You’re probably heard his name your whole life: Mark Twain. (Real name: Samuel Langhorne Clemens.) But did you know that the famously independent, crusty, deep-thinking Mark Twain was a Freemason—one who greatly admired and helped to promote the values of the Brotherhood through his world-famous books and other writings?
Early Ties to Freemasonry
World-famous for such novels as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the man who became known as Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. When he was just 11 his father died, and after that his family experienced deep financial hardship, which forced him to leave school and become an apprentice printer. In his early twenties he became a Mississippi riverboat pilot. This was the experience that sparked Twain’s interest in joining Freemasonry, as he discovered that many of his new friends and fellow riverboat pilots were enthusiastic, committed Freemasons. He presented his petition to Polar Star Lodge No. 79 of St. Louis on December 26, 1860, and received the first degree shortly thereafter, on February 18, 1861.
Values Reflected in His Writings
When we gaze through the prism of “Mark Twain and Freemasonry,” we see core Masonic values reflected in Twain’s life and work, including Brotherly Love, Relief (Charity), and Truth. We even see his explicit references to the “Great Architect of the Universe” and to other Masonic concepts, which spotlight his intellectual and moral alignment with the fraternity.
To look at one specific example, we can see clearly how the Masonic value of Brotherly Love is reflected in Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which Ernest Hemingway and many others hailed as the greatest American novel ever written. In the story, Twain affirms Brotherly Love through Huck’s evolving friendship and affection for Jim, a runaway slave. As their journey down the Mississippi River progresses, Huck recognizes Jim’s humanity and compassion, leading Huck to defy societal norms and choose loyalty to his friend over the prevailing racist attitudes of the time. Twain spotlights a profound form of Brotherly Love grounded in shared experiences and mutual respect.
Or take the Masonic value of Relief (Charitable Giving), as seen in the same classic novel. Through the character of the Widow Douglas, we, as readers, learn (with Huck) simple yet profound lessons about the importance of helping others and looking out for them. The Widow Douglas thus embodies the concept of charitable giving as a form of community responsibility. In that way, she represents a direct “though-line” between profound values the young riverboat captain Samuel Langhorne Clemens learned from his fellow Freemasons as a very young man, and then, decades later, shared with the world.
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