Statistical Account Of Freemasonry In The United States Of America.

lodges , give 556 . 295 Masons as the actual number of active members at the close of 1871 ; 38 , 438 members having been initiated in the year then last past The different states stood in rank , according to numbers , then as folloAvs :

—( 1 ) New York—78 , 946 members ; ( 2 ) Illinois—36 , 775 ; ( 3 ) Pennsylvania—34 , 772 ; ( 4 ) Michigan—24 , 662 ; ( 5 ) Indiana—24 , 324 ; ( 6 ) Massachusetts—23 , 217 ; ( 7 ) Missouri—23 , 118 ; aud , last of all , Utah , 165 members . Of the

38 , 438 members initiated during the last year , NBAV York furnished the most—5 , 690 initiates ; Illinois stood second , 2 , 605 ; Pennsylvania third , 2 , 577 ; and Utah last , 28 . During this same period of one yearAvhen 38438

, , were initiated , 9 , 580 applicants for initiation Avere rejected , forming onefourth of the whole number of applicants .

On the first day of January , 1 S 73 , there Avere in the state of Pennsylvania , under the jurisdiction of its Granel Lodge , 345 subordinate lodges , having 36 , 185 members ; and of the Avhole number of lodges 57 were in the cit

, y of Philadelphia . The recent completion and dedication of the magnificent neAV Masonic Temple in this city , will doubtless draAv increased attention to the Craft , and cause increasing numbers of the best citizens to be amon . o-

those petitioning for Masonic light The highest numbered lodge in Pennsylvania is Gothic Lodge , No 519 , in the city of Philadel phia . CAPITULAR MASONRY in the United States has had an analagous groAvth and

prosperity . In the year 1860 there Avere 32 Grand chapters , 1008 subordinate chapters and 37 , 274 companions ; now there are 112 , 000 companions ! Royal Arch Masons number proportionately about one to eA ery six Master

Masons . The earliest Grand chapter organized Avas that of Pennsylvania , on November 23 , 1795 , followed hy those of NBAV York , Connecticut and Massachusetts , in 1798 . The following are the present statistics of Royal Arch

Masonry in the United States : —39 Grand chapters , 1880 subordinate chapters and 117 , 971 companions . According to numbers the leading Grand chapters rank as folloAvs : —( 1 ) NCAV York—17656 companions ; ( 2 ) Indiana

, —9 , 378 ; ( 3 ) Pennsylvania—8 , 409 ; ( 4 ) Ohio—7 , 647 ; ( 5 ) Massachusetts—7 , 468 ; ( 6 ) Michigan—6 , 280 ; ( 7 ) Tennessee—4 , 211 companions .

The chapter degrees Avere at first Avorked under Avarrants from Blue lodges . It Avas customary for a number of Royal Arch Masons to ask permission of a lodge of Master Masons for the use of its Avarrant , Avhich being

granted , a chapter Avas opened under its authority , and the Royal Arch degree AA ^ conferred upon those AV IIO had passed the chair . In Pennsylvania , Jerusalem Chapter , No . 3 , Avorked under the Avarrant of lodge No . 3 ;

Harmony Chapter , No . 52 under that of Harmony Lodge , No . 52 ; and Columbia Chapter , No . 91 , under that of Columbia Lodge , No . 91 , and no one of them Avas ever either constituted or consecrated .

As M . E . Comp . Charles Eugene Meyer , Grand High Priest of Pennsylvania , remarked in one of his published , valuable historical sketches , the history of the Royal Arch in this country is

peculiar , and especially in Pennsylvania . At first Avorking in Blue Masonry , under a Avarrant of the so-called " Moderns , " Avith Benjamin Franklin as Provincial Grand Master , her systen .. of AA ork became soon merged into that

of the so-called " Ancients , " and under its fostering care Royal Arch Masonry Avas first introduced into the United States some time prior to the year 1758 . The date Ave haA r e only from tradition . We have Avritten testimony , howeA er ,

dating as far back as 1767 , in lodge minutes , Avhich refer to prior minutes , noAvlost . The first Grand chapter Avas organized in 1795 , under the immediate sanction of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania—the Grand Master and other officers of the Grand Lodge , ( who were