William Blackstone Hubbard

William Blackstone Hubbard William Blackstone Hubbard was born in Lowville, Lewis County, New York on August 20, 1795. Upon completing his college education and his study of law, he moved to Ohio in 1816, settling in St. Clairsville, where he began the practice of law. He later became President of the St. Clairsville Bank.

On January 2, 1817 he married Mary Margaret Johnson of St. Clairsville, Ohio. They were the parents of eight children. While a resident of St. Clairsville, he was the Prosecuting Attorney of Belmont County and served in the Ohio Senate from 1827 to 1829 and in the House of Representatives in 1831, where he presided as Speaker of the House. Initially a Whig and later a Republican, he was frequently consulted by Governor Salmon P. Chase during the latter's term as Governor of the State of Ohio and also Secretary of the Treasury.

M. W. Brother Hubbard was recognized as a brilliant lawyer, an expert in financial matters, and a concerned public servant. He had an interest in and a love for the classics. His command of Latin was well known and his scholarship and association with men in the field of education resulted in his election as a trustee of Ohio University, which University later conferred the honorary Doctor of Literature degree on him.

In 1821 William Hubbard returned to New York for a visit and while there received his Master Mason Degree in Rising Sun Lodge No. 125 at Adams, New York on September 12, 1821. On returning to St. Clairsville, he dimitted to Belmont Lodge No. 16 on October 17, 1821. In 1828 he was the official representative of Belmont Lodge at the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. He was elected Worshipful Master in 1821, Senior Deacon in 1822, Junior Warden in 1823, and Worshipful Master again in 1824 and 1825.

In 1839 he moved to Columbus and was instrumental in organizing Columbus Lodge No. 30. In fact, he was named the initial Worshipful Master of Columbus Lodge No. 30 on the Charter of that Lodge which was granted in 1841. He again became active in the banking profession, becoming President of the Exchange Bank and later organizing the First National Bank and serving that bank as President. Among his other accomplishments was the presidency of the Columbus and Xenia Railroad Company. His interest in the railroads stemmed from a bill, which he drafted and which was passed by the Ohio legislature in 1830, entitled "An Act to Incorporate the Ohio Canal and Steubenville Railroad Company."

He became a member of Zanesville Chapter No. 9 RAM of Zanesville on August 26, 1822 and on October 20, 1842 was elected Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Ohio. In 1841 he was knighted in Lancaster Encampment and in 1847 became the General Grand Master of the General Grand Encampment, a position he held for 12 years. On September 25, 1851 he was elected to receive the 33rd degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and also became an active member of the Supreme Council. In May 1861 he was elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, but declined to serve.

M. W. Brother William Blackstone Hubbard served the Grand Lodge of Ohio as Senior Grand Warden in 1843 and 1844, Deputy Grand Master pro-tem in 1845 and was elected Grand Master in l850 a position, which he held until 1853.

Hubbard Lodge No. 220 in Adamsville, Ohio was named in honor of M. W. Brother William Blackstone Hubbard. He departed this life in Columbus, Ohio on January 5, 1866. His body is interred in Greenlawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio, Section C, Lot 28.

Lawyer, State Legislator and Banker. Nineteenth Grand Master of Masons in Ohio - 1850-1853.

Hon. William Blackstone Hubbard died at his residence, in this city, at about thirty minutes after twelve o'clock on Thursday night. He did not revive for a moment from the unconscious state in which he was found on Wednesday morning. The time at which funeral services will take place has not been definitely fixed, but it is thought he will be buried on Sunday under the direction of the Masonic fraternity, of which body he was a prominent member. Mr. Hubbard was, at the time of his death, over seventy years of age. Many of our readers recollect the pleasant surprise that came to him on his birthday, in August last, with the present from his son marked, "Three Score and Ten." As an eminent lawyer, as a legislator, and as a financier, he has been so intimately connected with the history of our city that it seems scarcely necessary to refer at length to the incidents of his life. He came to this State at an early period, from New York, and established himself in the practice of his profession at St. Clairsville. In the session of 1881 he represented Belmont County in the General Assembly, and was elected Speaker of the House. He came to Columbus about ten years afterwards and almost immediately became identified with the financial interests of the city. He was, for some time, president of the Columbus Savings Institution, which afterwards converted into the City Bank. He was, we believe, the first president of the Exchange Bank, Inc., under Kelley's Banking Law. In 1863 he organized the First National Bank of this city, one of the first banks in the State organized under that law. He was very prominent in the Masonic fraternity. He was Grand Master for the State of Ohio from 1850 to 1853. In 1847 he was elected Grand Master of the Knights Templar of the United States, and served in that capacity for nine successive years. In 1842 he was made Grand High Priest, of Royal Arch Masons of the State of Ohio, holding place for five successive years.