History of the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts & Rhode Island

The Origins of the Masonic Templars in America

The following are the accepted facts as taken from preserved records as to when Masonic Templarism came to America: August 29^th, 1769 St Andrews Lodge of Boston, under the Scottish Constitution, opened a Royal Arch Lodge with 6 of the 10 members present being members of the Army Lodge #322 (later Glittering Star Lodge) under the Irish Constitution.  Army Lodge #322 was a traveling lodge attached to the British 29^th Regiment of Foot; of note, less than a year later, a detachment of soldiers from the Grenadier Company of the 29^th would be those who were involved in the Boston Massacre.

The August 1769 meeting was held with the purpose of conferring the Excellent, Super Excellent, Royal Arch, and Knight Templar degrees upon William Davis.  Davis was a Past Master of Army Lodge #58 (Irish Constitution) which was attached to the 14^th Regiment of Foot which was also in Boston at the time.

This is accepted as the first time the Knight Templar order was conferred in America… but it was not done so by any Commandery.

Over the years there have been occasional claims from Boston Commandery #2 to claim this date as their beginning, but there is something that needs to be understood about this time period in Masonic history; this was a time of expansion and experimentation.  As the empires of the world grew and established colonies, so expanded Freemasonry.  Much of this expansion was through military lodges.  Unfortunately, due to their transient nature, few records survive.  Also, for the same reason, these lodges were a hotbed for the communication of new degrees.  As location was not consistent, so too was the membership.   These lodges would open with any available brothers present and confer any degree held by any member, all under the general auspices of their blue lodge charters.

It was during this period before Commanderies established as independent bodies around 1800, that men like Paul Revere and Robert Newman became Knights Templar.  So while they and many others like them were Knights Templar in Boston, they were not members of any Commandery.

Organization for New Degrees

In the very late 1700s, though Freemasonry was widespread, it was experiencing a decline due to a want by the members of regularity and standards in the organization and ritual.  As such, new bodies were formed in an sporadic but orderly manner under the then generally accepted rule of “inherent right” to confer these new “higher” degrees.

A group of Masons who had become Knights Templar formed an organization in Newburyport in 1795 for the purpose of conferring the orders.  While the earliest records of what would become Newburyport Commandery have not been discovered and due to a number of dormant periods in their history, may indeed be lost, there is enough concrete evidence to show them in operation in 1795.  A charter of recognition of this body was granted by the Grand Encampment of MA & RI granted years later places the commandery as #3 on the rolls.

Henry Fowle, a prominent Mason in Boston had left St. Andrew’s Lodge due to a lack of quality, but after leaving to start another lodge, was persuaded to return.  Fowle was selected in 1798 with a handful of other local Masons to attend a convention to standardize the Royal Arch Chapter degrees.  In the spirit of promoting standardization of the degrees, Fowle endeavored to form local groups for other Masonic degrees.  As such on March 12^th, 1802, Fowle along with 9 other local Masons formed the Boston Encampment of Knights of the Red Cross.

Saint John’s Encampment of Providence, Rhode Island was formed on August 23^rd, 1802.  Among those present were Thomas Smith Webb who was chosen as the first presiding officer, then termed “Grand Master.”

The Grand Commandery

Continuing the movement of unification and standardization, a convention was held in Providence, RI and on May 6^th, 1805 the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of Massachusetts & Rhode Island was formed.  The convention had consisted of the controlling and prominent members of the three existing Encampments within the jurisdiction, but not as representatives of the Encampments themselves.  The Grand Encampment was therefore founded without a single constituent body.  In practice however, the representative members worked in harmony.

On October 7^th, 1805, St. John’s Encampment of Knights Templar received a charter of recognition from the Grand Encampment placing them as #1 on the rolls.

On September 11^th of that year, communication was made by the Grand Encampment “resolved, that for the good of the superior degrees of masonry in particular, and of the institution in general we deem it expedient that an encampment of Knights Templar be formed and opened in Boston.”

As such, at a meeting held in the home of Henery Fowle, on December 21^st, 1805, Boston Encampment of Knights Templar was formed with a charter following on March 3^rd, 1806.

As the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar had been formed with the standard practice of Encampments conferring the orders of Red Cross, Malta, and Templar, it was determined that Boston Encampment of Knights of the Red Cross, which was still operating with Fowle as its presiding officer, was an illegal organization and the members thereof voted unanimously on March 15^th, 1806 to dissolve the Encampment and present all of their equipment, regalia, and records to Boston Encampment of Knights Templar which were gladly received along with all members.  This placed Boston Encampment of Knights Templar as #2 on the rolls.

It is due to these early histories of inconsistent foundations that while the seniority of the first three bodies can be viewed as Newburyport, Boston, St. Johns, the ranking on the Grand Commandery rolls is the exact reversal.

In a similar view, due to the periods of dormancy of Newburyport Commandery, the unbroken records of Boston and St. Johns, and the formation of Boston as Knights of the Red Cross instead of Knights Templar, a number of titles of distinction can be claimed by each of the bodies.  Newburyport may claim the oldest, Boston the oldest continually operating, and St. John’s the oldest continually operating of Knights Templar.