1799-1899

The young nation would lose George Washington on December 14, 1799. However, the liberty and ideals he fought for, through his actions as General and President, would continue to spread across the new nation as it grew west.

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson increased the nation’s territory through the Louisiana Purchase.

In 1821, the Grand Lodge of Missouri and the State of Missouri were created (April and August, respectively). Missouri’s Jurisdiction was still very small and trying to find its way when it received correspondence that the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire was reaching out with a proposition to erect a Masonic Monument at Mount Vernon.

At the October 1825 Annual Communication, a resolution was adopted instructing Masters of several Lodges to appoint committees to solicit funds in each Lodge to support the endeavor for a permanent Masonic monument to be placed at Mount Vernon for the Mason who was “first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

The Grand Secretary was to send a copy of the resolution to each Subordinate Lodge and to a responsible Mason in each county where no Lodge established. While enthusiastically embraced by many in Missouri, this project is not mentioned again in the Jurisdiction’s Annual Communications.