The Grand Master of North Carolina and its Jurisdictions, Prince Hall Affiliation, is the conservator of Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masons. The Right of Conservatorship is inherent. Regarding respect and honor, the Grand Master is the highest office in all of Prince Hall Masonry and, as such, is afforded due respect and honor as it pertains to this office at any Masonic functions of whatever Masonic body.
This includes, but is not limited to, a place of honor, regardless of the function or attendees, whether local, regional, national, or even international, if a Masonic organization hosts it. The Grand Master's seat is at the right of the podium, facing the audience, and visiting Grand Masters are the guests of the host Grand Master, not the functioning Masonic body. Grand Masters may only be invited into another Jurisdiction by the Grand Master. As a courtesy, any Masonic group from one jurisdiction that visits another to participate in or attend any Masonic function should be invited by the Grand Master of the Jurisdiction where they are going.
Grand Masters traditionally invite all other Grand Masters to attend nationally held Masonic functions in their jurisdictions. The host Grand Master receives these Grand Masters, and the "permission" is extended through this method.
Other houses are recognized as being concordant, appendant, adoptive, or affiliated. These are:
- Shriners A.E.A.O.N.M.S.\Daughters of Isis
- Scottish Rite A.A.S.R.\Order of the Golden Circle
- Knights Templar\Order of Cyrene Crusaders
- Royal & Select Masters\Ladies of the Circle of Perfection
- Holy Royal Arch Masons\Heroines of Jericho
- Blue Lodge\Order of the Eastern Star
These organizations are rooted in symbolic Masonry through Master Masons by the Right of Recognition granted by the jurisdictions represented in the Conference of Grand Masters.
These organizations shall frame their constitution and bylaws and administer and enforce such laws about the governance of their members as long as those laws, rules, and regulations shall not contravene the North Carolina Masonic Code. Furthermore, when appropriate, the Grand Master shall attend at least the annual Masonic meeting in person or by representation.
Resources and Administrative Forms
Administrative Forms For The Prince Hall Masonic Lodge
Jurisdiction Of North Carolina
- Request For Dispensation
- Application For Membership
- Report Of Investigating Committee
- Application For Reinstatement
- Supplementary Report To Annual Report
- Supplementary Grand Lodge Report Instructions
- Death Claim
- Application For Demit
- Demit
- Instructions For Demit
- Mop Report
- Application For Duplicate Charter
- Grand Lodge Scholarship Application
- Credentials Certificate
- Visitation Report
- Knight Of Pythagoras Application
- 2003 Annual Election Report Returns To The Grand Lodge
- 2003 Annual Irs Tax Report To The Grand Lodge
- Annual Local Lodge Meeting Times/past Masters Report For 2002 - 2003
- Legal Templates and All North Carolina Forms
Real Estate and Property Management
A room rental agreement in NC is a contract specifically for renting a single room within a larger property. It details the rights and obligations of both the landlord and the tenant, including rent, the duration of the lease, and rules regarding common areas.
The North Carolina lease agreement establishes the terms under which a tenant agrees to rent residential or commercial property, covering details such as payment, security deposit, and lease conditions, which are essential for a clear rental relationship.
For transferring property rights with simplified procedures, the quit claim deed in North Carolina conveys the grantor's interest in real property to the grantee without warranties about the title's quality. This deed is commonly utilized among family members or to clear up title issues quickly.
An NC lady bird deed, or enhanced life estate deed, allows property owners to retain control over their property during their lifetime, including the right to sell or mortgage it, and then automatically transfer it to a named beneficiary upon their death, bypassing probate.
Vehicle Transactions
The North Carolina vehicle bill of sale documents the sale of a car, truck, or other motor vehicle, capturing crucial details like the make, model, VIN, and sale price. This document is necessary for the legal transfer of ownership and car registration in North Carolina.
The NC trailer bill of sale documents the transaction details when buying or selling a trailer, including the type, size, and identification number, which are needed for registration and legal documentation.
Legal Contracts and Agreements
A North Carolina prenuptial agreement outlines the division of assets and financial arrangements between engaged partners should the marriage dissolve. It helps couples establish clear financial expectations before entering into marriage.
A non-disclosure agreement in North Carolina protects confidential information in business relationships. This legal contract ensures that sensitive information shared for business purposes remains confidential, safeguarding proprietary data and trade secrets.
Estate Planning and Health Directives
The North Carolina will form (last will and testament) allows individuals to specify how their assets should be managed and distributed after death. This document is crucial for ensuring that one’s final wishes regarding their estate are honored.
In health care decision-making, the North Carolina living will provides directives for medical treatments an individual wishes to receive or refuse if they are no longer capable of making decisions themselves. This legal document guides healthcare providers and loved ones in making decisions aligned with the patient's desires.
A North Carolina durable power of attorney form grants a designated person the authority to manage financial, legal, and sometimes health-related decisions on behalf of someone else, especially useful when the principal is incapacitated.
The North Carolina medical power of attorney authorizes a trusted individual to make healthcare decisions on behalf of the grantor, ensuring that medical treatments align with the patient’s preferences when the patient is unable to make decisions themselves.
Tenant and Landlord Notifications
An NC notice to quit is a formal notification from a landlord to a tenant demanding that a lease violation or property vacation be rectified. This notice is typically the first step in the eviction process, providing tenants with a clear deadline for action to avoid legal eviction.
Whence Came We
Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternal society. An operative mason is a skilled workman who builds by constructing or repairing stonework or brickwork. Organized operative masonry guilds existed up to the 17th century. Until then, masons were actively engaged in building buildings, mainly gothic cathedrals. These guilds evolved into speculative freemasonry, which was social and philosophical. The roots and evolution of speculative freemasonry can be traced back to several events. Many historians agree that one of these is the re-establishment of speculative science by the English King Athelstan around 936 AD. Here a society was formed based on rules for the conduct of its members. A document known as the "Regius" or "Halliwell" Manuscript was written later, around 1390 AD. It is generally accepted as a reference for speculative freemasonry, which elaborates on more esoteric subjects.
The system of speculative freemasonry, developed from operative masonry, was completed when four Lodges of London assembled in a convention in St. Paul's Churchyard on June 24, 1717, and organized the first Grand Lodge. At that time, the following "Regulation" was adopted: "That the privilege of assembling as Masons, which had hitherto been unlimited, should be vested in certain places; and that every lodge to be hereafter, convened, except the four old lodges at this time existing, should be legally authorized to act by a warrant from the Grand Master, for the time being, granted to certain individuals by petition within the consent and approbation of the Grand Lodge in communication; and that without a such warrant, no lodge should be hereafter regular or constitution." This regulation, which subsequent Grand Lodges have observed, made it necessary that all lodges since authorized among Masons, should be able to show the authority for their existence. The purpose of this brief sketch is to explain to the brethren of this jurisdiction the manifest authority for the existence of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge for the State of North Carolina.
Following the regulation mentioned above, the Grand Lodge of England granted many warrants for holding lodges in Europe and upon the American continent. Indeed, all masonic lodges established since that period directly or indirectly derive their existence from the Grand Lodge of England. Many fields of army warrants were granted for holding lodges, among which one was held in the army of General Gage in the town of Boston, Massachusetts. In this field or army lodge, in 1775, were initiated, passed, and raised Prince Hall, Cyrus Jaundice, Bueston Slinger, Thomas Sanderson, Prince Tayden, Cato Sprain, Boston Smith, Peter Best, Fortin Howard, Prince Reed, John Canten, Peter Freeman, Benjamin Tiber, Buff Burfron, and Rich Tilly. These Brethren applied to the Grand Lodge of England on March 2, 1784, for a warrant to form a regular lodge in Boston, granted September 29, 1784, but not received until May 2, 1787.
On the list of lodges in America under the English Constitution 1783 and 1889 as prepared by John Lane, Past Provincial Grand Registrar of Devonshire (England), is the following record: "Boston, 1784, September 29, number 459, African Lodge, number 370 in 1782, erased in 1813."
It was said of Prince Hall, the Worshipful Master of this lodge, that he was a man of "exceptional ability" and "that he worked zealously in the case of Masonry until he died in 1807, exercising all the functions of the Provincial Grand Master," and was so recognized by the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of England, who under the date of August 29, 1792, wrote Prince Hall inquiring about four of the Prince (caucasian) Lodges, from which he had heard nothing for years; intimating that he was about to erase their names from the roster of Grand Lodges. The report of Prince Hall saved these (caucasian) lodges from Masonic death.
On March 22, 1792, Prince Hall organized a lodge in Philadelphia consisting of thirteen Negroes who had been made Masons in England. He subsequently organized a lodge in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1808 these three lodges organized the African Grand Lodge in Boston, now known as "The Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of Massachusetts."
From the introduction of Masonry among colored men in 1797 to 1915, enough lodges were formed in Pennsylvania to organize a second Negro Grand Lodge known as the "First Independent African Grand Lodge of North America." Due to friction among this jurisdiction's lodges, Union Lodge #4 and Harmony Lodge #5 were expelled from the First Independent Grand Lodge. This resulted in the formation of a rival Grand Lodge in Pennsylvania known as the "Hiram Grand Lodge."
On March 14, 1848, representatives of Boyer Lodge #1, New York City, which the African Lodge of Boston organized in 1812, Celestial Lodge #2, of New York, organized by Harmony Lodge of Pennsylvania, and Rising Sun Lodge #3, also of New York City, organized by the First Independent African Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania joined with each other in the organization of the Grand Lodge now known as "The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of New York."
In 1866, under the authority of the Grand Lodge of New York, Past Grand Master Paul Drayton organized King Solomon Lodge #23 (now #1) at New Bern, North Carolina, and Giblem Lodge #28 (now #2) at Wilmington, North Carolina. By authority of the same Grand Lodge, Past Grand Master James W. Hood, who had been appointed as supervisor, organized in 1867 Eureka Lodge #30 (now #3) at Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Widow's Son Lodge #31 (now #4,) at Raleigh, North Carolina. The four lodges last mentioned, on March 1, 1870, met in the Giblem Lodge room in the city of Wilmington and organized the present Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the state of North Carolina with Hood, Grand Master, and Sawyer as Grand Secretary.
Since its organization on March 1, 1870, the Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina has grown to 461 lodges and a membership of over 18,000. Also included are appendant bodies of the York Rite, Scottish Rite, and Shrine.
Adoptive rite refers to several orders admitting men and women to membership. Such an organization is the Order of the Eastern Star (OES) and primarily comprises women. This website includes OES, adoptive masonry, out of courtesy, and because this organization functions under the jurisdiction of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of North Carolina.
Membership Information
Depending upon where you live, you should contact a mason in that state. Prince Hall Lodges can extend invitations to all men of sound mind and body, at least 18 years of age, who believe in God, and are of good character and reputation. Although Prince Hall predominantly comprises African-Americans, we are open to all races and religious beliefs. If you reside in North Carolina and would like more information on Prince Hall Freemasonry, please send us your request to the Grand Lodge by email. Be sure to note that you are anon mason, an address if you want us to mail you literature, and any specific questions.
"Man's first duty is to love and revere God, implore His aid in all laudable undertakings, and seek His guidance through prayer, embrace and practice the tenants of religion, extend charity and sympathy to all mankind, shield and support the widow and orphan, defend virtue, respect the aged, honor the bonds of friendship, protect the helpless, lift the oppressed, comfort the downcast, restore dignity to the rejected, respect the laws of government, promote morality, and add to the common stock of knowledge and understanding." E. Dean Osborne 33°
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