THE BUILDER November, 1927

Pioneer Masonry in the Northwest Territory

The Story of Nova Caesarea Harmony Lodge, No. 2, Cincinnati

By BRO. HENRY BAER, Ohio

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 basiness 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.


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 by a
group of Jerseymen headed by Judge John Cleves Symmes, a member of
Congress, and was 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 horsebhieves 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 bhe 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 oJ 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. 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, tihe 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 offlcers 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 an;d 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 ediflce
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.


