American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building Communities

by Mark A. Tabbert

An overview of the mysterious history of the Freemasons and their presence in American society

With over four million members worldwide, and two million in the U.S., Freemasonry is the largest fraternal organization in the world. Published in conjunction with the National Heritage Museum, this extravagantly illustrated volume offers an overview of Freemasonry’s origins in seventeenth-century Scotland and England before exploring its evolving role in American history, from the Revolution through the labor and civil rights movements, and into the twenty-first century. American Freemasons explores some of the causes for the rise and fall of membership in the fraternity and why it has attracted men in such large numbers for centuries.

American Freemasons is the perfect introduction to understanding a society that, while shrouded in mystery, has played an integral role in the lives and communities of millions of Americans.

Copublished with the National Heritage Museum.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

262 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2005

Reviews

[Christopher G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark A. Tabbert is Director of Collections at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. He was formerly the Curator of Masonic and Fraternal Collections at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts. He holds a Master’s Degree in American history. As director and curator of Masonic institutions he is qualified to write on the subject.

Tabbert structures his book into three sections. The first section deals with Freemasonry from the Enlightenment through 1835. Since this class is focused on Colonial America, I will limit my review on this first section. Tabbert’s thesis is simply to give the history of Freemasons in America, detail its influence on American history, and shed the mystery of the organization. Tabbert begins by exploring the fraternity’s historical origins. Freemasonry came about as a convergence of self-governing lodges previously existing independently with three main influences: Religion, stonemasonry, and the Enlightenment. Religion represented wisdom, stonemasonry represented strength, and the Enlightenment represented beauty. This union transpired in London in 1717, culminating in the establishment of a designated “grand” lodge which had supervisory authority. Following this, Masonic influence disseminated divergently, adapting the fraternity to suit diverse geographical contexts.

Across the American colonies, Freemasonry exerted a magnetic pull on a spectrum of individuals ranging from the social and political elite to enterprising minds, skilled artisans, agrarians, and even free African-Americans. Freemasonry was not without its critics. The organization survived the storms of revolution, conflict, and the inception of a new republic. Freemasonry underwent a metamorphosis into a platform championing values of excellence, liberty, entrepreneurship, and civic virtue. Nevertheless, as the 1820s dawned, the fraternity’s growth threatened other establishments, stoking animosity and trepidation among certain segments of the American populace. These sentiments and doubts surrounding the fraternity fermented the turmoil of a scandal, uniting numerous figures from the spheres of politics, religion, and communal leadership in a collective censure of Freemasonry. The consequences were profound, precipitating a considerable decline in the fraternity’s standing and influence.

Tabbert does a great job explaining the significance of Freemasonry's mysterious symbols and rituals. He argues that one cannot truly understand the fraternity without understanding these hallmarks. Freemason symbols and rituals can be traced to the British Enlightenment and its search for beauty and truth. The Protestant Reformation and the wars that spawned from it saw intellectuals meeting to work out ideas on rational thought, the scientific method, and understanding the whole universe. The framework of Freemasonry; religion, stonemasonry, and the Enlightenment all provided influence on the symbols and rituals practiced.

Freemasonry showed up in America before the first grand lodge was formed in 1717. The first Mason was John Skene, a Scot who emigrated to New Jersey. British immigration and trade is undoubtedly the biggest contributing factor for Freemason expansion in America. By the late 1740s, Masonic lodges peppered the East Coast in most of the major communities. American revolutionaries like George Washington, Paul Revere, and Benjamin Franklin all practiced Freemasonry and helped shape the organization. Each member’s lodge practiced Freemasonry a bit differently. Franklin’s fraternity focused less on the spiritual aspects of the group and used it as a means of rising to the top of society. Washington’s lodge reserved membership for elites who saw membership as a part of their noble duties. Revere used the lodge to establish himself in Boston society. All used the lodge to separate themselves as distinct members of society.

The American Revolution had lasting effects on American Masonic lodges. Many Freemasons were also members of the Sons of Liberty, but not all supported the revolution. Many lodges were disbanded during this time due to infighting. Tabbert argues that Freemasonry played a pivotal role in how George Washington united colonial regiments. Freemasonry’s obligations promoted loyalty, fraternity, and provided established norms amongst the revolutionaries. This served as a double edged sword as Freemasonry became synonymous with the Sons of Liberty in Europe causing a perception of a dangerous international secret society whose plot was societal disruption.

Tabbert argues that Freemasons played a prominent role in the ratification of the U.S. Constitution as thirteen of the thirty-nine signers were members. He continues that Freemasonry was in harmony with the ideals of the new republic and its symbols became incorporated into American culture, becoming household images. Each symbol expressed the Masonic virtue of a free and equal society. In fact, President Washington, wearing masonic regalia, led a procession on Capitol Hill when the cornerstone for the U.S. The Capitol was laid in 1793. By the early 19th Century, Freemasonry was no longer a social club but remodeled as temples for virtue and republicanism in America.

Looking at the sources for the chapters I’ve reviewed here, Tabbert borrows a lot from other historian’s work on the subject, especially from James Anderson’s The Constitutions of the Free-Masons and John Hamill’s The Craft: A History of English Freemasonry. To a much lesser degree, Tabbert’s primary sources include newspaper articles and periodicals. I was very underwhelmed with Tabbert’s sources. It seems lazy not to seek out the primary sources used by the secondary sources he borrowed from although he doesn’t claim to be a historian. An additional annoyance, and it’s just a pet peeve, Tabbert writes without using the Oxford comma. I enjoyed reading the book and learned a lot about Freemason influence on the American Revolution. The book is not best suited for scholarly purposes but is fine for anyone interested in the topic.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an interesting work that discusses the complexities that freemasonry has found in the United States.  This complexity exists on several levels.  For one, how has the organization dealt with shifting societal trends in terms of what is valued in fraternal organizations and what faces has it shown based on what aspects of its approach are most particularly valued at a given time.  In some times the quest for knowledge has been appealing, at other times freemasonry has been viewed as offering political or economic advantage, and at all times masons and the outside world have been human and struggled with certain aspects of what it means to have good character and what kind of people are able to be accepted as brothers.  The author pulls no punches about the struggles that Americans have had in recognizing certain people as brothers, and in the sort of class and racial divides that have made it difficult for certain groups of people to be accepted in an organization where one black ball can keep one from entering into fellowship and which corresponding requires a high deal of finesse to manage successfully.

This book is a bit more than 200 pages long and is three parts and eleven chapters long.  The book begins with a foreword, preface, chart of American freemasonry, as well as an introduction that discusses the purpose of the book as well as the symbols and rituals of freemasonry.  After that the first part of the book discusses the establishment of freemasonry in the United States and Europe between 1600 and 1835 (I), with chapters on the enlightenment and its appeal (1), peaceable citizens in a revolutionary world (2), and the call to act honorably, which led to challenges when some masons fell short of his, as in 1820's New York (3).  After that the author discusses the role of freemasonry in building the American community of the 19th and early 20th centuries (II), including chapters on masonic self-improvement in the middle of the 19th century (4), the golden age of fraternity in the last third of the 19th century (5), the relief of the distressed through mutual benefit during this same period (6), the establishment of fraternal fun through associated organizations like the Shriners and Grotto (7), and the tensions in teh lodge relating to the popular desire of many to become masons (8).  After that the third part of the book discusses the adornment of American communities (III), with chapters on the plain dealing of the rotarian age (9), the masonic good life during the middle of the 20th century (10), and the service of masons during the last third of the 20th century (11), after which there are notes, suggested reading, an index, and photography credits.

This book is not only well-researched and written from a sympathetic point of view but one which also contains a great deal of criticism of the search for mass appeal that Freemasonry had in the middle part of the 20th century, and one which is written from an insider's perspective that has a lot to say about the larger and more subtle influence of freemasons on the larger culture.  I too share an interest in this discussion on how the organization set a pattern for the growth of a wide variety of fraternal organizations, some of which operated within the masonic family (Shriners, the Grotto, etc.) and some of which modeled certain aspects but were outside of it, like the Boy Scouts and Rotary Club and Toastmasters.  Having some personal experience with this larger influence of fraternal organizations with a fondness for speculative thinking as well as developing the character and abilities of people, men especially, I find this sort of history deeply interesting.  I happen to think it is worthwhile giving credit where it is due, and as someone who values privacy and understands the value of secrets in binding people together, I can appreciate what the author shares to those who are willing to read it.

[Brian Hutzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a good basic history of Freemasonry in the United States. The author does a good job of putting the fraternal organization into the wider social landscape. He also discusses other social and service organizations, and marks their rise and (in some cases) fall. One of the pleasures of American Freemasons is the great number of historic photos. These are not glossy high resolution images, but they are sufficient to illustrate the text, and are especially useful for those (like myself) who are unfamiliar with Masonic symbolism.

[Ryan Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fabulous. The stories, art, and other information within it are absolutely wonderful. I think this should be the greatest coffee table book of all time, and I infact have it sitting on my tale in my living room and find myself flipping through it from time to time. I suggest every Mason, and every person interested in Masonic history get a copy of this book for their personal library, even if it is the only book they ever own.