About the year 1819, a masonic organization, known as Somerset Lodge, No. 84, A. Y. M., was organized in the town of Somerset, of which, at one time, the following named gentlemen served as officers:
Chauncey Forward – W. M.
Ankeny – S. W.
John Patton – J.W.
Harmon Updegraff – S.D.
Jacob Graft – Tiler
This lodge flourished for years and owned a property in the borough, on Union street, worth more than two thousand dollars. When the powerful anti-masonic movement throughout the country began, the men were ostracized socially and some refused to do business with them, which effectively ended their presence in Somerset.
(Source: History of Bedford, Somerset & Fulton Counties, PA; 1884)
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