What is Prince Hall Freemasonry?
The term Prince Hall Masonry refers to Masonic Lodges descended from African Lodge No. 459 in Boston and whose members are predominantly African-American. On March 6, 1775, Sgt. John Batt, a member of Irish Lodge No. 441, attached to the 38th Regiment of Foot, British Army, initiated fifteen free African-American men, including Prince Hall. (Prince was his name, not his title.) The brothers formed a lodge and John Rowe, Provincial Grand Master for North America (Grand Lodge of Moderns), granted them a Permet. On June 30, 1784, one year after the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War, Bro. Hall wrote to the Modern Grand Lodge in London and requested a warrant, which eventually arrived on April 29, 1787, naming him the first Worshipful Master. At this time the Moderns Provincial Grand Lodge held few meetings, the Ancients Provincial Grand Lodge had transformed themselves into an independent Grand Lodge, and St. Andrews Lodge, home of John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Joseph Warren, re
There are some schools of thought that Prince Hall (his name not a title) was born in Barbados to a free black woman and a Scottish father. He emigrated to the Colony of Boston, Mass. and acquired real estate, making him eligible to vote. It was also documented that he was a devout Christian and a leather-worker by trade. On March 6, 1775, during the American War of Independence, Prince Hall along with fourteen men of color were made Masons in Army Lodge #441 of the Irish Constitution. When Army Lodge moved on, the aforesaid brethren were issued a permit authorizing them to appear publicly as a Masonic body for the purpose of celebrating the feast of St. John and to bury their dead. On March 2, 1784, these same brethren applied to the Grand Lodge of England for a charter, which was subsequently issued to them on September 29, 1784. They were warranted under the name of African Lodge, No. 459 on the register of the Grand Lodge of England by authority of then Grand Master, the Duke of Cu
