The house, built circa 1815, is said to be the first two-story brick inn and tavern in Madison. The original ground floor was divided into a tavern room, a bedroom (now a parlor), and a kitchen (now a dining room). Upstairs were a meeting room/sleeping loft. Thus, the original house had space for business, eating and sleeping. The original bricks were made by hand in the backyard. The interior bricks were sun-dried adobe, and the exterior bricks were kiln-dried.
The predominantly Federal Style house was built by William Robinson. There is good documentation, though, that Alexander and Drusilla Lanier, the parents of James F. D. Lanier, lived in the house and operated several businesses there. Alexander was raised and educated in North Carolina. He lived for a time in Kentucky, having purchased considerable property. Unfortunately, he lost his estate through default of title and moved to Ohio. He was a Major in the War of 1812 under William Henry Harrison, in charge of defenses in Northwestern Ohio. Shortly after the war, he brought his family to Madison. They came from Cincinnati and opened a business at the corner of 2nd and Jefferson Streets. Alexander was probably better known for his charity (he tended not to collect his bills) than his financial sense. It was his son, James, who went on to make the family fortune, after first taking a couple of years to settle his father's financial affairs.
The Masonic Schofield House is the birthplace of The Indiana Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. When Indiana joined the Union as a state in 1816, Indiana Freemasons, then under the jurisdiction of Kentucky and Ohio, discussed forming their own Grand Lodge. On January 12-15, 1818, fourteen Masons representing nine lodges in Southern Indiana convened in the upstairs meeting room to draft the constitution for the Grand Lodge of Indiana. Lodges represented were from Vincennes, Corydon, Salem, Charlestown, Madison, Vevay, Patriot, Rising Sun, and Brookville.
In the early 20th Century, William Schofield acquired the house, and it stayed in his family until the 1970s. In 1972, Scottish Rite Masons of Indiana purchased the house, which was in terrible disrepair, and instituted a total restoration. What you see today is mostly the result of that endeavor.
The first residents of the house were Alexander and Drusilla Lanier, they or William Robinson may have had the house built to begin with in 1817. Records are not clear about this. The house originally had a bedroom, kitchen, and a tavern room on the first floor, and a sleeping lot and meeting room on the second floor.
On January 13, 1818, fourteen Masons throughout Indiana met at the upstairs meeting room, after agreeing to meet there to establish a Grand Lodge for Indiana the previous month in Corydon, Indiana.
Alexander Lanier was a Freemason. James Lanier, son of Alexander and Drusilla, sold the building and it would remain in the hands of the Schofield Family. Charlotte Schofield and her daughter made an agreement to sell the house to the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite when Charlotte could no longer live in the home. The property was purchased in 1972 for $25,000. The property was placed on the Historic Roles in Madison and named the Schofield House per historical convention of the time.
The restoration of the Schofield House was accomplished and overseen by H. Roll McLaughlin, Forrest Camplin and Harry Hunter. The building was opened to the public as a Masonic Museum on April 19, 1975 and dedicated as a Living Museum to the State of Indiana in 1976. The Masonic Heritage Foundation was created and incorporated January 25, 1974 to maintain the property and keep it running as a living museum for Masonry.
Support the legacy of Indiana Masonry by joining Schofield Lodge 1818 UD - your membership funds the vital preservation of this historic monument. Find more information on joining on the Schofiled House website.
