"That although Washington was extremely scrupulous in preserving his correspondence with all public or private bodies, there is not a line of his relating to Freemasonry, to be found among all his papers, except the correspondence with Mr. Snyder![4] It is also a fact, that Washington was equally scrupulous in dating his letters, and it is believed that not one can be found, which is without a date."[5]
It appears that the chairman of a committee of citizens of Boston called upon the officers of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts to submit their two Washington letters to Jared Sparks for his inspection. This the Grand Officers refused to do.
In return Sparks sent the following letter to the Chairman:
"Boston, February 18, 1833.
"Sir,—I received this morning your letter of the 15th instant, in which you inquire:
"Whether I have yet seen or had in my possession any original letter or letters, in the hand writing of General Washington, addressed to any body of men denominating themselves Freemasons.
"In reply, I can only state that I have seen no letters from General Washington of the kind described in yours, nor received any communication on the subject, either verbal or written.[6]
"I am, Sir,
"Very respectfully,
"Your ob't servant,
"Jared Sparks."
How Sparks could have overlooked the numerous entries in the letter books whose numbers and folios are here quoted, also the drafts of replies in Washington's hand-writing and signed by him (copies of which are here given in this work), can only be accounted for by the fact that he must have been carried away by the political excitement of the day.
Washington's connection with the Masonic Fraternity has been exhaustively traced by Brother James M. Lamberton, Past Master of Perseverance Lodge, No. 21, in his address "Washington as a Freemason," from the day of his entrance into Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, of Virginia, September 1, 1752, until the day of his death, December 14, 1799, before the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, at its celebration of the Sesqui-Centennial Anniversary of the Initiation of Brother George Washington into the Fraternity of Freemasons,[7] held in the Masonic Temple, in the city of Philadelphia on Wednesday, November 5, 1902.