Historian - February 2008

Brother George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 on his family’s Pope’s Creek Estate in Westmoreland County, Virginia. After serving as our first President, Bro. Washington retired to his Mount Vernon plantation in March 1797. Nearly three years later on a cold Thursday afternoon, December 12, 1799, in the sleet and freezing rain, he went out on his horse to check out his vast property. As darkness fell over the farm, he took care of his horse and went inside where his wife Martha had supper ready. He sat down to eat without changing out of his wet clothes. That evening he went to bed and when he awoke in the morning, he had a fever and soar throat. Over the next couple days his symptoms worsened until he likely had pneumonia. His dear friend, Dr. James Craik, treated him while Martha and his longtime friend and secretary, Tobias Lear, comforted him. Sadly, the treatment for this ailment in the 18th century consisted of bleeding the patient. Our poor brother reportedly lost five pints of blood, and on Saturday, December 14, 1799, he died, probably as a result of the treatment.

At President Washington’s funeral, the Congress asked Col. Henry Lee, to offer a eulogy on behalf of the Nation and in honor of its first President. Lee agreed and delivered his memorable speech which described Washington as, “First in War, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen…”

Rev. Bro. T. H. Foster gave a thoughtful address before a large Masonic gathering in 1852. His oration included these words, “An occasion of no ordinary interest calls us together. One hundred and twenty years ago witnessed the rising of a planet in our hemisphere, whose splendor startled and delighted the world. That planet rode on to its meridian, shed its glory all over our land, and then, unshorn of a single beam, passed away, brighter at its setting, than at its rising. It left behind it a remembrance of its unparalleled beauty, which will grow with the world's growth, and strengthen with its strength. One hundred and twenty years ago, Washington was born.”

Rev. Bro. Foster continued, “One hundred years ago witnessed an event of no common interest to our Order. A name then became associated with Masonry, whose prestige any institution or association might well be proud of, and which, to it, has ever since been a tower of strength. One hundred years ago, George Washington took upon him the sacred vows and assumed the responsibilities of a free and accepted Mason. Little did the Fredericksburg Lodge think, that in the man, who then knelt at its altars, there lay a germ which would one day expand itself into a personage so illustrious as Gen. George Washington, the Father of his country; whose name thereafter would be the watchword of liberty in all nations and in all ages; and who, upon the mountains of his own native land, would kindle a beacon-fire, under whose reflections the whole world would glow with a brighter splendor.

Rev. Bro. Foster completed his beautiful and lengthy address with these words, “One hundred years have passed since Washington began his labors in our Craft. How eventful that century has been! What a magnificent temple of freedom has been erected in these western wilds! How many happy worshippers have thronged its courts and offered their incense there! What progress, too, in the erection of that great temple of universal brotherhood, suggested by our symbolic Masonry! The facilities of commerce, the improvement in government, the diffusion of intelligence and religion, have done much to lay its foundation and prepare its stones. Love, like a mighty angel of the resurrection, is lifting its trumpet-voice, and bidding the nations awake from their slumber of sin and ignorance and superstition and oppression. The voice has been heard and the nations are awaking.”

“One hundred years hence, our children's children shall celebrate this day again. Another assembly shall gather themselves together and tell how, one century before, we their fathers held a holy festival, in commemoration of the initiation of George Washington into the Masonic mysteries. Louder, heartier shall be their congratulations, for his character will gather new beauties, and his memory be cherished more warmly, than even by us. One hundred years hence! What changes shall have come over the world. All this assembly shall then have joined the millions of death's voiceless empire. But, for those who live, what blessed changes may we not anticipate! Our prophetic symbols prefigure glorious things. Already, may we, in anticipation, hear the crash of falling thrones, whence despots have ruled for ages. Already, may we feel the swaying of those political and moral convulsions, which shall upheave the foundations of the world, before the ushering in of the new heavens and the new earth. Already, may we see that faint twilight of a brighter morning, than ever dawned upon the world before. And when the powers of darkness are driven from the earth, and selfishness receives its mortal blow, among the foremost banners which float over the field of triumph, shall be seen one inscribed on the one side ‘FAITH, HOPE and CHARITY’ and on the other WASHINGTON.”

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