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PRINCE HALL
September12, 1737
- December 4, 1807
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Though myth, aggrandizement, and the racial
climate of the times have shrouded the earlier
life of Prince Hall, it has been established that
he was a great man and his legacy needed no
help. It is widely accepted that,
"Prince Hall was the son of an English
leather merchant and a free Negro woman of French
descent. Born in Bridgetown, Barbados and after
having served his apprenticeship in the leather
trade, under the tutelage of his father, migrated
to Boston, Massachusetts in 1765."
These myths, among others, were authored by
William H. Grimshaw in his book, Official
History of Freemasonry Among The Colored People
in North America. In defense of
Mr. Grimshaw, I ask the reader to step back in
time, momentarily, to the time when this book was
written, 1903. During this period
"colored" peoples were led to believe
that they would be more readily accepted if they
were of mixed heritage, with the father almost
always white, willingly migrated to the
United States and was FREE! There is
the strong possibility that Mr. Grimshaw felt
that through his aggrandizement of Prince Hall
that our Masonic Order would be more readily
accepted and recognized.
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Prince Hall, the Mason, was also a man of great
foresight and it has been established that he
championed unpopular causes of the times.
Those causes included education for "colored
" people, the halt to the kidnapping of free
"colored" persons for the purpose
of being sold as slaves, abolition of
slavery in Massachusetts, and the inclusion of
"colored" men into the Continental
Army.
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Prince Hall, with fourteen other men of color,
approached Sgt. John Batt "Marster" of
Irish Constitution military lodge #441, attached
to the 38th Regiment of Foot, for the
purpose of becoming Masons. After due course and
instruction "Marster" Batt caused the
following freedmen to be known as Masons:
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| PETTER BETTS |
JOHN CANTON |
PETER FREEMAN |
| PRINCE HALL |
FORTON HOWARD |
CYRUS FORBES |
| PRINCE TAYLOR |
PRINCE REED |
DUFF RUFORM |
| THOMAS SAUNDERSON |
BRISTALL SLINSER |
BOSTON SMITH |
| CESER SPEAR |
BENJAMIN TILER |
RICHARD TITLEY |
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At the departure of Irish military Lodge #441,
Master Prince Hall and these Masons were given
the right to meet and conduct business as a
Lodge, go in public procession in observance of
St. John's Day, and to bury their dead as a
Masonic Lodge. However, without benefit of
a warrant or charter, they could perform no
degree work allowing their Masonic fraternity to
grow. Prince Hall, Master of the African
Lodge, through petition, approached Provincial
Grand Master Joseph Warren for Masonic
recognition. Before this petition could be
acted upon, GM Warren was killed at the battle of
Bunker Hill. This sad turn of events dashed
the hope of being recognized and accepted into
the Caucasian Masonic Jurisdiction of
Massachusetts.
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Two letters of petition were sent to the Grand
Lodge of England, one of which was successful and
a warrant was issued to African Lodge No. 459 on
September 20, 1784. Prince Hall received
this charter April 29, 1787, which remains in the
hands of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand
Lodge of Massachusetts.
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We honor the memory and achievements of our First
Grand Master on Prince Hall Americanism Day,
normally on the Sunday closest to September 20.
- PM Howard R. Jones, 32o
- Worshipful Grand Sword Bearer
- **Information gleaned from:
- Black
Square & Compass - 200 years of Prince Hall
Masonry by Joseph A. Walkes, Jr.
- A
Prince Hall Masonic Quiz Book by Joseph A.
Walkes, Jr.
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