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History of Masonry
In London, in June 1717, the Grand Lodge of England was formed and this marks the beginning of Freemasonry as it is known today. A few years later, the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland were organized. With the establishment of these high-governing bodies, subordinate lodges were established throughout England, Scotland and Ireland. It was only natural that the American colonies should receive their charters from their mother country, or work under the Grand Lodges of Great Britain and Scotland. While Freemasonry may have existed in the infant colonies earlier than 1730, it is definitely known that it was at work that year. In the decade following, the Masonic institution was firmly established in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Georgia. On October13,1778, the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons in Virginia was formed at Williamsburg, the state capital.
Although Lexington was one of the earliest settlements in Kentucky, it was not until 1785 that it assumed the appearance of a frontier village, its growth having been retarded by Indian warfare. At this time, seven years before Kentucky became a state, Lexington consisted of only three rows of log cabins. Two years later, in August 1787, John Bradford published the first newspaper west of the Alleghenies - the Kentucky Gazette, in a little log cabin near the corner of Broadway and Main Streets. The haunting dread of Indian attacks began to gradually fade away, and by the fall of 1788, this "budding metropolis contained "about fifty houses, partly frame and hewn logs, with the chimneys on the outside. . . and at most 350 inhabitants."
The history of the human race does not record a more amazing episode than the deluge of emigrants, who, pouring through the Cumberland Gap at the close of the eighteenth century, spread over all the boundaries of the present State of Kentucky, and within the short period of twenty years converted a boundless wilderness into prosperous farms and commodious villages.
To be found among the inhabitants of this frontier metropolis, was a small group of Masons, many of whom had served in the Revolutionary War and who had now come westward to build up their fortunes, or establish their claims to the rich Bluegrass lands which were rapidly being opened up. These pioneer Masons who settled in Lexington, being far removed from any lodge, were desirous of establishing one of their own. So, after some months of delay, they petitioned the Grand Lodge of Virginia, as Kentucky was still a part of Virginia and most of the Masons had come from that state.
At a Grand Lodge, holden by adjournment at the Mason's Hall, in the city of Richmond, on the 17th day of November, 1788 ... a petition of Green Clay, in behalf of sundry Brethren residing in the district of Kentucky was read, praying that leave be granted to them to hold a regular lodge at the town of Lexington, in the district aforesaid.
Ordered, that a charter be granted to Richard Clough Anderson, John Fowler, Green Clay, and others, to hold a regular Lodge of Free Masons at the town of Lexington, in the district of Kentucky, by the name title, and designation of the Lexington Lodge, No. 25.... (Signed) Alex Montgomery, G.M., p.t. Teste William Lambert, G.Sec'y, pro tem.
The three men named in the record were of some stature in both the profane and Masonic worlds. Richard Clough Anderson, the first Master of Lexington Lodge No. 25, was a native of Hanover County, Virginia. He was a captain in the Virginia Continentals during the Revolution and crossed the Delaware in the first boat at the Battle of Trenton in 1776. He also saw service at Brandywine, Germantown, and Savannah before being taken prisoner at Charleston in 1780. After the war he moved to Kentucky and became a principal surveyor of bounty lands to be entered for veterans of the Revolution. Anderson eventually established his residence on a farm called "Soldier's Retreat" near Louisville. Anderson was a member of the first electoral college and a member of the Kentucky legislature. He married Elizabeth Clark, the sister of George Rogers Clark. His children included Richard Clough Anderson, Jr. for whom Anderson County was named, and Civil War (Union) Brigadier General Robert Anderson. Richard Clough Anderson died in 1826.
Accordingly, the Grand Lodge of Virginia saw fit to grant a charter to the little band of Masons "at the town of Lexington, district of Kentucke." Thus the first lodge in the western country was established in Lexington the "Athens of the West" four years before Kentucky was admitted into the Union.
It is an interesting fact and one that shows the importance Masonry played in the early settlement of Lexington, that out of the party of eight pioneer hunters who located the site of the city, three were Masons; Robert Patterson, Levi Todd and John Maxwell.
The return for the year 1794 is the earliest one extant, and shows its membership consisted of 19 Master Masons, 17 Fellowcrafts and 9 Entered Apprentices. The first Masonic Temple or "Masons Hall" as it was then called, in Lexington and in all that country west of the Alleghenies, was a small log house of primitive style built on land donated to the lodge by Brother William Murray, afterwards the first Grand Master of Kentucky. This deed, dated December 16, 1795, from William Murray and wife was made out to several brothers, as trustees of "Lexington Lodge of Ancient Masons" and was in consideration of five shillings. By June 1796, the membership of the Lodge had grown so, that an annual "St. John's day was celebrated with considerable display."
During the summer of 1796, a joint lottery, authorized by law was held, and $2,250 was received each by the lodge and the city trustees. With this money, Lexington Lodge No. 25 replaced its log meeting place with a two story brick building on the same location; the new Masonic Hall being completed and occupied during the late fall of 1796. At this time there "were as many as twenty-five brick buildings being erected in Lexington." Here, in this "Masons Hall" Lexington Lodge No. 25 continued to meet under its Virginia Charter. Hunters in buckskins and lawyers, doctors, surveyors, printers, statesmen and members of other professions were wont to assemble and "meet upon the square." Here too, "they parted upon the square" to go out into the world, and carry into practice in their daily lives the tenets of tolerance, justice and brotherly love they professed.
Other lodges were established in the neighboring Bluegrass towns, by the Grand Lodge of Virginia, namely: Paris Lodge No. 35; Georgetown Lodge No. 46; Frankfort - Hiram Lodge No. 57 and Abraham's Lodge U D. at Shelbyville.
Distance and dangers, coupled with the unsatisfactory means of communication suggested the desirability of asking permission from Virginia to sever connections and to establish a Grand Lodge of Kentucky. Permission was given, and in 1800, the five lodges in the Bluegrass assembled in the "Masons Hall" in Lexington, and on the sixteenth day of October the Grand Lodge of Kentucky was formed. James Morrison, a Lexingtonian and the oldest past master present was asked to preside.
By virtue of Lexington Lodge No. 25 being the oldest lodge in Kentucky, it then became known as Lexington Lodge No. 1 upon the rolls of the newly organized Grand Lodge of the state. The other lodges likewise took new charters and numbers: Paris Lodge No. 2; Georgetown Lodge No. 3; Hiram Lodge No. 4 (at Frankfort) and Solomon's Lodge No. 5 at Shelbyville. The formation of the Kentucky Grand Lodge in Lexington cemented the bonds that ever bound the cities of the Bluegrass together, for these men were the foremost leaders of their day in everything that pertained to the welfare of their respective communities.
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