The themes of education and achievement is heavily portrayed in the Fellowcraft Degree. The more a man learns through pursuit of knowledge, the more he achieves. This very theme is exactly what the new Fellowcrafts of Fidelity-St. John’s Lodge No. 3 received that night at the Burr Mansion.

The Burr Mansion is one of the historical sites in the town of Fairfield. Rebuilt around 1790 by Thaddeus and Eunice Burr following the Revolutionary War’s burning of Fairfield, the house was one of the town’s cultural and social centers. Before the years leading up to the American Revolution, the Burr Mansion hosted some of the well-known figures in the American History; such names include George Washington, John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Aaron Burr. Moreover, in 1775, years before it was rebuilt, John Hancock and Dorothy Quincy exchanged wedding vows at the mansion in a graceful ceremony.

This same place was where newly admitted Fellowcrafts took their obligation and passed through the degree. Though not as spacious or as magnificent as King Solomon’s Temple, the Burr Mansion was transformed that evening to a place representing the Middle Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple.

The degree displayed such elegance and grandeur as the new Fellowcrafts were first introduced and conducted to the Middle Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple. They discovered firsthand the beauty of various objects like the two great pillars and its globes. They felt the steps beneath them as they climb up the winding stairs of three, five, and seven steps, while observing the five columns growing in beauty in each step. Lastly, they recognized the importance of the knowledge they achieved that as they enter the middle chamber.