Great Freemasons: Samuel Holden Parsons (May 14, 1737 – November 17, 1789)

Samuel Holden Parsons (May 14, 1737 – November 17, 1789) was an American lawyer, jurist, general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Country. Parsons was described as "Soldier, scholar, judge, one of the strongest arms on which Washington leaned, who first suggested the Continental Congress, from the story of whose life could almost be written the history of the Northern War" by Senator George F. Hoar of Massachusetts.

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

( St. John's Lodge 2, CT)

Great Freemasons: Manley P. Hall (March 18, 1901 – August 29, 1990)

Great Freemasons: Rev. Josiah Henson (July 15, 1789 - May 15, 1883)

Rev. Josiah Henson
July 15, 1789 - May 15, 1883
After he escaped to Canada on 28 October 1830, it is said he aided more than 600 slaves to freedom.
Widely considered the inspiration for Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), the Rev. Josiah Henson is buried in the Dresden, Ontario cemetery. On the monument erected to his memory—where "his abused and honoured bones lie"—the square and compasses are engraved in the Fellowcraft position.
There is no mention of freemasonry in either his 1858 or 1877 autobiography, nor in his entry in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
In 2003, Wallace McLeod writes: "Apparently he was made a Mason in Boston during one of his visits there. On his return to Canada he joined Mount Moriah Lodge No.11., Dresden (Prince Hall Affiliation), and is listed as its Secretary in 1866."
The confusion about his year of birth originated in his autobiography, published in London in 1877, where he states, "I was born June 15th, 1789".
Member : [Initiation date unknown]
Mount Moriah Lodge No. 11. Dresden, Ontario

http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/henson_j/henson_j.html

Great Freemasons: Gerald Ford (July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006)

I have always felt that the real purpose of government is to enhance the lives of people and that a leader can best do that by restraining government in most cases instead of enlarging it at every opportunity.
Gerald Ford (14 July 1913 – 26 December 2006)

Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977.

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

Gerald R. Ford was initiated into Freemasonry on September 30, 1949. He later said in 1975:

When I took my obligation as a Master Mason—incidentally, with my three younger brothers—I recalled the value my own father attached to that order. But I had no idea that I would ever be added to the company of the Father of our Country and twelve other members of the order who also served as Presidents of the United States.

Masonic principles—internal, not external—and our order’s vision of duty to country and acceptance of God as a Supreme Being and guiding light have sustained me during my years of Government service. Today especially, the guidelines by which I strive to become an upright man in Masonry give me great personal strength.

Masonic precepts can help America retain our inspiring aspirations while adapting to a new age. It is apparent to me that the Supreme Architect has set out the duties each of us has to perform, and I have trusted in His will with the knowledge that my trust is well-founded….

Entered: Sept. 30, 1949
Malta Lodge No. 465 in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Passed: May 18, 1951
Raised: May 18, 1951
Columbia Lodge No. 3, District of Columbia, conferred the degrees of Fellowcraft and Master Mason on Brother Ford as a courtesy to Malta Lodge on May 18, 1951. Brother Ford's adopted father, Gerald R. Sr., a 33rd degree Mason presented the lambskin apron.
Br. Ford received the Scottish Rite degrees in the Valley of Grand Rapids in 1957 and created a Sovereign Grand Inspector General Honorary 33rd degrees, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, in 1962. (This is the highest honor that can come to an honorary member of the Northern Supreme Council of the A.A.S.R.)
Joined Saladin Shrine Temple, A.A.O.N.M.A.S. in 1959.
Member of Court No. 11, Royal Order of Jesters.
Honorary Member, DeMolay Legion of Honor.
Br. Ford's first services to Freemasonry came when he was selected for the Eastern Team in the Shriner's East West Crippled Children game at San Francisco, January 1, 1935.

Great Freemasons: José Rizal (June 19 1861 – December 30 1896)

I believe in revelation, but not in revelation which each religion claims to possess... but in the living revelation which surrounds us on every side — mighty, eternal, unceasing, incorruptible, clear, distinct, universal as is the being from whom it proceeds, in that revelation which speaks to us and penetrates us from the moment we are born until we die.
José Rizal (June 19 1861 – December 30 1896)Letter to Fr. Pastells (4 April 1893)


José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, novelist, poet, ophthalmologist, journalist, and revolutionary. He is widely considered as one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines. He was the author of Noli Me Tángere, El Filibusterismo, and a number of poems and essays. He was executed on December 30, 1896 by a squad of Filipino soldiers of the Spanish Army.


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

(Rizal was made a Master Mason on November 15, 1890 at Logia Solidaridad 53 in Madrid, Spain.)

Great Freemasons: Arthur M. Hyde (July 12, 1877 – October 17, 1947)

Arthur Mastick Hyde (July 12, 1877 – October 17, 1947) was an American Republican politician, who served as the 35th Governor of Missouri from 1921 to 1925, and as the United States Secretary of Agriculture for President Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_M._Hyde


http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_missouri/col2-content/main-content-list/title_hyde_arthur.html


(Mercer Lodge 35, Princeton, MO)

Evidently, he gave a Masonic address on Liberty to his Scottish Rite Valley of Cincinnati. I am now in search of a printed copy:

The Philosophy of Liberty : an address delivered by Illustrious Arthur M. Hyde at the eighty-seventh annual reunion, Ancient accepted Scottish rite, valley of Cincinnati, April 1, 1939

Great Freemasons: Audie Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971)

"Seems to me that if you're afraid or living with some big fear, you're not really living. You're only half alive. I don't care if it’s the boss you're scared of or a lot of people in a room or diving off of a dinky little board, you gotta get rid of it. You owe it to yourself. Makes sort of a zombie out of you being afraid. I mean you want to be free, don't you? And how can you if you are scared? That's prison. Fear's a jailer. Mind now, I'm not a professor on the subject. I just found it out for myself. But that's what I think."
Audie Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971)

Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, receiving every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. The 19-year-old Murphy received the Medal of Honor after single-handedly holding off an entire company of Germans for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition.

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


(Audie received his first degree in Masonry when he was regularly initiated, February 14, 1955, in North Hollywood [California] Lodge No. 542, Free and Accept Masons of California. He was passed to the Fellowcraft degree on April 4, 1955. On June 27, 1955, he was raised to the degree of a Master Mason. Later, he became a dual member with Heritage Lodge No. 764, North Hollywood, [now Magnolia Park No. 618] on May 14, 1956.

Audie took his degree work in the Scottish Rite Temple in Dallas on November 11-14, 1957, according to records located at the temple. After receiving his 32nd degree, Audie was elected vice president of the Thomas B. Hunter Memorial Class.
Audie became a Shriner [Hella Temple, Dallas] on November 15, 1957. Audie was made a "Master of the Royal Secret" in the Valley of Dallas, Orient of Texas, on November 14, 1965. Audie was also decorated a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor KCCH) on December 11, 1965. Audie affiliated with the Long Beach Scottish Rite Bodies on April 2, 1971. Two weeks previously, on March 19, 1971, Shriner Murphy affiliated with the Al Malaikah Temple in Los Angeles.)

http://www.muratshrine.org/bios/murphy.php

Great Freemasons: Hurlbut William Smith (June 24, 1865 - December 16, 1951)

Hurlbut William Smith (June 24, 1865 - December 16, 1951)
An organizer of the L. C. Smith & Bros. Typewriter Co. in 1903, of which he was director and member of Executive board; was president, treasurer, and chairman of executive board of L. C. Smith & Corona Typewriters, Inc. b. June 24, 1865 in Centre Lisle, N.Y. Began in the gun manufacturing works of L. C. Smith; was later with Smith Premier Typewriter Co. as treasurer, until 1903.


http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=76520452

(Member of Central City Lodge No. 305, Syracuse, N.Y., receiving degrees on Nov. 23, 1897, Feb. 15, March 8, 1898. 32° AASR (NJ) and Shriner. d. Dec. 16, 1951.)

Great Freemasons: H. Roe Bartle (June 25, 1901 – May 9, 1974)

There are three Bartles: The Bartle who makes money, the Bartle who gives it away, and the Bartle who works for free.
~Harold Roe Bartle

Harold Roe Bennett Sturdevant Bartle (June 25, 1901 – May 9, 1974) was a businessman, philanthropist, Boy Scout executive, and professional public speaker who served two terms as mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. After Bartle helped lure the Dallas Texans American Football League team to Kansas City in 1962, owner Lamar Hunt renamed the franchise the Kansas City Chiefs after Bartle's nickname, "The Chief."


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


http://usscouts.org/honorsociety/lonebear.asp


Selected speeches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6TScdeMBrA

(Member of Lebanon Lodge No. 87 in Kentucky plus the Ararat Shriners of Kansas City, Missouri)

Great Freemasons: Stuart Symington (June 26, 1901 – December 14, 1988)

There are four categories of voting on the floor of the Senate. The first are those who have been described as ones who can hear the farthest drum before the cry of a single hungry child. Then there is the group who can hear every child, whether he is hungry or not, before they can hear a single drum. Then you have a third group, who say, “Nothing can happen to the almighty dollar, so we will vote for all the children and all the drums.” The time has come when we must have some priorities with respect to the way we are allocating our steadily decreasing resources, else it should be clear to everybody—that the economy of the United States could well be destroyed.
Stuart Symington (June 26, 1901 – December 14, 1988), remarks in the Senate, November 23, 1971.—Congressional Record, vol. 117, p. 2896
William Stuart Symington, Jr. (June 26, 1901 – December 14, 1988) was an American businessman and politician from Missouri. He served as the first Secretary of the Air Force from 1947 to 1950 and was a Democratic United States Senator from Missouri from 1953 to 1976.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Symington
(Frank R. Lawrence Lodge 797, Rochester, NY)

Great Freemasons: Masonic Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Masonic Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Confirmed Masonic Membership of the following:
William Ellery, RI
Benjamin Franklin, PA
John Hancock, MA
Joseph Hewes, NC
William Hooper, NC
Robert Treat Paine, MA
Richard Stockton, NJ
George Walton, GA
William Whipple, NH

Others whose membership is rumored or probable, but not proven by records:
Elbridge Gerry, MA
Thomas Jefferson, VA
Richard Henry Lee, VA
Thomas McKean, DE
Robert Morris, PA
Thomas Nelson, Jr., VA
John Penn, NC
Benjamin Rush, PA
Roger Sherman, CT
James Smith, PA
John Witherspoon, NJ

Great Freemasons: William Whipple (January 14, 1730 – November 28, 1785)

I am sorry to say that sometimes matters of very small importance waste a good deal of precious time, by the long and repeated speeches and chicanery of gentlemen who will not wholly throw off the lawyer even in Congress.
William Whipple (January 14, 1730 – November 28, 1785)

William Whipple, Jr. (January 14, 1730 – November 28, 1785) was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Whipple
(St. John's Lodge, Portsmouth NH)

Great Freemasons: George Walton (1749 – February 2, 1804)

George Walton (1749 – February 2, 1804) signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia and also served as the second Chief Executive of that state.

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

http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/george-walton.html

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/george-walton-ca-1749-1804


(Solomon's Lodge No. 1, in Savannah GA)

Great Freemasons: Richard Stockton (October 1, 1730 – February 28, 1781)

"The public is generally unthankful, and I never will become a Servant of it, till I am convinced that by neglecting my own affairs I am doing more acceptable Service to God and Man."
Richard Stockton (October 1, 1730 – February 28, 1781)

Richard Stockton (October 1, 1730 – February 28, 1781) was an American lawyer, jurist, legislator, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stockton_%28Continental_Congressman%29

(Charter Master of St. John's Lodge, Princeton, Massachusetts in 1765)

Great Freemasons: Robert Treat Paine (March 11, 1731 – May 11, 1814)

ODE.

ADAMS AND LIBERTY.

Written for, and sung at the fourth Anniversary of the Massachusetts
Charitable Fire Society, 1798.

YE sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought,
For those rights, which unstained from your Sires had descended,
May you long taste the blessings your valour has brought,
And your sons reap the soil which their fathers defended.
'Mid the regin of mild Peace,
May your nation increase,
With the glory of Rome, and the wisdom of Greece;
And ne'er shall the sons of Colmbia be slaves,
While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves.

In a clime, whose rich vales feed the marts of the world,
Whose shores are unshaken by Europe's commotion,
The trident of Commerce should never be hurled,
To incense the legitimate powers of the ocean.
But should pirates invade,
Though in thunder arrayed,
Let your cannon declare the free charter of trade.
For ne'er shall the sons, &c.

The fame of our arms, of our laws the mild sway,
Had justly ennobled our nation in story,
'Till the dark clouds of faction obscured our young day,
And enveloped the sun of American glory.
But let traitors be told,
Who their country have sold,
And bartered their God for his image in gold,
That ne'er will the sons, &c.

While France her huge limbs bathes recumbent in blood,
And Society's base threats with wide dissolution;
May Peace like the dove, who returned from the flood,
Find an ark of abode in our mild constitution
But though Peace is our aim,
Yet the boon we disclaim,
If bought by our Sov'reignty, Justice or Fame.
For ne'er shall the sons, &c.

'Tis the fire of the flint, each American warms;
Let Rome's haughty victors beware of collision,
Let them bring all the vassals of Europe in arms,
We're a world by ourselves, and disdain a division.
While with patriot pride,
To our laws we're allied,
No foe can subdue us, no faction divide.
For ne'er shall the sons, &c.

Our mountains are crowned with imperial oak;
Whose roots, like our liberties, ages have nourished;
But lone e'er our nation submits to the yoke,
Not a tree shall be left on the field where it flourished.
Should invasion impend,
Every grove would descend,
From the hill-tops, they shaded, our shores to defend.
For ne'er shall the sons, &c.

Let our patriots destroy Anarch's pestilent worm;
Lest our Liberty's growth should be checked by corrosion;
Then let clouds thicken round us; we heed not the storm;
Our realm fears no shock, but the earth's own explosion.
Foes assail us in vain,
Though their fleets bridge the main,
For our altars and laws with our lives we'll maintain.
For ne'er shall the sons, &c.

Should the Tempest of War overshadow our land,
Its bolts could ne'er rend Freedom's temple asunder;
For, unmoved, at its portal, would Washington stand,
And repulse, with his Breast, the assaults of the thunder!
His sword, from the sleep
Of its scabbard would leap,
And conduct, with its point, ev'ry flash to the deep!
For ne'er shall the sons, &c.

Let Fame to the world sound America's voice;
No intrigues can her sons from their government sever;
Her pride is her Adams; Her laws are his choice,
And shall flourish, till Liberty slumbers for ever.
Then unite heart and hand,
Like Leonidas' band,
And swear to the God of the ocean and land;
That ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves,
While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves.
"Adams and Liberty," lyrics by Robert Treat Paine (March 11, 1731 – May 11, 1814)


Robert Treat Paine (March 11, 1731 – May 11, 1814) was a Massachusetts lawyer and politician, best known as a signer of the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Massachusetts. He served as the state's first attorney general, and served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the state's highest court.


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


(Lodge unknown, however there is a record of him attending the Massachusetts Grand Lodge in 1759)

Great Freemasons: William Hooper (June 28, 1742 – October 14, 1790)

“I am weary of politics. It is a study that corrupts the human heart, degrades the idea of human nature, and drives men to the expedients that morality must condemn."
William Hooper (June 28, 1742 – October 14, 1790)

William Hooper (June 28, 1742 – October 14, 1790) was an American lawyer, physician, politician, and a member of the Continental Congress representing North Carolina from 1774 through 1777. Hooper was also a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, along with fellow North Carolinians Joseph Hewes and John Penn.

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


(Member of Hanover Lodge in Masonborough, N.C.)

Great Freemasons: Joseph Hewes (January 23, 1730 – November 10, 1779)

Dear Sir: -
. . . . On Monday the great question of independency and total separation from all political intercourse with Great Britain will come on. It will be carried, I expect, by a great majority, and then, I suppose we shall take upon us a new name. . . . .
Joseph Hewes (January 23, 1730 – November 10, 1779). in a letter to James Iredell Philadelphia, June 28th, 1776.

Joseph Hewes (January 23, 1730 – November 10, 1779) was a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was born in 1730. Hewes’s parents were members of the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers. Immediately after their marriage, they moved to New Jersey, which became Joseph Hewes’s home state. Hewes attended Princeton but there isn't any evidence that he actually graduated. What is known is that he became an apprentice of a merchant and in fact became a very successful merchant. After finishing his apprenticeship he earned himself a good name and a strong reputation, which would serve him well in becoming one of the most famous signers of the Declaration of Independence for North Carolina, along with William Hooper and John Penn. Hewes moved to Edenton, North Carolina at the age of 30 and won over the people of the colony with his charm and honorable businesslike character. Hewes was elected to the North Carolina legislature in 1763, only three years after he moved to the colony. After being re-elected numerous times in the legislature, Hewes was now focused on a new and more ambitious job as a continental congressman.


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



(Lodge unknown, but was recorded as a Masonic visitor to Unanimity Lodge No. 7, Edenton, North Carolina, in December 1776, and was also buried with Masonic honors)

Great Freemasons: John Hancock (January 23, 1737 – October 8, 1793)

"I conjure you, by all that is dear, by all that is honorable, by all that is sacred, not only that ye pray, but that ye act."
John Hancock (January 23, 1737 – October 8, 1793)

John Hancock (January 23, 1737 [O.S. January 12, 1736] – October 8, 1793) was a merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term "John Hancock" became, in the United States, a synonym for signature.

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


(Became a Mason in Merchants Lodge No. 277 in Quebec, affiliated with Saint Andrew's Lodge in Boston, 1762)

Great Freemasons: William Ellery (December 2, 1727- February 15, 1820)

”… the door is shut … We have been driven into a Declaration of Independency & must forget our former love of our British brethren. The Sword must determine our quarrel.”
William Ellery (December 2, 1727- February 15, 1820)

William Ellery (1727-1820) was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Rhode Island.

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


(St. John's Lodge/First Lodge of Boston, Boston, MA, 1748)

Great Freemasons: Richard Henry Lee (January 20, 1732 – June 19, 1794)

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances.
That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.
~Richard Henry Lee (January 20, 1732 – June 19, 1794), known as the Lee Resolution, or the Resolution of Independence, voted and agreed upon by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Resolution

Richard Henry Lee (January 20, 1732 – June 19, 1794) was an American statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and his famous resolution of June 1776 led to the United States Declaration of Independence, which Lee signed. He also served a one-year term as the President of the Continental Congress, and was a United States Senator from Virginia from 1789 to 1792, serving during part of that time as one of the first Presidents pro tempore.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Henry_Lee

(It is not definite he was a Freemason, but it is likely. Hiram Lodge No. 59, Westmoreland County, Virginia)