St. Patrick's Lodge No. 4 F&AM

St. Patrick's Lodge No. 4 in Johnstown, NY, is one of the oldest Masonic Lodges in the State of New York, having received its Charter on May 23rd, 1766. The three original officers named in the Charter included Sir William Johnson, as Master; Guy Johnson as Senior Warden; Daniel Claus as Junior Warden and John Butler as Secretary. The first recorded meeting of the Lodge was held on August 23rd, 1766. Except for a period of time during the Revolutionary War --May 5, 1774 to February 2, 1786-- the Lodge has met continuously ever since. There was a lull in its activities during the anti-Masonic period following the Morgan episode when, for several years, the Lodge met but once a year to elect officers, and no new candidates were initiated from 1831 to 1843. St. Patrick's Lodge enjoys a unique distinction among the older lodges on several counts: The current officers still wear the original jewels of 1766; the Lodge is in possession of it's original Charter; and also is in possession of the complete set of minutes for every meeting held from its inception in 1766 to the present time.