Washington D . C . Freemasonry in the Gilded Age
February 6 , 1853 : “ Thursday evening , Washington Encampment met and we conferred the orders of Knighthood on General Sam Houston . We had a full encampment , and everything went off admirably .” xvii In 1851 French had received the degrees of the Scottish Rite and on December 12 , 1859 , Albert Pike as Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction , conferred upon him the 33 ° degree . xviii In 1870 , he was made Lieutenant Grand Commander of the Supreme Council Southern Jurisdiction . xix
Arguably no Mason has been associated with more public Masonic functions over a longer period in the capital than French . xx When Grand Master , he laid the cornerstone of the Smithsonian Institution in 1847 . In 1848 in a grand ceremony , he laid the cornerstone of the Washington Monument in Washington D . C . In 1850 , accompanied by President Zachary Taylor , he laid the cornerstone of the Washington Monument in Richmond , Virginia . Again as Grand Master , wearing the original apron used by Washington , French laid the cornerstone of the Capitol extension on July 4 , 1851 , following which a pilgrimage was made to Washington ’ s tomb with an address given by French .
Nearly 20 years later , in 1867 , he accompanied President Andrew Johnson to Boston for a national meeting of the Masonic Knights Templar , of which French had also been Grand Master . And on April 15 , 1868 , he presided over the dedication of Washington ’ s first statue of Abraham Lincoln . ( It happily fell to Benjamin B . French Lodge to raise Peter French , great grandson of Benjamin French . The family has deposited a treasure of papers in the Library of Congress that are waiting to be researched by Masonic scholars .) xxi
Benjamin French exemplifies the resilience and success of Masonry in Washington at this critical time . The period after the war was marked by an enormous increase in American wealth , and for Masons in the District as in many parts of the country , a time of unprecedented prosperity . Steven Bullock observes that in the 20 years after 1855 , more men joined lodges in America than in the 125 previous years , and that “ By 1884 , Masonry had experienced extraordinary growth . Its membership rolls far exceeded their pre-1826 peak .” xxii
Moreover , the lodges continued to be marked by a diversity in nationalities and by a diversity in the social standing of members , with a good representation of men who had taken advantage of the public schools for their education and were not the beneficiaries of silver spoon childhoods . xxiii Members who were trade folk sat in lodge next to lawyers and doctors . xxiv The argument is made that more and more , “ While all good men could seek membership , only the well-connected and more affluent men could expect to be elected to high office .” xxv That sociological observation may have acquired some truth later , but as a general description of the nineteenth century is contradicted by the occupations of the grand masters , who held respectable but hardly stellar positions : they were more renowned as grand masters than in their professions , with exceptions like Benjamin French . They were kept busy . Petitions to join increased , lodges grew , and perhaps in some ways it really was as Twain suggested , the Gilded Age .
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