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Most Worshipful
Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Ohio -
History 1849 thru 1899
by Antonio
O. Caffey, PM #7
When
discussing the history of The Most
Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of
Ohio, you must first discuss its
connections with the state of
Pennsylvania and its Grand Lodge. Prior
to the formation of our Grand Lodge,
there was no Masonic Lodge of color west
of the Allegheny mountains except St.
Cyprian Lodge No. 13, which was located
in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Three men
from Cincinnati Ohio, William Darnes,
John Johnson and Joseph C. King had
previously traveled to St. Cyprian and
were made Master Masons in due form.
These men along with four others who
were not Masons, again made the trip to
St. Cyprian Lodge so that Shelton
Morris, George Peterson, Asbury Young
and L.C. Fluellen could be made Masons.
According to the minute book of St.
Cyprian Lodge on March 5, 1847:
³The Lodge opened with Martin R.
Delany as W.M., George B. Vashon as
S.W., H. Nicholson as J.W., Halson
Vashon as Sec., Alex Ferguson as
Treas., S.L. Collins as S.D., F.
Robinson as J.D. and A. Williams as
Tyl. Members present- Bros. R.H.
Gleaves, A. Johns, Wm. Darns, John
Thompson, T. Boswell and B.
Richards. Petitions from Messrs.
Shelton Morris, George Peterson,
Asbury Young and L.C. Fluellen
praying for admission into the
Order, were received and upon ballot
being taken the gentlemen were
declared elected. The Lodge
proceeded to initiate them as
Entered Apprentice Masons. The Lodge
was then closed on the first degree
and opened on the second degree. The
Lodge then passed Bros. Morris,
Peterson, Young and Fluellen to the
degree of Fellow Craft. On motion
the Lodge closed.² ³ H. Vashon,
Sec.²
The record
continues:
³March 5, A.D. 1847, A.L. 5847 Lodge
opened on the third degree. The
Lodge then determined to Raise Bros.
Morris, Fluellen, Young and Peterson
to the degree of Master Mason, which
was accordingly done *****Lodge
closed.² ³H. Vashon, Sec.²
As Past
Grand Histriographer, Hartford Jennings
wrote in our centennial anniversary
program, ³To our mother Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania our deepest gratitude for
all the assistance given to the Brothers
in the State of Ohio Jurisdiction and
hoping that in the one-hundred years of
the existence of the Grand Lodge of Ohio
we have proven to be an honorable and
dutiful child and a credit to the Prince
Hall Fraternity.²
The seven men soon returned to
Cincinnati, Ohio from Pennsylvania with
cheerful accounts of their visit and
Masonic experience. On March 26, 1847, a
petition was received from the Masons in
Cincinnati by St. Cyprian Lodge , asking
them for permission to establish a Lodge
in Cincinnati. The men received there
warrant from the First Independent
Africa Grand Lodge of North America on
Jan. 16, 1848. The Lodge was named
Corinthian Lodge No. 17 whose first
officers were: Joseph C. King, W.M. John
Gazaway, S.W., William Darnes, J.W.,
Alex Hunter Sec., George Peterson,
Treas., Samuel Wilson, S.D., Shelton
Morris, J.D. and Asbury Young, Tyl.
The story of how the second Masonic
Lodge in Ohio was formed, True American,
is quite interesting. Apparently there
were other African-American men in
Cincinnati who had been made Masons in
other eastern cities. These men were led
by Rev. H. Galbrath of the Zion
Methodist Episcopal Church. They had
organized a Lodge in Cincinnati which
was warranted by the Hiraim Grand Lodge
of Pennsylvania. This Grand body was a
rival of The First Independent African
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Other men
who had formed a Lodge, claimed to have
received a charter from the white Grand
Lodge of Ohio. Bro. Richard Howell
Gleaves, who was acting under the
authority of the Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania, arranged a meeting with
these two Lodges. He determined that the
white Grand Lodge of Ohio had never
issued a warrant to establish a Lodge of
Black Freemasons. He also concluded that
the Lodge established by Rev. Galbraith
was bogus, and had no authority to
operate as a Masonic Lodge. These Lodges
agreed to give up their warrants and be
consolidated and constituted as True
American Lodge No. 26, under the
authority of The First Independent
African Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. The
Lodge was constituted and established on
March 18, 1848.
On May 20, 1848, St. Johns Lodge
received its warrant from The First
Independent African Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania. This Lodge was formed with
the assistance of members of True
American Lodge. Its first Worshipful
Master was Bro. Richard Howell Gleaves.
Under Masonic custom, there were at this
time enough Lodges to form a Grand
Lodge. Quoting again from Past Grand
Histriographer, Bro. Hartford Jennings,
³At high noon on May 3, 1849,
representatives of the three Lodges,
Corinthian No. 17, True American No. 26
and St. Johns No. 27, met and organized
the Grand Lodge which was styled Grand
Lodge for the State of Ohio.² They
adopted a constitution whose preamble
reads, in part:
³Whereas the delegates of Corinthian
No. 17, True American No. 26 and St.
Johns No. 27, Free and Accepted
Ancient York Masons, subordinates to
the Grand Lodge of the State of
Pennsylvania in convention assembled
in the city of Cincinnati, state of
Ohio, May 3rd A.D. 1849 A.L. 5849,
ceased working under the
Jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge for
the state of Pennsylvania and
organized and established a Grand
Lodge to be known and styled, ³The
Grand Lodge for the State of Ohio
etc...²
The first
officers of our Grand Lodge were: Thomas
W. Stringer (Grand Master), Richard H.
Gleaves (Dep. Grand Master), Joseph C.
King (Grand Senior Warden), Ephraim
Bancroft (Grand Junior Warden), George
Peterson (Grand Treasurer) and Owen T.
Barton Nickens (Grand Secretary).
The foundation had been set for these
Brothers to spread the cement of
brotherly love throughout Ohio and the
U.S. In just a ten year period, from
1849 to 1859, The Grand Lodge of Ohio
constituted and warranted twenty-one
Lodges in various parts of the United
States. The majority of these Lodges
were outside the state of Ohio. Lodges
Charted by this Grand Lodge between 1849
and 1859 is as follows:
1849 Corinthian # 1 Cinn. OH.
1849 True American # 2 Cinn. OH.
1849 St. Johns # 3 Cinn. OH.
1850 Richmond #4 New Orleans,
LA.
1850 Union #5 Indianapolis, IN.
1852 Mt. Moriah #6 Louisville, KY.
1852 St. Marks #7 Col. OH.
1852 King Solomon #8 Madison IN.
1853 Cannon #9 Zanesville, OH.
1853 Prince Hall #10 St. Louis,
MO.
1854 Stringer #11 New Orleans, LA.
1855 North Star #12 Chicago, IL.
1856 Britton #13 Richmond, IN.
1855 Eureka #14 Cleve. OH.
1855 Darnes #15 Terre Haute, IN.
1856 G.T. Watson #16 Alton IL.
1856 R. Phillips #17 Carthage, IN.
1857 Parsons #18 New Orleans, LA.
1857 Central #19 Springfield, IL.
1858 St. Thomas #20 Louisville, Ky.
1859 Wilberforce #21 Xenia, OH.
From this
list, nine Grand Lodges were formed with
the aid and guidance of our Grand Lodge:
Indiana est. Sept 13, 1856
Louisiana est. Jan 5, 1863
Missouri est. July, 1865
Kentucky est. Aug. 18, 1866
Illinois est. Feb. 15, 1867
Tennessee est. Aug. 31, 1870
Alabama est. Sept. 20, 1870
Michigan est. Sept. 23, 1872
Kansas est. August 24, 1875
As Bro.
Charles H. Wesley wrote in our Grand
Lodge history book, ³Expansion occurred
beyond the work of Master Mason.² Bro.
R.H. Gleaves organized Royal Arch
Masonry and Commanderies of Knights
Templars. A general convention of Royal
Arch Masons met in 1850 and formed the
First Independent African Grand Chapter
of Ohio. There was no permanent plan put
into place, thus the organization ceased
to function. On August 16, 1867,
representatives from chapters in
Cincinnati, Xenia and Columbus met and
reorganized the Grand Chapter.
The Grand Commandery of Knights Templars
for the State of Ohio was organized in
1872, in Springfield, Ohio.
During the Grand Lodges first six years
of existence, there were no printed
records of the proceedings. Since that
time the proceedings have been printed
and preserved without interruption. This
was a tremendous time for our Grand
Lodge. It was organizing Lodges
throughout Ohio as well as other parts
of the country.
An interesting episode in Prince Hall
Masonry took place between the years of
1847 and 1877. As the Prince Hall
Masonic historian, Bro. Joseph A. Walkes,
Jr. expressed in his ³Prince Hall
Masonic Quiz Book,² The National Grand
Lodge or ³Compact² unlike the several
attempts to organize a General Grand
Lodge in the United States by mainstream
Freemasonry was a ³peculiarity² of
Prince Hall Freemasonry.² He also
asserted. ³It was organized for survival
during a period in American history that
was particularly harsh for Black
America.² It is this writers opinion
that the Fraternity has never fully
recovered from this ³innovation² in
Freemasonry.
An idea originated in 1847 to form a
National Grand Lodge for
African-American Freemasonry. A call was
issued for a general assembly of Masons
to convene in Boston, Massachusetts on
June 24, 1847 to consider this idea.
Several Grand Jurisdictions met and
after discussing the matter, adopted a
resolution to organize a National Grand
Lodge under the title of ³The Most
Worshipful National Grand Lodge of Free
and Accepted Ancient York Masons of the
United States of North America and the
Masonic Jurisdiction Thereunto
Belonging.² This organization made
itself the supreme Masonic authority in
the U.S. They gave themselves power to
grant warrants to state Grand Lodges.
For a brief time period, the National
Grand Lodge operated without any
problems. Like other Grand Lodges during
this time period, our Grand Lodge was
issued a warrant by this body. Bro.
William Parham stated in our first Grand
Lodge history book, ³It is quite evident
that they were not fully advised of the
real purpose and claims of the National
body at that time.² The warrant was
issued in 1850, but didn¹t arrive until
June 20, 1856, six years after it was
granted. Bro. Parham further states ³It
does not seem to have taken a great
while after the aims, purposes and
arrogations of the National Grand Lodge
were revealed before a determined
opposition manifested itself; for at the
next session of the Grand Lodge, held in
the city of Columbus, June 1857, on the
third day of the session a resolution of
withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the
National Grand Lodge was taken up, and
after being fully discussed, a vote was
had thereon which resulted in a tie.
Whereupon the Grand Master, John
Parsons, gave the casting vote for
withdrawal.² After a resolution was
passed to reconsider the withdrawal
declaration, the subject and vote was
postponed until the next session. This
controversy further divided the
Jurisdiction. Finally in a special
session of this Grand Lodge held on
Sept. 21, 1868, it was decided to sever
all ties with the National Grand Lodge.
In less than five years, other
Jurisdictions also recognized the error
that we as a Fraternity had made and
followed our lead, thus ending this
cloudy time in our history.
During the 100th anniversary celebration
of the founding of Prince Hall
Freemasonry held in Boston, we were
privileged to have our own Most
Worshipful Grand Master William T. Boyd,
serve as the presiding officer.
During the years of 1871 and 1883, the
Grand Lodge sought and gained fraternal
recognition from foreign Jurisdictions.
There were six Grand Lodges in foreign
countries which established recognition
with us. The Grand Lodge of Peru, The
Grand Orient of Hungary, The League of
German Grand Lodges, The Grand National
Orient of the Dominican Republic, The
Grand Orient of France and The Grand
Orient of Italy. These recognitions were
important in establishing our legitimacy
and regularity as a Grand Lodge.
From 1852 to 1900, the structure was
designed and laid by a group of men that
truly believed in the precepts of our
Fraternity. Their accomplishments are
even more enlarged when you consider the
time period in which it happened. Blacks
had few if any rights that whites had to
respect during this time period. Despite
all of the obstacles that were placed
before them, our Brethren persevered.
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