Prince Hall is recognized as the Father of Black Masonry in the United States. He made it possible for us to also be recognized and enjoy all priviliges of Free and Accepted Masonry.

Many rumors of the birth of Prince Hall have arisen. Few records and papers have been found of him either in Barbados where it was rumored that he was born, but no record of birth, by church or state, has been found there, and none in Boston. All 11 countries of the day were searched and churches with baptismal records were examined without a find of the name of Prince Hall. ¹

One widely circulated rumor states that "Prince Hall was free born in British West Indies. His father, Thomas Prince Hall, was an Englisman and his mother a free colored woman of French extraction. In 1765 he worked his passage on a ship to Boston, where he worked as a leather worker, a trade learned from his father. Eight years later he had acquired real estate and was qualified to vote. Religiously inclined, he later became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church with a charge in Cambridge." This account, paraphased from the generally discredited Grimshaw book of 1903, is suspect in many areas.²

Black Freemasonry began when Prince Hall and fourteen other free black men were initiated into Lodge No. 441, Irish Constitution, attached to the 38th Regiment of Foot, British Army Garrisoned at Castle William (now Fort Independence) Boston Harbor on March 6, 1775. The Master of the Lodge was Sergeant John Batt. Along with Prince Hall, the other newly made masons were Cyrus Johnson, Bueston Slinger, Prince Rees, John Canton, Peter Freeman, Benjamin Tiler, Duff Ruform, Thomas Santerson, Prince Rayden, Cato Speain, Boston Smith, Peter Best, Forten Howard and Richard Titley.

When the British Army left Boston in 1776, this Lodge, No 441, granted Prince Hall and his brethren authority to meet as African Lodge #1 (Under Dispensation), to go in procession on St. John's Day, and as a Lodge to bury their dead; but they could not confer degrees nor perform any other Masonic "work". For nine years these brethren, together with others who had received their degrees elsewhere, assembled and enjoyed their limited privileges as Masons. Thirty-three masons were listed on the rolls of African Lodge #1 on January 14th, 1779. Finally on March 2, 1784, Prince Hall petitioned the Grand Lodge of England, through a Worshipful Master of a subordinate Lodge in London (William Moody of Brotherly Love Lodge No. 55) for a warrant or charter.

The Warrant to African Lodge No. 459 of Boston is the most significant and highly prized document known to the Prince Hall Mason 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.

Prince Hall was appointed a Provincial Grand Master in 1791 by H.R.H., the Prince of Wales. The question of extending Masonry arose when Absalom Jones of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania appeared in Boston. He was an ordained Episcopal priest and a mason who was interested in establishing a masonic lodge in Philadelphia. Under the authority of the charter of African Lodge #459, Prince Hall established African Lodge #459 of Philadelphia on March 22, 1797 and Hiram Lodge #3 in Providence, Rhode Island on June 25, 1797. African Lodge of Boston became the "Mother Lodge" of the Prince Hall Family. It was typical for new lodges to be established in this manner in those days. The African Grand Lodge was not organized until 1808 when representatives of African Lodge #459 of Boston, African Lodge #459 of Philidelphia and Hiram Lodge #3 of Providence met in New York City.

Upon Prince Hall's death on December 4, 1807, Nero Prince became Master. When Nero Prince sailed to Russia in 1808, George Middleton succeeded him. After Middleton, Petrert Lew, Samuel H. Moody and then, John T. Hilton became Grand Master. In 1827, Hilton recommended a Declaration of Independence from the English Grand Lodge.

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. The original Charter No. 459 has long since been made secure between heavy plate glass and is kept in a fire-proof vault in a downtown Boston bank.

Today, the Prince Hall fraternity has over 4,500 lodges worldwide, forming 45 independent jurisdictions with a membership of over 300,000 masons.

THE MOST WORSHIPFUL GRAND LODGE OF PRINCE HALL MASONS
FREE and ACCEPTED MASONS
GEORGIA

(Brief History)

On March 2, 1784, African Lodge #1 petitioned the Grand Lodge of England, the Premier or Mother Grand Lodge of the world, for a warrant (or charter), to organize a regular Masonic lodge, with all the rights and privileges thereunto prescribed. The Grand Lodge of England issued a charter on September 29, 1784 to African Lodge #459, the first lodge of Blacks in America. The time is now 1866, Brother James M. Simms already having been made a Mason, knew that in Savannah, there were a number of brethren of a receptive mind who craved the light of Masonry. Several of those brethren were free men and under the usage of Masonry and were qualified to receive the secrets of the order.

Even though the smell of gunpowder and the echoing of cannons of the civil war; the fight for freedom and the great struggle of the North and the South was ongoing, the formation of a Masonic Lodge was on the minds of men of color for many years. At that time colored men were not allowed to have any gatherings what so ever except for religious purposes. Immediately after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation the brethren who were interested in the formation of a Lodge started to hold meetings. Several attempts were made to establish a Lodge but it was very difficult to secure the required number of Masons to assist in the work. The work was, therefore delayed. Finally a dispensation was granted by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts on February 4 A.D. 1866, A.L. 5866 and Eureka No. 11 A.F. & A. M was organized. The first Lodge room was located in the building which today occupies the site of the Chatham Bank and Trust Company located west of Johnson Square.

Bro. James M. Simms was appointed District Deputy Grand Master for the area, which covered Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts granted the Charter for Eureka No. 11 A. F. & A. M. on 24 June 1866. At its exception, the Lodge grew to such a large number that some of the brethren were given their demits so that in September of the same year John T. Hilton Lodge No.13 in Savannah could be formed being granted a dispensation by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Bro. James Jackson helped to organize Banneker Lodge No. 38 in Augusta, Georgia. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted the dispensation.

On June 18th, 1919, a Warrant of Constitution was issued to Silver Leaf Lodge No. 457 of Conyers, Georgia, from the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia F. & A. M.

Billy Lunsford (Senior Warden), Bernard West (Worshipful Master), Calvin Lunsford (Secretary) and Past Master John Williams (deceased)

The Silver Leaf Connection

PRINCE HALL HISTORY