HISTORY OF PRINCE HALL

On March 6, 1775, Prince Hall and fourteen of his companions were admitted in an Irish Lodge #441 in Boston. There were fourteen military lodges in and around Boston in that year. Of these Lodges one was English, four were Scottish and the remainders were Irish. Lodge 441 was warranted on 4 July 1765 to meet in the 38th Regiment of Foot (1st Battalion South Staffordshire).

When the Military Lodge left the area of Boston, and after the revolutionary war in 1783, Prince Hall & his Brethren reached out to England and were given the authority to meet as a Lodge, form Processions on Saints John’s Day, and conduct Masonic funerals, but not to confer degrees nor to do other Masonic work. These individuals later applied for and obtained a Warrant from the Grand Lodge of England in 1784 and were formed under the Grand Lodge of England as African Lodge #459.