From Murphy to Manteo:
North Carolina Masonic Governors
George Burrington, Chief Executive, 1724-1725; Governor under the Crown 1731-1734
Sir Richard Everhard, Chief Executive,1725-1728; Governor under the Crown 1728-1731
Cornelius Harnett, Governor 1775-1776
William Richardson Davie, Grand Master 1792-1799; Governor 1798-1799
Richard Caswell, Governor 1776-1780 and 1785-1787; Grand Master 1788-1789
Alexander Martin, Governor 1782-1785 and 1789-1792
Samuel Johnston, Grand Master 1787-1788 and 1789-1792; Governor 1787-1789
Benjamin Williams, Governor 1799-1802 and 1807-1808
James Turner, Governor 1802-1805
Nathaniel Alexander, Governor 1805-1807
Benjamin Smith, Grand Master 1808-1811; Governor 1810-1811
Hutchins Gordon Burton, Jr., Governor 1824-1827; Grand Master 1825-1827
Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., Grand Master 1830-1832; Governor 1835-1836
David L. Swain, Governor 1832-1835
John W. Ellis, Governor 1859-1861
William Miller, Governor 1815-1817
John Branch, Governor 1817-1820
Jesse Franklin, Governor 1820-1821
Gabriel Holmes, Governor 1821-1824
James Iredell, Jr., Governor 1827-1828
John Owen, Governor 1828-1830
Montfort Stokes, Governor 1830-1832
Henry T. Clark, Governor 1861-1862
Zebulon Baird Vance, Governor 1862-1865 and 1867-1879
William Woods Holden, Governor 1865 and 1868-1870
Daniel G. Fowle, Governor 1889-1891
Thomas W. Holt, Governor 1891-1893
Charles Brantley Aycock, Governor 1901-1905
Robert Brodnax Glenn, Governor 1905-1909
William Walton Kitchin, Governor 1909-1913
Locke Craig, Governor 1913-1917
Thomas W. Bickett, Governor 1917-1921
John C. B. Ehringhaus, Governor 1933-1937
Clyde Roark Hoey, Governor 1937-1941
Joseph Melville Broughton, Governor 1941-1945
Robert Gregg Cherry, Governor 1945-1949
William Kerr Scott, Governor 1949-1952
William Bradley Umstead, Governor 1952-1954
Luther Hartwell Hodges, Governor 1954-1961
Terry Sanford, Governor 1961-1965
Dan Killian Moore, Governor 1965-1969
Robert Walter Scott, Governor 1969-1973
James Eubert Holshouser, Jr., Governor 1973-1977
James Baxter Hunt, Jr., Governor 1977-1985
James Grubbs Martin, Governor 1985-1993
James Baxter Hunt, Jr., Governor 1993-2001

We can thank Brother Earley Winfred Bridges, author of The Masonic Governors of North Carolina, for his scholarship in assembling much of the above data and also the following First Events:

George Burrington was the first known Masonic Chief Executive Under the Proprietor under the King of England—and the first one murdered.

Richard Everhard was the first Masonic Governor Under the Crown, under the King of England, and the first to die by natural death.

Cornelius Harnett was first to be Deputy Provincial Grand Master of America. He was also first to be a member of an English-chartered lodge in the colony—and first to die in prison. He was also the first governor to be acclaimed the greatest patriot of North Carolina.

Richard Caswell was the first NC governor to be a member of three lodges, first to receive the Masonic degrees in an unchartered lodge, first Roman Catholic to be made a Mason in North Carolina, first and only governor to be re-obligated in a lodge, first Deputy Grand Master, prepared the first Grand Lodge constitution, and was first master of Kinston 3.

There is more. The first lodge chartered by the Grand Lodge was named for Caswell and Johnston. Caswell was the first governor to have a lodge named in his honor, and the first to die in office. He was the first to have a Royal Arch Chapter named for him. And the first to have a monument erected in his memory.

Alexander Martin was the first governor to be appointed Pursuivant, and the first to be appointed Junior Grand Deacon.

Samuel Johnston was the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina.

He served on the first committee to superintend the making of the Grand Lodge seal.

He was first to be installed as Grand Master by proxy. First elected while absent from the communication. First to have a bust of his likeness placed in the state capitol. In 1931 he became first and only governor rated as the foremost Mason of the North Carolina colony. Finally, Johnston was first to fill the Grand Master’s office for four years and to fill it for three consecutive years.

William R. Davie was first to be elected Grand Master the year in which he was raised. He led the first public Masonic procession in this state, the first known to have been received with Grand Honors, first to help revise the GL constitution and laws, first to purchase GL furniture, first to issue a dispensation empowering Masons to open a new lodge, first to fill the GM office seven consecutive years and first to have a Rose Croix chapter named in his honor.

Benjamin Williams was the first governor to be passed and raised the same day.

James Turner was the first to be secretary of a lodge and the first to be fined for being absent from a lodge meeting. He was also first to be senior warden of his lodge, first appointed to a committee to examine the grand treasurer’s accounts and first elected GL delegate to the first national convention of Masons.

Benjamin Smith was the first governor to hold the office of Grand Warden for five consecutive years.

John Owen was the first governor to be suspended for non-payment of dues (Terry Sanford was second.)

Montfort Stokes was the first member of four lodges. He was also first to receive the Mark Master and Past Master degrees. He served as first Master of Stokes 32, presiding over its first meeting, and was first to be Deputy Grand Master for six consecutive years.

Richard D. Spaight, Jr., was first Grand Lecturer for five consecutive years.

John W. Ellis was first to die outside North Carolina while serving as governor.

Henry T. Clark was chairman of the first committee to write the history of the Grand Lodge.

Zebulon Baird Vance was the first governor to have a military lodge named for him. On August 3, 1881, he delivered the oration at the cornerstone laying of the first monument erected to honor a NC governor. And he was first to have his statue unveiled in the national capitol.

William W. Holden was the first governor whose petition for the degrees was rejected, the only governor to be made a Mason at sight, and the first and only governor to be impeached and removed from office.

Daniel G. Fowle was the first to invite GL members to a reception in the executive mansion.

Thomas W. Holt was first to deliver an oration and assist in the Masonic cornerstone laying of a commercial enterprise building.

Robert B. Glenn was first to become a member of the Shrine and first to die in a foreign country.

John C. B. Ehringhaus was the first and only governor to speak at the relaying of the cornerstone of the state capitol.

Clyde R. Hoey was the first known governor to present the past master’s jewel to a past master of a blue lodge.

Produced by the public relations committee of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Masons in North Carolina,
2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27628 MMVIII
Author/editor: Walter J. Klein wklein(at)carolina.rr.com