On March 6, 1775, Prince Hall and fourteen other black men of Boston, Massachusetts were initiated and made Master Masons in the Army Lodge #441 which held a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Ireland and was attached to one of the British regiments in the army of General Gage, by whom Boston was then garrisoned. By an assembly of these black men, African Lodge #1 was organised on July 3, 1776, under the authority from Army Lodge #441. This authority gave them a dispensation to meet as a Lodge, and to bury their dead with full Masonic honours. They could also go in procession on December 27 to celebrate St. John the Evangelist, one of the patron saints of freemasons, but it did not give them permission to make new masons or do any other Masonic work.

When this Army Lodge moved on, Prince Hall tried without success to receive full authorities of a Lodge from the Modern Grand Lodge at Boston. Prince Hall then applied to England with a petition on March of 1784, for a charter. This charter was granted on September 29, 1784, to be registered as African Lodge #459 on the registry of the Grand Lodge of England. It did not arrive, however, at Boston for nearly three years, after having remained in the office of the Grand Secretary for nearly two years. The charter was delivered by Captain Scott and received, along with a beautifully bound book of constitution, by Prince Hall on April 29,1787. It is believed to have been the last lodge to be warranted in the United States by the Modern Grand Lodge of England.

In 1793, the Grand Lodge of England, on one of the numerous times it did so, renumbered its lodges. This resulted in changing African Lodge #459 to #390, but the holders of the warrant seem to have been unaware of this fact. In 1813 the Ancient Grand Lodge and the Modern Grand Lodge of England amalgamated to form the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England, for which purpose both of the constituent bodies took occasion to 'clean house' and drop from their rolls all lodges which had either expired or had not been heard from or had not contributed to their charity fund for a considerable period, and among them was African Lodge #390.

A group of blacks in Philadelphia began, about 1789, to seek a warrant for a lodge from Prince Hall, but it was not until 1800 that they had any success, and then Prince Hall sent them only a copy of the original warrant for African Lodge #459, which was accepted and used by the Philadelphia group. On December 28, 1815, the Past Masters of this lodge met and transformed it into the African Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons For and In the Jurisdiction of North America. This is the first body of blacks known to have maintained or claimed to have a Grand Lodge and it even was known to have warranted a number of subordinate lodges.
Upon the death of Prince Hall on December 7, 1807, it appears that African Lodge #459, to which the original charter was issued, became dormant.

The next activity of consequence were those of a group of Prince Hall Masons in Boston who sent a petition to the Grand Lodge of England on January 5, 1824. The text of which reads in part;

Our worthy and well beloved brethren, Prince Hall, Boston Smith, Thomas Sanderson, and several brethren, having obtained a warrant from your Honourable Body, on September 29, 1784, This warrant allowing us to confer but the three degrees, and finding it injurious for the benefit of our body by having no legal authority to confer the other four degrees. And understanding that the seven degrees are given under the warrants from the Grand Lodge, we, therefore humbly solicit the renewal of our Charter to authorise us legally to confer the same, as we are now getting in a flourishing condition. It is with regret we communicate to you that, from the death of beloved Brethren who obtained the warrant we have not been able for several years to transmit any monies or hold a regular Communication; but as we are now permanently established to work to conform to our warrant and book of constitutions, we will send the money for a new warrant, should your Honourable Body think us worthy to receive the same.

This was signed by, Samson Moody, Peter Howard, and Abraham DeRandamie.

No reply or recognition was received from the Grand Lodge of England and after some hesitation as to what would be the proper course to pursue, they came to the conclusion, as they have themselves stated, "That, with what knowledge they possessed of Masonry, and as people of colour by themselves, they were, and ought by rights to be, free and independent of other lodges."

Accordingly, on the 18th of June 1827, they issued a 'Declaration of Independence', which was published in a Boston Newspaper on June 26 of the same year. Which reads in part;

With reference to the Charter of African Lodge #459 - Whether the conditions have been complied with by our ancestors, we are unable to say; but we can add that, in consequence of the decease brethren, the institution was for years unable to proceed, for the want of one to conduct its affairs agreeably to what is required in every regular and well-educated Lodge of Masons. It is now, however, with great pleasure we state that the present age has arrived to that degree of proficiency in the art, that we can at any time select from among us many whose capacity to govern enables them to preside with as much good order, dignity, and propriety as any other lodge within our knowledge.

Since the rise of the Lodge to this degree of proficiency, we concluded that it was best and proper to make it known to the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge from whence we derived our Charter, by sending written documents and monies, to fulfil the agreements of our ancestors, giving information of the low state to which it had fallen, its cause, etc., and, with its rise and progress; and also soliciting favours, whereby we might be placed on a different and better standing than we had heretofore. And, notwithstanding, this has long since been done, and more that sufficient time has elapsed for returns, yet we have never received a single line or reply from that Honourable Society. In consequence of that neglect, we have been at a stand as to what course to pursue. Our remote situation prevents us from making any verbal communication whatever. Taking all these things into consideration, we have come to the conclusion that with what knowledge we possess of Masonry, and as people of colour by ourselves, we are, and ought by rights, to be free and independent of other Lodges. We therefore, with this belief, publicly declare ourselves free and independent of any lodge from this day, and that we will not be tributary, or be governed by any other lodge than that of our own.

This declaration was signed by, John Hilton, Thomas Dalto, Lewis York, and J.H. Perron.

I am going to skip ahead in history a bit to inform you that currently Prince Hall Freemasonry has flourished in the U.S. to the point where most of the 50 states have Prince Hall Grand Lodges, as well as Liberia, the Bahamas, Continental Europe, South America, and in Canada.

The most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Minnesota, which was organised on August 16, 1894, claims sovereignty over the U.S. states of Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Alberta.

Prince Hall Masons came into Canada during the American Civil War. They came primarily into the province of Ontario and in that province the 18th Prince Hall Grand Lodge was formed, which has the legal title, "Grand Lodge of Ontario", with 18 subordinate lodges on its register. It is interesting to note that while our Grand Lodge is called the Grand Lodge of Alberta, the regular Grand Lodge in Ontario is not called the Grand Lodge of Ontario, for the Prince Hall Grand Lodge was the first to register the name in that province.

Black farming families trekked into western Canada and settled in the four western provinces, and these black men brought with them Prince Hall Masonry. In 1921 there were four Prince Hall Lodges operating in Alberta: Bow River #19 in Calgary, Pride of Alberta #20 in Edmonton, Stalwart #22 in Drumheller, and Time and Patience #23 in Judkins.

Many Prince Hall Masons who were members of these older lodges have left an impression on Alberta history. Lionel Jones obtained the Charter for Pride of Alberta Lodge. His son Jesse Jones, became a renowned teacher and athlete and was elected secretary of his lodge. Jesse's son Lionel, is a distinguished judge. Jesse was also made a citizen of Sports History by the City of Edmonton. Some other prominent Prince Hall Masons in Alberta were Joe "Kid" Cotton, a successful farmer and boxer. Dr. John Cobb and Dr. Amos Walker. In Ontario, Lincoln Alexander, a prominent Conservative and Lt. Governor of Ontario, is a 33rd degree Prince Hall Mason.

During the depression years of 1937,38, & 39, the four Prince Hall Lodges in Alberta surrendered their charters to their Grand Lodge due to the economic situation and the decline in their numbers.

Pride of Alberta Lodge, which had a charter from the Grand Lodge of Washington, applied to the Minnesota jurisdiction for affiliation, and after meeting all the requirements, was granted a charter on December 31, 1929, with the lodge being registered number 9. During the depression years, as I mentioned before, Pride of Alberta #9 was beset with problems until some time after 1938 when they surrendered their charter.

In 1967, to celebrate the Canadian Centennial, a request to re-dedicate the charter for Pride of Alberta was made to the Minnesota Grand Lodge. Moreover, on July 1, 1967, Pride of Alberta Lodge #9 in Edmonton was re-activated with Regent Lodge #5 of Winnipeg as host. The Grand Lodge Officers initiated 25 new Masons and with Mr. Barry Boyd as Worshipful Master, the charter was rededicated.

On August 5,1984, Perseverance Lodge #15 was organised in Calgary, and they received their charter on September 17,1986, with Mr. Jerry Moore as the Worshipful Master. On February 8,1987, Mt. Sinai Lodge #16 was organised in Edmonton, and they received their charter on September 21, 1988, with Mr. Clyde Hamilton as Worshipful Master.

These lodges operate in the York Rite using the Dagget Ritual, which is written in cipher. The signs, grips, words and all due guards are the same as ours. Some of the concordant orders of Prince Hall Masonry are: The Order of the Eastern Star, Royal Arch, Knights Templar, two Supreme Councils, Golden Circles, Shriners and Daughters of Isis.

The beginnings of Prince Hall Freemasonry are surrounded by much controversy, mystery, and passion and unfortunately, the records of its early events were often lost or not recorded at all.

Since the real purpose of Freemasonry is to make good men better men, then certainly we should be done with nit-picking about the Prince Hall Fraternity who have contributed a great deal to the betterment and education of their people and society in their two centuries of work.

W. Bro. Wm. David Maddin
Redwood Lodge # 193
A.F. & A.M., G.R.A.