Masonic History

Some Masonic History


Grand Lodge of Iowa
Iowa Masonic Library

Forms for Membership

History of Freemasonry

No one knows with certainty how or when the Masonic Fraternity was formed. A widely accepted theory among Masonic scholars is that it arose from the stonemasons’ guilds during the Middle Ages. The language and symbols used in the fraternity’s rituals come from this era. The oldest document that makes reference to Masons is the Regius Poem, printed about 1390, which was a copy of an earlier work. In 1717, four lodges in London formed the first Grand Lodge of England, and records from that point on are more complete.

Within thirty years, the fraternity had spread throughout Europe and the American Colonies. Freemasonry became very popular in colonial America. George Washington was a Mason, Benjamin Franklin served as the head of the fraternity in Pennsylvania, as did Paul Revere and Joseph Warren in Massachusetts. Other well-known Masons involved with the founding of America included John Hancock, John Sullivan, Lafayette, Baron Fredrick von Stuben, Nathanael Greene, and John Paul Jones. Another Mason, Chief Justice John Marshall, shaped the Supreme Court into its present form.

Over the centuries, Freemasonry has developed into a worldwide fraternity emphasizing personal study, self-improvement, and social betterment via individual involvement and philanthropy. During the late 1700s it was one of the organizations most responsible for spreading the ideals of the Enlightenment: the dignity of man and the liberty of the individual, the right of all persons to worship as they choose, the formation of democratic governments, and the importance of public education. Masons supported the first public schools in both Europe and America.

During the 1800s and early 1900s, Freemasonry grew dramatically. At that time, the government had provided no social "safety net". The Masonic tradition of founding orphanages, homes for widows, and homes for the aged provided the only security many people knew.

Today in North America, the Masonic Fraternity continues this tradition by giving almost $1.5 million each day to causes that range from operating children’s hospitals, providing treatment for childhood language disorders, treating eye diseases, funding medical research, contributing to local community service, and providing care to Masons and their families at Masonic Homes.

The four million Masons worldwide continue to help men and women face the problems of the 21st century by building bridges of brotherhood and instilling in the hearts of men ideals for a better tomorrow.

        WHAT IS FREEMASONRY?

            The Masonic Commitment
                     to Character

Many years ago one of Iowa’s most prominent Masons and theologians, Joseph Fort Newton
wrote these magnificent words:

"Gentle, gracious, and wise. It’s mission is to form mankind
into a great redemptive brotherhood. A league of noble and free
men enlisted in the radiant enterprise of working out, in time,
the love and will of the eternal."

Those words capture the meaning of Freemasonry. As the world’s oldest and

largest fraternity, our goal is to build a man’s most valuable possession—his character.

We believe that the strength of the family, the church, the community
and our country rest with men of strong conviction, firm ethical and
moral values, and a devotion to our democratic system of government.

As Masons, we help each other intensify our devotion to these enduring values.

In a day when it seems that few people really care about rising to the
highest and best in life, it is good to know that there is a group where a
man can really improve himself.

In lodge meetings, there is no talk of politics, no discussion of religious
issues, even though every Mason must affirm a belief—according to
his own understanding—in deity, and devotion to his country.

Masons are concerned with developing their minds and enlarging
their scope of knowledge. In a word, Masons are dedicated to becoming
better men.

Men of every walk of life belong to Masonic Lodges. They are proud of
their centuries of tradition, their belief in brotherhood, country, and
the many Masonic acts of charity and compassion.

The Founding of Freemasonry

The origins of Masonry reach back to Medieval timeshen the great cathedrals of Europe
were built. The stonemasons who created these awe-inspiring Gothic structures formed
craft guilds to protect the secrets of their and to pass on their knowledge to worthy apprentices.
In 17th century England, these guilds began accepting honorary members, men of learning
and position. These new members were not working stonemasons or even associated with
the building trades. As accepted Masons, they eventually Grew into a separate organization
called Freemasonry, a moral and ethical society that taught the 18^th century ideals of equality
and the importance of education in freeing mankind from prejudice, super-stition and social justice.

MASONRY TODAY

Masons continue to use the simple tools of the ancient stonemasons -- the square and compasses, the

trowel, plumb and level -- as symbols to teach their ideals. A Mason is oath-bound to build his life
and character with the same care and precision that stonemasons used to construct thecathedrals
and temples centuries ago.

Today, there are about four million Masons in world, with the United States claiming about
two million of the total membership. A survey that was conducted by the Masonic Service Association
puts the charitable aspect of Freemasonry into perspective. That survey showed that in 1990

American Masonic philanthropy was $525 million or $1.4 million per day-of which over 58%
went to the American public.

MASONIC CONCERN FOR OTHERS

Freemasonry has an outstanding record for helping others. Along with scholar-ships and loan funds
to assist young people in furthering their education, Masons support many community-based

charitable projects. Retirement homes and hospitals for the elderly provide care for those who
no longer can care for themselves.

THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIFE

Yes, Masons are members of a Fraternity that has its secrets, but the many character-building
activities of Freemasonry indicate that it is far from a secret organization. Masons are active

in their dedication to improve life. Always ready to undertake a difficult task in a quiet,
dignified way, today’s Masons go about the job of extending the hand of brotherhood .

For the man who is looking for a deeper meaning in life and who wants to be a part

of a Fraternity committed to his growth and improvement, Masonry is filled with marvelous
opportunities and limitless possibilities.

Freemasonry in Iowa

Many people are proud of their heritage. By petitioning for membership in an Iowa Masonic lodge, you will be associating with an Iowa fraternal order that was organized in 1844, several years before our stat was admitted into the union. Freemasonry, however, dates its formal beginnings to the 17^th century. Thus, you will become, upon acceptance, a member of not only the oldest (and most prestigious) fraternity in Iowa, but also in the entire world. You will become a member of an organization whose Iowa roots extend back to our first territorial governor and whose heritage includes many of Iowa’s finest citizens.

There were many Masons among the vanguards of pioneers that came to the Territoryin the early 1840’s.
They came in wagons and on boats, settled along the Mississippi,and staked their claims. Some of them were farmers, but there were also merchants, teachers, businessmen, miners, lawyers, and politicians, all of them
anxious and excited about the opportunities that awaited them in the “heartland” – Iowa—“the beautifulland”
as the Indians called it.

By the time the “Iowa Territory” was two years old, the settlers discovered they had a fraternal kinship. According to the records, the first Masonic meeting in theIowa territory was held on the evening of November 6, 1840, in the Burlingtoncarpenter shop of Brother Evan Evans. As a result of that meeting, a dispensation was granted on November 20, 1840, by the Grand Lodge of Missouri to form a Masonic Lodge in Burlington.

Several months later (on February 4, 1841) similar action was taken resulting inthe formation of
Iowa Lodge No.2 at Bloomington (later to become Muscatine).

Dubuque Lodge No.3 was officially formed by the pioneer Masons in Dubuque on October 10, 1842.

On December 9, 1842, nine Masons met in Iowa City to organize the last of thefour lodges which would
form the Grand Lodge of Iowa,A.F.&A.M.

A delegation was appointed to attend the next session of the Grand Lodge of Missouri with a petition
to form the Grand Lodge of Iowa. The request was granted on January 2, 1844, and, just one week later,
delegates from those first four lodges met in a room over Sanxer’s Iron Store in Iowa City and organized
the Grand Lodge of Iowa,A.F.&A.M.

The first four lodges were officially designated as Des Moines Lodge No.1 (with 25 members),
Iowa Lodge No.2 (with 20 members), Dubuque Lodge No.3 (with 28 members),
and Iowa City Lodge No.4 (with 28 members).
Total membership of the Grand Lodge of Iowa was 101 members. The present membership of the
Grand Lodge of Iowa consists of approximately 31,000 Masons in 327 Lodges across the state.

Beginnings Of The Present
Day Masonic Lodge Explored

Some of the less critically-minded Masons like to trace the origins of the Order back to ancient Egypt. But in its present form, Freemasonry originated in England, probably in the sixteenth Century, while the first Grand Lodge was founded in London in 1717 and the regulations, by-laws and constitutions of Masonry were laid down in what is known as Anderson's Constitutions in 1722-23. The spiritual elements underlying these precepts were decidedly "advanced" for their time, emphasizing as they did tolerance for other men's religions and the brotherhood of all human beings. Many historians have tried to connect Freemasonry to the Roman 'Collegia'. A 'Collegium' was formed by a group of three or more indivuals as an association for a trade, or social, or of a religious group, organized according to law. collegia had their own rules or "by-laws" and usually had their own meeting place. A "Collegiatea' could own property and their officials were usually held accountable for actions of the group.

In time almost every profession, art, and trade had made its own 'Collegiate' in due form by imperial Roman statute. The oldest known inscription refers to a 'Collegium' of cooks, 200 B.C.

Each collegium tried to have it's own "Scholaor", a hall or meeting place. The officers were usually the leader called a 'Magistri' or a 'Curitarious', or 'Quinquennales' or sometime the 'Perfecti Praesides'. Second were the 'Decuriones' which were like a warden. Then there were the 'Quaestors' or factors who managed the business affairs of the 'Collegiate'.

Each society had its own laws, called 'Lex College' with it's own by-laws, which were based, as on the imperial statutes of the time. Fees and dues were kept in the 'Arca' (a common chest. Some historians felt these comon funds were used for charitable purposes but others feel that these comon funds was used for expense of the upkeep of 'Scholaor' (meeting place) and for banquets.

Other Masonic scholars and historians believe the Masons may have been formed from the remains of The Knights Templar. The Knights Templar were originally a monastic order of the Catholic Church as the guardians of the Temple of Solomon site and the routes used by the pilgrims going to and from the Holy Land. Although all of the Knights took a vow of poverty, the Order itself grew very wealthy. The Order had it's headquarters in France and the King of France grew very jealous because by 1308 the Knights Templar had grown much richer then he was. He made an agreement that if the Pope would discredit the order he would seize all their assets and they would divide the Templar's riches between themselves.

Every known official of the order and many of the individual members were arrested on the night the Pope outlawed the order. They were thrown in prison and all of their property was confiscated. A major problem arose when the kings men couldn't find the reported riches anywhere in France. The King finally resorted to torturing the prisoners, even burning 54 of them alive at the stake trying to discover where the treasure was hidden.

The Pope did the worse thing he could, he excommunicated all Templar anywhere and demanded that they be arrested by the rulers of the country where they were living and they along with all Templar property was to be turned over to the Catholic Church.

The King of England found other things to do and ignored the order. The Pope was furious and demanded that the king arrest the Templar in England under the threat of excommunicating the king himself. Bowing to the threat, the English King ordered the arrest of the Templars. However the order to arrest them stated that every Templars in England would be arrested three 3 days from that date. Strangely enough, none of the Templars were found when the 3 days were up. They had all disappeared. Most had gone to Scotland where the Scottish king told the Pope that he could do what he wanted to in Rome, but not in Scotland.

The Masons publicly "Came out of the closet" so to speak, in 1717. Secret signs, secret passwords, secret handshakes and oaths with severe penalties for revealing the secrets and the identity of brother members wouldn't hardly come from a brand new organization that was making itself "public". But, how about one that had been in hiding for a couple of hundred years under threat of death for being a member???

The intellectual and spiritual foundations of modern democracy, including the American Revolution and the American Constitution, are to be found in large part in the teachings of Jean Jacques Rousseau and in the ideas cemented into the great first Encyclopedia. And it is a fact that most of the authors of that epoch-making Encyclopedia -- Diderot, D'Alembert, Condorcet, the famous Swiss philosopher Helvetius, etc. -- were Freemasons. The envoy to France from the rebellious American colonies, Benjamin Franklin, also was an ardent Freemason. So were George Washington, sixty among his generals, John Hancock and a great many of his co-signers of the Declaration of Independence. Both Washington and Franklin long held the post of Grand Master.

“The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way,
so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs or impede their efforts to obtain it."
John Stuart Mill

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Political Freedom, Religious Tolerance, Personal Integrity; Freemasonry – it’s not for everyone.