I am sure like many Lodge Historians; I am having a difficult time writing history, when none is being made due to the Lodge not meeting due to COVID-19. This month’s presentation will be about history in Ontario or Upper Canada.
My reference is from our Grand Lodge (of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Canada in the Province of Ontario) publication known as “Whence Come We”.
Early Masonry in Upper Canada (1764-1822) – Before the First Provincial Grand Lodge
When the Colony of New France became British, by the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763, Ontario was sparsely settled. There were a few French traders, three or more or less ruined forts at the sites of Kinston, Toronto, and on the American side of the Niagara River, and a small settlement along the Detroit River. Otherwise the vast region was trackless forest and wilderness, tenanted only by Indians.
The story of our pioneer lodges is hard to trace, because the records are fragmentary. Often nothing remains beyond scattered mention in the archives of the Grand Lodge of England, or casual notices in the pioneer newspapers of Upper Canada. All too seldom have the actual minute books survived.
The first Masonic lodges in the “Province of Quebec” west of the Ottawa River were located in Detroit. Now of course this city is in the United States, but it remained British long after the American Revolution, up until 1796. It was regularly known as “Detroit Canada”. There were several military lodges here in the 1770’s on travelling warrants. We know that in 1772 a detachment of the 10th Regiment of Foot (The Lincolnshire Regiment) was stationed in Detroit, and that the detachment included members of the two regimental lodges, No. 299, I.C. and No. 378 I.C. There were several civilian lodges.
(WRITER’s NOTE: The publication presented a lengthy report on various lodges obtaining their warrants and numbers. R.S.)
This (the not included details) is virtually the sum of what is known about the pioneer lodges. Two of them held their warrants from the Grand Lodge of England (Moderns), two from the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York (Moderns), five from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Quebec (Moderns) or one or possibly two from the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York (Ancients) and three from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Lower Canada (Ancients).
In 1791, by the Constitutional Act, the colony of Quebec was divided into the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. The population of Ontario had risen to about 10,000, nearly all of them settled along the waterways. Only four Masonic Lodges were active in Upper Canada: two at Niagara, and one each at Brockville and Cornwall. Even counting unaffiliated Masons, there were no more than 300 members of the Craft at the outside; probably considerably fewer.
Readers may wish to read “A HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY IN SUDBURY-MANITOULIN DISTRICT” on our District Website.