Benjamin Franklin - Revision history

User: Add Franklin’s 1738 letter to his parents and the editors’ account of its different texts

2026-10-02T14:08:03Z

Add Franklin’s 1738 letter to his parents and the editors’ account of its different texts

User: Connect Franklin’s membership to the new Lodge of the Nine Sisters history

2026-09-30T10:31:57Z

Connect Franklin’s membership to the new Lodge of the Nine Sisters history

User: Create sourced biography covering Franklin’s Masonic offices, publishing and Paris lodge; add public-domain portrait.

2026-09-30T10:11:06Z

Create sourced biography covering Franklin’s Masonic offices, publishing and Paris lodge; add public-domain portrait.

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[[File:Benjamin Franklin Janinet 1789.jpg|thumb|right|250px|alt=Colour print of Benjamin Franklin in a fur-trimmed coat.|Benjamin Franklin, a 1789 colour aquatint by Jean-François Janinet after Joseph Siffred Duplessis. National Gallery of Art, Washington.]]
'''Benjamin Franklin''' (1706–1790) was an American printer, scientist and diplomat whose Masonic career connected Philadelphia with Paris. He joined St John's Lodge in Philadelphia in 1731, served as Grand Master of Pennsylvania in 1734 and later became Master of the Parisian Lodge of the Nine Sisters.<ref name="newell">Aimee Newell, [https://www.srmml.org/franklin-opening-the-lodge/ Franklin Opening the Lodge], Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, 3 September 2009. Accessed 30 September 2026.</ref>

== Philadelphia and Masonic office ==
Franklin established his printing business in Philadelphia after growing up in Boston. His public activities included scientific investigation and the development of civic organisations. During the American Revolution he sought French support for independence and subsequently represented the United States in France.<ref>Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, [https://www.srmml.org/hall-of-fame/ben-franklin/ Benjamin Franklin], ''The Masonic Hall of Fame''. Accessed 30 September 2026.</ref>

His early lodge membership led to administrative responsibilities. Besides his term as Grand Master in 1734, he served as Provincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania in 1749. These offices belonged to the colonial organisation of Freemasonry, before American independence.<ref name="newell" />

== The 1734 Constitutions ==
Franklin printed an edition of [[James Anderson]]'s [[The 1723 Constitutions|Constitutions of the Free-Masons]] in Philadelphia in 1734. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln identifies it as the first Masonic book printed in America. It reproduced the work first published in London in 1723.<ref name="book">James Anderson and Benjamin Franklin, ''[https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeaamericanstudies/27/ The Constitutions of the Free-Masons]'' (Philadelphia, 1734), electronic edition and introduction, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Zea E-Books in American Studies, no. 27. Accessed 30 September 2026.</ref>

The volume contained a traditional history of the craft, rules of conduct, regulations for lodge government and songs. Franklin's contribution was as its American editor and publisher; the original compilation was Anderson's. The book provides evidence of the circulation of English Masonic texts in colonial America.<ref name="book" />

== The Lodge of the Nine Sisters ==
In Paris Franklin belonged to ''La Loge des Neuf Sœurs'', usually called the Lodge of the Nine Sisters in English. He served as its Venerable Master from 1779 to 1781.<ref name="newell" /> The American Philosophical Society preserves a letter dated before 21 May 1779 recording his unanimous selection as Venerable, together with lodge meeting notices from 1779–1785. Another letter, dated before 10 May 1783, invited him to a celebration of peace. These records document his connection with the lodge during his diplomatic residence.<ref>American Philosophical Society, [https://as.amphilsoc.org/agents/corporate_entities/1969 Freemasons. Loge des neuf sœurs (Paris, France)], catalogue entries for the letter to Franklin dated before 21 May 1779 (LVIII, 90), the meeting notices of 1779–1785 and the letter dated before 10 May 1783 (XLIII, 209). Accessed 30 September 2026.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[The 1723 Constitutions]]
* [[George Washington]]
* [[Famous Freemasons]]

== References ==
<references />

{{Early Masonic history}}
{{Topic navigation}}

[[Category:Early Masonic history]]
[[Category:Craft Freemasonry]]
[[Category:Historical People]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:08, 2 October 2026
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	The volume contained a traditional history of the craft, rules of conduct, regulations for lodge government and songs. Franklin's contribution was as its American editor and publisher; the original compilation was Anderson's. The book provides evidence of the circulation of English Masonic texts in colonial America.<ref name="book" />		The volume contained a traditional history of the craft, rules of conduct, regulations for lodge government and songs. Franklin's contribution was as its American editor and publisher; the original compilation was Anderson's. The book provides evidence of the circulation of English Masonic texts in colonial America.<ref name="book" />
		+
		+	== Letter to his parents ==
		+	Franklin discussed his membership in a letter to Josiah and Abiah Franklin dated 13 April 1738. Responding to his parents' concern about his religious opinions, he defended Freemasons as people whose principles and conduct were compatible with religion and good manners. He also acknowledged that women's exclusion from the society gave his mother reason for displeasure and asked her to withhold judgement until better informed.<ref name="parents">Benjamin Franklin, [https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-02-02-0037 Letter to Josiah and Abiah Franklin, 13 April 1738], ''Founders Online'', National Archives; ''The Papers of Benjamin Franklin'', vol. 2, including editorial notes 4–5.</ref>
		+
		+	The letter places this defence within a wider argument that religious opinions should be judged by their effects on conduct. The editors of Franklin's papers distinguish the surviving draft from the text printed by William Duane in 1834, which addressed the letter to Franklin's father alone and rearranged some sentences and paragraphs. They also record an earlier draft addressed only to his father.<ref name="parents" />

	== The Lodge of the Nine Sisters ==		== The Lodge of the Nine Sisters ==

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 == The Lodge of the Nine Sisters ==
-In Paris Franklin belonged to ''La Loge des Neuf Sœurs'', usually called the Lodge of the Nine Sisters in English. He served as its Venerable Master from 1779 to 1781.<ref name="newell" /> The American Philosophical Society preserves a letter dated before 21 May 1779 recording his unanimous selection as Venerable, together with lodge meeting notices from 1779–1785. Another letter, dated before 10 May 1783, invited him to a celebration of peace. These records document his connection with the lodge during his diplomatic residence.<ref>American Philosophical Society, [https://as.amphilsoc.org/agents/corporate_entities/1969 Freemasons. Loge des neuf sœurs (Paris, France)], catalogue entries for the letter to Franklin dated before 21 May 1779 (LVIII, 90), the meeting notices of 1779–1785 and the letter dated before 10 May 1783 (XLIII, 209). Accessed 30 September 2026.</ref>
+In Paris Franklin belonged to ''[[The Lodge of the Nine Sisters|La Loge des Neuf Sœurs]]'', usually called the Lodge of the Nine Sisters in English. He served as its Venerable Master from 1779 to 1781.<ref name="newell" /> The American Philosophical Society preserves a letter dated before 21 May 1779 recording his unanimous selection as Venerable, together with lodge meeting notices from 1779–1785. Another letter, dated before 10 May 1783, invited him to a celebration of peace. These records document his connection with the lodge during his diplomatic residence.<ref>American Philosophical Society, [https://as.amphilsoc.org/agents/corporate_entities/1969 Freemasons. Loge des neuf sœurs (Paris, France)], catalogue entries for the letter to Franklin dated before 21 May 1779 (LVIII, 90), the meeting notices of 1779–1785 and the letter dated before 10 May 1783 (XLIII, 209). Accessed 30 September 2026.</ref>
 == See also ==
 * [[The 1723 Constitutions]]
 * [[George Washington]]