Weren't the Founding Fathers all Masons?!
There are plenty of misconceptions as to which of the founding fathers were and weren't freemasons, this is the information I have based on other websites I've found:
Declaration of Independance
-------Founding Father---------------State & Date Signed------------Masonic Affiliation
| William Ellery | Rhode Island Aug 2, 1776? |
First Lodge of Boston, 1748 |
| Benjamin Franklin | Pennsylvania Aug 2, 1776? |
Grand Master of Pennsylvania, 1734 |
| John Hancock | Massachusetts July 4, 1776 & Aug 2, 1776 |
became a Mason in Merchants Lodge No. 277 in Quebec, affiliated with Saint Andrew's Lodge in Boston, 1762 |
| Joseph Hewes or Howes | North Carolina Aug 2, 1776? |
Unanimity Lodge No. 7, visited in 1776, and buried with Masonic funeral honors |
| William Hooper | North Carolina Aug 2, 1776? |
Member of Hanover Lodge in Masonborough, N.C. |
| Robert Treat Paine | Massachusetts Aug 2, 1776? |
Attended Massachusetts Grand Lodge in 1759 |
| Richard Stockton | New Jersey Aug 2, 1776? |
Charter Master of St. John's Lodge in Princeton, 1765 |
| George Walton | Georgia Aug 2, 1776? |
Solomon's Lodge No. 1, in Savannah |
| William Whipple | New Hampshire Aug 2, 1776? |
St. John's Lodge, Portsmouth, N.H., 1752 |
| SUMMARY | 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence it appears that, at most, 9 (16%) were Masons |
|---|
U.S. Constitution
| Gunning Bedford, Jr. | Delaware | 1st Grand Master of Delaware |
| John Blair | Virginia | 1st Grand Master of Virginia |
| David Brearley | New Jersey | 1st Grand Master of New Jersey |
| Jacob Broom | Delaware | officer in his Lodge |
| Daniel Carroll | Maryland | Mason who participated in the Masonic cornerstone laying of the U.S. Capitol, with George Washington |
| Jonathan Dayton | New Jersey | Member of Temple Lodge No. 1 in Elizabethtown, NJ |
| John Dickinson | Delaware | Member of a Lodge in Dover, Delaware |
| Benjamin Franklin | Pennsylvania | Grand Master of Pennsylvania |
| Nicholas Gilman | New Hampshire | Member of a St. John's Lodge No. 1, Portsmouth, N.H. |
| Rufus King | Massachusetts | Member of St. John's Lodge, Newburyport, Massachusetts |
| James McHenry | Maryland | Member of Spiritual Lodge No. 23,
Maryland (raised 1806, struck off 1809) |
| George Washington | Virginia | Raised in the Lodge at Fredericksburg (now Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4), named but did not actively serve as Charter Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22 in 1788-1789 |
| SUMMARY | 39 men signed the U.S. Constitution 13 (33%) were Freemasons |
|---|
Generals In George Washington's Army
| Benedict Arnold | Connecticut | Major General, deserted to the
enemy in 1780 and fought against the United
States Affiliated with Hiram Lodge No. 1 in New Haven, Connecticut, 1765 - not clear where he became a Mason |
| James Clinton | New York | Brigadier General, Brevet
(honorary) Major General Member of Warren Lodge No. 17, New York |
| Elias Dayton | New Jersey | Brigadier General Member of Military Lodge No. 19, AYM, under Pennsylvania, 1780 |
| Joseph Frye | Massachusetts | Brigadier General Not clear where or when he became a Mason, but GL of Massachusetts lists him as being a Mason |
| Mordecai Gist | Maryland | Brigadier General Member of Lodge No. 16, Baltimore, 1775, later Grand Master of South Carolina 1791 |
| John Glover | Massachusetts | Brigadier General Charter Member of Philanthropic Lodge, 1760 |
| John Greaton | Massachusetts | Brigadier General Not clear where or when he became a Mason, but visited Masonic lodges, officer of Masters Lodge, Albany, 1779 |
| Edward Hand | Pennsylvania | Brigadier General, later
Major General Master of Military Lodge No. 19 |
| James Hogun | North Carolina | Brigadier General, taken
prisoner in Charleston 1780 and died
in captivity 1781 Member of Royal Arch Lodge No. 3 in Philadelphia, 1779 |
| Henry Knox | Massachusetts | Major General, later
Commander in Chief of the Army and
later Secretary of War Not clear where or when he became a Mason, but he visited Masonic Lodges and Grand Lodges |
| Marquis de LaFayette | France | Major General (last
surviving General of the
Revolutionary War when he died in
1834) No documentary evidence shows where or when he became a Mason, but he said he was, presented himself, and was universally accepted as a Mason, visited numerous Masonic lodges |
| Benjamin Lincoln | Massachusetts | Major General, later
Secretary of War Became a Mason in Lodge of St. Andrew, Boston, 1781, and attended Grand Lodge meetings |
| William Maxwell | New Jersey | Brigadier General Member of Military Lodge No. 19, AYM, under Pennsylvania warrant |
| Hugh Mercer | Virginia | Brigadier General,
died of wounds at Princeton, 1777 Became a Mason in Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4, 1767, later Master of that Lodge |
| Richard Montgomery | New York | Promoted to Major
General just before he was killed
in Quebec in 1775 Presumed to have been a member of Lodge of Unity, No. 18, under Irish Registry in the 17th Regiment of Foot - he was accepted by his contemporaries as being a Freemason |
| Peter Muhlenberg | Virginia | Brigadier General,
Brevet (honorary) Major General Member of Royal Arch Lodge No. 3, Philadelphia, 1779 |
| John Nixon | Massachusetts | Brigadier
General Not clear where or when he became a Mason, but he visited Masonic lodges and was considered a Mason by his contemporaries |
| Samuel H. Parsons | Connecticut | Major General Became a Mason in American Union Lodge, 1776 - Master of that lodge 1779 and of St. john's Lodge No. 2, Middletown, Conn., in 1783 |
| John Paterson | Massachusetts | Brigadier
General, Brevet (honorary)
Major General Charter member of Berkshire No. 5 Lodge in Stockbridge, 1777 |
| Israel Putnam | Connecticut | One of the 1st 4
Major Generals appointed, and
the only one to serve
throughout the Revolutionary
War Became a Mason at Crown Point in a military lodge in 1758, visited some Lodges, buried with Masonic honors in 1790 |
| Rufus Putnam | Massachusetts | Brigadier
General Made a Mason in American Union Lodge, 1779, Master in 1794 |
| Arthur St. Clair | Pennsylvania | Major General,
later President of the
Continental Congress, 1787,
and 1st Governor of Northwest
Territory, 1789-1802 Petitioner for charter of Nova Caesarea Lodge No. 10 in Cincinnati, 1791, and Masonic monument erected over his grave |
| John Stark | New Hampshire | Brigadier
General, Brevet (honorary)
Major General Made a Mason in Masters Lodge, Albany, 1778 |
| Frederick W.A. von Steuben | Prussia | Major
General Made a Mason in Germany, became a member of Trinity Lodge No. 10 (now 12) in N.Y., later affiliated with Holland Lodge No. 8 |
| John Sullivan | New Hampshire | Major
General, later Governor
of N.H. Member of old St. John's Lodge, Portsmouth, N.H., 1767, 1st Grand Master of New Hampshire, 1789-1790, resigned because of ill health in 1790 |
| Jethro Sumner | North Carolina | Brigadier
General Held offices in Blandford Bute Lodge in N.C., 1766 |
| William Thompson | Pennsylvania | Brigadier
General Member of Royal Arch Lodge No. 3, Philadelphia, 1778 |
| James M. Varnum | Rhode Island | Brigadier
General Not clear where or when he became a Mason, but he visited Masonic lodges and was accepted as a Mason, and buried with Masonic honors |
| George Washington | Virginia | Mason in the Lodge at Fredericksburgh (now Fredericksburg Lodge #4), Virginia, later appointed but did not actually serve as 1st Master of Alexandria Lodge #22 under its Virginia Charter, 1788-1789 |
| George Weedon | Virginia | Brigadier
General Made a Mason in Port Royal Kilwinning Cross Lodge No. 2, 1757, affiliated with Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4, 1767 |
| Otho H. Williams | Maryland | Brigadier
General Made a Mason in American Union Lodge, at Roxbury Massachusetts, 1776, later an officer in Maryland Lodge No. 27, 1780 |
| William Woodford | Virginia | Brigadier
General Member of Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4 |
| David Wooster | Connecticut | Brigadier
General, died of
wounds 1777 Presumed to have been made a Mason in a military lodge in Louisbourg, Charter Master of Hiram Lodge No. 1 in New Haven, the 1st Lodge in Connecticut, 1750 |
| SUMMARY | 74 men
were commissioned as
Generals in the U.S.
Continental Army from
1775 through 1783 33 (46%) were Freemasons |
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