Saint Paul Lodge Number Three

What makes Saint Paul Three Special?

We start with a rich history....

The Founding of Saint Paul Lodge Number Three

Saint Paul Lodge Number Three was founded in 1849, the same year Minnesota became a territory. The Minnesota Pioneer, the first newspaper in the territory, published a notice on April 28, 1849, asking members of the Masonic Fraternity to gather on May 31. No records exist of that meeting or another one held on June 4 but these meeting were the forerunner of Masonry in Minnesota.

Charles Kilgore Smith was appointed Territorial Secretary by President James K. Polk and arrived in Saint Paul in early July of 1849. He was known as a very able Mason and brought new life to the attempts to form a lodge. A third meeting was held on Monday, July 16, at which time it was decided to form a Masonic lodge. A petition was forwarded to the Grand Lodge of Ohio because Charles K. Smith had come from Ohio. The petition was prepared the next day and thirteen men signed it, namely:

Charles Kilgore Smith, Territorial Secretary

Aaron Goodrich, Chief Justice

James M. Goodhue, Editor of the Minnesota Pioneer

J. Hughes, Editor of the Minnesota Chronicle

Daniel Franklin Brawley, businessman

Lot Moffit, hotel and innkeeper

W.C. Wright, probably a printer

Justus C. Ramsey, brother of the first Governor of Minnesota

John Condon, government employee

Albert Titlow, carpenter

John Holland, painter

Levi Sloan, grocery store owner

Julius Aitkenside, printer

The petition was granted at Lancaster, Ohio, on August 8, 1849, and received by the petitioners in due course and by its authority the lodge held its first meeting on Saturday evening, September 8, 1849, in the Central House, which then stood on what was known as Bench Street, later Second Street, now a part of Kellogg Boulevard, near the corner of Minnesota Street.

Charles Kilgore Smith was designated the first Master of the Lodge. He was also the first Secretary of the Territory, founder and first Secretary of the Minnesota Historical Society and later a Regent of the State University.

The lodge met again on September 17 and the petition of Oliver H. Kelley was received. Oliver Kelley was the second person initiated in Saint Paul Lodge, after Charles P. Scott. Oliver Kelley later went on to found the Patrons of Husbandry, better known as the Grange, and his home near Elk River is now part of the Minnesota Historical Society.

The lodge continued working under its dispensation more than three and a half years. The lodge was duly constituted as Saint Paul Lodge No. 223 of Ohio on February 7, 1853, after finally receiving a charter from the Grand Lodge of Ohio. In the meantime, two other lodges had formed: Cataract Lodge at St. Anthony Falls and St. John’s Lodge at Stillwater. A resolution was adopted at the lodge meeting of February 7 inviting the two other lodges to meet on Wednesday evening, February 25, to form a Grand Lodge. That meeting was held as scheduled and the Grand Lodge of Minnesota was established. It was determined that the lodges would be numbered in accordance with the order in which they received their charters and not by their dispensation dates. Consequently, the lodge in Stillwater became St. John’s Lodge No. 1 as it was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin on June 9, 1852, and the lodge at St. Anthony Falls became Cataract Lodge No. 2 as it was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Illinois on October 21, 1852.

Today …

Saint Paul Lodge seeks to maintain a lodge that is in conformity with the highest Masonic standards worldwide and as such has a character of solemnity and circumspection. The lodge emphasizes the initiatic character of Freemasonry by maintaining a Masonic culture and traditional structure. The stated communications and degrees are characterized by a dignified and solemn approach with a longer time between degrees. The brothers of the lodge understand that striving to improve themselves in Masonry, and assisting candidates and fellow brethren in doing the same, is chief among their duties. The traditional structure we maintain allows for the preservation of traditional forms and meaningful human fellowship as a means of transmitting wisdom and improving society.