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The
Supreme Council, 33° Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry,
Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America, was established at
Charleston, South Carolina in 1801. This Supreme Council of the Southern
Jurisdiction has Scottish Rite Jurisdiction over China and Japan, the
territories and island possessions of the United States and all states of
the United States except those which are north of the Ohio River and east
of the Mississippi River. The headquarters of our Southern Jurisdiction
is in the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C.
When the
United States purchased the two Territories of Florida, in the year 1821,
from Spain, it gave the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction,
automatic jurisdiction over these new territories. These two territories
were consolidated into the Territory of Florida in 1822 and became the 27th
State of the Union in 1845.
From the
research of this writer, there is little doubt that our Brother Edward
Rutledge Ives was instrumental in bringing Scottish Rite Masonry to
Florida. Edward Rutledge Ives was born in Charleston, South Carolina July
31, 1818, the second child of Jeremiah and Martha Mackey Ives. Edward’s
Mother was Martha Lockhart Mackey, the fifth child of Dr. John Mackey and
Abigail Mills Mackey. Albert Gallatin Mackey, the noted Masonic Scholar,
was the eighth child of those same parents and was the uncle of our
Brother E.R. Ives.
Albert G.
Mackey reported to the Supreme Council that Brother Ives had received his
Masonic Degrees, in Florida, almost as soon as he was of age and that “IN
the year 1852 he received at my hands the degrees of the Ancient and
Accepted Rite as far as Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.” Brother Ives
either visited Charleston to receive these degrees or perhaps Brother
Mackey came to Alligator for that purpose. Brother Mackey was known to be
a regular visitor to Florida. Brother Ives at once gave study to the Rite
and its promotion and progress in Florida.
Brother Ives
is credited with the establishment of the first bodies in the Orient of
Florida and our Supreme Council History, 1801-1861, records a Lodge of
Perfection, a Council of Princes of Jerusalem and a Chapter of Rose Croix
as being organized in Alligator, Florida in compliance with petitions
dated April 22 and 27, 1853 over the name of Brother Ives and others. The
name of Alligator was changed to Lake City, January 15, 1859.
The Supreme
Council Transactions of 1860 relate that Most Worshipful Bother Thomas
Brown was elected to the 33° and Active Membership, however, because of
age and infirmity he declined the honor of Active Membership. Most
Worshipful Brother Thomas Hayward was also elected 33° and also an Active
Member of the Supreme Council. When the Supreme Council met in
Washington, D.C., April 16, 1866, Brother Albert Pike recommended that the
election of Brother Thomas Hayward, as an Active Member of the council, be
rescinded as M.W. Brother Hayward had not attended for installation. As
of this time there was no Active Member in Florida and the Lodge, Council
and Chapter at Lake City had gone defunct as a result of the War Between
the States.
In 1859,
Brother Ives was elected to receive the 33° and to be made an Active
Member, but for unknown reasons he did not attend a session of the Supreme
Council until May of 1868. The Supreme Council History, 1861-1891, shows
that Brother Ives was made a Sovereign Grand Inspector General and an
Active Member together with Brothers from Texas, Louisiana, Missouri,
Kansas and Nebraska, in 1868. Thus Florida had its first Sovereign Grand
Inspector General.
Brother Ives
was recognized as organizing St. Johns Lodge of Perfection, a Council of
Princes of Jerusalem and a Chapter of Rose Croix, in Jacksonville, soon
after the end of the War Between the States. Illustrious Brother Edward
Rutledge Ives passed away at Lake City, Florida on January 15, 1870 and is
buried in the Oaklawn Cemetery of Lake City, Florida. His grave is marked
with a small stone monument, 12 inches wide and 36 inches in height. It
has the emblem of the Double Headed Eagle at the top and the Square and
Compasses beneath the lettering. The Supreme Council records show that
St. Johns Lodge of Perfection No. 1 was constituted on May 21, 1871 and
would meet in Jacksonville. The records of Past Grand Mater, Enos Wasgate,
Grand Master of Florida in 1876 and 1877, show that he was Venerable
Master of St. Johns Lodge of Perfection No. 1 for two years and that his
Lodge was still in sound condition in March 1885, but that I later became
defunct.
On April 1,
1871, Brother John S. Driggs, 32°, of Jacksonville was appointed the
Deputy of the Supreme council in Florida. Grand Commander Albert Pike
reported in his Allocution of May 6, 1871, that Brother Driggs of Florida
had not functioned as such and recommended that his appointment be
revoked. It was revoked by vote of the Supreme Council. Brother Pike
also reported that of the (108) 33° Members in the Southern Jurisdiction,
there were none in Florida.
The Grand
Commanders Allocution of 1874 referenced that Secretary General, Albert G.
Mackey and Treasurer General, Weber, had both visited Florida in an effort
to promote Scottish Rite, but without any success. The Grand Commander
issued the decision that Florida would be annexed to Georgia and he
assigned the Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Georgia the
responsibility of promoting the Rite in Florida.
The
Transactions of 1876 reflect that Brother DeWitt Clinton Dawkins was
nominated for the K.C.C.H. on May 27, 1876 and then nominated for 33° and
Active Membership two days later, on May 29, 1876. Official records show
that Brother Dawkins received his 33°
and was crowned an Active Member of
the Supreme Council at eight p.m. on August 24, 1877.
In 1878, an
official bulletin of the Supreme Council reported that a charter dated
December 7, 1878, was issued to Dawkins Lodge of Perfection No. 2 at Key
West, Florida. Transactions for subsequent years are very brief
concerning the bodies in Jacksonville and Key West. As last as July 1,
1886, returns show St. Johns Lodge of Perfection No. 1, in Jacksonville,
with twenty members, but nothing from Key West. This last report lists
Past Grand Master, William Allen McLean, as Venerable Master of the Lodge
in Jacksonville.
The
Transactions of 1890 give the names of William Allen McLean and William A.
Evans of Jacksonville and Olin Seymour Wright of Plant City, as nominees
for the Knight Commander Court of Honour. These same Transactions refer
to Brother Robert Jasper Perry, of Key West, as being nominated for the
33° Honorary. At this meeting of the Supreme Council, St. Johns Lodge of
Perfection No. 1 was granted remission of dues, as that Lodge had
exhausted its funds for relief of the yellow fever victims in
Jacksonville.
On October 17,
1892, it was reported to the Supreme Council that Illustrious Brother
DeWitt Clinton Dawkins, Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Florida, had
passed away on October 5h of that same year and that his remains had been
returned to Mother Earth, with full Masonic Honors, in the Old City
Cemetery at Jacksonville. At the same meeting, on October 20, 1892,
Brother William Allen McLean, of Jacksonville, was coroneted 33º
Honorary. At this, nor at any future meetings, is any reference made of
the bodies of Jacksonville and Key West. In that same year, the records
of the Supreme Council show that Illustrious Brother William Allen McLean
was admitted as an Active Member of the Council and became the third
Florida Member to have received this distinct honor.
The oldest
surviving Scottish Rite Body, presently in the Orient of Florida, is the
Ocala Lodge of Perfection which was charted October 19, 1892 as Ponce de
Leon Lodge of Perfection No. 3. The numbers one and two had been
previously assigned to St. Johns No. 1 at Jacksonville and Dawkins No. 2
at Key West. The name of Ponce de Leon Lodge was changed to Ocala Lodge
in 1955 to comply with Supreme Council Statutes.
On November
29, 1892, eleven Brothers from the Jacksonville area organized Lorraine
Lodge of Perfection No. 4. On December 2, 1892, the Lodge voted to change
its name from Lorraine to Orient Lodge of Perfection No. 4. This was to
comply with Supreme Council Statutes which prohibits naming a Scottish
Rite Body after a living person. Orient Lodge of Perfection No. 4 was
charted October 20, 1893 and continues to thrive as the Jacksonville Lodge
of Perfection.
By 1897 there
were still only the two Lodges, Ponce de Leon No. 3 at Ocala and Orient
No. 4 at Jacksonville, in the Orient of Florida. The Supreme Council
Transactions of that year reflect that Brothers William Stratton Ware of
Jacksonville, Lippmann Ottensoser of Ocala and Olin Seymour Wright of
Plant City were coroneted 33° Honorary.
The Sovereign
Grand Inspector General of Florida, Illustrious Brother William Allen
McLean, passed away on August 22, 1989 and was laid to rest with the last
honors of the Fraternity, in the Old City Cemetery, at Jacksonville, just
a short distance from Illustrious Brother DeWitt Clinton Dawkins.
In 1899,
Brother Olin Seymour Wright, of Plant City, was appointed Deputy of the
Supreme Council of Florida. This Brother would serve in this capacity, as
Deputy of the Supreme Council, for the next eighteen years. Just previous
to this appointment, on July 30, 1898, Acme Lodge of Perfection was
organized in Plant City. That Lodge was chartered October 16, 1899 as
Acme Lodge of Perfection No. 5. McLean Chapter of Rose Croix was
organized at Plant city on August 7, 1899 and chartered October 20th
of the same year, as McLean Chapter of Rose Croix No. 1.
In 1901, the
one hundredth anniversary of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry, charters were issued to the following bodies in the Orient of
Florida: Alpha Lodge of Perfection No. 6 at Gainesville, Tau Lodge of
Perfection NO. at Tampa, Bruce Council of Kadosh No. 1 at Plant city,
McLean Council of Kadosh No. 2 at Jacksonville, Tampa Consistory No. 2 at
Jacksonville. The annual returns of 1901 reflect that the Orient of
Florida had (5) Chartered Lodges with a total of (105) members, (2)
Chartered Chapters with (56) members, (2) Chartered Councils with (50)
members and (2) Chartered Consistories with (42) members.
Supreme
Council records show that Brother Clarence Sherman Hammatt, of
Jacksonville, was decorated as a Knight Commander Court of Honour in 1903
and two years later, October 19, 1905, at eight p.m., was coroneted a 33°
Honorary.
Charters were
issued in 1905 to Omar Lodge of Perfection No. 8 at Pensacola and Khairom
Lodge of Perfection No. 9 at Bartow. The Supreme Council Transactions for
this year show that a commission dated April 28, 1904, was issued to
Brother William Stratton Ware, of Jacksonville, as the Deputy of the
Supreme Council for the Northern Section of Florida and Brother Olin S.
Wright, of Plant City, continued those responsibilities for the Southern
Section.
During the
coming years, Scottish Rite Freemasonry in Florida grew and prospered. In
1908, Palm Lodge of Perfection No. 10 was established at Key West,
together with Southern Cross Chapter of Rose Croix No. 3 and Alpha Council
of Kadosh No. 3, both in that same year and in that same southernmost part
of our State. In 1911, Pensacola became the home of Tarshatha Chapter of
Rose Croix No. 4, Escambia Council of Kadosh No. 4 and Pensacola
Consistory No. 3. In 1913, the Orient of Florida had three Deputies of
the Supreme Council, Olin S. Wright of Plant City, Clarence S. Hammatt of
Jacksonville and Bruce S. Weeks of Pensacola. The returns of July 1,
1913, report that the Orient of Florida has (7) Lodges of Perfection with
a total of (954 members. Alpha Lodge No. 6 at Gainesville had surrendered
its charter. We were also reported to have (4) Chapters of Rose Croix
with (755) members, (4) Councils of Kadosh with (734) members and (3)
Consistories with (726) members. In the twelve year period, 1901-1913,
our Florida bodies had increased significantly and our membership improved
by nine hundred percent. As of this same year, our several Consistories
had (9) Knights Commander Court of Honour and (9) 33°
Honorary.
In 1915, Key
West Consistory No. 4 was chartered and two years later, in 1917, Mithra
Lodge of Perfection No. 11 was chartered in Miami. At the Supreme Council
meeting in 1917, on October 17th, our Illustrious Brother Olin
Seymour Wright was accepted as an Active Member of the Council and became
the Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Florida. Brother Wright was the
fourth Scottish Rite Mason, in the Orient of Florida, to be so honored.
Florida had been nineteen years without a S.G.I.G., between the time that
Brother McLean passed away and Brother Wright was appointed.
In the year
1919, the Supreme Council charted Venus Lodge of Perfection No. 12, to
meet at Lake Worth. At the same Supreme Council Session, permanent
charters were issued for Acacia Chapter of Rose Croix No. 5, Utopia
Council of Kadosh No. 5 and Miami Consistory No. 5, all of these bodies to
meet in Miami. Three of the Brothers honored at this session were: John
Henrik Ek and Ernest Lewis Vordermark, of Jacksonville and Alexander
Breheurs Steuart of Tampa. These three distinguished brothers were
coroneted 33° Honorary.
Two years
later, in 1921, the Grand Commander installed Illustrious Brother Wright
into the office of Grand Herald. Permanent charters were issued for the
St. Augustine Lodge of Perfection, at St. Augustine, and Akairos Chapter
of Rose Croix No. 6 at Lake Worth. Another two years, October 16, 1923,
and our Brother Frank Howard Thompson, of Lakeland, was nominated for the
33° Honorary. Three days later, on Friday the 19th at the
eight p.m. Session, Brother Thompson was coroneted and then our
Illustrious Brother Wright was installed as the First Grand Equerry.
Charters were issued for Menthra Council of Kadosh and Lake Worth
Consistory, both to be located in Lake Worth.
It is
worthwhile to mention that at this point in our Scottish Rite History, the
numbers assigned to the various bodies, throughout the Southern
Jurisdiction, were removed and the bodies thereafter have been recognized
by their name only.
Another decade
of Scottish Rite Masonry, in the Orient of Florida, and there is every
indication of continued growth and prosperity. The returns of mid 1923
show that our Sunshine State has (9) Lodges with (4401) members, (6)
Chapters with (3747), (6) Councils with (3544) members and (6)
Consistories with (3523) members. During this decade, our bodies have
continued to increase in numbers and our rosters have grown by more than
four hundred and fifty percent.
Olin Seymour
Wright, 33° and S.G.I.G. of Florida and First Equerry of the Supreme
Council, died at his home in Plant city on December 17, 1923. His Masonic
Services were conducted by the Grand Master, F. & A.M. of Florida and his
remains were laid to rest in the Oaklawn Cemetery of Plant City.
Upon the death
of our Sovereign Grand Inspector General and owing to the peculiar shape
of this State and the time required for visiting the various bodies, Grand
Commander John H. Cowles divided our State into two Jurisdictions with a
Deputy in each. He assigned the Valleys of Jacksonville, Pensacola, Saint
Augustine and Ocala to a Northern Jurisdiction of Florida with Brother
Clarence S. Hammatt, 33° Honorary, of Jacksonville, as the Deputy of the
Supreme Council for that Northern Jurisdiction. He assigned the Valleys
of Tampa, Plant city, Key West, Miami and Lake Worth to a Southern
Jurisdiction, and appointed Brother Alexander Breheurs Steuart, 33°
Honorary, of Tampa, as the Deputy of the Supreme Council for that
Southern Jurisdiction. Upon this division, there were (4) Lodges, (2)
Chapters, (2) Councils and (2) Consistories in the Northern Jurisdiction
and (5) Lodges, (4) Chapters, (4) Councils and (4) Consistories in the
Southern Jurisdiction.
The
Transactions of 1927 show that Acme Lodge of Perfection of Plant City,
surrendered its charter as of December 17, 1926. Deputy Alexander B.
Steuart, due to ill health, resigned his commission as Deputy on December
9, 1928. On January 15, 1929, the Supreme Council appointed Brother James
Donn, of Miami, as Deputy for the Southern Jurisdiction of Florida.
On December 6,
1932, Deputy Clarence S. Hammatt, of the Northern Jurisdiction, submitted
to the beckon of our Creator. Just thirteen days later, Brother William
Clyde Johnson was appointed Deputy for the Northern Jurisdiction of
Florida.
From 1923 to
1937, a period of fourteen years, there seemed to be no need for
additional bodies in the Orient of Florida. Then on October 20, 1937, a
permanent charter was issued for the St. Augustine Chapter of Rose Croix
to be located in St. Augustine. Another fourteen years slipped by before
the Tallahassee Lodge of Perfection was chartered. It was chartered
October 17, 1951, to hold its meetings in Tallahassee.
In the one
hundred and fiftieth year of the Supreme Council of the Southern
Jurisdiction, Florida was returned to one jurisdiction and Brother William
Clyde Johnson of Jacksonville was appointed as the Deputy of the Supreme
Council. The records of the Supreme Council elaborate on the fact that
Brother Johnson, at this time, was second in seniority of all the current
Deputies. He was originally appointed on December 19, 1932 and is serving
as such for his nineteenth year.
On October 29,
1952, after the death of Brother William Clyde Johnson, our Past Grand
Master, Frank Howard Thompson, of Lakeland, was appointed Deputy of the
Supreme Council in Florida. During this same period, permanent charters
were issued to the Orlando Lodge of Perfection, Panama City Lodge of
Perfection and the Ocala Chapter of Rose Croix.
In the early
nineteen-fifties, to comply with Supreme Council Statutes, all of the
bodies in the Orient of Florida changed their names to the name of the
city or town where they held their meetings. For example: Tau Lodge of
Tampa was changed to the Tampa Lodge of Perfection, McLean Council of
Jacksonville was changed to the Jacksonville Council of Kadosh, Acacia
Chapter of Miami was changed to Miami Chapter of Rose Croix and Florida
Consistory at Jacksonville to the Jacksonville Consistory.
From the
mid-fifties through the end of that decade, Florida Scottish Rite
Freemasonry grew by leaps and bounds. On October 20, 1955, permanent
charters were issued to the Ocala Council of Kadosh, Ocala Consistory,
Orlando Chapter of Rose Croix, Orlando Council of Kadosh, Orlando
Consistory, Panama City Chapter of Rose Croix and the Tallahassee Chapter
of Rose Croix.
In 1955,
Brother Frank Howard Thompson was crowned Sovereign Grand Inspector
General of Florida. Brother William Mercer Hollis of Lakeland, received
the 33° Honorary on Friday, October 21, 1955.
At the 1957
Supreme Council Session, in Washington, D.C., Brother Frank Howard
Thompson was installed as the Grand Herald. On October 22, 1957, a
permanent charter was given to the Tallahassee Council of Kadosh.
In 1959 we
began opening the last Florida area to Scottish Rite Freemasonry that the
structure of our Orient presently embraces. On October 21, 1959, a
permanent charter was given to the Fort Myers Lodge of Perfection. On
that same date, charters were also issued for the Panama City Council of
Kadosh, the Panama City Consistory and the Tallahassee Consistory.
Illustrious Brother Frank H. Thompson was installed as the Grand Standard
Bearer of the Supreme Council.
Fort Myers
Chapter of Rose Croix was charter October 24, 1963 and the Scottish Rite
returns of 1965 show that the membership in the Orient of Florida is
exceeded only by the Orients of California, Oklahoma and Texas. In 1966,
Brother Frank H. Thompson was appointed and installed Second Equerry of
our Supreme Council.
On April 29,
1967, Illustrious Brother Frank Howard Thompson entered that land from
which no traveler returns. Our Illustrious Brother Thompson was laid to
rest, with Masonic Honors, in the Lakeland Memorial Gardens Cemetery, of
Lakeland, Florida.
Six days
later, on May 5, 1967, Most Worshipful Brother William Mercer Hollis, 33°
Honorary, and Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, F & A.M., of Florida,
by only eight days, was appointed as the Deputy of the Supreme Council in
Florida.
At the Supreme
Council Session that same year, in Executive Session at two p.m., Tuesday,
October 3rd, Brother William Mercer Hollis was elected to
Active Membership. On October 6, 1967, Brother Hollis was crowned as a
Sovereign Grand Inspector General and Active Member of the Council. At
this 1967 Session, the Fort Myers Council of Kadosh and Fort Myers
Consistory were both issued charters dated October 5, 1967. These are the
last Scottish Rite Bodies to have been organized in the Orient of
Florida.
Illustrious
Brother Hollis was appointed, February 27, 1969, to the committee on
Nomination sand the Committee on Publications. He was appointed, that
same year, as the Council Representative to the Philippines. On April 20,
1972, our Sovereign Grand Inspector was appointed to the Letters Temporary
and Permanent Charters Committee, Publications Committee and the Committee
on Benevolence and Fraternal Assistance. In that same year, on August 28th,
our Illustrious Brother was appointed as Grand Herald of the Supreme
Council. The following year, Brother Hollis was appointed the Second
Grand Equerry.
A very
instinct honor was handed down by the Supreme Council on October 16,
1975. At a Special Executive Session of the Supreme Council, a motion was
made and carried to bestow the Grand Cross Court of Honour on Brother
Gerald R. Ford, 33° Honorary and Brother John Lewis Hall, 33° Honorary,
of Florida. The Supreme Council has subsequently bestowed this honor on
Brother William Stafford of the Valley of Tallahassee and on Brother Dave
R, Thomas of the Valley of Miami.
Our Illustrious Sovereign
Grand Inspector of Florida was appointed Grand Chamberlain on November 18,
1977 and then on May 1, 1981 he was appointed as Grand Chaplain of the
Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction.
Illustrious Brother Hollis was the sixth member of our Florida Bodies to
serve as our Sovereign Grand Inspector General. Brother Hollis served
more than (22) years as such and served longer than any of his
predecessors in this Orient. Our five previous Sovereign Grand Inspector
Generals served approximately, (2) years, (15) years, (6) year, and (12)
years respectively. Illustrious Brother Hollis was one of the senior
members of the Supreme Council and was serving as the Grand Minister of
State when he retired to Emeriti Status in 1989. Our Illustrious and Most
Worshipful Brother passed away on March 19, 1990 and was laid to rest in
the Oak Hill Burial Park of Lakeland, Florida.
Most
Worshipful Robert Louis Goldsmith, who served as Grand Master of Free and
Accepted Masons of Florida, in 1983, became the seventh Sovereign Grand
Inspector General of the Orient of Florida. Brother Goldsmith had
received the 33° Honorary, on December 19, 1983, and was appointed Deputy
of the Supreme Council on May 3, 1988. He was crowned an Active Member of
the Supreme Council and Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Florida, in
October, 1989. Brother Goldsmith presently serves as Grand Prior of
the Supreme Council and is Sovereign Grand Inspector General in the Orient
of Florida.
The Florida
framework of Scottish Rite Freemasonry is made up of Brethren who have
responded, without limitations, to the Scottish Rite Program for Childhood
Language Disorders.
The Scottish
Rite Foundation of Florida, Inc. was established in 1975 and the first
Aphasia Clinic was opened in Tampa, with proper facilities furnished by
the Brethren of that Valley. Since that first Clinic opened, the Florida
Brethren have established additional Clinics in Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort
Myers, Lakeland, New Port Richey, Orlando, Palm Beach, Panama City,
Pensacola, St. Petersburg and Sarasota. Of the (138) Clinics, Centers and
Programs in the Southern Jurisdiction, only California has more Clinics
than Florida.
During the
short period of time, since the inauguration of this program, the
Childhood Language Disorder Clinics of Florida have treated thousands of
children, with a high percentage of these being either cured or greatly
improved.
We stand
behind the words of our deceased Brother, Arthur R. Lund, who spoke of our
intentions here in Florida, “To see that no child in the Orient of
Florida, who is afflicted with an Aphasic Condition, shall go without help
needed to arrive at a full, fruitful life.”
In a recent
survey of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, there
were (219) Lodges, (202) Councils and (196) Consistories. Of these
numbers, Florida has (12) Lodges, (12) Chapters, (12) Councils and (11)
Consistories. |
