FOUNDING MASTER

It was truly an historic occasion when a new Lodge was consecrated on St. Thomas, to meet on St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. This occurred on Friday, November 13, 1998, when a consecrating team lead by the Immediate Past District Grand Master, R. W. Bro. Dr. William E. Cooper, the present District Grand Master, R.W. Bro. Brian Douglas Parsons, and other senior District Grand Lodge officers conscrecrated St. Thomas Lodge No. 9679 in St. Thomas United States Virgin Islands. While Friday the 13th is generally regarded as an unlucky day, the founders of St. Thomas Lodge No. 9679 E.C., are instead betting that it will be a lucky day for freemansory in St. Thomas in general and for the new St. Thomas Lodge in particular. The formation of St. Thomas Lodge 9679 continues a long tradition of English freemasonry in the Virgin Islands.

The first evidence of Freemasonry in the former Danish West Indies, comprising St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John, was in 1756 when St. George Lodge No. 224 was chartered on St. Croix by the Grand Lodge of England. The last returns on the Grand Lodge Register for this lodge, which in 1766 was renumbered 216, was in 1814. There is also evidence that in 1777 the Grand Lodge of England installed one John Ryan as Provincial Grand Master for St. Croix without any other lodges being founded there. On St. Thomas, a Danish lodge chartered by the Directorium in Copenhagen (Scottish Lodge Directorium) and known as Unity Lodge, later changed to "St. Thomas to Unity Lodge" was consecrated December 3, 1798. From its records, the last meeting of this lodge appear to have been June 8, 1808. The former lodge building of the St. Thomas to Unity Lodge at the foot of Fireburn Hill was recently renovated and is now used by the Council on Alcoholism and is presently known as the "Old Unity Lodge Building." It is of passing interest that the name of our new lodge, consists in part of the name of the former "St. Thomas to Unity Lodge".

Because the Danish Lodges in the Virgin Islands, " To the Holy Cross" in St. Croix and "St. Thomas to Unity" during its existence on St. Thomas, did not readily admit free Blacks or Jews as members, a petition was made to the Grand Lodge of England for a new lodge and Harmonic Lodge No. 708, now 356, was founded on October 19, 1818. Harmonic Lodge, however, was to meet in St. Thomas, Danish West Indies for which the special permission was obtained from the Danish Governor General. Harmonic Lodge No. 356 became the only English lodge on American soil in 1917 when the United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark. Harmonic Lodge prospered and for many years its membership regularly exceeded 150 members. Attempts to obtained a second charter from the Grand Lodge of England for St. Thomas or St. Croix proved unsuccessful. The Grand Lodge would not issue a new charter for a lodge on America territory. In fact, the last lodge chartered by the Grand Lodge of England in an American jurisdiction was African Lodge No. 459 in 1784 to Prince Hall and others in Boston. Brethren on St. Croix not being able to receive a charter form the Grand Lodge of England, formed Caribbean Light Lodge No. 101 under the Grand Lodge of Puerto Rico. The same result followed with efforts to form another English Royal Arch Chapter. St. Croix members of Caribbean Light Lodge joined the English Royal Arch Chapter attached to Harmonic Lodge, Zetland Chapter No. 356. Several St. Croix brethren were allowed to serve a principals in Zetland in order to petition for an English Chapter, again without success.

With Harmonic’s membership continually exceeding 150 members and a long list of candidates awaiting initiation, coupled with dispensations increasingly granted for special meetings and to initiate, pass or raise more than two candidates at a time, it was clear that in order to maintain the interest of candidates and members , a new lodge was needed to relieve the pressures on Harmonic. A personal appeal was made to the District Grand Master, R.W. Bro. Dr. William E. Cooper, to intercede with Grand Lodge to achieve a reversal of its prior policy of not considering a new lodge on St. Thomas, a Territory of United States. The R.W. Bro. Copper personally, and with the able assistance of the then District Grand Secretary and now District Grand Master, R. Wor. Bro.. B.D. Parsons, presented our case to Grand Lodge. By letter dated May 22, 1995, Grand Secretary finally advised that in view of Harmonic ‘s existence from 1818 on St. Thomas without any other recognized constitution being present, Grand Lodge was inclined to grant the request of the brethren in St. Thomas for a new lodge. A petition form was provided together with instructions and a form of draft by-laws. That petition form was signed by twenty-two (22) petitioners and submitted to Grand Lodge by cover letter dated May 18, 1998. The petition was granted in principle at Grand Lodge’s quarterly meeting on June 10, 1998, but being cautious, Grand Lodge first desired to determine if any other Grand Authority objected to the petition. Grand Lodge therefore wrote to the Grand Lodge of Puerto Rico, as the nearest Grand Lodge to St. Thomas advising of the petition and inquiring if it had any objection to the formation of the new lodge on St. Thomas. By letter dated September 11, 1998, the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Puerto Rico responded that the Grand Lodge of Puerto Rico, had no lodge on St. Thomas, and therefore had no objection to the Grand Lodge of England forming a daughter lodge to Harmonic 356 which has existed on St. Thomas for 180 years. On October 15, 1998, Grand Secretary officially advised that as there were no objections to its forming a new lodge on St. Thomas, the petition had been granted, and the new "St. Thomas Lodge" would bear the number ''9679''.