Difference between revisions of "Benjamin Franklin"
(Create sourced biography covering Franklin’s Masonic offices, publishing and Paris lodge; add public-domain portrait.) |
(Add Franklin’s 1738 letter to his parents and the editors’ account of its different texts) |
||
| (One intermediate revision by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
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 == | ||
| − | 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 == | == See also == | ||
| + | * [[The Lodge of the Nine Sisters]] | ||
* [[The 1723 Constitutions]] | * [[The 1723 Constitutions]] | ||
* [[George Washington]] | * [[George Washington]] | ||
Latest revision as of 15:08, 2 October 2026
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.[1]
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.[2]
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.[1]
The 1734 Constitutions
Franklin printed an edition of James Anderson's 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.[3]
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.[3]
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.[4]
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.[4]
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.[1] 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.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Aimee Newell, Franklin Opening the Lodge, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, 3 September 2009. Accessed 30 September 2026.
- ↑ Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Benjamin Franklin, The Masonic Hall of Fame. Accessed 30 September 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 James Anderson and Benjamin Franklin, 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.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Benjamin Franklin, 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.
- ↑ American Philosophical Society, 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.
Chronology: Timeline of early Freemasonry
Documents: The Old Charges · The Regius manuscript · The Cooke manuscript · The Schaw Statutes · The St Clair Charters · The 1723 Constitutions
Scottish lodges and ideas: William Schaw · Early Scottish lodges · Lodge Mother Kilwinning · Mary's Chapel · Canongate Kilwinning · Haughfoot Lodge · Operative and speculative Freemasonry · The art of memory and Freemasonry · Freemasonry and the Royal Society · The Templar theory of Masonic origins
People: Robert Moray · John Theophilus Desaguliers · James Anderson · William Preston · Andrew Michael Ramsay
Chivalric systems: The Strict Observance · Karl Gotthelf von Hund · Lyon (1778) · Wilhelmsbad (1782) · Jean-Baptiste Willermoz · Rectified Scottish Rite
English Grand Lodges: Formation of the first Grand Lodge · Antients and Moderns · Laurence Dermott · Ahiman Rezon · The Union of 1813
Ireland, Scotland and overseas: Early Irish Freemasonry · Grand Lodge of Scotland · Military and travelling lodges
France and the Jacobites: Early French Freemasonry · Freemasonry and the Jacobites
Atlantic connections: Benjamin Franklin · The Lodge of the Nine Sisters · George Washington · Paul Revere · African Lodge No. 459 · Prince Hall
Research: Sources for studying early Freemasonry · Masonic museums and libraries
| Explore the Freemasonry Wiki: Full article index · All articles · All categories · Random article |