PAST MASTER LARRY D. COTTON, KING DAVID LODGE NO. 15

Who was Prince Hall

WHO WAS PRINCE HALL

Prince Hall was the founder of the oldest social organization among Blacks in America.

Today's Prince Hall Masonic Order goes back to seedtime of the republic. While almost all Blacks are acquainted with the Prince Hall Masons, and their social and charitable activities, very little is known about Prince Hall.

Prince Hall, the founder of the first Black Masonic Lodge, was born at Bridgetown, Barbados, British West Indies. The generally accepted date of his birth is September 12, 1748, although other dates have been assigned. This date is asserted by Grimshaw, the historian, and it is also supported by the enlistment records of Thacher's Regiment. On the call of April 20, 1778, Hall enlisted in the Revolutionary Army for nine months, being credited to the town of Medford and his age was given as 30 at that time.

Hall's father was an Englishman, Thomas Prince Hall, a leather worker by trade, and his mother was a free Black woman of French extraction. Little is known of his parents except that they were in humble circumstances and had a reputation for piety, sobriety, and industry. These qualities were transmitted to their son.

It is well to digress here to emphasize that Prince Hall came of free parentage, and was not a slave. This digression is justified at this point, because when Black Masonry became the subject of bitter controversy, its opponents adduced the alleged "Free Born" qualification, charging that Hall's was invalid.

Hall was not satisfied with his island home and the outlook for his father's trade to which he was an early apprentice. At the age of 17, he worked his passage on a sailing vessel bound for Boston, and in March 1765, he arrived there. He immediately set to work at his trade. At age 25, Hall had acquired some real estate and was qualified to vote. Hall also operated his own soap manufacture.

In personal appearance, Hall is described as rather short in stature (5 ft 3 in.), fair complexion, slight of build, delicate, and almost effeminate. His head was shapely, his features refined and regular, and his eyes bright and piercing. His physique did not deter him from engaging in hard work.

Prince Hall was married five times according to the official records of the City of Boston. The names and date of his marriages are as follows:

Sara Ritchie (or Ritchery), November 2, 1763

Flora Gibbs, August 22, 1770

Affee Moody, August 12, 1783

Nabby Ayrauly, June 28, 1798

Zilpha (or Sylvia) Johnson, June 28, 1804

It is said that Prince Hall had a son by his second wife Flora Gibbs, which they named Prince Africanus, who was baptized on November 14, 1784, at the New North Church, Boston. It is also said that at some point in his life he fathered a second son, by the name of Primus Hall, by a woman named Delia.

In 1774, Prince Hall joined the Methodist Church and eventual1y became a minister and the leader of the small Black community then in Boston. As a public spirited citizen and leader of his people, Prince Hall was what is now termed a radical, that is in breadth of view he was a century in advance of his time. He not only was an abolitionist, but he also advocated citizenship for Black men, participation in government, and equality below the law. He opposed all forms of racial or class discrimination and was insistent on the protection of his people from social insult and indignity. Hall also founded schools for the education of Black youth in 1796.

On March 6, 1775, Prince Hall and 14 other free Black men were initiated into Masonry, in Boston by an Army Lodge of a British Regiment, the 38^th Foot of the Third Brigade stationed in Boston. The military lodge attached to the 38th Foot was No; 441 Irish Register, established in 1765. The 38^th Foot had to move out of the city Match 17, 1776, and left Prince Hall with a dispensation to hold meetings, bury their dead, march on St John's Day, and not to confer degrees or other Masonic affairs.

The first organized body of Black Masons in America was African Lodge No.1, not No.459 as is generally supposed. African Lodge No. 1 was organized on March 17,1776.

June 30, 1784, Prince Hall applied to the Grand Lodge of England for a charter. On April 29, 1787, Prince Hall received the charter. At that time African Lodge No. 1, became African Lodge No.459.

Four years later an African Grand Lodge was formed and Prince Hall was elected Master.

In 1797, Hall organized an African Lodge in Philadelphia and Rhode Island. The obligation of charity and benevolence was always in his mind and his countless acts of kindness enshrined him in the heart of the community. In November of 1807, while on one of these errands of mercy, he contracted a severe cold, which developed into pneumonia, and on December 4, 1807, this great soul was called from labour to refreshment amidst the tears and solemn grief of a company of those who best knew him. He met death as he encountered the problems of life unshrinking and unafraid.

Is there one who doubts that when his spirit knocked at the portals of the Grand Lodge above, he was joyfully received by the Grand Tyler of the Universe, as one who was duly and truly prepared, worthy and well qualified to enter into the rewards of the Temple on High not made by hands, eternal in the Heavens.

On Monday, December 7, 1807, at 3 o'clock the funeral service for Prince Hall was held at his late dwelling house in Lendell's Lane in Boston. With appropriate ceremonies due to his Masonic rank, he was buried in the historic Copps Hill Cemetery. It is said that Prince Hall is buried in the same grave as his first wife. The monumental stone carries the following inscription:

Here lies ye body of Sara Ritchery, wife of Prince Hall, died Feby the 26^th, 1769, aged 24 years.

On the back of the stone, added some time later, is the following inscription:

Here lies the body of Prince Hall, First Grand Master of the Colored Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, died December 7, 1807

It is said that whoever cut this last inscription took as the date of death of the announcement in the newspaper (December 7^th) and not the actual date of death (December 4^th).

After Hall's death in 1807, Black Masons decided to change the name of their organization from the African Grand Lodge to Prince Hall Grand Lodge.

Copy of a letter addressed to W. William M. Moody, Master of Brotherly Love Lodge, Number 55, London, England, and which was directly concerned with the granting of the warrant to Prince Hall et al.

"Wm. M. Moody. Most w. Master.

Permit me to return you my hearty thanks for your brotherley courtesy to my Brothers Reed and Mene, when in a strange land and in a time of need, you was so good as to receive them as Brothers, and to treat them so cordially as they informed me you did. What you have done to them I luck upon as done to me and the holle of us, for which I give you meney thanks, and like wise to all the lodge. I hope they behaved themselves as men and masons with you; if not I would be glad if you would be so good as to let me know of it and they shall be dealt with accordingly.

Dear Br. I would inform you that this Lodge hath been founded almost this eight years and had no Warrant yet But only a Permet from Grand Master Row to walk on St. John's Day and Bury our dead in forme, which we now injoy. We have had no opportunity tell now of apheing for a Warrant though we were prested upon to send to France for one but we refused for reasons best known to ourselves. We now apply to the Fountain from whom we received light for this favor, and Dear Sir I must beg you to be our advocate for us by sending this our request to His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, Grand Master, and to the Right Honourable Earl of Effingham acting Grand Master, the Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens and the rest of the Brethren of the Grand Lodge that they would graciously be pleased to grant us a Charter to hold this Lodge as long as we behave up to the spirit of the Constitution-

This our humble petition we hope His Highness and the rest of the Grand Lodge will graciously be pleased to grant us there.

Though poor yet sincere brethren of the craft, and therefor in duty bound ever to pray, I be~ leave to subscribe myself.

Your loving friend and Brother.

PRINCE HALL.

Master of African Lodge. No. 1

June 30, 1784. In the Year of Masonry 5784. In the name of the hol1e Lodge.

C. UNDERWOOD. Secretary

Copy of the letter sent in acknowledgment of receipt of the Charter.

"Boston, September 22nd, 1785.

May it please your Royal Highness to Permit us your Humble Brethren of the African Lodge to Return your Royal Highness the Wardens and the Brethren of the Grand Lodge under your Royal Highness charge, our Humble Thanks for your goodness to us in Granting us a charter from your Venerable and Honourable Lodge. For which we Pray Almighty God ever to Bless and Preserve till time shall be no more; and from time to time Grant your Royal Highness and that noble Society that you will always maintain that Blessed Spirit of our ever Blessed Grand Master Jesus Christ who though He styles Himself King of Kings and Lord of Lords, yet He is not ashamed to call the true members of His Fraternity His Beloved Brethren and such a condescending spirit as this your Royal Highness with the Grand Lodge has abundantly manefested in Honoring us, your onworthi members of the craft with a Charter. this your Benerverlence to us will not only be received by us with Love and gratetude but will convence the Blind World that true Masonry hath something in it Divine and Noble and Difusses Universal love to all Mankind. And now may it Please Your Royal Highness; we shall always make it our study to keep ouer selves within the bounds and lemits of ouer Noble Constitution and under your Wise Derection as ouer Parent Grand Lodge. We shall always cheerfully obay yourDaretitions which you may from time to time be pleased to send us; I shall for my part as long as I shall have the Honour of filleing the chaear shall allways endeavor to give thouse Lectteors as shall be most beneficile to their Light and Knowledge -&c. After whiching your Royal Highness and all your Elustres Familey all the Blessings of Prences hear Below you may reign King and Priest in the world above, and may the Grand Lodge Keep such a lodge here below that they keep a everlasting (lodge) above for ever more; is the earnest whech and prayer of your Humble and obedient Servant and Brother,

PRINCE HALL

THE ORIGIN AND EARLY PROGRESS OF PRINCE HALL MASONRY IN THIS COUNTRY

The record is clear that Prince Hall, with fourteen other Negroes, was made a Freemason on March 6, 1775, at Castle William, now Fort Independence, Boston Harbor. The fifteen by name were: Prince Hall, Peter Best, Cuff Bufform, John Carter, Peter Freeman, Fortune Howard, Cyrus Jonbus, Thomas Sanderson, Prince Rees, Buesten Singer, Boston Smith, Cato Spean, Prince Taylor, Benjamin Tiber and Richard Tilley. They were inducted into the mysteries in a Military Lodge, Number 441 on the Irish Registry. That Lodge was attached to the Regiment of the 38th Foot, part of the British Army. Master of the Lodge was Sergeant J. B. Batt. That particular Military Lodge having been in existence since the 1750's, it is established that no new Lodge had been created to receive the Negro candidates. The British War Department and the old Register of the Grand Lodge of Ireland confirm these statements of fact.

Upon the removal of that Military Lodge to New York State, the military personnel evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776, the Master, J.B. Batt, gave his Negro brethren a "Permit" to "attend divine services and to bury their dead." The document was legal and was issued in accordance with the practice of the period. That instrument gave Prince Hall and his brethren no specific authority to confer degrees, and the provisions of the permit were adhered to strictly. In fact, the record shows that Prince Hall and his brethren conferred no degrees until 1787.

It has been established, however, that that group of Negro Masons possessed every right to confer the degrees of Masonry and to do any Masonic work for, on July 3,1776, by authority of their license, African Lodge, Number 1 was "organized and opened" the first Lodge of Masons in America whose members were exclusively Negroes. John Rowe of Boston, the Provincial Grand Master of North America, and who worked under the authority of the Grand Lodge of England, officially acknowledged African Lodge Number 1, by issuing that body a permit which allowed the Lodge specific privileges.

Prince Hall and his associates, soon after they had received their permit, petitioned Provincial Grand Master Joseph Warren for Masonic affiliation with his grand body. The petition was favourably received, but Warren was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill before any action on the document could be taken. Prince Hall was interested in making the preparations necessary to safeguard the honour and privileges, which belonged to him and his followers.

Some Caucasian Masons in Massachusetts advised Hall to seek Masonic covering from the Grand Orient of France. However, Father Hall deemed it advisable to seek that protection from the Mother Grand Lodge of Freemasonry. Subsequently, an application in which certain important particulars were enumerated, was forwarded to the Grand Lodge of England, ("Moderns," so-called); The petition was favourably received and, despite the difficulties encountered, a charter was granted to African Lodge, Number 459, (later changed to 370), on the English Register. That charter, now in the Archives of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, was dated September 29, 1784, and bears the signature of R. Holt, Deputy Grand Master. The document was witnessed and attested by William White, Grand Secretary.

It is generally recognized that the original charter issued to African Lodge, Number 459, is the oldest extant in the United States of America. Competent Masonic authorities have examined the document carefully, having made several comparative notes and inspections, and they have been satisfied as to the charter's authenticity and regularity. One investigator, internationally respected as a Masonic historian and scholar, compared the Seal on the African Lodge charter with an impression supplied by the English authorities, and both appeared identical.

THE ORIGINAL CHARTER GRANTED PRINCE HALL SEPTEMBER 19, 1784

“The warrant to African Lodge No. 459 of Boston is the most interesting, significant and highly prized document known to the Prince Hall Fraternity. Through it our legitimacy is traced, and on it, more than any other factor, our case rests. It was granted on September 29, 1784, delivered in Boston on April 29, 1787, by Captain James Scott, brother in-law of John Hancock and master of the Neptune, under its authority African Lodge No. 459 was organized one week later, May 6, 1787.”

“In 1869 a fire destroyed Massachusetts’ Grand Lodge headquarters and a number of its priceless records. The charter, in its metal tube, was in the Grand Lodge chest. The tube saved the charter from the flames but the intense heat charred the paper. It was at this time that Grand Master S. T. Kendall crawled into the burning building and in peril of his life, saved the charter from complete destruction. Thus a Grand Master’s devotion and heroism further consecrated this parchment to us, and added a further detail to its already interesting history.”

On June 24, 1791, African Lodge constituted itself into a Grand or Mother Lodge with the title "African Grand Lodge of North America." That procedure was in accordance with well-established precedents. The Lodge at Kilwinning, Scotland; the English Lodge at Bordeaux, France and "The Three Globes" at Berlin, Germany, are three of several that can be cited as proof that African Grand Lodge was formed after a custom of the day, by "revolution and assumption." The first officers, whose names are preserved in the record of the Massachusetts grand body, were, namely:

ELECTED

Prince Hall, Grand Master George Middleton,Junior Grand Warden

Nero Prince, Deputy Grand Master Peter Best, Grand Treasurer

Cyrus Forbs, Senior Grand Warden Prince Taylor, Grand Secretary

APPOINTED

Peter Freeman, Grand Chaplain Thomas Sanderson, Grand Marshal

Fortin Howard, Senior Grand Deacon John Cantine, Grand Pursuivant

Richard Lilly, Junior Grand Deacon Benjamin Tiber, Grand Standard Bearer

Boston Smith, Senior Grand Steward Lancaster Hill, Grand Sword Bearer

Cato Spear, Junior Grand Steward Prince Rees, Grand Tiler

The first Lodge warranted by the first Grand Lodge of Negro Freemasons was African Lodge, Number 459, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 24, 1797. The second, Hiram Lodge, Number 3, Providence, Rhode Island, was set apart the very next day. A delegate convention of the Craft was held in Boston on June 24 ,1808, with representation from the three constituent Lodges in attendance. That convention served both as a memorial to the distinguished Prince Hall who had deceased the previous December, and as the means to recognize the Grand Lodge. The first was accomplished by changing the name of African Grand Lodge of North America to "Prince Hall Grand Lodge, F. & A.M." The second objective was attained with the advancement of Nero Prince, a Russian Jew, to the Grand Mastership.

THE GRAND LODGE FOR PENNSYLVANIA IS FORMED

The Prince Hall Grand Lodge, composed of three constituents, remained alone in the field as the supreme authority among Negro Freemasons for some seven years following its formation. Pennsylvania withdrew from that Grand Lodge and formed one of its own on December 27, 1815. Union, Laurel and Phoenix Lodges, all in Philadelphia, had been warranted by the Massachusetts grand body between 1810 and 1814. Pursuant to a call issued, the Pennsylvania Craft assembled at Masonic Hall, 155 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, and organized the "First Independent African Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of North America for the State of Pennsylvania. "Officers elected at that time were, to wit:

Absalom Jones, Grand Master Prim Clover, Grand Junior Warden

Richard Parker, Deputy Grand MasterRichard Allen, Grand Treasurer

Thomas Depee, Grand Senior Warden Peter Richmond, Grand Secretary

DISSENSION IN PENNSYLVANIA

Dissension within the Pennsylvania grand body subsequently resulted in more than one cleavage and influenced both the inception and the immediate course taken by Prince Hall Masonry in New Jersey. Expulsions from the parent body for cause led to the original formation of a rival Grand Lodge in Pennsylvania, in July 1819. Some six years later, in 1825, some members of Harmony Lodge were expelled from the First Independent African Grand Lodge. Nevertheless, the expelled Masons held meetings, and claimed to have received a warrant, on May 7, 1833, from the Caucasian Grand Lodge of Ohio. That alleged authority was proved spurious, however, but despite that revelation, the Hiram Grand Lodge, from which body Harmony Lodge had received covering, prospered more than did the parent body in Pennsylvania

THE ORIGIN AND EARLY PROGRESS OF PRINCE HALL MASONRY IN NEW JERSEY

Within a two-year period, four Lodges, two of which were in obeisance with the First Independent African Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and other two of which were constituents of the Hiram, or rival Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, were erected in New Jersey. Saint John and Unity Lodges were established in Trenton (July 26, 1845) and Burlington (date unconfirmed), respectively, by the former Grand Lodge. Rising Sun and Mount Moriah Lodges, respectively situated at Camden (May 13, 1847) and Salem (December 27, 1847), were set apart by the latter grand body.

Pursuant to a call, representatives from those four Lodges located in New Jersey met in Burlington on June 11, 1848, and "did then and there" erect a Grand Lodge, styled:

"The Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons for the State of New Jersey and Jurisdiction Thereunto Belonging."The first officers elected were, to wit:

George Shreves, Grand Master George Jackson, Junior Grand Warden Benjamin Jackson, Deputy Grand Master Henry Eilsbury, Grand Treasurer

Henry M. Rias, Senior Grand Warden Joshua Woodlin, Recording Grand Secretary

That Grand Lodge, the sixth formed among Prince Hall Freemasons, became a unit of the "National Grand Lodge," allegedly formed in Boston, Massachusetts, June 24, 1847.

On January 19, 1848, the two Pennsylvania Grand Lodges, having decided to become amenable to the so-called "National Grand Lodge," settled their differences and effected a union. But that did not last for long, for in 1849, another schism occurred in the Grand Lodge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and several Lodges, renewing their former allegiances, rallied to the standards of the two former rival grand bodies in that state.

That unhappy event was almost immediately reflected in this state. Saint John and Unity Lodges, upon notice and for reasons announced, withdrew from the Grand Lodge in New Jersey to form another Grand Lodge whose title was identical with that of the parent body. While the original Grand Lodge remained with the "National Compact," the newer grand body declared itself an independent and sovereign body. The second or rival Grand Lodge was established in Camden on April 29, 1850, when the following elected officers were installed, to wit:

Littleton Williams, Grand Master Henry Ellsbury, Junior Grand Warden

Benjamin Steward, Deputy Grand Master Clement C. Baynard, Grand Treasurer

Benjamin Griffin, Senior Grand Warden James Staten, Grand Secretary

Thus a great rivalry fanned by the flame of bitter recrimination and fuelled with jealousy and animosity ensued. That state of affairs persisted for a while. But former feelings had been forgiven and forgotten by December 28, 1875. On that day, the two Grand Lodges, having laboured at great lengths to make necessary amends and to complete satisfactory preliminary arrangements, adjourned "without day or date" and met in convention on the following day when they did form a unified body, formally titled:

"The Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, For the State of New Jersey and Jurisdiction Thereunto Belonging."

That consolidation was effected in Schweinhagen's Hall, Camden. At that time and place these officers were elected and installed to wit:

Charles Nash Robinson, Grand Master William T. Sample, Grand Treasurer

Moses Wilcox, Deputy, Grand Master Jacob T. Derrickson, Grand Secretary

John Height Bean, Senior Grand Warden Joseph Henry Hall, Grand Recording Secretary Pierce Brown, Junior Grand Warden William T. Ringle, Grand Tyler

According to the records supplied by Most Worshipful Charles N. Robinson of Aurora Lodge #9, Camden, and Most Worshipful Joseph H. Morgan Ionic Lodge #40, Bridgeton, both Past Grand Masters of the United Grand Lodge, F & A. M., State of New Jersey, the following is a list of Past Grand Masters, who served that high office prior to the 1875 Convention, which united the two rival Grand Lodges of New Jersey:

Most Worshipful George H. Shreves Saint John #1 Trenton 1848-1850

Most Worshipful Benjamin Jackson Unity #2 Burlington 1850-1853

Most Worshipful Joshua Woodlin Unity #2 Burlington 1853-1856

Most Worshipful Henry H. Rias Mt. Moriah #3 Salem 1856-1859

Most Worshipful George Jackson Rising Sun #4 Kaighnsville 1859-1862

Most Worshipful James Dolphin Unity #2 Burlington 1862-1868

Most Worshipful Dempsey D. Butler Rising Sun #4 Kaighnsville 1868-1869

Most Worshipful James Woodland 1869-1874

NOTE: The name James Woodland has not been located in any other record studied.

In a Grand Assembly of Masons, which met in Schweinhagen's Hall in the city of Camden on December 29, 1875, the most historical and significant acts were to take place that would affect the source and course of Prince Hall Masonry in the State of New Jersey for all time. M. W. John W. Mays was elected “Permanent Chairman of the Convention.” The “Purpose” of the convention was to form “Masonic Union” in New Jersey, based upon the principles: of Charity and Brotherly Love. The Convention successfully combined the two bitter rivals, namely; the “MOST WORSHIPFUL UNION GRAND LODGE (INDEPENDENT)” and the “MOST WORSHIPFUL UNION GRAND LODGE (NATIONAL COMPACT).” Which was called the United Grand Lodge of F & A. M., State of New Jersey was formed at which time King David was under dispensation.

By Action of the Grand Lodge in the Ninety Eighth Annual Communication held in Atlantic City on June 25 and 26, 1946, the title of the Grand Lodge was changed to read: The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, State of New Jersey. By the following June, the incorporation of the Grand Lodge under its new designation had been completed.

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