William Winston Seaton

William Winston Seaton was a newspaperman by trade and worked on several papers in Virginia and North Carolina. In 1812, he and his brother-in-law, Joseph Gales, Jr., acquired the National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser. Both men served in the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814, and the contents of the Intelligencer’s office was sacked and its contents burned by the British. Like Gales, Seaton went into politics, and from 1840 to 1850 he served as mayor of Washington. From 1815 to 1836, he was active in Masonic affairs in the District. Seaton served as Grand Master of the District of Columbia from 1822-1824 and Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in 1826-1827. His son, Malcolm Seaton (R57/S175), was a member of Columbia Lodge No. 3 and later Potomac Lodge No. 5, and himself served as grand master in 1902.