The first pastor of the German church was the Rev. Johann Wilhelm Weber, who was sent out by the German Reformed Synod at Reading.[9] He had left his charge in Eastern Pennsylvania because the congregation which he served had not been as enthusiastic in its support of the Revolution as he deemed proper.[10] The services were held in a log building situated at what is now the corner of Wood Street and Diamond Alley.[11] Besides ministering to the wants of the Pittsburgh church, there were three other congregations on Weber’s circuit, which extended fifty miles east of Pittsburgh. When he came West in September, 1782, the Revolutionary War was still in progress; Hannastown had been burned by the British and Indians in the preceding July; hostile Indians and white outlaws continually beset his path. He was a soldier of the Cross, but he was also ready to fight worldly battles. He went about the country armed not only with the Bible, but with a loaded rifle,[12] and was prepared to battle with physical enemies, as well as with the devil. Hardly had the churches come into existence when another organization was formed whose origin is claimed to be shrouded in the mists of antiquity. In the American history of the order, the membership included many of the greatest and best known men in the country. On December 27, 1785, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Free and Accepted Masons, granted a charter to certain freemasons resident in Pittsburgh, which was designated as “Lodge No. 45 of Ancient York Masons.” It was not only the first masonic lodge in Pittsburgh, but the first in the Western country.[13] Almost from the beginning, Lodge No. 45 was the most influential social organization in the village. Nearly all the leading citizens were members. Toward the close of the eighteenth century the place of meeting was in the tavern of William Morrow, at the “Sign of the Green Tree,” on Water Street, two doors above Market Street.[14] Although not a strictly religious organization, the order carefully observed certain Church holidays. St. John the Baptist’s day and St. John the Evangelist’s day were never allowed to pass without a celebration. Every year in June, on St. John the Baptist’s day, Lodge No. 45 met at 10 o’clock in the morning and, after the services in the lodge were over, paraded the streets. The members walked two abreast. Dressed in their best clothes, with cocked hats, long coats, knee-breeches, and buckled shoes, wearing the aprons of the craft, they marched “in ancient order.” The sword bearer was in advance; the officers wore embroidered collars, from which depended their emblems of office; the wardens carried their truncheons; the deacons, their staves. The Bible, surmounted by a compass and a square, on a velvet cushion, was borne along. When the Rev. Robert Steele came to preach in the Presbyterian Meeting House, the march was from the lodge room to the church. Here Mr. Steele preached a sermon to the brethren, after