There is no doubt that on the afternoon of Oct. 13, 1792, a group of Freemasons marched from Georgetown to the site of what is now the White House and laid a cornerstone. That evening, though, by about the 11th toast--this one to "the fair daughters of America"--the congenial gathering of Freemasons at Georgetown's Fountain Inn had begun to grow a bit hazy about where they had laid that particular stone earlier in the day.
Five more toasts followed, concluding with the wish "May peace, liberty and order extend from pole to pole." Then the revelers went off into the night...
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