Masonic Presidents of the United States of America

First President of the United States of America (1789 -1797)

            Worshipful Brother George Washington, (1732-1799)

Past Master of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22, Virginia

The two Lodges most closely associated with George Washington were Fredericksburg Lodge at Fredericksburg, Virginia, his Mother Lodge and Alexandria-Washington Lodge at Alexandria, Virginia, where he was elected Charter Master under the Grand Lodge of Virginia. No precise date can be found when the Lodge at Fredericksburg was chartered. The date of its first meeting is usually ascribed to September 1, 1752, under a dispensation from the Provincial Grand Lodge of the Colony of Massachusetts. The Lodge was granted a charter on July 21, 1758 by the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Washington was initiated an Entered Apprentice on November 4, 1752, passed to Fellowcraft on March 3, 1753 and raised to Master Mason on August 4, 1753.

The Lodge at Alexandria, Virginia was first warranted by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania on February 3, 1783 as Lodge No. 39. George Washington attended a St. John the Baptist Celebration of the Lodge in June of 1784. He was later made an Honorary Member of the Lodge. On April 22, 1788, the Lodge received a Charter from the Grand Lodge of Virginia as Alexandria Lodge No. 22. The Lodge asked Washington to be its Charter Master under the Virginia Charter and he agreed. Washington was inaugurated as the First President of the United States on April 30, 1789 while holding the office of Master of Alexandria Lodge. After his death on December 14, 1799, the Lodge was renamed Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 by the Grand Lodge of Virginia.

Third President of the United States of America (1801-1809)  

Thomas Jefferson

(Masonic Edition, Holy Bible 1951 Edition) Poor records kept by the Colonial Lodges, the destruction of records by fire and war, make it impossible to consult original Lodge records. Jefferson may have been a Member of Charlottesville Lodge No. 90, Charlottesville, Va., since his name appears on the Minutes of this Lodge on September 20, 1817.

      Thomas Jefferson was often in Masonic company. His son-in-law Governor of Virginia Thomas M. Randolph, his favorite grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph, and nephews Peter and Samuel Carr were all members of Door to Virtue Lodge No. 44, Albemarle County, Virginia. Freemasons such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire, Lafayette, and Jean Houdon were some of his closest associates in Europe. Masons whom he admired in America included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Benjamin Rush, John Paul Jones, James Madison, James Monroe, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

       Brother Denslow showed that Jefferson was reported by Dr. Joseph Guillotin to have attended meetings of the Lodge of Nine Muses in Paris; that he had marched in a Masonic procession with Widow’s Son Lodge No. 60 and Charlottesville Lodge No. 90 on October 6, 1817, at the cornerstone laying of Central College (now the University of Virginia); that the Grand Lodges of South Carolina and Louisiana held funeral orations and processions for him following his death on July 4, 1826; and that a Blue Lodge at Surry Court House, Virginia, was named Jefferson Lodge No. 65 in 1801.

Fifth President of the United States of America (1817 - 1824)

                       Brother James Monroe, (1752-1831)

    A Member of Williamsburg Lodge (now No. 6), A. F. & A.M. Williamsburg, Virginia

    The original records of Williamsburg Lodge No.6, Williamsburg, Va., show (November 6,1775) that he was "recommended as a fit person to be admitted a member of this lodge and the motion recorded. On November 9, 1775, he was "preferred, received and balloted for; passed and accepted and entered an apprentice.: The curious reader will note that he was not quite seventeen years and six months old at this time!

    His dues were paid through October 1780, but no record shows as to when he was raised. Tradition states that he received the Master's Degree in a Military Lodge during the revolution, and also credits him membership in Kilwinning Cross Lodge No.2, Port Royal, Va. Little is known of his Masonic life. He visited Cumberland Lodge No.8, at a meeting especially called to receive him in Nashville, Tennessee, June 8, 1819. He died in New York, July 4, 1831.

  Seventh President of the United States of America (1829-1837)

Most Worshipful Brother Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)

At the first meeting of Tennessee Lodge No.2 (originally No.41, N.C.) March 24, 1800, in Love's Tavern, Knoxville, Tennessee, Jackson was present as a member of Harmony Lodge No.1, Nashville, Tennessee (originally No. 29, N.C.).

Past Grand Master Comstock of Tennessee, noted historian, believes Jackson was made a Mason in Harmony Lodge No.1.

Federal Lodge No.1, Washington , D.C., elected him an Honorary Member January 4, 1839; Jackson Lodge No.1, Tallahassee, Florida, Elected him an Honorary Member sat some unknown date; the Grand Lodge of Florida elected him an Honorary Member January 15, 1833.

      His chief claim to Masonic fame is that he is the only Grand Master to become President. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee and served from October 7, 1822, to October 4, 1823. In the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge (1822) he is credited with being a Past Master but no records substantiate the statement.

Eleventh President of the United States of America (1845-1849)

                        Brother James Knox Polk (1795-1849)

He was initiated in Columbia Lodge No. 31, Columbia, Tennessee, June 5, Passed August 7, and raised September 4, 1820. In October he was he was elected Junior Deacon, and Junior Warden December 3, 1821, but there is no record of his having been Master. In 1825 he received the Royal Arch Degree in Lafayette Chapter No. 4, Columbia, Tennessee. June 24, 1840, he attended the feast of St. John the Baptist celebrated by Columbia Lodge No.8 and Hiram Lodge No.7 at Nashville, and marched with them in procession to a church for Divine Services. May 1,1847, he assisted in the Masonic laying of the cornerstone of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. He died at Nashville, Tennessee, June 15, 1849.

Fifteenth President of the United States of America (1857-1861)

Right Worshipful Brother James Buchanan (1791-1868)

He became a member of Lodge No.43 of Lancaster, Pennsylvania

When twenty-three years of age he petitioned Lodge No.43 (the lodge had no name) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was elected and initiated December 11, 1816, and both passed and raised on January 24, 1817.

He served as Worshipful Master in 1823 and was appointed the first District Deputy Grand Master for Lancaster, Lebonon and York Counties, December 27, 1823.

Seventeenth President of the United States of America (1865-1869)

                              Brother Andrew Johnson (1808-1875)

He was A Member of Greenville Lodge No. 119, Greenville, Tennessee.

Twentieth President of the United States of America (July 2- September 19,1881)

Brother James A. Garfield (1831-1881)

Brother Garfield was a Charter Member of Pentalpha Lodge No. 23 of Washington, D.C. in fact; he was one of the Petitioners for the Lodge Charter.