John Palmer, Grand Secretary of Masons for Tennessee

On Saturday, December 31, 2005, a historic tradition of 157 years was held at the Flat Creek Community Center in Williamson County. The Owen Hill Lodge No. 172 F & A. M. (Free & Accepted Masons) held their annual St. Johns Day dinner. This annual event, first held in December 1848 on the first Saturday following Christmas, is held in honor of (2) St. Johns; St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist to whom modern day masons dedicate their lodges.

Historical Marker placed on Owen Hill Road at the 1st Owen Hill Masonic Lodge Location

The dinner menu, unchanged since the first dinner, consists of country ham, roast turkey, corn bread dressing, green beans, giblet gravy, oyster stew and cranberry sauce. This year’s dinner was attended by lodge members, their families and friends. The speaker for the event was John Palmer, Grand Secretary of Masons for Tennessee.

The Grand Lodge of Tennessee granted a charter to the Owen Hill Lodge No. 172 in October 1849. The membership which organized in 1848 was mostly from the College Grove, Allisona, Eagleville, Arno and Flat Creek areas.

The first known lodge building was a 2-story brick structure on Owen Hill that was sold by George C. Kinnard to James S. Oglivie, C. M. Comstock and J. B. Wilson all of Owen Hill Lodge No. 172 F & A M and to Rev. Wm. Burns, W. N. Haley, James P. Allison, E. L. Jordan, J. B. Wilson and Johnson Jordan; all trustees of the Owen Hill Female Academy. The Owen Hill masons used the upper floor as their meeting place and the ground floor served as the female academy. (A road- side historical marker currently marks this spot.) This meeting place served the membership until 1885 when the Owen Hill Lodge membership bought a 2-story building known as the Jordan-Swaim Store in Allisona located next to the Allisona Mill Co. What happened to the original brick lodge-academy building is unknown at this time since the minutes of meetings and other records were burned when their building in Allisona was destroyed by fire in the 1955.

Allisona Mill Co. & The Owen Hill Masonic Lodge (The Lodge Building Is On The Far Right)

The Allisona Mill Co. and Owen Hill Lodge building, which burned, was located in what is now Rigsby’s store-garage parking lot, and the building fronted on Arno Road. After the fire in 1955, meetings were held in Chapel Hill for a short time. After a new site was selected and a block building was constructed, College Grove became the home of the Owen Hill Lodge No. 172, where it continues as an active lodge today.

Owen Hill Masonic Lodge #172 (circa 1850)

The membership of the Owen Hill Lodge included some very prominent men through the years. One of those was the well-known and respected Methodist circuit rider, Reverend Jeremiah Cullom. In his journal, he mentions attending the lodge meetings and he records that on April 6, 1906, there were 13 present for the meeting and he was elected treasurer. On December 17, 1906 he also recorded; “by request took the cars to Christiana and installed officers of the Masonic Lodge. I have been a Mason for 53 years and never saw anything bad in it”. Reverend Cullom died in 1915 at the age of 87.

Clifford Ralston, an Eagleville resident and member of Owen Hill Lodge, was made a Master Mason on April 11, 1930. Exactly 50 years later on April 11, 1980, Clifford passed away.

Finis E. Tucker, another Eagleville resident and ancestor of several Eagleville citizens was also a member. His mason guide, Richardson’s Monitor of the Free Mason by Jabez Richardson, A.M. of New York and published by Lawrence Fitzgerald currently remains in the Tucker family.

Over the years several members have attained a 50-year membership. At the present, there are three members, Aubrey Ghee, Buddy Cromer and Pollard Crick, who have reached that mark. One outstanding record of the lodge belonged to the late Will C. Lanier with a 78-year membership record. Mr. Lanier died at the age of 99. Presently, there are 53 Owen Hill Lodge members.