Lebanon Lodge History
Researched and Written by W.B. Scott McGowan
Chapter One
From The Darkness
In natural terms, it has only been the twinkling of an
eye since the white man first settled on the banks of the
Turtle Creek. In historical terms, one could write enough
words to fill many rooms. Yet, for all of the time that has
passed since this area was first settled in the late 1790s,
there are some things that have remained constant, changing
little over the years and remaining as strong as the
timbers that still support the oldest buildings.
To this spot of land, twenty-eight miles distant from the
city of Cincinnati and twenty-two miles due South of Dayton,
men and their families came from all points of the compasses
to settle and forge a future for themselves. Along with them
they brought their customs, recipes, heirlooms, and their
beliefs- and they brought Freemasonry. Two such men were
Thomas Ross and Capt. John Sheets, both residing in Lebanon.
Both of these men shared a common desire- that of wanting
to form a Masonic Lodge in Lebanon; and after much cautious
inquiry found a number of like-minded men in the community.
In the absence of a local Lodge, if a Mason from Lebanon
wished to meet with his Brethren in a Lodge capacity, he
would have to journey to Cincinnati over the miserable
roads common in the infancy of the country at considerable
expense to himself.
In due time, the interested Masons were convened together
and subjected to such strict trial as needed to prove them
Master Masons. They all agreed that they desired to form a
regular Lodge in Lebanon, and after much consultation they
appointed Bro. Thomas Ross their representative and charged
him with the duty of travelling to Chillicothe and procuring
a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Ohio which would
allow himself and others to form a regular Lodge of Master
Masons. In the early part of the summer of 1814 Bro. Ross
returned with the dispensation, signed by the Grand Master
of Ohio, Henry Brush. Most Worshipful Bro. Brush regularly
deputized Bro. Davis Embree to organize Lebanon Lodge under
dispensation. In its first year it held seven meetings, the
first of which being May 14th, 1814; initiated Bros. Phineas
Ross and Oliver Cook and collected dues of $.25 per meeting
with initiation fees of $7.50. Initially, the Brethren met
in a two story building owned by Daniel Cushing, a Brother
Mason and a veteran of the United States Army; which was located
on Broadway two doors North of the present Temple. The
furnishings of the Lodge under dispensation were simple and
utilitarian, and were furnished by Bros. Thomas Ross and
John Sheets. The Bible used in the Lodge was also furnished
by Bro. Ross; this Bible was published in Boston in 1809
and occupies a place of honor in the historical room of the
Temple.
On January 2nd the Grand Lodge communication for 1815 was
begun and Lebanon Lodge was represented by Brother Daniel
Roe. The Grand Lodge minutes state that on January 4th the
Grand Secretary was ordered to prepare a charter for
Lebanon Lodge. That charter, however, is dated January 3rd.
An interview conducted with Bro. Thomas Ross in September,
1860 states that he travelled to Chillicothe personally and
obtained the charter. The brethren named on the charter
include Thomas Ross, John Sheets, Daniel Roe, George Kesling,
Martin Earnhart, Daniel Cushing, Nathan Kelley, and
Charles Snow. The charter was signed by the Grand Master, MW
Brother Henry Brush and several other officers of the Grand
Lodge of Ohio and is the same charter that the Lodge
currently works under. The regular meeting day was set as
the first Saturday preceding the full moon and the hour of
the meeting set as 6 p.m.
The early years of Lebanon Lodge, as well as many others
must surely be, are interesting in that the progressive
officer line was not in vogue and in the first 15 years of
its existance, but 3 men held the office of Worshipful Master;
Thomas Ross, Thomas Corwin, and Phineas Ross. The year
1817 brought the election of Brother Thomas Ross to the
Grand Lodge of Ohio as Junior Grand Warden. This would not
be the last time that Lebanon Lodge was so honored, as Bros.
Phineas Ross, Thomas B. Van Horn, Thomas Corwin, John Satterthwaite, and Horace M. Stokes all were elected to various
posts in the Grand Lodge, the last three as Grand Master. In
fact, every year from 1815 to 1831 found brethren from
Lebanon representing their Lodge at the communications of
the Grand Lodge. MW Brother Satterthwaite is noted as the
only Grand Master to not have served as Worshipful Master
of his subordinate Lodge and MW Brother Stokes departed his
mortal coil while serving as Grand Master. 1817 also
brought Lebanon Chapter No. 5, Royal Arch Masons to Lebanon
further enlightening the brethren. The 1830s dawned, finding
both Lebanon Lodge and Chapter moving their joint meeting
room from the Cushing house to the third story of a brick
building built by one of the four founders of the city,
Ephriam Hathaway. This building sat on the site of the
present day Lebanon Citizens National Bank and was for many
years known as the Hardy Corner. The Miami Encampment also
held its meetings in the same room as the Chapter and Lodge.
After some time, the proprietor of the building, one Mr.
Hardy made it known that he wanted the rooms where the
meetings took place for his own accomodations. It was due to
this and other, more serious considerations, that the
Masonic bodies decided to move their meeting place. The
minutes of the Lodge give no clue to where they moved to,
only that the move was for only a short time, after which,
they must have ironed out their differences with Mr. Hardy
as they resumed meeting in the Hardy Corner. The Lodge was
now numbering 30 members, bolstered by initiations and
demits from the original eight, and was all in all a
successful operation. As the decade carried on, however,
there were events unfolding elsewhere that would shake the
foundations of Freemasonry, both locally and nationwide. It
is to this cloudy period in the history of Lebanon Lodge
that we must now turn our attention.
Chapter Two
Storm Clouds Gather
The 1830s were a time of great success for Lebanon Lodge,
however, it also proved to be the beginning of a darker
time. The storm clouds began to gather some five years
before in Batavia, New York when an incident involving
William Morgan and David C. Miller occurred. Morgan entered
into a plot with Miller to print the secrets of Freemasonry
after being excluded from membership and being desirous of
obtaining money and revenge. It has been claimed that
Morgan was abducted, taken to Canada, and Murdered. Miller
remained untouched and was later elected to the office of
county clerk, which was one of the first political fruits of
the anti-Masonic movement, which also included the election
of future President Millard Fillmore to the New York state
assembly, among others. During this period, especially in
the North-Eastern part of the nation, many politicians and
their backers became successful by either preaching the
evils of the secrecy surrounding Freemasonry or riding their
coattails. During this period, there are instances of lodge
rooms being stoned and defaced, Masonic processions being
pelted with sticks and stones and in at least one instance,
there is record of the Grand Secretary being ordered to
issue a new charter to replace their original, which was
“mutilated by the violence of some evil-disposed and weakminded
person unknown”. Sadly, even Masonic funerals were
not immune to such treatment.
All across the nation, the dark shadow of the supposed act
against William Morgan spurred an unholy crusade against
Freemasonry, its secrecy and the supposed preferential
treatment that its members enjoyed in the community. In many
areas, churches joined in violent opposition to the Craft,
in some places even denying the rite of communion to
brethren. But the churches were not alone in this opposition
but instead were united with the governments, both state and
local in an attempt to break the order. This happened in
numerous places; New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, but
nowhere more forcibly than in Pennsylvania, where government
opposition seemed strongest. The state legislature, with
the Governor at its head took the powers of the inquisition,
appointed a committee and began to investigate the order,
seeking not only to gain entry to Masonic Halls in the state
but also to call before them for questioning, individual
Masons. They attempted to force these Brothers, under
threatened pains and penalties of fines and imprisonment, to
reveal under oath their full knowledge of the secrets of
Freemasonry. Doubtless some cracked under the threats of
punishment for not co-operating or were wooed by promises of
rewards of political office, but the principles of the order
allowed truth to reign and Freemasonry to survive this test,
stronger for the trial.
In local circles, however, the opposition would rage for
many years with many esteemed Brethren leaving the Lodge;
including the very first Worshipful Master, Thomas Ross, who
was later accepted back. Sometime in 1833 a very hard
decision was made, that of suspending the operations of the
Lodge. At this time, the books, records, and furniture of
the Lodge were dispersed, the fate of much of it unknown,
save the charter, Bible and the original seal. Five years
after the Lodge suspended operations, Brother Allen Wright,
as proxy for Samuel Glenny represented Lebanon Lodge for
the first time since 1834, and expressed the desire of a
number of Lebanon brethren of resuming their Masonic
labors. The matter was then refered to the Committee on
Charters and Dispensations, who reported that no dues had
been collected from Lebanon Lodge since 1830 but because of
the circumstances proposed a resolution allowing Lebanon
Lodge to resume labor under its original charter and that
its dues since 1830 be remitted. This resolution was adopted
and Brother Wright took his place as representative for
Lebanon at the Annual Communication.
Upon its revival Lebanon Lodge held its meetings in the
Golden Lamb Inn, then known as the Bradley House until 1846,
when it contracted to add a third floor to the old Town
Hall, which stood on the site of the present City Building
and was the first meeting place owned by the Lodge. There
meetings would continue until the completion of the present
Temple two doors North. After its revival the Lodge and all
the other Masonic bodies meeting therein enjoyed constant
growth, prosperity, and a return to local prominence; a
rebirth that would bring a golden age that would last for
many years thereafter.