Illuminati Fears in Early America: The 1798 Correspondence Between G.W. Snyder and George Washington

Jun 24, 2025

File:Washington as a Mason LCCN2003655788.jpg — Washington as a Mason (1867)

In the late 18th century, as the young United States grappled with its identity and place in a turbulent world, fears of foreign influence and internal subversion loomed large. One such concern was the perceived threat of the Bavarian Illuminati, a secret society founded in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, which was believed by some to aim at overthrowing established governments and religions. These anxieties found expression in a remarkable exchange of letters between George Washington, the revered first president and a Freemason, and G.W. Snyder, a German-born Lutheran minister from Frederick-Town, Maryland. On August 22, 1798, Snyder, alarmed by John Robison’s Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe (1797), wrote to Washington, warning him of the Illuminati’s potential infiltration of American Freemasonry and its threat to national stability. This correspondence, preserved in the Library of Congress, offers a window into the early American republic’s paranoia about secret societies and foreign ideologies, particularly in the context of the French Revolution’s radicalism and the domestic political tensions between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.1

G.W. Snyder, born in the Palatinate of the Rhine and educated in Heidelberg, immigrated to the United States in 1776. A Lutheran pastor and member of the German Reformed Church in Frederick-Town, Snyder was deeply committed to Christianity and the principles of American liberty, as he expressed in his letter to Washington. His concerns about the Illuminati were fueled by Robison’s book, which linked the secret society to the Jacobins and the excesses of the French Revolution. Snyder’s writings, including his 1798 publication The Age of Reason Unreasonable; or The Folly of Rejecting Revealed Religion, reflect his staunch defense of traditional religious values against the rising tide of deism and secularism.2 His decision to write to Washington, the nation’s most prominent figure and a known Freemason, underscores both his alarm and his belief that Washington could intervene to protect American institutions. Washington’s responses, dated September 25 and October 24, 1798, reveal his cautious skepticism about the Illuminati’s influence in American Freemasonry while acknowledging the spread of radical principles in the United States.3

This article presents a full transcript of Snyder’s initial letter and Washington’s replies, with footnotes providing context and clarification. The correspondence not only highlights the era’s conspiracy theories but also reflects broader anxieties about the fragility of the new republic in a world of revolutionary upheaval.

Transcript of the Correspondence

From G. W. Snyder to George Washington, 22 August 17984

Frederick-Town (Maryland) Augt 22. 1798.

Sir,

You will, I hope, not think it a Presumption in a Stranger, whose Name, perhaps never reached your Ears, to address himself to you the Commanding General of a great Nation. I am a German, born and liberally educated in the City of Heydelberg in the Palatinate of the Rhine. I came to this Country in 1776, and felt soon after my Arrival a close Attachment to the Liberty for which these confederated States then struggled. The same Attachment still remains not glowing, but burning in my Breast. At the same Time that I am exulting in the Measures adopted by our Government, I feel myself elevated in the Idea of my adopted Country. I am attached both from the Bent of Education and mature Enquiry and Search to the simple Doctrines of Christianity, which I have the Honor to teach in Public; and I do heartily despise all the Cavils of Infidelity. Our present Time, pregnant with the most shocking Evils and Calamities, threatens Ruin to our Liberty and Goverment. Secret, the most secret Plans are in Agitation: Plans, calculated to ensnare the Unwary, to attract the Gay and irreligious, and to entice even the Well-disposed to combine in the general Machine for overturning all Government and all Religion.

It was some Time since that a Book fell into my Hands entituled “Proofs of a Conspiracy &c. by John Robison,”5 which gives a full Account of a Society of Freemasons, that distinguishes itself by the Name “of Illuminati,” whose Plan is to overturn all Government and all Religion, even natural; and who endeavour to eradicate every Idea of a Supreme Being, and distinguish Man from Beast by his Shape only. A Thought suggested itself to me, that some of the Lodges in the United States might have caught the Infection, and might cooperate with the Illuminati or the Jacobine Club in France. Fauchet is mentioned by Robison as a zealous Member: and who can doubt of Genet and Adet? Have not these their Confidants in this Country? They use the same Expressions and are generally Men of no Religion. Upon serious Reflection I was led to think that it might be within your Power to prevent the horrid Plan from corrupting the Brethren of the English Lodge over which you preside.6

I send you the “Proof of a Conspiracy &c.” which, I doubt not, will give you Satisfaction and afford you Matter for a Train of Ideas, that may operate to our national Felicity. If, however, you have already perused the Book, it will not, I trust, be disagreeable to you that I have presumed to address you with this Letter and the Book accompanying it. It proceeded from the Sincerity of my Heart and my ardent Wishes for the common Good.

May the Supreme Ruler of all Things continue You long with us in these perilous Times: may he endow you with Strength and Wisdom to save our Country in the threatening Storms and gathering Clouds of Factions and Commotions! and after you have completed his Work on this terrene Spot, may He bring you to the full Possession of the glorious Liberty of the Children of God, is the hearty and most sincere Wish of Your Excellency’s very humble and devoted Servant

G. W. Snyder

From George Washington to G. W. Snyder, 25 September 17987

Mount Vernon, September 25, 1798.

Sir: Many apologies are due to you, for my not acknowledging the receipt of your obliging favour of the 22d. Ulto, and for not thanking you, at an earlier period, for the Book you had the goodness to send me.8

I have heard much of the nefarious, and dangerous plan, and doctrines of the Illuminati, but never saw the Book until you were pleased to send it to me. The same causes which have prevented my acknowledging the receipt of your letter have prevented my reading the Book, hitherto; namely—the multiplicity of matters which pressed upon me before, and the debilitated state in which I was left after, a severe fever had been removed. And which allows me to add little more now, than thanks for your kind wishes and favourable sentiments, except to correct an error you have run into, of my Presiding over the English lodges in this Country. The fact is, I preside over none, nor have I been in one more than once or twice, within the last thirty years. I believe notwithstanding, that none of the Lodges in this Country are contaminated with the principles ascribed to the Society of the Illuminati. With respect I am Sir Your Obedt Hble Servt

Go: Washington

From George Washington to G. W. Snyder, 24 October 17989

Mount Vernon, October 24, 1798.

Revd Sir: I have your favor of the 17th instant before me; and my only motive to trouble you with the receipt of this letter, is to explain, and correct a mistake which I perceive the hurry in which I am obliged, often, to write letters, have led you into.

It was not my intention to doubt that, the Doctrines of the Illuminati, and principles of Jacobinism had not spread in the United States. On the contrary, no one is more fully satisfied of this fact than I am.

The idea I meant to convey, was, that I did not believe that the Lodges of Free Masons in this Country had, as Societies, endeavoured to propagate the diabolical tenets of the first, or the pernicious principles of the latter (if they are susceptible of separation). That Individuals of them may have done it, and that the founder, or instrument employed to found, the Democratic Societies in the United States, may have had these objects; and actually had a separation of the People from their Government in view, is too evident to be questioned.

My occupations are such, that but little leisure is allowed me to read News Papers, or Books of any kind; the reading of letters, and preparing answers, absorb much of my time. With respect—I remain Revd Sir Your Most Obedt Hble Ser.

Go: Washington

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