Henry Andrew Francken and his
Manuscripts
The one man who was most important in assisting Morin in
spreading the degrees in the New World was a naturalized French
subject of Dutch origin named Henry Andrew Francken. Morin
appointed him Deputy Grand Inspector General as one of his
first acts after returning to the West Indies. Francken worked
closely with Morin and, in 1771, produced a manuscript book
giving the rituals for the 15th through the 25th degrees.
Francken produced at least two more similar manuscripts, one in
1783 and another about 1786. The second and third of these
manuscripts included all the degrees from the 4th through the
25th.
[14]
A Loge de Parfaits d' Écosse was formed on 12 April
1764 at New
Orleans, becoming the first high degree lodge on the North
American continent. Its public life, however, was short, as
the Treaty
of Paris (1763) ceded New Orleans to Spain, and the
Catholic Spanish crown had been historically hostile to
Freemasonry. Documented Masonic activity ceased for a time
and did not return to New Orleans until the
1790s.
[13]
Francken travelled to New York in 1767 where he granted a
Patent, dated 26
December 1767, for the
formation of a Lodge of Perfection at Albany. This marked
the first time the Degrees of Perfection (the 4th through
the 14th) were conferred in one of the thirteen British
colonies. This Patent, and the early minutes of the Lodge,
are still extant and are in the archives of Supreme Council,
Northern Jurisdiction.
[13]
While in New York, Francken also communicated the degrees to
Moses Michael Hays, a Jewish businessman, and appointed him a
Deputy Inspector General. In 1781, Hays made eight Deputy
Inspectors General, four of whom were later important in the
establishment of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in South Carolina:
Isaac Da Costa Sr., D.I.G. for South Carolina; Abraham Forst,
D.I.G. for Virginia; Joseph M. Myers, D.I.G. for Maryland; and
Barend M. Spitzer, D.I.G. for Georgia. Da Costa returned to
Charleston, S.C., and established the "Sublime Grand Lodge of
Perfection" in February 1783. After Da Costa's death in
November 1783, Hays appointed Myers as Da Costa's successor.
Joined by Forst and Spitzer, Myers created additional high
degree bodies in Charleston and, by 1801, the Charleston bodies
were the only extant bodies of the Rite in North
America.
[15]
1764 12
avril : Création de la Loge les " Parfaits d'Écosse " à la
Nouvelle Orléans - C'est le premier atelier de hauts grades sur
le continent nord Américain
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