Thomas Smith Webb

Thomas Smith Webb Part of a series on

Freemasonry

Overview

* Grand Lodge
* Masonic lodge
* Masonic lodge officers
* Grand Master
* Prince Hall Freemasonry
* Regular Masonic jurisdiction
* Anglo-American Freemasonry
* Continental Freemasonry

History

* History of Freemasonry
* Liberté chérie
* Masonic manuscripts

Masonic bodies

Masonic

* Masonic bodies
* York Rite
* Order of Mark Master Masons
* Holy Royal Arch
* Royal Arch Masonry
* Cryptic Masonry
* Knights Templar
* Red Cross of Constantine
* Scottish Rite
* Knight Kadosh
* Societas Rosicruciana
* Order of Royal and Select Masters
* Grand College of Rites
* Swedish Rite
* Order of Saint Thomas of Acon
* Royal Order of Scotland
* Order of Knight Masons
* Research Lodge
* Corks

Side degrees

* The Shrine
* Royal Order of Jesters
* Tall Cedars of Lebanon
* The Grotto

Masonic groups for women

* Women and Freemasonry
* Order of the Amaranth
* Order of the Eastern Star
* Co-Freemasonry

Masonic youth organizations

* DeMolay
* A.J.E.F.
* Job's Daughters
* International Order of the Rainbow for Girls

Views on Masonry

* Anti-Masonry
* Anti-Masonic Party
* Grand Anti-Masonic Exhibition
* Masonic conspiracy theories
* Christian attitudes towards Freemasonry
* Papal ban of Freemasonry
* Taxil hoax

People and places

* Masonic Temple
* James Anderson
* Prince Hall
* William Preston
* Thomas Smith Webb
* Albert Mackey
* Albert Pike
* John the Evangelist
* John the Baptist
* William Schaw
* Elizabeth Aldworth
* List of Freemasons
* Lodge Mother Kilwinning
* Freemasons' Hall, London
* Mark Masons' Hall, London
* House of the Temple
* Solomon's Temple
* Detroit Masonic Temple
* List of Masonic buildings

Related

* Masonic ritual and symbolism
* Great Architect of the Universe
* Square and Compasses
* Pigpen cipher
* Eye of Providence
* Hiram Abiff
* List of Masonic Abbreviations
* Sprig of Acacia
* Masonic Landmarks
* Pike's Morals and Dogma
* Propaganda Due
* Dermott's Ahiman Rezon
* Volume of Sacred Law

By country

* Barbados
* Belgium
* Canada
* China
* Croatia
* Denmark
* France
* Finland
* Germany
* Iceland
* India
* Indonesia
* Israel
* Italy
* Japan
* Lebanon
* Luxembourg
* Malaysia
* Malta
* Mexico
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* Scotland
* South Africa
* Spain
* Sri Lanka
* Sweden
* Philippines
* Thailand
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* Venezuela
* United States

* v
* t
* e

Thomas Smith Webb (October 30, 1771 - July 6, 1819) was the author of Freemason’s Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry, a book which had a significant impact on the development of Masonic Ritual in America, and especially that of the York Rite.[1] Webb has been called the "Founding Father of the York or American Rite" for his efforts to promote those Masonic bodies.[2]

## Biography[edit]

Webb was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the son of Samuel and Margaret (Smith) Webb, who had emigrated to America from England shortly before Thomas' birth. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a printer in Boston, and he afterward moved to Keene, New Hampshire, where he worked for some time at his trade. Here the three degrees of ancient craft Masonry were conferred upon him by Rising Sun Lodge. In 1793 he moved to Albany, New York. In 1797 he was the founding Master of Temple Lodge #14 In Albany (now Ancient Temple Lodge #14) where both, regular Masonic meetings and Royal Arch meetings were held. Smith Webb established a paper staining factory and on 14 September 1797, as appears from the copyright, he published The Freemason's Monitor, or Illustrations of Masonry. This small volume, which is now very rare, consisted of two parts, the second part containing an account of the "Ineffable Degrees of Masonry" together with several Masonic songs by the author. The publication of this work was followed by successively enlarged and improved editions in 1802, 1805, 1808, 1812, 1816, 1818, and by numerous editions after the author's death.[3][4]

Thomas Smith Webb presided over a convention of committees in Boston in October, 1797, for the formation of a general Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and at a meeting in Providence in January, 1799, he presented, as chairman of a committee, a constitution which was adopted. The formation of the Grand Encampment of the United States was the result of his Masonic work. The original draft of the constitution, with all the changes, additions, and interlineations in his own handwriting, is in the archives of St. John's Commandery, Providence, Rhode Island. In 1799 he moved with his family to Providence, where he spent the greater part of his remaining years.[3]

His musical attainments were considerable, and he was the first president of the Psallonian Society, an organization for the improvement of its members in sacred melody. In 1815, having changed his residence to Boston, he instituted, in connection with others, the Handel and Haydn Society, of which he was the first president.[3]

He also served as the first Grand Commander of what is now the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar and the Appendant Orders of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island in 1813-14.[5]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Tabbert, Mark A., American Freemasons, New York University Press, 2005, pp.51-53
2. ^ Biography of Thomas Smith Webb, on the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon website.
3. ^ a b c Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1889). "Webb, Thomas Smith" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
4. ^ Dictionary of American biography, 1932, v. 19, p. 577
5. ^ "Thomas Smith Webb" Short Talk Bulletin. Masonic Service Association of North America.

## Sources[edit]

* Temple Lodge #14, Albany New York 1797-1802 Minute Book
* Hodapp, Christopher; Freemasons for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, 2005, pp. 43–44.
* Morris, S. Brent; The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry, Alpha books, 2006, p. 24.
* Dumas Malone, ed. (1932). Dictionary of American biography. Vol. XIX. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

## Further reading[edit]

* Paul Dean. A eulogy delivered in Boylston Hall, Boston at the request of the Masonic, Handel and Haydn, and Philharmonic Societies, August 19, 1819, on the character of their late friend and brother Thomas Smith Webb, Esq.

## External links[edit]

* Freemason’s Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry at Google Books

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST
* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* France
* BnF data
* Israel
* United States

Other|

* RISM

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template