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** THIS SECTION IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
**As I progress, I am TRYING to validate these names, please understand all of these may not be fact.
As you may have noticed from our home page, many important people in US and World History were Freemasons. Below, I have a few links to fellow lodges, who have taken the time to develop impressive lists of Freemasons.
Signers of the Declaration of Independance**:
- Benjamin Franklin - 1 of 13 Masonic signers of Constitution of the U.S. member of St. John's Lodge, Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Past Provincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania
- Elbridge Gerry, member of Philanthropic Lodge, Marblehead, Massachusetts.
- John Hancock, made a Master Mason, at the age of 23, in 1760, in Merchants Lodge No. 1, Quebec City, the first civilian Lodge established in Canada after the Conquest. In 1763, he went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he affiliated with St. Andrew's Lodge.
- William Hooper, member of Hanover Lodge, Masonborough, North Carolina.
- Richard Stockton, charter member, and first Master of St. John's Lodge, Princeton, New Jersey.
- Matthew Thornton, made a Mason in a Lodge attached to a British Regiment of Foot during the Siege of Louisburg, Canada, in 1745, serving in a New Hampshire Colonial Regiment as a surgeon. Baron Von Steuben, while at Valley Forge, is said to have conferred the higher Degrees on him and to have been the only Signer who attained the 32nd Degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite.
- George Walton, member of Solomons Lodge No. 1, Savannah, Georgia.
- William Whipple, member of St. Johnþs Lodge No. 1, Portsmouth, New Jersey.
The following named Signers have been referred to as members of the Fraternity by various Masonic writers, and in Masonic publications, but their Lodge affiliation is not known:
- Roger Sherman, claimed to have been made a Mason prior to the American Revolution. A Masonic Apron said to be worn by him is in the collection at Yale University.
- Josiah Bartlett, one so named is listed as a charter member of King Solomon's Lodge, Charlestown, Massachusetts. Descendants, however, say he was not a member of the Craft. There is doubt that this Bartlett is the signer, and records of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts do not show his Lodge affiliation.
- Philip Livingston, often referred to as a Mason, but this is open to debate. Records of the Grand Lodge of New York do not disclose his name. Several members, named Livingston, are noted in the records of Holland Lodge No. 8, New York City, New York.
- Joseph Hewes. Records of Unanimity Lodge No. 7, Edenton, North Carolina, show his name as a visitor on St. John's Day, December, 1776.
- Robert Treat Paine, member of a Massachusetts Lodge. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts records do not show his affiliation He was said to be present at the celebration of St. John's Day, Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, in June, 1759.
- Thomas McKean, noted as a frequent visitor to Perseverance Lodge No. 2l, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The McKean genealogy has stated he was a Mason, although his name is not found on the records of the Grand Lodge of Delaware, which was not organized until the close of the American Revolution. A brother, Samuel McKean, was a member of the Fraternity.
- John Penn, known to have attended Lodges in North Carolina, but his Masonic affiliation is not known.
- Lyman Hall, claimed to have been a member of Solomons Lodge No. 1, Savannah, Georgia.
- William Ellery, claimed as a member of a Lodge in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Thomas Nelson, Jr., claimed to have visited Lodge No. 9, Yorktown, Virginia, after the Siege of that place was lifted in the Revolutionary War, accompanied by Lafayette and Washington.
** Absence of definite proof of the Masonic affiliation of the Signers named in the foregoing paragraphs, precludes the possibility of knowing. This is also the case with Thomas Jefferson; John Adams; Benjamin Rush, Robert Morris; John Witherspoon; George Wythe; Francis Lightfoot Lee; Richard Henry Lee, and others. Caesar Rodney, of Delaware fame, had a son Caesar Augustus Rodney - a member of the Craft. George Read, another Signer from Delaware, had a son - George M. Read - who was Grand Master of Pennsylvania. Samuel Huntington had a son who was Grand Master of Ohio. ** Credit is given to Burbank Masonic Lodge for their work.
US Presidents*:
- GEORGE WASHINGTON, First President, born 1731/2, died 1799. Initiated Nov. 4, 1752, passed March 3, 1753, raised Aug. 4, 1753 all in Fredericksburg Lodge (later No. 4) at Fredericksburg, Va. Charter Master, Alexandria Lodge No. 22, Alexandria, Va., April 28, 1788 and reelected Dec. 20 1788.
- JAMES MONROE, 5th President, born 1758; died 1831. Initiated in Williamsburg Lodge No. 6 at Williamsburg, Va., Nov. 9, 1775, but there is no record of his taking any further degrees. The records of Cumberland Lodge No. 8 in Tennessee, June 8, 1819, show a reception for Monroe as "a Brother of the Craft."
- ANDREW JACKSON, 7th President, born 1767, died 1829. Grand Master of Tennessee, 1822-23. His lodge is unknown but he is said to have attended at Clover Bottom Lodge under the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. He was present in Lodge at Greeneville in 1801 and acted as Senior Warden pro tempore. The records of St. Tammany Lodge No. 29 at Nashville, which became Harmony Lodge No. 1 under the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, show that Jackson was a member.
- JAMES K. POLK, 11th President, born 1795; died 1849. Initiated, passed, and raised in Columbia Lodge No. 31, Columbia, Tenn. Exalted a Royal Arch Mason in La Fayette Chapter No. 4 at Columbia in 1825.
- JAMES BUCHANAN, 15th President, Born 1791; died 1868;(1857-1861). Initiated December 11, 1816, in Lodge 43, at Lancaster, PA. Passed and raised in 1817. Junior Warden in 1821 and 1822. Master in 1825. Also Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
- ANDREW JOHNSON, 17th President, born 1808 died 1875; initiated, passed and raised in Greeneville Lodge No. 119 now No. 3 at Greeneville, Tenn. in 1851. Probably a member of Greeneville Chapter No. 82 Royal Arch Masons, since he joined Nashville Commandery of Knights Templar No. 1 in 1859. He received the Scottish Rite degrees in the White House in 1867.
- JAMES A. GARFIELD, 20th President, born 1831; died 1881; initiated and passed in Magnolia Lodge No. 20, Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Columbus Lodge No.3O, 1864. Affiliated with Garrettsville Lodge No. 246 in 1866 Affiliated with Pentalpha Lodge No. 23 Washington, D. C. as charter member in 1869. Exalted in Columbus Royal Arch Chapter, 1866 and Knight Templar, 1866. 14th Degree Scottish Rite, 1872.
- WILLIAM MCKINLEY, 25th President, born 1843; died 1901; is sometimes said to have been initiated, passed, and raised in Hiram Lodge No. 10 in Winchester, West Virginia in 1865. But William Moseley Brown is authority for the statement that this event took place in Hiram Lodge No. 21 at Winchester, Virginia in that year. McKinley affiliated with Canton Lodge No. 60 at Canton, Ohio in 1867 and later became a charter member of Eagle Lodge No. 43. He received the Capitular degrees in Canton in 1883 and was made a Knight Templar in 1884.
- THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 26th President, born 1858, died 1919. Initiated, passed, and raised in Matinecock Lodge No. 806, Oyster Bay, N. Y. in 1901.
- WILLIAM H. TAFT, 27th President, born 1857; died 1930. Made a Mason at sight in Kilwinning Lodge No. 356, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1901. Evidently, that made him a member at large, for the Grand Lodge issued him a demit and he became a member of the above lodge.
- WARREN G. HARDING, 29th President born 1865; died 1923. Initiated in Marion Lodge No. 7O, Marion, Ohio, 1901. He received no other degree until after becoming President. He was passed and raised in Marion Lodge in 1920, Royal Arch Chapter degrees in Marion Chapter No. 62 in 1921; Knight Templar in Marion Commandery No. 36, in 1921. Scottish Rite and Shrine in 1921.
- FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, 32nd President, born 1882; died 1945. Initiated, passed, and raised in Holland Lodge No. 8, New York City, in 1911, 32nd Degree Scottish Rite in Albany Consistory 1929, Shrine in 1930.
- HARRY S. TRUMAN, 33rd President, Born May 8, 1884, Lamar, Missouri. Received the degrees in Belton Lodge No 450; organized and became a charter member of Grandview No. 618. Served as both district lecturer and deputy Grand Master for several years. Elected Grand Master of Masons in Missouri in 1940. He always claimed this was the greatest honor that had ever come to him. He received the first Gourgas Medal of the Scottish Rite, NMJ granted while he was serving as a Senator. Elected vice-president in 1944 and became President on the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt (a Mason) on April 12, 1945. He died on December 26 1972. On the 28th he was buried on his library's grounds with impressive rites. These included the only Masonic funeral service ever televised worldwide.
- LYNDON B. JOHNSON, 36th President of the US. Initiated on October 30, 1937, in Johnson City Lodge 561, Johnson City, TX., but unfortunately never returned to Freemasonry (due to Congressional, Vice-Presidential and Presidential duties) and completed the next two degrees, the Fellow Craft Degree and the Master Mason Degree.
- GERALD R. FORD, 38th President, Born July 14, 1913 as Leslie L. King, Jr. He was later adopted and took the name of his mother's second husband (a Freemason). Became President on August 9, 1974 on the resignation of Richard Nixon (not a Mason). Ford received the degrees in Malta Lodge No. 405, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Brother Ford was the 1974 recipient of the NY Grand Lodge Distinguished Achievement Award, the highest honor that can be presented by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York.
* Credit is owed to MasterMason.com and their sources for their research in this matter.
People in Literature:
- Abbott, Robert Sengstacke - Founder/publisher Chicago Defender
- Burns, Robert - National Poet of Scotland; St. David's Lodge No. 174, Tarbolton, Scotland.
- Chagall, Marc - Artist, painter.
- Collodi, Carlo - Author of Pinocchio
- Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur - 1859-1930. Member of Phoenix Lodge 257, Portsmouth, in 1886. Author of Sherlock Holmes
- Dac, Pierre. 1895-1975 - Humorist
- Fleming, Sir Alexander - USA. Invented penicillin. 1881-1955.
- Fortune, Timpothy Thomas - Journalist
- Gannett, Frank E. - Hobosco Lodge No. 716, Ithaca, NY - media empire
- Gibbon, Edward - Author of "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"
- Gray, Harold Lincoln - Creator of "Little Orphan Annie"
- Guest, Edgar A. - Poet; "The Lambskin Apron"
- Haley, Alex - Author
- Harvey, Paul - Radio personality
- Johnson, John H. - Publisher EBONY and Jet magazines
- Kipling, Rudyard - Author. Nobel Prize in 1907.
- Lemon, Mark - Founder of Punch, humorous British magazine
- Pushkin, Aleksander - Russian Poet
- Salten, Felix - Creator of Bambi
- Scott, Sir Walter - Writer
- Service, Robert - Poet of the Klondike Gold Rush
- Swift, Johathan - Wrote Gulliver's Travels
- Tolstoi, Leo - Russian Author
- Voltaire, François-Marie Arouet 1694-1778. - French writer and philosopher
- Wallace, Lewis - Wrote "Ben Hur"
- Wilde, Oscar. 1854-1900. - Writer
SOURCE: http://www.calodges.org/no406/FAMASONS.HTM
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