The Grand Lodge of Indiana is one of two state wide organizations that oversee Masonic

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

 lodge

Masonic Lodge

This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

s in the state of Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

. It was established on January 13, 1818.

Pre-1900

The first Lodge in Indiana was created by residents of Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...

. They sought a dispensation to create the Lodge from Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

's Abraham Lodge #8 in 1806. One was granted in 1807, but due to the distance, they were not able to constitute the lodge. After a second dispensation was sought in 1808, a lodge was formed on March 13, 1809 and the officers were initiated. Other lodges in the Indiana Territory founded by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky

Grand Lodge of Kentucky

The Grand Lodge of Kentucky is one of two state organizations that supervise Masonic lodges in the state of Kentucky. It was established in 1800....

 were Madison

Madison, Indiana

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,004 people, 5,092 households, and 3,085 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,402.9 people per square mile . There were 5,597 housing units at an average density of 654.1 per square mile...

 (1815), Charlestown

Charlestown, Indiana

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 5,993 people, 2,341 households, and 1,615 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,570.0 people per square mile . There were 2,489 housing units at an average density of 1,067.4 per square mile...

 (1816), Melchizedek in Salem

Salem, Indiana

Salem is a city in Washington Township, Washington County, Indiana, United States. Salem serves as the county seat, and its downtown area is on the National Register of Historic Places...

 (1817), Pisgah in Corydon

Corydon, Indiana

Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...

, Lawrenceburg

Lawrenceburg, Indiana

Lawrenceburg is a city in Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,042 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Dearborn County...

, Rising Sun

Rising Sun, Indiana

Rising Sun is a city in Randolph Township, Ohio County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,304 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Ohio County.-History:...

, and Vevay

Vevay, Indiana

Vevay is a town in and the county seat of Jefferson Township, Switzerland County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,683 at the 2010 census.-History:...

 (1817). On May 9, 1817, the Grand Lodge of Ohio

Grand Lodge of Ohio

The Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Ohio is the governing body of the largest group of Masonic lodges in Ohio...

 granted a dispensation for Brookville Harmony Lodge in Brookville, Indiana

Brookville, Indiana

Brookville is a town in Brookville Township, Franklin County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,625 at the 2000 census. The town is the county seat of Franklin County.-Geography:...

; this lodge would remain under the Grand Lodge of Ohio for two years following the founding of Indiana's Grand Lodge.

After Indiana attained statehood, it qualified for its own Grand Lodge. While attending the annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky in September 1817, members of several lodges within the new state agreed to meet in Corydon with representative from all lodges and discuss the viability of forming a Grand Lodge with the State of Indiana. On December 3, 1817, discussion began as to whether a Grand Lodge for Indiana should be formed, 354 days after Indiana gained statehood. Eleven Freemasons from the various lodges in Indiana met in Corydon, and decided to initiate the new Grand Lodge. Amongst these was the first lieutenant-governor of Indiana, Christopher Harrison

Christopher Harrison

Christopher Harrison was the first Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, serving with Governor Jonathan Jennings. Harrison was briefly acting governor while Jennings' was conducting negotiation with the native tribes in northern Indiana, and later resigned from office over a dispute with Jennings...

. Thus, the Grand Lodge of Indiana was chartered on January 13, 1818, at the presently-named Schofield House

Schofield House

The Schofield House, also known as the Lanier-Schofield House, is an historic building located in the Madison Historic District of Madison, Indiana. Built in 1817, this Federal-style building was the first two-story brick house and the first tavern house in Madison...

, owned by Alexander Lanier, father of James Lanier

James Lanier

James Franklin Doughty Lanier was a entrepreneur who lived in Madison, Indiana prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War . Lanier became a wealthy banker with interests in pork packing, the railroads, and real-estate.-Biography:James Lanier was born in 1800 in Beaufort County, North Carolina...

 and a Freemason as well, in Madison, Indiana. Only three Freemasons were at both meetings. The first Grand Master of Indiana was Alexander Buckner

Alexander Buckner

Alexander Buckner was a United States Senator from Missouri. Born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, he studied law and moved to Charleston, Indiana in 1812. He moved to Missouri in 1818 and settled near Jackson; he practiced law and also engaged in agricultural pursuits...

 of Charlestown, who would later become a United States senator from Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

.

The Grand Lodge would have its first annual meeting in Charlestown, and would alternate between cities until in 1828 it met in Indianapolis, where it has met ever since.

Indiana would not escape the anti-Masonry

Anti-Masonry

Anti-Masonry is defined as "avowed opposition to Freemasonry". However, there is no homogeneous anti-Masonic movement...

 hysteria of the 1820s-1840. In 1828 there were 33 lodges in Indiana. In both 1833 and 1835 ten lodges were closed. At one point, between 1835–1837, there were only twelve lodges left in Indiana. Eighteen lodges were started during this, but only five of which lasted. In 1834 there was even talk of abolishing the Grand Lodge. In many of the years between 1828–1842, the Grand Master did not even attend the Grand Lodge meetings. The number of Masons in Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 during this period dropped from 654 to 513. By 1842 the anti-Masonry hysteria had waned, and the various Grand Lodges could again grow.

Post-1900

In 1916 the Grand Lodge created the Indiana Masonic Home to support elderly Masons, the widows and orphans of Master Masons, and older members of the Order of the Eastern Star

Order of the Eastern Star

The Order of the Eastern Star is a fraternal organization that both men and women can join. It was established in 1850 by Rob Morris, a lawyer and educator from Boston, Massachusetts, who had been an official with the Freemasons. It is based on teachings from the Bible, but is open to people of all...

. The Home still exists in Franklin, Indiana

Franklin, Indiana

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,463 people, 6,824 households, and 4,872 families residing in the city. The population increased by more than 50% during the 1990s , with new residents attracted by jobs in the community, as well as some people commuting to Indianapolis for work. The...

.

The number of Freemasons in Indianapolis in 1993 was 13,229 amongst its 23 separate lodges.

Freemasons from Indiana include Oliver P. Morton, Lew Wallace

Lew Wallace

Lewis "Lew" Wallace was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, territorial governor and statesman, politician and author...

, and Gus Grissom

Gus Grissom

Virgil Ivan Grissom , , better known as Gus Grissom, was one of the original NASA Project Mercury astronauts and a United States Air Force pilot...

.