In the first volume of the Brotherhood of Light Lessons, Elbert Benjamine published his own natal chart next to that of Church of Light Vice President Fred Skinner. Precise birth data valued by astrologers is also helpful to genealogists for historical research, and Elbert’s chronologies of major life events are often biographically helpful.
Frederick Huffman Skinner was born in Chariton, Iowa on April 10, 1872. Tracing him through the census, we find him a single 28 year old “General Agent” in 1900 in Oregon, then living with his wife Helen in California in 1910, 1920, and 1930. Elbert reports that Fred left an “occult secret society” in 1917 and joined the Brotherhood of Light in 1918. This indicates that he had formerly been associated with the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor. That would be one factor in common with Elbert; being fellow Iowans another similarity, and being avid outdoorsmen and naturalists a third connection.
Fred’s wedding to Helen Buckley was described in the Napa Weekly Journal on June 29, 1906:
Fred’s obituary describes a harrowing experience for his young niece, who had accompanied him five miles into the San Bernardino mountains on a nature photography expedition during which he died of a heart attack. He was 67, not 71 as stated in the paper. This is from the San Bernardino County Sun, February 8, 1940.
