The Jews and Masonry in the United States Before 1810

The Jewish role in the formation and leadership of Scottish Rite Masonry
-- by: Samuel Oppenheim, 1910-02, source: American Jewish Historical Quarterly, Vol 19
MHP hypertext version for non-profit educational use only

1.  Introduction

Jewish leaders in the early history of American Masonry

[Note: The author is not a Mason.]

In an article in Moore's Freemason's Monthly Magazine, Vol. XV., p. 183 (Boston, April, 1856), the editor, commenting on the religious views of several Jewish ministers, took occasion to make the following remarks in regard to what had been said by the then late Mordecai M. Noah:

"We have understood that Dr. Noah was a Mason, but know not how that may have been. [1] With his liberal views there is certainly nothing in Masonry to which he could have taken exception. Many of the most eminent of his Jewish brethren were in his day filling high and honorable places in the fraternity. The Grand Lodges of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Louisiana, and perhaps some others, have at different times elevated distinguished brethren of the Jewish faith to the dignity of Grandmastership. They were gentlemen and Masons of enlarged views and liberal minds; and by the exercise of a tolerant spirit and a courteous bearing towards those who differed from them in matters of conscience endeared themselves to their Christian brethren, and contributed largely to elevate the social position of those to whom they were allied by ties of kindred blood."

In line with the first part of this quotation is the following excerpt from an editorial by Dr. Isaac M. Wise, [2] in The Israelite for August 3, 1855:

"Masonry is a Jewish institution whose history, degrees, charges, passwords, and explanations are Jewish from the beginning to the end, with the exception of only one by-degree and a few words in the obligation." [E1]

Dr. Wise, in a further editorial on August 17, 1855, also said:

"The beauty and pride of Masonry is its universal character, its tendency to fraternize mankind, and its being free from the elements which have been ever the efficient causes of hatred, persecution, fraud, and rude barbarism."

That the connection of Jews with Masonry in the early history of the United States was of benefit to them, as well as that it was to the advancement of the Order, is probably true, though little has been written on the subject by Jewish historians. An examination of the various publications accessible here, relating to Masonry, reveals the names of Jews who have been often mentioned in works treating of their race, and who have been representative men in their respective States. Their names appear in lists of members of the subordinate and Grand Lodges of many of the original thirteen States. They were, however, always a small minority in the few lodges with which they were connected.

Among their fellow members or those with whom they were brought into relation through Masonry were men prominent in the affairs of the nation. Several Jews are known to have been members of the lodge with which Governor Oglethorpe, of Georgia, was connected. In the lodge to which Washington belonged, a Jew, as will be shown, was a member. Jews, also, were members of the lodge to which belonged Edmund Randolph and John Marshall, of Virginia, and DeWitt Clinton, of New York, all of whom were Grand Masters in their respective States. In Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina prominent non-Jewish names are likewise met with as members of lodges to which Jews were admitted. The relationship of the Jews to the Order brought them naturally more directly in contact with their Christian brethren than would otherwise have probably been the case, and the respect and esteem with which the individual members of the race were regarded no doubt tended to the advantage of their co-religionists as a body.

A connection with Masonry may possibly be traced through the letters written to President Washington in 1790 by the Jewish congregations of Newport, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Charleston, as many of the members of those congregations were, like Washington, Masons. In one case, the presiding officer of one of these congregations who, as such, made his well-known address to Washington, also at the same time, in his capacity as Master of a Masonic lodge, made a further address to the President of the United States. Reference to this will be made in treating of Rhode Island.

It is impossible to obtain here, other than through the printed Records of the Grand Lodges of the various States and of a few of their subordinate lodges, satisfactory information as to the character of the early membership of those lodges, and even the information so obtainable is somewhat meagre. If arrangements could be made with those connected with the Masonic fraternity in each State for an examination of the lists of members of the various subordinate lodges existing in the early history of Masonry in the United States, many additional Jewish names could no doubt be brought to light, and fuller details obtained for biographical and historical purposes.

Freemasonry is said to have been established as a regular institution in the colonies through duly constituted lodges deriving their authority from the Grand Lodge of England, about the year 1727, although prior to that time it may have been practiced here without regard to warrant or charter. The active work of the Order, as an independent American organization, however, did not really begin until during and after the Revolution, when the Republic had begun to live. According to a writing confirming a tradition, which Masonic historians refuse to accept, as uncorroborated, although accepting in other cases traditions as binding, Jews may be said to have had the honor of being among the first, if not the first, to work the degrees of Masonry in this country, by bringing these with them on their arrival in Rhode Island in 1658. This subject will be discussed later on.

The results of the limited investigation the writer has been able to make among the printed records to be found at the Grand Lodge library in Masonic Hall in New York, and in the Astor, Lenox, Columbia University, and New York Historical Society libraries, have been incorporated in this paper, which does not pretend to be complete, and are submitted as a slight contribution to the history of the Jews in this country and as a basis for further work. Many of the earlier records have either been lost or destroyed, and there has always been some difficulty, according to the historians of the subject, in getting the officers of the subordinate lodges to search their archives for information. The influence of the Order in the early history of the United States is so well known that the connection of the Jews with it at that time, forming part of the same influence, justifies this contribution, incomplete though it be.

The greatest activity among the Jews in Masonry was displayed in this country during the latter part of the eighteenth century in Rhode Island, Virginia, South Carolina, New York, and Pennsylvania, where they were largely settled. The names of many of the leading members of the Jewish congregations in those States are to be found in lists of members of Masonic lodges. Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, and Georgia also give evidence of their early relation to the fraternity. Mention is made of Jews as Masons in New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware where they had not settled in numbers; while no mention is to be found, so far as ascertainable from the printed records, of Jewish Masons in Maine and Vermont.