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St. John's
Lodge No. 1 Free and Accepted Masons Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.A. Constituted June 24, 1736
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St. John's
Lodge No. 1 Free and Accepted Masons Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.A. Constituted June 24, 1736
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About St. John's and Its History
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The Oldest Masonic Document From New Hampshire
On February 5, 1735 (Old Style, which is February 16, 1736 in today's calendar), six Masons from Portsmouth in New Hampshire, which was then under the jurisdiction of the Royal Province of Massachusetts, wrote to Brother Henry Price in Boston, Massachusetts, asking for a charter. In 1733, Price had been appointed "Provincial Grand Master of New England and Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging," by Lord Montague, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England. This letter shows that there were Masons meeting in a Lodge they called St. John's in Portsmouth in 1735. As was the custom at the time, Masons in the 18th Century often met in Lodges held by "immemorial rights," without a charter and often without records, so we do not know how long Masons have actually met in Portsmouth. We note that the Grand Lodge of England was formed in 1717, only eighteen years before this letter was written.
To download a high-resolution (1.1 MB) image, click here.
The letter is now preserved in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. It reads:
To the Right worshipfull & Worshipfull – Henry Price Grand Master of the Society of free and Accepted Masons held in Boston, and to ye rest of the Brothers Greeting – Wee the under named persons of the holy and Exquisite Lodge of St. John do hereby request a deputation and power to hold a Lodge According to order as is and has been granted to faithfull Brothers in all parts of the World; wee have our Constitutions both in print and manuscript as good and as ancient as any that England can afford. Worthy Sir – wee request ye above as a favour hearing that there is A Superiour Lodge held in Boston, and if Granted, it will encourage us, to keep a Constant coraspondance, by comunicateing our brotherly affections, one to another once a Quarter, which Concludes us as wee ought Gentn – Your obedient Servants – Portshmoth February Ye 5 Day, 1735 Robt. Brough Tho Colman John F. Miller Jonathan Nailer Willm Canterbury Willm Grogan
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