When the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Ohio was in session in Toledo in 1940, it adopted a resolution to pledge its support to the government of the United States. This was prior to the
hostilities that plunged the nation into global conflict of World War II, which lasted five long years.
Prince Hall Masons served in every theater of operations in that war, and served with distinction in every capacity from aviators to stewards. After the war was over and the ugly specter of communism
was spreading its evil influence throughout Eastern Europe; The M.W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge once again reaffirmed its position by adopting a resolution. An excerpt reads: “Freemasonry is founded
upon democratic principals which permit the free expression of the individual in matters of government, in religion, and education; Loyalty to our country, its constitution, its laws, its principals, and its
way of life is a fundamental tenet of our order, while any subversive conduct tending to destroy or impair its free institutions is condemned.”
The Grand Lodge’s position was solidified forever under Grand Master Russell Jefferson of Harmony Lodge No. 77 (Dayton, OH) in a declaration of principals and subsequently by Grand Master Guy R.
Taylor of Hiram Abiff Lodge #72 (Canton, OH), who set aside a period from September 12th to November 12th to celebrate Prince Hall Americanism Day.
The Armed Forces has been one of the best catalyst of integrating black people into the Mainstream of American Life and Military Freemasonry might be described as an ambassador of good will on
Earth.
Our Founder, Prince Hall was raised in a Military Lodge. Prince Hall Freemasonry from its inception has played a major role in sustaining Black America and nowhere is this more evident than in all the
wars fought from Bunker Hill to Desert Storm.
Prince Hall Masons have served from the Arctic to the Equator, on the high seas and below the sea, and one Prince Hall Mason has been “reported to have been into outer space” – Although it has not
been proven that that he is a Mason.
Military Lodges have been in the past, a loose affair, because of too few members, lack of maintaining records and minutes and being constantly on the move.
In the duration of the Civil War, 1861-1865 the Union Army Enlisted more than 180,000 Black troops and over 33,380 died. After the Civil War, these soldiers, many whom had served honorably,
deserved a chance to continue their career, limited as it was. Slaves now freed from southern plantations needed employment some congressmen felt that a certain dose of retribution and retaliation was
due the south, and putting arms into the hands of ex-slaves was just the medicine it needed.
So in an Act passed July 28th, 1866, Congress authorized six all Black units of military. Two of the units were the 9th and 10th Cavalry and four infantry units – The 28th, 29th, 40th and the 41st. In
later years, the four units would be combined into two. The 24th and 25th. Together, the 9th and 10th would ride into Indian territory of the American west as the greatest Military Cavalry unit America
assembled. They were the “Buffalo Soldiers”, so named by the Indians they fought. Legend or tradition, whichever you prefer says, they were so named because their hair reminded them of buffalo fur.
Another is that they fought with the ferocity of a wounded bull buffalo when they were cornered and still another is because of the long buffalo hide coats they wore. Legend has it that an enterprising
Indian sat outside a trading post fort, selling patches of buffalo fur, claming that they were genuine scalps from “Buffalo Soldiers”. He was reaping a huge profit until someone discovered his scam and
added his scalp to their collection.
The Buffalo Soldiers brought to the Great Plains their skills and ability, their desire for freedom, their religion and their Masonry. Their headquarters was Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Their commanding
officers were white. Most white officers refused to command Black troops and considered it below their dignity to do so.
George Armstrong Custer was promised a Colonel’s rank if he would take command of the 9th Cavalry, but he refused and politicked and wrangled the same rank with the newly formed 7th Cavalry.
That fatal mistake would lead him to a date with the Great Indian Chief Sitting Bull at the Little Big Horn 10 years later.
The duties of the 9th and 10th was to protect the stage coach lines, escort wagon trains, keep law and order along the Mexican boarder and keep the Indians on the reservations. Besides the low pay and
harsh living conditions, they encountered gross racial prejudice from the settlers they were suppose to protect.
The first Masonic Lodges were set up by dispensation issued from the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas and they were with the 10th Cavalry in 1883. The Lodge moved so much from Arizona, to
Wyoming, to Nebraska that it ceased to exist by 1888. Also at that same time, the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Missouri was making its move in chartering Military Lodges and soon became the “Mother”
Grand Lodge of all Military Lodges west of the Mississippi River including the Philippines.
There was also a Female Buffalo Soldier. This was not a legend or some lady of song or folklore, but a real figure – A woman whose name is recorded in the pages of history. Cathay Williams was born
to Martha Williams outside of Independence, Missouri in 1842. Although her father was a freeman, she was born into slavery. She grew up in Jefferson City, MO, and was the house girl for William
Johnson, a wealthy farmer. After her master died, the Civil War broke out. Union Troops overran that part of Missouri, pressed Cathay and others into service and took them to Little Rock, Arkansas.
The officers wanted her to cook – something she did not want to do, but having no say in the matter, she became a cook and laundress. Cathay had a front row seat to the civil war. She traveled with the
Army as General Sherman cut the Confederacy in half and eventually ended up in Washington, D.C. as a cook and laundress to General Phil Sheridan. General Sheridan was later assigned to St. Louis,
Missouri after the war.
Cathay Williams became a soldier on November 15th 1866 in St. Louis, MO.. Intending on a three-year tour of duty – she joined the 38th U.S. Infantry – Company A. She enlisted as William Cathay. At
that time there was not required medical examination for enlistment. The Army surgeon would only check for the obvious and superficial abnormalities. The uniforms worn by her regiment were not
form fitting. She was described as being 5’9, Black Eyes, Black Hair and Black Complexion. Only two people in her regiment knew her identity, and they never told anyone she was a female. If the
surgeons knew, they never told either. For it was forbidden for a woman to enlist and serve in the 19th Century Military.
She served at Ft. Harker, KS and later at Ft. Union. She finally got tired, disgusted and played sick. The post surgeon found out she was a woman and she was discharged on October 16th, 1858. She
relocated to Pueblo, Colorado and got married. She had difficulties with her husband and said he was “No Account”. After she moved to Trinidad, CO she told her story to the newspaper in 1876. She
applied for a pension in 1891 and was refused on the grounds that her enlistment was illegal. This time it was first brought to light that a Black woman had served in the regular Army. A copy of her
enlistment papers is on record at the U.S. Army National Archives and record administration in Washington, D.C. She finally opened and ran a boarding house at Raton, New Mexico and died in
1924 at age 82. General Colin Powell made it a priority to bring recognition to the Buffalo Soldiers. Retired Naval Commander Carlton Philpot led the effort, which raised $1.3 million for a part and a
bronze sculpture of a Buffalo Soldier at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. There are stone pillars denoting the medal of honor recipients from the 9th and 10th Cavalry and pillars denoting their campaigns. The
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc maintains the park.
I had a chance to visit the Fort on August 20th, 2000. I found a beautiful well kept park, with a life-size monument of Buffalo Soldier astride a horse above a waterfall. At the present there is one
bronze bust in the park. A close examination revealed it was a bust of General Roscoe Robinson Jr. He was a distinguished combat commander and this first Black Four Star General in the U.S. Army.
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1951. General Robinson served in Korea and Vietnam and received several medals. He
received his Fourth Star in 1982, retired in 1983, and died of Leukemia in 1993 at the age of 64. Future plans will include busts of other Black American s that have distinguished themselves and yes –
Pvt. Cathay Williams will be there too.
The people we talk about and pay honor to in this article were not all members of the Masonic Fraternity. The Masonic Virtues we practice and extol are not ours exclusively but belong to the Human
Race at large.
Prince Hall Masons in Military Lodges abroad have set standards and they are not the “Ugly American” that so many believe to exist.
Whatever is in store for the Masonic Fraternity in America in the future and for those who will have to pass judgement on it – The role of the Prince Hall Freemason must be considered one of the most
glorious chapters in the pages of American History.
WRITERS NOTE:
The information researched in this document comes from several sources and is not the exclusive writing of any one person or persons.
hostilities that plunged the nation into global conflict of World War II, which lasted five long years.
Prince Hall Masons served in every theater of operations in that war, and served with distinction in every capacity from aviators to stewards. After the war was over and the ugly specter of communism
was spreading its evil influence throughout Eastern Europe; The M.W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge once again reaffirmed its position by adopting a resolution. An excerpt reads: “Freemasonry is founded
upon democratic principals which permit the free expression of the individual in matters of government, in religion, and education; Loyalty to our country, its constitution, its laws, its principals, and its
way of life is a fundamental tenet of our order, while any subversive conduct tending to destroy or impair its free institutions is condemned.”
The Grand Lodge’s position was solidified forever under Grand Master Russell Jefferson of Harmony Lodge No. 77 (Dayton, OH) in a declaration of principals and subsequently by Grand Master Guy R.
Taylor of Hiram Abiff Lodge #72 (Canton, OH), who set aside a period from September 12th to November 12th to celebrate Prince Hall Americanism Day.
The Armed Forces has been one of the best catalyst of integrating black people into the Mainstream of American Life and Military Freemasonry might be described as an ambassador of good will on
Earth.
Our Founder, Prince Hall was raised in a Military Lodge. Prince Hall Freemasonry from its inception has played a major role in sustaining Black America and nowhere is this more evident than in all the
wars fought from Bunker Hill to Desert Storm.
Prince Hall Masons have served from the Arctic to the Equator, on the high seas and below the sea, and one Prince Hall Mason has been “reported to have been into outer space” – Although it has not
been proven that that he is a Mason.
Military Lodges have been in the past, a loose affair, because of too few members, lack of maintaining records and minutes and being constantly on the move.
In the duration of the Civil War, 1861-1865 the Union Army Enlisted more than 180,000 Black troops and over 33,380 died. After the Civil War, these soldiers, many whom had served honorably,
deserved a chance to continue their career, limited as it was. Slaves now freed from southern plantations needed employment some congressmen felt that a certain dose of retribution and retaliation was
due the south, and putting arms into the hands of ex-slaves was just the medicine it needed.
So in an Act passed July 28th, 1866, Congress authorized six all Black units of military. Two of the units were the 9th and 10th Cavalry and four infantry units – The 28th, 29th, 40th and the 41st. In
later years, the four units would be combined into two. The 24th and 25th. Together, the 9th and 10th would ride into Indian territory of the American west as the greatest Military Cavalry unit America
assembled. They were the “Buffalo Soldiers”, so named by the Indians they fought. Legend or tradition, whichever you prefer says, they were so named because their hair reminded them of buffalo fur.
Another is that they fought with the ferocity of a wounded bull buffalo when they were cornered and still another is because of the long buffalo hide coats they wore. Legend has it that an enterprising
Indian sat outside a trading post fort, selling patches of buffalo fur, claming that they were genuine scalps from “Buffalo Soldiers”. He was reaping a huge profit until someone discovered his scam and
added his scalp to their collection.
The Buffalo Soldiers brought to the Great Plains their skills and ability, their desire for freedom, their religion and their Masonry. Their headquarters was Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Their commanding
officers were white. Most white officers refused to command Black troops and considered it below their dignity to do so.
George Armstrong Custer was promised a Colonel’s rank if he would take command of the 9th Cavalry, but he refused and politicked and wrangled the same rank with the newly formed 7th Cavalry.
That fatal mistake would lead him to a date with the Great Indian Chief Sitting Bull at the Little Big Horn 10 years later.
The duties of the 9th and 10th was to protect the stage coach lines, escort wagon trains, keep law and order along the Mexican boarder and keep the Indians on the reservations. Besides the low pay and
harsh living conditions, they encountered gross racial prejudice from the settlers they were suppose to protect.
The first Masonic Lodges were set up by dispensation issued from the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas and they were with the 10th Cavalry in 1883. The Lodge moved so much from Arizona, to
Wyoming, to Nebraska that it ceased to exist by 1888. Also at that same time, the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Missouri was making its move in chartering Military Lodges and soon became the “Mother”
Grand Lodge of all Military Lodges west of the Mississippi River including the Philippines.
There was also a Female Buffalo Soldier. This was not a legend or some lady of song or folklore, but a real figure – A woman whose name is recorded in the pages of history. Cathay Williams was born
to Martha Williams outside of Independence, Missouri in 1842. Although her father was a freeman, she was born into slavery. She grew up in Jefferson City, MO, and was the house girl for William
Johnson, a wealthy farmer. After her master died, the Civil War broke out. Union Troops overran that part of Missouri, pressed Cathay and others into service and took them to Little Rock, Arkansas.
The officers wanted her to cook – something she did not want to do, but having no say in the matter, she became a cook and laundress. Cathay had a front row seat to the civil war. She traveled with the
Army as General Sherman cut the Confederacy in half and eventually ended up in Washington, D.C. as a cook and laundress to General Phil Sheridan. General Sheridan was later assigned to St. Louis,
Missouri after the war.
Cathay Williams became a soldier on November 15th 1866 in St. Louis, MO.. Intending on a three-year tour of duty – she joined the 38th U.S. Infantry – Company A. She enlisted as William Cathay. At
that time there was not required medical examination for enlistment. The Army surgeon would only check for the obvious and superficial abnormalities. The uniforms worn by her regiment were not
form fitting. She was described as being 5’9, Black Eyes, Black Hair and Black Complexion. Only two people in her regiment knew her identity, and they never told anyone she was a female. If the
surgeons knew, they never told either. For it was forbidden for a woman to enlist and serve in the 19th Century Military.
She served at Ft. Harker, KS and later at Ft. Union. She finally got tired, disgusted and played sick. The post surgeon found out she was a woman and she was discharged on October 16th, 1858. She
relocated to Pueblo, Colorado and got married. She had difficulties with her husband and said he was “No Account”. After she moved to Trinidad, CO she told her story to the newspaper in 1876. She
applied for a pension in 1891 and was refused on the grounds that her enlistment was illegal. This time it was first brought to light that a Black woman had served in the regular Army. A copy of her
enlistment papers is on record at the U.S. Army National Archives and record administration in Washington, D.C. She finally opened and ran a boarding house at Raton, New Mexico and died in
1924 at age 82. General Colin Powell made it a priority to bring recognition to the Buffalo Soldiers. Retired Naval Commander Carlton Philpot led the effort, which raised $1.3 million for a part and a
bronze sculpture of a Buffalo Soldier at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. There are stone pillars denoting the medal of honor recipients from the 9th and 10th Cavalry and pillars denoting their campaigns. The
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc maintains the park.
I had a chance to visit the Fort on August 20th, 2000. I found a beautiful well kept park, with a life-size monument of Buffalo Soldier astride a horse above a waterfall. At the present there is one
bronze bust in the park. A close examination revealed it was a bust of General Roscoe Robinson Jr. He was a distinguished combat commander and this first Black Four Star General in the U.S. Army.
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1951. General Robinson served in Korea and Vietnam and received several medals. He
received his Fourth Star in 1982, retired in 1983, and died of Leukemia in 1993 at the age of 64. Future plans will include busts of other Black American s that have distinguished themselves and yes –
Pvt. Cathay Williams will be there too.
The people we talk about and pay honor to in this article were not all members of the Masonic Fraternity. The Masonic Virtues we practice and extol are not ours exclusively but belong to the Human
Race at large.
Prince Hall Masons in Military Lodges abroad have set standards and they are not the “Ugly American” that so many believe to exist.
Whatever is in store for the Masonic Fraternity in America in the future and for those who will have to pass judgement on it – The role of the Prince Hall Freemason must be considered one of the most
glorious chapters in the pages of American History.
WRITERS NOTE:
The information researched in this document comes from several sources and is not the exclusive writing of any one person or persons.
© 2012 St. Mark's Lodge No. 7 Prince Hall Free & Accepted Masons. All Rights Reserved
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| From Prince Hall to General Colin Powell by Bro. James A.D. Grimes (This article first appeared in the first quarter addition of the Dr. Charles H. Wesley Masonic Research Society's Masonic Voice) |