Master Mason Apron, c. 1789-1794

The inscription under the flap of this apron indicates that this apron was originally owned by John Stoddert Haw (1751-1813) and that he was a member of Old Lodge No. 9 at George Town on the Potomac (Chartered by the Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Maryland in 1789 and lapsed in 1794). Haw was born on July 24, 1769 to Christopher Haw (?-1773) and Sarah Price (Priscilla) Stoddert (dates unknown).

Upon the death of his father in 1773, Haw, in accordance with the terms in his father’s will inherited his father’s estate with the provision that his mother, Sarah, would be provided with 1/3 of the estate during her life. Haw later married Mary Ann Pen (1772-1830) and had one daughter, Mary Ann Haw (1808-1833), who married Philip Taylor Berry (1800-1879). In 1815 Haw purchased land and constructed a house, completed in 1816, located at 2808 N Street in Northwest, Washington D. C., in Georgetown. The house was assessed for insurance purposes at $5,000 on July 19, 1817. The house, now known as the John Stoddert Haw House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Haw died on September 11, 1832 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in the District of Columbia.Through his mother he was the nephew of Benjamin Stoddert (1751-1813). Benjamin Stoddert was born in Charles County, Maryland and served during the American Revolution as a captain in a Pennsylvania regiment and later as secretary to the Continental Board of War. After George Washington (1732-1799) was elected president of the United States, he was requested to purchase key parcels of land in the area that would become the nation’s capital on the banks of the Potomac. In 1798 President John Adams (1735-1826) appointed him to oversee the newly established Department of the Navy, a position he held from 1798 until 1801.