The Masonic Leader

A few short months before submitting a petition to form a new Lodge, a duel occurred between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, resulting in the death of Hamilton (July 12 1804).  Hamilton Lodge 144 was named for Alexander Hamilton.

Grand Lodge was petitioned October 02, 1804, to form a new Lodge in the Town of Queensbury, Washington County.

The following is a list of brothers who signed the petition:

• T.W.  Huyck;
•  Micajah Pettit: Albany Co. Militia 16th Reg. in Revolution, Queensbury Supervisor 1803, merchant & sawmill operator;
•  Abraham A. Millard;
•  Warren Ferriss: Dutchess Co. Militia 3rd Reg. in Revolution, built the Glens Falls toll bridge, Queensbury Supervisor 1795-1797;
•  Dr. Harmon Hoffman: Dutchess Co. Militia 6th Reg. in Revolution, Warrensburg Assessor 1813, Warrensburg Supervisor 1814-1815;
•  Benjamin Tibbits;
•  Jeremiah Russell;
•  David Sanford: Orange Co. Militia 4th Reg. in Revolution, Sanford Ridge Settlement was named after him;
•  Parker Putnam;
•  Amasa Willard;
•  John A. Ferriss: first postmaster appointed in 1808, he also had a hat store and factory, his son Orange was one of the founders of Senate Lodge, Queensbury Supervisor 1813 and 1827-1829;
•  Henry Spencer: Justice of the Peace and Town Clerk; and
•  Walter Briggs: Dutchess Co. Militia 6th Reg. in Revolution.

A Charter was granted on December 22, 1804 (some records show May 28 1805).

The original meeting place and officers are unknown, although it was reported to have been in the Oneida Building (Oneida Corners).  We do know that Aeshel Clark, John Ferriss and Henry Spencer were among its first Masters.

Soon after its institution, the Lodge rooms were located in the rear of the 3rd story of the old Glens Falls Hotel (Glen and Warren Streets), and in whose kitchen the big fire of 1864 was started.  The hotel had been erected in 1804 by John Ferriss.

Among the first initiates are included:

• William H. McDonald, later one of Queensbury’s most prominent men.  While serving in the New York State Assembly (1822-23 and 1829), he sponsored a bill to finance the Feeder Canal Project and was thereafter known as the father of Glens Falls Feeder; President of Commercial Bank (now First National Bank of Glens Falls) 1853;
• William Robards, of the Ridge in Queensbury, Warren Co.  first County Judge (1813-1820), merchant, farmer, manufacturer and magistrate, was a man of large influence and wide popularity (Queensbury Supervisor 1790, 1792-1794);
• John H. Hitchcock, a merchant at the corner of Warren & Glen.

In a report to Grand Lodge dated December 27, 1812 the following is a list of members added to roster:

Nicholas Angle, Jeremiah Russell (Luzerne Supervisor 1793-1800, 1804), Johnathon Griffin, Israel Baldwin, Harman Palmer, Felix Alden, Samuel Day, Obadiah Knapp, Asahel Clark (attorney), Richard Wing, Alanson Fox, Lemuel Payne, Daniel Fairchild, Andrew Parsons, Daniel Scott, and Dorastus W. Alden.

The next report to Grand Lodge on June 01, 1814 added the names of: John Derby, Samuel Skinner (a tavern owner), John Ripley, and Hiram Cole.

John Ferriss, Henry Spencer & Felix Alden were former members of Livingston Lodge #28 of Kingsbury; A.S. Hall from Granville #55; Warren Hitchcock and James Palmeter (Glens Falls Assessor 1839) from Rising Sun 185 of Northumberland; and Moody Ames from Federal #33 of Hoosick.

During 1813-1814 the following were initiated: Bethuel Peck (physician & druggist, later served 2 terms as State Senator; elected President of Glens Falls Insurance Company in 1850) , Royal Leavens, Robert Wilkinson, Isaac Farr, and Levi Rugg.

John Ferriss built the center of educational activity in what is called City Park in 1813 and named it “The Academy”.  After his death in 1840, it ceased to exist.

Historically noteworthy to the State of New York during this period of time was the rise of a notable Mason, DeWitt Clinton.

At age 33, Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate.  He resigned in 1803 to become Mayor of New York City until 1815.  In 1806 he became the 5th Grand Master of New York State.  He served 14 consecutive terms until 1820.

On December 11, 1809 he dedicated the first “Free School” in New York City.  This school, the first of its kind in the Nation, was built by Masons to provide education free of charge to the poor children of the city. This was forerunner of the public school system in the U.S..

In 1817, while still the Grand Master, DeWitt Clinton was elected Governor of New York.  His greatest achievement was the building of the Erie Canal, sometimes referred to as “Clinton’s Ditch”, which he developed during his third term.   The canal ran 340 miles from Buffalo on Lake Erie to Albany on the Hudson River.  It was opened with full Masonic ceremonies on October 26, 1825.

James Holden, in a speech he made on May 15, 1913 at the dedication ceremony of a new Masonic Temple in Glens Falls, provided the following list of members of Hamilton Lodge as they were initiated or affiliated by years.

• 1807 Oliver Barritt, Myrtle B.  Hitchcock, Westal Gansevoort, William DeWolfe.
• 1808 Joseph Hatch, Joseph DeWolfe, Stephen Gorham, Daniel Fairchild, Samuel Day, Levi Curtis, George A. Acker.
•  1809 Gabriel E. Fox, Joshua Eaton.
•  1810 Johnathon Freeman, Robert Lewis, Richard Wing, Ezra B. Griffith, Alanson Fox, William Little, Freeman Gazeley.
•  1811 Daniel D. Scott, Lemuel C. Paine, Andrew Parsons, Solyman B. Fox.
•  1812 John Derby, Samuel G. Skinner (a tavern owner), John Ripley, Hiram Cole, Francis Austin.
•  1813 Josiah Randolph, Asa Ripley Jr., Bethuel Peck, Royal Leavens, Robert Wilkinson (attorney).
•  1814 Frederick Hubbell, William F.G. Lake, Nathaniel Folsom, John Stevens (one of the backers of the failed Warren County Railroad Company), Ebeneezer Storer, Palmer Jenkins (opened a sawmill in Jenkinsville).
•  1815 Isaac Farr, Levi Rug Jr. (one of the leading physicians in the area at this time) .
•  1816 Edmund Freeman, James Archibald (1st Supv. of Lake George in 1810) , James White, Alvaro Hawley, Dr. Ripley, George R. Bridges, Warren F. Hitchcock.
•  1817 Oliver Hubbard, James H. Rogers, Henry G. Braes, Thomas Colton, Harvey Powers, Pownall Shaw (one of the originators of the lime business in this area), Ira Spear, Jeremiah Green, Ebeneezer Hammond, Horace Forbes, William A. Tearse, Moody Ames, James Palmenter, Abraham Wing Jr. (the son of the pioneer; County Surrogate 1827-35, Village President 1847), William Hill Jr..
•  1818 Martin Kentwood, Seth Fuller, Joseph Whitley, Edward Sumner, William Ferriss, John Robinson, Josiah L. Arms, Alfred Ferriss, John Kendrick, Enoch Gregory, Salma Hawley.
•  1819 John E. Jones.
•  1820 Henry R. Filly, Samuel Bishop, Lewis L. Pixley.
•  1821 Grandus Davenport, Sylvester Rice (from Hudson Lodge #13), Samuel Hunton, William Hill, Daniel Fairchild, Walter Geer, John Dewey, Henry Fox, Samuel Ranger.
•  1822 Henry Thurston, Enoch Ellis (from Hartford Lodge, later a charter member of Glens Falls Lodge 121, started stagecoach service from Glens Falls to Troy in 1837), Daniel H. Kingsley, Abraham Davenport.
•  1823 Peter Threehouse, Charles Roberts, Dow Williamson, Seneca M. Fairchild, Stephen Bishop, Gilbert Waldron.
•  1824 Jonathon Sewell, Godfrey Lake, Asa Palmer, George Miller.
•  1825 Gridley M. Packard, Jacob Brigham, Humphrey Burlingame, George G.Dickinson, Rainsford Baldwin, A. Taft Pronty, Halsey Burnham.
•  1826 Lubin Putnam, Israel Putnam, Daniel Ford, David Johnson, Hiram Barber, Oren Warner, Herman Peck, Cirandus Davenport, Martin Eastwood, Asahel Fairchild.
•  1827 Ira Green (1st Collector of the Village of GLENS FALLS), Stephen Allen.

The following names listed in Vol. 39 of Individual Lodges in the Grand Lodge Library, but not mentioned in the Holden speech were:

Eden Chilson, Orville Clark (State Senator 1844-47), Hyman J. Cool, William H.  Finn, Samuel Forbes, John F. Gazeley, Walter Green, William H.  Lewis, E.G. Lindsay, Henry Martin, William May, Samuel Pange, Asa Ripley, Doeton Ripley, William Roberts, Calvin Robins, John Robertson, Levi Rug, Daniel Sanford, Peter D.  Thorndike, Sylvanus Walker.

Other names in Holden’s speech, but not listed in the membership roster, and may well have been visitors were:

• 1818 Martin Kentwood
• 1821 Henry Fox
• 1822 Henry Thurston
• 1823 Stephen Bishop, Peter Threehouse, Charles Roberts, Dow Williamson, Gilbert Waldron
• 1824 Johnathon Sewell, George Miller, Lubin Putnam
• 1825 Humphrey Burligame
• 1826 Cirandus Davenport

In 1827 the last report was made to Grand Lodge.  The date this Lodge ceased to exist is unknown.  However, the “Glens Falls Observer” on February 18, 1828, published a resolution of the Lodge acknowledging the death of former Grand Master and New York State Governor DeWitt Clinton.

“At an extra communication of Hamilton Lodge No. 144, assembled in Masonic Hall in this village the 15th instant, the following resolutions were adopted:

Resolved that, whereas it has pleased Almighty God, the Supreme Architect of the Universe, in His Divine Providence to call from his labor worthy brother DeWitt Clinton PGM, of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, we feel it our duty to pay his memory, the last tribute of respect.

Resolved, that the Worshipful Master, Wardens and Brethren of this Lodge show their respect for our deceased Worthy Brother, by wearing the usual badge of mourning thirty days.

E.G. Lindsey, Secretary”

Lodges in old Washington County as of 1813:

• Washington #11 Ft. Edward (July 12, 1785)/Sept. 20, 1785
• Lodge of Unity #517 Ft. William Henry (1787)
• Aurora #25 Hampton (1793)
• Montgomery Lodge #23 Stillwater (Oct. 22, 1791)
• Livingston Lodge #28 Kingsbury (March 6, 1793)
• Rural Lodge #32 Cambridge (Sept. 4, 1793)
• North Star Lodge #51 Salem (Sept. 7, 1796)
• Liberty Lodge #55 Granville (Dec. 7, 1796)
• Herschell Lodge #89 Hartford (Dec. 3, 1800)
• Farmers Lodge #96 Easton (Dec. 4, 1802)
• Rising Sun Lodge #126  Greenwich (1805)
• Hamilton Lodge #144 Queensbury (1804)
• Brothers Lodge #147 Ft. Ann (1806)
• Social Hall Lodge #145 Whitehall (Dec. 6, 1806)
• Hebron Lodge #216 Hebron (1813)
• Morning Star Lodge #243 Argyle (1813)

Warren County Early Lodges:

• Hamilton #144 Queensbury (1804)-formed prior to Warren Co.
• Rising Virtue #225 Luzerne (1814)
• Clinton #278 Caldwell (1818)
• Perry #437 Bolton (1825)

Saratoga County Early Lodges:

• Montgomery #21 Stillwater (1791)
• St John’s #24 Half Moon (1792)
• Franklin #37 Ballston Spa (1794)
• Orange #43 Waterford (1795)
• St John’s Lodge #90 Greenfield (1802) (Feb. 20 received charter as St John’s #90, duly organized on June 2)
• Malta #106 Malta (1804)
• Friendship #118 Milton (1805-1828)
• Union #128 Charlton (1805)
• Farmers #149 Half Moon (1806)- moved to Clifton Park in 1827
• Rising Sun Lodge #185 Northumberland (1809) -Petitioned to move to Saratoga Springs in 1821
• Schuyler #218 Old Saratoga (1813)
• Galway #267 Galway (1816)
• Corinthian #446 Corinth (1825 disbanded in 1826)

Past Masters of Hamilton Lodge with dates:

• not recorded 1806-1813
• John Ferriss 1814
• Asahel Clark 1815
• Henry Spencer 1816
• Royal Leavens 1817
• Robert Wilkinson 1818
• James White 1818-1820
• Banisher Storer 1821
• James White 1822-1827
• Luben Putnam 1828

Grand Lodge declared Hamilton Lodge Charter forfeited in June of 1834 because the Lodge had failed to report for 6 years.  All Masonic Lodges in the area ceased to exist between 1826 and 1847 except Greenfield Center.

Between 1822-1827, a schism occurred between upstate Masons and the Masons in New York City.  Upstate Masons felt that Grand Lodge should be held in Albany and not in New York City, since Albany was more centrally located.  In 1825, Stephen Van Rensselaer was elected Grand Master to heal the wounds.  Van Rensselaer was a prominent upstate public servant.  Early that year it was his vote in the U.S. House of Representatives which gave John Quincy Adams a sufficient majority to win election to the Presidency.  The pact of June 7, 1827 resolved these differences.

On April 12, 1839, the Village of Glens Falls incorporated.  First election of officers was held on June 4, 1839.  Elected were John Ferriss, Trustee; James Palmeter, Dwight Hitchcock, Assessors; William Peck Treasurer; Orange Ferriss Clerk; Ira Green collector; Orange Ferriss Justice of Peace; John Ferriss chosen Pres. of Board of Trustees.

See the full article on www.qmhs.org Queensbury Masonic Historical Society.

On February 29, 2000 M:. W:. Stewart C. McCloud, Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, issued a dispensation to allow Glens Falls Lodge 121 and Senate Lodge 456 to consolidate into Queensbury Lodge 121.

The Charter was presented to the Lodge by M:. W:. Carl J. Smith, Grand Master, on Sunday, August 13, 2000.  The Charter was accepted by W:. George F. Winters, Master of Queensbury 121.  The Officers of the newly formed Lodge were: Robert Seavey, Master; George Winters, Senior Warden; Frederick Doscher, Junior Warden; Aldo Ghirarduzzi, Secretary; Leroy Akins Jr., Treasurer; James Meglino, Senior Deacon; Emil Lindstrand, Junior Deacon; Allan Bryant, SMC; Charles Stewart, JMC; Keith Whalley, Chaplain; and Patrick Morton, Tiler.

The Masters of Queensbury Lodge 121:

• 2000 Robert E. Seavey
• 2000-01 George F. Winters
• 01-02 Frederick A. Doscher
• 02-04 James A. Meglino
• 04-05 James Behremann
• 05-06 Andrew McClintock
• 06-07 Aldo A. Ghirarduzzi
• 07-08 Truman Cox
• 08-09 Daniel B. Saville
• 09-10 Daniel Ellsworth
• 10-11 Craig Stephenson

Queensbury Lodge 121 meets in Queensbury, NY on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays.  This article was taken from the Queensbury Masonic Historical Society’s website (www.qmhs.org).  You can find similar articles of local interest at this site.

In 1857 there was much confusion in the craft.  Brothers Enoch Rosekrans and Orange Ferriss demitted from Glens Falls Lodge 121.  At the 121 Annual Communication held on December 16, 1857, Austin Holden also requested a dimit, which was denied because he was Master of the Lodge.  At that meeting Holden made a motion to form a new Lodge in Glens Falls.  The motion was withdrawn after much discussion.  James Ferguson (one of the early physicians in Glens Falls) made a motion for 121 to surrender its charter due to the lack of harmony in the craft.  This motion was also withdrawn.  A petition to form a new Lodge was sent to Grand Lodge without the recommendation of 121.  The petition was rejected.

On January 20, 1858, Avery Tiffany, the first Master of Glens Falls Lodge 121, Enoch Rosekrans and others submitted a petition to form another Lodge.

The Charter members of Senate Lodge were:

• Enoch Rosekrans (then Justice of the Supreme Court 1855-71; District Attorney 1835-45; County Judge 1847-51; Village President 1855),
• Orange Ferriss (afterward Congressman 1866 – 2 terms ; Appointed Surrogate Judge of Warren Co. by Gov. Seward in 1841, served 12 years; U.S. Commissioner of Southern Claims 1871; 2nd Auditor of U.S. Treasury 1888-1891),
• Dr.  James Ferguson,
•  Keyes Cool (Presidential elector in 1840; presided over meeting at Numan Hall after the fall of Ft. Sumter where it was enthusiastically resolved that Glens Falls should do its share in the upcoming struggle.) and Hyman Cool (brothers and leaders in the lime and building industries),
•  Xurry Maynard (afterward a charter member and Master of Cambridge Lodge #481),
• Samuel Ranger (his family owned a large tract of land in what is now the center of the city),
•  Zabina Ellis (pioneer in Warren County journalism).

The Charter was granted on June 11, 1859, and the Lodge first met on the third story of the Fonda & Numan Building on Warren Street.

There is much speculation as to the separation of the two Lodges.  During that period, there was social unrest, including two civil causes which were being expounded by many of the people in the area supporting the Fraternity.  The first was the Temperance Movement.  Two of the foremost leaders in the area advocating temperance were Austin Holden and Orange Ferriss.

The Fraternity assisted the Temperance societies which were in the area.  Both Sons of Temperance ca. 1850 and the Independent Order of Good Templats ca. 1871, had use of the Lodge rooms for meetings.  Around 1850 the custom of the day was to hold a Masonic meeting, then at its close, those members belonging to the Sons of Temperance would stay on, their non-Masonic members entering at this time.  Orange Ferriss addressed the Glens Falls Temperance Society on September 15, 1837.

Section 3 of the original Glens Falls By-Laws reads:  “No member or candidate shall be admitted as a member of this Lodge who shall make, buy, sell or use as a beverage any spiritous or malt liquors, wine or cider.”  At a meeting of  121 held February 16, 1848, the following resolution was adopted: “That the members of this Lodge attend the Temperance Celebration on the 22nd as temperance men.” A large Masonic group attended the Temperance celebration which was held on February 22, 1848.

The other civil cause was the American Party, sometimes known as the Know-Nothings.  The political views of this group were extreme, especially with respect to their desires to curtail immigration from foreign countries, and make more stringent our naturalization laws, and also a revulsion to the program in our government with respect to slavery.  The people associated with this group included: Zabina Ellis, editor of the Free Press; Avery Tiffany; James Ferguson; Bethuel Peck.

Zabina Ellis retired from publishing in 1843. Came out of retirement in 1851, bought The Clarion, which became the Free Press. In 1854 supported Know-Nothing Party, and continued to do so.

Nativism began to gain support around 1841.  This was chiefly an anti-Catholic movement which grew as the number of Catholic immigrants increased and the government began to support parochial schools.

This movement first came forward as the American Republican Party which was formed in 1843.  In 1845 it evolved into the Native American Party, and by the early 1850’s, changed its name to the American Party.

The American Party culminated with the nominating of Millard Fillmore for President in 1856.  He accepted nomination in a published letter from Paris on May 21, 1856.  He was also nominated by the Whig Party. The American Party platform as established on February 21, 1856, contained a total of 16 points, with the predominant theme “Americans to Rule America”.  Just before the election, it was revised to contain only 8 key points and was substantially toned down.  The main issue during the campaign was slavery.  The anti-slavery contingent abandoned the American Party and jumped to the newly formed Republican Party.

After their crushing defeat in the 1856 elections, remnants of the American Party and the Whig Party joined to form the Constitutional Union Party in the 1860 Presidential election.  Abraham Lincoln elected President (Republican).

It is interesting to note that the first initiates were Frederick Ranger, son of Samuel Ranger who was at one time a member of Hamilton Lodge and one time Justice of the Peace; and Leonard McDonald, son of William McDonald, the first initiate in Hamilton Lodge on December 22, 1806.

The first year added 15 new members, among them being Hiram Harris, long the editor of the Democratic weekly paradoxically named the Republican, and two no less stalwart Republican local leaders, Jerome Lapham (Chairman Town War Committee 1864-65; Member of State Assembly 1865; Village President 1867; State Senator 1862-63) and Meredith Little.

The first Lodge room was in what was colloquially known as the “Masonic Block” on Warren Street, located where the Vermillia market afterward stood.

Members in public life:

• John Dix Governor of NY 1911-1912;
•  Enoch Rosekrans, Justice of Supreme Court (Supreme Court of NY 1855-71);
•  James Holden State Historian;
• Daniel DeLong and Austin Holden State Assemblymen;
• E.H. Brereton State Senator;
•  George Raley County Judge;
• S.D. Kendrick Mayor of Glens Falls;
• Sterling Higley City Chamberlain;
• Gerald Solomon U.S. Congress;
• Edison Fitch Grand Master of Quebec;
• Congressman Orange Ferriss: County Judge 1851-63, U.S. Congress 1866-71, Commissioner Southern Claims 1871-87, Second Auditor of U.S. Treasury 1880;
•  Judge Andrew Cheritree Town Supervisor of Luzerne; District Attorney 1871; County Judge 1882-1900;
• Senator Henry E.H. Brereton;
•  Assemblymen Austin Holden, Jerome Lapham, Delcour Potter, James Porteous, William Cameron (Supervisor of Queensbury 1890), Howard Conkling, Charles Hitchcock (State Assembly 1899,1901; Supervisor Town of Queensbury, Village Treasurer)
• Loyal Davis (School Commissioner Warren County 1887 & 1900-02; State Assembly 1903-04; Town of Queensbury Supervisor 1906-07; County Attorney 1908; Captain Company K, 2nd NY Volunteer Infantry 1898; Lt. Col. 2nd Regiment N.G.N.Y. 1908; Chairman Warren County Republican Committee 1891-92 & 1902-06; Chairman Glens Falls Republican Committee 1908), Daniel DeLong, Stewart MacFarland
•  County Clerks W. Scott Whitney, William VanCott,
•  Sheriff Richard Hall
•  School Commissioners Adam Armstrong, Daniel Ketchum, Franklin Gunn,
•  Mayors Charles Cool, Samuel Kendrick, Orville Smith,
•  Postmasters Hiram Harris (Glens Falls Republican), Carlos Morgan, Henry Sherman,
•  Col. James Hannah
•  Majors John Fassett, John Barker, Buell Streeter(Surgeon during Civil War; U.S. Examining Surgeon for Pensioners 1885-1900)
•  Lt. Col. John Cunningham (Pres. Glens Falls Insurance Company)
•  Captains Robert Hall, Charles Shreve, Henry Clarke, Leonard Howard
•  Lts. Edgar Wing, George Wing

This article taken from the Queensbury Masonic Historical Society website (www.qmhs.org).  QMHS is chartered by NY State Department of Education.