Queens History and Freemasonry / Harmony Series / Constitution Lodge No. 241
November 10, 2026 · By Brete Murphy
Founded as Oscar Coles Lodge in 1851 and renamed Constitution in 1867, Lodge No. 241 moved through Manhattan’s rented halls before consolidating with Maspeth in 1974. Its meeting places and members’ funeral notices trace different geographies: where the lodge gathered, and where its members made their lives.
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Christmas Eve on Broome Street
On December 24, 1851, Oscar Coles, Grand Master of New York, installed the first officers of a new lodge in a loft at Broome and Crosby Streets.
The petitioners had named the lodge for him. It received No. 241.
According to the lodge’s published history, the first officers included Alfred F. Thorn as Master; Cornelius W. Brush and John H. Black as Wardens; Samuel Auld as Treasurer; Robert McCor as Secretary; and Benjamin Beyer and George Anderson as Deacons.1
The same account identifies the founders as members coming from Lafayette Lodge No. 64 and describes them as merchants or sailors engaged in the sea trade.1
There is supporting evidence for a maritime connection in the first Master’s working life.
An 1845–1846 city-directory entry lists Alfred F. Thorn as a chandler at 91 West Street. An 1859–1860 entry, using the spelling “Thorne,” identifies Alfred F. as a ship chandler at 118 West Street.
A Port Jefferson shipbuilding list also records an 1839 schooner named Alfred F. Thorn.17
Those references support further investigation. The vessel’s name alone does not establish Thorn’s ownership or explain why it was chosen.
Later funeral notices supply another maritime association: Sandy Hook pilots were invited alongside the lodge in notices concerning the Burger family.2
They do not establish the occupations of the entire founding membership.
A Loft Not Yet Located
The lodge history recounts an attempt to identify the original meeting place through old fire-insurance maps.
Its author concluded that the surviving buildings examined at the corner did not provide a match for the loft described in the founding account.1
That is a useful research lead rather than a complete property history.
The precise building, its alterations and its eventual fate remain to be established through maps, directories and property records.
A Grand Master’s Name—and Why It Changed
Oscar Coles served as Grand Master in 1851, shortly after the reunion of New York’s competing Grand Lodge bodies at the end of 1850.3
The lodge’s own history credits him with an important role in that reunion.1
His 1899 obituary and the other biographical references supplied for this article describe a Brooklyn-born businessman whose career included manufacturing and ship chandlery.1819
The firm name Coles & Thorn raises an intriguing question.
Was the Thorn in that partnership Alfred F. Thorn, the lodge’s first Master?
The material assembled here does not establish the identification. Matching directory entries and partnership records are needed before the two can be treated as the same person.1718
The lodge’s name became a different kind of problem.
Its published history records years of discussion over the propriety of naming a lodge for a living Grand Master.
The members eventually sought a change.
On June 8, 1867, Grand Lodge approved the name Constitution Lodge No. 241.1
Coles lived until October 1899. His obituary described him as the state’s oldest surviving Past Grand Master, and the supplied burial reference places him at Green-Wood Cemetery.1819
The lodge’s name changed during his lifetime.
Its number continued.
Rooms for Rent
The published history traces the lodge through a succession of Manhattan meeting places.
In 1858, it moved from Broome and Crosby to Odd Fellows Hall at Grand and Centre Streets.
In January 1866, it moved to 594 Broadway.
In April 1869, it took rooms in the Booth Theatre Building at 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue.1
The supplied building histories identify Odd Fellows Hall with 165–171 Grand Street and place Edwin Booth’s theatre at the southeast corner of 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue.45
Constitution’s own newspaper notices repeatedly used the wording “Booth’s Building, corner 23rd street and 6th avenue.”6
The distinction between theatre and theatre building matters.
The lodge’s use of rooms in the building does not mean that its meetings took place on the theatre’s stage or in its auditorium.
The record assembled here documents occupation of existing halls. It does not supply a complete property-ownership search or explain the financial terms of each move.
The Lodge in the Funeral Notices
Much of the located nineteenth-century newspaper record concerns death.
Funeral summonses named meeting places, officers, deceased members and other bodies invited to attend.
In February 1870, Master G. W. Wyckoff called members to Booth’s Building on a Sunday morning for the funeral of William W. Wade of 41 Ludlow Street.
The notices identified the destination as the Marble Cemetery on Second Street.6
In December, members were summoned for George Burger’s funeral in Morrisania. Sandy Hook pilots and members of Lily Lodge were also invited.2
Other notices connect Constitution with the funerals of Edward Brown and John Kinnear in 1872, and with the Knapp family in 1872 and 1875.7
Kinnear was described as a native of Fife and associated with Third Avenue. Stephen H. Knapp’s notice called him “an old Tenth Warder.”7
These references require careful reading.
A lodge’s invitation to attend a funeral does not automatically establish that the deceased was a member. Notices concerning members’ relatives are also part of the record.
Taken together, however, they connect the lodge’s ceremonial life with households and associations beyond its meeting room.
Ludlow Street, Third Avenue, Morrisania and the Tenth Ward appear in that network.
The notices map particular relationships—not a complete membership district.
Visits, Elections and an Officer Line
The lodge also appears outside the funeral columns.
In November 1869, Constitution visited Oriental Lodge No. 51 in Newark.
A December 1870 report recorded Oriental’s presentation of an engrossed set of resolutions.8
The same period supplies an officer list:
- George W. Wyckoff, Master.
- J. E. Rutherford and N. T. Hallock, Wardens.
- George W. Day, Treasurer.
- Henry C. Parke, Secretary.8
Parke’s name appears in an earlier family notice.
In January 1860, members of Oscar Coles Lodge were invited to the funeral of his wife, Elizabeth, who died at twenty-one at 72 West 24th Street.9
The two references place Parke in the lodge’s record a decade apart.
They do not establish uninterrupted service as Secretary throughout the intervening years.
Across the Street to the Masonic Temple
The Grand Lodge’s new temple rose at the northeast corner of 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue, across from Booth’s Theatre.
The supplied building chronology dates its cornerstone to June 8, 1870, and its dedication to June 2, 1875.10
Constitution’s published history dates its move into the building to May 1874.1
Those dates should remain distinct.
The lodge’s move may have preceded formal dedication, but the original occupancy records would be needed to explain the arrangement.
By March 1879, a newspaper account places Constitution “at the Temple,” where Frank R. Lawrence, District Deputy Grand Master of the Fifth District, made an official visit and conferred the third degree.11
George W. Wyckoff also reappears in an 1885 funeral notice as a Right Worshipful Brother of Constitution conducting Masonic rites.12
The institution remained visible through both ordinary lodge work and services for the dead.
Another Move in 1909
According to the lodge history, Constitution moved into the new Grand Lodge building in September 1909.1
The supplied Masonic Hall history places the later redevelopment of the earlier temple site at 71 West 23rd Street.10
For Constitution, the move was another change of room within Manhattan’s Masonic infrastructure.
The meeting place changed without a change of lodge number.
A Membership Geography Wider Than Manhattan
Twentieth-century notices locate members and their families across a wider area.
In September 1901, Constitution was invited to Robert Quinn’s funeral at his home on Tenth Street in Brooklyn.20
William Van Ingen, described as a salesman in the export trade, died at his Brooklyn home in 1919.
Robert Kirk’s 1920 funeral notice directed mourners to Adrian Avenue by way of the Broadway subway and 225th Street.
James W. Barker’s 1922 notice gave a West 118th Street address.13
A 1921 notice concerning George Morris Thomas included invitations to veterans of the Seventh Regiment’s Fifth Company and the St. David’s Society.13
These notices show overlapping affiliations and dispersed residences.
They do not demonstrate that the lodge had lost every neighborhood connection, or that its members followed a single outward migration.
They do establish that a Manhattan meeting address did not mean a membership confined to the surrounding streets.
Staten Island and Beyond
The research assembled for this article has a substantial gap between the early 1920s and the later mid-century notices.
That gap is a limitation of the located material, not evidence that the lodge stopped working.
When Constitution appears in the supplied 1950s obituaries, its members include men associated with Staten Island and New Jersey.
Richard Van Cleef Colton, a retired textile manufacturer and a founder of the Great Kills Savings and Loan Association, died in 1952 as a member of “Constitution Lodge, Manhattan.”
Philip N. Mazziotta, formerly of Staten Island and later postmaster of Towaco, New Jersey, died in 1958 with the same Manhattan lodge affiliation.14
Albert L. Mac Neill provides a later connection.
The Staten Island Advance described him as a postal supervisor, a World War II veteran and a Past Master whose association with Constitution extended back to 1949.
He moved to Staten Island in 1956.15
These individual lives place the lodge within a citywide—and increasingly regional—network.
They do not supply annual membership totals or a complete residential survey.
The Vote of 1974
Constitution’s published history gives a specific explanation for its eventual consolidation.
In 1974, it states, “with many of its members now living in the borough of Queens,” the lodge voted to merge with Maspeth Lodge No. 1089.1
The author’s Grand Lodge compilation dates the consolidation to May 8, 1974.
The resulting institution became Maspeth-Constitution Lodge No. 241.16
Both names appeared in the combined title.
The older number continued.
The surviving account connects the decision with members’ residences. It does not provide the full agreement, identify the first combined meeting place or establish every financial and administrative reason for the union.
Those details remain subjects for the minutes and consolidation instrument.
Read Maspeth Lodge No. 1089: A Neighborhood History.
Constitution in Later Memory
The name Constitution remained meaningful after the consolidation.
When Albert Mac Neill celebrated his fiftieth wedding anniversary in 1992, the Staten Island Advance described him as a Past Master of “the former Constitution Lodge of Masons, now the Harmony Lodge in Queens.”
His 1993 obituary used the wording “the Constitution Lodge of Masons in Maspeth.”15
These descriptions preserve different stages of the institutional history.
They are not evidence that Constitution continued operating independently after 1974.
They show an older affiliation surviving in the language used to describe a member’s life.
The larger succession is traced in Harmony Lodge No. 241: One Number, Six Lodge Histories.
The Number That Went to Queens
Constitution’s story began under another name in a Broome Street loft.
It continued through Odd Fellows Hall, Broadway rooms, the Booth Theatre Building and the Grand Lodge’s own premises.
Its funeral and obituary notices locate individual members across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island and beyond.
In 1974, the lodge’s own history explicitly connected consolidation with the fact that many members were living in Queens.
The resulting institution carried No. 241 forward.
The strongest continuity in this story is not a single building.
It is an institution maintaining its identity through changes of name, meeting place and membership geography—until that identity became part of a larger one.
Sources and Research Notes
Public history pages are linked where a specific destination is available. Newspaper references follow the author’s supplied manuscript; direct clipping URLs were not supplied.
- [Harmony Lodge history, Grand Lodge of New York connect](connect | Harmony #0241
connect | Harmony #0241
Harmony Lodge’s published history. Oscar Coles Lodge’s origins, first officers, attributed maritime membership, meeting-place sequence, renaming and explanation of the 1974 consolidation. These are institutional retrospective accounts.
2. New York Herald, December 6, 1870, p. 6, George Burger funeral; New-York Tribune, April 9, 1870, p. 7, Julia Burger funeral. Sandy Hook pilot invitations. Attendance invitations do not establish the occupation or membership of every person named.
3. Grand Lodge of New York, Past Grand Masters; Grand Lodge of New York, Wikipedia. Leadership and reunion background. The institutional history is preferred for the lodge-specific narrative.
4. Odd Fellows Hall, New York City, Wikipedia. Building identification and address background.
5. Booth’s Theatre, Wikipedia. Theatre location and building background. Constitution’s use of rooms is separately documented in its own notices.
6. New York Herald, February 25, 1870, pp. 3 and 6; February 26, 1870, p. 7. William W. Wade funeral, Booth’s Building meeting reference and burial destination.
7. New York Herald, May 4, 1872, p. 6, Edward Brown; August 19, 1872, p. 9, John Kinnear; New-York Tribune, December 25, 1872, p. 5, Caroline Knapp; New York Herald, January 4, 1875, p. 1, Stephen H. Knapp. Funeral and association references. Each notice should be read individually before assigning lodge membership to the deceased.
8. New York Herald, November 25, 1869, p. 1, Newark visit; New-York Tribune, December 15, 1870, p. 8, officer election and Oriental Lodge resolutions.
9. New York Times, January 6, 1860. Elizabeth Parke funeral notice and invitation to Oscar Coles Lodge.
10. Masonic Hall, Manhattan, Wikipedia; Columbia University Libraries material identified in the author’s research. June 8, 1870 cornerstone and June 2, 1875 dedication. The specific Columbia item remains to be linked. Constitution’s May 1874 move date comes from its institutional history.
11. New York Times, March 9, 1879, p. 5. Frank R. Lawrence’s official visit and degree work at Constitution.
12. New York Herald, January 15, 1885, p. 3. George W. Wyckoff’s participation in Masonic funeral rites.
13. New York Times, October 7, 1919, p. 19, William Van Ingen; New-York Tribune, February 4, 1920, p. 10, Robert Kirk; November 13, 1921, p. 18, George Morris Thomas; November 22, 1922, p. 13, James W. Barker. Later residences, funeral arrangements and overlapping associations.
14. Staten Island Advance, February 13, 1952, p. 2, Richard Van Cleef Colton; April 7, 1958, p. 2, Philip N. Mazziotta.
15. Staten Island Advance, March 1, 1992, p. 68; November 9, 1993, p. 13. Albert L. Mac Neill’s biography and retrospective lodge identifications. Exact wording concerning his membership and Past Master service should be preserved from the original clippings.
16. Grand Lodge of New York records, as compiled by Brete Murphy. May 8, 1974 consolidation and resulting Maspeth-Constitution Lodge No. 241. See also the Harmony lineage summary. The original consolidation instrument was not independently examined for this conversion.
17. Doggett’s New-York City Directory, 1845–1846, “Thorn Alfred F. chandler, 91 West”; Trow’s New York City Directory, 1859–1860, “Thorne Alfred F. shipchandler, 118 West,” identified through LDS Genealogy in the author’s research; Port Jefferson shipbuilders list, schooner Alfred F. Thorn, 1839. Direct directory images and the specific shipbuilding reference remain to be linked. The Thorn/Thorne spelling variation should be retained in transcription.
18. Brooklyn Eagle, October 14, 1899, p. 3, “Captain Oscar Coles” obituary, identified through Newspapers.com in the author’s research. Business career and death. The possible identification of the Thorn in Coles & Thorn remains unresolved.
19. Find a Grave, Oscar Coles, 1814–1899; NY Masons, Grand Line Officers, 1781–2021. Biographical, burial and office references. Specific record links remain to be added.
20. Brooklyn Eagle, September 13, 1901, death notices, Robert Quinn; identified through a Brooklyn Genealogy transcription. Comparison with the original newspaper image is desirable.
A Note on the Evidence
The founding and meeting-place narrative relies substantially on a later institutional history.
The maritime description is attributed to that history; the directory entries support a ship-chandlery connection for the first Master, not a complete occupational profile of the founders.
The precise original Broome Street building remains unresolved.
The relationship between Alfred F. Thorn and the firm Coles & Thorn has not been established.
Funeral invitations do not automatically establish lodge membership.
The May 1874 move and June 1875 building dedication are separate dates requiring further occupancy context.
The gap in located material between the early 1920s and mid-century is a research gap, not evidence of institutional inactivity.
The cited meeting-place sequence does not amount to a complete property-ownership search.
The 1974 consolidation date follows the author’s Grand Lodge compilation.
Questions for Further Research
- Who signed the original petition from Lafayette Lodge No. 64, and what were their occupations?
- What does the 1911 Report of the Historian of the Grand Lodge say about No. 241?
- Did Constitution publish a centennial booklet in 1951?
- Which Masonic Hall room did it use after 1909, and on which meeting nights?
- What do minutes and annual returns reveal about the years between 1922 and 1949?
- Where did Maspeth-Constitution first meet after May 8, 1974?
- Was Alfred F. Thorn a partner in Coles & Thorn?
- Who was the Constitution member associated with American Express mentioned in Denslow’s 10,000 Famous Freemasons, volume 4?
- What does the December 23, 1876 issue of The Freemason report about a degree exemplification at Constitution?
Research Gateways
[The Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library](Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library – Collecting, Studying, and Preserving Masonic Heritage
Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library – Collecting, Studying, and Preserving Masonic Heritage
is a starting point for inquiries concerning lodge histories, proceedings and related collections.
[Masonic Periodicals Online](Making sure youre not a bot!
Making sure youre not a bot!
is a research gateway for the cited London periodical.
These are collection gateways, not direct links to every document named above.
Continue the Harmony Series
The Main Feature
Harmony Lodge No. 241: One Number, Six Lodge Histories
Place Constitution within the complete predecessor and consolidation framework.
The 1974 Consolidation Partner
Maspeth Lodge No. 1089: A Neighborhood History
Follow the Queens institution that joined Constitution to become Maspeth-Constitution.
Another Predecessor’s Meeting Places
King David Lodge No. 994: Lodge Life in Astoria
Explore another branch whose history unfolded within existing meeting halls.
The Series Overview
Find the related lodge histories, meeting-place articles and lineage material.
Back to the Harmony Main Feature · Next: Maspeth Lodge No. 1089 · Harmony Series Overview
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