Washington's Masonic Correspondence. George Washington
before the Grand Lodge of Communication, on St. John the Baptist's day, June 24, 1795.
Original copies of the above are in the Library of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
Rev. Brother Smith reprinted the above in a Volume of Sermons with the following note:9
"N. B. The above three Sermons were preached at the request of the Grand Lodge of Communication, for Pennsylvania, and contains in substance all that the Author thinks it necessary to bequeath to the Brotherhood, by way of Sermons, preached at different times and in sundry of the neighboring States, during 48 Years past."
By referring to the following letters and Documents it is shown that Washington's interest in Freemasonry and the Fraternity continued until the time of his death.
These documents cover the period from 1782 to 1798.
As these copies in our possession are photostat fac-similes of the original documents in the Library of Congress, there can never be any question of correctness or of their authenticity.
The finding and collating of this material will settle for all time to come the question of Washington's connection with the Ancient Fraternity, and his opinion and esteem of Freemasonry.
The earliest record we have of any Masonic Body proposing a masonic address to General Washington, was the resolution offered in King David's Lodge, No. 1, at Newport, Rhode Island, during Washington's visit to Newport in March, 1781, while the French Army under Rochambeau was quartered there. Washington arrived in Newport on the sixth of March and remained there until the thirteenth, when he left for Providence by way of Bristol.
It was in anticipation of this visit that the Brethren of King David's Lodge, of which Brother Moses Michael Hays10 was Worshipful Master, that a masonic greeting to General Washington was proposed. The following entry from the old Minute Book of the Lodge will explain why the project failed to materialize.
W. M. KING DAVID'S LODGE, No. 1, NEWPORT, R. I., 1780-1781.
GRAND MASTER OF MASONS IN MASSACHUSETTS, 1788-1793.
"Regular Lodge night, held at the house of Mr. James Tew, Wednesday evening, the 7th February, 1781. 5781.
"A motion being made that as our worthy brother, his Excellency General Washington, was daily expected amongst us, a committee should be appointed to prepare an address in behalf of the Lodge, to present him. Voted, That the Right Worshipful Master (Moses Michael Hays) together with brothers Seixas, Peleg Clark, John Handy, and Robert Elliot, be a committee for that purpose, and that they present the same to this Lodge at their next meeting for their approbation."
"At a Lodge held by request of the Right Worshipful Master, Feb. 14th, 1781. 5781,
"The committee appointed to draught an address to our worthy brother, His Excellency General Washington, report, that on inquiry they find General Washington not to be a Grand Master of North America; as was supposed, nor even Master of any particular Lodge. They are, therefore, of opinion that this Lodge would not choose to address him as a private brother at the same time, think it would not be agreeable to our worthy brother to be addressed as such.
"Voted, That the report of the committee be received, and that the address be entirely laid aside for the present."11
Now as to the cause for this uncertainty how to address Brother Washington, it will be recalled that just at that time, the proposition sent out by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania nominating General Washington as Grand Master of all the Colonies, was then before the various grand bodies, but did not find favor in New England, in fact the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts was the chief objector, and finally defeated the scheme to elect Washington the Grand Master General.12
The means of intercourse between the different Masonic Bodies at that early day were so limited and uncertain that it offers a clear explanation for the uncertainty under which the brethren of King David's Lodge, No. 1, at Newport labored at that time.
During the Anti-Masonic craze in the last century, the above minute was extensively used by the political leaders of the Anti-Masonic party to strengthen their claim that Washington had never presided over any Masonic Lodge.
Following is a complete list of the Washington Masonic Correspondence, thus far found among the Washington papers in the Library of Congress.
Draft of Letter to Watson and Cassoul, Nantes, France, August 10, 1782.
Letter to Alexandria Lodge, No. 39, Virginia, December 28, 1783.
Address from King David's Lodge, No. 1, Rhode Island, August 17, 1790, and Washington's Reply.
Address from St. John's Lodge, No. 2, Newbern, North Carolina, April 20, 1791, and his reply.
Address from Prince George's Lodge (Moderns) Georgetown, South Carolina, April 30, 1791, and his reply.
Draft of reply to Grand Lodge of South Carolina, May 5, 1791.
Address from Grand Lodge of Georgia, May 14, 1791, and his reply.
Address from Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, March, 1792, and his reply.
Address of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, December 27, 1792, and his reply.
Address from Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, December 27, 1796, and his reply.
Address from Alexandria Lodge, No. 22, Virginia, April 4, 1797, and his reply.
Letter to Paul Revere and Grand Officers, April 24, 1797.
Draft of Letter to Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in reply to an address, April 1797.
Draft of a reply to an address from the Grand Lodge of Maryland, November 8, 1798.
Letter from G. W. Snyder to Washington, August 22, 1798.
Washington's Reply to Snyder, September 25, 1798.
Washington's Reply to Snyder's letter of October 17, 1798.
ELKANAH WATSON,
B. PLYMOUTH, MASS., JANUARY 22, 1758, D. AT PORT KENT, N. Y., DECEMBER 5, 1842, WHO, TOGETHER WITH HIS PARTNER CASSOUL, PRESENTED TO WASHINGTON A MASONIC APRON MADE BY THE NUNS AT NANTES, FRANCE.
NOW IN THE POSSESSION OF ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE, No. 22, VIRGINIA.
I
Correspondence with Watson & Cassoul, Nantes, France, August, 1782
THE earliest letter of General George Washington of Masonic Import known is the one written while in camp at Newburgh in New York, dated State of New York, August 10, 1782, to the firm of Watson and Cassoul in Nantes, France, in which his friend, Brother Elkanah Watson was the chief partner, thanking the firm for the Masonic Apron and ornaments sent him from Nantes, France.
This apron is now in the possession of the Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. 22, at Alexandria, Virginia.
Elkanah Watson in his Memoirs states:13
"Wishing to pay some mark of respect to our beloved Washington, I employed, in conjunction with my friend M. Cossoul, nuns in one of the convents at Nantes to prepare some elegant Masonic ornaments, and gave them a plan for combining the American and French Flags on the apron designed for this use. They were executed in a superior and expensive style. We transmitted them to America, accompanied by an appropriate address."
By the above extract is shown beyond all doubt the error in the statement so repeatedly made, that the apron at Alexandria is the one made by the Marquise de Lafayette, and presented
Cf. "Works of William Smith, D.D.," Philadelphia, 1803, Vol. II, pp. 27-88, also "Life and Correspondence of Rev. William Smith, D.D.," Philadelphia, 1880, Vol. II, p. 9.
For an exhaustive sketch of Brother Moses Michael Hays, see
"Newport, ss. Newport, August 18th, A.D. 1832. I certify that the extracts taken from the records of King David's Lodge, Newport, contained in the above and three foregoing pages, have been by me compared with the minutes contained in two books purporting and appearing to be the original records of said Lodge, and found to be true and accurate copies of the same.
"Quid attestor, "Geo. C. Mason.
Cf. "Anti-masonic Republican Convention of Massachusetts held at Worcester, September 5-6, 1832," p. 23.
For a full account of this episode, see "Freemasonry in Pennsylvania," Barratt and Sachse, Philadelphia, 1908, Vol. 1, Chapter XII; "Washington as General Grand Master," p. 393
"Men and Times of the Revolution, or Memoirs of Elkanah Watson," New York, 1856, pp. 135, 136.