Charity Lodge 190
Free and Accepted Masonic Lodge
465 Burnside Ave, Norristown, PA 19403
(610) 539-4882
History
The mother lodge of Charity Lodge No. 190 is considered to be Lodge No. 8, chartered in 1766 by Grand Lodge, to be "located somewhere in the upper end of Philadelphia county, near Schuylkill river" in
the limits of what is now Montgomery county and to have its "jurisdiction" extend the customary five miles which would "include a slice of Chester County," home of its first Master, Patrick Anderson. Lodge
No. 8 was located closer to Valley Forge than any other Masonic lodge and a goodly number of its members (if not a majority) were in active service in some capacity at Valley Forge, giving much needed
support and encouragement to George Washington in those trying times.Lodge No. 8 met in various places within its boundaries, including hotels, private homes and businesses. At a meeting held in the Jeffersonville hotel in 1786, the Worshipful Master produced a letter from the Grand Lodge seeking the lodge's sense on becoming independent of Great Britain. On September 26, 1786 the present Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania became an independent and sovereign institution. After Montgomery County was officially formed in 1784, Norris Town, named after Issac Norris who purchased the land from William Penn in 1704, was immediately selected as the county seat. On November 20, 1787, Lodge No. 8 held their first of many meetings at the Norris Town Court House. On December 14, 1789, the creation of a new lodge, Lodge No. 31 was approved by the Grand Lodge, designating Norriton township as its meeting place or more specifically the Norris Town Court House. Brother George Smith served as the first Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 31. After 1790, all mentions of Lodge No. 8 in the Grand Lodge ceased. For unknown reasons, on April 6, 1806, Lodge No. 31 was vacated.
The minutes of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania tell us of a meeting held in Philadelphia on August 2, 1823, A.L. 5823, when "A Petition was received and read from divers Ancient York Master Masons praying for a Warrant to hold a Lodge in the Borough of Norristown, in the County of Montgomery, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to be called 'Charity Lodge, No. __'". That petition was granted and Charity Lodge was numbered No. 190. On September 24, 1823, a notice was published in the local newspapers announcing the new lodge and inviting the members of surrounding lodges to attend a procession that would be held at 12 o'clock noon on the first day of October, a Wednesday. The first Worshipful Master of Charity Lodge No. 190 was Alexander Moore, Jr.
Please note, most of the information on this page was obtained from the book The Life and Lives of Charity Lodge No. 190 (available for purchase at Amazon), which was commissioned by the Worshipful Master in 1973";