Oh no I don't believe that's right.
The Illuminati were created in Germany, I think maybe Bavaria but don't quote me. It definitely was created in Germany. The freemasons have been around in some form since the tower of Babyl was destroyed, and they've always been satan worshippers. just their lower ranking members
typically don't know it.
the non-verbal symbolism began as a way to connect fellow craftmen once the people's language was confounded and they had no easier way to communicate.
a lot of these things, like freemasons, shriners, Jehovah's Witness, Catholic Church - these were all evil from the get-go.

Yes, it was started in Bavaria but they came here and started in 1776.it was the "New World" perfect place to infiltrate and set up their future operations here. There are many other sources, this is just the first I ran across. It is a gnostic, new age movement that many here are taking in hook, line and sinker, wittingky or not

https://www.britannica.com...

The Bavarian illuminati
Perhaps the group most closely associated with the name illuminati was a short-lived movement of republican free thought founded on May Day 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, professor of canon law at Ingolstadt and a former Jesuit. The members of this secret society called themselves “Perfectibilists.” Their founder’s aim was to replace Christianity with a religion of reason, as later did the revolutionaries of France and the 19th-century positivist philosopher Auguste Comte. The order was organized along Jesuit lines and kept internal discipline and a system of mutual surveillance based on that model. Its members pledged obedience to their superiors and were divided into three main classes: the first included “novices,” “minervals,” and “lesser illuminati”; the second consisted of freemasons (“ordinary,” “Scottish,” and “Scottish knights”); and the third or “mystery” class comprised two grades of “priest” and “regent” as well as “magus” and “king.”