Illinois Masonic Lodges

About Freemasonry in Illinois

A deep look at Masonic history, the oldest lodges, the admission process, and notable Freemasons connected to Illinois.

History of Freemasonry in Illinois

Freemasonry came to Illinois along with the earliest American settlement of the territory. The first lodge in what would become Illinois was Western Star Lodge No. 107, chartered by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky on November 13, 1805, and located in Kaskaskia, the territorial capital. Other early lodges followed under Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri warrants as the population spread northward up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

The first attempt to organize a Grand Lodge of Illinois came in 1822, but that body was short-lived and dissolved by the early 1830s in part due to the Anti-Masonic agitation that swept the country after the Morgan affair. The current and continuous Grand Lodge of Illinois was organized on April 6, 1840, when delegates from Bodley Lodge No. 1 in Quincy, Equality Lodge No. 2, Harmony Lodge No.

3, Springfield Lodge No. 4, Macon Lodge No. 5, and Columbus Lodge No. 6 met in Jacksonville.

One of the most significant figures of early Illinois Masonry was Abraham Jonas, a Quincy attorney and friend of Lincoln who served as Grand Master in the 1840s. The Civil War era saw Illinois Masonry grow as the state's population exploded with European immigration and Chicago's rise. Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Illinois became one of the largest mainstream Masonic jurisdictions in the world, with hundreds of lodges and at one point well over 250,000 members. The Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago and the Illinois Masonic Home in Sullivan are among the most significant Masonic charitable institutions in the country.

Oldest and Most Historic Lodges in Illinois

Illinois has a rich roster of historic lodges. Bodley Lodge No. 1 in Quincy is the senior lodge of the current Grand Lodge of Illinois, with origins going back to the late 1830s and a charter that placed it as No. 1 when the Grand Lodge was reorganized in 1840.

Equality Lodge No. 2 in Equality, in the southern coal country, was another founding lodge. Harmony Lodge No. 3 in Jacksonville, Springfield Lodge No.

4 in the state capital, and Macon Lodge No. 5 in Decatur completed the original group of chartering lodges. Springfield Lodge No. 4 has the unique distinction of being the lodge that hosted Abraham Lincoln's law and political circle, although Lincoln himself, despite Masonic-friendly inclinations, never petitioned a lodge.

Columbus Lodge No. 6 was another early central Illinois body. Jacksonville Lodge No. 12 grew alongside one of the early college towns.

Bath Lodge No. 19, Pekin Lodge No. 29, and Mt. Joliet Lodge No.

42 all date to the antebellum period. Oriental Lodge No. 33 in Chicago, chartered in the 1840s, became one of the great urban lodges as Chicago exploded. Blair Lodge No.

393 hosted political figures from the Reconstruction era. The various 'Lincoln' and 'Grant' named lodges chartered after the Civil War reflect the era's intense interest in honoring Union leaders.

Illinois Masonic Lodges by the Numbers

Illinois is one of the largest Masonic jurisdictions in the United States. The Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F. & A.M. currently oversees approximately 450 to 525 constituent lodges, with combined membership estimated in the 50,000 to 65,000 range, down from peaks well over a quarter million in the mid-20th century.

Illinois is organized into a substantial number of Masonic Districts (currently nearing 50), each led by a District Deputy Grand Master. Major lodge concentrations exist in the greater Chicago area, the Springfield/Decatur central corridor, the Quad Cities, the Peoria region, and the southern Illinois coal country around Carbondale and Marion. The Grand Lodge office is located in Springfield, and the official website at ilmason.org maintains the current lodge directory, district maps, calendar of events, and information for prospective members. The Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, founded in the late 19th century, was for decades one of the city's major hospitals and remains an important institution.

How to Become a Freemason in Illinois

To become a Mason in Illinois, you must be a man at least 18 years old, of good moral character, and a believer in a Supreme Being. The standard process begins with an informal visit to a lodge, dinner before a stated meeting, and conversation with members. To formally apply, you submit a petition signed by two Master Masons of the lodge in good standing. The petition is read at a stated meeting, an investigation committee is appointed, and committee members visit with you and your family at home for an interview.

The lodge then takes a secret ballot which must be unanimously favorable under Illinois Masonic Code. Fees vary widely by lodge but typically run from $200 to $500 for the three degrees combined, with annual dues commonly between $75 and $250. From petition to Master Mason typically takes six months to a year, including time to study and pass proficiency examinations between degrees. The Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F.

& A.M. is the sole authority for chartering lodges and conferring the three Symbolic Lodge degrees in the state under the mainstream system. Illinois lodges have a particularly strong tradition of public ceremonies; cornerstone laying ceremonies for civic buildings, including by Lincoln-era figures, are part of the state's Masonic identity. Illinois also has a robust ritual tradition; the state's lodges are known for careful ritual work, and many invest significantly in coaching new members through the proficiency lectures.

If you live in metro Chicago, the closest large lodges often hold dinner meetings monthly that are open to prospective members; downstate lodges often have a more rural, multi-generational character where families have been members for a century or more.

Notable Illinois Freemasons in History

Illinois has produced an enormous list of famous Freemasons. Stephen A. Douglas, U.S. Senator and Lincoln's debate opponent, was a Mason.

Ulysses S. Grant, who lived in Galena, Illinois before the Civil War, although not a Mason himself, had many associates who were. James A. Farrell and other Gilded Age industrialists active in Chicago were Masons.

Robert R. McCormick, the powerful 20th-century publisher of the Chicago Tribune, was a Mason. John A. Logan, Civil War general and U.S.

Senator who proposed the establishment of Memorial Day, was a Mason. Robert G. Ingersoll, the famed orator and lawyer, was a Mason. Adlai Stevenson II, twice the Democratic presidential nominee and Governor of Illinois, was a Mason.

Ronald Reagan, although raised in Illinois, was not a Mason but received an honorary Scottish Rite degree late in life. Walt Disney, born in Chicago, was a member of DeMolay (the Masonic-related youth group) and remained a lifetime supporter, though he himself never joined a lodge. Many Illinois Senators, governors, and Chicago mayors across two centuries were Masons, and the lodge rolls capture the rise of Chicago as the engine of the Midwest.

Prince Hall Freemasonry in Illinois

Prince Hall Masonry has been a foundational institution of African American life in Illinois for more than 150 years. The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Illinois was chartered in 1867, making it one of the oldest Prince Hall Grand Lodges in the country and the oldest in the Midwest. From its earliest decades, Prince Hall Masonry in Illinois was concentrated in Chicago, where the Great Migration brought hundreds of thousands of African Americans north between roughly 1910 and 1970. Prince Hall lodges in Bronzeville and the South Side became central institutions in Black Chicago life, hosting business meetings, political organizing, mutual aid funds, and cultural events.

Notable Illinois Prince Hall Masons have included Oscar DePriest, the first African American Congressman from a Northern state; Earl B. Dickerson, civil rights attorney and chief executive of Supreme Life Insurance; and various leaders of the Chicago civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Illinois is headquartered in Chicago. Mainstream-Prince Hall recognition between the Grand Lodge of Illinois and the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Illinois was achieved in 2008, putting Illinois among the states that took the longer path to formal recognition.

The two bodies now maintain inter-visitation and cooperative civic relationships.

Frequently Asked Questions about Masonic Lodges in Illinois

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.ilmason.org/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lodge_of_Illinois
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_Worshipful_Prince_Hall_Grand_Lodge_of_Illinois
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_and_Freemasonry