
A Depiction of Prince Hall
Prince Hall Charter
To some, Masonry is a mystery; to others it is a
way of life. Carl H. Claudy wrote in Foreign Countries, "Freemasonry begins teaching the
profane long before they apply for membership. Her reputation is her
first contact with the unelect; she is secret; she is universal; she has
enlisted the interest and the services of great and good men for hundreds of
years." It was this reputation that attracted a man named Prince
Hall to this ancient and honorable fraternity.
Details concerning the early life of Prince Hall are limited due to the lack of
credible and consistent information. His birth year is one of the most
argued subjects among historians, and while several records exist of men named
"Prince Hall" in Boston at the time, an obituary listing on December
7th, 1807 stated that a 'Mr. Prince Hall', Master of African Lodge, died at the
age of 72, making his year of birth to be in 1735, however 1738 has also been
claimed to be supported by evidence. The birth year carved into his
gravestone is 1748, which many scholars have all but proven to be unlikely, but
is still considered possible by some. Masonic historians also vary on his
place of birth from Africa to the West Indes, however no known evidence has
been found to support claim to a true place of birth. There is also some
dispute over whether the Prince Hall, a slave of a Mr. William Hall who later
freed him, is our same Prince Hall or another of the same name. Even his
appearance is under question. Although he is often depicted in works of
art with finer features to where Bro. Charles H. Wesley, Ph.D., compares his
portrait to that "which was near to a white man in appearance", there
are several accounts of people describing Prince Hall as a man with strong African
features, similar to the photo above.
When
Hall arrived in Boston, he noticed that there were no provisions made for its
Black citizens. He acquired a job as a leather maker and lived quite
well. He became very outspoken about the conditions of Blacks. He
demanded the education of Black children, the abolition of slavery and the
inclusion of Blacks in the government on the same terms as whites. As an
abolitionist, he, together with several others, addressed a petition protesting
against the existence of slavery in the colony to the Massachusetts
Legislature.
In the
late 1700's, Prince Hall became interested in Freemasonry. He convinced
14 other Blacks to petition a lodge in Boston. They attempted to petition
St. John's Lodge and were turned away. The 15 men then attempted to
petition Military Lodge No. 441, which was attached to the British Garrison's
38th Regiment of Foot and belonged to the Grand Lodge of Ireland, and on the
night of March 6, 1775, Prince Hall, Cryrus Jonbus, Buestop Slinger, Prince
Rees, John Carter, Peter Freeman, Benjamin Tiler, Cuff Bufform, Thomas
Sanderson, Prince Taylor, Cato Spears, Boston Smith, Peter Best, Forten Howard
and Richard Tilly were initiated into Masonry at Castle William in Boston Harbor.
When
Lodge No. 441 left Boston, they left Prince Hall and the others a permit that
authorized them to meet as a Lodge, bury their dead in due Masonic form and
celebrate St. John's day. In March of 1784, Prince Hall petitioned the
Grand Lodge of England(Moderns) through Worshipful Master William Moody of
Brotherly Love Lodge No. 55 (London, England) for a warrant of Constitution
that would entitle the men to all the rights of a Masonic Lodge. This
warrant was issued on September 29, 1784, although it would be 2 and a half
years before African Lodge would actually receive it. Moody sent a letter
to Hall on March 10, 1787, stating that the Charter was delivered to James
Scott who was Captain of the ship, Neptune, and brother-in-law of John Hancock,
signer of the U.S. Constitution and President of the Continental
Congress. The Charter, received on April 29th 1787, signed by Deputy
Grand Master Roland Holt and witnessed by Grand Secretary William White,
reconstituted African Lodge No. 1 as African Lodge No. 459 with Prince Hall
being its first Worshipful Master, and thus laid the foundation of Prince Hall
Masonry in America. The original charter, which is still held by the
Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, is the most prized possession of
Prince Hall Freemasons. Through it, we can prove our long and illustrious
history and legitimacy. It is the only original charter held by any
American Masonic Body.
In 1791, Prince Hall was made a
Provincial Grand Master by the Premier Grand Lodge of England, which enabled
him to later organize a lodge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1797 at the
request of Rev. Absalom Jones, and in Providence, Rhode Island, both under the
same charter and name, African Lodge No. 459, although the Providence lodge was
later named Hiram Lodge #3. After Prince Hall's death on December 4th,
1807(the obituary wasn't listed until three days later), the three lodges came
together and on June 24th,1808, formed the first African Grand Lodge.
Upon the emergence of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813, The African
Grand Lodge, like many others, was stricken from the rolls due to "lack of
contact" and after being refused acknowledgement by the Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts, declared istelf an independent Grand Lodge, just as the Grand
Lodge of Massachusetts had done 45 years earlier. African Grand Lodge was
later named the Prince Hall Grand Lodge in honor of its founder and first Grand
Master and since that time, every state Grand Lodge born out of the original
has incorporated Prince Hall's name and are all styled The Most Worshipful
Prince Hall Grand Lodge of (State) with the exception of Florida, titled The
Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge, and Mississippi, titled The Most Worshipful
Stringer Grand Lodge. Over the years, there have been many doubts of
Prince Hall Masonry's legitimacy in our mystic circle and some have
claimed that the brothers that formed African Lodge No. 459 did not have the
right to form a Grand Lodge, even though there are examples of this being an
acceptable custom during the time by other Grand Lodges.
In 1869, a fire destroyed the 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 at the First National Bank of Boston. It is brought out and
displayed only once every 10 years during a weekend-long ceremonial celebration
of Prince Hall hosted by the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts and attended by Masons from around the world. Today, the
Prince Hall fraternity has over 4,500 lodges worldwide, forming 46 independent
jurisdictions with a membership of over 300,000 masons.
It can be argued that one of the most important battles of
racism in this country was fought in the circles of Freemasonry. Black
Freemasons were leaders and key figures in helping runaway slaves through the
Underground Railroad. They helped establish the first schools for
African-American children and played key roles in the struggle for civil
rights. While Prince Hall Masonry has existed since the late 18th
century, and although it was considered "regular" by the United Grand
Lodge of England(UGLE), it did not receive official fraternal recognition from
the UGLE until December 14th, 1994, 219 years after the initiation of these
brave men. Even today, Prince Hall Masons are not recognized in some,
mostly southern, states because of what many refer to as a "question of
legitimacy of origin", but what most know to be racial division. As
Joseph Walks, Jr. wrote in Jno. G. Lewis, Jr.'s End of an Era, "The history of Prince Hall Freemasonry
is, in reality, the history of the Black experience in America."
Prince Hall's remains are buried in Copps Hill burial ground in Boston,
Massachusetts where his grave is marked by a broken pillar. He was
declared a Founding Father of the United States on October 20th, 2008 by the
city of Cambridge, Massachusetts and a memorial was unveiled in his honor on
May 15th, 2010 on the grounds of Cambridge Common, a civic landmark dating back
to George Washington and home of several monuments. This historic event
marked the establishment of the first Prince Hall Memorial in the United States
as well as the first monument at Cambridge Common dedicated to an African
American.

Prince Hall Memorial at Cambridge Common Rotunda in Cambridge, MA
