Grand Lodge of the Month - Wisconsin

Masonic activity in Wisconsin originated in Green Bay in 1823 when seven army officers and three civilians met in the home of Bro. George Johnston on a farm on the west shore of the Fox River. They met for the feast of St. John the Evangelist, December 27, 1823.

The military officers were part of the 3rd Regiment, of which four companies were stationed at Fort Howard under the command of Col. John McNeil, a Mason. Under his leadership, the brothers drafted a petition to the Grand Lodge of New York for a charter. The lodge was named Menomonie Lodge and the charter arrived in 1824. By that time, membership had increased from 10 to 21, including Henry S. Baird, who would later become Grand Master. This lodge went dark in 1830 due to the redeployment of the military.

Mineral Point was settled by Englishmen who arrived to mine lead. The lodge received its dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Missouri. It was active in 1840 and chartered in 1843. Its Senior Warden was Charles Dunn, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the Territory of Wisconsin. Masons in Platteville were chartered in late 1843 as Melody Lodge. Its first Master was Rev. Benjamin T. Kavanaugh who would later become Wisconsin's first Grand Master. The Grand Lodge of Illinois chartered Milwaukee (later Kilbourn) Lodge in 1843. Its Master was Rev. Lemuel B. Hull, Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The lodge was formed of 39 charter members including Byron Kilbourn and George H. Walker. Delegates from these three lodges met on December 18, 1843, and formed the Grand Lodge Free & Accepted Masons of Wisconsin. Each lodge was obliged to pay $1.00 per member to the Grand Lodge, of which, fully 25% was for charity.

It is to Rev. Kavanaugh, a Methodist preacher and a Masonic student that we owe much of our success here in Wisconsin. Reflect upon his address at the first Grand Lodge annual communication:

"While there are ten thousand causes operating upon the family of man to sever the bonds of friendship and brotherly love and set men and Masons at variance, Masonry, like an angel of peace, throws her influence around the globe and brings men upon a level in Love, Peace, and Unity... Masonry thus stands forth as venerable as Time, as firm as Truth, and as benevolent as Mercy, let us hail it a happy welcome into Wisconsin where it may find a vineyard in which to labor." (January 17, 1844).

Indeed, scarcely a town in Wisconsin is without a Masonic founder - the type of man after whom schools and streets are named. Many of the counties and towns bear the names of their founders, almost all of whom were members of Wisconsin Freemasonry, and we are honored to have these with their Masonic membership: former Governors Dreyfus, Peck, Heil, LaFollette, V. Thompson, Goodland, Rennebaum, T. Thompson, and McCallum; Supreme Court Justice Day; Past Chief Justice Curry; the Ringling Brothers; magician Harry Houdini, Green Bay Packers Bart Starr and Ray Nitschke, to name but a very few.

We look to the future of Freemasonry in Wisconsin with eagerness and are confident that history will reflect the names of event more prominent members who have yet to emerge and as yet to even join. But no doubt they will. The principles of Freemasonry attract, and will continue to inspire all to achieve greatness, as it always has.