Exactly, how in the world?
To explore for an answer to the question, we have to begin with a second question: What were the exciting events and changes happening in the United States in the 1830s, 1840s, and early 1850s that gave birth to a Mason City? How did all this cause two entrepreneurial adventurers from Winnebago County, Illinois, to make their way to a small wooded area at the junction of two creeks to build cabins ⦠and declare a few acres of wooded land the community of Masonic Grove?
The two entrepreneurial adventurers, John B. Long and John L. McMillin, were close friends, possibly cousins, in Rockford, Illinois. Both were Freemasons. Long applied for membership in Acacia Lodge No. 67 (Acacis SM Dalzell Lodge No. 67, in Spring Valley in LaSalle County, Illinois) in 1849. He earned his Fellow Craft within six months and became a Master Mason on Jan. 2, 1850. John McMillin also was raised to Master Mason in the Acacia Lodge on Sept. 8, 1852.