MASONIC

 

HUDSON LODGE, NO. 7, F. AND A. M

 

HUDSON,

  COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK

By Captain Franklin Ellis160

1878

 

 

     The petition to the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, praying for the charter, which was afterwards granted to this lodge, was dated Dec. 18, 1786, and was signed by the following named petitioners, viz.:  Seth Jenkins, Jared Coffin, Joseph Hamilton, John McKinstry, John Thurston, John Penoyer, Joseph Olney, Shubael  Worth, Isaac Bateman, Thomas Worth, William Wall, Daniel Gano, Thomas Frothingham, Robert Folger, David Lawrence, Benjamin Chace, Lemuel Jenkins, Samuel Mansfield.

     The petition ws presented by Daniel Gano on March 17, 1787.  In the month of May following, a warrant, as prayed for, was issued by the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, and the first officers were installed at Albany in June, 1787, as follows:  Seth Jenkins, W. M.; Jared Coffin, S. W.; David Lawrence, J. W.; Samuel Mansfield, Treas.; Daniel Gano, Sec.; Thomas Frothingham, S.D.; Simeon Stoddard, J. D.; Shubael Worth, Benjamin Chace, Stewards.

     The first meeting was held Dec. 18, 1786, at the house of John McKinstry.*  First by-laws were adopted June 28, 1787.  The lodge was chartered as No. 13 in 1787; became No. 15 in 1823; No. 12 in 1831;† and No. 7, as at present, in 1839.

     In 1795 the proprietors of Hudson granted to this lodge a lot of land on the southeast corner of Union and Third streets, for the purpose of erecting thereon a building suitable for their use; the conditions of the grant being that the building should be not less than twenty-five by fifty feet, that it should be completed within two years, and that it should never be used as a tavern.

     The corner-stone of the building was laid June 12, 1795, and it was dedicated with imposing ceremonies December 27, 1796.  It was considered an ornament, and very creditable to the lodge and the city.  On the 4th of July, 1829, it was partially destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt as St. John's Hall, which still remains the property of the lodge and their place of meeting.  Following is a list of the Past Masters of the lodge.

 

Seth Jenkins 5787 to 5790
Thomas Frothingham 5790 to 5796
Samuel Edmonds 5796 to 5797
Thomas Frothingham 5797 to ----
Benjamin Allen ---- to ----
Daniel Fowler ---- to ----
John W. Edmonds ---- to ----
Thomas Blank ---- to ----
A. G. Barnard ---- to ----
Philip White ---- to ----
Campbell Bushnell ---- to ----
Philip White 5823 to 5825
Thomas F. King 5825 to 5827
Cyrus Curtiss 5827 to 5829
Philip White 5829 to 5831
L. U. Lawrence 5831 to 5832
E. C. Thurston 5832 to 5834
Philip White 5834 to 5835
Cyrus Curtiss 5835 to 5837
Stephen A. Coffin 5837 to 5839
Richard Carrique 5839 to 5844
Peter G. Coffin 5844 to 5846
Ichabod Rogers 5846 to 5848
Cornelius Bortle 5848 to 5851
James Batchellor 5851 to 5854
George Barker 5854 to 5855
William A. Carpenter 5855 to 5856
Cornelius Bortle 5856 to 5857
George C. Tolley 5857 to 5858
Cornelius Esselstyn 5858 to 5868
Frederick M. Best 5868 to 5871
Almon Snyder 5871 to 5873
Edward P. Magoun 5873 to 5875
Henry Kertz 5875 to 5877

 

     The officers of the lodge for 1878 are Aaron Colton, W. M.; William H. Spanburgh, S. W.; William A. Spaulding, J. W. ; W. S. Wattles, Treas.; Charles S. Champlin, Sec.; John K. Vosburgh, S. D.; William T. Miller, J. D.; Frank A. Punderson, S. m. of C.; John K. Vosburgh, Organist; W. R. Elting, Marshal; J. W. Kenyon, Tiler.

 

 

*The same who, having been taken prisoner at the battle of the Cedars, in 1776, was saved from torture and death by Captain Brant, the Mohawk chief.

†Through the persevering efforts of some of its members (particularly Mr. Stephen A. Coffin) the lodge preserved its organization through the anti-Masonic warfare.

‡Richard Carrique was, at the time of his death (1849), Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York.  He was interred by the Grand Lodge, which body also erected a monument to his memory in the Hudson Cemetery.