BRIEF HISTORY OF JACKSON LODGE NO. 1, F.&A.M. |
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| When the United States purchased Florida from Spain
in 1819 and made a territory of it, the fringe of
settlements along its northern border comprised the
southern outposts of an advancing American colonization.
Except for a few Native American trading posts, the
interior of Florida was an unclaimed wilderness. On March 4, 1824, Territorial Governor John Pope Duval issued a proclamation that the capital of Florida would be at the intersection fo the old Spanish road with the old trail leading southwardly. At the time, this area was referred to as: “The old Tallahassee Indian fields”. Before the end of the year, a log capitol building was built on the southeast corner of the present Capitol Square and the third session of the Legislative Council assembled in it. In this log structure, one of the first legislative council meetings in Florida convened to create Leon County. By act approved by our Brother Governor Duval on December 29, 1824, the Ochlocknee River was made the eastern boundary of Gadsden County. All of the territory between the Ochlocknee and Suwannee Rivers was made Leon County. Tallahassee was incorporated on December 11, 1825. That same year marked the foundation of the first enduring Masonic Lodge in Florida. Predating the incorporation of Tallahassee as Florida’s Capital, Jackson Lodge, U.D., was organized under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Alabama on June 3, 1825. The Lodge was chartered as Jackson Lodge No. 23 by the same Grand Body on December 19, 1825, with Robert Butler as Charter Master. Jackson Lodge was named for our Most Worshipful Brother, General Andrew Jackson, who served two years as Grand Master of Tennessee, 1822-23 and 1823-1824; as the first territorial governor of Florida, and as the seventh President of the United States. In 1830, Jackson Lodge No. 23 of Tallahassee invited Washington Lodge of Quincy and Harmony Lodge of Marianna, both chartered by the Grand Lodge of Georgia, to meet with it in its hall to consider forming a Grand Lodge of Florida. Convening on July 5, 1830 this convention adopted a resolution to form the Grand Lodge of Florida. On July 9, 1830, the Lodges met to adopt governing rules and on the following day, elected officers. The new Grand Lodge officers were installed using the Rules and By-Laws of Alabama. Under the new Grand Lodge, Jackson became No. 1, Washington Lodge No. 2, and Harmony Lodge No. 3, all being dated July 6, 1830. The Grand Lodge of Florida met in the hall of Jackson Lodge No. 1, at Tallahassee, from 1830 to 1869, at which time it was moved to Jacksonville. --------------------------- |
