Jephtha Masonic Lodge No. 494 is an historic Masonic lodge, part of the fraternal organization of Freemasonry, located in Huntington, New York, part of the Suffolk Masonic District in Eastern, Long Island. It was established in late 1859. Brothers from Jephtha No. 494 residing in neighboring towns went on to form other Masonic lodges including Glen Cove No. 580 in Glen Cove, New York in 1866, Alcyone No. 695 in Northport, New York in 1869, Babylon No. 793 in Babylon, New York in 1887 and Matinecock No. 806 in Oyster Bay, New York, the home lodge of President Theodore Roosevelt. Masonic Brother and Governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt, delivered a speech to the lodge in 1931. A New York State Historical Marker was installed in front of the building in 2018. Early Huntington Freemasonry The first Masonic Lodge on Long Island was Huntington Lodge No. 26 of Oyster Bay. Chartered on March 22, 1793, the original petition states the lodge was “to be formed in the town of Oyster Bay in Queens County, or in the town of Huntington in Suffolk County optional with the presiding officers and brethren on Long Island in this state which lodge shall be distinguished by the name or stile of Huntington Lodge No. 26.” Typically, eighteenth century lodge meetings were held in taverns, with food and spirits prepared for the brothers gathered around a long table. Dues were owed at each meeting, whether a brother was present or not. Huntington No. 26 had only 30 known members throughout its brief history, more than half of whom were charter members of Suffolk No.60 in Port Jefferson and Morton No. 63 in Hempstead (now Wantagh-Morton No. 63), both still active to this day. Because there was no central meeting place and travel was difficult, Huntington No. 26 sporadically met until 1806 before finally forfeiting its charter on March 4, 1818. Freemasonry was inactive in Huntington, New York for the next 42 years. History The charter members William H. King, Jesse Carll (shipbuilder), David Carll, John H. Jarvis, Phineas E. Sills and Charles A. Floyd laid the foundation of Jephtha Lodge at a meeting in the home of Francis Olmsted (1820-1901) in Northport on December 21, 1859, for the “purpose of taking into consideration the feasibility of establishing a Lodge in the Village of Huntington.” Jephtha Lodge No. 494 received its charter from the Grand