune’s creation and discovery does correlate with the time the Washington Monument was finally finished and dedicated in 1895. This era was also a great era of scientific and cultural discovery throughout the world that was recorded by practical observers like Alexander Von Humboldt, Charles Darwin, J.D. Hooker, Asa Gray and others though these men all happened to be part of the Linnean Society.

The Linnean society was named for botanist Carl Linneaus and was dedicated to recording nature and natural history. Earlier we discussed Linnean Society member Pehr Kalm’s interview with La Verendrye about the strange stone that was likely actually found by his sons and not him personally. Note that like many people pertinent to many of these mysteries the La Verendrye’s were accomplished cartographers and land surveyors. There is indeed a strange cadre of individuals all involved in not only the Kensington stone but other similar Enochian and Solomonic mysteries.

Amazingly Alexander Von Humboldt may have been behind the Hollow Earth craze of the nineteenth century. Von Humboldt speculated that the poles of the earth would include large hollows. He theorized this in association with the mechanics of the magnetosphere. Von Humboldt’s speculation eventually led to the Symmes expedition to find the hollow at the North Pole. Though this expedition never took place Symmes pointed to Von Humboldt’s theories as his reasoning behind such an adventure. Von Humboldt later expressed regret that his theory had caused so much undue speculation and hysteria.

It is likely that Von Humboldt’s theory was at least partially responsible for some of Jules Verne’s writing in the form of “A Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Many people point to Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” as actually having been inspired by Von Humboldt. Also interesting is the fact that at one point Symmes himself was stationed in Minnesota as a military officer associated with Lawrence Taliaferro.

Other members of the Linnean Society included famous French explorers of the nineteenth Century Arnaud and Antoine d’Abbadie. These men were associated with the famous Cassini family for which the Cassini Space Probe was named. Antoine was known to be friends with Francios Arago who is a famous cartographer and member of the Paris Observatory and known for the brass “Arago” markers that note the Paris Meridian as featured in the movie “The Da Vinci Code.” The d’Abbadie family is famous for what is known of as the mystery of the Great Cyclic Cross of Hendaye and Chateau Abbadia. The grounds of Chateau Abbadia include a windrose that denotes compass directions just as at St. Peter’s Square of the Vatican. Antoine and Arnaud had followed in the footsteps of famous Ethiopian explorer James Bruce and had published all their findings as part of this group. One of Arago’s close friends was famous author Jules Verne.

Jules Verne was also a member of the French National Geographic Society that included members of the Cassini and d’Abbadie family. Arago and Verne were friends and associated with each other often. This is no surprise in that much of Verne’s work in fiction included many real places in the world that he had discussed with these men in detail. D’Abbadie and Verne actually served on appointed committees of the Geographic Society so it is obvious that these two men were also somewhat associated. Someone like Jules Verne would have been aware of the work of Alexander Von Humboldt. It is interesting that the Von Humboldt estate in Pottsdam includes motif copied from the Tower of the Winds of Athens.

Here we see Jules Verne being associated with two famous names that are in turn associated with famous landscape mysteries in Hendaye, Rennes le Chateau, and Perillos France. Much of the background and lore of these places may have been learned while the Cassini’s were producing their famous and very accurate map of France over two generations of their family! The Cassini’s had established both the Paris Observatory and the Paris Meridian. Later members would have a direct correspondence with President Thomas Jefferson who shared their enthusiasm for astronomy and land surveying. Many of these men as Verne were also members of the Legion of Honor of France. Some of them may have even descended from French members of the Society of the Cincinnati.

In fact, it was Francios Arago who had surveyed the region near Rennes le Chateau that even includes the Paris Meridian as part of its lore! It is possible that if these men were aware of or had created landscape mysteries of their own then it may be that Jules Verne was aware of such things.

 It may also be possible that Verne included some of these tenets or folklore into his writing as we will examine. The Cassini’s may have added some overlay to the Rennes le Chateau mystery in order to draw seekers there who then may have been able to discern a much older mystery that also referenced the Temple Treasure in the Enochian style of later Freemasonry. It is clear that a much older mystery involving the Temple Treasure and Merovingian’s is present in the region surrounding Rennes le Chateau. Had the Cassini’s added to this lore? Had the Kensington Rune and Newport Tower been promoted as a Norse artifacts for similar reasons?

Many point to Perillos near Narbonne France as having relations to both the Cassini’s and Rennes le Chateau. Land surveyors are well springs of local history as this is part of what they learn while dividing property and working in the landscape among the people. Arago and the Cassini’s may have heard this folklore while collecting surveying data for their famous and very accurate map of France.

This Verne association may be interesting in that even the Kensington Rune mystery may allude to the work of Jules Verne including the Enochian and Solomonic overtones suggesting a lost stone and hidden chamber beneath the earth. At this time Verne was a close associate of famous French author Alexandre Dumas (“The Three Musketeers,” “The Man in the Iron Masque”) who claimed that Edgar Allan Poe visited him in France when there is no record of this but Dumas’ letter to an Italian Police official.

One of Verne’s most famous works is “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Verne was even a contemporary of Minnesotan Ignatius Donnelly who wrote about Atlantis, Norse myths, and speculated as to the true identity of Shakespeare being Sir Francis Bacon. Both Verne and Donnelly wrote about Atlantis. Are there any hints that may supply us associations between the work of Jules Verne and the Kensington Rune Stone? Though Verne and Donnelly were contemporary authors it may be that Donnelly was more influenced by Theosophy than the more practical minded Verne. Both men also seemed to have a fascination with Norse mythology.

It is possible the creation of the Kensington Rune was due in part to Jules Verne. The plot of “Journey to the Center of the Earth” not only contains strikingly similar references to Norse culture but may also infer the Masonic values of underground vaults and cities that was later repeated at Mt. Shasta. These same suggestions are there via the Kensington Rune’s cryptic numbers.  

The first four chapters of “Journey to the Center of the Earth” involves the professor deciphering a runic script that shows him where the entrance to the hollow earth is! In addition, the runic clues reveal that they must use a specific date when the shadow of an adjacent mountain falls upon the exact spot where the Hollow Earth entrance exists in Iceland. Verne even suggests this natural gnomon as a way to find the entrance. In addition, as part of the saga the cryptic passage composed of runes is simply on a separate piece of paper within an ancient volume of the Heimskringla or chronicle of Norwegian Kings. The discovery of such clues in ancient texts is even part of a mystery now popular with regard to Oak Island presented by author Zena Halpern. It is sometimes strange how the past telegraphs what may happen in the future. Or are these techniques simply being repeated in a similar manner in the hopes the seeker will recognize this and realize what is going on?

Does any of this sound familiar in association with the Kensington Rune? A runic code is deciphered that may lead one to an underground vault in the form of the hollow earth. Coincidence? I’m sure proponents of the more ancient origins of the Kensington stone will note that Verne wrote “A Journey to the Center of the Earth” in 1864 long before the Kensington Rune was discovered by Olof Ohman in 1898. The saga of the Kensington Rune does resemble what was portrayed in this work of fiction many years prior.

The Runic code included in Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth."

 These parallels to Masonic values seen in association to the Kensington Rune and other Enochian stories may not be a coincidence as these concepts may have been popular among Freemasons at that time in both France and the United States. “One must emerge from the underworld to quest for the stone.”

Is it possible that this reference to runes leading one to the underworld from “Journey to the Center of the Earth” or in Masonic terms a nine-layered chamber was then applied to the Norse overtones of the Kensington Rune? In turn was all of this a byproduct of the Norwegian Romantic Nationalist movement that was also active at this time? Norway had recently separated itself from Denmark and Sweden as an independent country and were struggling to define a national identity of their own.

As a Minnesota resident and politician was Ignatius Donnelly aware of how this imagery had been applied in that state? It does appear as if Donnelly, Longfellow, and now Jules Verne were aware of these concepts and all had produced writings that may apply to the creation of the Kensington Rune at some point after 1861. This date may also match the age of the tree whose roots the Kensington Rune was said to have been entangled in upon its discovery. None of this is to say that these men personally executed a scam but their work may have inspired others to use imagery from their writings.

No matter the minute details as all of this information adds up to tell us that the Kensington Rune is not an ancient artifact left in Minnesota by Norse explorers in 1362. It appears that all of this information is pointing to the fact that mid to late nineteenth century Freemason’s had placed the stone there or someone who was trying to fool them with their own imagery had placed the stone where it was found.  

In this case we may have to look beyond unproven and untested forensic geological techniques to give us an accurate date for the Kensington Rune Stone. Any arguments discussing the stones authenticity via the grammar and type of runes present may also be brought to light by an examination of later runic schemes such as the Larson papers and whatever Scandinavian literature was in the personal possession of people like George Perkins Marsh, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ignatius Donnelly, Ole Bull and Carl Christian Rafn. In fact, people during this era had all the resources at hand to have produced an artifact that contained Masonic overtones that laymen may have mistaken for being authentic. Later there also seems to be a breadth of political and cultural reasons that someone may have done such a thing.

It is clear that writers like Longfellow and Verne had an interest in history as they portrayed many related concepts in their work. It may be that both men were also Freemason’s who encoded some imagery from that organization into their writing in the tradition of Philip Sidney Sir William Alexander, and Sir Francis Bacon. All three men created works that included Rosicrucian imagery that may link us to why someone would have placed a rune stone in rural Minnesota at a time when both men were at the peak of their popularity as authors.

This at the same time Norwegians like Ole Bull and Carl Rafn were promoting Norse culture in America in the form of the Newport Tower even if it was simply Arnold’s “stone built windmill.” It seems as if there were an elite group of New England families equally associated with Freemasonry that helped to develop ideas that are viewed as far beyond the mainstream of history today but were at least considered as possibilities at their time of conjecture spanning the late eighteenth and entire nineteenth century.

Part 2: The Washington Monument of the Kensington Rune Stone and Ten Men.

Constant Larson
Carl V. Anderson
Dr. A. Dair Haskell
Phillip J. Noonan
John A. Wedum
Gustav A. Kortsch
Claus J. Gunderson
J.O. Shulind
Carl O. Franzen
Thomas A. Syvrud

Exactly ten men.

The fact that there were a group of Freemason’s that wanted to build a half scale reproduction of the Washington Monument at the discovery site of the Kensington Rune is very curious. In order to organize the building of this monument a committee of ten men (red with blood?) was formed in 1928 composed of influential local businessmen who also appeared to have been Freemasons. These men held fund raising events that were said to have collected nearly 300,000.00 U.S. to attain their goal of the creation of this monument. It was hoped that this effort would draw tourists to an otherwise quiet and rural area. It appears that two of these men had some very amazing connections to characters already discussed in the saga of the Kensington Rune here.

It is hard to say how much these men were privy to whether the stone was authentic or not. Their motivation seemed to be to promote the area to draw tourism and instill a point of pride in the surrounding region. What may be exposed here is some of their relationships with people that we have already discussed in relation to the Norwegian Romantic Nationalist movement. What is about to be revealed is very curious in light of everything we have already noted prior.

Local Alexandria, Minnesota City Attorney Constant Larson had married Maude E. Merrifield the daughter of influential Minneapolis businessman and early settler James S. Merrifield. James and his wife had originally come from Maine. Mr. Larson was an avid recorder of early Minnesota History and was an active Freemason. Interestingly the Merrifield’s of Maine have some interesting family and historical connections to the Battle of Bunker Hill as well as some impressive intermarriages that link them to the Longfellow family of Maine and Nova Scotia. This family relation also includes Lyon Merrifield who moved to Northern Virginia just outside of Washington D.C. in 1865. Lyon’s first name comes from his family’s relation to the Lyon family of Maine as well. This will be important here coming up soon.

One famous Merrifield family member named Francis Merrifield was known for him having carried a copy of the King James Version into battle at Bunker Hill. This bible is preserved at the Museum of the American Revolution.

Amazingly the Merrifield’s are also related to another one of the ten benefactors or committee members that had wished to build the Kensington Rune Monument at the stone’s site of discovery. This connection comes via both family’s relation to the Lyon family of Maine as well as the Haskell family of Maine. Both the Haskell’s and Merrifield’s are related to the Lyon’s thus the name Lyon Merrifield namesake of Merrifield Virginia. Merrifield Minnesota would also be named for the same family. Mr. Larson’s marriage to Maude Merrifield would connect him directly to some very impressive first families of New England and beyond.

One of the other ten men of the committee was named Doctor Dair Haskell. Mr. Haskell’s involvement in the potential monument at what is today Rune Stone Park may be one of the most revealing associations discussed here. Throughout this entire saga we have seen many instances of the involvement of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in writing literature that may have helped to inspire the promotion of both the Newport Tower and Kensington Rune Stone as being authentic Norse artifacts. Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha” is even about Minnesota.

Amazingly Mr. Haskell’s family also came from Maine and has a direct family relation to the Longfellow families of Maine and Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia branch of the family moved back and forth between their property there and in Maine in the years before and after the Revolutionary War. In previous work I have noted the Longfellow family of Nova Scotia in relation to the famous Money Pit of Oak Island.

At this time two important intermarriages happened between the two families leading us to the conclusion that Dair Haskell is directly related to the author of “The Song of Hiawatha,” “The Skeleton in Armor,” and “The Saga of King Olaf.” This relation may go a long way towards explaining why a prominent neighborhood of Minneapolis is known of as “Longfellow” and also includes a copy of his home near Boston known as Craigie House. Craigie House served as General Washington’s headquarters during the Battle of Bunker Hill. This is also interesting in light of Francis Merrifield having carried a King James Version bible into battle at Bunker Hill.

Nearly all of Longfellow’s books included introductions written by a man named Nathan Haskell Dole. Mr. Dole’s Haskell name comes directly from his forebear Wigglesworth Dole’s marriage to Elizabeth Haskell (yes Wigglesworth is his real name). These people are the direct forebears of Dair Haskell member of the Kensington Rune Stone committee and also related to committee member Constant Larson via his Merrifield and Lyon relations. Dole seemed to be in the loop of many literary movements in New England during the era of Longfellow and was also close friends with Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Walt Whitman, Julia Ward Howe, and Louise Chandler Moulton. Mr. Dole was a Harvard graduate that also had written a great deal himself. Mr. Dole may also have been a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.

The ten men of the Kensington Rune Monument committee includes people directly related to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with some of them even coming from Washington D.C. at that time. Lyon Merrifield was involved in many things in that era of Washington D.C. and his wife was a native of that city. What does this mean in relation to these men’s desire to build a scale replica of the Washington Monument at the discovery site of the Kensington Rune? We already had noted the possible involvement of John and George Perkins Marsh in this story. In many ways, this entire scheme is reminiscent of how Anne Ellicott Bidwell and her husband John Bidwell created a miniature of Washington D.C. in the form of the street plan of Chico, California. Mrs. Bidwell was related to Andrew Ellicott the surveyor who laid out the street plan and boundaries of Washington D.C. This type of homage to Washington D.C. and American values seems to be somewhat of a trend during that era.

This is a really amazing connection to the entire story and how it may have been contrived by these men in part due to their family heritage and membership in the Freemasonic order. It seems that in this case their relations and associations with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow may serve as evidence that these two family relations of his may have been privy to whatever the truth of the Kensington Rune Stone is. Most of this information does point to the Kensington Rune Stone having been placed where it was found after 1861 if not later. Perhaps the “3” in the date 1362 seen on the Kensington Rune actually somehow is an “8?” Either way most of the information here seems to say that the Kensington stone is not from the fourteenth century but was placed there later as part of an initiation that was later mistaken for reality. 

More coming soon. Thank you. -Cort


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