THE 1784 BYE LAWS BOOK OF ST. JOHN’S LODGE NO. 1 OF NEW YORK CITY

The GWbible.org Foundation is proud to have helped contribute to the restoration and preservation of St. John’s Lodge No.1 1784 Bye Laws Book. This falls in line with our goals to help preserve, protect and foster early American historical documents for education purposes. Below is description of the historical significance of the document.

In late 1784, St. John’s Lodge No. 21 of New York City purchased a new book for the Lodge consisting of blank pages. Its bound covers were dyed turkey red and embossed with the words “1784. THE BYE LAWS &C. OF SAINT JOHN’S LODGE, NO. 2”. This book would be used to record the latest version of the bye laws of St. John’s Lodge and, as required by those same bye laws, each member of the lodge would be required to endorse them with his signature. It was likely purchased at the print shop of Hugh Gaines, the former Provincial Grand Secretary and father of St. John’s Lodge member John R. Gaines.

A large contingent of the membership of St. John’s Lodge who were sympathetic to the American cause of liberty had quickly departed New York in September, 1776 as the city fell to the British after the Battle of Brooklyn. They took with them only the warrant from 1757, which authorized the Lodge to work, and settled at the Fishkill Supply Depot in Fishkill, New York which was strategically located in the Hudson Highlands near the Hudson River. Likely in the year 1779, the Lodge codified a new set of bye laws modeled after the Lodge’s 1773 Bye Laws with several noticeable differences.

Upon returning to New York in November, 1783, St. John’s Lodge No. 2 was set to merge with St. John’s Lodge No. 4, made up of members of St. John’s Lodge No. 2 who were Loyalists who stayed in New York City and who, in 1783, affiliated with the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York (Ancients) which had established itself in the city during the war years. Quick thinking by the Senior Warden of St. John’s Lodge No. 2, James Fream, helped prevent the merger in December, 1783 and allowed St. John’s Lodge No. 2 to thrive independently for a few more months before affiliating with the Ancient Provincial Grand Lodge and retaining its name and rank as St. John’s Lodge No. 2.

St. John’s Lodge No. 2 was allocated some of its furniture and jewels from St. John’s Lodge No. 4, however, the Lodge found themselves in need of a new bye laws book. The Master of St. John’s in the first part of 1784, Jonathan Lawrence, had vacated the position as a result of his appointment as co-Grand Secretary of the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, as well as his numerous business commitments in New York City and in Philadelphia. The responsibility of managing the Lodge and codifying its structure fell to his fellow co-Grand Secretary, James Giles, and it is Giles’ signature that is found as the first one following the revised bye laws of 1785.

At a meeting held on Friday November 25, 1785, with twelve members present and one visitor from Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 8,2 the Lodge codified the first set of bye laws by unanimously agreeing to them and then endorsing them with their signatures. Each new set of significant bye laws revisions were recorded in this book from that time forward until the mid-1800s, at which point the Lodge began independently printing the bye laws for distribution to its many members. However, since that Friday night in November, 1785, every member of St. John’s Lodge, with very few exceptions due to extenuating circumstances, has signed this book upon becoming a member of the Lodge through either initiation or affiliation.

The book itself is the Lodge’s most accurate primary source of information relating to who comprised the membership since 1785. The elaborate signatures of many of the Lodge’s members, as well as the precise transcription of the Lodge’s bye laws by the Secretary, serve as a memorial to the importance of the work and membership in the Lodge. Among the initial signers on the first page can be found many members of the Society of the Cincinnati; officers who had sacrificed and served valiantly throughout the Revolutionary War. Others were luminaries in the early Republic, with several serving in leadership positions in New York City, New York State, and the United States government. What follows from that time forward are the signatures of leaders in early Grand Lodges throughout the United States, statesmen, politicians, governors, presidents of countries, leaders of industry, artists, actors, playwrights, humanitarians, architects, veterans, and some of the leading thinkers of their time. The book continues to the present time, capturing and recording for time immemorial the membership of St. John’s Lodge No. 1.