page_title: Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania
section_title: Grand Masters
hierarchical_section_title: Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania / Grand Masters
caption_attribution_description: English: Henry Myer Phillips (Pennsylvania Congressman)
context_page_description: The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, formally The Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and Masonic Jurisdictions Thereunto Belonging, is the premier masonic organization in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Grand Lodge claims to be the oldest in the United States, and the third oldest in the world after England and Ireland, having been originally established as the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1731. This claim is disputed by both the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and the Grand Lodge of Virginia.
context_section_description: The current Grand Master is Thomas Gamon. In Pennsylvania, the Grand Master serves a two-year term. Notably, the regalia of the Grand Master of Pennsylvania is unlike that of any other Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States. The collar is made of velvet and contains no metal save for the bullion thread used to compose the stars. The apron is rounded, both at the base and on the flap, and has no excess ornamentation or fringe.
  The following men have been Grand Masters.
  1730–1732: Daniel Coxe
  1731–1732: William Allen
  1732: Daniel Coxe
  1733: Humphrey Murray
  1734: Benjamin Franklin
  1735: James Hamilton
  1736: Thomas Hopkinson
  1737: William Plumstead
  1738: Joseph Shippen
  1741: Philip Syng
  1747–1748: William Allen
  1749: Benjamin Franklin
  1750–1761: William Allen
  1761: William Ball
  1764–1765: William Ball
  1767–1772: William Ball
  1776–1782: William Ball
  1783–1788: William Adcock
  1789–1794: Jonathan B. Smith
  1795: William Ball
  1796–1797: William M. Smith
  1798–1802: Jonathan B. Smith
  1803–1805: Israel Israel
  1806–1813: James Milnor
  1814: Richard C. Taybout
  1815: Samuel F. Bradford
  1816–1817: Walter Kerr
  1818–1821: Bayse Newcomb
  1822–1823: Josiah Randall
  1824: John B. Gibson
  1825: James Harper
  1826–1828: Thomas Kittera
  1829–1830: Samuel Badger
  1831–1832: Michael Nisbet, Sr.
  1833–1834: John Steele
  1835: George M. Dallas
  1836: Tristram B. Freeman
  1837–1838: John M. Read
  1839–1840: Samuel H. Perkins
  1841–1842: Joseph R. Chandler
  1843: Cornelius Stevenson
  1844–1845: William Barger
  1846–1847: James Page
  1848–1849: Peter Fritz
  1850–1851: William Whitney
  1852–1853: Anthony Bournonville
  1854–1855: James Hutchinson
  1856–1857: Peter Williamson
  1858: John K. Mitchell
  1859–1860: Henry M. Phillips
  1861–1862: John Thomson
  1863–1864: David C. Skerett
  1865–1866: Lucius H. Scott
  1867: John L. Goddard
  1868–1869: Richard Vaux
  1870–1871: Robert A. Lamberton
  1872–1873: Samuel C. Perkins
  1874–1875: Alfred R. Potter
  1876–1877: Robert Clark
  1878: James M. Porter
  1879–1880: Michael Nisbit, Jr.
  1881–1882: Samuel B. Dick
  1883–1884: Conrad B. Day
  1885–1886: E. Coppée Mitchell
  1887–1888: Joseph Eichbaum
  1889–1890: Clifford P. MacCalla
  1891–1892: J. Simpson Africa
  1893–1894: Michael Arnold
  1895–1896: Matthias H. Henderson
  1897–1898: William J. Kelly
  1899: Henry W. Williams
  1900–1901: George E. Wagner
  1902–1903: Edgar A. Tennis
  1904–1905: James W. Brown
  1906–1907: George W. Kendrick, Jr.
  1908–1909: George B. Orlady
  1910–1911: George W. Guthrie
  1912–1913: William L. Gorgas
  1914–1915: J. Henry Williams
  1916–1917: Louis A. Watres
  1918–1919: James B. Krause
  1920–1921: John S. Snell
  1922–1923: Abraham M. Beitler
  1924–1925: Samuel M. Goodyear
  1926–1927: William M. Hamilton
  1928–1929: J. Willison Smith
  1930–1931: William S. Snyder
  1932–1933: Benjamin Page
  1934–1935: Otto R. Heiligman
  1936–1937: Harold N. Rust
  1938–1939: Robert R. Lewis
  1940–1941: William H. Brehm
  1942–1943: John A. Lathwood
  1944–1945: Scott S. Leiby
  1946–1947: Richard A. Kern
  1948–1949: George H. Deike
  1950–1951: William E. Yeager
  1952–1953: Albert T. Eyler
  1954–1955: Ralph M. Lehr
  1956–1957: Charles H. Nitsch
  1958–1959: Sanford M. Chilcote
  1960–1961: Max F. Balcom
  1962–1963: W. Leroy McKinley
  1964–1965: Earl F. Herold
  1966–1967: Robert E. Deyoe
  1968–1969: John K. Young
  1970–1971: Hiram P. Ball
  1972–1973: W. Orville Kimmel
  1974–1975: Rochester B. Woodall
  1976–1977: John L. McCain
  1978–1979: Walter P. Wells
  1980–1981: Joseph E. Trate
  1982–1983: Samuel C. Williamson
  1984–1985: William A. Carpenter
  1986–1987: Carl W. Sternberg, Jr.
  1988–1989: Arthur J. Kurtz
  1990–1991: W. Scott Stoner
  1992–1993: Edward H. Fowler, Jr.
  1994–1995: George H. Hohenshildt
  1996–1997: Edward O. Weisser
  1998–1999: James L. Ernette
  2000–2001: Robert L. Dluge, Jr.
  2002–2003: Marvin A. Cunningham, Sr.
  2004–2005: William Slater II
  2006–2007: Ronald A. Aungst, Sr.
  2008–2009: Stephen Gardner
  2010–2011: Thomas K. Sturgeon
  2012–2013: Jay W. Smith
  2014–2015: Robert J. Bateman
  2016–2017: Raymond T. Dietz
  2018–2019: Stewart Eugene Herritt
  2018–2019: Thomas Gamon
caption: Henry Myer Phillips, a member of the U. S. House of Representatives and alumnus of the Franklin Institute was Grand Master of Pennsylvania.
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