Joachim Lodge No. 25 Charter

The village of Herculaneum was situated along the Mississippi River, with the Joachim stream flowing nearby. By 1819, the village had become a successful lead-mining center in the territory with three shot mining towers in operation on the bluffs which overhung the town. On January 4, 1819, the Grand Lodge of Tennessee issued dispensation to Joachim Lodge No. 25, and their charter would be granted on October 6, 1819. 

William Bates was Junior Warden of Joachim Lodge No. 25, and he would represent the Lodge at the preliminary convention for the formation of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, A.F. & A.M. Joachim Lodge No. 25 surrendered its charter to Tennessee, and Joachim Lodge No. 2 was charted by the new Grand Lodge of Missouri, with its own William Bates being elected the Grand Lodge of Missouri’s first Junior Grand Warden. 

At the time of the formation of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, William Bates was 72 years old.  It is likely that his death in 1822 contributed to the early demise of Joachim Lodge No. 2. It was “stricken” from the Grand Lodge rolls in 1825.