George Washington Inaugural Bible

The George Washington Inaugural Bible is the book that was sworn upon by George Washington when he took office as the first President of the United States. The Bible itself has subsequently been used in the inauguration ceremonies of several other U.S. presidents.

St. John's Lodge No. 1, Ancient York Masons, are the custodians of what is now known as the George Washington Inaugural Bible. On April 30, 1789 it was upon this Bible that George Washington took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. In 2009, the Lodge formed a registered public charity for the purpose of preserving, maintaining and restoring the George Washington Inaugural Bible. In 2014, the St. John's Lodge No. 1 Foundation, Inc. received recognition as an IRS 501(c)3.

The Bible is the King James Version, complete with the Apocrypha and elaborately supplemented with the historical, astronomical and legal data of that period.

The inaugural ceremony took place in the open gallery of the old City Hall (afterwards called Federal Hall) on Wall Street, New York City, in the presence of a vast multitude. Washington was dressed in a suit of dark brown cloth and white silk stockings, all of American manufacture. His hair was powdered and dressed in the fashion of the day, clubbed and ribboned.

The oath of office was first administered by Robert R. Livingston. The open Bible on which the President laid his hand was held on a rich crimson velvet cushion by Samuel Otis, Secretary of the Senate. With them were John Adams, who had been chosen Vice President; George Clinton, first Governor of New York; Philip Schuyler, John Jay, Maj. Gen. Henry Knox, Jacob Morton (Master of St. John's Lodge who had retrieved the Lodge Bible when they discovered none had been provided), and other distinguished guests.

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