The Free and Accepted Order of Freemasons is one of the oldest fraternal societies in the United States, and Indiana. The fraternal organization’s roots are deep in the masonry guilds of medieval England and emphasize a belief in God and Christian disciplines. By the time Freemasonry entered the Colonies, it was more of a social organization unrelated to the mason guild. The fraternities’ ceremonies are characterized by ritual, symbolism, secrecy and an interest in antiquities. The first Masonic Grand Lodge was established in Boston, Massachusetts in 1733, and descended from England. Indiana’s lodges trace their lineage to the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, which was over the Indiana territory until Indiana formed its own Grand Lodge in 1818 at Madison. The Kentucky Grand Lodge descended from Virginia for the same reason-it
being under the Virginia Territory. The Kentucky Grand Lodge established charters to lodges in Vincennes (the first lodge established in 1807), Madison, Charlestown, Corydon, Salem, Lawrenceburg, Vevay, and Rising Sun. Brookville received their charter from the Ohio Grand Lodge. These charters were all given prior to the establishment of the Indiana Grand Lodge that was formed in Madison, two years after statehood, in 1818. Madison’s lodge was known as Union Lodge; its building from 1818 is extant. The number of Indiana lodges grew from five in 1818 to 92 in 1849 with a total membership of 2,472.
With the relocation of the Indiana Grand Lodge to the new state capital of Indianapolis by 1828, a new Grand Lodge Hall became desirable in the city. Prominent property was purchased on Washington Street and the lodge was constructed between 1848 and 1851. In 1855, total membership in Freemasonry in Indiana was 7,440. The number grew with population and
popularity to 24,776 by 1890. Between 1818 and 1898, just one Kokomo lodge member, Joshua E. Ervin, served as an officer of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Indiana. Hewas Grand Chaplain in 1891. There were several notable early Hoosier Masons, including several governors: James Lanier, General Anthony Wayne, John Tipton, Abel Pepper, Jonathan
Jennings, James Ray, Noah Noble, David Wallace, James Whitcomb, and Caleb Smith. The early history of Freemasonry in Indiana was written by author, historian, and Plymouth newspaper editor Daniel McDonald, who himself was Grand Master of the Indiana Grand Lodge 1874-1875.
Howard County’s earliest Masonic lodge was established in New London, in Monroe Township, in 1846. Their lodge hall burned in 1852, after which time a lodge was established in Russiaville from members of the former New London lodge. New London re-established a lodge in 1862. Russiaville Lodge No. 82 (Honey Creek Township) was established in 1853. The lodge purchased a meeting hall on Union Street in their early years and had fifty members by 1883. The Russiaville lodge became the “mother” of other lodges including the Prairieville Lodge, approximately six miles southeast of Russiaville in Tipton County. Presently, New London Lodge No. 283 is an active lodge, as is the Russiaville lodge, and they meet in the same relatively small, c. 1950 building at 240 N. Union Street in Russiaville.
A lodge also formed in the small village of Jerome in Union Township, likely during the 1850s, and was considered flourishing during its existence. It occupied the second floor hall of the township’s first frame school, built about 1855. The building burned in 1862, which may have been the cause of the lodge’s disbandment, along with the minimal growth of the village. A Masonic lodge also formed at an early time in Greentown, Liberty Township, but was disbanded until one was re-established in the same community in 1867. The Greentown Lodge No. 341 owned their own hall by 1883 and had a membership of about thirty-three. The lodge later purchased the former Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall on North Meridian Street and used the building from about the 1950s until 1984 when they constructed a new building. The Greentown lodge is also an active lodge.
The first Masonic meeting in Kokomo occurred on November 2, 1849, about three years after the first lodge in Howard County was established in New London. The first meeting for the of Howard County occurred in New London in 1844, at which time Kokomo was selected at the county seat due to the donation of land owned by David Foster, who was in attendance. Kokomo was therefore later in development, but quickly grew due to its selection as the seat of county government. Eight men were present at the 1849 Masonic meeting in Kokomo, though it is unclear as to which lodges they had previously been members. Each of the men had officer titles and were Dr. Corydon Richmond, George Poisal, Dr. O. Richmond, S. Wagner, C. D. Murray, Arthur Williams, H. D. Havens, and H. C. Stewart. The men were among the city’s pioneer settlers and included the first physician in the community, newspaper editor, saddle maker, and plasterer. These first members elected to hold their meetings on the first Tuesday on or after the first full moon of each month, to enable a lighted way home after the meetings. Their charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Mason of the State of Indiana to Kokomo Lodge No. 93. In 1865, members of the lodge decided to divide from the Kokomo lodge and formed Howard Lodge No. 370, taking twenty-six members to form the charter in 1867. Both lodges met in the same hall frequently during the early years and shared expenses. Initiation fees were about $10.00 and the annual dues averaged $3.00. In 1867, the hall in which the lodge met was destroyed by fire with the loss of many of the lodge’s valued pieces.
In June 1879, the Kokomo and Howard lodges consolidated under Howard Lodge No. 93, after which time, and presently it has been known. Between 1879 and 1882, lodge membership was reduced from 87 to 49, largely due to suspensions and lack of dues payment. Between 1867 and 1889, meeting places for the lodge varied, however, in 1889 the lodge dedicated a third floor meeting hall in a building at the southwest corner of Main and Mulberry Streets. Howard Lodge No. 93 continued to meet at that location until the present building at Washington Street was ready to be occupied in 1923. Prior to the present site, two other locations were considered for a new lodge hall. One site at the corner of Walnut and Buckeye Streets, known as the old Opera House, was purchased in 1907 for $16,000. Plans were prepared by an architect named Bruff for the reconstruction of that building, but were abandoned due to the cost of about $40,000 and an incident in which Bruff was killed by a streetcar at the city park. The lodge sold the Opera House property in 1915 for $35,000. The following year, the lodge purchased the Kessler property on the corner of Union and Mulberry Streets for $15,000. Drawings were completed by architect Elmer Dunlap and bids for a three-story temple at that site were taken, but again, proved financially too high and the property was sold in 1917.
To aid the lodge in the purchase of property for temple construction, the lodge entered into an agreement with Dr. J. McLean Moulder for the purchase of two lots at the southeast corner of Washington and Taylor Streets. The lodge agreed to pay Dr. Moulder back for the purchase price of $20,000 at 6% interest. The lodge contracted with the architectural firm of Elmer E. Dunlap who had offices in Kokomo and Indianapolis. Plans were prepared and the project was bid following the end of World War I. English Brothers, a construction contractor from Champaign, Illinois, received the contract for building the temple at a cost of $196,000 plus fees and other items equaled $206,000. The cornerstone was laid on January 23, 1922. The building
was completed and the lodge moved into the new facility at the end of February 1923. At the centennial of the charter, the lodge had reached a membership of more than 1400. Howard Lodge No. 93 was called upon to assist in laying the cornerstone of the previous and present county courthouse (1936), as well as other notable public buildings. Lodge members
participated in community parades, banquets, and basket dinners as well as aid in funding charitable causes in the community and for their own members. While membership has declined in the last decades, the organization continues to have a strong presence in the city.
While Howard County has two other two other buildings used for Masonic lodges, the one in Greentown (1984) and in Russiaville (c. 1950), they are of a common size for communities of their size and population, small in scale. The other active Masons’ lodge in Kokomo, Keystone Lodge No. 40, meets in the former Locke House, c. 1890, at 860 Locke Street. The Italianate cube was not built as a lodge hall, but is in active use presently as a lodge under the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Indiana, separate from the order under which the Howard lodge operates. The Howard Masonic Temple is an exceptional building constructed at a golden age of both lodge membership and public building construction. Kokomo’s wealthy industrial and commercial base, no doubt, aided in the scale of the building (over 40,000 square feet) that rivals lodges of larger communities. It has remained the primary lodge of its kind in Kokomo to the present day.
The only other comparative lodge hall of a fraternity similar to the Masons is the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) Building located at 325 North Main Street. The downtown building is also constructed in the Neoclassical style, in 1905, but is of a more modest scale. The YMCA building of Kokomo is located at 200 North Union Street. The five-story building was built in 1910 in the Neoclassical style, but has had subsequent additions in 1957 and 1964 to its side. A building constructed in the Art Moderne style by the Salvation Army in 1948 is located at 604 N. Main Street. Again, the building’s scale does not compare to the scale of the Howard Lodge building, but is mentioned as a building constructed for philanthropic/social purposes.
Masonic Temples in Indiana that compare in scale include at least six in Evansville, Fort Wayne, Terre Haute, Muncie, South Bend, and Indianapolis. All of the buildings were built in the Neoclassical style between about 1913 and 1926, except for the temple at Muncie, which was built in the Late Gothic Revival style in 1920. Muncie’s seven-story temple cost $1 million to build, but was partially funded by the Ball brothers, one of whom was a Mason. South Bend, Evansville, and Terre Haute are similar in scale, four-to-five stories tall, and treatment of their facades. The elaborate Indianapolis temple by architects Rubush & Hunter (1908) is eight stories. The Fort Wayne temple (1926) has the most similar appearance to the lodge in Kokomo, though it is a full eight stories and slightly larger in scale. It has a temple-front nearly identical to Howard lodge and was designed by Charles Weatherhogg.