Terre Haute Lodge No. 19, F&AM

Terre Haute Lodge No. 19, F&AM (Chartered September 13, 1821) is a lodge of Freemasons in Terre Haute, Indiana. It is the oldest existing organization in the city and in Vigo County with the exception of Vigo County Government.[1][2][3]

History

On March 10, 1819, thirteen Freemasons residing in the village of Terre Haute petitioned the recently formed Grand Lodge of Indiana for dispensation to establish a lodge, which was received on July 12, 1819. The officers were installed by Elihu Stout of Vincennes Lodge No. 1, with Peter B. Allen as its first Master, and the Lodge began its labors.[4] It continued working under this dispensation until a charter was issued by Grand Lodge on September 13, 1821.

The Lodge predates the incorporation of Terre Haute as a town (1832) and as a city (1853).[5] The oldest existing church did not organize until 1828,[6] the first newspaper was not printed until 1823, and the oldest bank was not chartered until 1834.[7]

Terre Haute Lodge No. 19 worked with several other Masonic bodies to create the Terre Haute Masonic Temple Association in 1911. This body erected the Terre Haute Masonic Temple in 1917, which has been the Lodge's permanent home since.

In 1912, Lodge No. 19 participated in the centennial celebrations of the Siege of Fort Harrison, it being the only surviving organization which existed when there was a Fort Harrison.[8]

In 1919, the Lodge observed the 100th anniversary of its first meeting with a county-wide celebration.[9]

At its peak in the early 1950s, Terre Haute Lodge No. 19's membership totaled over 1600.[10]

Notable members

Over its nearly 200 year history, Terre Haute Lodge No. 19 has had a number of notable members, including [11]

  • Thomas H. Blake – U.S. Representative from Indiana.
  • Amory Kinney – Member of the Indiana House of Representatives.
  • William K. Edwards – Member and former Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives; First Mayor of the City of Terre Haute.
  • Thomas Dowling – Member of the Indiana House of Representatives.
  • Albert Lange – U.S. Consul to Amsterdam; Indiana State Auditor.
  • Charles Cruft (general) – Brevet Major General, U.S. Army, during the American Civil War
  • Richard W. Thompson – Secretary of the Navy under President Rutherford B. Hayes; U.S. Representative from Indiana.
  • Robert Van Valzah – Dentist and a founder of the Indiana Dental College (now IU School of Dentistry); Member of the Indiana House of Representatives.
  • William R. McKeen, Jr. – Founder of McKeen Motor Car Company; inventor of the track motorcar and McKeen Railmotor.
  • Eugene V. Debs – U.S. Presidential candidate; American labor union leader; Nobel Peace Prize nominee; Indiana State Senator. (Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft degrees, only)
  • Chapman J. Root – Founder and owner of The Root Glass Company, birthplace of famous Coca-Cola bottle.
  • Birch Evans Bayh, Sr. – NCAA head basketball coach; father and grandfather of two U.S. Senators of the same name.
  • Art Nehf – Major League Baseball pitcher.

References
  1. Gilbert, Edward. Ninety Years of Masonry: The Story of Terre Haute Lodge No. 19 (Moore-Langden, 1911) pg. vii
  2. Smith, Dwight L. Goodly Heritage (Grand Lodge F. & A.M. of Indiana, 1968) pg. 397
  3. Beckwith, H.W. History of Vigo and Parke Counties, Together with Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley (Hill and Iddings, 1880) pg. 151.
  4. Gilbert pg. 12-17
  5. Oakley, C.C. Greater Terre Haute and Vigo County: Closing the First Century’s History of the City and County (Lewis Publishing Co., 1908) pg. 106-114
  6. Hughes, Frances E. (1979, September 8) Central Presbyterian celebrates its 150th anniversary. The Spectator pg. 10
  7. Condit, Blackford. The History of Early Terre Haute from 1816 to 1840 (A.S. Barnes, 1900) pg. 131, 158
  8. Smith pg. 397
  9. An Invitation (1919, July 8) The Saturday Spectator pg. 41
  10. Masonic Directory: Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute Masonic Temple Association, 1952
  11. Thomas, Alexander, et. al. Membership of Terre Haute Lodge No. 19, 1819-1949. Private Collection.
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