Alexander Rutherford

Alexander Rutherford was a stonemason who emigrated from Ireland circa 1832 and went on to found the Pioneer Steam Marble Company. Because of his expertise in marble, Rutherford was hired as inspector of marble during the erection of the new House and Senate wings of the U.S. Capitol in the 1850s. During the Civil War he served as a captain in the Union Army. Rutherford carved many of the stones in Congressional Cemetery. He was a member of Lebanon Lodge No. 7, and was elected its master in 1858 and 1859. In 1858, he and ten other brethren of the lodge used scrap marble from the Capitol project to construct an altar for Lebanon Lodge. It was later gifted to Naval Lodge No. 4. The altar is still used to raise brothers to the degree of Master Mason and to swear in new officers.