Despite what some may have heard or might think, the Freemason fraternity is not secretive in the sense of being underground or hidden from view. In fact, according to the Assistant Grand Secretary for North Carolina, Matthew Robbins, it’s quite the opposite.
“Our buildings proudly display our symbols (i.e., a square and compass, the All-Seeing Eye, beehive), and our members wear it on their rings, clothing, and display it on their vehicles and license plates. Our ritualistic work is confidential as is our mode of recognizing each other as brothers. Masons do hold discussions held with other masons in the strictest of confidence when asked to do so,” he said.
Freemasonry has been in North Carolina since the 1750s and potentially earlier by legend. A men-only fraternity, it was founded in 1717 in England and subsequently spread outside the borders of England.
Closer to our neck of the woods, the Apex Lodge No. 584 at 408 East Williams Street was founded in 1909, chartered in 1910 and has been in continuous operation ever since. Each lodge is set up with its own officers who are installed initially by the Grand Master when it is founded. Annual elections are held thereafter to fill these officer positions. All lodges in the state (there are 359 in NC) are governed by the Grand Lodge in Raleigh—the governing armature with statewide jurisdiction.
Colonel Joseph Montfort was made the first Provincial Grand Master for the Province of North Carolina. A Grand Master is a title of honor as well as an office in Freemasonry given to a Freemason elected to oversee a Masonic jurisdiction. It is derived from the office of Grand Masters in chivalric orders. He presides over a Grand Lodge and has certain rights in the constituent lodges that form his jurisdiction. Montfort’s actual commission states he was the Grand Master of and for America and dates the commencement of his commission from 1771.
During the American Revolution, Montfort died and the lodges in the state functioned without a leader until 1787. That year, the Grand Lodge was rechartered to Tarboro, NC. At the time, they selected Governor Samuel Johnston as the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge that would follow Montfort.
“Not only did the United States declare independence from Great Britain, but each of the Grand Lodges of the new states did, too,” Robbins shared.
Per Robbins, each state or territory’s Grand Lodge is sovereign to itself, with some exceptions, so the highest level in the organization is each Grand Lodge. I asked Robbins about the Freemason mission and he noted how Masonry is different things for different people. He then pointed me to their welcome statement on the website which reads as follows:
Since the 18th century, the Freemasons of North Carolina have sought to unite good men of all backgrounds and make them better husbands, fathers, and citizens by encouraging and cultivating friendship, morality, and brotherly love. There is no singular definition of Freemasonry. Freemasonry is many different things to each man who joins the fraternity. For some it is a place to make friends and acquaintances. For others it is a place to engage in introspection or discuss philosophy. And, for others it is a place to practice charity and goodwill. Through each of these endeavors—and countless more—we strive to make our world a better place for all people. (Source: https://www.grandlodge-nc.org/)
Any man can become a Mason and according to Robbins, he need only ask someone who is a Mason. If he doesn’t know any Masons, he can reach out to the local lodge and see when they have their next group dinner. It’s a tradition for lodges to have a meal before or after their monthly (or bimonthly) meetings.
“Masonry accepts men of good character of every race, color, creed, and social status. The core requirements are to be at least 18 years of age, of good character, and a resident of NC for at least 6 months. While Masonry is not a religion (in fact, religion, along with politics, is a forbidden topic for discussion in our meetings), it is also a requirement that you have a belief in a deity. We have men of many different faiths that join together in brotherhood through our fraternity. Applicants, to join, must also pass a criminal background check,” Robbins noted.
Some recent examples of contributions the local Apex Lodge has made to the community at large include the Masonic Home for Children at Oxford (MHCO). Founded as the first Masonic Children’s Home in the U.S., it is still in use and funded by charitable donations including those from Masons and Lodges across the state. Additional information can be found at https://mhc-oxford.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/7-MHCO-History.pdf.
Robbins then talked about WhiteStone, which is the first and oldest continuing care retirement community in North Carolina. Founded in 1912 and similar to the home in Oxford, WhiteStone is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created as a partnership between the Masons and the Order of the Eastern Star (a similar organization for women). More information can be found at https://www.liveatwhitestone.org/history/.
When asked about plans for growth, Robbins underscored how the Masonic fraternity does not solicit for members which makes predictions about future growth a difficult proposition. He spoke about a more organic growth process based on a relatively simple formula.
“With more people coming to Wake County in general, more men will likely be seeking a fraternal and community-minded organization to join,” he said.
Robbins detailed that apart from there being quite a few Lodges in Raleigh, they can also be found in the myriad communities adjacent to Apex including Holly Springs, Cary, Fuquay-Varina and Garner. In the end, there is at least one Lodge in each of North Carolina’s 100 counties with 21 Lodges in Wake County alone—the most of any county.
The Masons, both in the past and today, have a robust, diverse and eclectic membership across the United States with some of these names both familiar and famous including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Teddy Roosevelt, Irving Berlin, Louis Armstrong, John Wayne, Mark Twain, Harry Houdini, Jesse Jackson, Steve Wozniak and Michael Richards, to name a few.
Closer to home, Robbins shared some noteworthy North Carolina Masons:
James Webb, who was appointed by President Kennedy as the Second Administrator of NASA from 1961-1968. Webb oversaw the Gemini and Mercury space programs. The James Webb Space Telescope is named in his honor.
Charles McIver, the first president of UNC-Greensboro, although it wasn’t officially UNC-Greensboro when he was there in the late 1800s. He was a premier advocate for improving education for women in the state at that time.
Frederick Augustus Olds, who was a lecturer, columnist, editor, and advocate for social history, was the founder of the North Carolina Hall of History (i.e., NC State Museum of History) in 1902.
And lastly and perhaps most impressively, there have been over forty North Carolina governors with Freemason ties.
This sense of brotherhood extends to other organizations within the community where similar values and community engagement are their goal. They are not competitors, but rather, friends and sometimes partners or colleagues. These organizations include the already mentioned Order of the Eastern Star, the Shriners International (one must be a Mason to join the Shriners) and the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of NC and Jurisdiction, Inc. Links for these organizations can be found at the end of this article.
As noted on their website, Freemasonry is many different things to each man who joins: it is a place to make friends and acquaintances, a place to engage in introspection or discuss philosophy and/or a place to practice charity and goodwill. Through each of these endeavors they strive to make the world a better place for all people. In the end, actions speak louder than words and the actions of this over-300-year-old fraternity echo across North Carolina and beyond.
The Public list
https://www.grandlodge-nc.org/storage/wysiwyg/lodge_history_v20210126_2.pdf
NC Lodges
https://www.grandlodge-nc.org/center-for-members/library–museum/historical-list-of-lodges )
Joseph Montfort
https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/montfort-joseph
Grand Lodge NC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lodge_of_North_Carolina
Order of the Eastern Star
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Eastern_Star
Shriners International
https://www.shrinersinternational.org/en
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of NC and Jurisdiction, Inc.
https://mwphglnc.us/
