A Deserving Brother: George Washington and Freemasonry

by Mark Tabbert

Like several of America’s founding fathers, George Washington was a Freemason. Yet Washington’s ties to the fraternity and the role it played in his life have never been widely researched or understood. In A Deserving Brother, Mark Tabbert presents a complete story of Washington’s known association with Freemasonry.

Much more than a conventional history, this book has curated an exhibition of artifacts and episodes to fully contextualize our first president’s Masonic life and experiences. Consulting the Library of Congress, Mount Vernon, the Boston Athenaeum, and numerous private Masonic lodges, libraries, and museums, Tabbert chronicles all known instances of Washington’s association with Freemasons, confirming some existing knowledge, adding new insights, and debunking unsubstantiated myths.

Interview with the Author

Ben Franklin’s World 
329 Mark Tabbert, Freemasonry in Early America
5/24/22           65 min

Conversations at the George Washington Library 
227. Welcoming a Deserving Brother with Mark Tabbert
11/14/22           26 min

Related books

Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination 1774: The Long Year of Revolution The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire George Washington’s Journey: The President Forges a New Nation