Other Famous Masons
GENERAL JOSHUA L. CHAMBERLAIN
On Sunday, April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee agreed to the terms of surrender set by General Ulysses S. Grant. General Joshua L. Chamberlain of United Lodge No. 8 of Maine was Grant's excellent choice to accept the surrender. Three days later the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by the Old Stone Wall brigade, sorrowfully stacked their arms. Much of their bitterness left when Chamberlain ordered his troops to give their former enemy soldiers a full military salute!
GOVERNOR LELAND STANFORD
Governor Leland Stanford of California, a member of Michigan City Lodge No. 47 of California drove the Golden Spike. The Golden Spike was the last spike that linked the tracks of the Intercontinental Railroad. According to historians, a regimental band played, with workers, saloon keepers, gamblers, prostitutes, money lenders, cooks, dishwashers and many other characters looking on.
FREDERIC A. BARTHOLDI
Frederic A. Bartholdi, a Frenchman who was a member of Lodge Alsace-Lorraine of Paris, France designed the Statue of Liberty.
GEORGE PULLMAN
George Pullman, a member of Renovation Lodge No. 97 of New York, built the first railroad sleeping car in 1863; he devised dining cars in 1868; chair cars in 1875; and vestibule cars in 1887.
LEWIS & CLARK
Meriwether Lewis, a member of Door to Virtue Lodge No. 44 of Virginia, and William Clark, a member of St. Louis Lodge No. 111 (Pennsylvania Charter) explored the Louisiana Purchase for president Thomas Jefferson.
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
William Jennings Bryan, famed attorney and presidential aspirant, became a Master Mason in Lincoln Lodge No. 19, in Nebraska, in 1902.
JOHN J. "BLACK JACK" PERSHING
"Black Jack" Pershing, Commander in Chief of the Expeditionary Forces in World War 1, became a Master Mason in Lincoln Lodge No. 19, in Nebraska, on December 22, 1888.
EDDIE RICKENBACKER
Eddie Rickenbacker, who became a Master mason in 1922 in Kilwinning Lodge No. 297 of Michigan, was credited with shooting down 21 enemy planes, along with 4 balloons.
J. EDGAR HOOVER
J. Edgar Hoover became a Master Mason in Federal Lodge No. 1 in the District of Columbia on November 9, 1920. He would later serve the longest tenure ever as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
HENRY FORD
The great automaker Henry Ford was raised in Palestine Lodge No. 357 of Michigan by a team composed of men wearing overhauls on November 28, 1894.
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA
The renowned leader of the United States Marine Band, and later the March King, became a Master Mason in Hiram Lodge No. 10 in the District of Columbia on November 18, 1881.
WILLIAM F. "BUFFALO BILL" CODY
Buffalo Bill became a Master Mason in Platte Valley Lodge No. 32 of Nebraska. He was buried with Masonic Rites on Lookout Mountain, Colorado, on January 10, 1917
DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS
HAROLD LLOYD
GENE AUTRY
ROY ROGERS
CECIL B. DEMILLE
ERNEST BORGNINE
WILL ROGERS
William Penn Adair Rogers, better known as Will Rogers, received the three degrees of Masonry in Lincoln Lodge No. 19 of Nebraska, in 1902.
CHARLES LINDBERGH
The famed aviator who flew the first non-stop transcontinental flight in the Spirit of St. Louis, was made a Master Mason in Keystone Lodge No. 243 in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 15, 1926.
