Cazenovia Lodge No. 616 is the successor to United Brethren Lodge, No.78, of Cazenovia. The Charter of United Brethren Lodge was granted and signed by Chancellor Robert R. Livingston on January 5, 1799.  The charter members included Jeremiah Clark (Master), Ebenezer Johnson (Senior Warden), Joseph Yaw, Jr. (Junior Warden), James Greene (Secretary), Seymour Pickett, John G. Myers, Richard Salmon, and Daniel Mulholland.  United Brethren Lodge initiated its first new member, Hooker Ballard, at its first meeting which was held on May 9, 1799.  Membership increased steadily until by May 17, 1830, 164 Brothers had been raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.  Due to the strong anti-Masonic sentiment created as a result of the “Morgan Affair“, only annual meetings were held from 1830-1838 and in March of 1839, the Lodge surrendered its Charter.

The first Communication of Cazenovia Lodge, N0. 616 was held under Dispensation on July 13, 1866.  The Lodge’s current Charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of the State of New York on June 11, 1867 and the Lodge was duly constituted by R∴ W∴ George F. Burn, proxy for the Grand Master, on July 5, 1867.  The first officers were Charles Stebbins (Master), Plyment Mattoon (Senior Warden), John K. Chamberlayne (Junior Warden), W. W. Watkins (Treasurer), and George M. Watkins (Secretary).  Regular Communications were held on the first and third Fridays of each month.

A Certificate of Incorporation for Cazenovia Lodge No. 616 was filed with the Secretary of State in Albany, New York on December 23, 1867.

In 1894, Cazenovia Lodge, No. 616 petitioned the Grand Lodge of the State of New York to change its name and number back to United Brethren Lodge, No. 78.  This proved unsuccessful and all successive attempts to do so have met with a similar fate.

Until 1869, the Lodge met in rooms located over the old Chappel & Watkins Book Bindery (next to the Post Office on Albany St.)  In August of 1869, the Lodge moved to the third floor of a building on the cornet of Albany & Lincklaen Sts.  On April 1, 1907, the Lodge again moved, this time to a building that it ultimately purchased in 1916 and which was located at 43-45 Albany St.  On June 8, 1990, Morrisville Lodge, No. 658 (in neighboring Morrisville, NY) merged into Cazenovia Lodge and the newly bolstered Lodge continued to meet in the Albany St. premises until late 2013 when it was decided that the Albany St. facility no longer met the Lodge’s needs.  In the interim, Cazenovia Lodge, No. 616 enjoyed the hospitality of the neighboring DeRuyter Lodge, No. 692  until it was able to secure its own, more suitable, premises.  The first meeting held at the new location, 2836 US Route 20, was on September 18, 2015 and was attended by numerous District and Grand Lodge dignitaries.  On December 5, 2018, DeRuyter Lodge, No. 692 and Cazenovia Lodge, No. 616 merged to become one while continuing to use the name Cazenovia Lodge, No. 616.  The first communication of this new Lodge was held on Wednesday, December 19, 2018.