When asked of Masonry, President William McKinley explained, “After the battle of Opequam, I went with the surgeon of our Ohio regiment to the field where 5,000 confederate prisoners were under guard. As soon as we passed the guard, the doctor shook hands with a number of prisoners and began passing out his roll of bills.”
On the way back to camp I asked him, ‘Did you know those men?’
‘No’
‘But you gave them a lot of money, do you expect to get it back?’
‘If they are able to pay me back, they will. It makes no difference to me; they are brother masons in trouble and I am only doing my duty.’
I said to myself, ‘If that is Masonry, I will take some of it myself.'”