Benjamin Franklin

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.^[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]

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.^[4]

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.
↑ 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.