Friendship Lodge is the first fresh water lodge in the state of Rhode Island, and some even say possibly it is the first in the country.  A fresh water lodge is any lodge that is built away from the ocean.  Up until Friendship was created, all of the state lodges where built on, or near the ocean or the bay.  There was a need in Rhode Island for a fresh water lodge, for there were a number of masons that did not have a convenient place to meet.  These masons lived in the North West corner of the state, too far away from any of the 6 existing lodges in the state.  In the year of 1800 this all changed.  A group of men from the area of Glocester took the necessary steps to form a lodge of their own.

The first meeting of Friendship Lodge was held at the home of Jesse Smith on, March 13, 1800.  A sum of $9.93 was paid to obtain the lodge’s dispensation from the Grand Lodge of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.  The first officers were elected on May 5, 1800, and dispensation was granted shortly after on June 25, 1800.  Each person that attended the meetings was charged a fee of $.25; $.37½ if they happened to have taken their horse with them to be stabled.   Each member also had a quarterly membership fee of $.25

Friendship Lodge started out hosting it’s meetings in private residence, and in rooms within local taverns.  In 1802 the members of Friendship Lodge cast a unanimous vote to build their permanent home in Chepachet, RI.  The lodge was completed in December of that same year.  The lodge had shared the property with a privately run bank.  The bank functioned on the first floor, and the lodge was located on the second.  The buildings official dedication took place on December 7, 1802. 

Friendship Lodge ran under disposition till 1805, which is when a charter was granted from the Grand Lodge.  On October 21, 1805 Friendship Lodge # 7 was consecrated from the Grand Lodge, and the officers were officially installed.

In 1850 Friendship Lodge was granted permission from the Grand Lodge to alternate it’s meetings between the lodge in Chepachet and the town of Burrillville.  This was done due to the growing number of members from the Burrillville area.  Some of the Burrillville members in 1867 started the process to obtain their own lodge.  In 1879 Burrillville was granted its own lodge, Granite Lodge.

In 1884 Friendship lodge took over complete ownership of the building in which the lodge was located.  As the local legend of the bank is known, the owner of the bank on the first floor happened to go missing with all of the money.  This vacancy gave the lodge the opportunity to purchase the building and land outright. 

In the year of 1998 Granite Lodge was merged back into Friendship lodge.  This merger reunited the two lodges after 131 years.

Information was obtained from:

History of Freemasonry In Rhode Island, by Henry W. Rugg, D.D., E.L. Freeman & Son, State Printers 1895

Past Masters Of Friendship Lodge:

Joseph Bowen, MD......1800-04         Eugene E. Mowry...........1906         Clifton J. Greene........1960
Annan Evans...........1805-08         Herbert H. Mowery.........1907         Robert W. Wright.........1961
Chad Sayles...........1809-11         Walter S. Place...........1908         Thomas L. Battle.........1962
Annan Evans..............1812         Clyde E. Mowry............1909         James O. Chase...........1963
Jesse Tourtellot.........1813         Andrew S. Thompson........1910         Andrew K. Townend........1964
Zephaniah Keech.......1814-15         Everett S. Mowry..........1911         Milton H. Thoene.........1965
John Eddy................1816         Leon A. Mowry.............1912         Kenneth D. Colburn.......1966
Chad Sayles...........1817-19         Harp;d C. Layfield........1913         Byron C. Steger..........1967
Thomas R. Eddy...........1820         William J. Ford...........1914         Harold A. Sherman........1968
Silvanus Bradford........1821         James V. Greenhalgh.......1915         Stephen C. Richmond......1969
Robert Steere.........1822-24         Richard A. Smith..........1916         Charles G. Bolwell.......1970
Benedict Aldrich......1825-26         Frank F. Davis............1917         Louis A. Bastien.........1971
Isaac Aldrich.........1827-38         Russell P. Blackinton.....1918         Robert A. Cole...........1972
Benedict Aldrich......1839-40         Walter L. Eccleston.......1919         Richard E. Colburn.......1973
*George W. Marsh......1841-44         Frederick C. Place........1920         William G. Schanck.......1974
*Jervis J. Smith, MD.....1845         John W. Caswell...........1921         Arnold S. Buxton.........1975
Stephen Eddy, 2nd.....1846-47         William J. Reid...........1922         John W. Cole.............1976
Simeon B. Marsh..........1848         William J. Howe...........1923         Edward C. Burlingame.....1977
Marcus Eddy..............1849         Frederick Baldwin.........1924         Russell H. Burlingame....1978
Aruna B. Armstrong....1850-52         Arbie H. Hutchinson.......1925         Paul G. Erikkinen........1979
Edward H. Marsh.......1853-54         Walter F. Keach, Sr.......1926         +George L. Saltonstall...1980
*Jervis J. Smith, MD.....1855         Charles A. Salisbury......1927         Vihjalmur G. Svansson....1981
Stephen Eddy, 2nd.....1856-57         Harold L. Smith...........1928         Wayne H. Sayward.........1982
Israel M. Hopkins.....1858-59         Frank S. Place............1929         Steven F. Winsor.........1983
Lamuel H. Hammond........1860         George D. Greenhalgh......1930         Clayton L. Salisbury.....1984
Stephen Eddy, 2nd........1861         G. Edwin Richmond.........1931         *Stephen E. Mitchell.....1985
Andrew K. Baliou......1862-65         Bernon S. Steere..........1932         Kenneth B. Phillips......1986
Henry M. Chase...........1866         Ira B. Townend............1933         *Benjamin A. Philips.....1987
Stephen Eddy, 2nd........1867         Wade G. Marvin............1934         James A. Chase...........1988
Lafayette Reynolds....1868-70         Lester L. Lee.............1935         David A. Sweet...........1989
Albert Potter, MD........1871         Everett M. Steere.........1936         Christopher S. Caluori...1990
Lafayette Reynolds.......1872         Edgar S. Potter...........1937         David L. Stockwell.......1991
Albert Potter, MD.....1873-74         G. Ralph Tillinghast......1938         Raymond J. Brown, Sr.....1992
Martin W. Young.......1875-76         Alexander D. Marshall.....1939         Joseph E. Cabral.........1993
William Tracy.........1877-78         Russell P. Blackinton, Jr.1940         Robert E. Sweet..........1994
William Blackmar......1879-80         W. Clifton Bartlett.......1941         Wayne H. Sayward.........1995
Edwin M. Neff.........1881-82         Rupert J. Hyde............1942         John W. Cole..........1996-98
Joseph Perkins........1883-84         Dana W. Capron............1943         Eugene B. Pepper.........1999
Edwin L. Phetteplace..1885-86         Leon O. Chase.............1944         Robert E. Sweet..........2000
William C. Steere.....1887-88         John Z. Wells.............1945         Kenneth B. Phillips......2001
Walter A. Reed...........1889         Henry C. Hawkins..........1946         John W. Kent..........2002-03
Everett W. White.........1890         Earle R. Salisbury........1947         M. Jeffry Schanck........2004
Eugene F. Eddy...........1891         George A. Dickson.........1948         Stephen K. Aust..........2005
Charles Potter...........1892         Louring A. Wilbur.........1949         Richard J. Barrows......2006-
Frank H. Potter..........1893         Ernest S. Hopkins.........1950         .............................
Felix. Slavin.........1894-95         Stanley E. Fitts..........1951         .............................
Dexter A. Saunders....1896-97         R. Colin Hyde.............1952         .............................
Robert H. Wade........1898-99         Wallace P. Tower..........1953         .............................
Job Steere...............1900         Walter F. Keach, Jr.......1954         .............................
Oscar N. Brown...........1901         Henry H. Lewin............1955         .............................
George O. Bligh..........1902         Edward W. Burlingame......1956         .............................
William H. Cook..........1903         S. Elmar Mowry............1957         .............................
George A. Clemence, Jr...1904         +Howard F. Greenhalgh.....1958         .............................
Ernest A. Mowry..........1905         Eugene C. Neff............1959         .............................

Past Masters Of Granite Lodge:

Andrew K. Ballou...........1867   Daniel O. Turner...........1919   #Arnold R. Moore..............1950
Henry M. Chase.............1870   Warren Jacobson............1920   Walter H. Rhodes..............1951
Samuel O. Griffin..........1873   George Dunn................1921   Clifford H. Brown.............1952
Edward F. Keech............1874   Fred Wilson................1922   Granville W. Rider............1953
Frederick F. Farwell.......1878   Hugh Cameron...............1923   G. Richard Pearce.............1954
Edward F. King.............1880   James A. Scotland..........1924   Everett E. Whittaker..........1955
William A. Inman...........1883   George Brown...............1925   John P. Simpson...............1956
James A. Steward...........1886   Rowland Gaunt..............1926   Edward Berman.................1957
Steven M. Paine............1888   William H. Reid............1927   +John P. Ladefian.............1958
George Brown...............1892   Ralph Scotland, Jr.........1928   Milton Barrows.1959,70,74,76,81,92
Francis Clough.............1895   Lewis Rhodes...............1929   Russell E. Knight.............1960
Samuel Stone...............1897   Edward Smith...............1930   William T. Mitchell...........1961
Walter F. Slade............1898   Orville Ripley.............1931   +Earl W. Cooke................1962
Charles Phetteplace........1899   Meldon Soule...............1932   George C. Bischoff............1963
Henry Harriman.............1901   Roscoe Steere..............1933   C. A. Buxton, Jr.....1964,78,79,80
Hans A. Moller.............1903   Clinton Remington..........1934   +Harry O. Cowell..............1965
Francis A. Inman...........1904   Waldo Buxton...............1935   Robert V. Jenks...............1966
Olney T. Inman.............1905   Frederick Stephenson.......1936   Luther L. Bailey..............1967
Fred O. Inman..............1906   Avery Davis................1937   Earl F. Bonner................1968
James L. Bell..............1907   Brayton Round..............1938   Phillip E. Andersen...........1969
Alfred Hinchliffe..........1908   Daniel Buxton..............1939   Steph. M. Kemp,Jr.1971,73,87,88,93
Edward S. Inman............1909   +Morris Marcus.............1940   #Joseph A. Sawyer.............1972
Eugene N. Ganger...........1910   Russell A. Wilcox..........1941   Donald A. Kemp................1975
William Guy................1911   William Berk...............1942   Raymond G. LaFreniere.........1977
Albert Barraclough.........1912   Raymond Moore..............1943   John L. Auleirch..............1982
Fred W. Orrell.............1913   LinwoodChapman.............1944   Harold B. Cole.............1983,84
William Dunn...............1914   Earl F. Guy................1945   Robert F. Ogg, Jr....1985,86,89,90
Clovis Rounds..............1915   Leonard Richter............1946   +Stephen M. Hurkett...........1991
William Marsden............1916   Theodore E. Strickland.....1947   #James A. Haigh............1994,95
George Gould...............1917   Almon W. Harris............1948   #John J. Allen.............1996,97
Alfred Williamson..........1918   FrankShaw, Jr..............1949   Stephen M. Kemp, Jr...........1998

* = Past Grand Master   + = Demitted   # = Dropped