Craft Masonry in Orange and Rockland Counties, New York

Warrant, however, was not issued until September 27, 1788. There are no papers on file relating to this Lodge and after a fitful
existence it surrendered its Warrant.
http://books.google.com/books?id=PxgXUZMJSzUC&pg=PA258&dq=%22steubens+lodge%22+%22newburgh%22 page 258.
The first Masonic Lodge in this section of the state was that which followed the army. It was called "American Union Lodge," and
during the encampment of the army here its sessions were held at the head quarters of the different officers alternately. It was in this
lodge and at Newburgh that LaFayette united with the fraternity.
The first located lodge in Newburgh was "Steuben Lodge, No. 18." Its charter was applied for by F. A. Morris and nine others, June
5, 1788, and it was constituted Sept. 27, of that year. We have not been able to obtain any further facts in reference to its history or
membership except that Ebenezer Foot, Levi Dodge, and Chas. Clinton, were P. M.'s in 1797. Its charter was probably surrendered
soon after the commencement of the present century.
In 1806 [13 Feb 1808], "Hiram Lodge, No. 131, was constituted—Jonathan Fisk, M.; Chas. Baker, S. W.; John R. Drake, J. W. Its
charter was surrendered in 1831. In 1842, (Sept. 7,) the charter was revived and the number changed to 92—Peter F. Hunn,
M.; Minard Harris, S. W.; James Belknap, J W. It was again surrendered in 1844. In 1853, (June 11,) "Newburgh Lodge, No.
309," was constituted and is now in a flourishing condition.
The oldest located lodge in this section of the state was constituted at Fishkill. June 7,1786, on the petition of Hugh McConnell and
others. It bore the title of "St. Simon and St. Jude Lodge.
http://www.oldtowncemetery.org/amerrevbio.html#Dodge,%20Levi
In a letter to the Editor in a 1926 newspaper, “….other veterans of the War of Independence, whose graves may or may not have
been similarly marked, are interred in the same burying ground…. Levi M. Dodge, brick manufacturer and village president….all lie
in unknown graves.” Levi Dodge signed the 1775 pledge of association at Weigand’s Broad Street Tavern. On April 6, 1793, Levi
Dodge was appointed one of 8 ‘active persons’ (in the committee of the South District) to hand petitions about concerning the
annexation of the south end of the county of Ulster to the north end of the county of Orange. Immediately after the incorporation of
the village, an act was passed on March 20, 1801 appointing Levi Dodge and others as Directors of the Newburgh & Cochecton
Turnpike Road, with a capital of $125,000, for the construction of a road from Newburgh to the Delaware River. The bank of
Newburgh was incorporated by act of the Legislature in March 22, 1811. Levi Dodge became the fourth cashier, succeeded in 1836
by George W. Kerr. Levi Dodge was a P. M. in 1797 in the first Newburgh Masonic Lodge “Steuben Lodge, No. 18” whose charter
was dated September 27, 1788. He served the Village Board of Trustees as a Corporation Officer 1816.
In 1805 another Lodge was organized at Newburgh called Hiram (No. 131), on August 26, 1805, a petition was prepared
and signed by the following:
Joseph Williams. Jacob Carpenter.
George Gordon.
Philip Boyd.
Sylvanus Frost.
James Coulter.
Nicholas Wright. Solomon Sleight.
Levi Dodge.
Patrick McKenna.
John Dubois.
Benjamin Case, Jr.
The petition was recommended by St. Simon and St. Jude's Lodge No. 12 (now extinct) at a meeting held 3 Sep 1805.
The petitioners nominated as officers:
JONATHAN FISK, Master.
CHARLES BAKER, Senior Warden.
JOHN R. DRAKE, Junior Warden.
It will be noted that the officers nominated were not petitioners.
The petition was presented to the Grand Lodge on February 19, 1806, and a Warrant was immediately issued to Hiram
Lodge No. 131.
The Lodge was constituted and its officers installed by John Drake, Jr., Master of St. Simon and St. Judge's Lodge No. 12, on
May 26, 1806.
The last returns of the. Lodge on file are dated June, 1830, and on December 10, 1834, the Warrant and all of its property
was surrendered to the Grand Secretary by Odell S. Hathaway, Secretary of the Lodge.
In June, 1842, a petition was prepared asking the Grand Lodge to revive the Warrant; it was signed by the following:
Samuel A. Wadsworth. . Isaac Jenkinson.
Andrew Lawson.
William Hoyle.
John D. Philips.
Daniel P. Niven.
Minard Harris.
William H. Hunter.
Benjamin B. Smith.
William M. Wiley.
Joseph Hoffman.
B. H. Mace.
John Whited.
Jeremiah Albertson.
Joseph L. Whelan.
John Brown.
On June 6, 1842, a dispensation was issued by R.’. W.’. WILLIAM WILLIS, Deputy Grand Master. It contained the following:
"Whereas, the said Hiram Lodge during its former existence was a well governed and exemplary body until compelled by the
force of circumstances to suspend its labors, when, as the records of the Grand Lodge testify, it surrendered its Warrant, jewels,
books and other property to the Grand Secretary, after the discharge of its just debts, in a manner honorable to the members and
satisfactory to the Grand Lodge;
"Now therefore I, believing it to be. for the honor and interest of the ancient craft that the said Lodge should be revived in
accordance with the usage of the Grand Lodge in such cases, do by these presents appoint Bro. WILLIAM H. HUNTER to be the
Master; Bro. MINARD HARRIS, Senior Warden, and Bro. JAMES BELKNAP, Junior Warden of said Hiram Lodge."
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