Benjamin B. French

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor, 

RWB Lloyd G. Lyon

Benjamin B. French

1800-1870

“Arguably no Mason has been associated with more public Masonic

functions over a longer period in the Capitol than Bro. French.”

The nineteenth century was the time of many prominent Masons, but Bro. Benjamin French was such an exceptional one that he requires special notice.

Benjamin B. French was born September 4, 1800 in Chester New Hampshire.  His father was a lawyer of high standing and for several years Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire.

In 1819 he went to Boston hoping to go to sea. Failing to obtain a berth on a ship, he enlisted as a soldier in the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Warren on Governor's Island in the harbor of Boston. He was appointed a Sergeant soon after enlisting and faithfully performed his duty for about four months when, at the request of his friends who provided a substitute, he left the army on September 12, 1819.

He then returned to his father's, he began the study of law, which he pursued with diligence for five years, that being the time fixed by the bar rules of New Hampshire. At the February 1825 term of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Rockingham, held at Portsmouth, he was admitted an attorney at law.

He was thus a lawyer by profession and following his marriage in 1825 to Elizabeth Smith Richardson (1805-1861), daughter of Chief Justice of New Hampshire William Merchant Richardson and a cousin of Judge William A. Richardson, formerly Secretary of the Treasury, he became active in politics, serving as Assistant Clerk of the State Senate of New Hampshire (1828-1830).

Initiated in 1826 in New Hampshire and courageously serving Corinthian Lodge as Master in 1831, 1832, and 1833 during the Anti-Masonic period, he was also Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire.

He was later elected to the New Hampshire State Legislature (1831-1833). While in the Legislature, he was the proprietor and editor of the New Hampshire Spectator.

French's chief contribution to an understanding of the 19th century is his eleven-volume journal of almost four thousand pages, which was begun in August of 1828 and was faithfully kept up until shortly before his death in the nation's capital in 1870. Roughly one third of the journal was published in one volume in 1989 under the title Witness to the Young Republic, A Yankee's Journal, 1828-1870, edited by Donald B. Cole and John J. McDonough.

He knew 12 presidents and their administrations intimately over 40+ years, from Bro. Andrew Jackson (1833) to Bro. Andrew Johnson (1867) and organized Lincoln’s inaugural and the Gettysburg memorial dedication (at which Lincoln have his famous address). His house was on the site of the present Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.

After moving to Washington in 1846 he joined National Lodge No. 12, was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Washington D.C. from 1847 to 1853, and in 1868 became Grand Master again after much persuasion. He was active in both the York and Scottish Rites.

After moving to Washington, on May 7, 1846, Brother French was affiliated with National Lodge No.12 of the District of Columbia and on November 3, 1846, he was elected Grand Master of the District of Columbia and served for seven consecutive years. While Grand Master, he laid the cornerstones of the east extension of the United States Capitol Building, the Smithsonian Institute (1847), and the Washington Monument (1848).

Companion French was exalted in Columbia Chapter No. 1 Royal Arch Masons on November 5, 1846, and later served as Excellent High Priest of that chapter.

He also served as the Most Excellent Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of the District of Columbia. Sir Knight French was knighted in DeWitt Clinton Encampment, Brooklyn, New York on April 5, 1847, and became Eminent Commander of Washington Commandery No. 1 (D.C.) on its revival in 1847, serving for eleven years.

In 1850, accompanied by President Zachary Taylor, he laid the cornerstone of the Washington Monument in Richmond, Virginia.

(George Washington’s

Masonic Apron)

Again as Grand Master, wearing the original apron used by Washington, French laid the cornerstone of the Capitol extension on July 4, 1851, following which a pilgrimage was made to Washington’s tomb with an address given by French.

In 1851 French had received the degrees of the Scottish Rite and on December 12, 1859, SGC Albert Pike conferred upon him the 33°.  He was the first Mason from the District of Columbia to be so honored.

 In 1853, French was named the Commissioner of Public Buildings under President Franklin Pierce. As the Commissioner of Public Buildings, French was responsible for the care of all federal buildings in Washington, D.C., including the United States Capitol. French would lose his job because of his anti-slavery views.

In his diary French describes an early encounter with Albert Pike on Wednesday, January 12, 1853: “passed the day at my office and the Capitol, and in the evening attended a meeting of the Encampment of Knights Templars, and conferred the orders on Albert Pike, Esq. of Arkansas. He is a scholar and a poet. Was an officer in the Mexican War and a man I am disposed to hold in high estimation.”

Then, on February 6, 1853: “Thursday evening, Washington Encampment met and we conferred the orders of Knighthood on General Sam Houston. We had a full encampment, and everything went off admirably.”

Brother French had the distinction of having a Lodge named in his honor while he was a sitting Grand Master.  Most Worshipful Brother French reluctantly signed the charter establishing his namesake lodge in late 1852.  Benjamin Brown French Lodge No. 15 held its first communication in 1853. The Lodge has met continuously since in the Georgetown section of the District of Columbia.

He chaired the Board of Alderman of the District, headed the Telegraph Company, and chaired the District Relief committee to support families of soldiers during the Civil War. 

He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, U.S.A. in 1859 and served until 1865. Brother French became a Scottish Rite Mason, and on September 15, 1859, he became the first 33rd Degree Mason from the District of Columbia. At the time of his death, he was Lieutenant Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, AASR (SJ).

French had rejoiced in Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860 and at the same time recoiled at the South's threat of secession. He had learned that his beloved wife Elizabeth had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had consented to a mastectomy (which was not successful). Elizabeth's death in May of 1861 was a profound loss for French. His family gathered round him to ease his grief.

Mary Ellen Brady (1831- 1905), a sister of his brother Edmund's wife, moved in to manage his household. With time, a romantic attachment developed between Mary Ellen who was thirty years younger than French, and within a year and a half they were wed on September 9, 1862.

French was the Chief Marshal of the March 1861 inaugural parade of Abraham Lincoln, who reappointed French Commissioner of Public Buildings in which he oversaw the completion of the new dome on the Capitol.

After his appointment, French wrote in his diary on September 8, 1861: "I was at the President's and saw Mrs. Lincoln and the President.  Mrs. L. expressed her satisfaction at my appointment, and I hope and trust she and I shall get along quietly. I certainly shall do all in my power to oblige her and make her comfortable. She is evidently a smart, intelligent woman and likes to have her own way pretty much. I was delighted with her independence and her lady-like reception of me. Afterward I saw the President, and he received me very cordially."

During his tenure, French also over saw the funeral arrangements for both Willie Lincoln (1850-1862) and President Lincoln (1809-1865). He would visit Lincoln on his deathbed at the time of his assassination.

French claimed to have prevented an earlier assault on Lincoln at the President's Inauguration on March 4. His journal relates the circumstances.

The Civil War naturally called a halt in the steady forward march of Templary. This was noticeable in only one Triennial Conclave, however, and that was the one which fell in 1862, in the time of the war. It had been previously decided to hold this Conclave in Memphis, Tennessee.

This was not feasible in September of 1862, and a special meeting, before the regular Conclave, changed the place of assembly of the Triennial Conclave for that year to New York City.   It was then twenty years since the last Conclave had been held in New York City.

The meeting was a small one. The best authorities state that only eight Grand Commanderies and subordinate Commanderies from two states and from the District of Columbia were present, and these were all northern. It is not clear that all the southern bodies had completely and finally seceded from the Grand Encampment as had their states from the United States government. Indeed, there is evidence that some friendly and fraternal relations were maintained.

This Conclave again took up the matter of Templar uniform, giving still further and more detailed regulations in the famous "Edict of 1862." In the matter of the ritual, it was decided to have a devotional service prepared for the opening of the next Conclave, the place and time for which were fixed at Columbus, Ohio, on September 5, 1865, and the week following.

 Even before the actual close of the war, the coming peace and harmony was indicated by the admission into the ranks of the constituent Grand Commanderies of two states, one of the south, Louisiana, on February 12, 1864, and one of the north, Iowa, on June 6, 1864. Subordinate Commanderies joined from three new states, Kansas, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

 There was in the entire 1865 Conclave no real note of war, and the Grand Master at the 1862 and 1865 Conclaves, "the War Grand Master," Benjamin Brown French, proved himself one of the most caring and peaceable of men. In having him at the helm throughout those troubled times, Masonic Templary was very fortunate. Calm, unruffled, broad-minded, and open eyed, he proved to be the right man to guide American Templary safely through the Civil War years.

 On March 4, 1867, Radical Republicans in Congress succeeded in abolishing the office of Commissioner as a way to punish French for his loyalty to Democratic President Andrew Johnson (who was also a Knight Templar). On March 14, 1867, French surrendered books, ledgers, and accounts to the Secretary of the Interior. On March 30, 1867, Congress placed the care of the United States Capitol and grounds under Edward Clark and the newly created office of the Architect of the Capitol.

Nearly twenty years later, in 1867, he accompanied President Andrew Johnson to Boston for a national meeting of the Masonic Knights Templar, of which French had also been Grand Master.

On April 15, 1868 he presided over the dedication of Washington’s first statue of Abraham Lincoln.  Brown’s nephew, Daniel Chester Brown, would sculpt the statue of Lincoln unveiled in 1922.

In 1870, he was made Lieutenant Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction.

 French spent his final years in a minor clerk position in the United States Treasury Department, and though he found the work humiliating, he held the post until forced by politics to resign two months before his death.

He died at home on August 12, 1870, from heart failure and lung congestion. French was placed in a coffin in the front parlor beneath his portrait and in front of two little lamps. His Masonic hat, badge, and sword were on the lid of the coffin, and the room was strewn with flowers.   His body was then taken to the Congressional Cemetery where he was laid to rest amid throngs of mourners and with the solemn funeral service of Freemasonry.

 The full account of Benjamin B. French's life is not defined by his government service alone. A sociable and open man, he was likewise occupied in numerous community and business activities, including serving as Treasurer of the United States Agricultural Society and as president of the Republican Association of the City of Washington, as well as Grand Master of the Knights Templar of the United States.

He invested smartly, and his business judgment provided him a better lifestyle than would otherwise have been possible on a government salary alone.  He was also interested in cultural and literary matters, constantly composing poetry, speaking at public occasions, and discussing current authors and their works in his correspondence.

His journal is filled with descriptions of parties and other social occasions, and it was not uncommon to find him at home playing euchre well into the night with a group of friends that included congressmen and other prominent public officials. Sadly, Benjamin Brown French would likely be little remembered today were it not for his journal and letters already mentioned.

The remaining unpublished material, comprising two-thirds of the journal, is housed in the Library of Congress which is now situated on the very site where French's mansion, built in 1842, was located. The unique aspect of French's journal is the keen insight provided into political life in Washington, D.C. The workings and the key players of every administration from that of John Quincy Adams to Ulysses S. Grant are faithfully recorded.

They provide a wide window into the early years of the republic and more particularly on the Lincoln White House and are his legacy to the nation.

Sources:

www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org

www.knightstemplar.org

RWB Lloyd G. Lyon is Editor of the Missouri Lodge of Research Newsletter, published quarterly.  For the Grand Lodge of Missouri, he is serving as a Grand Chaplin 2017-18 and sits on several state committees.     He is a Past Master of Hale City Lodge No. 216 (MO) and currently the Secretary.  He is currently the District Deputy Grand Lecturer for the 14^th District and has previously served as District Deputy Grand Master.  He belongs to the York Rite and in 2016 served as Excellent High Priest of Lexington (MO) Chapter No. 10, 2016 Eminent Commander of Demolay Commandery No. 3 and 2017 Illustrious Master of John F. Houston Council No. 42.  He also holds membership in Richmond Chapter No. 255 (WP) and Lexington Chapter No. 248 (AP) Order of the Eastern Star, Harry S. Truman York Rite College No. 167, Charlemayne Council No. 79 Knight Masons, Kilwinning Council No. 19 Allied Masonic Degrees, Missouri Priory No. 17 Knights of the York Court of Honour (KYCH), Mary Conclave No. 5 Red Cross of Constantine, Order of the Past Masters, Order of the High Priesthood, Order of the Silver Trowel, Missouri Association of Past Masters and Aleppo Grotto.  You can contact him at halecitylodge216@gmail.com

  

In Search Of… Charles Pelham

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB. Adam Thayer

A painting of Charles Pelham by John Singleton Copley.

If you’ve read my papers, listened to my lectures, or spent any time talking to me, you will know that I don’t generally enjoy discussing historical or famous Freemasons. Occasionally, however, even my curiosity is peaked enough that I fall victim to researching and discussing a brother who once served within our lodges. With that caveat in mind, I’d like to present to you the story of Right Worshipful Brother Charles Pelham.

Every good story has a solid beginning, and ours begins like a mystery novel; I received an unsolicited email from a fine art dealer in London requesting information on a painting he had acquired. Two photos detailing the portrait were also attached. If this were the next Dan Brown novel, what follows would be full of exciting, intricate conspiracies, exotic locations scattered across the globe, and, of course, beautiful, intelligent women. Before you get too excited, recall that we are not in a novel, so the conspiracy was small and not far-reaching; I never left my couch while researching the background, and the only woman involved was my wife who, though both highly beautiful and very intelligent, was 9 months pregnant at the time.

The painting, according to the art dealer, was allegedly by the artist John Singleton Copley, and the subject was believed to be one Charles Pelham. The only clue that there was any Masonic connection was a small medallion worn near the breast. My intrigue was increased by the fact that the symbols on the medallion did not include the normal square and compass, the main symbol that the public recognizes us by. Only a brother who had spent some time in lodge learning our symbols would have recognized that this medallion marked him as a Mason. Truly, there must have been a great treasure hunt ahead of me, because we all know that the best treasure hunts start with small, seemingly innocuous clues!

Let’s step back a bit for an art history lesson. John Singleton Copley was a painter in colonial America, who produced around 350 paintings and drawings before his death in 1815. Included in his works were some prominent Freemasons of the time, such as Thomas Jefferson and Paul Revere, as well as men who had strong Masonic connections such as Samuel Adams and James Warren. While Copley himself was not a Freemason, he had significant familial connections to the early American Freemasonry through his mother Mary, which may have contributed to him painting the Freemasons that he did.

John’s father dies when he was around the age of 10, and Mary remarried a portrait artist by the name of Peter Pelham. Peter taught many of his techniques to John, including the newly rediscovered mezzotint printing method which Copley later incorporated into his artwork with great effect.

Peter is known to have been a Freemason: he was raised in First Lodge in Massachusetts in 1738, which had been granted its charter from the Premier Grand Lodge of England in 1733. First Lodge holds the honor of being the first duly constituted lodge in America, and many of its early members were influential in the American Revolution. They still meet regularly to this day, having changed their name to St Johns Lodge of Boston.

A close-up of the medallion in the painting.

Peter also took to heart the Biblical adage “Be fruitful and multiply”; he had seven known children from three different women. While at least one of them followed his footsteps and became successful as an engraving artist, our focus instead lies with his second oldest child: Charles Pelham.

If you’ve managed to follow the twisted family tree here, you’ll see that Charles Pelham was the step-brother of John Singleton Copley, the artist. This made it significantly more likely that the portrait in question was, in fact, a true work by Copley of Pelham. Looking into it closer, there is another known painting by Copley of Pelham. This one was painted when he was a younger man, while the subject I received appeared to be of a man later in his life. Even with this age difference, the resemblance is strikingly close enough to feel certain that both subjects are, at the least, very closely related, if not of the same person.

While we could spend hours discussing the artist, he was not a Mason, nor of much interest to me. Instead, my interest lay in the subject himself. Not much is known of Charles Pelham’s early life. He never achieved the level of success as his father or his brothers in artistic endeavors, and remained mainly neutral during the American Revolution. We don’t even know for certain when or where he was born; all we do know is that he was baptized in December of 1722. While Charles did not lead a fascinating public life, his Masonic life is much more interesting for our considerations. He was raised in 1744 at First Lodge, and was placed as their Secretary at the following business meeting. I cannot even imagine asking a newly raised Mason to take over as Secretary today, and it was very unusual, and somewhat controversial, at the time.

A self portrait of Copley.

Why was there such a rush to place him as Secretary? While none of the records themselves spell it out, we can put together a pretty clear picture of what happened by examining the minutes of the lodge themselves, and more specifically the handwriting.

In 1740, Charles’ father Peter was installed as Secretary for First Lodge. Strangely, the handwriting on his original petition and in his private correspondence does not closely match up with the handwriting in the lodge minutes. In fact, it’s almost as if it was written by a completely different hand! Even more curious is the fact that the handwriting is an identical match with that from Charles during the following years when he was secretary.

Examining the handwriting, it appears that Charles was transcribing the lodge minutes for his father for four years before he had been accepted into the lodge! This discovery would explain the rush to move him in – he would have already known many Masonic secrets due to his work transcribing the minutes, and until he took his obligation he had no requirement to keep them.

He was obviously exceedingly good as a Secretary, as he continued to serve his lodge until 1754, and during the years of 1750-1752 he also served as Grand Secretary for the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This is where, to me, he moves from being “just another brother” to being worthy of examination as a “famous” Freemason. His work for the Grand Lodge was revolutionary for the time, as he served as the first Grand Secretary for the state, and the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts traces its charter back to the first permanent Provincial Grand Lodge in North America. (As an aside, there was one provincial charter prior, but it was only granted for a two year period) For all intents and purposes, he should be considered the first Grand Secretary in the country!

A known painting of Pelham by Copley.

A large part of Charles’ service to the Grand Lodge was to copy the proceedings of the Provincial Grand Lodge of New England into the permanent records of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, forming their first few volumes of proceedings. The written history of American Freemasonry can all trace back to Charles’ work!

Having established what I believed to be, at best, a reasonably convincing amount of proof, I re-contacted the art dealer with the information I had uncovered, and while I didn’t feel completely certain that we had the correct brother, I felt safe in saying that we were definitely in the correct family. At this point, I proceeded to close out all of my research websites, feeling that there was no further information to be teased out of the picture, and ready to start thinking about my next research piece.

Our story would have ended there, should have ended there, but I received one more e-mail from the London art dealer with a subject that got me excited all over again: “I’ve x-rayed the painting, and found something important!” Included was another photo, showing the x-ray, and my hands nearly shook while opening the attachment.

The fact that I’m explaining all of this here, instead of in my exclusive tell-all interview with The History Channel, is due to the fact that The History Channel no longer returns my calls, and the author of my life doesn’t write grand adventures of discovery for me to go on.

An x-ray taken of the area where the medallion is located.

The x-ray showed, quite clearly, the jewel of a Past Master, and some symbols of the Holy Royal Arch degree. While it was disappointing that it wasn’t a map to a hidden Templar treasure, or scandalous proof that George Washington was a secret cross dresser, what it symbolized was oddly comforting: here was a brother, who had been through the same experiences that I myself had been through, hundreds of years before I was born. The great wheel of Freemasonry continues to turn, unbroken, through the ages.

In the end, who knows the truth about this brother’s life? Until this paper, I doubt you had ever even heard his name, and I doubt you’ll long remember it after we’re done. That is why, to me, it is very important to recognize him as a Freemason: he does not represent the celebrated artist who gained international prestige, or the great orator who brought peace in times of war. He represents the everyday majority of us, silently toiling away in the darkness, trying to bring a little bit of light to the world. To quote Jung, “As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” If that is true, I can think of no greater example to emulate than Right Worshipful Brother Charles Pelham.

~AT

Bro. Adam Thayer is the Junior Warden of Lancaster Lodge No 54 in Lincoln (NE) and the Worshipful Master of Oliver Lodge No. 38 in Seward (NE). He’s an active member of the Scottish Rite, and Knight Master of the Lincoln Valley Knights of Saint Andrew. Adam serves on the Education Committee of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska. You can contact him at adam.thayer@gmail.com