The first Masonic lodge in Cincinnati was chartered in 1791, less than three years after the towns founding. Many prominent Cincinnatians have devoted their time, money, and effort to the fraternity. Many have also found knowledge, fulfillment, and camaraderie within the main and appendant bodies of the brotherhood. This book offers an introduction to the orders members, buildings, and related organizations in southwest Ohio. The contributions of the Queen Citys share of the worlds oldest and largest fraternity are revealed through images from lodges and other bodies, buildings, individuals, and numerous other sources.

In 1783, the officers of the Continental Army created the Society of the Cincinnati. This veterans' organization was to preserve the memory of the revolutionary struggle and pursue the officers' common interest in outstanding pay and pensions. Henry Knox and Frederick Steuben were the society's chief organizers; George Washington himself served as president. Soon, a nationally distributed South Carolina pamphlet accused the Society of treachery; it would lead to the creation of a hereditary nobility in the United States and subvert republicanism into aristocracy; it was a secret government, a puppet of the French monarchy; its charitable fund would be used for bribes. These were only some of the accusations made against the Society. These were, however, unjustified. The author of this book explores why a part of the revolutionary leadership accused another of subversion in the difficult 1780s, and how the political culture of this period predisposed many leading Americans to think of the Cincinnati as a conspiracy.

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