SHINGTON as Grand Master of all the Colonies, was then before the
various grand bodies, but did not find favor in New England, in fact the
Grand Lodge of Massachusetts was the chief objector, and finally
defeated the scheme to elect WASHINGTON the Grand Master General.[12]
The means of intercourse between the different Masonic Bodies at that
early day were so limited and uncertain that it offers a clear
explanation for the uncertainty under which the brethren of King David's
Lodge, No. 1, at Newport labored at that time.
During the Anti-Masonic craze in the last century, the above minute was
extensively used by the political leaders of the Anti-Masonic party to
strengthen their claim that WASHINGTON had never presided over any
Masonic Lodge.
Following is a complete list of the Washington Masonic Correspondence,
thus far found among the Washington papers in the Library of Congress.
Draft of Letter to Watson and Cassoul, Nantes, France, August 10, 1782.
Letter to Alexandria Lodge, No. 39, Virginia, December 28, 1783.
Address from King David's Lodge, No. 1, Rhode Island, August 17, 1790,
and WASHINGTON's Reply.
Address from St. John's Lodge, No. 2, Newbern, North Carolina, April 20,
1791, and his reply.
Address from Prince George's Lodge (Moderns) Georgetown, South Carolina,
April 30, 1791, and his reply.
Draft of reply to Grand Lodge of South Carolina, May 5, 1791.
Address from Grand Lodge of Georgia, May 14, 1791, and his reply.
Address from Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, March, 1792, and his reply.
Address of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, December 27, 1792, and his
reply.
Address from Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, December 27, 1796, and his
reply.
Address from Alexandria Lodge, No. 22, Virginia, April 4, 1797, and his
reply.
Letter to Paul Revere and Grand Officers, April 24, 1797.
Draft of Letter to Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in reply to an address,
April 1797.
Draft of a reply to an address from the Grand Lodge of Maryland,
November 8, 1798.
Letter from G. W. Snyder to WASHINGTON, August 22, 1798.
WASHINGTON's Reply to Snyder, September 25, 1798.
WASHINGTON's Reply to Snyder's letter of October 17, 1798.
=ELKANAH WATSON
B. PLYMOUTH, MASS., JANUARY 22, 1758, D. AT PORT KENT, N. Y., DECEMBER
5, 1842, WHO, TOGETHER WITH HIS PARTNER CASSOUL, PRESENTED TO WASHINGTON
A MASONIC APRON MADE BY THE NUNS AT NANTES, FRANCE.
NOW IN THE POSSESSION OF ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LOD
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