Evening star., 1950-01-22
By John Cloeett Proctor

The Masonic fraternity has been
rather elated for several years
past to have Harry S. Truman
another member of this order, oc-
cupying the position of President
of the United States. He, Incl
dentally, is the 18th member of
the order to hold this high office
President Truman is past grand
master OF the Missouri jurisdiction.
George Washington was pre-
eminently master Mason, and
could have been the supreme head
of the fraternity in the United
States had he cared to be. He
was raised in Fredericksburg
Lodge. No. 4, of Fredericksburg.
Va, August 4, 1850, and became
master OF Alexandria Washington
Lodge, No. %. of Alexandria, Va.
Masons Of this country and
throughout the civilized world
revere his memory for his remark
able qualities and achievements
and also because Of his being the
greatest exponent of Masonry in
modern times.
He laid the cornerstone of the
United States Capitol in 1893, and
when he died he was conveyed
to his last resting place on De-
cember ID, 1899. by the brethren
of the lodge who had honored
him with the highest Office at
their command. ard who had met
him in the lodge room and who
had enjoyed and appreciated his
wisdom and his counsel, and to
whose memory the Washing
ton Monument and the memorial
on Shooters Hill are but slight
tributes. He was the first Presi-
dent and the first master Mason
to hold that Office.
Monroe on Lodge List
Little is known of Thomas JET
ferson's Masonry, except that he
is said to have been made a Mason
in Colonial times, and, with
Thomas Paine, attended the Lodge
Iof Nine Sisters in Paris, France,
during the French Revolution.
i President Monroe is recorded as
having been made q Mason in st.
Johns Lodge (Army LODGE, in
l777. while he was suffering from
a wound. He was an officer in
the Virginia troops. According to
a history of Williamsburg Lodge,
No. 6. published in William and
Mary Quarterly, Volume /, No. / :,
1892, the name of James Monroe
appears in the list Of names, and
assurance is given by good author
ity that this is the same James
Monroe who was afterward Presi-
dent of the United States. At a
public ceremony held in his honor
in Richmond shortly after Mr..
Monroe's death, Richmond Ran
dolph Lodge, No. 10, A. F. g. A. M,
met and attended his funeral.
John Quincy Adams, the sixth
President, is said to have been
raised in st. Johns Lodge, Boston,
Mass, in 1926. If so, he was
President Of the United States at
the time. but this is quite doubtful.
Jackson Was Grand Master
Andrew Jackson. who succeeded
the second John Adams, was an
enthusiastic Mason. He was a
member of Philanthropic Lodge,
Clover Blossom. Tenn, and served
as grand master of Masons of
Tennessee. 1922 and 1923. When
Greenville Lodge of Tennessee was
opened on dispensation in 1900,
the senior warden was absent, and
Gen. jackson acted in his place,
indicating that he was q charter
member of this lodge. coming on
dlmit from some other lodge.
President James K. Polk was in
itiated in Columbia Lodge, No. 81,
at Columbia, Tenn, on June S,
1920; he was passed August 7, and
raised September 4, 1920. He
served as junior warden of his
lodge in 1921. When the corner
stone Of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton was laid, May l, 1847, by the
Grand Lodge. F. A. A. M, of
Washington, D. c., President Polk.
Vice President George M, Dallas
and others were present. At this
time the apron worn by the grand
master was the historic one made
by Mime. Lafayette and originally
to Gen. Washington by
the Grand Lodge Of France
through Gen. Lafayette, and worn
by the former on the occasion of
the laying Of the cornerstone of
the Capitol. For years this relic
had been In the possession of and
zealously guarded by Mount Nebo
Lodge, No. 81, Of Shepherdstown I
Those Were tn