Representatives of three Masonic lodges, Missouri Lodge No. 12 of St. Louis, Joachim Lodge No. 25 of Herculaneum, and St. Charles Lodge No. 28, resolved on February 22, 1821 in Missouri Lodge’s hall to organize a Grand Lodge for Missouri.
Edward Bates, master of the St. Louis Lodge, chaired the convention, which appointed a committee to draft a constitution for the proposed Grand Lodge and distribute it to other lodges. A majority ratified the constitution, the Grand Lodge organized April 21, 1821, and adopted the constitution and bylaws. Thomas Fiveash Riddick served as the first Grand Master.
It is sometimes said of Freemasonry in the early republic that, “Freemasonry follows the flag.” Many of the founding fathers were members, including Washington, Jefferson and Franklin. It is likely only a dozen or so freemasons were in the newly-formed Missouri territory in 1804.
The first Lodge in Missouri formed in Ste. Genevieve on November 14, 1807, on a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Lodge No. 12 followed in 1816, then Lodge Nos. 25 and 28 in 1819, all chartered by the Grand Lodge of Tennessee. Unity Lodge in Jackson, established under dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Indiana, followed in 1820.
The ranks of freemasons in Missouri included many early leaders, including Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Rufus Easton, John Scott, Thomas Hart Benton, Alexander McNair, Edward and Frederick Bates, and Lewis F. Linn.
The Grand Lodge of Missouri, starting with membership of less than 100, was to become instrumental in the growth of freemasonry in the area of the Louisiana Purchase, earning the title of the “Masonic colonizer of the West.” Its emphasis on encouraging community leadership and charitable works began a grand tradition of Missouri fraternal organizations.
