GEORGE CLYMER
CHRISTIAN INITIATE;
MEMBER,
COUNCILS of
THREE AND SEVEN,
FRATERNITAS ROSÆ CRUCIS;
ORDER of the ROSE
George Clymer, son of Christian Clymer and nephew of John Clymer, two brothers, Mennonites, who came from England in 1695, seeking religious freedom, was born in Philadelphia, October 28, 1739.
George Clymer was left an orphan when seven years of age and was adopted by an uncle, a rich Quaker merchant, who left George his entire fortune at his death. He married into the Coleman family, wealthy and in business, whose fortunes George Clymer followed. His father-in-law, prominent in public life, was host to George Washington on Washington's visits to Philadelphia, and it was here that young George Clymer became well acquainted with Washington and imbued to follow him as fate dictated.

Clymer was a most successful, shrewd and level headed business man, but in this new country his entire sympathy was with the people who were seeking their freedom. Young Clymer was opposed to England's tax plan because he, as a large and successful business man, was compelled to pay these taxes. He left Philadelphia and went to Boston to gain knowledge first hand, returning to Philadelphia thoroughly filled with a desire for the independence of America. He proved his sincerity by becoming a captain in the army. This was generally against the doctrine of his religion, but he felt, as had his forefathers who were members of the Friends of Freedom, that to be a MAN, man cannot be a slave, and it were better to be dead than live as the serf of any man or congregation of men.

He entered the Continental Congress as the successor to John Dickinson, who, though sometimes called “the pen of the Revolution,” refused to sign the Declaration of Independence and left Congress. George served in Congress from July 20, 1776, to September of 1777. With Wilson and others of the Pennsylvania members of Congress, he signed the Declaration with them.

He was the first treasurer of the central government and worked with Robert Morris in planning the financial affairs of the United colonies which was then a treasury without funds. Clymer was the first man to buy bonds of liberty, and he sold them to his friends. The problems of Morris and Clymer were almost insurmountable, problems that would have been (and were thought) hopeless by all but these two.

When the Congress left in retreat from Philadelphia on being threatened by unpaid soldiers, Clymer and Morris remained as the sole governors of the then new and decidedly shaky government. The national leaders issued currency known as “Continental currency” which became worthless. Clymer, in addition to working with Morris, also worked with Elbridge Gerry, another of the signers of the Declaration, in his efforts for financial reform.

After being out of Congress for several years, Clymer again served as a Pennsylvania delegate from 1780 to 1783. When some of the states became delinquent in the requisitions fixed to help bear the cost of the war, he and Rutledge were delegated to awaken them to their obligation.

In 1785 he became a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature and served until 1788. During this time he, with the Quakers, fought against capital punishment for many offences, and against the public expose of criminals. He also was a member of the Federal Constitution Convention.

Here he fought with the delegation in its fight for the rights of the large states and whole-heartedly participated in the making of the Constitution. Later, again, as a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, he aided greatly in having the Assembly call a state convention to act on ratification before Congress had made a formal request.

Clymer was sent to the first Congress under the Constitution he had helped to create, as the first representative of a district that included the territory later represented in Congress by James Buchanan, who later became the fifteenth President of the United States.

Clymer somehow attracted the most disagreeable tasks of the period. After serving one period in Congress he was consigned to the disagreeable position of serving as head of the excise tax department during what was known as the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania, when the farmer-distillers of that region defied a Federal Statute fixing a tax on every barrel of whiskey. The insurrection was subdued with the help of some fifteen hundred soldiers.

Still another difficult task assigned him was to proceed South to assist in negotiating a treaty with the Cherokee and Creek Indians of Georgia during the last period of Washington's administration.

As has been said, Clymer inherited much wealth and he was a most successful business man. However, his heart and Soul were with the patriots who sought to become freemen and all he had he gave to Washington; even so, he was far more fortunate than his friend Morris, who, like himself, gave all he possessed to help the cause; who, later, when penniless and in debt, was consigned to a debtors prison, disgraced and permitted to suffer mental torture in exchange for his whole-heartedness and generosity.

Clymer was the only one to sign both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and as a reward, his home was sacked and destroyed by a mob that did not approve his actions.

Later Clymer again entered business successfully. He helped to found a number of important institutions, became first president of the Philadelphia Bank, was one of the greatest patrons of the highest in cultural and social life in the city, was actually founder and president of the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

Clymer was a true Unknown [Inconnu]. His Arcane interests were known to but a few except the members of the Council. He also observed strict secrecy in his many noble acts of charity. He was a worthy exponent of one of the fundamental Laws of the Fraternitas—that of Personal Responsibility and the motto of his life was:

“He who justly estimates the value of the punctual performance of a promise [or duty] will not without a very good reason disregard it, whether it be to sign a contract [and keep it], walk with a friend, pay a debt or present a toy to a child.”

He wholeheartedly believed in personal responsibility and lived accordingly.

Clymer, friend of humanity, man of deep culture, advocate of the Brotherhood of Man, who did not hesitate to risk his life and freely gave all he had for the welfare of his fellow man, Member of the Councils of Three and Seven of the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis, died January 23, 1813.

LITTLE KNOWN MEMBERS OF
THE GREAT OR WORLD COUNCIL
AND COUNCIL OF THREE

The members of the Councils active in the Great Work between the period of George Clymer and General Hitchcock, George Lippard and P. B. Randolph and engaged in instructing and guiding Neophytes on the Path, but not generally known to the public, include the following:
John F. Kapp

Gustave Schrader

Albert Burpee

L. H. McLaughlin

 Lewis and Jonathan Kirk

E. A. Perceval, Jr.

and lastly, but not least:

S. B. Watrous.
These men were truly Unknown, or Inconnu. Each and every one of them stipulated that not only should they remain unknown, except to members of the Fraternitas, but that even their place of birth, date of birth and death, should remain unknown to the profane; that only their efforts in behalf of the Fraternitas and humanity should live, and we may do no less than respect their wishes.

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