No history of man is complete without a consideration of Freemasonry, its origin, its development and its influence. Many of the founders and early statesmen of our country were masons, some of them prominent masons, and the influence of Freemasonry may be seen in their actions and in their writings. The fact that some historians make no mention of their Masonic affiliation when treating of the political and military achievements of these men does not in any way minimize the importance of Freemasonry on their lives or on the subsequent history of our nation. Then let us glance briefly at Masonry in Tennessee prior to the establishment of a lodge in Blount County.

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Freemasonry was introduced into what is now Tennessee by its early settlers. Seven years prior to Tennessee's admission into statehood, and only five years after the village of Nashborough (now Nashville) was named, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina issued a dispensation for the formation of a lodge in Nashville to be known as St. Tammany #1. General James Robertson and General Andrew Jackson became members of this lodge. Tennessee Lodge #2 was established in Knoxville in 1800 by authority of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina. General John Sevier, the first governor of Tennessee, became the first master of Tennessee Lodge #2. Seven other lodges were formed in Tennessee by virtue of authority granted by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina as follows:

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1801 Greeneville #3 at Greeneville

1806 Newport #2 at Newport

1807 Overton #5 at Rogersville

1808 King Solomon #6 at Gallatin

1809 Hiram #7 at Franklin

1812 Cumberland #48 at Nashville

1812 Western Star #9 at Port Royal

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Philanthropic Lodge #12 began working at Clover Bottom, near Nashville, in 1805 under dispensation granted by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky.

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On Dec. 2, 1811 representatives from the several lodges working under authority given by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina assembled in Knoxville and decided to petition the Grand Lodge of North Carolina for its permission to establish a Grand Lodge for the state of Tennessee. Such permission was obtained and under date of Sept. 30, 1813, Most Worshipful Robert Williams, Grand Master of North Carolina, executed what he termed “a Great Charter, constituting a Grand Lodge of the State of Tennessee.” On December 27, 1813, pursuant to a fiat issued by the Grand Master of North Carolina, representatives from all the lodges in Tennessee convened at Knoxville and established the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, electing and installing Most Worshipful Thomas Claiborne Grand Master. The following year the Grand Lodge of Kentucky also relinquished its jurisdiction in Tennessee, for more than 125 years the Grand Lodge of Tennessee has been the sovereign authority controlling the three degrees of Symbolic Masonry in Tennessee.

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The settlement of Blount County was begun in 1785. By act of the Territorial Assembly, Blount County was established July 11, 1795, and the county seat was named Maryville. Unfortunately there is no way of knowing whether the pioneers of Blount County participated in the establishment of Tennessee Lodge #2 at Knoxville in 1800, or what part, if any, they took in the formation of the Grand Lodge in 1813. Josiah Nichol and John Nichol belonged to Tennessee Lodge #2 and were probably charter members. Josiah was master in 1803. The Nichols were among the first merchants doing business in Maryville, but it is probable that they lived in Knoxville as they engaged in business there also. John Wilkinson was one of the first lawyers in Blount County and he is listed as a member of Tennessee Lodge #2 in 1803 and also in 1807.

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Tennessee Lodge #2 expired in 1816 and Knoxville was without a Masonic lodge until Mount Lebanon #59 was established in 1826, although during this decade lodges were active in the nearby towns of Greeneville, Rogersville, Rutledge, and Jonesboro.

In 1823, Most Worshipful Andrew Jackson, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, issued a dispensation to “sundry brethren residing at or near Maryville, Tennessee to open and hold a Lodge by name of New Providence #48.” On October 8, 1823, the Grand Lodge approved the lodge's by-laws and returns and ordered the issuance of a charter. It is a matter of much regret to the members of that lodge that this original charter signed by Grand Master Andrew Jackson was not preserved as a historic document. However, an interesting letter in the files of the Grand Secretary in Nashville tell*of the disposition of this charter.

New Providence Lodge #48 surrendered its charter in 1833 and there was no Masonic lodge in Blount County until September 10, 1846, at which time New Providence #128 met under dispensation. A charter was issued a month later.

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The following paragraph is quoted from the minutes of New Providence Lodge #128 of June 11, 16-9, less than three years after the chartering of that lodge:

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“A petition was read before the Lodge addressed to the Grand Master of the state, signed by seven master masons of this lodge, who live at Louisville, Tennessee, seven miles from this place, asking for a charter or warrant authorizing them to assemble and transact business as a regular lodge, which was recommended and ordered to be signed by the Worshipful Master and Secretary.

Then from the minutes of the same lodge on August 13, 1849:

“A dispensation was read before the Lodge from the Grand Master authorizing a number of the brethren of this Lodge to assemble at Louisville, Tennessee and transact business as a Regular Lodge, under the name of Washington Lodge #181, whereupon on motion, demits were granted to the following brethren with a view to attaching themselves to that Lodge. H. Talbot Cox, J.A. Pierce, W. Colburn, B. B. King, W. Henderson, J. H. Donaldson, F. A. Jones, J. B. Jones.”

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Demits had previously been granted to J. B. Cox, 3 and T. Cox, and J. 0. Hayes, who were stationed officers of the new lodge under dispensation. From this beginning the lodge has grown to a membership of 76 today, one hundred years later.

Unfortunately the records of the Lodge from the time of its organization in 1849 until 1860 have been destroyed, and the office of the Grand Secretary in Nashville has only fragmentary information on this period in the lodge's history. However, we do know that Washington Lodge #181 was chartered on October 3, 1849, by Robert L. Caruthers, Grand Master, and John S. Dashiell, Grand Secretary. The officers named in the charter were John B. Cox, Worshipful Master; Samuel C, Cox, Senior Warden; Joshua 0. Hays, Junior Warden.

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The returns of October 3, 1852, list A. L. McGhee, Worshipful Master and William Henderson, Secretary. During that year two were initiated, three passed and three raised. This made a total membership of 39, a very commendable growth for the first three years of the new lodge. During the next few years new members were continually being added, but withdrawals, suspensions and deaths kept the total membership figure fluctuating in the high thirties and low forties.

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It was during this same period for which no records are extant that the present temple was constructed. The writer was unable to learn just where the lodge's first meeting place was. However, he was informed by members of the lodge that this building in which we are meeting tonight was erected in 1852, which date was visible on a cornice of the building until a few years ago, and that the first floor of this building was for a number of years used by Blount County as a public school. The fact that this hall is almost as old as the lodge itself is of singular interest, and bears evidence to the zeal which our early brethren had for Freemasonry, as well as to the skilled craftsmanship of those who erected the building.

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For many years in Tennessee there existed several instances of duplication in lodge names. Washington Lodge was one such Instance, as there was a Washington Lodge #159, located at Greenfield in Weakley County, in addition to Washington Lodge #181 here at Louisville. Consequently, after this had been brought to the attention of both lodges, #181 voted at a stated meeting in 1916 to change its name to George Washington #181. This change was approved by the Grand Lodge of Tennessee at its 1917 convocation and the change was recorded on page 58 of the Grand Lodge Proceedings of that year.

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The history of the first 100 years of this lodge is not greatly different from that of many other such lodges in rural communities. It is a record of the Masonic activities common to many lodges over a period of years. Yet it is much more than that. It is the living history of a vital force for good in this community. It is the history of an institution which throughout that same 100 years has stood along with the church and the school as a symbol of those things which the people of this community have held most dear and have deemed to be most worthwhile. You who live here know that history far better than anyone else could, for it is you and your predecessors who have made that history and are continuing to make it.

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The Minutes of the meetings of this lodge since 1860 fill five large volumes. All are in longhand of varying degrees of legibility. To read carefully all of these minutes would be a considerable task. It was not possible in a limited time for the writer to make such an exhaustive search. However, it is to be hoped that such a task may sometime be undertaken by one of your own members who knows the past membership of the lodge and that a more satisfactory history of this lodge will be prepared.

Your past history is a glorious one. It is the confident expectation of this writer that the next 100 years will witness an even greater growth in membership and in influence, and that George Washington Lodge #181 will continue to stand as a symbol of the glory of the Grand Architect of the Universe.