04/21/2026
𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 – 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟓, 𝟏𝟖𝟎𝟏
𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙊𝙍𝙉𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙇𝘼𝙔𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙊𝙁 𝙎𝙏. 𝙅𝙊𝙃𝙉'𝙎 𝙉𝙊. 3
Today marks the anniversary of the cornerstone laying of Saint John's Lodge No. 3 AF&AM, one of the oldest surviving Masonic buildings in America, and the beginning of the historic "Masons’ Hall" that still stands today.
While no full transcript of the ceremony survives, we do have something remarkable: the engraved silver plate that was placed inside the cornerstone itself. That plate confirms the exact date—April 15, 1801—and records the names of those involved, including Deputy Grand Master John Louis Taylor, who presided over the ceremony, assisted by the officers and members of the lodge.
The inscription read:
“This Foundation Stone of Masons’ Hall laid April 15, A. D. 1801, by the D. G. Master, assisted by the Officers & Members of this Lodge.”
Local Masonic officers present included:
• Francis Lowthrop, Master
• George Ellis, Senior Warden
• Edward Kean, Junior Warden
• Isaac Taylor, Treasurer
• Rev. Thomas P. Irving, Orator
Also sealed within the stone were three coins:
• A 1797 half-cent
• A 1798 large cent
• An 1800 silver dollar
The inscription even placed the moment in a broader national context, naming President Thomas Jefferson, Vice President Aaron Burr, and Governor Benjamin Williams.
Though the exact order of the ceremony is lost, lodge history makes it clear this was no small affair, it was likely a formal public event, rich with Masonic symbolism, oratory, and community presence.
There is one more fascinating layer. During the Civil War, a Union soldier removed the silver plate and coins from the cornerstone and carried them north. A letter read in lodge on March 13, 1878 records that Thomas A. Doyle, Past Grand Master in Providence, wrote that he had bought the plate and remaining coins from a returned soldier, and that St. John’s Lodge No. 1 of Providence sent them back to New Bern, preserving this tangible link to the original ceremony.
Even more interesting, construction was already underway before the ceremony. Records show architect John Dewey had been paid in February 1801, meaning the cornerstone laying marked a ceremonial milestone, not the literal beginning of the build.
From that moment in 1801 grew a building that would serve not just as a Masonic lodge, but as a center of culture and community in New Bern for over two centuries.
The cornerstone laying in 1801 symbolized the transition of St. John’s Lodge No. 3 from a colonial-era fraternity meeting in borrowed spaces to a permanent, highly influential institution in New Bern, one that still operates in the same historic building today over two centuries later.
The cornerstone will be rededicated on April 25th at 1:30 pm. Please join us with our Grand Lodge representatives for this historic event!
