masonic inventors
TRANSCRIPT
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MASONIC PUBLICATIONS ALSO AVAILABLE
The compiler and publisher
of this little booklet has available a considerable number of books, booklets,
papers and CDs on all subjects that will be of interest to Freemasons.
For a full list of available publications
please write to :
P O Box 1807 Hornsby Westfield
NSW 1635 Australia
OR
EMAIL:
Many of the world’s most inventive and outstanding minds who, in their own way, changed the world were also Freemasons. This little publication lists most of them.
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PrefacePrefacePrefacePreface
Most people believe that Freemasonry is a secret society, Part of the reason for this belief is the fact that its history is not really known having been lost in the mists of time and despite the fact that on the internet, there are many hundreds of thousands of pages on the subject, there is really no definitive
account of its origin or its influence.
What is generally known in a vague sort of way is that many of the world’s great innovators, thinkers and influential leaders have been, or still are ,
Freemasons.
The great inventors of the world, those men who changed history; those original minds, many were
Indeed members of the Masonic Order.
Many of them are names that most people have never heard of, including today’s Freemasons.
It is hoped that this little publication will help remedy
this issue.
Compiled by: Keith Stockley P O Box 1807 Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635 Australia © 2012
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Index of InventionsIndex of InventionsIndex of InventionsIndex of Inventions Page Apple Computers 17 Aviation 16 & 22 Basketball (The game) 13 Bowie Knife 4 Bifocal Glasses 10 Bleaching of Cloth 7 Brougham Carriage 18 Catheter (flexible) 10 Colt Revolver 6 Copying Machine 17 Electricity (properties) 7 Encyclopædia Britannica 19 Franklin Stove 10 Gas Lighting 20 Gas Meter 20 Gatling Gun 11 Glass Harmonica 10 Greenwich Mean Time 8 Guillotine 12 Hemp Break Machine 11 Hot Air Balloon 13 Ice Rink 19 Internet 4 Lawn Mower (Victa) 21 Lightning Rod 10 Macadam Road Surfacing 20 Marine Steam Ram 11 Motor Cars 5, 9, 15 Omnibus 14 Planetarium 7 Plough (Motor & Steam Driven) 11 Refrigeration 21 Safety Razor 11 Screw Propellor 11 Steam Boat 10
Steering Mechanism 7 Stroboscope 8 Telephone 12 Typewriter (Electric) 14 Tyres 19 Wheat Drill 11 Windmill 7
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LAWRENCE HARGRAVES
Hargraves experimenting with box kites
An Australian aviation pioneer his developments including what is today’s modern fuselage construction, curved wing surfaces, propeller and engines., especially the rotary en-gine. His experiments with monoplane concepts were under-taken 20 years before the Wright brothers. Joined on 2nd April 1877, the United service Lodge of NSW No. 937 (E.C.)
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ContentsContentsContentsContents
Page Page James Bowie 4 Vannear Bush 4 André Citroën 5 Samuel C olt 6 Erasmus Darwin 6 J T Desaguliers 7 H E Edgerton 8 Sir Stanford Fleming 8 Henry Ford 9 Benjamin Franklin 9 John Fitch 10 King Camp Gillette 10 R J Gatling 11 Joseph Guillotin 12 A S G Meucci 12 Montgolfier bros. 13 James Naismith 13 George Shillibeer 14 James Smathers 14 Harry C Stutz 15 Traian Vuia 16 James Watt 16 Stephen Wozniak 17 Henry Brougham 18 John Boyd Dunlop 18 Robert Thomson 19 John Gamgee 19 Andrew Bell 19 William Murdock 19 John Loudon McAdam 20 Mervyn Richardson 21 Sir Edward Hallstrom 21 Lawrence Hargraves 22 Alphabetical Index of Inventions Page 23
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JAMES “JIM” BOWIE Legendary Frontiersman, pioneer, battle hero.
He is the reputed inventor of the Bowie knife ( with help from his brother Rezin) He is something of a folk hero in American cul-tural history, his fame being born in somewhat violent circum-stances when, at the famous brawl known as the Sandbar Fight, he killed the Sheriff of Rapides Parish with an unusually long bladed knife. Whilst many different manufacturers have produced their own version of this blade, Bowie can definitely lay claim to being the original inspiration for the design. Jim Bowie was a member of L’Humble Chaumiere Lodge No. 19 at Opelousas, Louisiana.
VANNEVAR BUSH
Vannevar Bush with his Differential Analyser
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MERVYN VICTOR RICHARDSON
Australkian engineer invented the first rortary lawnmower known as the “Victa Mower”. He was a member of Lodge Wentworth No. 89 , joining the lodge on 6 February 1945.
SIR EDWARD JOHN LEES HALLSTROM
Sir Edward Hallstrom with deer at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Australia
\An animal lover, donated all his animals when he died, to start the Taronga Zoo. He invented the silent Knight refrig-erator, gas or electric powered. A member of Lodge Rose-ville No. 334. Initiated 24 August 1922.
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him, the Murdock Lodge No. 3480 in the Province of War-wickshire. The founding members were all working in the gas industry and decided in 1911 to name the new lodge after William Murdock who was the first man to develop commercial gas lighting. He also invented the gas meter. He also invented the oscillating steam engine.
JOHN LOUDON MCADAM
J L McAdam was a Scottish engineer who invented a method of road making that rendered the road smooth and impervious to water a system more commonly known as macadamising. Although there are no definitive re-cords of his joining Freemasonry it is vehemently stated that he was in fact a member, joining perhaps whilst in the USA.
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Vannevar Bush was an American engineer, scientist and the in-ventor of the first electronic analogue computer. His essay “ As we may think” published in 1945, was like science fiction. It envis-aged the technology which today we take for granted, including personal computers, the internet, hypertext, online ency-clopædias and speech recognition software. He wielded signifi-cant influence with the U.S. Government in military and scientific research. He was even involved in the development of the atomic bomb and was the alleged head of “Majestic 12”, a secret com-mittee set up by President Harry S Truman. He is often called the man who invented the internet. He was the Wor. Master of the Richard C Maclaurin Lodge in Massachusetts.
ANDRÉ-GUSTAVE CITROËN
French industrialist pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that complements the motor car. In 1919 he started manufacturing motor cars.
1919 Citroën A 8cv Torpedo
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Citroën earned a reputation for innovation and revolutionary engi-neering which began when André Citroën introduced the first in-dustrial mass production of vehicles outside the United States. He then produced Europe’s first steel-bodied car. In 1934 Citroën secured its reputation for innovation and inventiveness with its Traction Avant, the world’s first mass-produced four wheel drive car. In 1954 it produced the world’s first hydro pneumatic self-levelling suspension system then in 1955 produced the first European car with disc brakes and again in 1967 the first swivel-ling headlights. André-Gustave Citroën was a member of Lodge La Philosophie in Paris.
SAMUEL COLT
American industrialist and inventor, Samuel Colt, is best known for his revolver “The Colt 45”. He applied for his first patent at the age of 18. This was interestingly enough, a weapon that was of great value to other Freemasons in their revolutionary activities, such as Benito Suarez, Simon Bolivar, Giuseeppe Garibaldi and Sam Houston. Samuel Colt was an active Freemason, A MEMBER OF St. Johns Lodge No. 4, The Pythagoras Chapter No. 17 and the Washington Commandery, all in Hartford, Connecticut.
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JOHN GAMGEE Prof. John Gamgee invented the first mechanically refriger-ated ice rink in 1876. He was a member of the rifle Lodge No. 405 in Edinburgh.
ANDREW BELL
Founder of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Initiated into Lodge St. David No. 36 in Edinburgh.
WILLIAM MURDOCK
Whilst there is no evidence that William Murdock was him-self a Freemason, There is a Masonic Lodge named after
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HENRY PETER BROUGHAM
Accredited with the invention of the Brougham Carriage, Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Lord Chancellor of England, He was raised in Fortrose Lodge in Stormway, Scotland,
JOHN BOYD DUNLOP
Inventor of the pneumatic tyre (Dunlop Tyres) Initiated into The Lodge of Harmony CXI in Belfast, Ireland.
ROBERT WILLIAM THOMSON
Invented an inflatable/pneumatic tyre 43 years earlier than Dunlop. Held to be a Freemason although I have been un-able to locate definite evidence of this.
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ERASMUS DARWIN
The father of Charles Darwin, Erasmus Darwin invented the following: horizontal windmill, a carriage that couldn’t tip over, a steering mechanism for his carriage ( which is the steering mechanism adopted for us in motorcars, a speaking machine, a canal barge lift, a copying machine, artesian wells, and a variety of weather measuring devices. He was a senior member of Canongate Kilwinning Lodge No. 2.
REV. JOHN THEOPHILUS DESAGULIERS
Well known in international Freemasonry as the 3rd Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, few know that apart from being a man of the cloth, he was also involved with the Royal Society of London which organisation awarded him its highers honest, the Copley medal, no less than three times, in 1734, 1736 and 1741, this last award involving the discov-ery of certain properties of electricity.. He is credited with the invention of the planetarium and also remembered as the man who took the steam engine design a step forward by the addition of a safety valve.
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HAROLD EUGENE EDGERTON
50 Second strobe cycle Dr Edgerton in his lab with the stroboscope
Harold Edgerton was probably the world’s greatest expert on specialised photography. He developed the Rapatronic Cam-era used to photograph and record atomic tests, but espe-cially famous for his perfecting of the stroboscope system in which he is regarded as a pioneer. Dr. Edgerton was a member of the Acacia Fraternity, raised in Aurora Lodge No. 68 in Aurora, Nebraska and a member of Richard C Maclau-rin Lodge in Cambridge, Maryland.
SIR SANDFORD FLEMING
Inventor of standard mean time, now commonly known as Greenwich Mean Time,. He was a member of St. Andrews Lodge No. 16 in Ontario, Canada.
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Together with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne founded Ap-ple Computer, An American computer engineer he single-handedly created Apple I and Apple II computers. He is a member of Charity Lodge No. 362, Campbell, CA, His wife
is a member of the Eastern Star.
STEPHEN GARY WOZNIAK
James Watt was a Scottish mechanical engineer and in-ventor. He was involved in a very early version of a copy-ing machine and the bleaching of cloth by using chlorine, but he is venerated for his development of fundamental improvements on the steam engine. He was a member of Ancient Union and Princes Lodge.
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TRAIAN VUIA
Traian Vuia in his flying machine 18 March 1906 Traian Vuia was a Romanian inventor and his self pro-pelled, fixed wing aircraft flew 39 feet in 1906. He became a French citizen in 1919, It is reported that in the3 wake of WWI, Vuia was part of a small group of Freemasons who travelled to the Peace Conference in Paris to facilitate links with Paris Ernest Renan Lodge.
JAMES WATT
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HENRY FORD
The industrialist who founded the Ford Motor Company, He was responsible for the introduction of the assembly line technique of mass production. His Model T automobile revolutionised transportation and American industry. He had a global vision with consumerism as the key to peace. His commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations including a franchise system that put dealerships in place in major cit-ies on six continents. He was raised in Palestine Lodge No. 357 Detroit on 28 November 1894. he was also a member of Zion Lodge No. 1.
DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Franklin at work on a printing press
Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s greatest statesmen was, amoingst many other things, a prodigious inventor.
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Included in his inventions are the lightning rod, glass harmon-ica, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses, a flexible urinary catheter as well as social innovations. In 1731 he was initi-ated into St. John’s Lodge in Philadelphia and appointed Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Philadelphia in 1934.
JOHN FITCH
Schematic of John Pitch’s piston
John Fitch’s revolutionary design for propelling a boat without water was granted a US patent on 26 August 1791. Four years earlier on 22 August 1787 he demonstrated his inven-tion, the first successful steamboat on the Delaware river. He was a member of Bristol Lodge No. 25 PA.
KING CAMP GILLETTE
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HARRY C STUTZ
Motor car magnate, Harry Stutz, creator of the Stutzmobile, A member of the Ancient Landmarks Lodge No. 319, RAM, Knights templar and a member of the Murat Shrine Temple, all in Indianapolis.
Stutz at Indianapolis 1912
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GEEORGE SHILLIBEER
A coach maker in Bloomsbury, George Shillibeer invented and built the first two omnibuses in England, He also in-vented an undertaker’s vehicle which combined a hearse and a mourning coach. He was initiated on 25 February 1827 into Etonian Lodge, at Windsor and also affiliated in 1829 to Globe Lodge No. 23 in London.
JAMES FIELD SMATHERS
Inventor of the world’s first electric typewriter. James Smathers was a member of Gate City Lodge no. 522, Kan-sas City.
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It is not unreasonable to claim that King Camp Gillette the inventor of the safety razor, changed the world with his cheap, disposable safety razor. He was granted US Patent No. 775134 on 15 November 1904.
He was a member of Adelphi Lodge in Quincy, Massachu-setts and was an affiliate of the Columbian Lodge in Bos-ton.
RICHARD JORDAN GATLING
Dr Richard Gatling was a prolific inventor. His inventions include a screw propeller and wheat drill in 1839, hemp break machine in 1850, steam plough 1857, the Gatling Gun 1861, marine steam ram and motor driven plough in 1862. He was a member of Center Lodge No. 23 Indian-apolis, Indiana.
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JOSEPH-IGNACE GUILLOTIN
Inventor of the “guillotine”, this French physician did not, contrary to popular belief, invent the guillotine, even though it is popularly named after him. It is true that he was the first to suggest the device. He was a member of the famous Paris Loge Les Noef Soeurs.
ANTONIO SANTI GIUSEPPE MEUCCI
It is widely believed that the telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. In 2002 the US Congress, 113 years after the death of Antonio Meucci, officially recog-nised that Bell was not the inventor and that Meucci was in fact that man. He discovered the principle of the telephone in 1849 and developed a working model in 1859. There is no written proof of his membership of Freemasonry, but as a result of his very close friendship with Giuseppe Gari-baldi, who went through all three Masonic degrees in Tompkins Lodge 401, Staten Island it is confidently be-lieved that Antonio Meucci was on the square.
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THE MONTGOLFIER BROS.
Joseph-Michel Montgolfier The Montgolfier Bros. invented the hot air balloon and the first manned ascent with Étienne aboard, flew on 4 June 1783.. Both brothers were members of the Paris Loge Des Neuf Soeurs, Jacques being initiated in 1784 and his brother in 1806.
JAMES A NAISMITH
The Canadian sports coach who invented the game of basketball. He was initiated in 1894 into Roswell lee Lodge in Springfield, Ma and affiliated to Lawrence Lodge No. 6 in Kansas of which lodge he was the Wor. Master 1927/28.
Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier