STOP!
Don't be deceived!

Learn the facts about
Freemasons!

Click below for
More Secrets Revealed

The History of Freemasonry

by Albert Gallatin Mackey

Chapter 52 - The Introduction of Knight Templarism into America

HAVING given in Chapter LI a short history or the Knights Templars during the Crusades, and the suppression of that magnanimous and Christian Order by the Church of Rome, aided by its wretched and villanous adherents, the various sovereigns of Europe; and having also shown the remnants of the Order down to recent times, in England and France, it becomes a pleasing task to trace, as nearly as possible, the connection between those noble spirits, who gave their fortunes and their lives for the cause of Christianity against the Infidels and Mohammedans of Asia, and our modern Templars, who do not use the material implements of a carnal warfare, but employ the legitimate symbols of the Knightly Armor, to contend against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

All of our recent writers on the Order of the Temple agree, that there can not be found any direct connection between the ancient and present Templar systems; yet, like the sunken rivers found in many parts of the world, where we can trace the waters thereof, after they disappear on one side of a mountain, and discover where these same waters again appear, and proceed onward to the sea; the same flowing spirit which was manifested in the lives of the original Templars, from their origin in the 12th century until they disappeared beneath the obstructions placed in their path by the monarchies of Europe, and the succeeding prejudices of the peoples of each, we can now clearly trace in the Templar rituals of England and the United States the fundamental principles of the ancient Order, of ' Fidelity, Zeal, and Obedience," without those superstitions which always have been the accompaniments of the Priestly Orders of the Romish Church. Those superstitions of the early Templars were abolished by them after the close of the Crusades. The Templars, very soon thereafter having learned the deceptions of priestcraft, failed to pay the required respect and obedience to the hierarchy; and, consequently were antagonized by the Church, and their existence as an Order soon thereafter terminated. The modern Templars pay due allegiance to, and worship, the risen Saviour, in spirit and in truth, with no unmeaning ceremonies.

We learn from hilarious writers thats in the progress of Freemasonry in the American Colonies, somewhere about the latter half of the 18th century, some of fixers of an Irish regiment claimed to be possessed of the Knight Templar Order, and through them, several of our own Masons received the several appendant degrees and the Order of Knight Templar. Patents issued to such Knights, bearing dates as early as 1783, are now extant, notably one from Charleston, South Carolina. Toward the close of that century there appeared several appendant degrees, unknown to earlier times, such as Excellent, Superexcellent, Royal Arch Masons. In some of the New England States these degrees were promulgated and conferred under the charters of Blue Lodges; such as the body in the City of Washington in 1794 - two record books of which the present writer had the honor of discovering among the old papers in the office of the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia in 1875, which no living Mason in the District could give an account of. This body was called the "Excellent, Superexcellent, Royal Arch Encampment." The first book ran from 1795 to 1799; and then the body closed its labors and divided their funds. The second book was commenced in 1804 when the same body, under the charge of Companion Philip P. Eckles, of Baltimore, resumed its labors and continued until August 21, 1808, when the book ends abruptly after the annual election of officers.

A book was published by Cornpanion Joseph K. Wheeler, of Connecticut, which gave an account of similar bodies, bearing the same title, in the State of Connecticut. From these came the first independent particular Royal Arch Chapters, and from which Thos. Smith Webb and John Hanmer, both from Temple Chapter of Albany, New York, formed the first Grand Chapter of New England and New York in 1798, the history of which will be found under Capitular Masonry (Chapter XLIX.). Also under the chapter relating to the history of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite will be found the writer's views as to what was the reason for these degrees being brought into the Masonry of the Blue Lodge, which we here casually mention as having been part and parcel of the very many appendant degrees communicated to the Brethren who had passed through the curriculum of the twenty-five degrees of the Rite of Perfection, or the Ancient and Accepted Rite of 1762-65, which was, in 1802, at Charleston, enlarged into thirty-three degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite by the Mother Council. It is well known to all well-read and advanced Masonic scholars, that all degrees of Masonry above the third degree, or so-called Master Mason's degree, are the outcome of the "thousand and one degrees" promulgated and sometimes worked in France and Germany from the middle to the close of the 18th century. Until the emperors of the East and West formulated the regular twenty-five degrees of the A.'.A.'.A.'.R.'. in 1762, those various degrees were communicated to all who desired, and were willing to pay for them. Within the regular twenty-five degrees were found the Arch and Templar degrees. Also from two of them the present Red Cross of the Commandery was formulated, which degree has no connection with the primitive Red Cross of " Rome and Constantine," attributed to Constantine the Great.

As to the Templar degree ritual, it is entirely different from the English ritual, as the latter, at the present day, is different from the ritual of the last century at its close and the commencement of the present. We have a certified copy of that ritual made as early as 1801 from an older ritual, which is also a copy from a much older one, which was sent to Brother General Albert Pike, and by him given to the present writer.

The first authentic information that we have of the Templar Order in the United States, is found in the history of St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter, which held its first recorded meeting, August 28, 1769, in the Mason's Hall in Boston, under the charter of St. Andrew's Royal Arch Lodge, from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and the record of that date shows that the degree of Knight Templar was conferred. (1) At that time, and somewhat later, the bodies were termed "Excellent, Superexcellent, Royal Arch Encamp

(1) Oration of Companion W. Sewall Gardner, at Centennial of St. Andrew's Chapter, pp. 42, 43.

ments," as before stated. The records of that Chapter show that " Brother William Davis came before the Lodge, begging to have and receive the parts belonging to the Royal Arch Masons, which being read, was received, and he unanimously voted in, and was accordingly made by receiving the four steps, that of Excellent, Superexcellent, Royal Arch, and Knight Templar." (1) In all the histories of the chapters in the New England States, the above titles were first used; as also in the Chapter organized in the City of Washington, under the Charter of Federal Lodge. The Red Cross does not appear in any of those old bodies. It has occurred to the writer that after the Templar degree had been dropped by Thos. Smith Webb, when in 1796 the movement had been inaugurated to institute the General Grand Chapter of New England and New York, that some of the Brethren formed a separate body for the Templar Order; and wishing to have the "Red Cross of Constantine" united with the Templar degree, as was the case after the Crusades, they must have mistaken the united degrees of the 15th and 16th for the "Constantine Red Cross." At all events, there is considerable difficulty in accounting for the curious mixture of the Persian Mysteries with the solemn ceremonies of the Christian Order of the Temple. Some writers say that "the records of Kilwinning Lodge, of Ireland, warranted 8, in 1779, show that its Charter was used as the authority for conferring the Royal Arch, Knight Templar, and Rose Croix degrees as early as 1782; but the Red Cross and the Rose Croix are two different degrees, and should not be confounded. It is thought possible that the Irish lodges, having the High Knight Templar degree, communicated it to their American Brothers prior to the Revolution, though there is no evidence of it; on the contrary, the records show that it was conferred first (1769) in America, and afterward in Ireland, 1779." (2)

Bro. Theo. S. Parvin says: " In 1766 there were two Military Lodges stationed at Boston: No. 58 on the register of England, connected with the Fourteenth Regiment, and No. 322, register of Ireland, attached to the Twenty-ninth Regiment. As early as 1762 St. Andrew's Lodge, of Boston, applied to the Grand Lodge of Scotland, from which it had received its Warrant, for leave to

(1) Oration of Companion W. Sewall Gardner, at Centennial of St. Andrew's Chapter, pp. 42, 43. (2) Bro. Fred. Speed in "History of Freemasonry," p. 704.

confer the Royal Arch degree; and subsequently, under this Warrant, it conferred both the degrees of Royal Arch and Knight Templar. Even prior to this, as early as 1758, Lodge No. 3, at Philadelphia, working under Warrant as No. 359, granted by the Grand Lodge of All England, also worked as a chapter, and conferred the Royal Arch degree; but, as previously stated we do not find that this Chapter ever conferred the degree of Knight Templar." (1)

Some writers suppose that it was possible "that the degree of Knight Templar was conferred in Military Lodges and perhaps in other Lodges prior to the Revolutionary War." (2)

From about the years 1776 to 1783, during the War of Independence, but little attention was given to Masonic organization except in the military lodges After peace had assumed her sway and the country began to thrive in all material interests, and the various Grand Lodges of the separate States were organized, what were termed the "higher degrees," which had been, up to that period always conferred in the lodges under the sanction of their Warrants, became the subject of a more independent character. We find from the various histories of the Royal Arch Chapters, especially in the New England States, that in various towns and cities independent bodies were organized, wherein the degrees of Royal Arch, Excellent, and Superexcellent Masters were attached to the Templar degree; and in some instances, the Red Cross, whatever ritual of that degree may have been used in its conference, was given.

"Few of these organizations have continued until the present time, and still fewer have left any records of the earlier years of their existence. An occasional discovery of an ancient diploma, or other fragment, has revived previously formed opinions as to which is the elder organization; but for the reason that bodies were self- constituted, and consisted of individuals who, being in possession of a degree, called to their assistance the requisite number of other qualified brethren, and gave the degrees to certain chosen spirits and then dissolved never to meet again, it is manifest that there can be no gathering together of the facts; and that beyond an occasional hint, received from the meager record of some old lodge- book, as it may be unearthed from its hiding-place, nothing further is to be looked for. As time passed on, and these occasional gatherings became more frequent, when the number of Templars had increased

(1) Bro. Fred. Speed in "History of Freernasonry," p 703 (2) Ibid.

sufficiently, and more permanent organizations began to be made, out of these emergency bodies grew permanent ones." (1)

There has been much discussion in the various older jurisdictions as to the first duly organized encampment (commandery), and we do not know if the question has been finally settled. From the Proceedlngs of the Grand Encampment of 1883 we learn from the Address of Grand Master Dean that there was "Indisputable evidence that the degrees of Knight of the Red Cross and Knight Templar were conferred in Charleston, South Carolina, in a regularly organized body as far back as the year 1782." (2)

"The South Carolina Encampment, No. 1, of Knights Templars and the Appendant Orders was established in 1780, as is evident from the old seal in our archives. But it does not appear from what source our ancestors derived their first Charter, all of our records previous to November 7, 1823, having been lost or consumed by fire. It is clear, however that this encampment was in active operation in 1803, and continued so until long after the date of our oldest record, for, on December 29, 1824, it was "Resolved that, in consideration of the long and faithful services of our Most Eminent Feast Commanders Francis Sylvester Curtis, who regularly paid his arrears to this Encampment for more than twenty years, he is considered a life-member of this Encampment, and that his life- membership take date from November, 1823." (3) In artist of various Masonic degrees," in Cole's Ahiman Rezon, extracted from a publication in 1816, the Knight of the Red Cross is termed the ninth degree, the Knight of Red Cross is termed the ninth degree, the Knight of Malta the tenth, and the Knight Templar the thirteenth, and they are said to be conferred in the Sublime Grand Lodges in Charleston, S.C., in the City of New York, and in Newport, R.I. (4) on November 7, 1823, that encampment, which was then regularly working at Sir Knight Roche's Asylum, under the command of the M.E. Sir Moses Holbrook, M.D., Grand Commander, received "the authority from the G.G.E." to work. At the following meeting (November 15th) Moses Holbrook was reselected to the office which he then held John Barker was elected

(1) Fred. Speed, " History of Freemasonry," etc., pp. 703, 704. (2) Proceedings of the Grand Encampment of the United States, 1883, p. 59, Grand Master Dean's Address. (3) Gourdin (MS. Records of South Carolina Encampment, No. 1), pp. 29, 30. (4) "Freemason's Library," p. 317.

an honorary member, January 16, 1824. It was, at this time, the practice to introduce the candidates separately in both degrees. On January 18, 1824, James Eyland was created a Templar. The encampment met January 30, 1824, at Sir Knight H.G. Street's Asylum, and the meetings, which had hitherto taken place on every Friday evening, were changed, February 15, 1824, to the last Wednesday in each month, and the last Wednesday in November was fixed for the annual election. March 31, 1824, SirJohn Barker was voted to be recommended to be Grand Visitor for the Southern States. (1)

June 24, 1824, M.E. and M.W. Henry Fowle, Deputy General Grand Master of the G. G. Encampment of the United States of America, granted a Charter at Boston (S. C.), countersigned by John G. Loring, G. G. Recorder, to Benjamin Thomas Elmore, and eleven others, to form, open, and hold Columbia Encampment, No. 2. Brother Elmore was appointed the first Grand Commander, E. H. Maxey, Generalissimo, and John Bryce, Captain General. The Charter is in the Archives of Richland Lodge, No. 39, A.'. F.'. M.'. at Columbia, S. C., with some "rough sketches of their meetings," which were held in the hall of that lodge. (2)

The number of members increased to thirty or more, their meetings continued about four years, and from some cause ceased to exist. (3)

There was at that time no Grand Encampment in South Carolina, as we find from the following:

"February 23d, 1825, the Encampment was informed that the three first officers had, in accordance with a previous resolution giving them discretionary power in the matter, recommended Georgetown Encampment to the G. G. Encampment for a charter." (4)

As an interesting incident in the history of this encampment, we make the following extract:

"LA FAYETTE.

"The members of South Carolina Encampment, No. 1, were summoned to meet at Sir H.G. Street's, on the 16th of March, 1825, to wait on General La Fayette agreeably to a previous

(1) MS. Records of South Carolina Encampment, No. 1. (2) Gourdin, p. 30. (3) Ibid. (4) Ibid., p 31

arrangement with him. The following Officers and Members attended precisely at half-past 2 o'clock." (1)

In consequence of a gap in the minutes from this time until January 26, 1827, no further information could be obtained concerning this very interesting occasion.

September 18, 1826, the Grand Encampment of the State of South Carolina was represented in the G. G. Encampment at New York by Sir John Barker, proxy for M. E. Moses Holbrook, Grand Master, and Sir William H. Jones, proxy for the M. E. Sir William E. Lathrop, G. Capt. Gen'ls, and the Committee, to whom were "referred the proceedings of the Officers of the G. G. Encampment since the last Meeting" (September 16, 1819), reported. "That these have been established, with the approbation of the G. G. Officers, Grand Encampments in the following States; to wit: New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia." (2)

During the year 1819, Beaufort Encampment of South Carolina, at Beaufort, was established, which continued about four or five years. The records were burned up. (3)

Jos. M'Cosh, who was afterward an Ins. Genl. of the thirty-third degree, resigned November 28, 1827. He was the Recorder, November 7, 1823. During the year 1828, Sir James Eyland was Grand Commander. Many resignations took place.

In 1829, Sir James Eyland, G. Master, represented the Grand Commandery in the G.G. Encampment. He was elected that year G.G. Capt. General, and in 1832 was elected G.G. Generalissimo. (4)

About this time the meetings of the S.C. Encampment were very poorly attended. May 12, 1830, there was not a quorum, nor in October 11, 1830. The encampment was adjourned to the stated meeting of December. The following note appears:

I certify that no quorum ever after assembled. I met one or two only after the above note of an attempted meeting. Sir J. W. Rouse handed me over the books and papers all for me to deliver up to this Encampment, some time in 1832, with a letter of resignation

(1) MS. Records of South Carolina Encampment, No. 1, Gourdin, p. 31. (2) B. B. French. "The Grand Encampment of Knights Templars, and the Appendant Orders, in the State of South Carolina," was incorporated for fourteen years, by A.A. of 20th December, 1826, viii Stats. p. 350. (3) J. M. Barker. (4) B. B. French.

at the same time. The books and papers of Grand Encamp ment of S.C. and all were flooded when Sir John May's workshop was burned. I received the remains in 1840.

(Signed) MOSES HOLBROOK, P. Gr. Commander.

I.W. Rouse died 23 April, 1834 Past Gr. Master of Gr. Encampment of South Carolina. The record of the G.G. Encampment does not show any representation from the G. Encampment of South Carolina subsequent to 1829. (1)

October 14, 1841, seven of the former members of South Carolina Encampment, among them the Grand Commander J. S. Burges, met at Rame's Hall, in Meeting Street, for the purpose of reviving it, after its long nap of eleven years and more. (2)

January 27, 1842, it was Resolved that the degree of Red Cross should be conferred upon Sr. Knight Benjamin Greer, on his paying $5, with the condition of his becoming a member of this encampment, he having received the other degrees before in Europe. (3)

A dispensation was issued to the encampment by Sir Jos. K. Stapleton, D. G. G. Master, May 17, 1843, to continue their labors, the Warrant having been burned up. This dispensation was brought to the notice of the encampment only on October 19, 1843, by Rev. A. Case, the G. Chaplain. In 1844, the G.C., Sir A. Case, represented South Carolina Encampment in the G.G. Encampment, and during this session a charter was ordered to that encampment free of charge, in consequence of the loss by fire of a former one. This charter was reported to the meeting, March 15, 1845, as having been received.

February 9, 1853, Joseph Hunter, P.D.G.M. of Savannah, Gag, was made a K.R.C. and K.T., and in token of respect his fees were returned to him, and he was elected a life member.

In 1853, M.'.E.'. A. G. Mackey represented the encampment in the G.G. Encampment, and was elected G.G. Warden. (4)

December 27, 1854, the encampment acted as an escort to the Grand Lodge of South Carolina at the celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the formation of a Provisional Grand Lodge. (5)

(1) B. B. French. (2) MS. Records of South Carolina Encampment, No. 1. The last meeting held was March 9, 1830. (3) Ibid. (4) B. B. French. (5) MS. Records of South Carolina Encampment, No. 1.

In 1855, South Carolina Encampment was the only one in existence in the State. (1)

Continuing the interesting history of this, one of the oldest organizations of Knights Templars, we refer to the Proceedings of the Grand Encampment of the United States for 1883:

The Grand Master states in his address that "on 8th of December, 1880, I issued a dispensation to South Carolina Commandery, No. 1, to appear in public in full Templar costume on the twenty-ninth day of December, 1880, for the purpose of celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of its organization. I also issued dispensations for a like appearance in public, to join in the celebration to Columbia Commandery, No. 2, Georgia Commandery, No. I, and Palestine Commandery, No. 7." (2)

As the question of when the first encampment in the United States was regularly organized is of great interest, we continue our notice of the introduction of the Templar Order of Knighthood into South Carolina, and show what Brother A. G. Mackey says of it in his History of Freemasonry in South Carolina. (3) He quotes from Gourdin what we have already copied, and then continues: "I have been unable to find any reference in the cotemporary journals of the day to the existence of South Carolina Encampment, No. 1, at that early period. I have, however, been more successful in obtaining indisputable evidence that the degrees of Knight of the Red Cross and Knight Templar were conferred in Charleston, in a regularly organized body as far back as the year 1783, and I have no doubt that the seal with the date 1780, to which Gourdin refers, belonged to that body and afterward came into the possession of South Carolina Encampment. (4)

"The proofs of what I have stated is contained in a small compass but the testimony is irrefutable. I have in my possession a diploma, written in a very neat chirography on parchment, with two seals in wax attached, one in red, of the Royal Arch, and the other in black, of the Knights Templar. The upper part of the diploma contains four devices within four circles, all skillfully executed with the pen. The first device, beginning on the left hand, is a star of seven points, with the ineffable name in the

(1) Gourdin, p. 33. (2) Proceedings of the Grand Encampment of the United States, 1883, p. 58. (3) Ibid., p. 58. (4) Ibid., p. 59

center, and the motto, 'Memento Mori,' the second is an arch on two pillars, the all-seeing eye on the Key-stone, and a sun beneath the arch, and 'Holiness to the Lord' for the motto; the third is the cross and brazen serpent, erected on a bridge, and 'Jesus Salvador Hominum' for the motto; and the fourth is the skull and cross- bones, surmounted by a cross, with the motto, 'In hoc signo vinces.' The reference of the three last devices is evidently to the Royal Arch, the Red Cross, and Templar degrees. The first is certainly a symbol of the Lodge of Perfection, and hence, connectedly, they show the dependence of the Order of Templarism in the State at that time upon the Ancient and Accepted Rite." In the Proceedings is a heliotyped copy of the diploma, which is here shown. The original was placed in the possession of the Grand Master, Benjamin Dean, by the son of Bro. A. G. Mackey, the Hon. Edw. Mackey, to be presented, in his name, to the Grand Encampment of the United States. The expense of this and other plates in the volume was paid for by the Grand Master. As a matter of considerable interest, we subjoin further remarks of the Grand Master in connection with the subject.

"On the 6th of May, 1881, Sir Knight W. J. Pollard, because of a conversation with him in Boston, wrote me a long and interesting letter on the history of Freemasonry in South Carolina and Georgia, in which he says: 'I find in Charleston, from the South Carolina Gazette, that at some period, not clearly defined, there was a Lodge established in West Florida called St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 40, and that it was moved to Charleston about 1783, and was Chartered as a York Lodge in the city of Charleston July, 1783, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania."'

"He also called my attention to the recovery by Sir Knight Jennison of valuable papers relating to the Encampment. Sir Knight Jennison also sent me copies of the papers. . . . A careful examination of the old diploma discovered on the Seal the words 'Lodge No. 40' These words and figures were not so prominent as the other legends on the Seal, and seemed to have escaped the attention of Brother Albert G. Mackey.

"A careful examination disclosed the remains of two ribbons, under those in sight, showing that there were originally four seals attached to the diploma; one of these ribbons is quite rotten."

From an address delivered December 10, 1878, before the Grand Lodge of South Carolina by M. W. Wilmot G. De Saussure, P.G.M. of South Carolina, we quote "that the Warrant for No. 40 was granted to Brethren formerly of St. Andrew's Lodge No. 1, West Florida, and then of Charleston, on the 12th of July, 1783."

Brother Frederick Speed says:

In summing up the evidence, this writer is compelled to regret the conclusions of Fratres Dean and Mackey, that there is "Indisputable evidence that the degrees of Knight of the Red Cross and Knight Templar were conferred in Charleston in a regularly organized body as [ar back as the year 1783." He then continues: "St. Andrew's Lodge No. 1 was not a Templar body at any time in its history. Like St. Andrew's Lodge of Boston, it was a Master's Lodge and the degrees were conferred, as evidenced from the diploma, under the sanction of its warrant as a Blue Lodge; but it seems to be established beyond a reasonable doubt, by the resolution relating to the membership of Francis Sylvester Curtis, that South Carolina Encampment No. 1 was a regularly organized Templar body as far back as the year 1804, and probably earlier. It was, like all older encampments, self-created, and worked without a charter, until the year 1823, when it was "reopened in conformity with the Constitution" of the General Grand Encampment of the United States, at which time, it appears from the petition - and resolution of the encampment embraced therein -

"That on diligent search being made in the archives, it clearly appears that this encampment was in full operation under the sanction of a warrant of 'Blue' Lodge, No. 40, upwards of thirty years ago, and continued in operation many years subsequent; and has, time out of mind, caused to be made and used a common seal. It also further appears that the said encampment has lain dormant for several years past.

"Resolved, That the M.'. E.'. Sir James C. Winters, together with the Recorder, be authorized to forward the necessary documents to prove the existence of this encampment prior to the year 1816, and obtain the desired recognition.'

Extract from the minutes. (Signed) JOSEPH McCOSH,

Recorder pro tem. (1)

The question of in "Regularity" here presents itself as to the "Validity" of the Templar organizations as it does as to the "Vailidity" of the Capitular degrees, not only in the United States, but originally in Europe.

From the very first organization of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717, all Masons agree that no single individual has any prescriptive right or prerogative to communicate any knowledge of a "Rite" or any part of its ritual, unless so authorized by the "Confi

(1) Grand Encampment Proceedings, 1883, p. 172.

stitution" under which said ritual is promulgated. The Altar obligations, of all the Rites, provide against any such violation of the "Constitution." In the Section VIII. of the New Regulations of 1738 we find the following as an amendment to the Section VIII. Of 1723, viz.:

"VIII. Every Brother concerned in Making Masons clandestinely shall not be allowed to visit any Lodge till he has made due submission, even though the Brother so admitted may be allowed.

"None who make a stated Lodge without the Grand-Master's Warrant shall be admitted into regular Lodges, till they make due submission and obtain Grace.

"If any Brethren form a Lodge without leave, and shall irregularly make Brothers, they shall not be admitted into any regular Lodge, no not as Visitors, till they render a good Reason or make due submission.

"Seeing that some extraneous Brothers have been lately made in a clandestine manner; that is, in no regular Lodge, or by any authority or Dispensation from the Grand Master, and upon small and unworthy considerations to the Dishonour of the Craft:

"The Grand Lodge decreed, that no person so made, nor any concerned in making him, shall be a Grand Officer, nor an officer of any particular Lodge; nor shall any such partake of the General Charity, if they should come to want."

We have here the general principles upon which to base a judgment as to all legitimacy of Masonic work. The innocent parties; upon whom Masonic work has been commenced, are to be held blameless, and are to be admitted to fellowship, and those only are to be punished who were guilty of the irregular and clandestine work.

In the matter of the various parties, who without competent authority attempted to confer the degrees of the Commandery upon innocent Brethren, it appears, from all that we can learn from recent writers, that the several degrees of Red Cross, Knight Templar, and Knight of Malta were conferred, whatever may have been the severai rituals, at that early period, and they were assumed to be correct. These germs, however obtained, came in time to be the veritable means for establishing the bodies, by which finally, and however irregularly conducted, the several State Grand Commanderies were organized. We have seen that from these have grown up, in the United States, a system of Masonic Templarism which is the most extensive and influential body of men anywhere in the world, as we shall be able to demonstrate in the conclusion of this sketch.

We have carefully read and pondered over nearly all, if not quite all, the writings of reliable authors who have, as far as possible, culled from authentic documents and every source of legitimate information every item which could add to our knowledge of the introduction of the Templar and appendant orders into the United States; and we must deal with the subject as we have found it. It is barely possible that the fountain was impure at the beginning; but taking the system, as it is at the very close of the 19th century, where else in the world can we find such a body of United Fraters, Masons, distinguished gentlemen, of all the useful professions, arts, sciences, and trades, as compose the Officers, Constituencies, and Members, scattered as they are, in all the States, Territories, cities, towns, and hamlets of this vast country? What is now the true status of Masonic Templary in the United States - with its total membership of 114,540 at the close of 1898?

In the admirable history of the Order by Lieutenant-Colonel W. J. B. MacLeod Moore, he is very persistent in challenging the Masonic Templary of the United States. He says: "I may appear to have frequently indulged in fault-finding with the system of purely Masonic Templary practiced in the United States of America, and am fully alive to the fact that the popularity of the degrees there among its most enlightened members is an argument stronger than all the criticism that can be brought against it; but in order to explain my objections, it was necessary to refer to the glaring discrepancies and inconsistencies existing, which prove the system to be not only false, but a perversion of the principles of the true Templar Order, from which it derives its name - merely an imitation Military Masonic degree - a parody upon the pure doctrines of the Ancient Templars."

Several pages are devoted to his view of these inconsistencies and discrepancies - too lengthy for our columns - and hence must refer our readers to his sketch. (1)

In many things we must, of course, concur with him; but suppose we apply his method of criticism to our Modern Masonry, beginning with the early rituals of 1725 by Anderson and Desaguliers, all the

(1) "History of Masonry and Concordant Orders," p. 742 et seq.

way through the various Modifications of Martin Clare, Hutchinson, Dunckerley, and Preston, to the very last formed by the union in 1813 of the Modern and Ancient work of Hemmingway, which isthe present ritual of the United Grand Lodge of England, - and compare all of the various forms with well-known facts as we have them in the sacred writings and history - and where will the ritualism of the three degrees of the Blue Lodge stand? where the ritualism of the Mark degree, where that of the R A. Chapter ?

We say, let the question, as to Orthodoxy of American Templarism, settle itself; all in good time; very very few Templars in the United States know anything whatever of this controversy and

Where ignorance is bliss, twere folly to be wise

We have among our Members distinguished Clergymen of all our Christian denominations, but we are not aware of a single descendant of Jacob who is a Knight Templar. Our ceremonies all conduce to the idea of a pure Christianity. Let us therefore be content to let matters remain as they are; that each individual Member shall for himself interpret the ceremonies, and apply him self to the consideration of Christianity as his instructions in Christianity have dictated, according to his "FAITH."

It appears from all accounts of the introduction of the Order of Knights Templars into the United States, prior to the period of the War of Independence, that where there was any attempt to confer the Order, the same was mingled with the "Excellent, Superexcellent, and Royal Arch," the Templar degree following the Royal Arch. We have concluded that the Templar Order with appendant degrees of Red Cross, St. John's of Jerusalem, and Knights of Malta, were as legitimately conferred, and by the same authority, as were the degrees now constituting "Capitular" Masonry.

We will endeavor, in our list of Commanderies, which were subsequently organized as such in the different jurisdictions, to give authentically the first efforts to establish the Encampment degrees chronologically, until the firm establishment of State Grand Commanderies (Encampments) and the General Grand Encampment in 1816. We may make some errors, but trust that in the main we shall be found quite accurate in dates. In the preceding pages of this chapter, we have quoted vanous writers as to the workings of the Order in the different States; but there have been vagueness and uncertainty as to the dates given.

M.E. William B. Hubbard, General Grand Master of the General Grand Encampment of the United States, said:

"It is to be regretted that we have no authentic and reliable history of the first formation of the first Encampments, with the governmental rituals, as we now have them. For these, if I may be allowed the expression, are somewhat Americanized. I suppose that we owe the origin of the introduction of Templar Masonry into the United States to a distinguished Sov.'.Ins.'. of the.Scottish Rite." (1)

The first notice of the Templar degree being conferred is found in the history of St. Andrew's Chapter of Boston, and the dates given are August 28th and September 17th, 1769, by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Wm. Sewall Gardner, in his oration at the centennial celebration of that chapter, September 29th, A. L. 5869.

We will now give the dates referred to in the preceding pages, in Chapters LI. and LII., and the States wherein the Templar degree was conferred.

1769. Massachusetts - authority, Wm. Sewall Gardner. 1780 } 1783 } South Carolina, Patent. 1785. New York, McCoy 1790. Maryland 1793. Pennsylvania, Creigh 1794. District of Columbia Ceased in 1799, renewed in 1804, ceased in 1898 1796. Connecticut 1797. Pennsylvania first Grand Encampment 1802. Pennsylvania 1802. Rhode Island, St. John's Encampment, No. 1. 1812.} 1814.} Pennsylvania 1816. Organization of General Grand Encampment at New York

(1) MS. Letter. March 16, 1855 (from Gourdin, p. 29, Note A).

Masonic Secrets recommends the following sites:

Masonic Secrets

Chapters in Part 2

Back to Masonic Secrets Revealed

Masonic Secrets recommends the following sites:

Sacred-Magick.Com: The Esoteric Library