Dr William F. Kuhn MD, 32° PGM
(Apr 15, 1849-Sep 1, 1924)
1877 - Raised in Belle Center Lodge No. 347, Belle Center, Ohio
Affiliated, Patmos Lodge No. 97, El Dorado, Ks
Past Master, Patmos Lodge No. 97, El Dorado, Ks
1895 - Charter member, first master, York Lodge No. 563, Kansas City, Mo
1893 - Grand Orator, Grand Lodge of Missouri
1903 - Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Missouri

32° Consistory of Western Missouri, Kansas City

1882 - Exalted in Lafayette Chapter No. 60, R.A.M., Bellefontaine, Ohio
1885 - Affiliated El Dorado Chapter No. 35
1888 - Affiliated with Orient Chapter No. 102, Kansas City, Mo
1891-93 - High Priest, Orient Chapter No. 102, Kansas City, Mo
1897 - Grand High Priest of Missouri
1921 - General Grand High Priest, General Grand Chapter, R.A.M.
1891 - Passed the Circle in Hiram Council No. 1, R. & S.M., St. Louis, Mo
1892 - Charter member/Master of Shekinah Council No. 24, Kansas City
1893 - Grand Master of the Grand Council, R. & S.M. of Missouri
1887 - Knighted in El Dorado Commandery No. 19, K.T., El Dorado, Ks
1888 - Commander, El Dorado Commandery #19, K.T., El Dorado, Ks
1889 - Affiliating with Oriental Commandery No. 35, Kansas City, Mo
1893 - Commander, Oriental Commandery No. 35, Kansas City, Mo
1910 - Grand Commander, Grand Commandery of Missouri
First Sovereign, Mary Conclave #5, Red Cross of Constantine, Kansas City
1902 - Grand Sovereign, Grand Imperial Council
1899 - Grand Cross of the Supreme Grand Chapter of the order at Boston

1900 - Grand Patron, Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star
1906 - Grand Patron, General Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star

Occupation: Neurologist, professor of psychiatry at KU; professor at University Medical College; president, Kansas City College of Pharmacy.
Interred: Mt Moriah Cemetery, Kansas City, Mo

Dr. William Frederick Kuhn (1849-1924) was a physician and a neurologist. He was born April 15, 1849 in Lyons, New York. His parents were born in Alsace, then a French province but were of German descent. The family moved to Kalamazoo County, Michigan in 1858 and settled on a farm near Mendon. He attended country schools and prepared for college in his spare time. He attended Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio, receiving his Bachelors and Masters in 1875 and 1878. He was principal of schools in Belle Center and DeGraff, Ohio until he entered medical school. He attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia where he received his medical degree with honorable mention in 1884. He began medical practice at Kansas City, Missouri in 1888. From

1905-09 he was superintendent of the state asylum for the insane and from 1900-05 was president of the Kansas City College of Pharmacy. He was Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics and Professor of Physiology at University Medical College. He was Special Lecturer on Nervous at Western Dental College. He was a Professor of Mental and Nervous Diseases at the University of Kansas School of Medicine beginning in 1904.

Brother Kuhn was raised in Belle Center Lodge No. 347, Belle Center, Ohio on April 30, 1877. He affiliated with Patmos Lodge No. 97, El Dorado, Kansas serving as master for three years. He was a charter member and first master of York Lodge No. 563, Kansas City, Missouri. He was grand orator of the Grand Lodge of Missouri in 1893 and became grand master in 1903. He was exalted in Lafayette Chapter No. 60, R.A.M., Bellefontaine, Ohio in February, 1892, he affiliated with Orient Chapter No. 102, Kansas City, Missouri in 1888, he served as high priest in 1891 and grand high priest of Missouri in 1897. He was elected general grand high priest of the General Grand Chapter, R.A.M. at Asheville, N.C. in 1921. Dr. Kuhn laid the foundation for the educational work of the General Grand Chapter and wrote much on Freemasonry. He was greeted in Hiram Council No. 1, R. & S.M. in St. Louis, Missouri, Nov. 1891, and became a charter member and first master of Shekinah Council No. 24, Kansas City. In 1893, two years after he had received his degrees, he was made grand master of the Grand Council, R. & S.M. of Missouri. He was the author of the arrangement of the Super Excellent Master degree adopted at Indianapolis in 1912. He was Knighted in El Dorado Commandery No. 19, K.T., El Dorado, Kansas on June 8, 1887, he served as commander in 1888, affiliating with Oriental Commandery No. 35, Kansas City in October, 1889, and served as its commander in 1910. He was elected grand commander of the Grand Commandery of Missouri in 1910. He received 32° AASR (SJ) in Kansas City, Missouri and KCCH in October, 1923. He was first sovereign of Mary Conclave No. 5, Red Cross of Constantine at Kansas City, and was grand sovereign of the Grand Imperial Council in 1902, receiving the Grand Cross of the order at Boston in 1899.

He was the author of a number of Masonic writings among which are:

• A Small Basket of Chips from the Quarries
• Three Essays on Capitular Masonry
• The Necessity of the Royal Arch to the Master Mason
• More Light: The Relation of the Masonic Orders of Christian Knighthood, the Degrees of the Council of Royal and Select Masters, and of the Royal Arch to Ancient Craft Masonry
• Hysteria in Freemasonry: Foundations of Freemasonry Series
• William Frederick Kuhn, 1849-1924: The Man and His Work; An Educational Pamphlet Issued by the Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons of Missouri, Through Its William F. Kuhn Memorial Committee, by Ray Denslow PGM