The story of Bro. Muhammad Juma’a is one of dedication to self improvement seen through his three months in New York. He, along with the other officers of the Omani ship Sultana, were exposed to everything New York City had to offer at the time; from high society to government officials to new methods of transportation. Despite the attention paid to him and the surrounding distractions, Juma’a pushed himself to learn English, ingratiate into 1840 New York culture, and develop new abilities which left a lasting impression on all who encountered him.

Many New York Masonic historians have pointed out an editorial from William Bradford’s newspaper in November, 1737 as being one of the earliest scraps of evidence as an acknowledgement that at the time of the printing there was at least one lodge operating in the city. While this has certainly been helpful to subsequent researchers, the lack of context around why that article appeared misses out on a much greater story involving a rivalry that spanned generations and stretched from New York City to Philadelphia. It also adds new information to a several centuries old question about why America’s preeminent lawyer left Philadelphia in the prime of his career to travel to New York City to represent a financially destitute German immigrant printer who was, at the time, locked up in the city prison and facing a ‘slam dunk’ case against him.

John Steward was a hero of the Maryland Line in the American Revolution that died at the young age of twenty-nine. This Article explores his service to his country, as well as newly uncovered information about his Masonic membership as a petitioner of Lodge No. 27 in the Maryland Line along with other noteworthy officers.