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Article EARLY HAUNTS OF FREEMASONRY. ← Page 4 of 6 →
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Early Haunts Of Freemasonry.
first sojourn in England , he worked as a printer in the neighbourhood of Great Queen-street . A common belief once existed to the effect that Bro . Franklin was engaged in this capacity at what is now Messrs . Wyman ' s printing offices , but a reference to his " Autobiography , " edited by the Rev .
W . Hastings Weld , and published by Harper Brothers , New York , and Sampson LOAVO , Searle , Marston and Rivington , London , will show this is not the case . He reached London in December , 1724 and shortly afterwards got employment " at Palmer ' s , a famous printing house in Bartholomew-close , " Avhere he continued near a year .
Subsequently , he Avrites , " I now began to think of getting a little beforehand , and expecting better employment , I left Palmer ' s to Avork at Watts ' s , near Lincoln ' s-inn-fields , a still greater printing house . Here I continued all the rest of my stay in London "—which was to July , 1726 , when he set sail from Gravesend . On his return to
America , he took up his abode in Philadelphia , and turned the knowledge he had acquired in London to such excellent account that , in a very short time , he took the lead as a printer , and , as we have stated , published a journal known as the Pennsylvania Gazette , in which occasional references to the subject of Freemasonry are to be found .
This " greater printing-house of Mr . Watts Avas on the south side of Weld-court , turning out of Great Weld-street—the name of Weld has since been altered to Wild-street—near the western end of Great Queen-street . HoAvever , the press which , on a subsequent visit to England , he recognised as that at which he had worked as a
journeyman , stood for many years in Messrs . Wyman ' s office . Subsequently it passed into the hands of Messrs Harrild & Sons , who , in 1840 , parted with it to Mr . J . V . Murray , of New York , on condition that he should secure for them a donation to the Printers' Pension Corporation of London , the understanding being carried out so successfully
that the committee were able to establish the " Franklin Pension " of ten guineas per annum . This press is now in the Public Museum at Philadelphia , and has on a plate affixed to it a suitable inscription commemorative of Franklin ' s connection with the neighbourhood . A companion press , at which it is by no means improbable that Franklin also worked , may be seen in the Museum of Patents at South
Kensington . Of Freemasons' Hall , which is the principal edifice in the street , it will suffice if we say that it was opened and consecrated on 23 rd May , 1776 , the first stone haAdng been laid 1 st May , 1775 , the presiding brother on both occasions being Lord Petre , Grand Master . It has •since been greatly enlarged , additional accommodation having been
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Early Haunts Of Freemasonry.
first sojourn in England , he worked as a printer in the neighbourhood of Great Queen-street . A common belief once existed to the effect that Bro . Franklin was engaged in this capacity at what is now Messrs . Wyman ' s printing offices , but a reference to his " Autobiography , " edited by the Rev .
W . Hastings Weld , and published by Harper Brothers , New York , and Sampson LOAVO , Searle , Marston and Rivington , London , will show this is not the case . He reached London in December , 1724 and shortly afterwards got employment " at Palmer ' s , a famous printing house in Bartholomew-close , " Avhere he continued near a year .
Subsequently , he Avrites , " I now began to think of getting a little beforehand , and expecting better employment , I left Palmer ' s to Avork at Watts ' s , near Lincoln ' s-inn-fields , a still greater printing house . Here I continued all the rest of my stay in London "—which was to July , 1726 , when he set sail from Gravesend . On his return to
America , he took up his abode in Philadelphia , and turned the knowledge he had acquired in London to such excellent account that , in a very short time , he took the lead as a printer , and , as we have stated , published a journal known as the Pennsylvania Gazette , in which occasional references to the subject of Freemasonry are to be found .
This " greater printing-house of Mr . Watts Avas on the south side of Weld-court , turning out of Great Weld-street—the name of Weld has since been altered to Wild-street—near the western end of Great Queen-street . HoAvever , the press which , on a subsequent visit to England , he recognised as that at which he had worked as a
journeyman , stood for many years in Messrs . Wyman ' s office . Subsequently it passed into the hands of Messrs Harrild & Sons , who , in 1840 , parted with it to Mr . J . V . Murray , of New York , on condition that he should secure for them a donation to the Printers' Pension Corporation of London , the understanding being carried out so successfully
that the committee were able to establish the " Franklin Pension " of ten guineas per annum . This press is now in the Public Museum at Philadelphia , and has on a plate affixed to it a suitable inscription commemorative of Franklin ' s connection with the neighbourhood . A companion press , at which it is by no means improbable that Franklin also worked , may be seen in the Museum of Patents at South
Kensington . Of Freemasons' Hall , which is the principal edifice in the street , it will suffice if we say that it was opened and consecrated on 23 rd May , 1776 , the first stone haAdng been laid 1 st May , 1775 , the presiding brother on both occasions being Lord Petre , Grand Master . It has •since been greatly enlarged , additional accommodation having been