Mere Freemasonry

Hoai-Tran Bui has posted an article on NBC Washington’s website about the unveiling of the restoration of Brother George Washington’s ‘New Room’ at Mount Vernon.

From the article:

Historians had long called the biggest room in George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate “the Large Dining Room.” Where else would the first president hold his meals except in the most auspicious room?

It turns out they were wrong.

Read more »

Credited not only with overhauling the Scottish Rite, but with also writing all kinds of crazy nonsense if you believe what tinfoil hat wearing undereducated conspiracy nuts say, Albert Pike was quite the polarizing figure.  He was a Captain in the cavalry regiment of Arkansas Mounted Volunteers during the Mexican-American war, an American attorney, author, Confederate General in the Civil War, Freemason, and Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction).

From Wikipedia:

Pike was born in Boston, Massachusetts, son of Ben and Sarah (Andrews) Pike, and spent his childhood in Byfield and Newburyport, Massachusetts. His colonial ancestors included John Pike (1613-1688/1689), the founder of Woodbridge, New Jersey. He attended school in Newburyport and Framingham until he was 15. In August 1825, he passed entrance exams at Harvard University, though when the college requested payment of tuition fees for the first two years which he had successfully challenged by examination, he chose not to attend. He began a program of self-education, later becoming a schoolteacher in Gloucester, North Bedford, Fairhaven and Newburyport. Read more »

Christina Sterbenz and Robert Johnson have written a piece over at Business Insider about the 17 most influential Freemasons ever.  Eric Goldschein contributed to the research for the article.  From Business Insider:

The Freemasons, a fraternal organization developed from the stonemasons, include more than 6 million members worldwide.

Despite nearing 300 years of activity, the Freemasons remain mysterious, with many of their records destroyed naturally by time. But a few member lists survived — and they name some of the most influential people throughout history.

While it is an interesting (and short) article, it appears that they may not have received the full story on the men they present as Masons.

You can read the rest of the article HERE.

From The Detroit News:

The Masons have won their legal battle over who owns Detroit’s Masonic Temple, the largest building of its kind.

“We won! All counts related to any claims of ownership of the Masonic is over. It it is clearly owned by the Masons,” said Bradley Dizik, special adviser to the Masonic Temple’s board of trustees.

Dizik was referring to a Tuesday ruling by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Leslie Kim Smith that dismissed claims by a former management company they had an ownership stake in the institution, according to Dizik, who is attorney and a consultant in the case.

The Masonic Temple Association of Detroit, which owns the Masonic Temple, booted the management company, Halberd Holdings, out of the facility in 2012. The association claimed, among other things, that Halberd was ruining the temple’s reputation by not paying its bills and hiring felons. Read more »

From the Grand Lodge of Arizona: