The Freemasons In America:. H. Paul Jeffers
and oil; “Grand Master P. T. [Prince of the Tabernacle] George Washington, W.M. [Worshipful Master] No. 22, Virginia”; and a “Grand Sword Bearer.”
The newspaper account continued:
The procession marched two a-breast, in the greatest solemn dignity, with music playing, drums beating, colors flying, and spectators rejoicing; from the President’s Square to the Capitol, in the City of Washington; where the Grand Marshall called a halt, and directed each file in the procession, to incline two steps, one to the right, and one to the left, and face each other, which formed a hollow oblong square; through which the Grand Sword Bearer led the van; followed by the Grand Master P.T. on the left—the President of the United States in the Centre, and the Worshipful Master of Number 22, Virginia, on the right—all the other orders, that composed the procession advanced, in the reverse of their order of march from the President’s Square, to the south-east corner of the Capitol; and the Artillery filed off to a defined ground to display their maneuvers and discharge their cannon: The President of the United States, the Grand Master, P.T. and the Worshipful M. of No. 22, taking their stand to the East of a huge stone; and all the Craft, forming a circle westward, stood a short time in silent lawful order. The Artillery discharged a Volley. The Grand Marshall delivered to the Commissioners, a large Silver Plate with an inscription thereon which the commissioners ordered to be read, and was as follows:
This South East corner stone, the Capitol of the United States of America in the City of Washington, was laid on the 18th day of September 1793, in the thirteenth year of American Independence, in the first year of the second term of the Presidency of George Washington, whose virtues in the civil administration of his country have been as conspicuous and beneficial, as his Military valor and prudence have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in the year of Masonry 5793, by the Grand Lodge of Maryland, several Lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge No. 22, from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas Johnson, David Stuart and Daniel Carroll, Commissioners, Joseph Clark, R.W.G.M. pro tem., James Hobam and Stephen Hallate, Architects. Collin Williamson, Master Mason.
The Artillery discharged a volley. The Plate was then delivered to the President, who, attended by the Grand Master pro tem., and three Most worshipful Masters, descended to the cavazion trench and deposited the plate, and laid it on the corner-stone of the Capitol of the United States of America, on which were deposited corn, wine, and oil, when the whole congregation joined in reverential prayer, which was succeeded by Masonic chanting honors, and a volley from the Artillery.
The whole company retired to an extensive booth, where an ox of five-hundred pounds weight was barbecued, of which the company generally partook with every abundance of other recreation. The festival concluded with fifteen successive volleys from the Artillery…. Before dark the whole company departed with joyful hopes of the production of their labor.
The laying of the Capitol cornerstone occurred on a date between publication of the first edition of Ilustrosions of Masonry by William Preston in 1772 in London and the first edition of The Freemason’s Monitor (a version of Preston adopted for American Freemasonry) by Thomas Smith Webb in 1797 in Albany, New York. Preston’s publication was available to the Masons who planned the Capitol cornerstone laying. More familiar to the planners would have been John K. Read’s New Ahiman Rezon, published in Richmond, Virginia, in 1791, two years before the Capitol event. It was published for the guidance of the Virginia lodges and dedicated to “George Washington, Esq. President of the United States of America.”
Visual proof of Washington’s Freemasonic observation was provided in a portrait by William Williams in 1794. At the request of the Alexandria Lodge, Washington stood for the painting wearing Masonic regalia. Documents show that on March 18, 1797, he “received” a delegation from the Alexandria Lodge, and on April 1, 1798, he attended a lodge banquet and proposed a toast.
Although his last will and testament expressed his desire “that my Corpse may be Interred in a private manner, without parade, or funeral Oration,” his lodge was permitted to prepare arrangements for the funeral procession. Mourners were instructed to arrive at Mount Vernon on Wednesday “at twelve o’clock, if fair, or on Thursday at the same hour.” Early on Wednesday, December 18, the Alexandria Lodge started for Mount Vernon and arrived about one o’clock. Two hours later the formal procession was formed, consisting of horse and foot soldiers, clergy, Washington’s horse with an empty saddle, a military band, the bier, and dozens of mourners.
At a red brick tomb in a hillside below the mansion, the Reverend Thomas Davis, the rector of Christ Church, Alexandria, read the Episcopal Order of Burial. Next, the Reverend James Muir, the minister of the Alexandria Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Elisha Dick, both members of Washington’s lodge, conducted the traditional Masonic funeral rites. The shroud was briefly withdrawn to allow a final viewing. A few days later, Muir wrote:
In the long and lofty portico, where oft the hero walked in all his glory, now lay the shrouded corpse. The countenance, still composed and serene, seemed to depress the dignity of the spirit which lately dwelt in that lifeless form. There those who paid the last sad honors to the benefactor of his country took an impressive, a farewell view. Three general discharges of infantry, the cavalry, and eleven pieces of artillery, which lined the banks of the Potomac, back of the vault, paid the last tribute to the entombed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States.
Nearly half a century later, a ceremony in Pennsylvania was vividly recalled by Captain Samuel De Wees:
Immediately after the arrival of [the] sad news [of his death], a public meeting was held at the court-House in [the town of] Reading, and arrangements made for a funeral procession. The Free Masons met at their Lodge, and made arrangements to join in the procession. A bright and exemplary brother had gone from a mystic Lodge upon earth, to join in membership with the Grand Lodge of transplendent and unconceived of brilliancy, holiness and glory above, and now, that the last funeral tribute was about to be paid, they could not be idle. Two companies of volunteers, one commanded by Captain Keims, were ordered out. The procession formed in the following order: the military in front, then the coffin, then the order of Masons, then civil officers, and then the citizens. The procession was fully a mile in length. It moved to a large church in Reading where the military, Masons and many of the citizens entered. The military moved (proceeded by the music) and placed the coffin in an aisle in front of the pulpit.
Washington would not have a memorial in his namesake capital city until many years after his death. Built at intervals between 1848 and 1885 with funds from public subscriptions and federal appropriations, a monument to honor him was considered during the Continental Congress in 1783. During the next three decades, Congress took no action on many additional proposals. In 1833, the Washington National Monument Society was organized by influential citizens who wanted a “great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government.”
By 1847, $87,000, including interest, had been collected. A design by architect Robert Mills was selected and provided for a decorated obelisk 600 feet high that was to rise from a circular colonnaded building 100 feet high and 250 feet in diameter. But this plan was altered during construction, so that the present monument has little in common with the Mills design. On July 4, 1848, the cornerstone was laid during a Masonic ceremony using the trowel Washington had wielded at the laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol in 1793.
In 1854, many people were dissatisfied with the work and collection of funds declined, largely because of growing antagonism between the North and South. This brought construction to a stop for almost a quarter of a century. The monument was left incomplete at the height of about 150 feet. It wasn’t until August 2, 1876, that President Ulysses S. Grant approved an act committing the federal government to completion of the monument, with the Corps of Engineers of the War Department in charge of the work. When it resumed in 1880, Maryland marble facing was secured from the same vein as the original stone used for the lower portion. On August 4, 1884, the walls reached 500 feet. The capstone was set in place on December 6 and the monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885. It opened to the public on October 9, 1888. Inserted into the interior walls are 188 carved stones presented by individuals, societies, cities, states, and nations of the world.
Since its construction, critics of Freemasonry have discerned sinister, and even