Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

JOHNSON
JONES 371
eociety of Freemasons was known by no other
name thaw that of "John's Brothers," Joannaeorum
fratrum ; that they then began to be
called at Valenciennes, Free and Accepted
Masons and that at that time, in some parts
of Flanders, by the assistance and riches of the
brotherhood, the first hospitals were erected
for the relief of such as were afflicted Nvith St .
Anthony's fire . In another part of the charter
it is said that the authors of the associations
were called "Brothers consecrated to
John" fratres Joanni Sacros-because "they
followed the example and imitation of John
the Baptist ."
Johnson . Sometimes spelled Johnstone .
An adventurer, and Masonic charlatan, whose
real name was Leucht . He assumed Masonry
as a disguise under which he could carry on his
impositions . He appeared first at Jena, in the
beginning of the year 1763, and proclaimed
that he had been deputed by the chiefs of
Templar Masonry in Scotland to introduce a
reform into the German Lodges . He established
a Chapter of Strict Observance (the
Rite then dominating in Germany), and assumed
the dignity of Grand Prior . He made
war upon Rosa, the founder of the Rosaic Rite,
and upon the Grand Lodge of the Three
Globes, which then sustained that enthusiast .
Many of the German Lodges succumbed to his
pretensions, and, surrendering their Warrants,
gave in their adhesion to Johnson . Von Hund
himself was at first deceived by him ; but in
1764, at Altenberg, having discovered that
Johnson had been formerly under the name of
Becker, the secretary of tie Prince of Bernber~,
whose confidence he had betrayed ; that
during the seven years' war he had been wandering
about, becoming finally, the servant of
a Mason, whose papers he had stolen, and that
by means of these papers he had been passing
himself as that individual, B . von Hund denounced
him as an impostor . Johnson fled,
but was subsequently arrested at Magdeburg,
and imprisoned in the fortress of Wartzberg,
where in 1773 he died suddenly .
John the Baptist. See Saint John the
Baptist.
John the Evangelist . See Saint John the
Evangelist.
Joinvilie, Chaillou de. See Chaillou de
Joinville.
Jokshan . (Heb .,,Tnj)`, fowler.) The second
son of Abraham and Keturah, whose sons appear
to be the ancestors of the Sabeans and
Dedanites, who inhabited part of Arabia Felix .
(Same as Jeksan .)
Jones, Inigo. One of the most celebrated
of English architects, and hence called the
Vitruvius of England . He was born at London
on July 15, 1573, and died June 21, 1652, in
the seventy-ninth year of his age . He was
successively the architect of three kings-
James I ., Charles I., and Charles II .-and
during his long career superintended the erection
of many of the most magnificent public
and private edifices in England, among which
were the Banqueting-House of Whitehall, and
the old church of St . Paul's . Jones's official
position placed him, of course, in close connection
with the Operative Masons . Anderson,
seizing on this circumstance, says that
James I . "approved of his being chosen Grand
Master of England, to preside over the
Lodges" (Constitutions, 1738, p . 98) ; but the
Earl of Pembroke being afterward chosen
Grand Master, he appointed Jones his Deputy .
These statements are copied by Entick and
Noorthouck in their respective editions of
the Book of Constitutions ; but it, is hardly
necessary to say that they need historical confirmation
. Preston says :
"During his administration, several learned
men were initiated into the Order, and the society
considerably increased in consequence
and reputation . Ingenious artists daily resorted
to England, where they met with great
encouragement ; Lodges were instituted as
seminaries of instruction in the sciences and
polite arts, after the model of the Italian
schools ; the communications of the Fraternity
were established, and the annual festivals
regularly observed ."
There may be exaggeration or assumption
in much of this, but it cannot be denied that
the office of Jones as "King's Architect," and
his labors as the most extensive builder of his
time, must have brought him into close intimacy
with the associations of Operative Masons,
which were being rapidly influenced by a
speculative character . It will be remembered
that six years before Jones's death, Elias Ashmole
was, by his own account, made a Freemason
at Warrington, and Jones the architect
and builder could hardly have taken less interest
in the society than Ashmole the astrologer
and antiquary . We have, perhaps, a
right to believe that Jones was a Freemason.
Jones, Stephen . A miscellaneous writer
and Masonic author of some celebrity . He
was born at London in 1764, and educated at
St. Paul's school . He was, on leaving school,
placed under an eminent sculptor, but, on account
of some difference, was removed and
apprenticed to a printer . On the expiration of
his articles, he was engaged as corrector of the
press, by Mr . Strahan, the king's printer .
Four years afterward, he removed to the
office of Mr . Thomas Wright, where he remained
until 1797, when the death of his employer
dissolved his immediate connection
with the printing business . He then became
the editor of the Whitehall Evening Post, and,
on the decline of that paper, of the General
Evening Post, and afterward of the European
Magazine . His contributions to literature
were very various . He supervised an edition
of Reed's Biographia Dramatica, an abridgment
of Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution,
and also abridgments of many other
popular works . But, he is best known in
general literature by his Pronouncing and Explanatory
Dictionary of the English Language,
published in 1798 . This production, although
following Walker's far superior work, was
very favorably received by the public .
In Masonry, Stephen Jones occupied a very
high position . He was a Past Master of the