Note: The following material is a scanned-in research resource; it is NOT intended as an exact reproduction of the original volume. Due to computer display variances, page numbers are approximate. Scanned at Phoenixmasonry by Ralph Omholt, PM - June 2007.
The History Of Freemasonry
By
Albert G. Mackey 33°
VOLUME SIX
PART 3. - FREEMASONRY IN THE UNITED STATES
CHAPTER PAGE
[Original Volumes / This Copy]
55. - The First Lodge and the Grand Lodge
of each State (cont'd) ……………………………….……….…. 1443 / 6
56. -The Introduction of Royal Arch Masonry into each State ….. 1487 / 88
57. - The Introduction of the Cryptic Degrees into each State .... 1549 / 157
58. - The First Commandery and the Grand Commandery
in each State ......................................................................... 1601 / 262
59. - Colored Masonry in the United States .................................. 1641 / 309
60. - The Anti-Masonic Excitement ................................................ 1677 / 345
PART 4. - SYMBOLISM OF FREEMASONRY
CHAPTER PAGE
1. - Introduction ............................................................................. 1693 / 363
2. - Three Revelations .................................................................... 1712 / 379
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME SIX
PAGE
Benjamin B. French ……………………………………………….……. 1454 / 30
Plate of Symbols …………………………………………………..……. 1486 / 88
First View of Jerusalem by the Crusaders ………………………….1518 / 123
William James Hughan ……………………………………………….…. 1550 / 160
Warrant to Jeremy L. Cross to Confer the Degree of Select ……... 1552 / 164
A\A\S\R\ - Consistory of New York City …..……………………. 1582 / 198
Melrose Abbey ……………………………………………………………. 1614 / 278
DeWitt Clinton ……………………………………………………………. 1646 / 315
Unity, Peace, and Plenty ………………………………………….……. 1678 / 349
Final Defeat of the Crusaders at Acre ………………………………. 1710 / 378
CHAPTER LV
HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION OF FREEMASONRY INTO EACH STATE AND TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES
The First Lodges and the Grand Lodges
(Continued)
Ohio
THE introduction of Masonry into Ohio is due to the fact that soon after the close of the War of the Revolution, the Master, Jonathan Heart, and some of the members of American Union Lodge settled near Marietta.
The Charter of that lodge, which had been granted by the St. John's Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, February 15, 1776, by John Rowe, Grand Master (in the Connecticut Line of the Army), (1) was held by the Master, and he claimed that it was a lodge at large and not under the jurisdiction of any Grand Lodge, and in fact "it was invested with every power necessary to constitute, rule, and govern" Masonry in the Territories.
It had been recognized "by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York, as a constituent of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts." This lodge worked for several years until its Charter was burned; a revival of it was asked for from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, which was declined, "except as one of its constituent" Application to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts was made, which authorized the lodge to resume work under a copy of the original Charter, "with the express provision that the charter should be of force only until a Grand Lodge should be formed in the territory in which it was located."
The Grand Lodge of Ohio was organized January 7, 1808.
(1) Shortly after, the lodge having removed to New York, asked for a Confirmation of their Charter, from the D.G.M., Dr. Middleton; but a new Warrant was granted under the name of Military Union, No.
1. - Gould's "History," vol. vi., P. 415.
The lodges represented were American Union, No. 1, at Marietta; Cincinnati, No. 13, warranted by the Grand Lodge of New Jersey as Nova Cesaraea, No. 10, now known as N.C. Harmony, No. 21; Sciota, No. 2, and Chillicothe, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in 1805, now known as No. 6; Erie, No. 47, at Warren, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, March 16, 1804, now known as Old Erie, No. 3; and Amity, No. 105, at Zanesville, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1804, now No. 5.
January 4, 1808, a preliminary convention of the delegates from all the lodges then in Ohio - six in number - was held in Chillicothe to deliberate upon the propriety of forming a Grand Lodge, and to inaugurate measures for the organization of such a body.
The convention continued its deliberations four consecutive days, which resulted in the unanimous adoption of a resolution proposed by Brother Lewis Cass, viz.: "that it is expedient to form a Grand Lodge of the State of Ohio." (1)
A few rules, couched as resolutions, were adopted for the formation of a Grand Lodge, and appointed the first Monday in January, 1809, as the time, and Chillicothe as the place for holding the first Grand Communication of said Grand Lodge.
The Grand Lodge met at Chillicothe, January 2, 1809, and duly organized with representatives from four lodges.
In consequence of the absence of the representatives of American Union Lodge, No. 1, there being but four lodges represented, it was thought that a Grand Lodge could not be legally organized.
The Grand Lodge adjourned from day to day, and, finally, on January 5th, it adopted pro tempore the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, having decided that under their peculiar circumstances it would be right and proper to organize a Grand Lodge with only four lodges represented.
Brother Rufus Putnam, who had been chosen Grand Master at the convention held in 1808, wrote a letter to the Grand Lodge declining the office, on account of his great age, which was accepted, and Bro. Samuel Huntington was duly elected Grand Master.
Previous to the reception of this letter all the other Grard Officers elected the last year had been installed, and upon the election of the Grand Master he also was immediately installed, and all the
(1) Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Ohio.
other Grand Officers who had just been elected at the same time with the Grand Master.
The Grand Lodge closed its sessions on January 7, 1709, having completed all things necessary to its proper work in Masonry.
Louisiana.
The introduction of Freemasonry in the Territory of Louisiana is principally due to the political condition of that Territory and the circumstances connected with the affairs in San Domingo, both counties at that period being somewhat, if not exclusively, settled by the Latin race and their negro slaves.
Masonry had been introduced upon the Island of San Domingo from the Grand Orient of France, also by charters from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
When the insurrection occurred in San Domingo, in 1791, the white refugees spread themselves in many of the cities in the United States; a very large number settled in New Orleans, and among them were many Masons, and in 1793 several of these residing in New Orleans organized into a lodge and received a Charter from the Grand Lodge of South Carolina by the name of "Parfaite Union, No.
29," the officers being installed in the York Rite on March 30, 1794. In the same year several Brethren of the French, or Modern Rite, formed themselves into a lodge called "Etoile Polaire" (Polar Star), and applied for a Charter from the Grand Orient of France.
The Grand Orient having suspended its labors, in consequence of the political condition of France, could not issue a Charter.
The Brethren, however, obtained a provisional Charter or dispensation from the Provincial Lodge La Parfaite Sincerile at Marseilles in 1796, and intrusted the same to Dominique Mayronne, with authority to constitute the new lodge and install the officers, which was done under the French Rite, December 27, 1798.
When the Grand Orient resumed labor in 1803, a Charter was issued to Polar Star Lodge, No. 4263, in 1804, and Ch. Tessier was deputed to deliver the Charter and heal their work, which was done, and officers were installed, November 11, 1804, by A. Pinard and A.Marmillion.
The early records of "Perfect Union" and "Polar Star" can not be found, but the above information has been obtained by Brother James H. Scot, the historian of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, from the "Manuel Maconnique," a very rare work, published in New Orleans in 1828.
It is very probable that these lodges were formed about the same time, "but in the absence of the original records it is impossible to decide the question." (1)
It is thought that the Brethren who formed these two lodges were from the Island of Guadaloupe, which was involved in the horrors of the negro insurrection of 1791.
In consequence of political differences among the French inhabitants in Louisiana, growing out of the French Revolution, difficulties arose which resulted in the refusal of the members of these two lodges to hold any Masonic intercourse with each other.
Some of the former members of "Candor Lodge, No. 12," in Charleston, S.C., which was extinct, having settled in New Orleans, applied to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and obtained a Charter, dated May 18, 1801, as Candor Lodge, No. 90.
It is possible that this lodge did not survive very long, if it ever was duly constituted, as on March 1, 1802, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted a Charter to Charity Lodge, No. 93, having the name of N.
Definieto, W. M., who was the W.M. of Candor, No. 90.
This Charter was not received until 1804, and on May 13th of that year the lodge was duly constituted and the officers were installed in the York Rite.
On October 1, 1800, by treaty, Spain retroceded the whole of the territory of Louisiana to France, which held an actual possession of only twenty days, as on December 20, 1803, the United States flag was raised in New Orleans, France having sold the whole territory to the United States.
This change in the political condition made equally a change in Masonic affairs, and from that date on, viz., 1804, Masonry assumed quite a different attitude in Louisiana.
A change also in the Island of San Domingo caused a very large number of the refugees of 1791 to return to their old homes, and the French contingent among the Masons in New Orleans was greatly reduced.
The American element, which had in Masonic matters been much in the minority, began to increase and soon prevailed.
A duplicate Charter from the Grand Orient of France was received, July 20, 1807, bearing date of February 17, 1806, by the Lodge "La Union Desiree," No. 3013, which had been under the auspices of the Grand Orient of France, at Port au Prince, April 16, 1783. During the revolution Of 1791 the Charter,
(1) James H. Scot, "History of Masonry in Louisiana."
archives, etc., had been destroyed.
The members who had fled to New Orleans in 1791, and had returned to San Domingo in 1802, had been again compelled to flee to New Orleans the second time.
In 1806 Masons from the Northern part of the United States applied for and obtained a Charter from the Grand Lodge of New York, on September 2, 1807, now Louisiana Lodge, No. 2. In the "Manuel Maconnique" it is No. 101, which is an error of the author.
This was the first lodge in New Orleans that worked in the English language, and its first W. M. was the celebrated jurist Edward Livingstone.
Polar Star Lodge, No. 4263, applied to the Grand Orient of France and obtained a Charter to hold a Chapter of Rose Croix, which was constituted and officers installed, May 24, 1807, as " La Vertu Recompensee, No. 5001."
On September 15, 1808, a York Rite Charter was issued to some of the members of Lodge La Reunion Desiree, No. 3829, by the same name but numbered 112, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
This lodge dissolved March 23, 1812.
This much of the early history in Louisiana must suffice, as to continue a specific notice of all the lodges chartered and the various contests which grew out of the various rites in use, and the "Cumulation" thereof, would utilize our entire remaining pages of this chapter, hence must proceed to the organization of the Grand Lodge.
It appears from the records that twelve lodges had received charters in New Orleans prior to the organization of a Grand Lodge, as will appear in the following table:
Name of
Date of Lodge
No.
By Whom Chartered
Charter
Perfect Union..29
Grand Lodge of South
Carolina.....
March 30, 1794.
Polar Star
4263
Pro. Lodge Sincerite,
Marseilles
December 27, 1798.
Reconstructed by Grand
Oriental of France
November 11, 1804.
Candor
90
Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania
May 18, 1801.
Charity
93
Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania
March 1, 1802.
Reunion Desiree
3829
Grand Orient of
France
February 17, 1807.
Louisiana
12
Grand Lodge of
New York
September 2,1807.
Reunion Desiree
117
Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania
September 15, 1808.
Concord
117
Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania
October 7, 1810.
Perseverance
118
Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania
October 7, 1810.
Harmony
122
Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania
November 19, 1810.
Polar Star
129
Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania
June 3, 1811.
Bienfaisance
1
Grand Consistory of
Jamaica
June 22, 1811.
Of these lodges, Candor, No. 90, York Rite, was perhaps never organized; Reunion Desiree, No. 3829, French Rite, ceased to work, November 27, 1808; Polar Star, No. 4293, French Rite, adjourned sine die, October 13, 1811; Reunion Desiree, No. 112, York Rite, dissolved, March 23, 1812; and Bienfaisance, No. 1, Scottish Rite, affiliated with Concord, No. 117, May 27, 1812, leaving seven lodges in full activity and all working the York Rite, viz.: Numbers 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, in the above table.
Louisiana was admitted as a State by Act of Congress, April 8, 1812, to take effect after April 30th.
This change politically had a corresponding result masonically.
Perfect Union Lodge, No. 29, had the honor of taking initiatory steps toward the organization of a Grand Lodge, which resulted in a meeting, April 18, 1812, of the delegates of Perfect Union Lodge, No. 29; Charity Lodge, No. 93; Louisiana Lodge, No. 1; Concord Lodge, No. 117; Perseverance Lodge, No. 118; Harmony Lodge, No.
122; and Polar Star Lodge, No. 129.
These delegates organized themselves into a "General Committee of the State of Louisiana to provide for the establishment of a Grand Lodge in the City of New Orleans." P. F. Dubourg was the first President.
On May 16th following a second meeting was held, Charity Lodge, No.
93, not being represented; and a communication was received from Louisiana Lodge, No. 1, saying that in their opinion "it would be inexpedient at present" to join in the proposed formation of a Grand Lodge; whereupon a resolution was passed requesting the W.
Master of the Senior of the regular lodges in the State, Perfect Union, No. 29, to issue his summons (1) to the Masters, Past Masters, and Officers of the several Ancient and regularly constituted lodges in the State to meet in convention to take into consideration the interests of the true Craft, and to deliberate on the necessity of establishing a Grand Lodge in the State, which was accordingly done, and the convention met June 13, 1812, and the following representatives were present, viz.: Perfect Union, No.
29; Charity, No. 93; Concord, No. 117; Perseverance, No. 118; Polar Star, No. 129.
As soon as the convention was organized the President, Brother Dubourg, stated that he had received a communication from Harmony Lodge, No. 122, which had withdrawn from the convention.
The convention adjourned to meet June 20th next.
June 20, 1812, the Grand Convention then met and elected the Grand Officers; P.F. Dubourg being elected Grand Master, who was duly installed after the election of the Grand Officers, and by a resolution adopted, the Grand Master installed all the other Grand Officers on July 11th following.
At a communication held August 15, 1812, the committee appointed for that purpose reported a draft of a Constitution which was adopted.
(1) Ancient term for Notification.
At a quarterly communication held March 27, 1813, the Grand Master announced that a Grand Royal Arch Chapter had been organized and attached to the Grand Lodge of Louisiana.
The Grand Chapter had been organized, March 8, 1813, by Concord and Perseverance R.'.
A.'. Chapter, working under charters from the Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania and attached to the lodges of the same name.
On March 13th the Grand Officers were elected and installed.
To follow the history of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana would require more space than can be permitted; here we must close with the date of March, 1813.
Tennessee.
Warrants to organize lodges had been issued from the Grand Lodge of North Carolina as early as 1796 and one from Kentucky.
These lodges held a convention at Knoxville in December, 1811, and adopted the following:
"Resolved, That in the opinion of this Convention the number of Ancient York Masons in this State as well as the state of society, require the formation of a Grand Lodge within the same for the better regulation and extension of the Craft.
"Resolved, That a Committee be appointed for the purpose of drawing up an address to the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, soliciting their assent to the establishment of a Grand Lodge in the State of Tennessee."
The Grand Lodge of North Carolina granted this request; and the convention again met October 14, 1813, and the Grand Lodge was constitutionally established and the Grand Officers were elected and installed.
Mississippi
The first lodge in Mississippi which received a Warrant from the Grand Lodge of Kentucky was Harmony, No. 33; originally No. 7, by a Charter October 16, 1801.
Two other lodges, viz.: Andrew Jackson, No. 15, and Washington, No. 17, received their warrants from the Grand Lodge of Tennessee July 27, 1818.
A convention was held in the city of Natchez, when it was resolved that it was necessary and expedient to form a Grand Lodge for the State of Mississippi.
On August 25th following, the convention again met, and the Grand Lodge was regularly constituted.
Henry Toohey was elected Grand Master.
Illinois.
The Grand Master of Pennsylvania, Israel Israel, issued a dispensation for six months to Western Star Lodge, No. 107, to be located at Kaskaskia, situated near the mouth of the Okaw (now Kaskaskia) River, where it empties into the Mississippi River, September 24, 1805.
At that period Illinois was in the Indian Territory.
This lodge received its Charter, which was granted June 2, 1806, and on September 13th following, the lodge was regularly constituted.
This lodge was doubtless the first one established in that Territory - now comprising the States of Wisconsin and Illinois and a part of Minnesota.
The Grand Lodge of Kentucky issued a Charter, August 28, 1815, to Lawrence Lodge, to be located at Shawneetown; the Grand Lodge of Tennessee issued a Charter, October 6, 1819, to Libanus Lodge, at Edwardsville; June 20, 1820, the Grand Master of Tennessee issued a dispensation to Temple Lodge, at Belleville, St. Clair County, which was surrendered in 1821.
From the Grand Lodge of Missouri at various dates in 1822 the following warrants were granted: October 3, 1822, Olive Branch, No.
5, at Alton, Ill. ; October 8, 1822, Vandalia, No. 8, at Vandalia; October 9, 1822, Sangamon, No. 9, at Springfield; October 24, 1822, Union, No. 10, at Jonesborough; October 8, 1822, Eden, No. 11, at Covington.
The Grand Master of Indiana issued a dispensation, March 12, 1822, to Albion Lodge, at Albion.
All the above lodges except Sangamon sent delegates to a convention at Vandalia which met December 9, 1822.
They adopted a constitution, which was sent to the lodges for their consideration.
Eight of these lodges were represented at a convention held December 1 1823, and a Grand Lodge was duly organized.
The Grand Master was installed by Dr. Hardage Lane, of St. Louis, Mo., the Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri.
In 1827 the Grand Lodge of Illinois went out of existence, and after June 24, 1827, "every Lodge in the State was so effectually blotted out that no trace of any of them has been found."
It is supposed that as the anti-Masonic excitement had, about that time, begun to work its way to the West, the Masons were more or less lukewarm in the cause, and politics being somewhat mixed up in the affair, the Brethren let the matter drop for a while.
The Grand Lodge of Kentucky issued a dispensation to Bodley Lodge, No. 97, at Quincy, Ill., there being at that time no working lodge in the State. That lodge was warranted August 30, 1838.
That Grand Lodge likewise warranted Equality Lodge, No. 102, at Equality, in Gallatin County, August 29, 1837; and Ottawa, No. 114, at Ottawa County, of Lasalle, September 1, 1740.
The Grand Master of Kentucky issued a dispensation to Friendship Lodge at Dixon in 1840.
The Grand Lodge of Missouri warranted:
Franklin Lodge, at Alton, in 1827 Harmony Lodge, at Jacksonville, in 1838 Springfield Lodge, at Springfild, in 1839 Temperance Lodge, at Vandalia, in 1839 Far West Lodge, at Galena, in
1839 Mount Moriah Lodge, at Hillsboro, in 1840 Clinton Lodge, at Carlisle, in 1840
A dispensation to Columbus Lodge, No. 20, at Columbus, in 1839.
Delegates from several of the subordinate lodges on January 30, 1840, held a convention in Jacksonville, when it was resolved to form a Grand Lodge.
A committee was appointed to correspond with the lodges in the State and ask their assistance, and to send delegates to a convention to be held at Jacksonville, April 6, 1840, which convention was held on that date and six of the eight chartered lodges and one under dispensation were represented, and the Grand Lodge was then organized.
At the meeting held April 28th, the Grand Master, Abraham Jonas, was installed by proxy. (1) Warrants were issued to the lodges represented and numbered according to their dates of constitution-
(1) The "Reprint of the Proceedings for 1840 to 1860," published 1874, shows : April 6, 1840, at Jacksonville, "M.W. Abraham Jonas was elected G.M." April 28th, "called from refreshment to labor." The name of Abraham Jonas does not appear as being present.
James Adams, D.G.M., presided.
The minutes say: "On motion all but Past Masters having retired a convocation of Past Masters was declared open, and the M.W. Grand Master was installed by proxy, and the grand honors paid him agreeable to ancient form and usage."
some of them, however, did not get their new warrants until sometime in 1844.
In consequence of the business relations existing between many of the towns in Illinois and the city of St. Louis in Missouri, some of the lodges in those towns much preferred to hold their warrants from Missouri Grand Lodge, as the representatives could attend the Grand Lodge of Missouri in St. Louis, and at the same time transact their commercial business in that city.
The writer was an officer of the Grand Lodge of Missouri in 1841-42-43 and well remembers that those Brethren from Illinois were urged to withdraw from our Grand Lodge and unite with the Grand Lodge in their own State.
They, however, declined for the reason above stated.
We can bear witness to this as a justification of the conduct of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, for they could not drive away their Brethren of Illinois.
Finally, however, those lodges did withdraw and unite with the Grand Lodge of Illinois, as also did several of the lodges in Iowa, about that time, which had been chartered by the Grand Lodge of Missouri, and they formed the Grand Lodge of Iowa.
On February 10 1850, a fire occurred in Peoria by which was destroyed, in the office of the Grand Secretary, all the books, papers, and records of the Grand Lodge of Illinois.
To remedy the loss as far as possible, the Grand Lodge was convened in Springfield, April 8, 1850.
Of the lodges aiding in the organization of the second Grand Lodge, four are now alive, viz: Bodley, No. 1; Equality, No. 2; Harmony, No. 3; and Springfield, No. 4.
In 1889, October 1st and 2d, the fiftieth anniversary was celebrated.
The Grand Lodge of Illinois, in her growth since its organization in 1839, has kept even pace with the increase of population, and now stands in membership among the first in the United States, in 1897 the membership number being 53,452, number of lodges, 722. In her influence for good and the reputation of her personnel she is primus inter pares (first among her equals).
Missouri
The first settlers of Upper Louisiana, as the now State of Missouri was originally called, were French, who came by the way of Canada, and were companions of Cartier, La Salle, and Father Hennepin, who traversed the vast wilderness that extended between the boundaries of Canada and the settlements of the French on the Lower Mississippi.
In November, 1763, Pierre Liguiste Laclede arrived at St.
Genevieve, and finding no place suitable for the storage of his good, he proceeded up the Mississippi River; and on February 15, 1764, he and his party landed where the city of St. Louis now stands, which he named in honor of Louis XV. of France.
In that early day the merchants who were in St. Louis and St.
Genevieve procured their goods in Philadelphia, where they went once every year.
Many of these merchants became Masons and were made in the French Lodge, No. 73, in Philadelphia.
As the Masons in the Territory increased in numbers, they resolved to organize a lodge, and in 1807-8 having applied for, they received a Warrant of Constitution from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for a lodge in the town of St. Genevieve, as Louisiana Lodge, No. 109.
Otho Strader was the first Master.
Among its members were many of those who afterward became prominent merchants of St. Louis, as Pierre Chouteau and Bartholomew Berthold, who became the founders of the great Fur Company. (1)
This was the first lodge established in Missouri.
In 1811-12 Gen. H. Dodge presided over this lodge as W. Master, but owing to the unsettled condition of the Territory in consequence of the late war with Great Britain, the lodge ceased to work about 1825.
In 1809-10 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted a Warrant to a lodge in St. Louis as No. 111. There is no record whatever of this lodge remaining.
A dispensation was issued by the Grand Lodge of Indiana in 1820 for a lodge in Jackson, now in Cape Gerardeau County.
This lodge was subsequently chartered by the Grand Lodge of Missouri.
October 18, 1816 the Grand Lodge of Tennessee granted a
(1) Geo. F. Gouley, "History of Grand Lodge of Missouri."
Charter to a lodge in St. Louis as Missouri Lodge, No. 12, which is still in existence as No. 1.
That Grand Lodge also granted charters to the following lodges, viz. : October 6, 1819, to Joachim Lodge, No. 25, at Herculaneum, and on same date to St. Charles Lodge, No. 28, at St. Charles on the Missouri River.
February 23, 1821, by an invitation sent by Missouri Lodge, No. 12, to the several lodges in the State, the following lodges, by their representatives, met in St. Louis, and a committee having been appointed to draft a constitution and code of bylaws they adjourned until April 23d following, to meet at the same place to organize a Grand Lodge.
Prior to this date (April 23, 1821), a convention of Masons met, pursuant to previous notice given by the convention of delegates, at the lodge-room of Missouri Lodge, No. 12, April 23d, Anno Lucis, Year of Light, 5821, for the purpose of organizing the Grand
Lodge of the State of Missouri.
Opened in the third degree in due form, with Wor. Edward Bates, (1) Master, and others.
After reading the proceedings of the convention held February 22d last, adjourned until 24th inst.
April 24, A.L. 5821. Present as before.
An election for the officers for the ensuing year was held and resulted as follows
Brother Thos. F. Riddick, M.W.G.M.
"
James Kennerly, S.G.W.
"
William Bates, J.G.W.
"
Archibald Gamble, G. Treasurer.
"
William Renshaw, G. Secretary.
Adjourned to May 4th next.
May 4th A.L. 5821, Semi-Annual Convocation was held, a procession was formed and proceeded to the Baptist Church, where the solemn ceremony of consecration and installation was performed, in conformity with the ancient landmarks and customs of the Fraternity.
The Grand Lodge then returned to the lodge-room and adjourned until next day. (2)
The first annual communication was held October 1, 1821.
(1) Hon. Edward Bates was Attorney-General in Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet, 1861-64.
Nearly every member of this Grand Lodge was personally known to the present writer in 1837.
