Masonic Trivia

It's time for a little Masonic Trivia

Here are 15 things you may not know about your fraternity and your brothers...

Brother "Jimmy" Doolittle earned the Congressional Medal of Honor flying missions to Japan able to go that distance only by high octane aviation fuel he had himself invented.

The Liberty Bell cracked while tolling the Death of Chief Justice John Marshall, Past Grand Master of Virginia.

A Masonic Lodge, Henry Knox Lodge of Massachusetts, was constituted on the ship USS Constitution, also known as "Old Ironsides," on March 17, 1926.

The military bugle call "Taps," written by Brother Daniel Adams Butterfield, was originally called "Butterfield's Lullaby."

Abraham Lincoln petitioned the Masonic Lodge in Springfield, Illinois, but did not join, thinking it would look like he was doing so for political purposes.

Brother Richard Gatling invented the Gatling Gun believing it was such a terrible weapon fear of using it would actually save lives.

Brother Charles Lindbergh, known for his historic flight across the Atlantic, once had his picture on the cover of Time Magazine for inventing what was called an artificial heart.

Brother Harland Sanders started his huge Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise empire with nothing more than a single Social Security Check.

All four presidential candidates in 1948, Republican Thomas Dewey, Progressive Henry Wallace, Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond and the eventual winner,

Democrat Harry Truman, were Freemasons.

From its founding as a state in 1890 until the mid-twentieth century, every governor of Wyoming was, with one exception, a Freemason. That exception was Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first woman governor in the United States, a member of the Eastern Star.

In 1953, the Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Texas was a Brother named Hiram Abiff Boaz.

Gerrymandering, the rearranging of voting districts mainly for political purposes, is named for Brother Elbridge Gerry, fifth Vice President of the US.

Brother Charles P. "Chic" Sale once wrote a best-selling book about outhouses.

The oldest building in the US built specifically for Masonry is Mason's Hall on Franklin Street in Richmond Virginia. It was saved from destruction during the Civil War because Union troops guarded it, ordered to do so by a General who was a Mason.

And Finally, did you know there is only one city in the world known to be purposely laid out on a Masonic theme? Think it's Washington, DC? Think again. In 1816, Hector Kilbourne, a surveyor and member of the first Master of Science Lodge #50, laid out the original plat of Sandusky Ohio. He designed the city on a grid of equal-sized squares and rectangles representing an open Bible, with a square and compasses located in the center. He named many of the streets after famous Masons.

Stephen Austin and Anthony Butler

Anthony Butler (1787–1849) was a lawyer, a politician, a diplomat, the ward and friend of Brother Andrew Jackson and, yes, a Freemason. Brother Jackson, when President, thought highly enough of Butler to appoint him United States chargé d'affaires in Mexico City. He also appointed him his secret agent in a surreptitious plan to purchase Texas for the United States.

Some say Butler was dedicated to the point of ruthlessness in carrying out this plan.

Brother Sam Houston, who had more than one encounter with Butler in the United States' effort to purchase Texas, was not an admirer. "Such men as he is," said Houston, "would destroy a country, but take my word for it, he will never gain one!"

Stephen F. Austin (1793-1836) had known Butler in the US and, although Masonic Brothers, they were far from friends. Many, including Austin, felt President Jackson's plan to purchase Texas was nothing more than a scheme to secure Texas' public lands at a pittance, without regard to the well-being or future of the territory. Austin refused to go along with the deal. Butler, in return, offered Austin a one million dollar incentive (some might call it a bribe) to change his mind, but Austin would have no part in it.

Butler remained in the area attempting to gain Texas for the US despite Austin's opposition. While there, he became interested in and began courting the daughter of a prominent Mexican family. Austin was a friend of the family. Upon hearing what Butler was up to, he exposed him as a man who had a wife and three children back in the US.

Exposing Butler no doubt won the gratitude of his friends but it also sealed Butler's animosity. Butler was delighted when the Mexican government imprisoned Austin for sedition in 1833. Andrew Jackson, however, was not at all pleased when he learned of Austin's arrest. He wrote letters to Butler asking him to act as a United States agent and to use his influence to secure Austin's release.

Rather than ignore Jackson's letters, Butler so despised Austin he made the perilous journey to Mexico City to visit Austin in jail and taunt him with them. During that visit Butler read the letters to Austin and told him the only way he would work for his release would be if Austin gave him large land grants back in Texas. Austin refused and Butler, ignoring President Jackson's request, left him to rot in the Mexican prison. Austin gained his own release eight months later.

The men remained adversaries for life. Austin's place in history is well-known. Although he died at a young age he is revered in Texas for his pioneering efforts... but whatever became of Anthony Butler?

Although he definitely engaged in some questionable behavior, Butler may not have been quite the scoundrel some claimed; or, at least he may have in some measure redeemed himself. As a Freemason he was well-regarded enough to serve as Grand Master of two states, Kentucky (1812 - 13) and, indeed, Texas (1840 - 41). Then, in 1849, the 62-year-old Butler was a passenger on an ill-fated riverboat that exploded and sank on the Mississippi River. Butler died as he swam into the burning wreckage in an attempt to save fellow passengers.