Benjamin Franklin

Jan 17, 2022 | Birthdays, Masonic History

MASONIC BIRTHDAY

Benjamin Franklin

January 17, 1706: Writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher

Writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher, Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. One of the most famous Founding Fathers of the United States, Franklin was the fifteenth of seventeen children, his parents desired for him to join the clergy. Financial difficulties prevented his parents to support his education for only two years, Franklin self-educated from the age of 10. When he was 12 years old, he became an apprentice to his older brother James, the publisher of the first independent newspaper in the American colonies.

By the time he was 24 years old, Franklin started writing columns in the Pennsylvania Gazette, when in the December 3-8, 1730 edition, it was reported that several Lodges of Free-Masons were meeting in the province. This early account of Freemasonry in the Americas has some historians debating Franklin’s true intent on publishing articles about the fraternity prior to his initiation. It is likely the future Brother’s writings were to promote himself to nearby St. John’s Lodge in Philadelphia, to familiarize the Masonic brothers with him and his writings. Other historians believe the witty articles were penned by an ignorant man, not familiar with the fraternity.

Franklin was raised a Master Mason a few months later in St. John’s Lodge in 1731 and was elected Secretary (1735-1738). Once he was a member, his style of writing changed in the Gazette, where his tone shifted towards tremendous praise about Freemasonry in America, especially in Pennsylvania. We often refer to these writings when learning about the beginnings of Freemasonry in the United States.

Within a year after his raising, Brother Franklin was part of the by-laws committee of St. John’s Lodge. Active in the fraternity for over fifty years, serving as Grand Junior Warden in 1732 and Grand Master of Pennsylvania in 1734 and Provincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania in 1749. In 1734, Brother Franklin edited and published the first Masonic book in the Americas, The Constitutions of the Freemasons, a reprint of James Anderson’s Constitutions of the Free-Masons in England.

Brother Franklin was a traveling man in the true sense, visiting several lodges on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Elected a Provincial Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England in 1760, his Masonic passport was in full use during his time as ambassador to France. He was a conductor with Antoine Court de Gébelin in the initiation of French Enlightenment writer Voltaire into the “Loge des Neuf Soeurs” in Paris just one month before the philosopher’s death in 1778. The “Loge des Neuf Soeurs” was a prominent Masonic Lodge of the Grand Orient de France chartered in 1776, its name references the nine Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne/Memory, an important part of French culture representing the arts and sciences of Greek mythology. Franklin joined the lodge along with U.S. Naval Captain John Paul Jones in 1778 and was elected Venerable Master of The Lodge of Nine Sisters, serving from 1779 to 1781. He was succeeded in the East by the Marquis de La Salle.

The Lodge of the Nine Sisters were very influential in organizing French support for the American Revolution, counting among its members that included some of the world’s greatest minds. Franklin’s membership in this important lodge enabled him to promote the ideals behind American Revolution, increasing French support for the Revolution but inspired somewhat the French Revolution later. Brother Frankin was also a member and elected elected Venerable d’Honneur of Respectable Lodge de Saint Jean de Jerusalem and an honorary member of Lodge des Bons Amis, Rouen.

Franklin passed away on April 17th, 1790, at the age of 85; 60 of those years as a Freemason. He lived, wrote and practiced the principles of the Fraternity and was not merely an observant sideliner, but a Brother intensely interested in the Craft, practicing the principles of the Freemasonry.

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. Masonic labor is purely a labor of love. He who seeks to draw Masonic wages in silver and gold will be disappointed. The wages of a Mason are earned and paid in their dealings with one another; sympathy begets sympathy, kindness begets kindness, helpfulness begets helpfulness, and these are the wages of a Mason.”
Brother Benjamin Franklin

Written by Wor. Bro. Ronald J. Seifried, DSA
Trustee Chairman and Historian, Jephtha Lodge No. 494 F. & A.M.
Area 1 Historian, Nassau and Suffolk Masonic Districts
Co-Editor, Craftsmen Online NY Masonic History column
32° Scottish Rite, Valley of Rockville Centre
Companion of Asharokan Chapter No. 288, Royal Arch Masons
Member of Suffolk Council No. 76, Cryptic Masons
Author, “Long Island Freemasons,” Arcadia Publishing, 2020

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Benedict Arnold

Jan 14, 2022 | Birthdays, Masonic History

MASONIC BIRTHDAY

Benedict Arnold

January 14, 1740: American soldier, British soldier and traitor to the American Revolution

On January 14, 1741, in Norwich, Connecticut a future brother was born whose name later became synonymous with the diabolic deeds he committed against his country and fraternity. Forever labeled traitor, the name Benedict Arnold is not to be mentioned in many open lodges in the United States to this day.

Born to a wealthy family, the young Arnold started out as a bookseller and retailer of medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. After a series of questionable real estate transactions, he expanded his merchant business by purchasing three cargo ships to trade goods in the West Indies. Appointing himself Captain on several voyages in the islands, he was initiated in Freemasonry and later affiliated with Hiram Lodge No. 1 in New Haven, Connecticut in 1765. Two years later, Arnold married Margaret Mansfield, the daughter of Brother Samuel Mansfield, member of Hiram No. 1 and the local sheriff.

Arnold’s duplicity and traitorous actions against the Colonies are well documented and have afforded him the permanent title of “traitor,” an insult commonly used from school-aged children to senior citizens since his despicable actions in 1780 when he attempted to surrender West Point to the British Army. It is believed while Arnold was betraying West Point, he gained the trust of various officers using Masonic modes of recognition to gain their trust.

Brother Benjamin Franklin later wrote that “Judas sold only one man, Arnold three million.” In his hometown of Norwich, the words “the traitor” were scrawled next to his record of birth and all the family gravestones were destroyed with the exception of his mother’s.

After his exile in Canada, Benedict Arnold loaned money to British loyalists and fellow Freemasons, fully understanding he would never be paid back. His actions led Hiram Lodge No. 1 to remove all mention of his name from their records. Later, Solomon Lodge No. 1 in Poughkeepsie, New York, passed a resolution, stating “Ordered that the Name of Benedict Arnold be considered as obliterated from the Minutes of this Lodge, a Traitor.” Arnold visited Solomon No. 1 on June 12, 1771, but his signature in the visitor’s records were later crossed out with a drawing of a finger pointing to the word “Traitor.”

His unpopularity spread to England where he lived out his last years. After his death in 1801, “the bones” of Benedict Arnold were entombed in the basement of St. Mary’s Church in Battersea, London. If one was to visit the unpopular tourist attraction, the plain marker without a Masonic symbol resides in a church basement next to a fish tank.

For more information on Benedict Arnold, read this informative post from Freemasons for Dummies.

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Tim Horton

Jan 12, 2022 | Birthdays, Masonic History

MASONIC BIRTHDAY

Tim Horton

January 12, 1930: Toronto Maple Leafs NHL defenseman and co-founder of the Tim Hortons coffee restaurant

Tim Horton was born in Cochrane, Ontario on January 12, 1930 and became one of the greatest defensemen in NHL history. Growing up in Cochrane and a mining community near Timmis Ontario, Horton was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs organization in 1948 and moved to Toronto to play junior hockey while attending St. Michael’s College School.

Overcoming severe career-threatening injuries in 1955 when he was checked into the boards and suffered a broken leg and broken jaw, Horton appeared in 486 consecutive games between 1961 and 1968. In his almost two-decade career with the Maple Leafs as a 7-time all-star, Horton was instrumental in helping Toronto 4 Stanley Cups. Horton later played with the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres, who he played with when he was killed in a tragic automobile accident in 1974.

Horton had a reputation for enveloping players fighting him in a crushing bear hug.

While playing, Horton was generally acknowledged as the strongest man in the game; injuries and age were little more than minor inconveniences. Chicago Black Hawks left wing Bobby Hull declared, “There were defencemen you had to fear because they were vicious and would slam you into the boards from behind…but you respected Tim Horton because he didn’t need that type of intimidation. He used his tremendous strength and talent to keep you in check.”

In 1964 Horton opened his first Tim Horton Doughnut Shop in Hamilton, Ontario. By 1967 Tim Horton Doughnut Shop had become a multi-million dollar franchise, Tim Hortons.

Horton was a member of Kroy Lodge No. 676 in Toronto, Ontario.

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Adolph Zukor

Jan 7, 2022 | Birthdays, Masonic History

MASONIC BIRTHDAY

Adolph Zukor

January 7, 1873: Hungarian-American film producer and co-founder of Paramount Pictures

Adolph Zukor was a Hungarian American film producer and a co-founder of Paramount Pictures. Zukor was born on January 7, 1873 in Ricse, Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Both of his parents passed away by the time he was seven years old, when he moved in with his uncle Kalman Liebermann, who wanted his nephew to become a rabbi. Zukor instead served a three year apprenticeship in a family friends dry goods store. Zukor emigrated to the United States when he was 16 years old.

Soon after arriving in New York City in 1889, Zukor became an apprentice at a furrier. Within two years, he was a successful contract worker and accomplished designer. By 1893, he started his own fur business, soon after attending the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The following year, at the age of 21, Zukor’s Novelty Fur Company had 25 employees in two locations in the U.S. By 1903, he was a wealthy young burgher, living in a spacious apartment in the upper class German-Jewish section of Manhatten at 111th St and 7th Avenue.

It was during this time when his cousin Max Goldstein asked Zukor for a financial loan to invest in a chain of movie theaters. Originally started by Mitchell Mark in Buffalo, the Vitascope Theater was a special attraction in the Ellicott Square Building since 1896 and was one of the first permanent, purpose-built movie theaters in the world. During a time that movie theaters were temporary attractions, lasting only days or weeks, Mark was the first American to have a distribution agreement with Pathé Films.

Zukor formed a partnership with Mitchell Mark and Morris Kohn, and the three opened the Automatic Vaudeville Company, a penny arcade on 14th Street. With additional funding from Marcus Loew, the founder of Lowe’s Theaters, they soon opened theaters in Philadelphia, Newark and Boston. The Famous Players Film Company was formed in 1912 by Zukor, later to be named the Famous Players-Lasky in 1916 when producer Jesse L. Lasky joined the company.

Advertising as “Famous Players in Famous Plays,” the company was the American distributor for the French film Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth starring Sarah Bernhardt. The following year he obtained the financial backing of the powerful New York City theatre impresarios the Frohman brothers, with an eye to introduce respected stage actors to the silver screen. Zukor purchased the armory on 26th Street and converted it into Chelsea Studios, a movie studio that is still used today.

Paramount Pictures Corporation was formed to distribute Famous Players-Lasky films, creating the first national distribution system. By 1919, he built the Publix Theatres Corporation, a chain of nearly 2,000 screens and ran two production studios, one in Astoria, Queens and the other in Hollywood, eventually producing up to 60 films per year.

In 1933, Paramount Pictures went into receivership after almost collapsing at the start of the Great Depression. Zukor’s over-expansion of the studio was primarily to blame, but a bank-mandated group kept the studio intact. By 1936, Zukor was appointed chairman of the board and reorganized Paramount Pictures and steer the company out of bankruptcy. Zukor was made Chairman Emeritus in 1959, a position he kept until his death.

Brother Zukor was a member of Centennial Lodge No. 763 (now Munn Lodge No. 203) with fellow film producer J. Stuart Blackton. Zukor received a pin from the Grand Lodge of New York in recognition of 50 years of membership in the craft. In 1915, Zukor co-produced the film Are you a Mason? , based on the 1901 play by Leo Ditirchstein and starring John Barrymore as a young husband who pretends to join the Masons as an excuse to get out of the house. This film is now believed to be lost.

Brother Zukor passed away in 1976 at the age of 103.

Are you a Mason? movie poster, 1915. Produced by Adolph Zukor and Charles Frohman, the film is believed lost today.

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King Camp Gillette

Jan 5, 2022 | Birthdays, Masonic History

MASONIC BIRTHDAY

King Camp Gillette

January 5, 1855: Inventor of the Disposable Safety Razor

Brother King Camp Gillette should need no introduction to Freemasons around the world, as every Mason has probably used one of his namesake inventions at least once. Gillette was born on January 5, 1855 and invented the best-selling version of the safety razor. Although several models were in existence before Gillette’s design in the late nineteenth century, including the popular straight razor which constantly needed to be sharpened, Gillette’s innovation was the thin, inexpensive, disposable blade of stamped steel.

Working with metallurgists for almost ten years to help perfect his disposable razor blade concept, Gillette and his business associates developed the technology to rapidly produce the razor blades and required handle. The Gillette Safety Razor Company sold 51 razors and 168 blades in its first year, 1903 : The following year those numbers jumped to 90,884 razors and 123,648 blades. By 1915, Gillette was selling 70 million razor blades worldwide. Gillette later supplied World War I servicemen with a shaving kit consisting of a razor and razor blades.

In the late 1920s, Gillette was known as a frequent guest of Nellie Coffman, proprietor of the Desert Inn in Palm Springs, CA. After he lost his fortune early in the Great Depression. he was often seen wandering about the grounds and lobby in a tattered old bathrobe. When Coffman was asked why she allowed such a lowlife to hang out at her establishment, she responded, “Why that is King C. Gillette. He has practically kept this place in the black the last few years.”

Gillette passed away on July 9th, 1932.

Gillette was raised in Adelphi Lodge in Quincy, Massachusetts in June of 1901 and later affiliated with Columbian Lodge in Boston.

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