Azariah Pierson

Azariah Theodore Crane Pierson (August 29, 1817 - November 26, 1890) also written as A.T.C. Pierson, was an Indian agent, pharmacist, draftsman, and notable Freemason who settled the state of Minnesota. During his career as an Indian agent Pierson worked for the Northern Superintendency of Indian Affairs from roughly 1851 to 1862 and is noted for his role in the "Chippewa Disturbances" which occurred in 1857 and 1861. Due to his foundational role in Freemasonry in Minnesota, Pierson is often acclaimed as the "Father of Minnesota Freemasonry" during the Golden Age of Fraternalism.

Early life Azariah Theodore Crane Pierson was born on August 29, 1817, in Speedwell, near Morris Plains, New Jersey, to parents Joseph B. Pierson and Keturah Crane. Pierson's family moved to Ohio in 1819 before moving to New York in 1827, Pierson graduated from the Barclay Street Medical College (now the New York Academy of Sciences) that same year, although he did not practice medicine. In 1851, Pierson moved to the Minnesota Territory and settled in Saint Paul, Minnesota where he worked as a clerk for the Northern Superintendency of Indian Affairs which oversaw the development of the Indian reservation system for the Ho-Chunk, the Dakota, and the Ojibwe primarily in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

It was through Pierson's research into the roughly $5,000 in embezzled funds that the Northern Superintendency eventually fired and dismissed several employees. Shortly after what became known as the "Chippewa Disturbances" Pierson resigned from his position with the Northern Superintendency by the end of 1862. Pierson was one of the founders of the early Grand Lodge of Minnesota and according to historian Ray Hayward is affectionately known as the "Father of Minnesota Freemasonry". Pierson was the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota from 1856 to 1863, and the lodge's Grand Secretary in 1864 and from 1876 to 1889. In his later years Pierson wrote an extended history of the traditions and Masonic rites of Freemasons in his 1870 book Traditions of Freemasonry and its Coincidences With the Ancient Mysteries and his 1882 book The Traditions, Origin and Early History of Freemasonry. Pierson had the following to say about Freemasonry and its goals as an organization: "Masonry is a progressive science; all its mysterious light, all its sublime truths are not at once developed; it is only by gradual steps that its beauties are unfolded to the wondering mind of the aspirant".

Arguments with Albert Pike Pierson had a unique relationship with Albert Pike, who Pierson had originally met in Saint Paul in 1852 during his first few months in the state. According to Pike, Pierson was infringing on the territory of Wisconsin (at the time part of the Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction) despite Minnesota being part of the Southern Jurisdiction. Pierson died on November 26, 1890 at the age of 73 from Bright's disease in Saint Paul. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery.

Selected works

Traditions of Freemasonry and its Coincidences With the Ancient Mysteries (1870). The Traditions, Origin and Early History of Freemasonry (1882).