Excerpts and the AI-generated portrait are from the book “100 Freemasons“
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was a politician, philosopher, scientist, and inventor. Having left his original contributions in each of these fields, he is regarded as one of the most versatile, gifted figures in history. Among other things, he invented bifocal glasses and the lightning rod. He discovered and described the Gulf Stream. He co-founded the first Mutual Assurance fund, established the first public library in the United States, and created the academy known today as the University of Pennsylvania. He was one of the founding fathers of the United States, co-writing and signing the Declaration of Independence, worked on the US Constitution, then served as ambassador to Paris, where he was instrumental in obtaining French assistance in the US struggle against Great Britain. Franklin successfully promoted ethical development, compiling such publications as “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” a popular calendar in which he included maxims, poems, and advice for each day of the year. Toward the end of his life, he became involved in the campaign to abolish slavery.
Franklin was initiated in 1731, probably at the February meeting of the ‘St. John’s Lodge’ in Philadelphia. The respect in which he was held is evidenced by the fact that just a few years later, in 1735, he was elected Grand Master. As Grand Master, he laid the cornerstone of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. He was the Worshipful Master of the Lodge ‘Les Neuf Soeurs’ (The Nine Sisters) in Paris. In this lodge, he enlisted French support for the cause of US independence. Franklin lived to the age of eighty-five, sixty of those years lived as a Freemason: he lived, wrote, and practiced the principles of the Craft.
