Founded in 1802, Saco Lodge No. 9 A.F.& A. M. is located on Main Street in Saco, Maine in the Masonic Block building.
Saco Lodge History
Saco Lodge No. 9, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, is located on Main Street, Saco, Maine, in the Masonic Block. Only the second building we have occupied in our long history, the Masonic Block also houses the offices of Saco Biddeford Savings Bank.
Our founding can be traced to St. Andrew's Lodge in Boston, where many of our country’s Founding Fathers were members. Among them were Paul Revere, Dr. Joseph Warren, and John Hancock. Located directly above the Green Dragon Tavern, home to the Sons of Liberty, the men of St. Andrew's Lodge intertwined Masonic values and patriotism, and played a pivotal role in fomenting the dissent that was to become the basis of the new American republic. Saco Lodge's first Worshipful Master, Jeremiah Hill, was a member of St. Andrew's Lodge, as were several others from the future State of Maine.
On June 14, 1802, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts granted a charter for us to form Saco Lodge #9. Jeremiah Hill, our first Master, was a captain in the Revolutionary War, and a hero of the battle of Saratoga. In addition to being a member of St. Andrew's Lodge in Boston, he was the Town Clerk of Biddeford, and a Representative in the Massachusetts legislature. Joseph Leland, who fought at Bunker Hill, and Ephraim Ridlon, who was an aide to General Knox, were also charter members of Saco Lodge and took part in the Revolution.
FROM THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS JUNE 13 - 16, 1802
“At a Quarterly Communication of The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts at Concert Hall, on the evening of the 14th of June, A.L. 5802 (1802) a petition, from a number of Brethren in the town of Pepperellboro (now Saco), for charter to hold a lodge in that place, by the name of Saco Lodge, was granted this evening.”
“Present at this meeting was one W. Paul Revere Jun., son of one Paul Revere.”
Agreeable to the Charter the first meeting of Saco Lodge was held on July 20, 1802 at the house of John Cleaves
Saco Lodge's Charter
, (this may have been at the Tavern or at his home on Front Street Hill as old maps show a John Cleaves owning both), and “effected an organization”. Attending this meeting were nine of the original petitioners and three others. The nine were Jeremiah Hill, Joseph Leland, Thomas Cutts Jr., William Fairfield, Asa Stevens, Samuel Collyer, Nathaniel Scamman Jr., Samuel Nutting Jr., John Allen and . The four other attendees were Benjamin Patterson, Thomas Buckminster ,Samuel Pingree, and Ephraim Ridlon. The first order of business was to elect or chose officers.
Masonry is the world's longest-lived fraternity. Masonry is dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God. Its singular purpose is to make good men better. Its bonds of friendship, compassion, and brotherly love have survived even the most divisive political, military and religious conflicts throughout the centuries. Masonry teaches that each person, through self improvement and helping others, has an obligation to make an individual difference for good in the world.
Nationwide, Masons contribute over two million dollars per day to charitable causes. Masonic charities range from the world-famous Shriner’s Hospitals for Children to the Scottish Rite's Children’s Language Disorder Clinics. They also include local drug abuse programs, community betterment grants and local scholarships for graduating high school seniors. Saco Lodge sponsors two such scholarships at Thorton Academy, our local high school.
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