Masonic

Lebanon Royal

Arch Chapter, No. 13

New Lebanon,

Columbia County,

          New York         

by Captain Franklin Ellis⁴⁴⁶

1878       

      Lebanon Royal Arch Chapter, No. 13, at Lebanon Springs, was chartered Feb. 3, 1802, but worked under a dispensation a short time before that period.  As early as 1798 those advanced in Masonic degrees held meetings as Master Mark Masons, the lodge having had eighty members when the chapter was formed.

     The first elective officers of Chapter No. 13 were Elisha Gilbert, H. P.; John Butler, K.; Samuel F. Jones, S.; and the companions were Daniel Green, Joseph Enos, Zenas Barker, Silas Churchill, Seth Hill, and Zalmon Skinner.

     From 1827 to 1840 the meetings of the chapter were suspended on account of the hostile feeling towards Masonry.  An effort to revive the chapter was not immediately successful, and it was not until Feb. 5, 1852, that the Grand Chapter authorized such a movement, and appointed Josiah Waite, H. P.; Henry Hull, K.; and Charles W. Hull, S.  The chapter at once called to its membership many prominent Masons, and quickly advanced to a position which has given it a conspicuous place among the fraternity.  Its meetings are held in Masonic Hall, at Lebanon Springs.

     In the preparation of the foregoing the writer has been much assisted by Hampton C. Bull, Esq., and he expresses himself especially obligated to that gentleman for these and many other favors received at his hands.