Rise And Development Of African Race Masons In America.

RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN RACE MASONS IN AMERICA .

BY BRO . JACOP . NORTON . PRINCE HALL , and about a dozen other coloured men , were initiated in an English Military Masonic Lodge in Boston in 1775 . In 1784 Prince Hall obtained a charter from the Grand Master of England , the Lodge was named " African Lodge , No . 459 , " and in 1792 its place on

the English Lodge list was raised to No . 370 . While Prince Hall was in good health ho interchanged letters with the Grand Secretary of England , and even remitted on several occasions contributions to the English Masonio Charity Fund . But after Hall's death , in 1807 , his successors

ceased to write to tho Grand Secretary of England ; so , at the Union of the " Moderns " and "Ancients , " in 1813 , when tbo English Lodge list was revised , all the Lodges chartered for America in the last century were erased from the English Lodge list , including the African Lodge of

Boston . Now , a white Masons' Grand Lodge was organized in Boston , in 1792 , and if the said white Masons had enrolled the African Lodge under its jurisdiction , Coloured or African Masonry would have heen confined to Boston ; but the Boston white Masons deemed themselves

too good to associate with coloured Masons ; hence , for self preservation , the Boston African Lodge eventually formed itself into a Grand Lodge , from which , direct and indirect , African Lodges and Grand Lodges have since then been scattered all over North America .

Princo Hall , who was a soap manufacturer , was a very remarkable man . I saw a book containing some hundreds of extracts from histories , sermons , poems , & c , all copied by the hand of Bro . Princo Hall , which proves Bro . Hall ' s taste for book reading . Two or three of his Masonic

orations were printed , which may bo seen in the Grand Secretary ' s office in London ; and the Boston coloured Masons donated the following sums of money , to assist their poor English white brethren , viz ., 25 th Nov . 1789 , £ 2 2 s ; 18 th April 1792 , £ 1 ls ; 27 fch Nov . 1792 , #

•61 5 s 6 d ; 22 nd Nov . 1797 , £ 1 5 s . On the other hand , neither Henry Prico nor any of his whito Masonic successors have ever sent a penny to the English Masonic Charity Fund , and , beside which , they have failed to send up to the Grand Lodge of England above sixty guineas

for Lodges they chartered in America . But yefc , the successors of Henry Price in the last century , as well as now , pretended and pretend to the highest kind of Masonic legitimacy , and denounce the successors of Prince Hall as illegitimate , bogus , clandestine , and what nofc .

The Rev . Dr . Jeremy Belknap , of literary fame , one of the founders of the Massachusetts Historical Society , in answer to inquiries of Judge Tucker , of Virginia , in 1795 , says : — " One of my informants , Princo Hall , a very

intelligent man , aged fifty-seven , years , thinks that they ( negroes ) wore most numerous in 1745 . " As Judge Tucker requested information about the status of the coloured people in Boston , Dr . Belknap goes on to say : —

Perhaps ifc may bo more agreeable to transcribe what waa given to me in answer to this query by the aforesaid Prince Hall . Harmony in general ( says he ) prevails between ns ( blacks and whites ) as citizens ; for the good law of the land does oblige every one to live peaceably with his follow citizens , let them be black or

white . We stand on a level , therefore no pre-eminence can be claimed on either side . As to our associating , there is a great number of worthy good men and good citizens that aro not ashamed to take an African by the band ; bufc there are to bo seen tho weeds of pride , onvy , tyranny , and scorn in this garden of peace , liberty , and equality .

Dr . Belknap continues : — Having once and again mentioned thia person ( Prince Hall ) , I must inform yon that he is a Grand Master of a Lodge of Masons composed wholly of blacks , and distinguished by tho name of African Lodge . It was begun in 1775 , while the town was garrisoned by

British troops , some of whom held a Lodge , and initiated a number of negroes . After the peace , they sent to England and procured a charter , nnder the authority of the Duko of Cumberland , and signed

by the late Earl of Effingham . The Lodge at present consists of thirty persons , and care is taken fchat none but those of good moral character aro admitted . ( Collect-ions of the Massachusetts Historical Society , pp 195-211 . )

Dr . Balknep was not a Mason , but his intimate friend , tbe Rov . Dr . John Eliot ( who was also one of the founders of thc Massachusetts Historical Society ) was a Mason , and even delivered a St . John ' s Day oration . Bro . Dr . Eliot seems to have entertained a more correct idea about what

Rise And Development Of African Race Masons In America.

Masonry ought to be . He believed that Masonry makes no distinction between white and black , aa far as mere colour ia concerned ; and from Dr . Eliot ( I have every reason to believe ) Dr . Belknap derived tho following information . Dr . Belknap goes on to say : —

I shall add tho following note , written by a whito gentleman of the Craft , of good information and candour , viz .: " The African Lodge , though possessing a charter from England , meet by themselves , and the white Masons , not moro skilled in geometry , will not acknowledge them . The reason given is , that the

blacks wero made clandestinely in the firsfc place , which , if known , would have prevented them from getting a charter . Bnt this inquiry wonld not have been made about white Lodges , many of which havo not conformed to the rules of Masonry . The truth is they ( the whito worthies ) are ashamed of bein ^ on equality with the blacks . Even

the fraternal kiss of Prance , given to merit without distinction of colour , doth not influence Massachusetts Masons to give an embrace less emphatic to their black brethren . These on the other hand , valuing themselves on their knowledge of the Craft , think themselves

better Masons than the whites , because Masonry considers all men equal who are free ; and our laws admit of no kind of slavery . Ifc is evident from this that neither avowedly nor tacitly do the blacks admit the pre-eminence of tho whites , bufc it is evident that preeminence is claimed by the whites . " ( Ibid . )

That Dr . Belknap was acquainted with Prince Hall before 1795 the following letter from Dr . Belknap fco , I believe , Dr . Benjamin Rush , of Philadelphia , President of tho Anti-Slavery Society , will show , viz .: — I have one piece of good news to tell you . The negroes who were

kidnapped from here ( Boston ) last winter are returned . They were carried to St . Bartholomew's , and offered for sale . One of them was a sensible fellow , and a Freemason . The merchant to whom they were offered was of this Fraternity . They were soon acquainted . The negro told his story . They were carried before the shipmaster and

supercargo . The story of the negroes was that they were decoyed on board nnder pretence of working . The story of the others was that they were purchased out of goal , wherein they had been confined for robbery . The Governor detained them . The vessel put oft' immediately from tho island . They ( the Bostonians ) were kept

within certain limits , and a gentleman of the island was bondsman for six months , in which timo they sent here for proofs , whioh arriving , they were liberated . The morning of their arrival here they made me a visit , being introduced by Prince Hall , who is one of the head men of the blacks in

this town . " There , said Prince Hall , ' this is the gentleman who was so much your friend , and petitioned the Court for us , " alluding to the share which I had in the petition against the slave trade . They joined in thanking me , and really , my dear sir , I felt , and do

still fee ) , from this circumstance , a pleasure which is rich in compensation for tho curses of the tribe of African traders , aided by the distillers , which have been liberally bestowed npon the clergy of this town for their agency in tho above petition . "—( New Haven Qaseltp , 4 th September 1788 .

In a letter from Dr . Belknap to Mr . Hazzard , dated 17 fch February 1788 , he said . — Yesterday ' s [ Boston ] Dentinal contained an account of the kidnapping of three negroes , and of the excitement created in Boston thereby .

On comparing therefore the above dates it is evident that the three poor victims musfc havo been away from their families more than six months . I musb hero add thafc on the 27 th of February 1788

Prince Hall headed a petition to the Massachusetts legislature , signed by twenty or more other coloured citizens , asking its assistance to get the three unfortunate kidnapped negroes back to Boston .

The record of the African Lodgo informs me that Prince Hall died 7 th November 1807 , after which the Lodge continued to meet regularly until 182 G ; and , if I recollect right , about eighty-two were initiated during that time , including two clergymen ; but in 1826 Bro . John T . Hilton , the W . M .

of the Lodge , delivered an address in which he pointed out the necessity of forming a Grand Lodge ; and in 1827 the Prince Hall Grand Lodge was organised , and since then the coloured men , in I believe every State in this country , have organised Lodges and Grand Lodges . The Prince

Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts has eighteen Lodges on its roll , but in Ohio ( according to Bro . Brennan ) there were ten thousand coloured Masons in 1877 . Little , however , was known about the origin of the coloured Masons in America until 1845 , when Dr . Winslow Lewis , of Boston ,

received a letter from Grand Master Tncker , of Vermont , inquiring about the origin , legality , & c . of the negro Masons . Dr . Lewis asked Bro . C . W . Moore , and then wrote to the Vermont Grand Master thafc fche negroes obtained a charter from England through some misrepresentation , but as soon

as the English authorities discovered the fraud Prince Hall was requested to return the charter , in order to make somo necessary alterations , and after taking a copy of it , the coloured Masons returned their charter . The English authorities , however , never sent to tho Africans , in Boston