“Know ye, that we at the humble petition of our Right Trusty and well beloved brethren, Prince Hall, Boston Smith, Thomas Saunderson, and several other brethren residing in Boston, New England, in North America, do hereby constitute the said brethren into a regular Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, under the title or denomination of the African Lodge …and hereby appoint the said Prince Hall to be Master, Boston Smith, Senior Warden, and Thomas Saunderson, Junior Warden, for opening the said Lodge …” excerpt from the original charter issued to Prince Hall by the Grand Lodge of England.
Dear Trinity Church,
Freemasonry is considered the world’s oldest, largest secular fraternal organization, originating from medieval stonemason guilds to promote charity, morality, and brotherly love. Famous Freemasons include George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Mozart, and Winston Churchill. On March 6, 1775, Prince Hall and 14 other free Black men were made Masons in Lodge No. 441 of the Irish Registry attached to the 38th British Foot Infantry at Castle William Island (now Fort Independence) in Boston Harbor. They had originally reached out to an American lodge and had been rejected. Acceptance by Lodge No. 441 marked the first time that men of color were made Masons in America.
Later, on July 3, 1775, these men organized African Lodge No. 1 with Prince Hall as Worshipful Master, the highest-ranking officer and presiding leader of a Masonic Lodge, responsible for its overall management, ritual, and operations. Official acknowledgment of the legitimacy of African Lodge No. 1 was made by John Rowe. Rowe, a Warden of Trinity Church, was a prominent Boston merchant, owner of Rowe’s Wharf involved in the Boston Tea Party, and ironically, intimately involved with the transatlantic slave trade. He was also a Provincial Grand Master for North America. He held authority from the premier Grand Lodge of Freemasons, the Grand Lodge of England. He issued a permit authorizing African Lodge No. 1 to appear publicly in procession as a Masonic body for the purpose of celebrating the Feast of St. John, an important annual Masonic event. When the British Army left Boston in 1776, Lodge No. 441 granted Prince Hall and his brethren authority to meet, but did not grant them full status. African Lodge No. 1 had no charter firmly establishing authenticity and linking the lodge to the wider Masonic fraternity. Hall’s quest would continue.
Meanwhile, Hall, a successful merchant in his own right as a leather maker, was a leading activist within Boston’s Black community seeking to abolish slavery, and along with fellow activist and Mason George Middleton, striving to improve educational opportunities for all Black children. Before and during the Revolutionary War, Hall submitted several petitions to the Massachusetts Legislature. In 1777, along with Lancaster Hill, Peter Bess, and Brister Slenfen, he submitted a petition that read, in part,
“… your Petitioners apprehend that they have, in common with all other Men, a natural and unalienable right to that freedom, which the great Parent of the Universe hath bestowed equally on all mankind, and which they have never forfeited by any compact or agreement whatever. But they were unjustly dragged, by the cruel hand of power, from their dearest friends and some of them even torn from the embraces of their tender parents …in violation of the Laws of nature and of nations and in defiance of all the tender feelings of humanity, brought together to be sold like beasts of burden and like them condemned to slavery for life. Among a people professing the mild Religion of Jesus … [we] humbly beseech your Honors to give this petition its due weight and consideration and cause an Act of the Legislature to be passed whereby they may be restored to the enjoyment of that freedom which is the natural right of all men.”
The measure failed, but Hall and other activists continued their efforts. Hall’s efforts in other areas continued as well. On March 2, 1784, Prince Hall petitioned the Grand Lodge of England for a charter for African Lodge 1. It was granted on September 29, 1784. Captain Scott, brother-in-law of John Hancock delivered the warrant to Prince Hall on April 29, 1787.
Trinity Church records show that during this time in 1782, Prince Hall and his wife sponsored the baptism of Susanna Bess, daughter of John Meins and wife Eunice, servants of Hancock. In 1788, Hall sponsored Henry Stevenson and Rufus Callahan. In that same year, he also sponsored John Dennis and later in 1791, he sponsored Elizabeth Hunter. Stevenson, Callahan, Dennis, and Hunter were all described as a “free Negro adult.” Hall’s last baptismal sponsorship was in 1802 for Sophia Matilda, daughter of Robert Wonten and wife Catherine.
While Prince Hall did not attend Trinity Church, some of his fellow Masons did including Thomas Saunderson, whose name appears in the original lodge charter. Church records show that in 1783, Saunderson witnessed the baptism of Caesar Holmes, “a free Negro adult.” Burial records note that Saunderson’s wife, Hannah, died in 1784 at the age of 49. He remarried soon thereafter. 1785 was a busy year for Saunderson as new wife Keturah and daughter Elizabeth were baptized. He witnessed the baptism of Samuel “the adult Negro servant of Captain Waters.” Saunderson’s son Daniel was baptized in 1787. In 1789 newspapers noted that, “Mr. Thomas Saunderson, Secretary of the African Lodge No. 1,” had died.
Mason Luke Belcher’s name first appears in Trinity’s records in 1779. Belcher had formerly been a servant in the family of Massachusetts Governor Belcher. While it is unknown when or how he gained his freedom, by 1784, city records note that he was a shopkeeper. He and his wife Dinah witnessed the baptisms of at least nine people at Trinity between 1770 and 1807. When he died in 1786, Belcher received a full Masonic funeral procession. One newspaper, The American Recorder, noted, “Died, his excellency Luke Belcher, late Governour of the Africans in this town. He was universally respected by every rank of citizens.”
In 1789, fellow Mason James Hawkins stood inside Trinity Church and witnessed the baptism of Lucy Vansyse, “an adult free Negro.” In 1795, he witnessed the baptism of Samuel, the son of Black laborer Butterfield Scotland. Burial records indicate Hawkins died in 1800 at the age of 48.
Prince Hall died on December 4, 1807. He was 72 years old. On December 10, the newspaper Boston Courier reported that his remains were interred “in complete Masonic order, by the African Lodge, of which he was Master. A very large procession of Blacks followed him to the grave.” His remains are interred at Copp’s Hill Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1847, out of respect for their founding father, African Lodge No. 1 was renamed in his honor to Prince Hall Grand Lodge, the name it bears to this day. Today, Prince Hall Freemasonry is recognized as the oldest continuously active organization founded by African Americans.
Until next month,
Cynthia
Sources and Further Reading
Cass, Don A. Negro Freemasonry and segregation: An Historical Study of Prejudice against American Negroes as Freemasons, and the position of Negro Freemasonry in the Masonic Fraternity. Ezra A. Cook, Inc. Chicago. 1957. P. 95-101.
https://archive.org/details/nfs1merged1/page/n2/mode/1up
Smith, S. (2021). Reimagining Prince Hall: Race, Freemasonry, and Material Culture in Boston, 1775-1870. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/6426
Records of Trinity Church, Boston 1728-1830
https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/1101
Online Resources about Prince Hall and the Masons
Prince Hall Grand Lodge (Massachusetts)
Prince Hall: Bound for Greatness
https://medfordhistorical.org/medford-history/africa-to-medford/prince-hall/
Prince Hall Freemasonry: A Resource Guide
https://guides.loc.gov/prince-hall-freemasonry
African American Women’s Organizations Affiliated with Prince Hall Freemasonry: A Resource Guide
https://guides.loc.gov/african-american-womens-organizations
People
Lancaster Hill
https://www.kings-chapel.org/lancaster-hill.html
George Middleton
https://thewestendmuseum.org/history/era/west-boston/colonel-george-middleton/
John Rowe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rowe_(merchant)
Obituaries
Luke Belcher Obituary. The American Recorder and the Charlestown Advertiser
Friday, Aug 18, 1786. Boston, MA. Volume I. Issue:70. Page:3
Prince Hall Obituary. Boston Courier. Thursday, Dec 10, 1807. Boston, MA. Vol:III. Issue:26
Image Source
Castle William, 1773
https://www.loc.gov/item/2004678901/
A Charge Delivered to the African Lodge, 1779