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Washington County Pennsylvania History and Families
FREEMASONS LODGE
ADOPTED JUNE 7, 1790.
F&AM LODGE in Washington County PA
Washington Lodge F&AM Feb. 5, 1920 McDonald PA Outlook
Washington Lodge, F. & A. M. Celebrate One Hundredth Anniversary
Washington Lodge No. 164, of Washington, Pa., celebrated their
one hundredth anniversary on Wednesday, Jan. 21st. This lodge being constituted Jan. 21st. 1820. About forty members of Garfield Lodge No. 604
were present. It was a great gathering of men and those who attended were
well repaid.
Great preparations for the event had been made and everything
for the comfort and entertainment of the visitors carefully carried out.
Not an idle minute from the time you landed. The features of the occasion
were the document read by Attorney J. C. BANE, and the historical address by
T. Jeff DUNCAN. Attorney BANE had as his subject, "The Spirit of Masonry"
and his address was a masterpiece.
Following is the history of Freemasonry in Washington, taken
from the Washington Observer.
Freemasonry Old as the Town
Freemasonry in Washington is almost as old as the town. Outside of the church the Masonic order is the oldest organization in the world,
which has been in continuous operation to the present time. Its members
have always been among the explorers, pioneers and settlers in each new
country as the world became settled by civilized man; and these members always took active steps for organizing lodges wherever they happened to be.
And so it was with the Masonic order of Washington. When this section was
still buried in the heart of the western wilderness, hundreds of miles from
the nearest civilization, in constant dangers from raiding Indians, six of
the original settlers of the town started the organization of a Masonic lodge. These were James CHAMBERS, Absalom BAIRD, Cyrus BECKWITH, Alexander
RONEY, James WHITESIDE and James FARCHAR.
That was about 1790. The town was first plotted and laid out as
Basset By David HODGE on October 13, 1781, although there had been a settlement here, known as Catfish camp, for several years prior to that
time. However the settlement of the town had been very slow, and very little was done until November 4, 1784, when the place was resurveyed and
renamed Washington, by John and William HODGE, the sons of David HODGE.
Therefore, we may say that the history of Masonry in the town began about
six years after it was laid out.
Everything was slow in frontier times in western Pennsylvania.
It required many weeks and sometimes almost a year to send a letter or any
communication east of the Allegheny mountains and receive a reply. There
were no regular mail routes, and a letter was carried by one traveler to
another until it was finally delivered at its destination, weeks and weeks
after it had been written.
For this reason almost two years passed before the first Masonic
lodge was constituted in Washington. Acting upon the application made in
1790 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted a warrant for holding a lodge
in the town of Washington. This was on June 25, 1792; but because of some
delay, probably also in the mails from the east, the lodge was not constituted until the following December, about the 6th of the month.
On that date a meeting was held in Washington and Lodge No. 54 was constituted by Matthew RITCHIE, district deputy grand master, with the
following officers: Worshipful Master, Jas. CHAMBERS; senior Warden, Absalom BAIRD; junior warden, Cyrus BECKWITH; treasurer, Alexander
RONEY; secretary, Jas. WHITESIDE, and Tyler, Jas. FARCHAR.
All these men were prominent citizens in the pioneer history of
Washington county. Several of them had served in the Revolutionary war and
one at least, Alexander RONEY, had been an Indian fighter and ranger on the
old frontier.
Meetings were held regularly by Lodge No. 54 from the date of
its organization until June 22, 1801, when they were suspended for a time,
owing to political disturbances and other causes, but it did not surrender
its charter.
It is interesting to note at this point that the old records of
the lodge show that at the meeting of Jan. 6, 1800 the members were required
to wear a scarf on their left arms, and a black rose on their aprons for one
year as a memorial and mark of respect for the death of their brother, General WASHINGTON, who died December 14, 1799.
Among the members of Lodge No. 54, were such men as John and David HODGE, Joseph PENTECOST, Wm.
MEETKIRKE, Georg B. KEPPLE, Alexander
REED and many other prominent men of the town.
For several years after the date of its organization, the lodge
was compelled to hold meetings in various parts of the town, generally in
the home of some member. About 1805 there was a revival of Masonry in Washington and the lodge resumed its meetings, which were suspended in 1801.
John HODGE gave permission to erect a building for its use on a lot located
on the east side of South Main street, below Maiden. It is the second lot
above the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and is now owned by H. S. GRAYSON, of
Washington. On the rear of this lot the lodge erected a stone temple, which
was one of the first west of the Allegheny mountains. Unfortunately, it was
not preserved, but was razed many years ago.
When the second war between England and America broke out in
1812, the meetings of the lodge became irregular and finally ceased. On
April 4, 1814, the Grand Lodge vacated its charter for delinquency, and thus
the existence of Lodge No. 54 came to an end, after a varied career of 21
years and four months. During this period eight members had presided as
worshipful master. They were James Chanbers, Dr. Absalom BAIRD, John HODGE,
George H. KEPPLE, David __KE, Samuel CLARK, John WILSON and Alexander REED.
......missing text......
...1820, Washington Lodge ... constituted at high noon in ... of Thomas PATTON already ref... The following were the first officers of the lodge
and they were installed at that meeting: Worshipful Master, Geo. JACKSON;
senior warden, Robert ESTEP and junior warden Daniel THOMPSON.
After the necessary formalities had been completed, the members marched to the Presbyterian meeting house, which is still standing on south
Franklin Street, near the First ward school. It is occupied by the C. A.
MANROE Co. After reaching the church, services for the lodge were conducted
by the Rev. Matthew BROWN, pastor of the church, assisted by the Rev. Thomas
HODGE. The Rev. Mr. BROWN delivered a sermon from First John, III-10, after
which Hon. Thomas BAIRD delivered an appropriate address. After the address
the members returned to the house of Mr. PATTEN.
Washington lodge was constituted by Jonathan H. WALKER, of
Pittsburgh, district deputy grand master, assisted by a number of other visiting Masons from adjacent lodge.
Thomas H. BAIRD, who delivered this address, was afterwards a
worshipful master of the lodge. He was a son of Dr. Absalom BAIRD, one of
the founders of Lodge No. 54. He studied law under Joseph PENTECOST and was
admitted to the bar in 1808. He was afterwards president judge of Washington, Fayette, Greene and Somerset counties.
The next public demonstration of the lodge occurred on June 24,
1824, when the celebrated St. John's Day. After a parade through the town
the local Masons together with a large number of visitors marched to the
Presbyterian meeting house, where they listened to a sermon by the Rev. Obadiah JENNINGS, and another address by Judge BAIRD.
Meetings were held regularly by the lodge until December 12,
1832, when on account of the anti-Masonic excitement that was sweeping the
United States, the lodge, by resolution suspended operations. It did not
surrender its charter and on April 14, 1845, it was revived by a dispensation of the Grand Lodge, the first meeting being held in the house
of Dr. Alfred CREIGH, which stood on the lot now occupied by the Jack HART
and WOOD stores, on the east side of North Main street, just north of Beau
street. It is interesting to note at this point that, although 13 years had
passed since the lodge had suspended operations, yet all the old officers
took their stations, death not having thinned the ranks of the craft. Since
1845 the lodge had continued its meetings regularly to the present time.
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