'I swear': Last-minute availability put Masons' Bible into history

Published: 2005-01-14

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As Ryan Johnson explains it, George Washington's inauguration ceremony was painstakingly planned down to the tiniest detail about seating arrangements -- with just one exception. As the first president of the United States arrived at New York's City Hall by horse-drawn carriage and prepared to step onto the open balcony that April 30 in 1789, it belatedly occurred to organizers that there ought to be a Bible on which Washington could take the oath of office. One of the men at hand, parade marshal Jacob Morton, also happened to be master of the St. John's Lodge No. 1 of the Masons and offered to provide one from the lodge, located nearby at the corner of Water and Wall streets. The organization's 1767 King James Version was rushed to the hall and opened to Genesis, at the end of Chapter 49 and the beginning of Chapter 50, where Washington placed his hand for the ceremony. As he completed the oath written for the occasion, Washington added the unscripted words, "I swear, so help me God," and bowed to kiss the Bible. Thus was born a tradition followed by almost every one of the 42 presidents inaugurated since then, including some who have used the very same Bible. The volume is still owned by the St. John's Lodge, which Johnson serves as chairman of the George Washington Inaugural Bible Committee. He was one of three lodge members who escorted the Bible to Washington in January for it to be displayed as part of an inauguration exhibit at the National Archives.

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