# PHA recognition



## AndreAshlar (Jan 17, 2015)

Excluding racism and the residual effects of it, what legitimate reason is there for any regular lodge not to recognize all Prince Hall affiliated lodges that are directly descended from African Lodge #459?


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## dfreybur (Jan 18, 2015)

American principle of exclusive jurisdiction.  Once a recognized jurisdiction controls a region any jurisdiction that opens a lodge there is an invader.  It's easy to describe how this principle interacts with historical racism to create a catch-22.

When California recognized there were several steps in advance about precedent so the principle could still apply.  A neighboring jurisdiction in Mexico asked to charter a lodge near the Mexican border but inside California territory.  They asked so permission was granted and that established a precedent that permission could be granted one lodge at a time without waiving the principle in general.  When Alaska organized its own jurisdiction one of the Washington lodges decided to stay with Washington and potentially became an invader in the new jurisdiction.  The newly formed Alaska jurisdiction allowed them to stay so that set a precedent that a jurisdiction can grant immemorial right exceptions to their exclusive jurisdictions.  Once those two precedents were handled it was clear for local recognition to happen.

By my understanding those two rulings mean that both California GLs need to grant permission for either to charter a new lodge in California.  One by issuing a warrant then charter.  The other by waiving jurisdiction.  I don't think either GLs has done so for any new lodge since recognition happened, they just welcome the new lodge as part of a regular and recognized jurisdiction.  Letter of the law and spirit of the law.

Potential for issues of lineage.  When a jurisdiction forms itself it does so from regular and recognized lodges in its new territory.  If one or more of them was an absorbed clandestine or irregular lodge then a waiver needs to be arranged.  There have been branches of the family that descend from African 459 that ended up irregular.  Lodges can and occasionally do jump from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  I remember from California recognition that had not happened with MWPHAGLofCA+HI member lodges but it is something that needs to be addressed when checking lineage.


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## AndreAshlar (Jan 18, 2015)

dfreybur - Branches existing without a charter or dispensation from a grand body of competent jurisdiction are not empowered to work.   They are clandestine. None are recognized as PHA.  I'm referencing those true PHA lodges working under the power of a charter that descends from UGLE.


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## dfreybur (Jan 19, 2015)

AndreAshlar said:


> dfreybur - Branches existing without a charter or dispensation from a grand body of competent jurisdiction are not empowered to work.   They are clandestine. None are recognized as PHA.  I'm referencing those true PHA lodges working under the power of a charter that descends from UGLE.



The example of the PHO lineage comes to mind.  They do have direct descent from African 459 but they went irregular at at least one point.  Not having a direct lineage makes the jurisdiction's clandestine status slam dunk, but having a direct lineage does not make regularity a slam dunk.  That's why I suggest looking in two places when investigating a jurisdiction -

1) Recognition in the chain starting at UGLE http://www.ugle.org.uk/about/foreign-grand-lodges

2) Regularity per the Conference of Grand Masters Prince Hall Masons http://www.conferenceofgrandmasterspha.org/gjlinks.asp

Those in the UGLE list are both regular and recognized.  Those in the CGMPHM list are all regular and recognize among themselves.  That still leaves PHO jurisdictions as having the lineage but not being regular.

Plus any number of jurisdictions that were made up and thus clandestine http://thephylaxis.org/bogus/


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## AndreAshlar (Jan 21, 2015)

P.H.O is a spurious, clandestine organization of men who were expelled from P.H.A in the 1960's for un-masonic conduct (selling degrees, violating other landmarks, etc.). They have since set themselves up as independent grand lodges despite having no charter or dispensation from some legitimate grand body of competent jurisdiction empowering them to work.


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## dfreybur (Jan 21, 2015)

AndreAshlar said:


> P.H.O is a spurious, clandestine organization of men who were expelled from P.H.A in the 1960's for un-masonic conduct (selling degrees, violating other landmarks, etc.). They have since set themselves up as independent grand lodges despite having no charter or dispensation from some legitimate grand body of competent jurisdiction empowering them to work.



You are conflating clandestine and irregular.  They have the lineage so they are not clandestine.  Those independent jurisdictions have the same form of lineage as the PHA branch.  They are irregular because of the acts that caused them to be expelled.  Either status means there will be no recognition but they are distinct situations.

Were I a PHO member and I figured out how to judge regularity I would apply for healing at a PHA lodge - This forum has a number of brothers who were healed.  Were I in charge of a PHO lodge I would ask the lodge to vote on applying to the nearest PHA jurisdiction for transfer of jurisdiction and healing the entire lodge.  Were I a PM with a vote on the floor of a PHO jurisdiction I would recommend merging with the nearest PHA jurisdiction for healing.  Were I in the grand line in a PHO jurisdiction I would see a merger as losing all of that effort so I would entrench and resist.  Generally what the GM says, goes.  So I get why healing does not happen.  It's sad.


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## bupton52 (Jan 24, 2015)

dfreybur said:


> You are conflating clandestine and irregular.  They have the lineage so they are not clandestine.  Those independent jurisdictions have the same form of lineage as the PHA branch.  They are irregular because of the acts that caused them to be expelled.  Either status means there will be no recognition but they are distinct situations.
> 
> Were I a PHO member and I figured out how to judge regularity I would apply for healing at a PHA lodge - This forum has a number of brothers who were healed.  Were I in charge of a PHO lodge I would ask the lodge to vote on applying to the nearest PHA jurisdiction for transfer of jurisdiction and healing the entire lodge.  Were I a PM with a vote on the floor of a PHO jurisdiction I would recommend merging with the nearest PHA jurisdiction for healing.  Were I in the grand line in a PHO jurisdiction I would see a merger as losing all of that effort so I would entrench and resist.  Generally what the GM says, goes.  So I get why healing does not happen.  It's sad.



Since the National GL was abandoned and shut down, the PHO body that exists today is one that carried on without authority. They put replacement GLs in states where the legitimate GLs had defected from them. This PHO no longer has lineage. They are clandestine.


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## Raymond Walters (Jan 25, 2015)

bupton52 said:


> Since the National GL was abandoned and shut down, the PHO body that exists today is one that carried on without authority. They put replacement GLs in states where the legitimate GLs had defected from them. This PHO no longer has lineage. They are clandestine.




_Bro. Upton, strangely this conversation relates to research that I am presently engaged in that affects Maryland and West Virginia, specifically West Virginia's Prince Hall Grand Lodge and how it came to be in existence. 

Sadly, I have been unable to obtain copies of source documents from the bodies that one would reasonably expect to obtain them from, so I am now having to explore other sources for documents that confirm how the original Colored Grand Lodge FAAYM in West Virginia was formed, first lodge formed in 1877 by Maryland..._



*AN EXCERPT FROM THE MWPHGL OF WV website (website no longer exists)
*
*MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of West Virginia (founding lodges)*
*The West Virginia Grand Lodge was chartered in 1877 by a group of Black Men from Jefferson County, West Virginia.  

Star Lodge #1 is the oldest lodge and first lodge to receive a charter from the Grand Lodge of Maryland. The WV Grand Lodge is a Prince Hall organization.

The first Lodge in West Virginia was Star Lodge #1, organized March 21, 1877 and warranted by the Grand Lodge of Maryland and located in Charles Town West Virginia. The first Worshipful Master of the Lodge was George Tabb.

Later, Star Lodge organized Mount Pisgah No. 3 Lodge in Martinsburg and Rising Sun Lodge #5 in Harpers Ferry on October 1, 1880. The lodges were duly chartered by the Grand Lodge of Maryland at a convention held on September 22, 1881 in Martinsburg WV for the purpose of organizing the Grand Lodge of West Virginia.

The Grand Officers were duly elected and publicly installed in a ceremony lead by the Grand Master of Maryland which was held in Charles Town, September 23, 1881. The West Virginia Grand Lodge became the 31st of 45 Prince Hall Grand Lodges organized in the nation.



A RICH HISTORY (this goes with photo)
Located at the corner of Avis and Lawrence Street (Martin Delany Place), the Locke House is one of the oldest stone structures in Charles Town. The building is located on a lot number 9 originally sold by Charles Washington (a brother of George Washington, our first president) and his wife Mildred Washington to John Locke by a deed dated April 11, 1791. At that time Avis street was the southern boundary of Charles Town and then named South Street. This Adam or Federal style house was built by John Locke about 1795. 

The structure includes a large interior chimney at each end of the a steep pitched gable roof and three elongated s-shaped iron clasps for tie rods that project through the stonework. There are 2 spiral stairwells, from the first to the third floors. There are no nails in the roof rafters; they are held together with wooden pegs. 

Eventually, the house was passed onto Locke's daughter Martha Gray. The building was subsequently sold in 1885 by Fayette B. Sounders to the trustees of Star Lodge #1 Ancient York Free and Accepted Masons Colored at Charles Town and the trustees of Queen of the Valley Lodge #1558, Independent Order of Odd Fellows Colored at Charles Town. 

In 1927, Star Lodge acquired the interest of the Odd Fellows in the property and has owned it since that time. On March 14, 1963 a building committee was appointed by the Worshipful Master to return plans for adding a large room in the rear of the building. The committee's recommendation were to approved and a new addition was started in the fall of 1963. 

For over 100 years, Star Lodge has met in the Locke House. The first floor of the building has been used as a church and a Charles Town Historic Landmarks Commission designated it as a "Charles Town Historic Landmark" and a brass marker was attached. 


*


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