# Prince Hall Myths, Legends and Facts



## Blake Bowden (Mar 5, 2013)

*MYTH: Prince Hall was born in Bridgetown, Barbados, B.W.I. His father Thomas Prince Hall, was an English leather worker, and his mother, a free colored woman of French extraction.*

FACT: To date there has never been any proof of the birth place, or who the parents of Prince Hall where. To date there has only been speculation.


*MYTH: The Initiation of Prince Hall and fourteen other men of color was illegal.*

FACT: What constituted a legal Mason prior to the formation of the Grand Lodge system in USA? There were none before 1778 when the Grand Lodge of Virginia was instituted. Before then there were Provincial Grand Lodges–several of them. In Massachusetts there were two such bodies. One held allegiance to the “Modern” Grand Lodge of England; the other, the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Studying the works of Henry Wilson Coil, Melvin Maynard Johnson, J. Hugo Tatsch, Harry Carr and many others we find there were hundreds of “illegal” Masons in the early days of Freemasonry in America. For example, where were the members of the lodge that met in Philadelphia in 1731 (and perhaps earlier) made Masons? Was Benjamin Franklin, who was made a Mason in this lodge, illegal? No of course not.


*MYTH: African Lodge was illegally formed.*

FACT: Freemason’s proudly proclaim the supremacy of the Grand Lodge of England. It was the Grand Lodge of England that granted a warrant on September 29, 1784 for African Lodge No. 459, and this warrant is still in existence.


*MYTH: African Lodge had no right to warrant other lodges and form a Grand Lodge.*

FACT: Let us look at the Lodge at Fredericksburgh VA. It warranted two lodges: Falmouth and Botetourt. Those Lodges helped form the Grand Lodge of Virginia, and both are still in existence. What did the only lodge in Massachusetts do after 1733? Did it not form a Provincial Grand Lodge and then warrant other lodges, and not only in Massachusetts? Why should African Lodge be refused the same privilege?


*MYTH: African Lodge’s Warrant did not give them the right to Make Masons.*

FACT: Africa Lodge No. 459′s Warrant was no different from any other Warrant issued by the Grand Lodge of England.

A cope of the original Charter be found here:
http://www.masonsoftexas.com/showthread.php?17692-The-Original-Prince-Hall-Charter&p=93926#post93926


*MYTH: African Lodge was erased by the United Grand Lodge of England.*

FACT: So was every lodge in America still on the roles of either of the rival Grand Lodges. This included about half of the lodges in Massachusetts! Has any critic dared claim all other American lodges erased from the roster of the United Grand Lodge of England are clandestine?


*MYTH: African Lodge was dormant for a number of years and therefore is illegal.*

FACT: So were numerous other lodges. Research the anti-Masonic craze beginning in 1826. Check out the vast number of lodges giving up their charters. Hundreds of them came back into the fold with no condemnation. Why should they be privileged and African Lodge not?


*MYTH: Prince Hall Grand Lodges only accept men of color, and “Mainstream” Grand Lodges only accept Caucasian men.*

I. John Pine, a black Freemason, who in 1769 designed the frontispiece for Anderson’s Constitutions.

II. Canadian Grand Master by the name of Charles Lightfoot Roman, Grand Lodge of Quebec, was a black Freemason.

III. The proceedings of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York, 1871 provide us a record of a Lodge of German Jews working under the authority of this Prince Hall Grand Lodge.

IV. Alpha Lodge No. 116, F. & A. M. Grand Lodge of New Jersey [Mainstream] is comprised of Black Masons.

V. The United Grand Lodge of England, The Grand Lodge of Scotland, and The Grand Lodge of Ireland have had Provincial Grand Lodges through out the world, and their membership is not restricted by color.


*MYTH: Prince Hall Grand Lodges only accept men who are Christians.*

FACT: This is a question of Regularity. Since it has already been determined that Prince Hall Lodges are Regular, for us to practice or teach this would be against the Ancient Landmarks of our order. In 1787, Prince Hall forwarded a copy of “The General Regulations of the African Lodge to D.G.M. Roland Holt in London, with the very first item declaring, “. yet at the same time allow every man to join his own religion so that they be men of Honour and Freeborn.”


*MYTH: Prince Hall Grand Lodges have chartered Lodges in other Grand Lodges’ Jurisdictions.*

FACT: Prince Hall Grand Lodges have chartered military Lodges in Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Korea to name a few. The traditional act of chartering a Lodge to service members traveling abroad is well recorded in Masonic history. This has been a practice in Freemasonry since the very beginning of the rebirth in 1717. United Grand Lodge of England, The Grand Lodge of Scotland, The Grand Lodge of Ireland, and many other “mainstream” Grand Lodges have Charted Lodges though out the world in other Grand Lodges’ Jurisdictions.


*MYTH: The Prince Hall Conference of Grand Masters has never or only recently embraced its Caucasian counterparts.*

FACT: Even before recognitions, Prince Hall Grand Masters have met, worked with, and received their Caucasian counterparts in informal as well as formal and public Masonic events. There is documentation going back to 1970 stating the Prince Hall Conference of Grand Masters received such prominent members as the Grand Master of Mass. AF&AM, and the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, N.J. at it’s meeting.


Source: Bro. Frederic L. Milliken (Masons of Texas member Squire Bentley)
Compiled By: Aubrey Brown, MPS, Kevin Gembarosky MPS, David Gray, MPS, Nelson King, FPS.

More Info: http://www.freemasoninformation.com/2009/11/prince-hall-myths-legends-and-facts/


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## Ashlar76 (Mar 5, 2013)

WOW! Great information appreciated by this PHA Brethren. Great post Bro Blake.


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## chrmc (Mar 5, 2013)

Good info. Thanks


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## Brother Jordan Butler (Mar 5, 2013)

Great info brother I learned and got a lot from it 

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## widows son (Mar 5, 2013)

Awesome


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## Michael Neumann (Mar 5, 2013)

Most of the information for the petition was a result of links found on Masons of Texas, Blake has done something amazing here with this site. A mass of information and sharing of ideas between brethren across the globe, a major service to our craft.


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## towerbuilder7 (Mar 5, 2013)

Amen, Bro Neumann, and you are paying it forward with YOUR work.   Kudos to you as well.       

Bro Vincent C Jones, Sr., Lodge Chaplain
Bayou City Lodge 228, Prince Hall Affiliation, Free and Accepted Masonry, Houston, Texas
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas


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## Squire Bentley (Mar 27, 2013)

Thanks for posting the information about Prince Hall Freemasonry. As part of the original article posted to "The Beehive" in 2009 was this that I wrote.

Whatâ€™s left to comment on is the The Right Of Exclusive Territorial Jurisdiction or the American Doctrine.  It is called the American Doctrine because only in America is it practiced.  Itâ€™s not a subject we havenâ€™t been over before.

Itâ€™s always been against Masonic etiquette for a new Grand Lodge to enter an established Masonic territory as a Masonic Raider.  But that is not the case in the early development of American Mainstream and Prince Hall Freemasonry.

Some scholars say that they can trace back into the mid to late 1700s where the ROETJ was already a standard practice  even in England.  Some of these same scholars say that Prince Hall uses the same doctrine against its own â€“ battling rogue Black Masonic Grand Lodges and declaring them clandestine.  The two assertions are interconnected and wrong.

There is a big difference in refusing to recognize and to take action against irregular Freemasonry which does not follow the Landmarks and refusing to subsist with a peaceful, regular Grand Lodge in the same territory.  The actions our early Mainstream forefathers took in battling other Grand Lodges was, for the most part, a fight against irregularity.  So is the battle Prince Hall wages against its knock offs.

But this whole separation and question of the ROETJ need not have happened.  It could have been avoided by Mainstream Masonry accepting Prince Hall into the family when the Antients and the Moderns reconciled.  The fact that this was not done leads to conjecture that the ROETJ was created specifically for the purpose of disenfranchising Black Masonry and to have a legal basis to declare it clandestine and illegal.  For it is precisely in this period in the first quarter of the 19th century that the American Doctrine came to be widely used. So you still have Southern Mainstream Freemasons saying that  â€“ well if they werenâ€™t a separate Grand Lodge in the same territory we would recognize Black Freemasonry.  Yet they and their ancestors are the very people that refused to embrace Blacks in Freemasonry, forced them to go their separate way and then created a Doctrine which made their continued separate existence illegal.   So if you set up roadblocks and codify separation so that you wonâ€™t accept Black Freemasonry inside Mainstream Grand Lodges nor  allow them to exist separately legally without declaring them clandestine then which way did those setting up these rules expect Black Freemasonry to go?  The answer is they expected it to go away.

For those of you who might be tempted to say â€“ well Blacks can just join Mainstream Grand Lodges where Prince Hall is not recognized today, you could be accused of having your head buried in the sand. You would not have remembered the battle of Frank Haas in West Virginia, the scandal of the Grand Lodge of Georgia against Gate City Lodge No. 2 and the recent shenanigans now coming to light in Arkansas.

Southern white Freemasonry and thatâ€™s what Southern Mainstream Freemasonry is â€“ white, a WASP society, cannot have it both ways.  It cannot refuse to recognize Prince Hall because of some legal mumbo jumbo in the ROETJ while at the same time black balling every non white applicant.  But that is precisely what it is doing.

How much longer are the states who now do recognize Prince Hall going to sit back and do nothing while a minority of the Craft in one region of the country smears the reputation and good name of the Craft?  How long are the good guys going to hide behind the good old boys understanding that one does not interfere in another jurisdictionâ€™s business?  How many members of the next generation do you think will want to join an organization which can truthfully be labeled racist?

Frederic L. Milliken


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## towerbuilder7 (Mar 27, 2013)

ALWAYS enjoy the LIGHT you shine, Brother..............keep up the good work in all that you are doing..............Hopefully, the progressive Brethren that are on this site will position themselves in their respective Lodges/Grand Lodges to get the power of THE VOTE to right the wrongs that must be addressed for our progression as A CRAFT....................

BRO VINCENT C. JONES, SR., BAYOU CITY LODGE #228, PHA, F&AM, DISTRICT 15-A, HOUSTON, TEXAS


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## AdQuadratum (Apr 24, 2013)

Smib


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## PHCONGOS (May 8, 2013)

Bro.Vincent fraternal greetings to you from Congo - Africa.
I am bro.Ben of Prince Hall Congo this is to inform that we are present in the region and would like to invite you to visit our Facebook page: princehallcongo
Your bro.keeper
Ben

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## Bro. Vincent (May 8, 2013)

Greetings to you as well brother. I hail from WMPHGL of Missouri by way of the city of ST. Louis. 


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## stuntman98 (May 8, 2013)

Outstanding!

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