Boston, Mass, January 19, 1909. 



My dear Doctor: 



Thank you for your kind letter and clipping. 

 I will look at the Sachse book. I can guess what It is. Poor 

 Pennsylvania has been struggling for several years to show that 

 her Masonry was older than that of Massachusetts, and Sachse has 

 perverted dear old Ben Franklin and everybody else in his 

 statements , that on analysis always fail to bear the light of day. 

 I can guef-s this book is a struggle on their part to do what their 

 historian Lamberton and some others ft** not do at the 150th 

 Anniversary of the initiation of George Washington, that is, claim 

 for Pennsylvania what does not belong to her. Some of them like 

 Sachse have always hoped that their Masonic existence was prior to 

 Massachusetts, but they are met continually by the fact that 

 Henry Prir-e got the first charter in 1733 and Benjamin Franklin 

 came on^and got authority from Henry Price in 1734 and founded 

 Masonry in Pennsylvania. Of course there were bodies of Masons 

 that met both at Boston and Philadelphia, but they had no lodges, 

 no charters, and no right of exis+ence until 1733. I have often 

 thought i would liketo go to Philadelphia and dig out the Franklin 

 letters and material and refute some of their assertions. 

 The whole thing is kind of a tempest in a teapot and is laughable. 

 Six or eight years ago I had occasion in a public address to refer 

 to Pennsylvania's claim by quoting the old story: Phil ad elphia 

 claimed two noble loyal sons, Benjamin Franklin of Boston and 



