Kingston Lodge No. 10 F &A.M
New Yorks First Capital
The Ancient Order of Free and Accepted Masons was instituted in Kingston several years prior to the Revolutionary War and held regular communications until 1777, when the village was burned by the British. Livingston Lodge, No. 23, was organized in 1790, and John Addison was installed Master. On the 26th of December, 1805, the warrant under which the Lodge was working was surrendered. August 29, 1808, Kingston Lodge, No. 23, was organized at the house of Evert Bogardus. In 1821 the number of the Lodge was changed from 23 to 20, and continued to hold regular meetings until 1829, and occasional meetings until December 26, 1833, since which no records of its proceedings have been found. The Lodge ceased working on account of the feeling excited through the State in consequence of the Morgan abduction. Nov. 13, 1850, the charter of Kingston Lodge, No. 20, was renewed, with the number changed to 10, and John Van Buren, who was Master of the Lodge when it suspended, was the first Master under the renewed charter. From 1850 to 1870, 4459 masons had been made in Kingston Lodge No. 10, of whom 313 were in good standing at the latter date. The information contained in this article was taken from “History of Free Masonry in Kingston, N.Y., by Henry D. Baldwin.”
