Prospective Members

The most notable name on the Roll of St Bernard's Kilwinning Lodge, No 122 (erased in 1816), is that of "Captain John Paul" of Kirkcudbright, who was admitted an Entered Apprentice on the 27th November 1770, and to ensure that future readers might have no doubt as to the identity of this intrant a note at the end of the minute says: "Paul Johnes entered". The famous rover was passed to the Fellow Craft Degree on 28th February 1771, but there is no record of his being raised as a Master Mason. His name is recorded in the books of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and a Diploma by the Lodge was issued in his favour.

For a more distinctly Masonic view, Lodge St Cuthbert Kilwinning, No 41 in Kirkcudbright, contains scans of the original Minutes of John Paul's initiation and 'raising' (sic) to the 2°, and some commentary from Brethren in the United States of America where he rests in the Chapel at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He is encased in a marble sarcophagus designed by Sylvian Salieres and modelled somewhat like Napoleon's tomb in the Invalides.

John Paul Jones (born John Paul) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regarded by several commentators as one of the greatest naval commanders in the military history of the United States.

He was born July 6, 1747 at Arbigland, parish of Kirkbean, in the Stewarty of Kirkcudbright, Scotland. He was the fifth of seven children born to John Paul and Jean McDuff. He went to sea at age 12, and was made Captain of his first merchant ship when he was 21, after the Captain died at sea of a fever.

When he moved to America to live, he probably arrived by way of Edenton, North Carolina, then moved up into the Fredricksburg-Alexandria area of Virginia. Some time during this period he added "Jones" to his name, which has caused much consternation and speculation among historians.