US Presidents Most brethren are aware that George Washington was a freemason and the list of masonic Presidents is lengthy, but how many are aware of the lodges in which they joined. Here are some Presidents and their known lodges: Andrew Jackson (7th President) was a member of Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Nashville, Tennessee. Seven years before he was elected president, Jackson served as the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee from 1822 to 1824. He was an Honorary Member of Federal Lodge No. 1, F. & A.M., Washington, D.C., and Jackson Lodge No. 1, F. & A.M., Tallahassee, Florida.
initiated into Magnolia Lodge No. 20 of Columbus, Ohio. Because of his Civil War service, Garfield did not receive the Master Mason degree until 1864. It was conferred by Columbus Lodge No. 30 of the same city. Committed to Freemasonry, Garfield also became a member of the Knights Templar, the Royal Arch, and the Scottish Rite. In 1881, only months after being elected, an assassin killed Garfield. Masons across the United States publicly mourned his death.
William McKinley (24th President) became a Mason in 1865 while serving as a Union officer during the Civil War at Hiram Lodge No. 21 in Winchester, Virginia. He was a founding member of Eagle Lodge No. 431 in Canton, In 1820, James K. Polk (11th President) was Ohio. The lodge changed its name to William initiated into Columbia Lodge No. 21 or 31 in McKinley Lodge No. 431 after McKinley was Columbia, Tennessee. Polk received the Mark assassinated in 1901. Degree at Lafayette Chapter No. 4, Nashville, in 1825. In 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was initiated into Matinecock Lodge No. 806 In 1817, James Buchanan (15th President) in Oyster Bay, New York. A few months later, was initiated into Lodge No. 43, in Lancaster, William McKinley was assassinated, and RooPennsylvania. Buchanan also served as a Dis- sevelt became the 25th president. Roosevelt trict Deputy Grand Master in the Grand Lodge continued to attend lodges and Masonic cereof Pennsylvania. monies throughout his presidency. In this 1907 photograph of a cornerstone laying at Another Tennessean, An- Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, Massadrew Johnson (17th Presi- chusetts, Roosevelt stands at the centre dent) was initiated into wearing the apron. Greeneville Lodge, No. 119 in Greeneville, Tennessee, in 1851. Historians have noted that Johnson was also a Knight Templar, a Royal Arch Mason, and a Scottish Rite Mason. In this image to the left, Johnson stands for a portrait in his Knights Templar regalia. In 1861, James Garfield (20th President) was In 1909, at a special ceremony in Cincinnati,
Cross Keys January 2022
Page 20
