Great Freemasons: James Mercer (February 26, 1736 – October 31, 1793)

James Mercer (February 26, 1736 – October 31, 1793), also known as William James Mercer, was an American soldier, jurist and political figure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mercer_%28jurist%29

(He not only served Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4 as Worshipful Master in 1777, but he went on to become the second Grand Master of Masons in Virginia from 1784 to 1786)

Great Freemasons: Jean Baptiste Marie Ragon (February 25, 1781 - 1862)

Jean Baptiste Marie Ragon (February 25, 1781 - 1862)
(Known as "The most learned ‪#‎Freemason‬ of the 19th century")

Great Freemasons: Frank Parks Briggs (February 25, 1894 – September 23, 1992)

Frank Parks Briggs (February 25, 1894 – September 23, 1992) was a United States Senator from Missouri. Born in Armstrong, Missouri, he attended Armstrong and Fayette schools and Central College at Fayette from 1911 to 1914. He graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1915, engaged in the newspaper business that year, and in the publishing business at Macon, Missouri in 1925. He was mayor of Macon from 1930 to 1932 and a member of the Missouri Senate from 1933 to 1944.

Briggs was appointed, on January 18, 1945, as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Harry S. Truman and served from January 18, 1945, to January 3, 1947; he was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the full term in 1946. He resumed the newspaper publishing business and was chairman of the Missouri State Conservation Commission in 1955-1956; from 1961 to 1965 he was Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife. He was a resident of Macon until his death in 1992; interment was in Walnut Ridge Cemetery, Fayette.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_P._Briggs

[Grand Master of Missouri (1957), Fayette Lodge 47]

Great Freemasons: Antonio López de Santa Anna (24 February 1794 – 21 June 1876)

 

 My actions at the Alamo are justified as is my participation in them!

Antonio López de Santa Anna

Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (Spanish pronunciation: [anˈtonjo ˈlopez ðe sant(a)ˈana]; 24 February 1794 – 21 June 1876), often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna and sometimes called "the Napoleon of the West", was a Mexican politician and Mr. Fermin's songeneral who greatly influenced early Mexican politics and government. Santa Anna first opposed the movement for Mexican independence from Spain, but then fought in support of it. Though not the first caudillo (military leader) of modern Mexico, he was among the earliest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi…/Antonio_L%C3%B3pez_de_Santa_Anna

(While I can not determine his Lodge affiliation, it has been confirmed by Texas Scottish Right that he was a Scottish Right Freemason in Mexico. Mexico's rules in this are the same as the Southern and Northern Jurisdictions. Only Master Masons can become Scottish Rite Masons)
http://texashistoricalfoundation.org/santa-annas-masonic-m…/

Great Freemasons: Usher Lloyd Burdick (February 21, 1879 – August 19, 1960)

We Republicans in the west want to know if Wall Street, the utilities, and the international bankers control our party and can select our candidate? I believe I am serving the best interests of the Republican Party by protesting in advance and exposing the machinations and attempts of J.P. Morgan and the New York utility bankers in forcing Wendell Willkie on the Republican Party.…There is nothing to the Willkie boom for President except the artificial public opinion being created by newspapers, magazines, and the radio. The reason [in] back of all this is money. Money is being spent by someone, and lots of it.
Usher Lloyd Burdick (February 21, 1879 – August 19, 1960)

Usher Lloyd Burdick was a member of the United States House of Representatives from North Dakota. He was the father of Quentin N. Burdick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usher_L._Burdick

(Mt. Moriah Lodge 51, ND)

Ayn Rand Valentines

Great Freemasons: Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 – February 12, 1942)

(Self-portrait, 1932)

All the good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
Grant Wood

Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 – February 12, 1942) was an American painter born four miles (6 km) east of Anamosa, Iowa. He is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly the painting American Gothic, an iconic image of the 20th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Wood

(Grant Wood, American Gothic (1930), Art Institute of Chicago)

(Mount Hermon Lodge 363, IA)

Happy Lincoln's Birthday!

Yes...My Master...

BUT WHO WILL BUILD THE ROADS?

Ayn Rand (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982)

Theirs is the banner in my hand. And I wish I had the power to tell them that the despair of their hearts was not to be final, and their night was not without hope. For the battle they lost can never be lost. For that which they died to save can never perish. Through all the darkness, through all the shame of which men are capable, the spirit of man will remain alive on this earth. It may sleep, but it will awaken. It may wear chains, but it will break through. And man will go on. Man, not men.
Equality 7-2521 (as Prometheus), Ayn Rand, "Anthem" pgs 103-104”


(Art by Jorge Molina)

Ayn Rand (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982)

Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions--and you'll learn that man's mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.
Francisco D'Anconia, "Atlas Shrugged," Ayn Rand


(Art by Francis Manapul; Colors by deffectx)