The first lodge whole, and the two out-of-county seats township men actually joined

26 May 1852 – November 2026 · Mishawaka, New Carlisle, Edwardsburg (Michigan)

Mishawaka Lodge No. 130. The first lodge whole is Mishawaka's: organized 26 May 1852, A. L. 5852, with the organization officers Chapman and Howard agree on word for word — R. S. Alden, W.M.; D. H. Smith, S.W.; J. Holdridge, J.W.; J. E. Hollister, treasurer; T. S. Cowles, secretary; A. C. Foot, S.D.; W. M. Wood, J.D.; A. L. Brimsmaid, Tyler. Both histories say "organized," not "chartered," and neither prints a charter date; the charter instrument's date is a named gap inside this article, its settler the Grand Lodge of Indiana's lodge-history record. The lodge is carried in Howard's 1907 list as Mishawaka Lodge No. 130, F. & A.M., and it is proven in operation into the twenty-first century: on 21 December 2006 Mishawaka Lodge 130 held a public installation of its 2006 officers (South Bend Tribune), and in 2007 Past Master Robert York was installed as treasurer and trustee of the Mishawaka Masonic Temple #130. Its present charter standing was not confirmed from an open source — the Grand Lodge of Indiana's lodge locator is JavaScript-gated and returned nothing usable by text fetch — and is left as a named gap in the closing article rather than asserted. The temple itself, at 1810 Went Avenue, Mishawaka, is listed active as of November 2026 with Wednesday evening hours.

Terre Coupee Lodge No. 204, New Carlisle. The banked People leg carries the settler whose burial proves the township tie: he "was a Mason, buried under Terre Coupee Lodge No. 204 of New Carlisle" (died 19 March 1901). The lodge is current: a present-day listing places Terre Coupee Lodge No. 204 at 54522 Timothy Road, New Carlisle, Indiana, operating status active, telephone +1 574-520-3335, as of November 2026. Its charter date was not found in any open source searched; the Grand Lodge of Indiana lodge history is the settler.

St. Peter's Lodge No. 106, Edwardsburg, Michigan. The second banked tie is Kownover of Harris Township, "a Mason of St. Peter's Lodge No. 106 at Edwardsburg, initiated 28 December 1865." The lodge is a Michigan-chartered lodge on Indiana ground — this county's known peculiarity: the state-line farms looked north to Edwardsburg, the nearest lodge across the line, rather than east to South Bend. It is extant: the Grand Lodge of Michigan's current lodges-in-districts list carries "St. Peters No. 106, Edwardsburg/Cass, 7:00 P.M. 2nd Tuesday," 53 members, as read in November 2026 — a lodge chartered in Michigan that has outlived the century and a half since Kownover's initiation. A third township Mason is named without a lodge: Jacob Meyer of Harris Township, of whom both Howard's sketch and Chapman's Harris biography say only "He was a Mason" / "is a member of the Masonic order" — his lodge is not in the record reached, and the Grand Lodge of Indiana and Grand Lodge of Michigan membership records are the settler.

Sources:

1. Chapman (1880), pp. 796–797, and Howard (1907), vol. 1, pp. 344–345 — Mishawaka lodge organized 26 May 1852, organization officers; Howard's 1907 carrying as Lodge No. 130.
2. South Bend Tribune, 2006 (Mishawaka Lodge 130 public installation of 2006 officers, 21 December) and 2007 (Past Master Robert York, treasurer and trustee, Mishawaka Masonic Temple #130), via MBRL newspaper records; current places listing for Masonic Temple, 1810 Went Avenue, Mishawaka (active, Wednesday hours), read November 2026.
3. Banked Notable People — the Shimp sketch ("buried under Terre Coupee Lodge No. 204 of New Carlisle," died 19 March 1901) and the Kownover sketch ("a Mason of St. Peter's Lodge No. 106 at Edwardsburg, initiated 28 December 1865"); current places listing for Terre Coupee Lodge No. 204, 54522 Timothy Road, New Carlisle (active, +1 574-520-3335), read November 2026.
4. Grand Lodge of Michigan, lodges-in-districts list (via the mason33.org mirror, read November 2026) — "St. Peters No. 106, Edwardsburg/Cass, 7:00 P.M. 2nd Tuesday, 53 members."
5. Chapman (1880), Harris Township biographies, p. 716 — Jacob Meyer, "is a member of the Masonic order."