Freemasonry from Monticello’s earliest days
Freemasonry was the model for the many aspects of the new American social order that had been established just a few years before Monticello’s founding by men like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, the first Grand Masters of the grand lodges of Virginia and Pennsylvania. Like a great many civic leaders of the day, the founders of Monticello were Freemasons.
One of the first orders of business that Samuel F. Jones and his brother John P. Jones set about, as they carved a settlement into the wilderness of what is now Sullivan County, was the formation of a Masonic lodge. Each of the Jones brothers served as Worshipful Master of Sullivan Lodge #272, which met on the top floor the a building on the site of the Nowhere Bar on central Broadway. During alterations to this building after its purchase in 1859, when it was remodeled into the Curley Hotel, upon removing the upper floor workmen discovered that the space beneath was filled with 15 inches of tan bark placed there to sound-proof the Lodge rooms and protect the privacy of the Order’s rituals. The cornerstone of the original Masonic Hall reportedly weighed 940 pounds and contained an 8 x 10 inch cavity which held a zinc box with some newspapers from the period, was dedicated on June 25, 1829. In June of the same year, Sullivan Lodge #272 made its last return to Grand Lodge, which declared its charter forfeit in 1835.
Members of Sullivan Lodge No. 272 included pioneers, many of whom had served in the Revolutionary and 1812 wars. To them Masonry had shown its beneficent effects during critical times. Their brethren had been largely responsible in the formation of the United States and the drafting of a Constitution, which based on Masonic principles, has remained intact and today stands practically unadulterated.The men who petitioned Grand Lodge for a charter had built homes in Monticello long before Sullivan County was erected by an act of the Legislature in 1809. Attending its meetings were war-weary and freedom loving men of a new nation who looked to the dawning of a new day in prosperity and fraternalism. The Tory, against whom they had fought, was welcomed and animosity no longer existed.Sullivan Lodge members had come to Monticello with Samuel F. and John P. Jones in 1804 to cut through dense growths of underbrush and rhododendron and lay out streets for a village.These early settlers visioned a future of peace, prosperity and security and the Church and Masonry figured prominently in their plans.Methodism was established contemporaneously with the arrival of the first settlers in 1804 and supply Presbyterian preachers were appointed as early as April 25, 1807. Neither of the Jones brothers was a communicant of any church when they laid out their public square and designated sites for a Presbyterian Church and a Court House, but they were Masons and obviously realized the importance of both the Church and Masonry.Their names were among the ten that appeared on a petition dated May 14, 1811 which was presented to Grand Lodge for the formation of a Masonic Lodge to be known as Sullivan Lodge.With the petition went the recommendation that Samuel F. Jones be the first Master of the Lodge. Brother Jones served as Master of the Lodge during the greater part of the six years which elapsed before the Lodge was warranted.The warrant was signed by Dewitt Clinton who was then Grand Master, and John Wells, the Grand Secretary. Dewitt Clinton had just started the first of three terms he was to serve as Governor when the petition was presented in 1811. He had served in many important state offices prior to 1811 and between that time and the issuing of the Sullivan Lodge warrant on January 2nd, 1817 he was an unsuccessful candidate for president of the United States (1812); served as Mayor of New York City, (1808 to 1810, 1811 to 1815) and was Lieutenant Governor of New York State, (1811 to 1813). He had the honor of serving as Mayor and Lieutenant Governor at the same time. He was one of the few highest Masons in the Union during the Morgan affair, the fury of which threatened the very existence of the craft.In 1835, the charter Sullivan Lodge #272 was withdrawn by Grand Lodge. The Monticello Masonic Temple, however, reverted to the possession of Platt Pelton, who had placed a covenant in the deed of sale providing for this eventuality. “Shortly after Sullivan Lodge's charter was declared forfeited the politicians and churches began to modify their attacks and throughout the country brethren were experiencing a new era in Masonry. Although there was no lodge in Monticello from 1835 until 1858 old documents reveal that Masons met quietly and patiently awaiting the day when they would emerge publicly from the seclusion in which they had been kept” (Benton, 1942).
On September 25, 1858, locals who longed for Masonic fellowship made known their wishes to Grand Lodge. Dispensation to form a new lodge in Monticello had been recommended by Hoffman Lodge No. 412 of Middletown. H. R. Low was recommended as Master, Alfred J. Baldwin, Senior Warden and Joseph B. Cook as Junior Warden. According to Benton: “The first meeting of Monticello Lodge U. D. was held on November 3, 1858, in the upper rooms of a structure which quartered the Watchman newspaper office and a saloon (Jewish Community Center site). The property was then owned by George Wiggins, H. R. Low and O. T. Perry. Their bill for rent from Feb. 1, 1860, to February 1861, was $100.00.”
“Monticello Lodge No. 460 surrendered its charter in 1862 and Monticello Lodge No. 532 was warranted June 11, 1863,” according to a letter written about 1942 from Charles Johnson, Grand Secretary during the year Benton published his history.
Monticello Lodge No. 532, F&AM, was instituted Dec. 1862, under a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, naming David G. Starr, W.M. James Matthews, Senior Warden; and Eli S. Pelton, Junior Warden. There does not appear to have been a Masonic temple per se in Monticello during these years, the former building having reverted to the ownership of its original donor, Mr. Pelton. However, we know that installation of officer ceremonies took place in what was described as “the lodge room” in the old Mansion House (currently known as the Monticello Inn) on the December 31, 1867.
For many years the question of securing a permanent home was discussed until 1897, when, under the efforts of the Trustees, at that time consisting of Charles S. Starr, Robert J. Brome and Daniel Downs, together with Robert McNickle, W.M.; Charles H. Royce, S.W.; and George E. Waller, J.W.; and others, the Lodge secured property opposite the county courthouse lawn. The Temple erected was a large three-story brick structure, 38 x 90’, with office rooms on the first and second floor, the third floor being used exclusively since its construction, for Lodge purposes. The cornerstone was laid May 12, 1898, and M.W. William A. Sutherland, assisted by the Grand Officers of the State, dedicated the Lodge on Oct. 29, 1898. The cost of the lot and building was approximately $16,000. This building, together with most of the buildings on Monticello’s main street, burned in a great conflagration in 1909.
After the destruction by the fire, the present Masonic Building at 5 Bank St., Monticello, was continued in the ownership of Monticello Lodge after its dedication on October 10, 1910. The cornerstone at the northeast corner reads as follows: "This cornerstone with its Archives taken from the ruins of the Temple burned Aug. 10, 1909, was relaid in the new with Masonic honors Nov. 18th following."
On Oct. 2, 1913, on behalf of Delhi Lodge #439, F&AM R:W: Walter G. Edgerton presented the Lodge with a silver trowel presented to him by Monticello Lodge #532 on the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone of the Masonic Temple at Monticello on May 12, 1898.
According to the late Lawrence Lagerenne, who served as Master of Monticello Lodge in 1955 and subsequently as the Lodge’s attorney and as a Trustee of the Lodge: “…when the Lodge burned in 1909, the furnishings were placed in the new Lodge and as presently furnished were given to Monticello Lodge by the Grand Lodge which at that time was in the process of renovation of its quarters.”
Programs commemorating the history of Freemasonry in Monticello have been held in recent years. On August 12, 1996, a ceremony attended by close to 200 people was held in the old St. John’s Cemetery, where the gravestones of John P. Jones and his family were restored through the efforts of members of Monticello Lodge. The keynote speaker at that event was the Hon. Burton Ledina, county court judge and a past District Deputy Grand Master of the Sullivan Masonic District.
Two years later, on June 13, 1998, a contingent of Masons from Delhi Lodge #439 visited Monticello to donate an historic silver trowel which, according to its inscription, was used “upon the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone of the Masonic Temple in the Village of Monticello on the twelfth day of May A.D. 1898." The trowel was given in October 1913 to Delhi Lodge as a gift from Monticello Lodge. The temple described on this trowel was the one that burned in 1909, to be replaced by the present structure at 5 Bank Street, the stone in the northeast corner of which reads: “This cornerstone with its archives, taken from the ruins of the temple, burned August 10, 1909, was relaid in the new, with Masonic honors, Nov. 18th following.”
The Masonic fraternity remains vibrant in Sullivan County, and in recent years has shown an upturn in the number of new members. Three lodges presently share meeting space, each on different nights, in the Masonic Building on Eagle Drive in Liberty – Monticello Lodge #532, Fallsburg Lodge #1122, and Liberty Lodge #521. Lodges also remain active in the hamlet of Callicoon (Delaware Lodge #561), as well as Livingston Manor Lodge #791.
Sources
Curley, Edward F. (1930). Old Monticello, The Republican Watchman: Monticello, NY.
Lagarenne, Lawrence E. (2000). Unpublished Letter to the author, December 5, 2000.
Monticello Lodge #532, F&AM (1920). Masonic Fair And Carnival Held In The Lyceum, Monticello, NY, July 20-23 for the benefit Monticello Lodge, privately published.
Sullivan Past Masters Association (1962). Sullivan Masonic District Centennial, 1862-1962, historical journal.
The above article was submitted for inclusion in the bicentennial journal to be published in September 2004 by the Village of Monticello, written and posted here April 4, 2004.
