Buffalo Bill's Mark

Companion William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, a Mark Master in North Platte, Nebraska, not surprisingly selected a buffalo head as his individual mark.

The Largest Mason

The Largest known Mason was Mills Darden (1799-1857), who weighed 1,020 pounds and stood 7'6" tall and measured 6'4" around the waist.  Upon his death, it took 17 men to put him in his coffin, constructed of over 100 board-feet of lumber.  His wife only weighed 90 pounds.

John Henry Brown

John Henry Brown (1820-1895), early Texas newspaper editor who served as mayor of both Dallas and Galveston, Texas, Was raised in Clarksville Lodge 17, Clarksville, Missouri, on March 1, 1845 and demitted on the same date! 

Brother Brown wished to be raised in his home state of Missouri, but demitted so that he could return to Texas where he became one of the original signers for a charter of Victoria Lodge 40, Victoria, Texas.

The Ladies' Room

On November 10, 1928, the cornerstone ceremony at the Masonic Lodge in Culver City, California, was so crowded, the Grand Master had to open the Grand Lodge in the ladies' room.  Members reported the Tyler had his work cut out for him during the meeting.

The Doolittle Raid

On April 18, 1942, James "Jimmy" Doolittle, Hollenbeck Lodge No. 319, Los Angeles, California, led 16 B-25 medium bombers into Japan completing the first successful attack on the Japanese mainland in World War II. Brother Doolittle's heroism during this mission, today known as the Doolittle Raid, earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.  The mission would not have been possible without the high-octane aviation fuel, which enabled the bombers to fly the long distance from the US fleet to Japan.  That same high-octane aviation fuel was developed in the previous decade by none other than Brother Doolittle himself.

Gerald Ford's Press Conference

One of the most athletic of US Presidents, Brother Gerald Ford swam daily and once gave a presidential press conference while swimming in the White House swimming pool!

Woodman Spare That Tree

A Freemason wrote what some claim is the first environmental protest song.  George P. Morris, St. John's 1, NY, wrote "Woodman Spare That Tree" as a poem in 1837 and later that year it became a popular song. While some claim its status as the first environmental protest song, others point out the theme of the work is merely that of someone sentimentally trying to save a single tree remembered from his youth. The poem in full:

Woodman spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough;
In youth it sheltered me,
And I'll protect it now;
'Twas my fore father's hand
That placed it near the cot,
There, woodman, let it stand,
Thy axe shall harm it not!

That old familiar tree,
Whose glory and renown
Are spread o'er land and sea,
And wouldst thou hack it down?
Woodman, forbear thy stroke!
Cut not its earth, bound ties;
Oh! spare that ag-ed oak
Now towering to the skies!

When but a idle boy
I sought its grateful shade;
In all their gushing joy
Here, too, my sisters played.
My mother kiss'd me here;
My father press'd my hand--
Forgive this foolish tear,
But let that old oak stand!

My heart-strings round thee cling,
Close as thy bark, old friend!
Here shall the wild-bird sing,
And still thy branches bend.
Old tree! the storm still brave!
And, woodman, leave the spot;
While I've a hand to save,
Thy axe shall harm it not.

Brother Saves Albert Pike's Home

During a Union attack on Little Rock, Arkansas, Union General Thomas Hart Benton ordered his troops to guard the home of Albert Pike to protect the Masonic Library there.  Benton at the time was Grand Master of Iowa, serving in that office from 1861-63.

Benton was also the nephew of Missouri's first senator and Masonic Brother Thomas Hart Benton.

Wendell L. Willkie

Wendell L. Willkie (1892-1944), Quincy Lodge 230, Elwood, Indiana, was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in 1940, running against Brother Franklin D. Roosevelt.  All things equal, had Brother Willkie been elected, he would have died in office October 8, 1944.

Brother Gerald And The Chicken

A giant chicken-outfit-clad stalker hounded President Gerald Ford in his 1976 presidential campaign.  The huge "Pollo Loco" followed Ford from campaign stop to campaign stop, at times sharing the stage with him, interviewing him and even embracing him. Rather than becoming annoyed, Brother Ford played along with the prank and brought some levity to an otherwise dreary campaign.  Today, that same "chicken" who made his national debut campaigning with Gerald Ford has gone on to fame in his own right.  He is now known as... The San Diego Chicken.

Bulletproof George

In the French-Indian War, Brother George Washington was shot no less than five times in a single battle.  His thick coat stopped four of the bullets and one went through his hat.  If that wasn't enough, in the same battle he had two horses shot out from under him.  Observing this, one Indian Chief said he thought Washington's God must be protecting him so that he could go on to do great things.

Anthony Sayer

Anthony Sayer (1672-1742), England's first Grand Master, 1717-18, established a Grand Lodge charity fund. Upon leaving office, Brother Sayer fell on hard times and became the first person to receive financial assistance from that fund.

A President's Best Friend

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the only US President depicted with his pet in an official government memorial.  Brother Roosevelt's dog, Fala, appears in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, DC.

There are no doubt other examples, but Meriwether Lewis also appears with his dog Seaman, who accompanied Brother Lewis on the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition, in a statue in Kansas City.

An Evening's Work

Frank Land, founder of DeMolay and an accomplished artist, designed the DeMolay crest.  This is not a surprise until noted that he designed the crest in 1908, fully eleven years before DeMolay existed!  He sketched the crest one evening in art class upon becoming disinterested in the instructor's still-life assignment.  The instructor's sister, Nell Swiezwski, caught him goofing off. As sometimes happens, one thing led to another and Brother Land married Nell.  In one evening Frank Land had designed an emblem for a future worldwide organization and met his future bride.  Not a bad evening's work.

Oleo Rivers

Congressman L. Mendel Rivers, Landmark Lodge 76, Charleston, SC, abhorred the tax on oleomargarine which congress passed under pressure from the dairy lobby to make margarine uncompetitive with butter.  He campaigned so hard to have the tax repealed that he earned his trademark nickname, "Oleo" Rivers.

At one time, it was even illegal to sell yellow-colored margarine in the US since the substance in its natural white form was thought unappetizing.  When the supreme court struck down that law in 1898, the dairy industry lobbied for heavier taxes.  The final restrictions on margarine were not lifted in the individual states until 1967, when Wisconsin ("The Dairy State") eliminated them.

Alfred P. Murrah

The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, destroyed April 19, 1995 in the Oklahoma City bombing, was named in honor of a Freemason.  Brother Murrah, of Capital City Lodge 518 in Oklahoma City, was a judge who pioneered the practices of pretrial conferences and litigation panels.  Brother Earl Warren described him as "one of the foremost figures in the American judiciary."

The Liberty Bell

The Liberty Bell cracked while tolling the death of Brother John Marshall, 4th Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court and Grand Master of Virginia from 1793-95.

I Shot Him, Sir!

Prior to becoming political allies, Missouri's cantankerous and imposing first senator Thomas Hart Benton and Andrew Jackson were bitter foes.  Believing Jackson had insulted his brother Jesse, Benton hunted Jackson down. A fight erupted ending in gunplay in which Benton shot and nearly killed Jackson.  After the death of Andrew Jackson, a young colleague approached Senator Benton.  The novice politician asked Benton if he had known Jackson.  Benton replied in his familiar, pompous manner, "Yes, sir, I knew him, sir; General Jackson was a very great man, sir.  I shot him, sir!"

General Santa Anna

In contrast to the grueling 12-day siege at the Alamo, the Texans routed the Mexican army at San Jacinto in a mere 18 minutes!  In the process, they also captured General Santa Anna.  It is a puzzle to some historians as to why the Texans did not summarily execute Santa Anna, who had shown no mercy at the Alamo.  Some, including Masonic historian William R. Denslow are certain there is only one reasonable explanation why the Texans spared Santa Anna.  He was, in fact, Brother Antonio López de Santa Anna, a Freemason.  Reports exist that General Santa Anna not once, but three times, gave the Grand Hailing Sign of Distress including making the gesture personally to Brother Sam Houston himself.  Together, Houston and other Brothers who had witnessed this granted their Brother Santa Anna the Masonic compassion he had denied others at the Alamo.

A Masonic Sign That Saved A Wagon Train

Traveling west of Laramie, Wyoming in 1874, members of a wagon train became concerned when a band of Native American Indians began following them.  A Freemason traveling with the group, known only as Brother Reid, had heard there were Masons among the tribes, so he rode off to meet their pursuers.  Approaching the Indians, Brother Reid identified himself as a Freemason and gave a Masonic sign.  After a brief conversation, the Indians turned, rode away and never bothered the wagon train again, with Brother Reid giving the Masonic sign credit for saving the wagon train.

Submitted by David Witte, Independence Lodge #76
Independence, Missouri

Stonewall Jackson's Arm

Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-1863) lost his arm in a battle at Chancellorsville, a wound which ultimately proved fatal. Jackson's chaplain, prior to the General's death, conducted a funeral and buried the arm where it remains today, 125 miles from Jackson's grave.  The chaplain conducted a funeral for Jackson's arm and buried it with full military honors!

Based on correspondence, actions and eyewitness reports, it is likely Jackson was a Freemason, but no records exist to confirm the fact.  On one occasion he was observed to return the sign of distress to a union soldier and speculation is he may have been a member of a traveling military Lodge.