Lewis as Master Mason

The Masonic apron represents the ancient stone-mason’s craft, which is the allegorical model upon which rest the symbolism and ritual of Freemasonry. The ancient craftsmen were “operative” or working stonemasons; members of the fraternity known as the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons (AF & AM) are “speculative” masons. Through speculative Masonry, wrote Thomas Smith Webb in 1797, “we learn to subdue the passions, act upon the square, keep a tongue of good report, maintain secrecy, and practice charity.” Charity is “the chief of every social virtue,” he continued, “and the distinguishing characteristic of our Order.”^[1]Thomas Smith Webb (1771-1819), The Freemason’s Monitor (Albany, New York: Spencer & Webb, 1797), 10, 21. Webb’s influential book furthered the expansion of Freemasonry in the U.S. … Continue reading

Each initiate, upon entering the Order, receives a symbolic apron, which is to be worn during all Masonic meetings and rituals. This apron of Lewis’s, made of hand-painted silk backed with linen, measuring 14½ by 16½ inches, is said to have been in a pocket of his coat when he died. It was passed down from his mother to his sister, Jane, and through her descendants to the Grand Lodge of Missouri, whence it was purchased in 1960 by Joseph Hopper, who donated it to the Montana Masonic Foundation of the Grand Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Montana, in Helena.

Symbolic Meanings

The meanings of some of the symbols on the apron are open to varying interpretations in different Masonic jurisdictions (states or countries) at different times. The following are those currently held by the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Montana, provided through the courtesy of Reid Gardiner, Grand Secretary. They date back to the early 18th century.

Solomon’s Temple

The two pillars of the porch of Solomon’s temple represent strength and stability.^[2]“And [Solomon] reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left … Continue reading The pillar at left stands for Boaz, interpreted by some Biblical scholars as meaning “in strength”; that on the right symbolizes Jachin, or “God will establish” (1 Kn. 7.21; 2 Chr. 3.17). They represent, respectively, the Senior and Junior Wardens of the Lodge. The pillars rest on three stone steps that symbolize the three ages of man —youth, manhood, and old age—and the three corresponding degrees of the Order. The lowest represents the Entered Apprentice, who is obliged to occupy his mind industriously in the attainment of useful knowledge. The second step stands for the Fellow Craft Mason, who is charged to use his knowledge in the discharge of duty to God, to his own neighbor, and to himself. The topmost step is that of old age, when the Master Mason may “enjoy the happy reflections consequent on a well-spent life, and die in the hope of glorious immortality.”

Skull and Crossbones

The skull and crossbones is an ancient symbol for death. The comparative crudeness of this example, and the fact that it does not belong in the overall symmetry of the design, suggests that it might have been added after the owner’s demise.

Bible

At the center of the apron the Bible is open to Chapter 1, Verse 1—”In the beginning was the Word”—of the Gospel according to St. John, the patron saint of Freemasonry. Superimposed is the square that an operative mason would use for testing angles; to the speculative Mason it stands for justice. Atop the square is a compass or divider, which the former employed for measuring equal lines, the latter for restraining prejudice.

Candlesticks

Faintly seen on each side and above the Bible are single candles in brass candlesticks, which represent the three stages of the sun and the seats of the three main officers and guides of a Lodge. At one side is the rising sun represented by the Worshipful Master, whose seat is on the east side of the Lodge; above is the mid-day sun in the south, where the Junior Warden is seated; on the west side is the setting sun, represented by the Senior Warden’s chair.

The Scribe of the Door to Virtue Lodge No. 44 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in Albemarle County, Virginia, recorded on 31 December 1796, that Lieutenant Meriwether Lewis, on furlough from his Western Pennsylvania post in the U.S. Infantry, “was recommended as a proper person to become a member.” Less than one month later, on 28 January 1797, he was elected to membership, initiated as an Entered Apprentice, and given his apron. On the following evening he was admitted to the second, or Fellowcraft degree, and without further examination, promoted “at sight”—that is, by unanimous ballot—as a Master Mason. Such meteoric progress through the first three degrees of Masonry signified confidence on the part of the most prominent men of Albemarle that the 23-year-old Lewis was similarly destined for moral, civic, and political leadership.

A little more than two months later, on the second or third of April, members of the Door to Virtue Lodge conferred upon Lewis the degree of Past Master Mason. At the same meeting two other leading Virginians were elevated to the same status. They were Peter and Samuel Carr, nephews of Thomas Jefferson, whose son-in-law, Governor Randolph, was also in attendance. On 31 October 1799, Lewis was “Exalted to the sublime degree of a Royal Arch, Superexcellent Mason” at Widow’s Son Lodge^[6]The “widow’s son” was Hiram Abiff, the master craftsman in the building of Solomon’s Temple, who was murdered for refusing to reveal the secret “Master’s … Continue reading in Milton, Virginia, a few miles southeast of Charlottesville. On that occasion he was given a Royal Arch apron, which is now at the Missouri Historical Society.

In 1801 Lewis, who had been promoted to the rank of captain in late 1799, became the private secretary to President Jefferson, and in June 1803 received his official orders as commander of the expedition to explore the Northwest.^[7]Jefferson to Lewis, 30 June 1803, Jackson, Letters, 1:61-66. Lewis no doubt carried his apron during his preparatory travels, as any wayfaring Mason would have. There is reason to believe, for instance, that he attended a Lodge in Pittsburgh while awaiting the completion of the barge (called the ‘boat’ or ‘barge’ but never the ‘keelboat’) from 15 July 1803 until 31 August 1803. If he carried a Masonic apron on his expedition to the Pacific, which might have been expected of a Mason of his rank undertaking such a hazardous mission, he did so in total secrecy.

Clark also Joins

It was at Lewis’s encouragement, no doubt, that William Clark joined the new Lodge in St. Louis. In fact, Lewis may have begun proselytizing his co-captain during the early months of the expedition. Late in January 1804, Clark copied into his journal a definition of the five senses, from Owen’s Dictionary, which was in the company’s small reference library. The subject was entirely out of context with the expedition’s business at that moment, but the paragraph reads like a précis of a catechism for an Entered Apprentice. Clark’s certificate confirming that status, dated 18 September 1809, is at the Missouri Historical Society; his apron is at the Lodge in St. Charles, Missouri. His funeral service, on 1 September 1838, opened with the full Masonic burial rite.

Additional Sources:

Ray Denslow, Meriwether Lewis: Missoui’s First Royal Arch Mason. Trenton, Missouri, n.p., [c. 1939].

Harold Voorhis, Facts for Freemasons. New York: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., 1951.

Moses W. Redding, The Illustrated History of Free Masonry. New York: Redding & Co., 1903.