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A band of English colonists
under the leadership of General James Edward Oglethorpe, British
soldier, statesman and humanitarian, arrived on the west bank of the
Savannah River on February 12, 1733. This was the birth of the English
Province of Georgia, the last of the Thirteen Colonies. Georgia was the
southwestern frontier of British America for many years.
In the same year, December 13, 1733, the Grand Lodge of England at its
Quarterly Communication in London adopted a resolution to "collect the
Charity of this Society towards enabling the Trustees (of Georgia) to
send distressed Brethren to Georgia where they may be comfortably
provided for...that it be strenuously (sic) recommended by the Masters
and Wardens of regular Lodges to make a generous collection amongst all
their Members for that purpose..."
Some three months later, February 21, 1734, a Lodge of Freemasons was
organized at Savannah under the "old Customs" (without warrant). Noble
Jones, intimate friend of James Oglethorpe, was initiated on that date,
the first Freemason made in Georgia. On December 2, 1735, the Lodge was
warranted by the Grand Lodge of England and entered on the engraved list
as "The Lodge at Savannah in Ye Province of Georgia". It was assigned
number 139 on the register of English Lodges. By 1770 its number had
been reduced to No. 63 and by 1792 it was No. 46, although no longer an
English Lodge.
The Lodge at Savannah changed its name in or prior to 1770 to Solomon's
Lodge. In 1774 and 1775, respectively, the Grand Lodge of England
warranted two more Lodges in Savannah, Unity No. 465 and Grenadiers No.
481. Both Lodges died an early death.
Except for that brief period, Solomon's Lodge was the only Lodge in
Georgia from 1734 until 1785. Solomon's Lodge was the second duly
constituted Lodge in America, next only to a Lodge in Boston warranted
in 1733. Solomon's Lodge is the Mother Lodge of Georgia.
Serving as Provincial Grand Masters in Georgia were: Grey Elliott, 1760
until he was succeeded in 1771 by Noble Jones. Brother Jones served
until his death in 1775. Sometime during the War for independence,
Samuel Elbert, American soldier and later Governor of Georgia, was
"elected" Provincial Grand Master. On December 15, 1786, Brother Elbert
resigned as Provincial Grand Master so that the independent Grand Lodge
of Georgia might be formed.
A group of dissident Freemasons in Savannah, disapproving the workings
of Solomon's Lodge, petitioned the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1784
for a charter to organize a Lodge. Their petition was granted by
Pennsylvania on March 31, 1785, the Lodge being listed on Pennsylvania's
register as no. 42, to be known as Hiram Lodge, Savannah, Georgia.
In the true spirit of Freemasonry the differences between the two Lodges
were soon reconciled. In the following year it is known that two
additional Lodges existed in the state, one at Augusta and one at
Washington. It is believed these four Lodges, on December 16, 1786 met
together and created the most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and
Accepted Masons for the State of Georgia. William Stephens, Past Master
of Solomon's Lodge, now No. 1, and the first U.S. Court Judge in
Georgia, was elected and installed Grand Master.
The next eight Lodges in Georgia were: Columbia No. 3, Augusta; St.
Louis No. 4, Washington; Washington No. 5, Washington; St. John's No. 6,
Sunbury; Little River No. 7, Little River; St. Patrick's No. 8,
Waynesboro; St. George's No. 9, Kiokas; Union No. 10, Savannah.
With the exception of Solomon's No. 1, all of the above Lodges are
extinct. Social Lodge, originally No. 18, Augusta, Georgia, now also No.
1, was chartered in December, 1799. Georgia has 451 Lodges and 72,451
members (as of October, 1997).
Freemasonry has existed continuously in Georgia since 1734. The Grand
Lodge of Georgia, F. & A. M., has existed since 1786.
The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the State of Georgia was
incorporated with perpetual duration on February 6, 1796, by an Act of
the General Assembly of Georgia passed for that purpose, and has been
delivered down to the present day.
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