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The Dr. Charles H. Wesley Masonic Research Society (CHWMRS) was an International Masonic Research Society which seeks to educate Prince Hall Freemasons about Prince Hall and Universal Freemasonry and Universal Freemasonry about Prince Hall Freemasonry.

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    THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE


    researched by PEC James A. D. Grimes of Boone Commander #27, Dayton Ohio, Prince Hall Affiliated



    The Third and last, Order coferred by a commandery of Knights Templar is "THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE". This is considered to be the most impressive and inspring degree to be found in any Masonic system. The moral and spiritual lessons of Christianity that are communicated in the work leave a lasting impression upon the candidate. It is important that every Christian Mason complete his Masonic education with the valiant and Magnamious Order, thereby equipping himself to advance the programs and teachings of Christian Masonry.

    The Order bases its Moral and Spritual Lessons, upon those of medieval chivalry, particularly the Knight of the Temple. While no direct connection with the orginal Teimplars can be established, the ritual for this Masonic Order developed in Scotland and England in the 18th century and the degree entered the American colonies in the middle of the century.

    The Degree was first conferred in America withing the Symbolic Lodges. The first "record" conferral of the degree, in America, or England, was in St. Andrew's Chapter (under St Andrew's Lodge) in Boston on August 28, 1769. Several British regiments, with Military Lodges, were in Boston at the time and it is believed their members provided the ritual.

    As the Knight Templar Degree became more widely know, encampments were organized to confer it...So that, by the end of the 18th century, the degree had been loosely incorporated into the Masonic work of many of the American colonies. The General Grand Encampment of Knight Templar was organized in 1816.

    It was not until 1833 that the Grand Encampment authorized the printing of a ritual that the Order of the Temple, and until that time there was much diversity in the degree as practiced in many American jurisdictions.

    While the Order of Malta is quite similar in the American and British rituals, the Order of the Temple is quite different. The lessons are the same, only the means of conferral differ.

    All business of a Commandery in the United States is conducted in the Templar Asylum.

    To more fully understand the origin of Prince Hall Templarism, one must go back to when there were three Grand Lodges in the Mother Country of Grand Lodges, England. There was the (Premier) Grand Lodge of England (Moderns) 1717. The Grand Master was the Prince of Wales. There was also the Grand Lodge of all England (York Grand Lodge) 1725, which several Grand Lodges were formed and later ceased to exist. Prior to 1812 the Prince of Wales ascended the throne as the king of England and the Duke of Sussex was the Grand Master of the (moderns) and his Brothers the Duke of Kents was the Grnad Master of the (ancients). Together they go together and formed the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813. In the year of 1812 the duke of Sussex became Grand Master and the Ancients and the Moderns merged and became the United Grand Lodge of England.. After much debate the following statements was inserted into the Act of Union

    "IT IS DECLARED AND PRONOUNCED THAT PURE ANCIENT MASONRY CONSIST OF THREE DEGREE, AND NO MORE; VIZ: THOS OF ENTERED APPRENTICE, THE FELLOWCRAFT AND THE MASTER MASON. INCLUDING THE SUPREME ORDER OF THE HOLY ROYAL ARCH."

    It was this Grand Master that reestablished the Knights of St. John, Malta, ect,. In 1831, after the Order had been nearly extinct for 300 years he continued to act until his death in 1843. It was this Grand Master who authorized the establishment of Lodges of Knight Templars among Black Americans. In 1818 he issued a Deputation to Sir Knight Passey Benjamine, a seafaring man, and a native of the French West Indies, authorizing him to establish the Order in the West Indies and North America. Benjamine, like Peter Ogden, who established the Order of Odd Fellows among Black American in the United States were trading between Liverpool and the States at the time, and had been previously been amde a Mason in St. George's Lodge #32 in Liverpool, England. Many of his seafaring friends from the west Indies had been Masons prior to settling in Philadelphia, PA in the same Lodge. He called a meeting at the house of Thomas Depee for the purpose of organizing a Lodge of Knight Templars on December 27th, 1819. At this meeting the Deputation authorizing the establishment of Knighthood in America by his Royal Highness, the Duke of Sussex was read, and on June 12th, 1820, St. Georges Encampment #1, of Knights Templar was eastablished in the city of Philadelphia, PA.

    On July 3rd, 1826, Palestine Commandery #2 was established and the same authorization to establish Richmond Encampment #3. It was not organized until June 8th, 1844, and in the same year the three Encampments met in convention in the Masonic Hall on Lombard Street in Philadelphia, PA., and organized THE FIRST AFRICAN GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF NORTH AMERICA.

    Commanderies were rapidly organized and constitued in many states. Warrants were issued to Freemen, not withstanding slavery. Its Banners were unfolded in many Slave States prior to 1865. In 1849, a Commandery of Knight Templar was organized in Cincinnati, Ohio under a Charter issued on June 1st, by "THE FIRST INDEPENDENT AFRICAN GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF NORTH AMERICA OF PHILADEPPHIA, PA.

    Philadepphia, PA., is the Mother of all the Higher Degrees of Freemasonry in America, and whence come all the Commanderies of Knights Templar in the States and Territories, numbers in the Thousands. "NON NOBIS DOMINE" IS THEIR MOTTO, AND "IN HOC SIGNO CINCES" IS THEIR LEGEND.