Pioneer Masonry in the Northwest Territory
The Story of Nova Caesarea Harmony Lodge, No. 2, Cincinnati
By BRO. HENRY BAER, Ohio
Editor's Note: The following is but a
portion of a larger article
publised in the November 1927 issue of the The
Builder Magazine .
HAD the Indians been watching the Ohio with their accustomed vigilance late
in the year 1788, they would have beheld several covered flatboats descending
in midstream, their sides pierced with loopholes to receive the ready rifle,
bearing the first contingent of settler families to the Miami
Purchase. This was a large tract of land in southwestern Ohio, purchased
from our government bas part of the great Northwest
Territory.
But the savages were either in winter quarters or in a peace
conference with General
Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Territory, at Fort
Harmar, opposite Marietta, so this initial advance into the country
was made in comparative safety. Marietta,
over 250 miles upriver, had been founded on April 7, of this year, by pioneers
from Massachusetts led by the redoubtable General Rufus Putnam, and was
the first permanent white settlement in Ohio. The next was that on the Miami
Purchase aforesaid, on Nov. 18, which was named Columbia.
During the winter two other log hamlets sprang up within its limits, Losantiville
and North Bend. All three fronted
on the river; at their back stretched an unbroken forest, tenanted only
by wild beasts and hostile Indian tribes.
Discovery of the beautiful Miami country is credited to Major
Benjamin Stites, veteran frontiersman and Indian fighter of the Pennsylvania
border, while leading a party of Kentuckians in chase of a band of Indian
horse thieves in 1786. This was the portion of the territory long known
to the whites as the "Miami Slaughter House," by reason of their
many bloody battles with the savages, following murderous raids of the latter
into Kentucky. It was Stites who was instrumental in causing the purchase
of this land by Symmes and who, together with Ephraim Kibby, his old trail
companion, headed the first emigrant families to a settlement in southwestern
Ohio. Both were early members of Nova Caesarea, or N.C. Harmony Lodge to
use its abbreviated and more convenient form of title.
THE FOUNDING OF CINCINNATI
In 1789 Fort
Washington was erected by soldiers at Losantiville, of which General
Josiah Harmar, head of the army, assumed command. That it was here located
is probably due to this point being considered the most exposed and dangerous,
laying opposite the mouth ot the Licking, the favorite crossing place of
Indian warbands on their way to raid the Kentucky towns. Fort Washington
became the most important military post in the Northwest and was the base
of all army operations for many years.
Kentucky, the "dark and bloody ground," was settled during the
years of the Revolution, its occupation being attended by great loss of
life, the savages resisting every step the encroachment of the whites on
land that had long been their hunting grounds. Her earliest Masonic lodge,
Lexington, No. 25 (now No. 1), was formed through Virginia authority, dated
Nov. 17, 1788, at a time when fighting with the redskins had by no means
ceased. This was the first permanently established lodge west of the Alleghenies.
The Grand Lodge of Kentucky was founded in 1800, to become the mother of
Freemasonry in the Mississippi valley.
To Losantiville, in January, 1790, came Governor St. Clair, arriving by
boat from Marietta, to erect a county which he called Hamilton, and to locate
here the seat of government for the territory. Historians relate that upon
beholding from his craft the collection of rude huts and log cabins in the
mud on the river bank, he queried in tones of disgust, "What in hell
is the name of this place, anyway?" Being told, he promptly changed
it from Losantiville
to Cincinnati, after the famous Society
of the Cincinnati, of which he was a member, formed at the close of
the Revolution by officers of Washington's staff.
INDIAN ATTACKS
All was remarkably quiet and peaceful for a year or more following settlement.
Then with the movement of many of the pioneers to points far out in the
wilderness, where they built their homes or else stockade stations that
housed several families, the savages rose in all fury and began a war of
cruelty and bloodshed which lasted for five years. Cabins were plundered
and stations attacked, cattle and horses run off, scores of the settlers
slain and scalped and numbers taken prisoner, until the less stout-hearted
fled in terror to the safety of eastern homes or to large towns in Kentucky.
A reprisal raid by General Harmar in
1790 was without much effect and the enemy harrassed the settlements with
greater vigor than before.
One of the stations attacked was that of John Dunlap, the first afflliated
member of N.C. Harmony Lodge, its handful of defenders withstanding for
two days the onslaught of several hundred yelling demons under Blue
Jacket and the infamous renegade white, Simon
Girty. This fight, in January, 1791, was the fiercest and longest sustained
in the history of Indian warfare in Hamilton county. Together with the numerous
hand-to-hand encounters along the border, these were scenes that had long
witnessed their counterpart in the "dark and bloody ground" of
Kentucky.
THE FOUNDING OF HARMONY LODGE, NO. 2
In the midst of all, but a few months following the fight
at Dunlap's station, Masonic brethren on the Purchase petitioned the
Grand Lodge of New Jersey for a warrant to form a lodge at Cincinnati, then
yet a tiny log village sprawled between Fort Washington and the river. Included
among the signers of this petition were the distinguished soldiers, Generals
St. Clair and Harmar. That such an attempt was made to erect the Great Lights
of Masonry in a wilderness country, with the warwhoop of the savage resounding
throughout the Ohio valley, bespeaks a love of the Order, determination
and courage of the highest degree, and would almost surpass belief. This
is perhaps the only, and certainly the first, instance where the formation
of a Masonic lodge was attempted in the West, or anywhere, under similar
conditions and circumstances.
The second expedition against the Indians was that led by Colonel James
Wilkinson, an early member of the lodge. This occurred in the summer of
1791, and while far more successful than Harmar's, the enemy continued unabated
their murderous attacks and forays along the border.
Sept. 8, 1791, is a date most memorable to Masonry in southwestern Ohio,
for on this day the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, sitting at Trenton, acted
favorably on the petition of their pioneer brethren and issued a charter
under this date, which named Dr. William Burnet as Master, John Ludlow,
Senior Warden, and Dr. Calvin Morrell, Junior Warden, of a lodge of Ancient
York Masons ". . . in Hamilton County in the Territory Northwest of
the River Ohio," to be known as Nova Caesarea (New Jersey) Lodge, No.
10. This body has since been styled Nova Caesarea Harmony Lodge, No. 2.
Dr. Burnet, who had made the long and dangerous journey to obtain this authority,
was prevented from ever returning to the West by the death a month later
of his father, Dr. William Burnet, Sr., chief physician in the Continental
Army, and likewise a Mason. This unfortunate circumstance, with the Indian
war, delayed the arrival of the warrant for more than three years.
Dr. Burnet, Jr., was Senior Warden of Newark Lodge, No. 2, of Newark, N.J.,
at the time he came to Ohio. Now resuming his place in its official line,
he became Master in 1792. John Ludlow (1), named as Senior Warden in the
warrant, an intrepid pioneer settler, had been a member of Royal Arch Lodge,
No. 10, A.Y.M., of Baskingridge, N.J. He likewise found it impossible to
serve the lodge when it was organized late in 1794, through having moved
his home far out in the wilderness, an exceedingly dangerous undertaking.
Of the Masonic history of Dr. Calvin Morrell, who came to the territory
with Dr. Burnet, nothing is known. He was present, however, and in his station
in the South as Junior Warden, at the institution of the lodge.
A TERRIBLE DISASTER
Following Harmar's ineffectual campaign, General St. Clair had assumed command
of the military. With the usual complement of regulars, militia and volunteers,
he started bravely forth from Fort Washington to vanquish the redskins.
All went well until he reached a point about 100 miles north of Cincinnati.
There his force of some 1500 was quietly surrounded by the enemy and in
a battle which commenced at early dawn on Nov. 4, 1791, literally cut
to pieces. The casualties exceeded 900, of which two-thirds were killed
and scalped and the rest wounded. There were no prisoners, and as related
in after years by Indians taking part, their arms were weary from wielding
the tomahawk and scalping knife. Quoting from the graphic account of Jacob
Fowler, noted hunter and a Mason, who turned for a last look as he fled
from the scene of carnage: "The dead and dying laying around, their
freshly scalped heads reeking with smoke in the heavy morning fog, looked
like so many pumpkins through a cornfield in December."
St. Clair's was the worst disaster ever befalling the whites in the history
of Indian warfare in America. Many of the Craft lost their lives on this
bloody day, the list being headed by brave Major- General Richard Butler.
Numbers of the settlers, who had accompanied the expedition as volunteers,
were among the slain. From the fact that there were but seven brethren present
at the organization of the lodge, and these not all resident on the Purchase
during the years c the war, it is probable that of those killed some were
Masons who had signed the petition to form a lodge at Cincinnati.
With the situation now truly grave, General
"Mad Anthony" Wayne (also a member of the Craft) succeeded
St. Clair as commander. At the head of a new and carefully drilled and equipped
army he started north after the savages, but, unlike his predecessor, with
a band of experienced scouts in the lead. Finally coming in contact with
the confederated tribes near Toledo, Ohio, on Aug. 20, 1794, in a brief
but bloody battle known to history as "Fallen
Timbers," he administered such a terrific beating to the redskins
that the backbone and power of their confederacy was completely and forever
broken.
THE INAUGURATION OF THE LODGE
Early in December of this year the charter of the lodge arrived from New
Jersey and the brethren proceeded to their long delayed organization. This
took place on St. John's Day, Dec. 27, 1794, when seven Master Mason pioneers
made their way to the house of Jacob Lowe, who kept inn at the sign of "General
Wayne." Those composing this little group were Dr. Calvin Morrell,
J.W., John S. Gano, Elias Wallen, Patrick Dickey, James Brady, John Allen
and Edward Day.
Wayne's victory, while decisive, had brought but a nominal peace. Danger
yet lurked on the trails, with Indians who had passed the lines of his army
hanging about and waylaying and murdering travelers. Conditions had become
so bad in this year that there was inserted in the Centinel of the Northwestern
Territory, the first newspaper at Cincinnati, an advertisement offering
a premium for Indian scalps. Among its several conditions was the grewsome
requirement that the right ear was to be appendant to each. It is interesting
to note that of the six subscribers to the offer, two, Levi Woodward and
Ignatius Ross, became members of N.C. Harmony Lodge. The Notice follows:
Public Notice
WHEREAS, many good citizens of the Territory, with a design to check the
incursions of hostile Indians now at war with the people of the United States,
have voluntarily entered into and subscribed their names to certain articles;
each name having a sum annexed thereto, and have severally bound themselves,
their heirs, etc., to pay the same as in the same articles are mentioned:
We, the subscribers, therefore being nominated and appointed to superintend
the business of collecting and paying the money thus subscribed, hereby
give notice that the following arrangement is made for the reward to be
given for Indian scalps to be taken and produced within the period of the
18th day of April last past and the 25th day of December next ensuing, and
within the boundaries following, to-wit: Beginning on the Ohio, ten miles
above the mouth of the Little Miami, on a direct line then northwardly,
the same distance from the said Miami, until it shall extend twenty-five
miles above where Harmar's trace first crosses the said Little Miami, until
it shall extend ten miles west of the Great Miami, thence southwardly, keeping
the distance of ten miles from the said Great Miami to the Ohio; thence
up the middle of the said River Ohio to the beginning; that for every scalp,
having the right ear appendant, of the first ten Indians who shall be killed
within the time and limits aforesaid by those who are subscribers to the
said articles, shall, whenever collected, be paid the sum of one hundred
and thirty-six dollars; and for every scalp of the like number of Indians,
having the right ear appendant, who shall be killed within the time and
limits aforesaid, by those who are not subscribers, the Federal troops excepted,
shall, whenever collected, be paid the sum of one hundred dollars, and for
every scalp, having the right ear appendant, of the second ten Indians who
shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid by those who are subscribers
to the said articles shall, whenever collected as aforesaid, be paid the
sum of one hundred and seventeen dollars; and for every scalp, having the
right ear appendant, of the second ten Indians who shall be killed within
the time and limits aforesaid, by those who are not subscribers to the said
articles, except before excepted, shall, whenever collected, be paid the
sum of ninety-five dollars.
Cincinnati-- Levi Woodward Darius C. Orcutt James Lyons
Columbia-- William Brown Ignatius Ross John Reily
Committee
Advertisement in the Centinel of the Northwestern Territory of .... 1794
Woodward and Rose were members of Harmony Lodge.
Editor's Note: This Public Notice was published in the Centinel of the Northwestern Territory, established at Cincinnati,Ohio, by William Maxwell, November 9, 1793
Not until August, 1795, when the famous
Treaty of Greenville was consummated by Wayne, was there a reasonable assurance
of safety. From this it would appear indeed likely that the seven brethren
went armed to Lowe's tavern, which was situated, it is believed, in an isolated
spot on the river bank west of the village.
Here the Great Lights were erected, illumined by tallow candles, which cast
their flickering glow into the gloom of the wilderness, signalizing the
coming of organized Masonry to a remote frontier and the beginning of a
labor that has gone on unremittingly ever since. After effecting the usual
temporary organization, the main business of the evening was the election
of officers. This was held with the following result: Edward Day, Master;
John S. Gano, S.W.; Dr. Calvin Morrell, J.W. (named in warrant); James Brady,
Treas.; Elias Wallen, Sec'y; John Allen, S.D., and Patrick Dickey, J.D.
The meeting was then closed in "good harmony."
Bro. Day, Master, was but a very recent arrival in Cincinnnati, having served
until late in this year as Commissary-General under Washington in the Pennsylvania
Whiskey Rebellion. He was Past Master of Joppa Lodge, A.Y.M., of Joppa,
Maryland, and a zealous and highly skilled member of the Craft. In his travels
Bro. Day had gained further advancement in Masonry and came to Ohio a Knight
Templar, probably the first of that rank to cross the Alleghenies.
THE PROBLEM OF INSTALLATION
Installation of officers on Jan. 7, 1795, found the lodge faced with the
embarrassment of having no spare brother qualified to act as installing
officer. Fortunately, however, the difficulty was bridged by the timely
appearance in the meeting of Captain Isaac Guyon, commander of Fort Washington
and Master of the Army Lodge. With his able assistance and that of Bros.
Wallen and Allen, who were Past Masters of lodges in northern Ireland, the
ceremonies were satisfactorily performed.
How the brethren managed without the services of a Tiler in their first
days is not known. It was not until the initial stated communication on
Jan. 21, that another member was secured and made to assume this undoubtedly
cold and lonely post. This was through the admission of John Dunlap, of
Ireland, a redoubtable surveyor, at whose station had occurred the desperate
fight with the Indians in 1791.
On this same night the first petition was received. This was signed by Captain
Ephraim Kibby, veteran of the Revolution and noted scout and Indian fighter
of the early West, who won especial fame as leader of Wayne's "Forty
Famous Scouts." This band was recruited from among the best Indian
fighters of Ohio and Kentucky and rendered valuable service to the American
army on its march to victorious Fallen Timbers.
Both Kibby and Major Stites were fine types of the borderer, being tall,
lithe and active and possessed of remarkable strength and endurance. Books
doubtless could be written of their many strange and thrilling adventures
and exploits, if indeed they had ever made them known. A few have come to
hand and the writer is tempted to recount some of them, but space and the
purpose of this article forbids. This much can be said, however, the company
of both was sought for years by the red enemy, who would have liked nothing
better than to have effected their capture. So eagerly did they covet the
person of Kibby, that he was once chased for twenty-four hours, but succeeded
in making his escape. For Major Stites, whom they blamed for the loss of
their land, the Indians had an especially warm reception in store intending
to burn him at the stake. But the wily old borderer eluded all their attempts
at capture and lived to be initiated in the lodge, which was in 1799. What
Boone and Kenton and Robertson and Sevier were respectively to Kentucky
and Tennessee, so equally important and valuable, if less conspicuous, can
be said to have been the services of these two sterling backwoods characters
in the winning and settlement of southwestern Ohio.
THE LODGE BEGINS ITS LABORS
Working meetings of N. C. Harmony Lodge commenced on March 4, 1795, with
Captain Kibby as one of the first to kneel at its rude altar. Among those
initiated or admitted in this year were a number who had served in the Revolution,
as well as in the Indian War. Quite singular to note, the services of one
of these, Captain John Whistler (2), was with the mother country. An Irishman
by birth, while fighting on the side of the British, he was taken prisoner
at Burgoyne's surrender in 1777 at Saratoga. After the war he came again
to America and enlisted in the U. S. Army, being severely wounded at St.
Clair's defeat. Captain Whistler was the progenitor of a famous line of
soldiers, engineers and artists, the celebrated painter, James Abbott McNeill
Whistler, being a grandson.
An initiate of especial worthy mention was Captain Robert T. Benham, an
old associate of Kibby and Stites on the Pennsylvania border. While serving
in the frontier militia he was a principal in one of the most strange, thrilling
and terrifying experiences ever recorded in the annals of the West, the
full details of which are to be found in the "National Cyclopaedia
of American Biography." This took place in 1779, on the Ohio, opposite
Clincinnati, when a force of some seventy whites was ambushed by an overwhelming
number of savages and, with the exception of Benham and a dozen others,
butchered and scalped. Captain Benham was an early arrival in the village
and saw service in all the Indian campaigns, likewise being badly wounded
at St. Clair's defeat.
On June 24, 1795, was held the first celebration of St. John the Baptist
Day. Among those to grace the festive board as visiting brethren were Governor
St. Clair, Colonel Winthrop Sargent, Territorial Secretary, and Judge John
Cleves Symmes, chief promoter of the Miami purchase. During the festivities
"the usual number of Masonic toasts were drank" and the members
entertained by a band of music "which played at intervals grand, majestic
and harmonious sounds, and the whole evening spent with hilarity, which
has ever clistinguished this social band of brothers.
Dec. 27, 1795, witnessed the initial celebration of the anniversary of St.
John the Evangelist. During its course the following eleven toasts were
drank:
1. Our Brother George Washington, the friend of Masonry and of man. 2. The
Grand Lodge of New Jersey--may they continue to he respectable. 3. To all
the fraternity around the Globe. 4. May this lodge ever be distinguished
for Love, Peace and Harmony. 5. To all those who steer their course by the
Three Great Lights of Masonry. 6. A proper subdivision and application of
the 24-inch gauge. 7. The absent brethren of the lodge. 8. Every brother
who maintains a constancy in love and sincerity in friendship. 9. May no
Freemason wish for more liberty than happiness, nor more freedom than tends
to the public good. 10. May the hearts of Freemasons agree, though their
heads may differ. 11. May every society instituted for the promotion of
virtue flourish.
Occurring in those early days, it is to be imagined that an analysis of
the contents of the punch bowl into which the brethren dipped, would have
shown an alcoholic content greatly exceeding that allowed by law today for
beverage purposes. Saints John Day celebrations, which drew the attendance
of all within reach of the settlement, were events of great moment in the
lives of the pioneer Masons, who, in their lonely existence on the border,
eagerly looked forward to the times twice each year when they could fraternize
and enjoy the fellowship of a Masonic gathering. Hence, taken together,
it is not to be wondered that at these functions the members attained to
a certain degree of mellowness and sentiment.
That the lodge was kept quite busy in its first year is attested by the
high mark of forty-four meetings held. In this time the membership grew
from seven to forty-two, comprising a conglomerate and picturesque lot,
there being soldiers, scouts and Indian fighters, surveyors, traders, tavernkeepers
and ferrymen, with a sprinkling of doctors and lawyers--much the usual miscellany
found in lodges of the early West.
COMMEMORATIVE SERVICE FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON
A minute of unusual note is found under date of Feb. 1, 1800, the brethren
conducting a funeral ceremony for George Washington. At the head of a large
procession, composed of troops from the fort, led by Captain Edward Miller,
a member of the lodge and personal friend of the late President; the militia,
civil authorities and citizens, they repaired to the "grave" of
the deceased, conducted the ceremonies and rites of the Order in ancient
form and returned to close lodge. Washington having died on Dec. 14, 1799,
the holding of these obsequies more than six weeks later would strikingly
illustrate the slowness of communication in those days.
Ohio was officially admitted a state in the Union early in 1803. To this
time but two Masonic bodies were in operation within her confines, that
at Cincinnati and American Union Lodge, of Marietta. This last was a famous
traveling military organization of the Revolution, which had been reopened
on Ohio soil on June 28, 1790, after having lain dormant since the war,
by Captain Jonathan Heart, Master at the close of hostilities, who, again
in the army, chanced to bring with him to Fort Harmar its old authority
of establishment. This, in the form of a commission, under the name of John
Rowe, Grand Master, was issued by Richard Gridley, Deputy Grand Master of
the Massachusetts Grand Lodge (Moderns), in 1776. But one other of its original
members was present, General Rufus Putnam, the balance assisting in the
revival of this old army lodge being made elsewhere, but now immediately
admitted to membership therein. Captain Heart, who again became Master,
was so unfortunate as to be numbered among the slain at St. Clair's defeat
in the following year. He was a gallant soldier, of long experience and
wide learning in the Craft, and a skilled architect, as is here shown by
his splendid drawing of Fort Washington, done in 1790.
FORMATION OF THE GRAND LODGE OF OHIO
From 1803 four other lodges sprang into existence in Ohio--Erie, No. 47,
of Warren (G.L. of Conn.); New England, No. 48, of Worthington (G.L. of
Conn.); Amity, No. 105, of Zanesville (G.L. of Penn.), and Scioto, No. 2,
of Chillicothe (G.L. of Mass.). In 1807 it was proposed by Erie Lodge that
a Grand Lodge be formed in the state. As a result, early in January, 1808,
delegates from all six bodies met in Chillicothe, then the capital, and
founded the M.W. Grand Lodge of Ohio, electing General Rufus Putnam as first
Grand Master, "a fitting recognition of his services as a soldier,
statesman and Freemason." He, however, was forced to decline the honor
by reason of his age and infirmities. Thomas Henderson, Master of the lodge
at Cincinnati, was chosen Deputy Grand Master.
When Ohio charters were issued and the lodges numerically designated in
1813, the latter body became known as Nova Caesarea Harmony Lodge, No. 2.
The suffix "Harmony" is thought to have been acquired through
adjustment by the Grand Lodge of an old difference among its members, although
there is evidence of its being an unofficial designation from the beginning.
Upon American Union Lodge was bestowed the coveted Number 1. This, however,
it did not receive until 1816. Immediately after helping to form the Ohio
Grand Lodge, the brethren at Marietta defaulted from their agreement and
operated as an independent body for a number of years. Finally, after being
declared an irregular organization by the Grand Lodge in 1815, some of its
members withdrew and petitioned for an Ohio charter and the formation of
a new lodge. This was granted in January, 1816, in the style American Union
Lodge, No. 1. There were now two lodges at Marietta bearing the same name,
the majority membership, probably the army faction, continuing to labor
under the original authority of 1776, which they stubbornly refused to surrender,
claiming adherence to and the protection of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
This body, in 1819, after being appealed to by the latter, upon investigation
were prompt to deny jurisdiction. As there is no further record that these
old brethren ever ceased in their rebellious stand, in all probability they
held the fort to the end.
The lodge chartered in Ohio as American Union Lodge, No. 1, was represented
in Grand Lodge until 1825. For a period of nearly twenty years thereafter
no delegates were in attendance at its communications. From 1830 the lodge
was inactive for thirteen years, doubtless by reason of the anti-Masonic
war. Then in 1843 its charter and other effects were restored by the Grand
Lodge, and from 1845 American Union Lodge, No. 1, has been one of its most
faithful and loyal constitutents.
From the foregoing it can readily be seen that the lodge at Cincinnati is
not only the oldest body under Ohio charter, but has much the longest continuous
history, being steadily in operation from the date of organization in 1794.
That it rightfully should have been accorded the honored Number 1 is the
opinion of the official historians of the Grand Lodge in their History of
Freemasonry in Ohio. Elsewhere in this work is noted the following tribute
to the Old Lodge at Cincinnati:
Loyal to Freemasonry under all the vicissitudes incident to a pioneer existence,
and to the Grand Lodge while it was under the ban of fanaticism and persecution,
N.C. Harmony Lodge never wavered in its fealty to or attendance upon the
M.W. Grand Lodge of Ohio throughout the whole of the so-called "Morgan
Excitement," from 1829 to a variable later date according to local
influences prevailing at that period.
In days when duelling was a common practice, especially in the West, a land
of free and independent spirits and fiery tempers, two early members of
the lodge, Captain Thomas Ramsey, U.S.A., and John Sheets, became involved
in disputes and sought settlement on the "field of honor." The
first occurred in 1818, on Bloody Island, near St. Louis, a favorite duelling
ground of the vicinity, when Captain Ramsey was shot and killed by Captain
Wylie Martin, a brother officer (3). A few years later Bro. Sheets, while
Grand Master of Indiana, engaged in mortal combat with another, and was
so unfortunate as to take the life of his opponent. This, of course, ended
his career in Grand Lodge and very likely caused his retirement from the
Order.
HARMONY'S FIRST TEMPLE
For three decades N.C. Harmony Lodge met in rented quarters. Finally it
was realized a dream of long standing when, on St. John's Day, Dec. 27,
1824, thirty years to the day after the lodge was organized, the brethren
held their initial meeting in a temple of their own. This edifice, finished
in 1823, is believed to have been the first of its kind erected west of
the Alleghenies. It was situated on part of the large lot (100x200 ft.)
at Third and Walnut streets, generously donated to the lodge in the will
of Judge William McMillan, an esteemed early member. Built of brick, two
stories in height and of the plainest design, its dimensions were about
35x70 ft., the cost of construction totaling nearly $2,500.
To Cincinnati and to the new meeting place of the lodge came, in the year
1825, the three most distinguished men and Masons of their time--General
Andrew Jackson, "Old Hickory," the hero of New Orleans, Past Grand
Master of Tennessee and later President; Lafayette, the celebrated patriot
of two countries, and the illustrious DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York
and Grand Master for fourteen years. Their respective visits to the lodge
were each the signal for an immense turnout of the Craft, who came for many
miles around in Ohio and adjoining states to assist in extending a fitting
weleome and entertaining the renowned visitors. Especially was there an
overflow crowd in evidence when the beloved Frenchman arrived and was introduced
from the altar to those present. As a mark of esteem and regard in which
he was held, coincident with his coming, a new lodge was formed and named
in his honor, Lafayette, No. 81, which is still in existence.
This was the second local offspring of the "Old Lodge," as she
was by now called, her first witnessing its birth in 1817. In years following
she became the parent of quite numerous progeny, which grew up in health
and vigor around her. This pioneer body was not only the incubator of Masonry
in Hamilton county and adjacent territory in Ohio, but a veritable breeding
ground for the Craft in the West, numbers of its members being found in
the tides of emigration early sweeping past the city and traced as founders
of first lodges.
A COMPANION IN ARMS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
Minutes of Nov. 26, 1833, record a most sad but nevertheless interesting
event. This was the conducting of the funeral of Colonel John McKinney,
an aged veteran of the Revolution and War of 1812, who in bygone days had
visited in N.C. Harmony Lodge. During the services it was made known, doubtless
to the surprise of many, that Bro. McKinney had been "Senior Warden
under Gen'l George Washington, by Whom he was Initiated." (Underscored
as in minutes.)
Research disclosed McKinney, then a Lieutenant, as a charter member of Pennsylvania
Union (army) Lodge, No. 29, formed in 1780 in the Pennsylvania line. Among
others enrolled are noted the names of the then colonels, Josiah
Harmar and Richard Butler. Bro. McKinney served throughout the war with
the Pennsylvania troops and was probably a native of that state. However,
if he was there made a Mason, his name has not been found in any of its
Masonic records. From this the statement as to his induction by Washington
might be true, but lack of written evidence would preclude its acceptance
as conclusive proof. As to his serving under the latter as Senior Warden,
after the war McKinney was long a government employe at the Capitol and
it is possible that at some time he paid a visit to Washington's lodge at
Alexandria, Va., and there was accorded the honor of taking the West opposite
his old commander.
By 1845 the first temple had so far outlived its usefulness that a second
edifice was built on the lot, the other being left standing. This was likewise
of brick, but much larger, measuring 115x66 ft., and was of three stories,
its cost approximating $32,000. It stood but for some dozen years, when
it too was forced to give way before the march of progress and constant
expansion of the Fraternity, and was razed, together with all other buildings
on the property. In its place was erected a monster structure covering the
entire site, which at its completion, in 1860, was considered the largest
and finest Masonic temple in the land, costing, with its furnishings and
equipment, about $185,000.
The lodge over a period of not quite four decades had built three temples,
at an aggregate cost of nearly $220,000, hardly a trifling figure for those
days. This is a record probably without parallel in the history of the Craft
in America. It was not until 1923 that its brethren were able to balance
their ledger, having been continuously in debt for 100 years. As aptly characterized
by the speaker of the evening at the meeting of celebration when the last
canceled mortgage was burned, it was "a debt honorably made and honorably
paid."
ILLUSTRIOUS MEMBERS OF THE LODGE
The names of many men of distinction and renown adorn the membership roll
of N.C. Harmony Lodge, such as Judge William McMillan, the first to step
ashore at Cincinnati, Territorial Congressman, the benefactor of Masonry
in Hamilton County by his bequest of the lot at Third and Walnut streets;
Major-General John S. Gano, of the War of 1812, an original pioneer settler
and member, Deputy Grand Master; General James Wilkinson, Commander-in-
Chief of the U. S. Army; Judge Jacob Burnet, the mightiest figure in the
Northwest Territory, U. S. Senator and Deputy Grand Master; Thomas Worthington,
U. S. Senator and Governor of Ohio, said to have been its most constructive
statesman; Alexander A. Meek and John Sheets, who helped found the Grand
Lodge of Indiana and became Grand Masters; Dr. Alexander Duncan, U. S. Congressman
for several terms; Theodore Sutton Parvin, initiated in 1838, father of
Masonry in Iowa and Grand Master, a nationally known member of the Craft,
Grand Secretary of Iowa for nearly fifty-eight years and founder of its
world's renowned Masonic library; Samuel Reed, Grand Lecturer of Ohio, foremost
Masonic scholar and lecturer of his time in the West; William B. Dodds,
Grand Master of the state for two terms, 1854-5; his son, Colonel Ozro J.
Dodds, distinguished soldier of the Civil War and U. S. Congressman, and
Elam P. Langdon, "The Temple Builder," quiet and unassuming, a
factor of inestimable worth in the erection and successful operation of
the first two temples constructed by the lodge, and the most zealous and
hardest working member ever on its roll, skilled writer and literary genius,
who knew well Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison and others of the great.
The list of visiting brethren, exclusive of those already named, presents
quite a notable array, with Colonel Return J. Meigs, hero of the Revolution;
his son, Judge Return J. Meigs, Jr., famous war governor of Ohio; the illustrious
statesmen and cabinet officers, Thomas Corwin, John McLean, Alphonso Taft,
George M. Bibb and William T. Barry; General William Lytle, daring borderer
and Indian fighter of early days, and many others. In addition are found
the names of numerous Grand Masters and others of high standing in the Craft
of Ohio and other jurisdictions, and those of visiting brethren from virtually
every state in the Union, as well as from many foreign countries, who came
to "sit in the Old Lodge."
In the matter of Masonically educating its members the lodge took early
steps, there being inaugurated, in 1812, the first system of lectures and
instruction. As soon as the fame of the accomplished Benjamin Gleason and
Jeremy L. Cross, disseminators of the Thomas Smith Webb work, reached the
West, their services were sought in Cincinnati, where each in a series of
meetings lectured before the brethren. Then came the celebrated John Barney,
of Ohio, followed by their own Samuel Reed, and the famous Cornelius Moore,
Enoch T. Carson and others distinguished for their Masonic learning or skill
as ritualists.
THE EXERCISE OF CHARITY AND RELIEF
Of its record for charity and relief dispensed over its long history, N.
C. Harmony Lodge can well feel proud. Strange as it may seem, in days when
the country was young and quite poor, until the War of 1812 scarcely a single
notation of a call for assistance is to be found on the minutes. From this
time on, however, appeals were without end for several decades. Especially
was this the case when emigration began pouring down the Ohio, the main
gateway to the West, in a never ending stream, with many families and individuals
reaching the city without means of proceeding farther, this in days before
organized relief bureaus existed. Deaf ear was turned to none found worthy,
and no distinctions were drawn. Such a boundless limit naturally resulted
in severe drains on the lodge charity fund and other resources. Often its
treasury was depleted. At these times the members would take up a collection
in the lodgeroom and, if necessary, canvass the town for subscriptions from
others of the Order. For a lengthy period a regular system of payroll for
needy widows and orphans was maintained, some of the names remaining thereon
for a number of years. Calls for relief and charity continued to mount,
the peak being reached in 1840 and 1841, when a total of nearly $2,000 was
expended for such purposes in these years. This is a remarkable record when
it is compared the purchasing power of a dollar in those days with that
in the present--probably in the ratio of four or possibly five to one. Later,
at times like the terrible cholera epidemic in New Orleans of 1853, the
great Chicago fire, the disastrous Johnstown flood and San Francisco earthquake,
to cite but major instances, the Old Lodge of Cincinnati upheld her reputation
as a ready and liberal giver and contributed with the foremost to the relief
of the Masonic distressed. And thus it has ever continued.
Naturally a lodge with such a long span of existence can boast an interesting
and valuable collection of relics and antiques. Listing but the principal,
there is its most prized possession--the original charter from New Jersey
of 1791; a personal letter written and signed by George Washington in 1789,
to Chief Justice John Jay; the commission of Judge William McMillan as U.S.
District Attorney for Ohio, issued and signed in 1802 by Thomas Jefferson,
President, and attested by James Madison, Secretary of State; a beautiful
Masonic officer's apron, presented in 1784 to Dr. William Burnet, Sr., in
New Jersey; the certificate of membership in Royal Arch Lodge, No. 10, Baskingridge,
N. J., of John Ludlow, dated May 6, 1786; that of Elias Wallen in Rathmelton
Lodge, No. 448, Rathmelton, Ireland, granted in 1789; the first document
of similar character issued by N. C. Harmony Lodge to John Allen in 1795,
and an old black Masonic chair, with square and compasses inlaid in gold,
which tradition says was occupied by Lafayette on the occasion of his visit
in 1825. Another interesting item is a daguerreotype portrait of Griffin
Yeatman, who was actually the first initiate on the rolls of the lodge,
though Capt. Kibby was the first to present his petition. Bro. Yeatman remained
an active member on the lodge register from 1795 till his death in 1849.
In addition to these reminders of the past, the lodge is fortunate in possessing
a full set of minute books from the date of organization, and virtually
every other record of importance, a rare boast for a Masonic body dating
its inception back to eighteenth century days.
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF HARMONY, NO. 2
Seemingly no notice was taken of the fiftieth anniversary of the lodge.
But its centennial birthday in 1891 was fittingly recognized in a monster
celebration and homecoming at the old temple lasting two days, topped by
an elaborate banquet on Sept. 8, attended not only by its own and the members
and officers of local lodges, but Grand Lodge officers and distinguished
Masons of Ohio and those of other jurisdictions throughout the country.
The 125th milestone, in 1916, likewise was not permitted to pass unobserved
and was quite a pretentious affair, nor did the 135th anniversary fail of
fitting recognition. Not the least point of interest at these times was
the display of relics, with the original charter of 1791, of course, the
center of attraction. This ancient document, written on sheepskin, is still
in a remarkable stage of preservation, and plainly shows the creases where
it had been folded against the breast of its carrier, who rode horseback
or walked the long distance from New Jersey.
Never striving for a large membership, by the close of the nineteenth century
the roll of the lodge showed possibly 175 names. Conservatism in this regard,
combined with its extensive property holding and a quiet existence, naturally
had bred a reputation for exclusiveness and won for long the opprobrious
title "Blue Stocking Lodge." However, with the new order of things
of a later day and the impetus supplied by the World War, the membership
has more than doubled, until now it stands at some 435, and the designation
"Blue Stocking" become but a memory.
After meeting in temples on the same corner lot for exactly a century, the
lodge in 1924 disposed of its third building and the ground site which it
had so long possessed, for a consideration approaching a quarter of a million
dollars. It still meets therein, however, and is patiently waiting the day
when it can move into the mammoth new Masonic Temple, rapidly nearing completion
in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, but a few squares distant from the
old location. This magnificent structure, solely devoted to purposes of
the Fraternity, is being erected by the various Masonic bodies and individual
members of the Craft in the city, at a cost of $4,500,000. It covers a ground
area greater than any other edifice of its kind in the land, and when finished
promises to be the "last word" in Masonic temples of the present
day, as was its predecessor in 1860.
Perhaps needless to state, in the matter of subscription to the above, N.
C. Harmony Lodge widened the purse strings to their fullest extent and gave
with the foremost. Some day, when the conditions of the sale of her property
will have been met, she will assume rank among the wealthiest lodges of
the United States. To this thanks alone are due one of her earliest members,
Judge William McMillan, who, with vision to the growth and needs of the
Fraternity in future years, thoughtfully bequeathed to his brethren the
large lot at Third and Walnut streets, which at the time of purchase by
him in 1795, for about $2, was probably used as a cow pasture. So closes
the story of this pioneer Masonic organization, the first regularly chartered
body through Grand Lodge authority in the Northwest Territory, but the high
lights of which have been covered in the foregoing.
NOTES
(1) Thanks are due Bro. David McGregor, of New Jersey, for the information
concerning the Masonic connection of Dr. William Burnet, Jr., and John Ludlow.
(2) This brother was captured at the surrender of Detroit, Aug. 16, 1812.
He thus had what must surely be the almost unique experience of having been
taken a prisoner of war first by the Americans and then by the British,
in both of whose armies he had successively fought.
(3) For the particulars of Captain Ramsey's death by duelling, the writer
is indebted to Bro. Ray V. Denslow's valuable work, Territorial Masonry.
An additional note may be in order in respect to the curious "scalp"
advertisement. The Centinel of the Northwestern Territory was the first
newspaper to be published in the territory. It was a weekly, the first number
appeared in November, 1793. The period during which the committee agreed
to pay the bounty on scalps ran from April 18 of 1794, but the advertisement
did not actually appear till May 17--a month later. It appeared thereafter
weekly until Aug. 20 or until Wayne's victory made the settlers feel more
secure. Copies of this old journal are very rare and the only complete file,
so far as is known, is now in the library of the Ohio Historical Society.
The author would also like to acknowledge his indebtedness to Bro. Bratton
for his helpful kindness in making the drawings from which two of the illustrations
have been taken.
The following additional information has been condensed from an article
by Bro. Baer in the Tri-State Mason.
It is interesting to note that although easily the oldest of the more than
twenty subordinate bodies under jurisdiction of the Parent Body the numerical
designation "2" was bestowed upon N.C. Harmony Lodge. This point
has long been debated and conjectured by those familiar with the histories
of our two earliest lodges, an impartial review rather inclining the belief
that No. 1 would have been its rightful designation. In this regard the
historians who so ably wrote The History of Freemasonry in Ohio have this
to say:
". . . Why it (N. C. Harmony Lodge) was not designated as No. 1, as
it rightfully would seem to have been entitled, was doubtless in accordance
with the resolution of the convention of 1808 that lodges should be numbered
in their order 'beginning with the charter of most ancient date,' no defection
then being anticipated. Another reason perhaps added weight thereto that
it would be an inducement to American Union Lodge to become loyal to the
Grand Lodge and thereby have the distinction of being designated as No.
1 on the roster of subordinate lodges."
American Union Lodge was a traveling Army Lodge chartered by the St. John's
Grand Lodge of Boston, in 1776, several months prior to the signing of the
Declaration of Independence. This St. John's Grand Lodge was really a Provincial
Grand Lodge constituted by the Grand Lodge of England in 1753.