Cincinnati Lodge No. 3

Free & Accepted Masons

History Continued

On June 25, 1790, ten Brethren including Bro. Rufus Putnam, all residents of the nearby settlement of Marietta, forwarded a petition to Worshipful Bro. Heart who was stationed at Fort Harmar, requesting him to form them into a Lodge. In answer to their petition, Bro. Heart replied in part: "The Warrant (of American Union Lodge) was granted by Richard Gridley, Deputy Grand Master, whose authority extended to all points of North America where no special Grand Lodge was appointed.... It will, therefore, follow that there being no special Grand Master of this Territory, a more ample authority for holding a Lodge in this country could not be obtained."

The first regular session of Lodge was held at Campus Martius on June 28, 1790. Its officers were: Jonathan Heart, W.M.; Benjamin Tupper, S.W.; Rufus Putnam, J.W.; Robert Oliver, Treasurer; and Anselm Tupper, Secretary. It was the first meeting of a Masonic Lodge held on Ohio soil and with one exception the first ever held in the Northwest Territory. When the By-laws of the Lodge were signed later in the year, eighty-six members attached their signatures. Still being some doubt, however, in the mind of Bro. Heart as to the regularity and recognition of the newly organized Lodge, letters were sent to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

On December 6, 1791, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts replied in part: "Your Warrant is beyond doubt a perfect and a good one....until a Grand Lodge is founded and established in your territory...l confirm your Warrant as good and perfect, as you are where no Grand Lodge is established." On May 21, 1792, a letter was received from the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania which read in part: "It was with equal surprise and pleasure the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania received intelligence of the formation of a Lodge in the midst of the immense wilderness of the West....As the account which you have given of the origin of your warrant is perfectly satisfactory and as the succession to the Chair has been uninterrupted, your authority for renewing your work appears to be incontestable." Thus were the