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The body
of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
(Like the cover of an old book,
Its contents torn out,
And stript of its lettering and guilding.)
Lies here, food for worms.
Yet the word itself shall not be lost.
For it will, as he believed, appear once more,
In a new
And more beautiful edition,
Corrected and amended
By
The Author
His epitaph, his own composition. Masonic Americana p. 53
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Miniature by Thouron, 1782, Bridgeman Art Library, London |
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January 6, 1706 O.S. - April 17, 1790
American printer — he published the first book in the colonies, Anderson’s Constitutions of 1723 — author, postmaster, statesman, scientist and philosopher, Franklin was instrumental in the formation of the United States.
Initiated: February 1730-1
Secretary: 1735-38 St. John’s Lodge, Philadelphia
Junior Grand Warden: June 24, 1732
Grand Master: June 24, 1734
Provincial Grand Master, Boston: June 10, 1749
Provincial Grand Master, Philadelphia: June 1760
Deputy Grand Master: March 13, 1750 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania
Venerable Master: 1779-80, 1782 Loge des Neuf Soeurs, Paris
Source: Denslow; Mackey |
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