The Mystery of Union Lodge at Fayetteville

   Very little is known about the Masonic Lodge known as "Union Lodge at Fayetteville." Its parentage, source of authority, and true age remains undiscovered. No evidence exists to place its origin any earlier than the late 1770s or early 1780s.

    The earliest known documentary evidence regarding this lodge is in the form of a letter written to the "Brethren of Union Lodge" by Alexander Martin, Governor of North Carolina, in the year 1784.

   Union Lodge at Fayetteville was instrumental in the formation of a new Grand Lodge in North Carolina. From the first proceedings of this new Grand Lodge we find that 1) Union Lodge was invited to become part of this new Grand Lodge, and 2) that a delegate from Union Lodge was included as a voting member in the proceedings that formed this new Grand Lodge. From these facts we can draw the following conclusions:

   1) Union Lodge was considered to be a regular, legitimate Masonic Lodge.

   2) Its members were addressed as "Brother," or "Brethren," denoting that these men were considered legitimate and duly-admitted Freemasons.

   The committee assigned to the task of organizing and ordering the collected lodges of the new Grand Lodge of North Carolina into a chronological list appears to have understood Union Lodge at Fayetteville to be younger than Royal Edwin Lodge (c. 1772) in Windsor, NC, and older than Old Cone Lodge (c. 1788) in Salisbury, NC.

   Union Lodge at Fayetteville may have been legitimately chartered or warranted by a credible authority - either a European Grand Lodge, a Provincial Grand Master, one of the early Colonial Grand Lodges, or one of the newly-formed state Grand Lodges c. 1784 or prior. Unfortunately, no evidence exists to point to a likely source.

   In the few documents where Union Lodge is referenced, it is not given a Lodge number.

   To date, the origin of Union Lodge remains a mystery, and more research remains to be done to determine its true history.