Brother Washington's Masonic Apron - Masonic Library and Museum. The affection each man held for the other is legendary.
So, too, is the legacy of Masonic history developed through that affection. For many years Masons and non-Masons believed that the white silk apron known as the Lafayette Apron, had been embroidered by Madame Lafayette and presented to Bro. George Washington by Bro. Lafayette in August of 1784. This cannot be documented as fact. The apron was presented to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania by the Washington Benevolent Society on July 3, 1829 and is now on display in the Grand Lodge Museum at the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia. George Washington, the Mason. George Washington joined the Masonic Lodge in Fredericksburg, Virginia at the age of 20 in 1752.
His Masonic membership, like the others public titles and duties he performed, was expected from a young man of his social status in colonial Virginia. During the War for Independence, General Washington attended Masonic celebration and religious observances in several states. He also supported Masonic Lodges that formed within army regiments. At his first inauguration in 1791, President Washington took his oath of office on a Bible from St. John's Lodge in New York. In retirement, Washington became charter Master of the newly chartered Alexandria Lodge No. 22, sat for a portrait in his Masonic regalia, and in death, was buried with Masonic honors. Such was Washington's character, that from almost the day he took his Masonic obligations until his death, he became the same man in private that he was in public.
June 24, 1784 - St. April 15, 1791 - Welcomed by members of St. Freemasonry. Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that traces its origins to the local fraternities of stonemasons, which from the end of the fourteenth century regulated the qualifications of masons and their interaction with authorities and clients.
The degrees of freemasonry, its gradal system, retain the three grades of medieval craft guilds, those of Apprentice, journeyman or fellow (now called Fellowcraft), and Master Mason. These are the degrees offered by craft, or blue lodge Freemasonry. There are additional degrees, which vary with locality and jurisdiction, and are now administered by different bodies than the craft degrees. George Washington Masonic Aprons. Brother George Washington's Masonic Apron on display at the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia On October 26, 1816, the legatees of the Washington estate presented a Masonic apron to the Washington Benevolent Society of Pennsylvania.
A short note, currently framed with the apron, was presented, reading: To the Washington Benevolent Society. The Legatees of GEN. In 1829, the Washington Benevolent Society decided to donate the apron to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. A communication was received and read from the Washington Benevolent Society of Pennsylvania, dated the 3d July, 1829, accompanied by the Masonic Apron of our deceased Brother George Washington which had been presented to that Society by his Legatees, Viz: “At a stated meeting of the Washington Benevolent Society of Penna. held on the 3d day of July, 1829. On Motion and Seconded, Resolved, That Brothers Josiah Randall, James Harper and John K. To get books related to Freemasonry and the Ancient Mysteries. 'Pantheist' Lincoln would be unelectable today - Americas, World. A three-page letter highlighting the 16th president's unconventional relationship with the Almighty has just been put on sale.
It offers a possible insight into why he was never baptised, did not attend a church and, in defiance of political protocol of the era, would refuse to publicly discuss his spiritual beliefs. Such was his reluctance to embrace piety that, if he were standing for office today, there is a good chance he would be unelectable.
The letter was written by William Herndon, a legal partner and close friend of "Honest Abe" in 1866, a year after Lincoln had been assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.