Masonry probably first came to Albany during the Seven Years War. A British army lodge is said to have met in Albany in 1758. When those soldiers moved on the following Spring, an Albany Lodge was unveiled with Richard Cartwright, Henry Bostwick, and William Ferguson installed as wardens "to set and act during our absence, or until they . . . can procure a separate warrant for themselves from the Grand Lodge of Ireland."

The Albany group applied to the provincial Grand Master and received a charter as "Union Lodge No. 1" dated February 21, 1765. Cartwright was named Master, William Benson senior warden, and John Visscher junior warden. No records of its early meetings have been found and the lodge was thought to have met at Cartwright's Southside tavern.

On October 18, 1766 the city council granted Dr. Samuel Stringer a deed "for a Lott of ground on the Hill near the Fort adjoining the English Burying Ground" on which to erect a lodge building. Subsequent transactions conveyed an additional and adjoining lot the the brethern.

Founder of the Johnstown lodge, Albany houseowner Sir William Johnson had a special affinity for his Albany bretheren up until his untimely death in the summer of 1774.

On April 12, 1768, the cornerstone of the new Masonic building was laid at the corner of what became known as the northwest corner of Lodge Street and Maiden Lane. Completed in June, that building became Masonic headquarters in Albany although the Union Lodge still held some meetings at Cartwright's!

Masonic minute books date from 1767. Membership rolls for Union Lodge are part of those records and have been transcribed and printed in a number of sources. The following numbered list of members helps us understand the extent of Masonry in colonial Albany:

 1. Peter W. Yates, Master
 2. John W. Wendell, S.W.
 3. Leonard Gansevoort, J.W.
 4. Abrm. Bloodgood
 5. John Roorbach
 6. William Hambalton
 7. Henry Van Woert
 8. John Cole
 9. Mathew Visscher
10. Edward S. Willett
11. Richd. Cartwright
12. John Visscher
13. Benjn. Egburton
14. Thomas J. Diamond
15. John Van Valkenburgh
16. John A. Bradt
17. Peter Gansevoort, Jun.
18. Ab. Jacob Lansingh
19. Henry Van Veghten
20. Anthony J. Ten Eyck
21. Jacob G. Lansingh
22. Dirck Gardenier
23. John Hooghkirk
24. Richard Hanson
25. Daniel G. Van Antwerp
26. Chris. P. Yates
27. Mathew Watson
28. Jacob Van dusen
29. Robert Hoaksley
30. Thomas L. Witbeck
31. Arent N. Van Pettin
32. John D. Vosburgh
33. Frans. J. Winne
34. Joshua Lockwood
35. Jacobus Vanderpoel
36. Corns. Van Santvoord, Jr.
37. John A. Lansing
38. Arthur B. Nugent
39. Gerrit Witbeck
40. James Mager
41. William Govey
42. John Bortell
43. Nicholas Joralemon
44. John D. Goes
45. Donald Cameron
46. Elisha Tallmadge
47. Jacob Best
48. Jno. Van Beuren
49. John T. Visscher
50. David Utter


286. John Hooker
287. Francis Follet
288. Paul Wrankstrasson

331. Isaac Hansen
332. Geo. F. Abbot
333. Chris C. Yates

A printed list of members of the Masters' Lodge contained somewhat different names:

William Gamble 1768 W.M.
Samuel Stringer 1768-80 W.M.
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer 1768 W.M.
Francis Pfister 1768
Thomas Lynott
Stephen Tuttle
Thomas Swords
Stephen March
William Hogan
Henry Beasley
Thomas S. Diamond
Peter Schuyler
James Bain 1769

Reknowned portraitist Ezra Ames painted a number of his Masonic brethern. Absent from these lists but a Mason since he was twenty-two, Stephen Van Rensselaer III later served as Grand Master for New York State.

In 1776, when he was initiated in Albany, and at different times when he was in Albany over the next four decades, Morgan Lewis connected with his Masonic brothers.

During the Revolution, Major General John Stark and other officers in the American army called on their Masonic connections at the Albany lodge.

Henry Andrew Francken

Thomas Smith Webb

In March 1895, theNew York Times printed an aritcle describing the new "stately and solid "masonic structure to be built in Albany and summarizing the history of the Albany lodge. At that time, Albany had eleven separate lodges with a total membership of close to 2,500. They all would use the new lodge building that subsequently was erected on the northwestern corner of Lodge Street and Maiden Lane (Erastus Corning Way) today. The new building was expected to cost a hundred thousand dollars and would be "used exclusively for Masonic purposes."

Sources: Traditional narrative histories and compilations begin with "Origin of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in Albany," in Munsell's Collections, volume 3, pp. 410-24 and Charles T. Mc Clenachan, History of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of New York (New York, 1888). Others have followed! Most useful on the early Albany Masons is an unpublished manuscript by lodge member James J. Finke entitled "Albany Masonic Meeting Places: 1750's to Present." (1980). The lodge has a collection of historical records and documents.