The Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of The State of Ohio
The
history of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of the state of Ohio began on
the 14th day of March in 1818 when John Snow, at his home on North
High Street in Worthington received a dispensation to form the first Commandery
of Knights Templar East of the Appalachian Mountains. It was issued by Thomas
Smith Webb, who was at that time serving as Deputy General Grand Master of the
General Grand Encampment of Knight Templars of the United States of America and
was credited with being the father of the American system of the York Rite of
Freemasonry. He was a business
associate of John Snow and visited often in the Snow home.
On
the following day, 15 March 1818, Sir Knight John Snow summoned all Sir Knights
living within “the distance of forty miles” to assemble in the Masonic Hall
at Worthington. Those present were Thomas Smith Webb, hailing from the General
Grand Encampment and the Grand Encampment of Massachusetts and Rhode Island,
John Snow, hailing from St John’s Encampment of Rhode Island, and Frederick
Curtis, hailing from Ireland. After opening a Council of Red Cross Knights,
James Kilbourne and Chester Griswold were elected, created and dubbed Knights of
the Red Cross. Thus began the
history of Mt Vernon Commandery No.1 and the Order of Knights Templar in Ohio.
Griswold was the first to be dubbed and created a Knight of the Valiant and
Magnanimous Order of the Temple and the Knights of Malta of the Order of St John
of Jerusalem. Kilbourne and Griswold were prominent citizens of Worthington. On
September 16, 1819, Mt Vernon Encampment was issued its Charter.
Seventeen
years later, December 16, 1835, the General Grand Encampment issued a charter to
Lancaster Encampment No. 2. William
J. Reese and George Sanderson were the first petitioners. Sir Knight Reese
served as the first Eminent Commander and became one of its most prominent
members.
Six
years later, December 16, 1835, a charter was issued to Cincinnati Encampment
No.3. Sir Knight and Reverend
Robert J. Punshon was the first Eminent Commander. He went on to become an
influential member in the Grand Encampment of Ohio.
Two
years later, July 5, 1843, Sir Knight William J. Reese, who was serving as the
Grand Captain General of the General Grand Encampment of the USA, issued a
dispensation to institute an Encampment at Massillon. This became Massillon
Encampment No.4. Sir Knight George D. Hine was its first Eminent Commander. He
later became an Officer in the Grand Encampment of Ohio.
A few days later, July 22, 1843, a dispensation was issued to Sir Knight and Reverend Joseph Muenscher and others to institute an Encampment of Knights Templar at Mt Vernon. It became known as Clinton Encampment No. 5.
The
stage was now prepared for the formation of the Grand Encampment of Knights
Templar of Ohio. On October 24, 1843, in the Old Market House Building at
Lancaster, and on the recommendation of Sir Knight William J. Reese, Right
Eminent Grand Generalissimo of the General Grand Encampment of Knights Templar
of the U S A, a Conclave of Knights Templar was opened for the purpose of
forming a Grand Encampment of Knights Templar for the State of Ohio. After
reading a Warrant from the General Grand Encampment of the USA, the Grand
Encampment of Knights Templar of Ohio was declared instituted.
Thus
the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the State of Ohio had its birth. The
First Officers elected were M.Z. Kreider of Lancaster as Grand Master; G.D.
Hines of Massillon, Deputy Grand Master; Isaac C. Copden, of Cincinnati as Grand
Generalissimo; J.N. Burr of Mt Vernon, as Grand Captain General; John Barney of
Worthington, as Grand Prelate; John Evans of Cincinnati, as Grand Senior Warden;
Kimball Porter of Wooster, as Grand Junior Warden; A.D. Bigelow of Newark as
Grand Treasurer; B.F. Smith of Mt Vernon as Grand Recorder; B. Latham of
Columbus as Grand Standard Bearer; Ezra Griswold of Delaware as Grand Sword
Bearer; J.P. Worstell of Massillon as Grand Warder; and Rev Robert Punshon of
Cincinnati, as Chaplain.
The
Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of Ohio was renamed the Grand Commandery of
Knights Templar of Ohio at the 25th Conclave held at Cincinnati in
1867. Encampments were renamed
Commanderies The General
Grand Encampment retained its name as the administrative body of the Templar
Masonry. The Grand Master of Ohio became the Grand Commander with the honorary
title of “ Right Eminent Grand Commander.”
By
1869 the ranks of the Sir Knights in the Grand Commandery of Ohio had grown to
1,642. By 1879 it had grown to more than 3,000 belonging to 34 Commanderies. In
1882 the Grand Commandery began Annual Inspections of each Commandery. In 1892
the Grand Commandey adopted the Ritual as approved by the Grand Encampment and
thus standardized the Ritual of the Orders. Originally the sequence of conferral
was the Order of Red Cross, Order of the Temple and lastly the Order of Malta.
This was changed in 1916 to establish the Order of The Temple as the predominate
Order of the Templars.
In 1916 the membership of the Grand Commandery was 18,704. In 1928, the membership had soared to 34,266. Of the 84 original Commanderies, 83 are still functioning with Jerusalem No. 75 Chartered in 2001 and Covert No.43 chartered 2003.
