For several years during the 1980s, Most Worshipful Grand Master (MWGM) Samuel T. Daniels, District Deputy Grand Master (DDGM) George E. Moore of the 4th Masonic District, and Members of the Craft had discussed the feasibility of establishing a Lodge in the Northern Region of Prince George’s County (PG), Maryland as the Brothers of Roscoe C. Cartwright Masonic Lodge No. 129 had relocated their Lodge from Upper Marlboro to Accokeek in Southern Maryland.

Humble Beginnings

Sometime in early June 1988, under the leadership of Right Worshipful (RW) Dwight Reynolds and with the blessing of the Grand Lodge, several members of the Prince Hall Family gathered at Bowie State University to discuss the possibility of establishing a Masonic Lodge on the campus of Bowie State University. Those who attended were Bros. George T. Austin, Silas A. Butler, Jr., James Cooper, Charles A. Guilford, II, James Henderson, PM Milton A. Jews, Clarence Knight, William Singleton, Robert Ward, Ronald Watson, and Glenn B. Williams (most of these Brothers were active members of Roscoe C. Cartwright Lodge No. 129). Several meetings followed; however, it was not until February 1, 1989, that the first official meeting of the group took place; whereby the following officers were elected: President - Silas A. Butler, Jr., Vice President - Charles A. Guilford, II, Secretary - Ronald Watson, Treasurer - Glenn Williams, and Membership Chairman - James Henderson. Work began immediately on drafting procedures, letters requesting demits, and a meeting place. Guidelines for by-laws/constitution, dues structure, chartering, community outreach programs, lodge furnishings, proficiency and study group lessons were also discussed…it was indeed a very long evening.

Masonic Study Club

It was also at this meeting on February 1, 1989, that RW Dwight G. Reynolds read a letter addressed to GM Daniels and DDGM Moore (4th Masonic District), requesting a dispensation to form a Masonic Study Club for the express purpose of forming a Masonic Lodge on the campus of Bowie State University. Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA, is the only other known historically black college/university with a Masonic Lodge physically located on its campus. The question of a name for the Club was debated. The names Don S.S. Goodloe, founding principal of the Bowie Normal School/Bowie State College, and Dr. Charles H. Wesley, a noted scholar, author, educator, minister, and a Prince Hall Mason, were placed into nomination. The Brothers unanimously chose Dr. Charles H. Wesley. Brother Charles A. Guilford, II, was given the responsibility of contacting the widow of Dr. Wesley, Mrs. Dorothy Porter Wesley, to get permission to use her late husband’s name in this endeavor. The letter requesting permission was mailed to Mrs. Wesley in late February 1989, but she was on extensive travel, thus a verbal approval via telephone was not given until May 1989. In July 1990, written authorization was given.

By late spring 1989, the Study Club received approval from the Grand Lodge to officially become Charles H. Wesley Masonic Study Club. The Study Club met on the campus of Bowie State University, Bowie, Maryland. The Study Club consisted of fifteen members. The Grand Lodge was ready to extend a Charter to the Study Club at the 142nd Annual Grand Lodge Session in August 1989. However, the members of the Study Club wanted to make sure that all was in order and that the Charles H. Wesley Masonic Lodge would have a strong and sustaining foundation when it opened its first communication as a Lodge.

During the next twelve months, demits were granted, lodge furnishings were gifted from area lodges, a meeting place was established, a dues structure adopted, visitations to local Lodges for Masonic education were established, and realistic goals and objectives were developed. The basic philosophy established by the Study Club was to “teach and practice good Freemasonry” at all of its meetings.

A Lodge is Established

On July 1, 1990, The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Maryland & Jurisdictions, Inc. issued a Charter for the establishment of the Charles H. Wesley Masonic Lodge No. 147 at Bowie, Maryland. The Charter was formally presented to the three principle officers of the Lodge (Worshipful Master - Silas A. Butler, Jr., Senior Warden Charles A. Guilford, II, and Junior Warden - George T. Austin) at the 143rd Annual Grand Lodge Session in Hagerstown, Maryland, in August 1990. The Charter bears the signatures of MWGM Samuel T. Daniels, Senior Grand Warden - RW LeRoy A. Lassiter, Junior Grand Warden - RW Paul A. Smith, Grand Treasurer - RW Ronald X. Scott, and Grand Secretary - RW David R. Ross. The Charter ceremony was a grand event, and it was quite evident that the decision to wait another year before requesting a Charter was indeed a very “wise” decision.

Although Wesley received moral, physical and financial support from many lodges, it must be noted that Roscoe C. Cartwright Lodge No. 129 gave more than its fair-share of commitment and support to the establishment of Charles H. Wesley Masonic Lodge No. 147. There will always be a “special relationship” between these two lodges. Thus are the humble beginnings of Charles H. Wesley Lodge No. 147...A Lodge Determined To Make A Difference.

The Charter members of Charles H. Wesley Masonic Lodge No. 147 are: PM Silas A. Butler, Jr.✝, PM George T. Austin✝, PM Charles E. Gould✝, RW Charles A. Guilford, II, RW Milton A. Jews, RW Dwight G. Reynolds, PM Robert Ward, PM Walter Turner, and Bro. James Cooper✝

✝ Deceased

An outstanding scholar, historian, author, ordained minister, and educator, Dr. Charles Harris Wesley was born in Louisville, Kentucky on December 2, 1891. As a youth, Dr. Wesley attended public schools in his hometown of Louisville, before going on to attend Fisk University (TN) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1911. He would also go on to receive a Master of Arts Degree in Economics from Yale University in 1913, and a Ph.D. in History from Harvard University in 1925, becoming only the third African-American to be awarded a doctorate degree from Harvard. Dr. Wesley was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1930, and subsequently visited England to study slave emancipation in the British Empire.

A Minister, a Scholar, and an Educator

From 1914 to 1937, Dr. Wesley served as an ordained minister and elder in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, and in 1918, Dr. Wesley became the Pastor of the Ebenezer A.M.E. Church in Washington, DC. In 1916 he also began a long association with Carter G. Woodson's Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, serving as president from 1950 to 1965, and as executive director until 1972. Dr. Wesley was also on the Howard University faculty from 1913 to 1942, and in 1928, he received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Wilberforce University (OH), the school he would eventually become president for from 1942 to 1947. During Dr. Wesley’s time at Wilberforce he is credited with improving the faculty, founding new programs (such as African Studies), and integrating the student body. In 1947, he also founded and became president of the College of Education and Industrial Arts of Central State College (Now Central State University in Ohio) and served there until 1965.

Fraternalism

Dr. Wesley was an active member of several fraternal organizations including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek Letter Fraternity established for and by African-American college men, where he served as the fraternity’s 14th General President and later became the fraternity’s National Historian; Sigma Pi Phi (The Boulé ), the oldest African-American Greek Lettered Fraternity; and he was also a Prince Hall Mason, the first Masonic order for men of African-American descent and the first African-American Society in American History devoted to social, political, and economic improvement. As a Prince Hall Mason, Dr. Wesley received the prestigious 33rd Degree from the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Affiliation. Subsequently, Dr. Wesley would also go on to author several books documenting the histories of these great organizations including, "The History of Alpha Phi Alpha: A Development in College Life" in 1953, "The History of Sigma Pi Phi, First of the Greek Letter Fraternities for Negro-Americans 1905-1954" in 1954, and "Prince Hall Life and Legacy" in 1977. A renowned author, Dr. Wesley also wrote several other books about Prince Hall Masonry, as well as many other articles and books on African American history, its leaders, and organizations. These volumes included "Negro Labor in the United States, 1850-1925" (1927), "Collapse of the Confederacy" (1937), and his last book, "The History of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs: A Legacy of Service" (1984).

Accomplishments and Awards

During the course of his other achievements, Dr. Wesley became a highly decorated member of African-American community having received many awards for his various contributions to society including a Phi Beta Kappa Key, the Scottish Rite Gold Medal Award of the United Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Affiliation. In 1965, Dr. Wesley also became Executive Director of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and was responsible for all research and publications. He served in that capacity until 1972 and then became Executive Director Emeritus. For these additional accomplishments he earned the Armistad Award. In his last major career endeavor, from 1974 to 1976, Dr. Wesley served as the director of Philadelphia's Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum.

Dr. Charles Harris Wesley was an active member of Hiram Lodge No. 4 in Washington, DC, until he was called from labor on August 16, 1987.

Prince Hall Masons in Maryland trace their history to Massachusetts and to Prince Hall, who is believed to have been born in 1735, and died on December 4, 1807. On March 6, 1775, Prince Hall and fourteen others were initiated into a military Lodge at what is now Fort Independence, Massachusetts. On March 2, 1784, Prince Hall petitioned the Grand Lodge of England for a warrant or charter authorizing that a regular Lodge be constituted. It was issued on September 29, 1784, but not received until May 6, 1787, at which time African Lodge No. 459 was formed. On June 6, 1791, the lodge was erected into the African Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.

The Origins of Masonry in Maryland

The First African Independent Grand Lodge of North America No. 1 of the State of Pennsylvania, whose own authority came directly from Prince Hall, warranted the first lodge of black Masons constituted in the state of Maryland on February 2, 1825. This lodge was styled as African Friendship Lodge of Baltimore No. 6. Thereafter the same authority warranted Saint James Lodge and Enterprise Lodge. In 1845, again with the able assistance of Pennsylvania, these three (3) subordinate lodges formed the First Colored Grand Lodge, A.F.& A.M. of the state of Maryland, with Rev. James A. Handy as Grand Master.

In 1847, following the establishment of the National Grand Lodge, another grand lodge was organized in Maryland pursuant to its authority and styled as Union Grand Lodge. These two Grand Lodges remained in the field until 1876, when, being convinced that the object each Grand Master sought to accomplish would be better served by a union of the two, efforts to consolidate were made by the leading members of the two organizations. On September 12, 1876, the two Grand Lodges merged. In 1878, the name was changed to The Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge of the State of Maryland. In 1947, the name of the Grand Lodge was again changed to The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Maryland and its Jurisdictions, Inc., which name it still bears.

Present Day Masonry in Maryland

In 1960, Grand Master Willard W. Allen stepped down and Grand Master Samuel T. Daniels assumed the mantle of leadership. Later in that same year, the Grand Lodge moved to its present location at 1307 Eutaw Place at Lanvale Street and the Temple was duly named after Grand Master Allen. In 1998 Grand Master Daniels stepped down, at which time the Honorable Shelton D. Redden was elected Grand Master, which he served in that capacity for twelve years. In 2010, Melvin M. Thorpe was elected Grand Master, he served for four years.

On Sunday, December 7, 2014, the Craft nominated and elected the Honorable Lee A. Taylor, Jr., as Most Worshipful Grand Master. Grand Master Taylor has the distinction of being the only sitting Grand Master in Maryland's history to have also served as Grand Worthy Patron. He comes into office with a great love of the principles of Freemasonry and vision to increase Prince Hall Freemasonry's community involvement and charitable contributions to the great citizens of Maryland.

Currently there are eighty-one (82) constituent lodges that constitute Maryland and its jurisdiction. Sixty-six (66) are within the state of Maryland, eight (8) are in Germany, five (5) are in England, four (4) are in Italy, one (1) is in Belgium, and one (1) in Kuwait. Maryland Prince Hall Lodges look back with pride to their Mother Lodge and to Prince Hall's life and leadership. They each regard themselves as descendants from the Grand Lodge of England, from which Prince Hall received his own authority more than two centuries ago.