It appears that during his residence at Annapolis, he was made a Mason in a clandestine or irregular Lodge, and in the year 1783 applied for a dispensation from the Grand Master of Pennsylvania, to apply to Lodge No. 2, for initiation and membership.
Brother Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick, Senior Warden of Lodge No. 39, was a native of Pennsylvania, born near Marcus Hook, in Delaware County, about 1753, and died at Alexandria, Va., September 22, 1825. He was a son of Archibald Dick, a member of Lodge No. 2 at Philadelphia, and joined the same Lodge, September 15, 1779.[22] Brother Elisha C. Dick was a graduate of the old Pequea Academy, and of the College of Pennsylvania. He began the study of medicine under Drs. William Shippen and Benjamin Rush. After graduating he settled in Alexandria, Va., and at once became active in Masonic circles in that city, and was instrumental in having the petition presented to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for a warrant, which was granted under the name and number "Alexandria Lodge No. 39."
Upon the records of the Lodge, Brother Dick appears as both predecessor and successor of Brother Washington as Master. Brother Dick was the first consulting physician in Washington's last illness, and also conducted the Masonic services at Washington's funeral on December 18, 1799. A biography of Dr. Dick is in the Library of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
Brother John Allison, the Junior Warden of Lodge No. 39, had served as Major in the 1st Virginia State Regiment, and later as Lieutenant Colonel.
Brother William Ramsay, Treasurer of Lodge No. 39, was an old personal friend of Washington.
For a history of Alexandria Lodge, No. 39, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, February 3, 1783, which was constituted on the second floor of a large three-story frame building, known as the "Lamb Tavern," on the twenty-fifth of February, 1783, the Masonic student is referred to "Old Masonic Lodges of Pennsylvania," Philadelphia, 1913, Chapter XLVI, pp. 153-168.
This tavern was situated on the west side of Union Street, between Prince and Duke Streets, Alexandria, the site of which is now known as No. 55 South Union Street.[23]
Footnotes:
[20] Cf. "Old Masonic Lodges of Pennsylvania—Moderns and Ancients," Julius F. Sachse, Philadelphia, 1913, Vol. II, p. 157. Also Vide "Washington the Man and the Mason," by Charles H. Callahan, published under the auspices of the "Memorial Temple Committee of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association," Washington, D. C., 1913.
[21] Original among Washington relics in Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. 22, Alexandria, Virginia. Fac-simile in Washington collection of Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.