Clymer, R(euben) Swinburne (1878-1966)

For many years head of the Rosicrucian Fellowship (Fraternitas Rosae Crucis), the oldest of the contemporary Rosicrucian organizations, founded in the nineteenth century by Pascal Beverley Randolph. Clymer was born November 25, 1878, in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. He was educated at the College of Medicine and Surgery, Chicago, Illinois (M.D., 1902). Clymer made a special study of osteopathy and naturopathy, and in 1910 he was registered as an osteopath in New York. He soon emerged as an early champion of natural forms of medical treatment, writing several books on the subject.

Clymer had become associated with the Rosicrucian Fellow-ship as a young man. He enrolled as a neophyte in 1897. In 1905 he became grand master of the Rosicrucian Fellowship and later succeeded James R. Phelps as exalted grand master and Edward Brown as supreme grand master, a position he held until his death in 1966. In his work for the fellowship he created a number of associated organizations, including the Philosophical Publishing Company (1900), Royal Fraternal Association (1909), Beverly Hall Corporation (1921), Confederation of Initiates (1929), and the Beverly Hall Foundation (1941). Clymer was also a prolific author and wrote many of the books still circulated by the fellowship.

After Clymer's death in June 1966 his son Emerson M. Clymer succeeded him as head of the fellowship.

Sources:

Clymer, R. Swinburne. The Book of Rosicrucie. 3 Vol. Quaker-town, Pa.: Philosophical Publishing, 1946-49.

——. A Compendium of Occult Law. Quakertown, Pa.: Philosophical Publishing, 1938.

——. Diet: A Key to Health. Quakertown, Pa.: Humanitarian Society, 1930.

——. The Fraternitas Rosae Crucis. Quakertown, Pa.: Philosophical Publishing, 1929.

——. The Rosicrucian Fraternity in America. 2 vols. Quaker-town, Pa.: Rosicrucian Foundation, 1935.

——. The Way to Happiness. Quakertown, Pa.: Humanitarian Society, 1920.