Did a rich man's family say he was a Freemason, and a lodge agree?
Research question: Did a famous fortune-holder's family or heirs ever state publicly that the person was a Freemason, and did any lodge record back that up?
The verified facts do not name a famous fortune-holder or describe any public statement by a family or heirs about Masonic membership 123. The only Freemason identified is Ernst von Leyden, who is recorded as a member of the Königsberg lodge 'Zum Todtenkopf und Phoenix' from 1867 to 1871 2. That membership claim is sourced to Otto Hieber's 1897 history of the lodge, as cited by Wikipedia 3. The facts also note that many Masonic lodge records were lost to fire, so some lodges cannot confirm a member's membership from their own records 1. The newest fact dates to the February 2023 update of the Family Tree Magazine article, about three and a half years before October 2026 1.
Sources
"Many have been lost to fire—for instance, all of the California Grand Lodge’s records burned after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the Arkansas lodge’s records burned in 1918."Now What? Online: Researching Ancestors Who Were Freemasons - Family Tree Magazine
"Ernst Leyden war Freimaurer und von 1867 bis 1871 Mitglied der Königsberger Loge Zum Todtenkopf und Phoenix"Ernst von Leyden
"Otto Hieber : Geschichte der Vereinigten Johannis-Loge zum Todtenkopf und Phönix zu Königsberg i. Pr. Selbstverlag, Königsberg 1897."Ernst von Leyden