Master Mason Apron, c. 1775

The front of this apron is embroidered in colored silk threads with a sun and flower motif on the flap and a square and compass with two floral sprigs and the inscription: ‘Lodge’ No. 18” in script on the main panel. Embroidered on the back is “1775” and the initial “B. N.” for Benjamin Nixon (dates unknown), a member of Old Lodge No. 18 in Dover, Delaware under the provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania (Chartered August 25, 1775 and lapsed around 1787). Brother Nixon was a Past Master of Old Lodge No. 18. During the lodge’s twelve years of existence, meetings were held on “The Green” at an inn which stood on the site of the Kent County Courthouse. Members included many of Delaware’s most prominent citizens who served as officers in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War including John Dickinson (1732-1808), Robert Kirkwood (1746-1791), James Tilton (1745-1822), Allen McLane (1746-1829) and future Delaware Governor David Hall (1752-1817).