Ben Franklin

MASONIC FOUNDING FATHER

1706-1790
 Early Life

● Born in 1706 in Boston

● 15th of 17 children
● Raised as a Christian
● Worked for his older brothers
● printing press
● Deceived his brother by writing
● with an alias
● Fled to Pennsylvania
● Spent three years in London working as a printer
● Returned and began work for the Pennsylvania Gazette.
 Founding Father / Politics / Diplomat
● Only person to sign the
Constitution, The
Declaration of
Independence, and the
Treaty of Paris, along with
other important founding
documents and added
significant sections to each.

•One of oldest Members of the Continental Congress

•Wrote Albany Plan of Union
•America’s Diplomat to France
• Essential in the outcome of the Revolutionary War
 Science

● Countless useful inventions including :

○ Lightning Rod

○ Flexible Catheter

○ Bifocals

○ Franklin Stove

○ Glass Armonica http://youtube.com/watch?v=eQemvyyJ--

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 Societies

● Created the Society called “The Junto,” a club for

“mutual improvement” with Franklin’s “most ingenious
acquaintances.”
○ They were dedicated to learning and societal improvement and were
the first society illustrating Franklin’s intellectual curiosity.
● In 1743, created the American
Philosophical Society which still
exists today
○ a group dedicated to science where
scientists discuss experiments and discoveries.
● The Freemasons
 A Mason: Undisputed Facts

● Franklin was a member of the

fraternal organization of the
Freemasons, and in 1731, he was
inducted into the Masonic lodge of
St. John in Philadelphia, the first
recognized Masonic Lodge in America
● The following year, Franklin helped to create the bylaws of his
lodge
● By 1734, he had risen to the highest rank of a Grand Master.
● Grew to be the highest ranked Mason in Pennsylvania
● Became Grand Master of the Lodge of Nine Sisters in 1778 in
Paris, where he initiated Voltaire.
● Thank You!!!!