Famous Quakers from Southwest Ohio ~ John Satterthwaite: Businessman, Builder and Freemason

Friend John Satterthwaite was born 22nd day of 6th month 1786 and grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of William and Mary (Knight) Satterthwaite. He settled in the area of Waynesville in 1803. Here he met his wife Elizabeth Linton.

He was a very industrious and hardworking pioneer and highly respected. In partnership with William Worden, they established The Accommodation Stage Coach Line (http://www.ohiobyways.com/Accommodation.htm) between Cincinnati and Springfield in 1827. His farm on the Stage Road just outside of Waynesville was a changing place for the horses and hostel for the teamsters hauling freight from Lima, Sidney, Piqua, Troy and elsewhere. The Satterthwaite House (a private residence, right) is on National Register of Historic Places: 88000239 (3/30/1988). He was a township trustee and he built a number of bridges in the area: one across Newman’s Run and the bridge across the race going to Jennings Mill in 1824. He built the first covered bridge across the Little Miami River at Waynesville. He also set up a general store in Waynesville (Satterthwaite & Linton). He was the contractor and builder of the Friends' White Brick Meetinghouse (Miami Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends in Waynesville, Ohio) , mills at Waynesville and Mt. Holly (a gristmill in 1818) and several homes in Waynesville. He is considered one of the founders of Mt. Holly as well as Joseph Chenoweth who also built a mill at Mt. Holly in 1815. The Satterthwaite building on Main Street is now the Braden Candy Shop (http://www.waynesvilleshops.com/braden_sons/) . The Satterthwaite farm was also noted for its orchards, which boasted of fifteen different varieties. John Satterthwaite was a Justice of the Peace from between 1813-1833.

John Satterthwaite was also very active in the Lebanon Lodge No. 26, F & A.M. According to the Warren County, Ohio History of 1882 (Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992, p. 501), he was also a charter member of The Lebanon Royal Arch Chapter, No. 5 that was chartered on December 12, 1821. He was a charter member of The Miami Encampment, No. 2, K. T. at Lebanon that was chartered on March 14, 1826. At the time it was most unusual for a Quaker to be a member of the Freemasons let alone an officer. Actually, the time from the 1820s-1840s was a time of persecution of the Freemason in this county, i.e. the Anti-Masonic Party that did almost destroy Masonry in this country. No record exists of him being the Master of this Blue Lodge (the records are incomplete), but he was elected Grand Master of Ohio in January of 1831 (http://freemason.com/PGM/john_satterthwaite.htm). He died on July 5th, 1837 and is buried in the Miami Monthly Meeting Friends Hicksite graveyard in Waynesville (burial July 6th, 1837, First Row, #39). His gravestone is the largest in the graveyard and is emblazoned with the Masonic Square and Compass (see photograph above).

The old Miami~Gazette Building,
now the Braden Candy Shop
Built by John Satterthwaite