Thomas Smith Webb

Who was Thomas Smith Webb?

Thomas Smith Webb 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. Webb has been called the "Founding Father of the York or American Rite" for his efforts to promote those Masonic bodies.

Webb was born in Boston, Massachusetts. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a printer in Boston, and he afterward removed 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 and established a paper staining factory. 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 exceedingly 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, 1816, 1818, and by numerous editions after the author's decease.