EARLY MASONRY

In

MONTICELLO and SULLIVAN COUNTY

HISTORY

of

MONTICELLO LODGE NO. 532 F. & A. M.

Compiled By

Wor. Bro. Alvin O. Benton

With The Assistance of

R.^..W.^.. Bro. H. Lynden Hatch

(Past District Deputy and Past Master)

and

Bro. Clarence Maine

(Secretary of Monticello Lodge)

Published By

MONTICELLO LODGE NO 532, F. & A. M.

© 1942 and 2002

Introduction

The settlers who cleared the forests and made Sullivan County habitable were builders and men of vision, according to historians who have recorded many of the deeds of the early pioneers. They were also men of character and determination whose high-wheeled wagons ferried across the Hudson from New England and from old New York town to build new homes and breed a hardy people in these beautiful hills.

One of the guiding spirits behind their success was the good which comes from the teachings of Masonry. Unfortunately, the activities of the Craft were held in strict secrecy in the early days and there is little to be found regarding the early lodges in the county.

As to the individual life of any of the early lodges in Sullivan we know little for the minute books, etc., have disappeared, but, from what records we have we know that Monticello Lodge and its predecessors have made worthy contributions to the success of the fraternity and the growth of the county from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day.

Speculative Masonry had been practiced since 1725 when the first Grand Lodge in London was formed and its beneficent influence had been realized by the brethren in America for more than eighty years before a Masonic lodge was established in Sullivan County.

Johnathan Belcher, who migrated from England and later became Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire and then Governor of New Jersey, was made a Mason in an English Lodge in 1704. This, however, was an operative lodge which existed before the formation of the first Grand Lodge.

St. John's Lodge of Boston was constituted July 30, 1733, and is the first established in the Colonies. It is argued, nevertheless, that at least one was in existence in Philadelphia in 1730. A lodge meeting is reputed to have been called in King's Chapel in Boston in 1720 by order of the Grand Lodge of England but proof of the meeting never has been satisfactorily procured.

Masons in the early days are said to have continued the practice of Operative Masonry despite the newer form of Speculative Masonry which was governed by Grand Lodge. Like the early Masons of Sullivan County, they had found a new world far removed from the old -- they had found time to mediate in the stillness of the wilderness, had toiled and fought for their homes, their loved ones and the very things which give life fullness and brings hope and encouragement.

United they worked for fulfillment of their dreams. They had strengthened their unity through Masonic fellowship and for what they didn't know about speculative they found in substitutes.

We are told that a regularity of Freemasonry did not begin until June 5, 1730, when the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master of England, appointed Daniel Coxe, Provincial Grand Master of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Coxe was appointed for a two-year term during which time he made a brief visit to America.

Historians who hold that the first authentic Grand Lodge was erected in Philadelphia argue that this lodge derived its authority from the Coxe deputation.

If this was not the first Grand Lodge (Benjamin Franklin, who was Grand Master in 1734, was not convinced that it was) then the first authentic Grand Lodge came into existence in Boston in 1733, when the Grand Master of England issued a deputation to Henry Price of Boston appointing him Grand Master of "New England and the dominions and territories thereunto belonging."

From centers of Freemasonry such as Boston, Mass.; Philadelphia, Pa., and Savannah, Ga., the fraternity grew, spreading its influence in every one of the colonies. Lodges were formed by many of the settlers as soon as they arrived and began to carve out new homes in the wilderness. Solomon's Lodge No. 1 at Savannah, Georgia, was the second colonial lodge to be listed on the English Grand Lodge roll. It was chartered in 1736. A lodge at Charleston, South Carolina, was formed the same year.

The Duke of Norfolk was a Roman Catholic as the members of his family have been from 1483 to the present day, and it is therefore interesting to know that it was a Roman Catholic who granted the first authority to warrant Masonic lodges in America.

The United States of America owes a great deal to Masonry for Masons and ideals born of Masonic beliefs were largely responsible for a safe steerage through the trying days of Colonial infancy. Likewise, Masonry owes a great deal to the country which has made possible its perpetuation.

Masonry has had the names of great statesmen on its rolls and statesmen have been influenced to greatness by Masonry.

George Washington was among the leaders of Colonial days who worked with the foremost men in the Masonic fraternity to launch the new nation. He joined with others, most of whom were Masons, in public assemblies to plan their course in the Revolutionary war.

They suggested the first Congress in New York and prepared the way for a Continental Congress ten years later.

Included among these Colonial patriots and Masons were Samuel Adams, father of American Revolution; Patrick Henry, the first Republican Governor of Virginia and author of "Give me liberty or give me death." Paul Revere, whose midnight ride and cry of alarm ennobled the Middlesex farmers to prepare for the battle of Lexington; James Otis, William Daws, John Hancock, Peyton Randolf and many others, who sought for independence and a free and powerful land.

When the writing of a Masonic history of lodges in this vicinity was first undertaken the mention of any facts other than those pertaining to the subject was not considered but in the course of our work many facts, of world-wide Masonic interest, affecting Sullivan County have been unearthed.

In assembling these facts it has been necessary to wander from the subject; it would seem that unless the reader has a knowledge of events which led up to certain incidents we have covered it would be impossible for him to comprehend to the fullest extent the manner of our craft's operation during the past 130 or more years.

There is much regarding Sullivan County Freemasonry which is still unwritten and, much important Masonic history which never will be written because of a lack of information.

Every effort has been made to give the reader authentic and reliable information regarding the activities of the craft in this county and in other sections from, Colonial days to the present.

If we have erred it is because old newspaper files and other records, including lodge files and old documents, were inaccurate.

Preface to 1942 Edition

A history of Monticello Lodge No. 532, F. & A. M., would be far from complete if we were to omit several interesting paragraphs about the lodges which preceded it.

According to Grand Lodge records eight lodges have been established in Sullivan County. The earliest recorded lodge in Sullivan was Sullivan No. 272 which was warranted at Monticello, January 2, 1817. This Lodge and Bloomingburgh Lodge No. 310, which was warranted June 24, 1818, both existed during James Monroe's "Era of Good Feeling" and enjoyed prosperous days until the Morgan affair and Anti-Mason groups caused membership to dwindle and interest to wane, to the extent that Sullivan Lodge failed to report to Grand Lodge after June, 1829. Four years before Bloomingburg made its last report.

Grand Lodge was patient, nevertheless, and waited until June 1835 before it passed a resolution for forfeiture of the Sullivan charter and June 1833 before it took similar action with the Bloomingburgh Lodge.

These were the only lodges to exist in Sullivan County until 1858 when Lodge 460, the one to which Monticello Lodge 532 is the successor, was chartered. Callicoon Lodge No. 521; Delaware Lodge 561, Livingston Manor Lodge 791, Mongaup Lodge No. 816, and Fallsburgh Lodge No. 1122 all originated since that time.

Preface to Electronic Reprint

Copies of the published work of R.^..W.^.. Alvin O. Benton and the other brethren who compiled this record of the lasting legacy of the impact of Freemasonry in the community of Monticello and Sullivan County are rare. This reprint, posted on the Internet at http://mastermason.com/monticellolodge, is made available with the intention of reinforcing the fellowship and fraternity of the Monticello Lodge #532 and the Sullivan Masonic District.

R.^..W.^.. Bro. Benton’s original text was scanned using optical character recognition software and the resulting document divided into two digital files. Part I consists of the history of Early Masonry in Monticello and Sullivan County, and Part II the History of Monticello Lodge No. 532, F&AM. In the 1942 edition, both sections were bound together in one volume. Eventually, it is the intention of the undersigned to create an updated history of Monticello Lodge – taking the interested reader from the point in time at which the text leaves off up to the present time.

The present format differs from the original edition in a few respects. Benton’s text was published in two columns, with a soft blue binding, measuring 8.5 x 6.25”. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected, but some idiosyncratic spellings (e.g. “Fallsburgh”, as opposed to the contemporary spelling without the terminal “h”), sentence structure and punctuation have been retained.

R.^..W.^.. Bro. Benton, who was editor of The Republican Watchman, performed a service to the Craft of the Sullivan District, as well as to non-Masonic local historians, by means of this chronicle.

Readers are asked to please take note of the following copyright statement:

Although this file may be freely copied and distributed as desired, any reproduction of the contents of this document, without the express written permission of the current elected officers of Monticello Lodge No. 532 F. & A. M. is strictly prohibited. Copyright © 1942 and 2002 by Monticello Lodge No. 532 F. & A. M. All rights reserved.

This book was first published in paper form in 1942. Republication of this book on the Internet was approved by vote of the lodge at a stated communication on Monday, March 11, 2002.

Scanned by Wor. Thomas S. Rue with HP PrecisionScan Pro OCR software.

Full text, with photos, is currently available in MS Word and Adobe Acrobat formats, on the web at http://mastermason.com/monticellolodge/

Any donations in appreciation for access to this etext may be made to "Masonic Brotherhood Fund" and are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.

For these and other matters, please mail to:

Monticello Lodge #532, F. & A. M.

5 Bank Street, 3d Floor

Monticello, NY 12701-1718

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Wor. Thomas Rue, Master

Monticello Lodge #532, F.&A.M.

March 17, 2002

The Masonic Goal

It means so much in a distant land

To feel the warmth of a Brother's hand;

Or when weary at the close of day,

To meet a Brother along the way.

We strive to meet on common ground,

Where friendship and brotherly love are found,

Where God-fearing men unite and pray

For the coming of a new and better day.

And when we make an acquaintance new,

With one who travels the way we do;

Our objectives all we understand

As members of the ancient band.

We must travel the road and do our deeds

And liberally give to another's needs,

And do our work with the craftsmen’s tools,

Remembering Him above who rules.

The Mason's Guide and tools were made,

To finish work of the higher grade.

Allover the world they've been employed,

To rear up structures by evil destroyed.

Today with war and turmoil new,

We Masons have our work to do.

We must help the weary on their way,

And keep our flock from going astray.

A comforting word and a little cheer

For the sick and lonely both far and near

Should come from our brethren young and old,

If those valuable tenants we are to hold.

We must spread the cement of our ancient band,

And unite as Masons throughout the land.

For we have work that's never done,

Until war and a glorious Peace is won.

Sullivan Lodge No. 272

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.

The traitor of the craft who disappeared after he had divulged the secrets of Masonry is known in history as William Morgan and ironically enough the same name appeared at the head of those who petitioned for the establishment of Sullivan Lodge. The difference in the character of these two men, however, was as great as the similarity of the names. One was resigned to exploit Masonry for the material good it could bring him while the other was endued with its pure principles and sought its furtherance by the establishment of Masonry within the newly inhabited community.

The William Morgan of Sullivan Lodge was a man of principle rather than wealth and was not related to the William Morgan of Batavia who had neither. He was supervisor of the Thompson Township when the petition was signed and that is probably why his name appeared first.

The other signers were Caleb Howell, Lewis Rumsey, John Wilson, Samuel Barnum, the Jones brothers, Solomon Royce, Johnathan P. Raymond and Amos C. Brown.

The petition was endorsed by Edward Ely, Master of Montgomery Lodge. The petitioners had visited the Montgomery Lodge on several occasions and had listened to stories about Military Lodges which General George Washington had attended along the Hudson. Among the signers were men who had attended a session of the American Union Lodge on the banks of the Hudson near Newburgh on June 24, 1782, where Revolutionary soldiers had erected "The Temple of Virtue."

(The March installment of this most interesting Masonic history will contain a list of the officers and members of the first Lodge together with their biography). [Editor's note: This text, written by Wor. Bro. Alvin O. Benton around 1942, then an officer of Monticello Lodge No. 532, originally appeared as a series of articles in The Republican Watchman.]

The first Sullivan Lodge officers installed by Benjamin Lewis, a Past Master of Hiram Lodge No. 131 of Newburgh were John Russell, Master; Livingston Billings, Senior Warden; Peter Hunn, Junior Warden; Cyrus A. Cady, Treasurer; and Jessie Towner, Secretary.

Its members were drawn from the townships of Bethel, Liberty, Mamakating and Thompson and comprised the leading men of the community.

The Lodge's first return showed a membership of 45 and listed their names as follows: John E. Russell, Elisha Heycock, William Morgan, George Vaughn, Leivi, Barnum, Cyrus A. Cady, Seth Allyn, John P. Jones, Alex Sterret, Joseph Coit, Darius Martin, Samuel Barnum, Thomas Crary, Joseph Pinkney, Asa Baker, Jessie Towner, Asil Hall, Nathan Couth. Solomon Royce, Luther Wood, Richard R. Norris, Moses Stoddard, Livingston Billings, John M. Towner, William Cochran, Peter F. Hunn, Asa McKee, Platt Pelton, Dudley Champlin, Thomas Adgate, Richard D. Childs, Daniel Niven, Lemuel Johnson, William White, Sylvester Wheeler, John W. Osborn, Alpheus Dimmick, Richard Thurston, William Roberson, Isaac Foote, James McCroskry, Robert Nathan, Seymour Armstrong, Andrew Comstock and Isaac Brown.

John Russell was a merchant of Monticello and was associated in business with William E. Cady a son of Cyrus Cady who was one of the charter members. Russell was one of the first Wardens of St. John's Episcopal Church in Monticello. He and William Thompson, Sullivan County's first Judge, were largely responsible for the organization of the church. The church was organized on November 11, 1816 with Reverend James A. Thompson, a brother of the Judge, the first pastor. Bro. Russell brought honor to Monticello as Presidential Elector and performed the duties of his office by casting his vote for Andrew Jackson, one of the most prominent Masons of the day who had served as Grand Master of Masons in Tennessee during 1822 and 1823. True to his convictions and loyal to his Lodge, Sullivan Lodge's first Master contributed liberally of his time and sound advice throughout the Lodge's prosperous as well as its lean years. He died on September 4, 1830.

Livingston Billings, the first Senior Warden of Sullivan Lodge was admitted to practice as attorney and counselor of the courts of the county at a session of the Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions held in October 1809. He served at County Surrogate in 1810 and 1813, as Judge of the Court of Common Please in 1823 as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in 1824. Billings came to Monticello from Poughkeepsie before Sullivan was a county or Monticello much more than a forest. It is said that he came to Monticello on horse back, expecting to find a thriving village, and that he rode through the Main street and over the westward hill without suspecting that he had passed the place. He opened his office in a building on the site which is now occupied by the Jewish Community Center on Broadway.

If Sullivan County Masonry ever had a Benedict Arnold it was Peter F. Hunn. As Arnold had saved the country he later tried to ruin, so Hunn had helped Sullivan County Masonry in its infancy only to betray it later.

Hunn was a lawyer who came to Monticello from Newburgh not long after the organization of the County. He was the first Junior Warden of Sullivan Lodge and later served as its Senior Warden and Master.

When the dark clouds of the Morgan Episode descended over the State in 1826 and a Sullivan County Anti-Masonic party was formed Hunn was one of the first to desert the fraternity.

The Anti-Masons, led by Hunn and others including former Mason and County Sheriff David Hammond became a powerful political body in the County. They elected their candidate, Hiram Bennett, to Foster for County Clerk [sic], and Nathan W. Horton for Sheriff in the Fall of 1831. [Editor's note: At this point in the text, a line of type appears to be out of place, which states: "the Assembly, their nominee Jesse M."]

Following the election Anti-Masons Hiram Bennett, Harley B. Ludington and Daniel B. St. John were satirized in the columns of the Republican Watchman for their conduct in a celebration which followed the election. The Watchman's editor Frederick A. Devoe continued his attacks during the next Winter and Spring disturbing them to such an extent that the wealthier Anti-Masons provided funds sufficient to organize the Anti-Masonic Sullivan County Herald Hunn became the first editor and demonstrated his intellectual culture and acknowledged talent in reply editorials directed at Devote. The latter, however, held to Masonic principles rather than the anti-Masonic fanaticism championed by Hunn and emerged the victor. Devoe's editorials were so convincing to Hunn that he deserted the Herald in 1838 as hastily as he had the Masonic fraternity more than a decade before.

Hunn realized his grave mistake and wanted to help restore that which he had attempted to destroy but the bitterness he had shown for the fraternity while an Anti-Mason could not be forgotten by those who had remained loyal to the craft through the trying days.

The Charter of Hiram Lodge 131 in Newburgh was seized in September 1842 and its number was changed to 92. Hunn was well acquainted with members of Hiram Lodge and it was on his invitation that Benjamin Lewis, a Past Master of the Newburgh organization came to Monticello and installed Sullivan Lodge's first officers.

Hiram Lodge had suffered a great loss in membership during the Morgan period and became inactive. In 1842 Masonry was experiencing brighter days that had not fully recovered from the setbacks it had experienced during the ten years which followed 1826.

Hunn was installed Master of Hiram Lodge under its second charter and worked diligently for two years ton continue the old Lodge. His efforts bore no fruit, however, and in 1844 the charter was surrendered.

Although he had no Lodge to call his own from 1844 until his death in 1847 during this brief period he lived as an upright man and Mason doing good whenever possible and left a pleasant memory to his associates.

Hunn served in Sullivan County as Master and Examiner in Chancery, Surrogate of the County, Clerk of the County Board of Supervisors, and as Justice of the Peace. He died in Newburgh during the summer of 1847 leaving a wife and several children.

Cyrus A. Cady was a practicing physician when he became the Lodge's first Treasurer. He had been a resident of the town since 1810 and was the father of William E. and Henry V. Cady. The first was a merchant who was associated in business for several years with John Russell.

Sullivan Lodge's first secretary was Jesse Towner who for many years was Treasurer of the County. Hew as very accurate and careful in his work as secretary of the Lodge as well as the County's chief financial officer. A deficit in his predecessor's accounts, amounting to a large sum had escaped the close watch by the Board of Supervisors but it was detected by Mr. Towner and a full investigation resulted.

Petitioning for a Masonic Lodge was not the only important step taken in 1811. Prior to that time the settlers who lived in the interior of Sullivan County were obliged to travel or send to Montgomery, Orange County, to mail or receive mail. There was no a mail route or a post office in the County.

James Madison was serving his first term as President of the United States when the Jones Brothers asked for a Post Office in Monticello. On his order a post route went into operation from Newburgh to Ithaca through Monticello. On request of Monticello residents a post office was established in the mountain community with Bro. Samuel Jones the first postmaster.

As Sullivan Lodge members had taken the lead in blazing the trails in the mountain wilderness they likewise continued in its development. Brothers John Russell, Cyrus A. Cady and Levi Barnum helped organize St. John's Episcopal Church. William Morgan and others of the Craft were instrumental in the founding of the Presbyterian Church as well as active in various important civic functions.

The community's first school was established in 1807. The second teacher was Bro. Asa Hall, whose knowledge of Masonry not only assisted him greatly in his Lodge work but also gave him a substantial background for the task of instructing the children of the forests. Bro. Hall taught the first school in this section of Bridgeville.

The Lodge had three physicians among its members. They were among the early settlers and had come to Monticello for the purpose of bettering their financial conditions by making real estate investments rather than to practice their professions. Other than Bro. Cyrus Dady, mentioned in Chapter 3, they were Malachi Foot, who came to Monticello about 1809, and Bro. James Coit, who came here about the time the Cochecton-Newburgh turnpike was completed.

Bro. Foot came from Connecticut and brought a tract of land about one mile west of Bridgeville where the County alms house was once located.

Bro. Coit was a native of Litchfield, Connecticut, the early home of the Jones Brothers. He became the owner of considerable land North of Monticello which he bought from the Joneses for ten dollars an acre. He served as Sullivan Lodge's secretary and his name was signed as such under a notice advertising the laying of a cornerstone for the Masonic Temple at the corner of Pleasant Street and Broadway in 1819. This was the year before Monticello was incorporated as a village.

Coit was well educated in his profession but was considered too infirm in health to practice. He erected a store on the site now occupied by the National Union Bank but never opened it for trade. About 1835, with health failing, he joined the Revolutionary Army of Texas as a surgeon and was bitten soon afterwards by a poisonous reptile and died.

Bro. Coit served as Junior Warden but there is no record of his ever having served as Master.

Bro. Elisha Heycock, who was Justice of the Peace in the Lumberland Township in 1809 was Senior Warden. Sometime during the nearly eighteen years Sullivan Lodge existed it is more than likely he served as Master.

Bro. Nathan Couch commenced work carding and cloth dressing in 1810. Sheep not only supplied wool for clothing but also provided mutton when the early settlers desired to change from wild game which was found in abundance by the hunters. Most of the settlers kept a flock which required constant guarding from blood-thirsty panther, wolves and bear.

A prize ewe was among the flock yarded behind a barn nearly opposite the house of Bro. Andrew Comstock. One morning Bro. Comstock was saddened to learn that a bear had entered his fold during the night and killed and partly devoured the prize of his flock.

He was colonel of militia and displayed all the brilliancy and gayety of his rank as he mounted his steed to pursue the culprit. Tinseled in lace and feathers he was said truly to have the martial bearing when at the head of his regiment.

In making his exit from the sheep pen the bear took with a large steel trap and the log to which it was fastened. The Colonel accompanied by some neighbors who joined in the hunt did not go far before Bruin was discovered. With a well-charge "horse pistol" in either hand the Colonel took careful aim and fired. The bear dropped, apparently dead, and with a jubilant shout the Colonel jumped astride the carcass. Although careful with his aim he was not careful in his diagnosis of the creature's ability to revive.

Wit a snort and a grunt the bear arose with Bro. Comstock on its back. All military bearing so conspicuous at the beginning of the hunt was immediately substituted by soiled and torn clothes, disheveled hair and great disorder. His companions then dispatched the bear.

While the tanning bark industry provided income for most of the Masons who belonged to Sullivan Lodge, fur trapping and logging occupied the time of others.

Logs were taken to Thompsonville or to the mill of Bro. John W. Osborn. Bro. Osborn operated the mill in partnership with a man named Baker. The mill was located in the Clark and Grassy Brook road at Katrina Falls and is believed to have been erected immediately after the opening of the Sackett road. If this is true a Mason established the first mill in the Town of Thompson.

The mill was on the table rock of the falls and slabs from it were thrown into the gulf below.

Bro. Samuel Barnum erected another mill in 1802 or 1803 on the farm now occupied by William Fitzsimmons. Town records show this was the third mill in the town. Bro. Barnum was elected supervisor in 1807 and 1808, was preceded in that office by Samuel F. Jones, the Town's first supervisor and succeeded by Bro. John P. Jones.

While Sullivan Lodge members were among the first to start mercantile and other business in Monticello, Bro. Richard D. Childs was not far behind in Thompsonville. He was the second merchant there having succeeded David Reed. He was succeeded by others including Johnathan Stratton, an ancestor of Wor. Bro. Earl Stratton. Bro. Johnathan Stratton is believed to have been a member of Sullivan Lodge but unfortunately there are no records to verify it. But whether he was or not, he was highly respected and an asset to the community, having been honored by President John Quincy Adams with an appointment which made him Thompsonville's first postmaster.

Among the few buildings constructed of saw mill lumber was constructed at Bridgeville in 1806-1807 by Bro. Caleb Howell and his brother, Peter. The building was situated on the west side of the bridge. The old hotel was destroyed in 1871.

Men in supervisoral and other offices of trust in the town, county and state figured prominently among Sullivan Lodge membership.

Sullivan Lodge prospered during first ten years

Monticello was founded at the beginning of a new century which also was the beginning of a new era for both political and Masonic history.

Those figuring most prominently in the early days of the Colonies were Masons and in no less a degree were Masons conspicuous in the early days of Monticello. As George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Peyton Randolph, DeWitt Clinton, John Sullivan and others had been made history in Colonial days so did the Jones Brothers. William Morgan, Platt Pelton, John Russell, Cyrus A. Cady, and other members of Sullivan Lodge 272 find places in Sullivan County history.

Descendants of a number of these early Masons are living in the county today.

Monticello's early population consisted mostly of Connecticut Yankees, the majority of whom were members of the Masonic Fraternity before they came here. Most all of the brethren of Sullivan Lodge either had taken an active part in the early conflicts in which this Country had been engaged or were the sons of Revolutionary Patriots.

When the first Lodge meeting was held in Monticello there were fewer than twenty log houses in the community. The forests were so dense that workmen engaged in the tanning bark industry, cabin builders and other residents often lost their way along Broadway while traveling along the tree-blazed trail which led to North Settlement and to the intersection of what was later Route 17 and 17-B.

Wolves, panther, bear and wildcats roamed over the countryside to add to their hardships. Few of the crudely constructed bark thatched log cabins had cellars but all of them had ample fireplaces where pioneer families gathered after days of toil in the wilderness of the cabins were primitive affairs with no windows. During the summer light was admitted through the door, when the weather was pleasant enough to leave it open. In the winter the cabins were not lighted at all except for the fire necessary to warm them and by a few stray beams that found their way down the chimney through the smoke.

Wages then were from four to six shillings per day. In Winter horses slowly plodded through the wood-lanes with snow up to their bellies, sometimes plunging over the sides of a cradle hole or the concealed trunk of a tree.

The Delaware-Hudson Canal was not yet in existence and supplies were hauled from Newburgh and Montgomery.

When food stuffs and other essentials finally reached their destination the former, including potatoes and other vegetables were stored in holds in dirt cellars close by the cabins. A goodly mound of earth was heaped over these depositories, which usually were favorite resorts for the wolves which were often observed on moonlight nights.

The wolves were a great terror to women and children especially when they broke the still of the wilderness by their howling.

It was under these trying conditions that the members of Sullivan Lodge practiced Masonry. They braved the dangers of the wilds to walk at night guided by the stars and an occasional tree marking to their crudely constructed meeting place. Here by candlelight they found courage and devotion for their fellow-men and swapped yarns of their hunting and other every day as well as war time experiences.

Bro. John P. Jones often met with the brethren and related the story of how he an his brother, Samuel F. Jones, had discovered the mountain community while exploring the forests west of the Mamakating Valley in 1802 for a feasible route for the newly chartered Cochecton-Newburgh turnpike. Natives of Litchfield County, Conn., the Jones Brothers left their father's farm there to settle in Monticello in 1804. Expecting a great influx of settlers with the completion of the road the brothers purchased 1,415 1/2 acres of land in Great Lot 14 and 445 1/2 acres of land in Lot 13.

Samuel engaged in construction of the turnpike while John P. set out to establish a capitol for the newly opened country. He came to Monticello with eleven men, most all of whom were Masons.

No less devoted to Masonry was Platt Pelton, whose descendants have worked faithfully for the craft until the present day. Bro. Pelton is credited with building Monticello's second house. He showed his devotion to the fraternity not only by giving wise council, time and effort but he also gave the fraternity the lot at the corner of Pleasant Street and Broadway upon which Sullivan Lodge laid its cornerstone in 1829 and built its own temple.

Bro. Pelton was a useful and respected citizen who was one of Monticello's most distinguished residents until his death in 1858. Bro. John P. Jones had distinguished himself as the first Clerk of the County after its erection in 1809, was Supervisor of the Town of Thompson, postmaster for 38 years, a State Senator and a Presidential elector and Platt Pelton also was honored with several offices of trust, including that of County Judge.

Before Sullivan Lodge erected its temple the brethren met at the Curtis Lindley Tavern. In the early eighteenth century in both England and America taverns and inns were used generally as social centers by all manners of groups. The Old Lindley Tavern was crudely constructed, drafty and poorly furnished but nevertheless it was modern when compared to the average Monticello residence. The main part of the structure was built in 1805, but a growing need for a place to hold Court and Supervisoral sessions induced Lindley to modernize the structure by adding a dining room on the first floor and an upper story for meeting rooms. The Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions held the first terms in the old tavern in October, 1809, with William A. Thompson and Samuel F. Jones presiding. On the same day and place the Board of Supervisors, including Brother John P. Jones, of Thompson; Darius Martin, of Liberty, and Br. Livingston Billings, the Board Clerk, held their first session. Only five towns had at that time been organized. They were Thompson, Liberty, Neversink, Mamakating and Lumberland.

Mr. Pelton was one of the Charter members who had worked hard and long for the success of the Lodge and did not wish the fruits of his labors to fall into other hands even the Grand Lodge, so he exercised care in preparing his deed to the Lodge. It is obvious that he conceived the possibility of something happening which could cause the lodge to lose its charter. In the event of such an occurrence the possessions of the Lodge would automatically become the property of Grand Lodge. His better judgment told him to hold the deed in trust for the Lodge.

Six years later the charter of Sullivan Lodge was declared forfeited and Sullivan Lodge was no longer existent but nevertheless under the covenants of the deed Mr. Pelton was the rightful owner of the temple.

Up to 1835 Masons, who had given financial and physical aid, had received little use of the structure's rooms and in order to validate their interests chose to hold the Lodge's charter for presentment as their certificate of authority as far as Mr. Pelton was concerned.

Platt Pelton died in May, 1859, still holding in trust the deed for the plot upon which the temple was built. Twenty-four years had elapsed since the old Lodge had authority to convene in the Lodge rooms. In a legal sense there was no organization to own the building and to occupy it in accordance with conditions under which use of the property was granted. Court and other records give no mention of litigation over the sale of this property by the executors of Platt Pelton's will but it is more than likely that failure to return the Lodge's charter in 1835 when it was declared forfeited was not unintentional. Records of Monticello Lodge 460 instituted in 1858 would indicate that this question was settled before Mr. Pelton's death for this Lodge held none of its meetings in the old quarters. It is therefore obvious that the Masons had no rights to the building at that time.

On October 19, 1859, Charles M. and George Pelton, of Poughkeepsie, and Eli S. Pelton, of Monticello, the executors of the Platt Pelton estate sold the property to Mary Mapes and Charlotte Sherwood for $1,100. Shortly thereafter the women contracted to sell it to Thomas Curley, a forty-niner, who received his deed in 1866. Extensive remo0deling and reconditioning began immediately after Mr. Curley contracted to purchase the property. Upon removing the upper floor the workmen discovered that the space beneath was filled with tan bark to a depth of about fifteen inches. Mr. Pelton, the tanner, is believed to have supplied this material which, in 1829, was worth $3,000 a cord. The bark had been placed between the ceiling of the room beneath and the Lodge floor to prevent cowans and eavesdroppers from overhearing and learning the secrets of the Craft.

Man has come and gone since the old cornerstone was laid and the temple erected, and ravages of fire and weather have laid waste to the structure of yesteryear. Modernization and improvement of what remained of the temple after the fire of 1874 have created a new building bearing little or no resemblance of the old meeting place. But through the storm and tempest and fires which have laid waste to the Village of Monticello itself, the old cornerstone still remains intact. It is now in the prized possession of Bro. Herman Albrecht the present owner of the Victoria Hotel which is now operating on the old Temple grounds.

Just before erection of the present Masonic Hall [at 5 Bank Street, Monticello], an effort was made to remove the old cornerstone for the purpose of placing it under the new structure. Owing to the immense weight of the large stones above the block which was the main support of the Victoria Hotel, the owner would not consent to its removal at that time on the ground that it would have a tendency to weaken that corner. The project was abandoned and the old stone kept its original resting place until Bro. Albrecht became owner of the premises. It was he who consented to removal of the historic cornerstone.

Little is known about the Hanfords whose name appear on the deed given to Mr. Pelton but the Streets were very prominent in the early days of Monticello. Randall S. Street, district attorney of the Third District under the Constitution which was in force in 1821, was a Mason, and a charter member of the Old Sullivan Lodge, who attended an early Grand Lodge session. He was educated and a leader in his day. General Street came to Monticello in 1825 and established a law practice. He was the father of the famous poet, Alfred B. Street, who immortal passages were born by the natural beauties of Sullivan County by which he was inspired in his early days.

If the struggle for existence of Sullivan Lodge could have continued for another five years it is quite possible that the lodge would have been able to weather the lodge would have been able to weather the storm and reawaken the Masonic spirit then latent because of the Morgan and anti-Masonic issues.

Thrown into the abyss of the problems the order had faced for nearly a decade, brethren failed to rally their support to the dying lodge. Today we cannot imagine the difficulties the brethren had to contend with. They were boycotted, denied employment and church rights and their rights as citizens were prejudiced.

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.

Settlement and Independence

Sullivan County is a section of the state which is rich in romance and Indian lore and it would be remiss of the author if incidents leading up to the establishment of the County were not touched upon briefly. Sturdy pioneers who had migrated Westerly in quest of riches and the opportunities of establishing homes in Sullivan County's fertile lands and virgin forests were among those who converted a wilderness into a place of habitation and made Old Sullivan Lodge possible.

The Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1801 with a capital of $125,000, and as their superficial enterprise progressed through nearly 50 miles of wilderness inhabited by a few scattered pioneers, eyes turned westward. A heavily-traveled toll road was superceding the winding wagon trail to Monticello, described in those days as hazardous as the Indian trail which Manuel Gun Sallus, a Spaniard, and his Dutch wife from Rochester, Ulster County, had followed in 1732 when they came to Mamakating to erect their house and be the first permanent white settler.

Wurtsboro had begun to boom and the Indian stories about great riches which brought Dutch trading post in 1614 and a careful search for metals by the Delaware Swedes in 1638, had been thoroughly investigated many years before. (Their efforts did result in discovery of the Minisink mine and the "Lost Mine of the Mamakating" from which large quantities of lead were extracted, but long before the beginning of the nineteenth century when the Mamakating Valley had lost its popularity from the viewpoint of previous metals.)

Maurice and William Wurts, for whom Wurtsboro was named were the first to see the possibilities of the valley and their farseeing intelligence resulted in the opening of rich coal fields near Carbondale, Pa., and the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal through which many boatloads of Sullivan County produced tanning bark as well as Pennsylvania Coal was transported to the seaboard. Platt Pelton and a number of the early Masons earned a livelihood in the bark enterprise.

The canal, as well as a railroad, was commenced in 1826 and completed in 1828. On December 3, 1828, a fleet of six boats laden with 120 tons of coal passed through Mamakating Hollow, now Wurtsboro on their way to the Hudson. The cheering Dutch families and the more recent Yankees witnessed the great spectacle. At last the gloom which reigned along the westward slopes of the Shawangunk mountains was broken by the busy din of commercial enterprise. Millions of tons of coal and other merchandise were transported through the artificial channel during its years of activities.

Early Masonry

Granting of land tracts including the Minisink patent on August 20, 1708, did a great deal to attract the write man's attention to Sullivan County as did the Indian and Revolutionary Wars, and Masonry had shed its beneficent influence in the land of wilderness even before the narrow and dangerously winding trail over the Shawangunks was abandoned in 1808 for the newly opened Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike, now known as Route 117 [sic], to Monticello through Liberty and to the West and 17B to Cochecton.

Masonry had progressed rapidly from 1733 when the first warranted lodge was established in American until the Revolutionary period when there were warranted lodges in each of the thirteen colonies and in seven of them, including New York State, there were provincial Grand Lodges. Some of Sullivan's early settlers were members of lodges in America while others had become Masons in lodges across the sea. Among the latter was Daniel Niven. He had become a Mason in Scotland at the age of 21. Niven was born on the west coast of Scotland in 1767. He left his native land in a sailboat and landed in New York in 1791 after a rough voyage across the Atlantic ocean.

After engaging in the business of farming at Wurtsboro from 1812 until 1816 he moved to Monticello and continued to help in the organization of Sullivan Lodge. He was strongly attached to the Fraternity until his death at the age of 100 when he was the oldest Mason in the United States.

Niven had been a Mason only three years when he reached the land of opportunity. George Washington, the Mason, leader and advocate of religious and political freedom, was then completing his first term of office under a constitution born when clouds of political adversity had gathered over the colonies in 1774. The dark days when the light of happiness and security began to dim, had been brightened by the light of Masonry and one time bewildered people now saw the fulfillment of their hopes under a government headed by a Mason and based upon Masonic ideals which had been born in the minds of a congress of delegates in Philadelphia.

These men, strangers to each other but facing the common dangers and the difficult purpose for which they were met, realized the necessity of a unity of action.

Many of the patriots were Masons, whose deeds and actions found prominent places in the history of our country.

Presiding over the Philadelphia convention was Peyton Randolf, the Provincial Grand Master of Virginia.

The outcome of this congress was the beginning of a new era which was to make Niven the Mason emigrant as well as Washington the Mason leader of a new nation, conscious of their mystic ties. Washington was raised in Fredericksburg Lodge as Master Mason on August 4, 1753. He saw his Revolutionary Comrades die for the ideals of a freedom-loving people and witnessed ceremonies in which their graves were wet with Masonic tears and decorated with sprigs of acacia. These experiences, though sad, had demonstrated the importance of unity and brotherly love during the Revolutionary war and the conflicts which preceded it.

Washington had gathered around him stern and determined men who had left their peaceful avocations to defend their hearthstones. Some of these men manned forts and blockhouses at Mamakating and Westbrookville in Sullivan County. Others joined wearisome marches with the Continental Armies. They experienced defeat, sickness and privations but their miseries in cheerless camps and their toils and hardships were forgotten when wearisome tramps through the wilderness of uncharted country ended and the Military Lodge opened. Their hearts lightened and their courage and determination again revived. Washington was not slow to realize that the good effects of Masonry had been reflected wherever military lodge communications were held. This realization and the influence of Masonic fellowship aided him to weather the 1777 military campaign which gave history the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, the evacuation of Philadelphia by Congress, the occupation by British troops and the retirement of the American Army to winter quarters at Valley Forge. Washington watched his shoeless and inadequately clothed army march in on snowy trails splotched with blood and remarked, "Poor fellows." The reply came in true Masonic spirit, "God bless Your Excellency, you are the poor soldier's friend."

Such was the courage and determination of Sullivan's hardy pioneers.

New York Masonry in 1811

All warranted American Lodges existing before the French and Indian War had operated under the supervision of both the Grand Lodge of England and the Ancient Masons which in 1738 arose independently beside the regular Grand Lodge of England. The Ancients have been classed under the name of Free and Accepted Masons and the Moderns under the name of Freemasons.

These two separate bodies were formed when a number of brethren in London became dissatisfied with certain transactions of the Grand Lodge of England and began to hold meetings and initiate candidates without the sanction and authority of the Grand Lodge.

Dissension between the two Grand Lodges lasted until the year 1813 when the two bodies consolidated under the name and title of the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England. Four years later the Grand Lodges in America united under the same name. At this time Sullivan Lodge 272 had been in operation under a charter for one year. Old Sullivan Lodge was in its formation while the Provincial Grand Lodge of the State of New York was operating as an ancient body.

Sullivan Lodge During Last Years of Activity

Sullivan Lodge No. 272 experienced its brightest days during most of the first decade it was warranted and then suffered three years of continual attack by