Mason's Hall on Franklin Street in Richmond Virginia is the oldest Masonic building in the US built specifically as a Masonic meeting place. It has been used continuously and is the home of Richmond Lodge 10. Due to the destruction of the Civil War, it remains one of the few buildings surviving from 18th century Richmond. It would not be there today except for a Union General, a Freemason, who ordered it to be protected from fire.
It's a puzzle that Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), eighteenth President of the United States, never became a Mason. His father, Jesse R. Grant, was a member of Bethel Lodge 61, Bethel, Ohio. His father-in-law, Lewis Dent, was a member of Amith Lodge 5, Zanesville, Ohio. Further, perhaps in anticipation of a Masonic future, his parents gave him a very Masonic name. His real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant.
Brother John Rae (1813-1893) was a Scottish explorer of the Arctic recognized for his endurance. He is known to have hiked over 23,000 miles on snowshoes in his lifetime. He covered great distances by limiting supplies and living with and in the manner of Eskimos. Owing to his ability to cover such distances in adverse conditions, his Intuit name was Aglooka, "he who takes long strides." He certainly lived up to it, once accomplishing the amazing feat of traveling 100 miles on snowshoes in a single day.
The original Mayo Clinic started in a Masonic Temple in Rochester, Minnesota, where William Worrall Mayo (1819-1911), Charles H. Mayo (1865-1939) and Charles W. Mayo (1898-1968) were members.
Francis, 2nd Earl of Moira (1754-1826) was a British soldier and colonial administrator, born Francis Rawdon Hastings. From 1790 until 1813, he was Acting Grand Master to H.R.H. George, Prince of Wales, later George IV and, in 1806-1807, he served as Grand Master of Scotland. He is credited with saving Freemasonry in England when he worked to defeat the Unlawful Societies Act of 1799, which would have required the dissolution of the order. Upon his death, he was buried in Malta, but left an unusual request. His wish was that, prior to his burial, his "right hand might be cut off" and buried with his wife at her death. His wish was granted and his hand now rests clasped in hers, buried in the family vault in the Old Kirk of Loudoun.
A poll in the mid 1960s recognized the two most beloved Americans as Abraham Lincoln and Will Rogers. Brother Rogers was a member of Claremore Lodge 53, McAlester Consistory and the Tulsa Shrine, all located in Oklahoma.
Twin sailing ships worked along the eastern seaboard of the Colonies/United States during the 18th century. One was named the Freemason, the other was the Mastermason. The origin of their names is unknown, but clearly, someone with a Masonic background commissioned them. The pair could be seen plying the shores from 1737 until 1779, when the Freemason caught fire and sank in Marblehead Harbor, Massachusetts.
Paul Boyton (1848-1924), Lodge of Friendship 206, London, was a world-famous adventurer and swimmer. He opened the world's first permanent amusement park in Chicago in 1894 and the following year established what would become the Coney Island amusement park. As a stunt swimmer, he invented a rubberized floating "wet suit," using it to swim long distances. He first used it to cross the English Channel and in 1881 used it to swim the Missouri River from Cedar Creek, Montana to St. Louis, Missouri, a distance of 3,580 miles!
Awakened from an afternoon nap November 1, 1950, Brother Harry S. Truman, watched as two Puerto Rican nationalists stormed his residence in an attempt to assassinate him. A DC policeman, Leslie W. Coffelt, and one of the perpetrators, Griselio Torresola, died in the failed attempt. The other would-be assassin, Oscar Collazo was wounded in the melee and captured. A court convicted Collazo and sentenced him to death. President Truman, however commuted his sentence to life in prison and in 1979, President Jimmy Carter further reduced Collazo's sentence to time served, and he was freed. That year, Fidel Castro decorated Collazo as a hero. The guns used in the assassination attempt are on display at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri.
William Dodd was a man of God and good works who made a terrible mistake. Dodd, a Freemason, was also a poet and an author of commentaries on the Bible and Shakespeare. He served for a time as chaplain to the King of England, opened a facility to help reformed prostitutes change their lives and became one of the most popular preachers of his day. He lived extravagantly, acquired debts and in an impulsive move to pay them, forged a bond to obtain a loan. He was caught and convicted. Despite a popular movement to pardon him backed by a petition with 23,000 signatures, his conviction and sentence stood. At that time in England his offense was a capital crime and on June 27, 1777 became the last person in England to be hanged for forgery.
January 10, 1793, Jean Pierre Blanchard made the first US balloon flight. The event was such a big deal, Brother George Washington, US President, was in attendance. Blanchard did not speak English, so Washington provided him with a letter of introduction addressed to the owner of any property where Blanchard landed. Blanchard presented his letter when he landed in Deptford, Gloucester County, New Jersey, making Brother Washington, officially, the first person in the US to send an airmail letter.
The letter read: "George Washington, President of the United States of America, to all to whom these presents shall come. The bearer hereof, Mr. Blanchard a citizen of France, proposing to ascend in a balloon from the city of Philadelphia, at 10 o’clock, A.M. this day, to pass in such direction and to descend in such place as circumstances may render most convenient — These are therefore to recommend to all citizens of the United States, and others, that in his passage, descent, return or journeying elsewhere, they oppose no hindrance or molestation to the said Mr. Blanchard; And, that on the contrary, they receive and aid him with that humanity and good will which may render honor to their country, and justice to an individual so distinguished by his efforts to establish and advance an art, in order to make it useful to mankind in general. "Given under my hand and seal at the city of Philadelphia, this ninth day of January, one thousand seven hundred and ninety three, and of the independence of America the seventeenth."
Brother Gene Autry was more of a superstar than most realize. In fact, of all celebrities past and present, Brother Autrey is the only one to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for radio, recording, motion pictures, television and live theater/performance.
Four presidents were members of the same Lodge, but not in the US. Argentine Presidents Justo José de Urquiza (1854-1860), Santiago Derqui (1860-1861), Bartolomé Mitre (1861-1868) and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1868-1874) were all members of Union Del Plata Lodge 1 in Buenos Aries. But for a brief month-long interim presidency in 1861, the four men would have served in succession.
Brother George Washington, was torn by the fact that slavery was wrong, yet he remained a slave owner. Because of his grave reservations about the institution, he freed all of his slaves upon the death of his wife Martha. Martha, however, freed the slaves prior to that time, feeling with the covenant in her husband's will, her life might be in danger. Abagail Adams wrote of Martha's concern, "In the state in which they were left by the General, to be free at her death, she did not feel as tho her Life was safe in their Hands, many of whom would be told that it was [in] their interest to get rid of her – She therefore was advised to set them all free at the close of the year."
Hungarian Countess Helene Hadik Barkoczy, sole heir of Count Johann Barkoczy, succeeded him upon his death. She inherited his extensive Masonic library and through it developed an intense interest in the fraternity. The countess sought admittance and using a bit of political influence, was initiated in 1875 in the Lodge Egyenloseg at Unghvar. Upon hearing of this, the Grand Orient of Hungary declared her membership a grave violation of its laws and on January 5, 1876 expelled the Deputy Master of the Lodge and had the names of the officers involved stricken from its roles. Other Lodge members were expelled for up to six months. The Grand Orient proclaimed any lodge admitting the Countess would be shut down, declared her initiation null and void and demanded the return of her certificate.
Brother Edwin T. Booth, was the Brother of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. However, he should be remembered for much more, including the fact that he once saved the life of Robert Lincoln, the President's son. Brother Edwin was a member of New York Lodge 330. A renowned Shakespearean actor, Brother Edwin was once asked what he considered his favorite prose. In answering, he asked the audience to stand and then he repeated the Lord's Prayer.
Brother Omar Bradley led the D-Day invasion in Normandy this date in 1944. The soft-spoken general had an accident as a youth, which may have added to the perception he was somewhat shy. While skating at dusk on the lake at Forest Park in Moberly, Missouri, limited visibility caused him to collide with another skater. He described the event as "bone smashing" and said it knocked almost all of his teeth loose leaving them a jumbled mess. His family had no money for a dentist and he had to live with the resulting bad teeth for the rest of his life. Bradley himself explained that is the reason he is rarely seen smiling in photographs.
John Wayne (1907-1979) was a member of Glendale DeMolay Chapter as a youth and became a Master Mason in Marion McDaniel Lodge 56, Tucson, Arizona in 1970. He won but a single Academy Award during his impressive acting career, for his role as the crotchety Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 film, "True Grit." However, he also received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Sargent John Stryker in the 1949 classic, "The Sands of Iwo Jima." For many years that part was considered Wayne's best work, and when Grauman's Chinese Theater honored him, the cement used to cast his footprints contained sand imported from Iwo Jima. Brother Wayne became so legendary that when Japanese Emperor Hirohito visited the United States in 1975, the only celebrity he asked to meet was John Wayne, who had become the symbolic representation of Japan's former enemy.
