David Vinton

David Vinton (January 6, 1774 – July 1833) was an American silversmith, merchant, and Masonic lecturer, active in Providence, Rhode Island.

[1] He was orphaned at age 4, and on December 15, 1778, his uncle, silversmith William Gowen, was appointed his guardian.

[2] At some point he moved to Providence, where on December 22, 1792, and January 24, 1793, he advertised in the Providence Gazette as: The same paper carried similar notices in 1795, but by 1796 he had become a general merchant continuing to sell spoons, bracelets, etc., and from 1799 to 1818 he advertised the sale of bonnets, wigs, butter, sheet music and miscellaneous musical instruments, as well as the Washington funeral medals made by Jacob Perkins of Newburyport.

Duets, Glees, Canons, Rounds and Canzonets, Respectfully Dedicated to the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons," with an appendix containing a short historical sketch of Masonry and a list of all the Lodges in the United States.

[4] In the last years of his life, he travelled as an itinerant teacher and lecturer of Masonic rituals, and in particular the York Rite degree work.