Mississippi Masonic Lodges

About Freemasonry in Mississippi

A deep look at Masonic history, the oldest lodges, the admission process, and notable Freemasons connected to Mississippi.

History of Freemasonry in Mississippi

Mississippi Masonry stretches back to the territorial era and runs straight through some of the most consequential chapters in American history. The first documented lodge in Mississippi Territory was Harmony Lodge No. 7, chartered in 1801 by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky and meeting in the Natchez area. Natchez, perched on the bluffs above the Mississippi River, was at that time the wealthiest town in the territory and a natural gathering point for lodges as cotton planters, river merchants, and territorial officials moved into the region.

Within a generation other lodges had been chartered out of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana in places like Port Gibson, Vicksburg, and Washington (the territorial capital). The Grand Lodge of Mississippi, Free and Accepted Masons, was officially constituted in July 1818 in Natchez, the year before Mississippi achieved statehood. Henry Tooley served as the first Grand Master. Early Mississippi Masonry was deeply tied to the planter class and the state's political establishment.

Andrew Jackson, then the rising military hero, had close ties to Natchez and the early Mississippi political community. The antebellum decades saw rapid lodge expansion as cotton wealth produced new towns up and down the Mississippi River and into the interior. The Civil War devastated Mississippi Masonry. Many lodges suspended labor as members went off to war, and lodge halls in Vicksburg, Jackson, and other towns served variously as hospitals, headquarters, and refugee shelters.

After the war, Reconstruction brought a slow rebuilding amid significant racial and political tensions. The 20th century saw membership peaks in the post-WWII era and a long, gradual decline since. The Grand Lodge headquarters moved to Meridian in the late 19th century and remains there today, where the Grand Lodge maintains the Masonic Home of Mississippi.

Oldest and Most Historic Lodges in Mississippi

Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Natchez, originally chartered in 1801 by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky as Harmony Lodge No. 7, is the oldest Masonic lodge in Mississippi. When the Grand Lodge of Mississippi was constituted in 1818, Harmony Lodge took the No.

1 designation. It has met continuously for over 220 years and counted territorial officials, antebellum planters, and Civil War-era political figures among its members. Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 2 in Washington, Mississippi (the original territorial capital) is among the oldest lodges in the state and is named for the seventh president, who had close ties to early Mississippi.

Pearl River Lodge No. 5 in Monticello dates to the early statehood period. Quitman Lodge No. 24 and Trinity Lodge No.

8 in Natchez are both long-running antebellum institutions. Vicksburg Lodge No. 26 in Vicksburg has a particularly storied Civil War history, having operated through the 1863 siege of Vicksburg. Magnolia Lodge No.

60 in Magnolia and Brandon Lodge No. 22 in Brandon both have antebellum origins. Columbus Lodge No. 5 in Columbus and Aberdeen Lodge No.

11 in Aberdeen served the rich cotton-growing Tombigbee River valley. Hattiesburg Lodge No. 397 came later, with the rise of Hattiesburg as a railroad and timber center in the late 19th century. Each of these lodges sits at a different point on the timeline of Mississippi's settlement and economic development.

Mississippi Masonic Lodges by the Numbers

The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Mississippi oversees approximately 240 to 260 active constituent lodges, organized into roughly 20 districts. Total membership in mainstream Mississippi Masonry currently runs around 13,000 to 16,000 Master Masons, down from a 20th-century peak of well over 30,000. Lodge density is highest around Jackson, the Gulf Coast cities of Biloxi-Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Tupelo, and Meridian, with a long tail of small-town lodges throughout the Delta and the piney woods. Many rural Mississippi counties still have one or two active lodges that anchor local civic life.

The Grand Lodge meets annually each March in Meridian. The Grand Lodge runs the Masonic Home of Mississippi in Meridian, a major retirement and assisted-living facility, along with several scholarship programs and the Mississippi Masonic Foundation for charitable giving. Lodge directories and event information are at msgrandlodge.org.

How to Become a Freemason in Mississippi

Joining a Masonic lodge in Mississippi follows the standard U.S. process. The first step is to identify a lodge in your area through msgrandlodge.org or by visiting a lodge open event or fundraiser. Mississippi, like every U.S.

jurisdiction, requires that you ask to join. After expressing interest, you'll fill out a petition for the degrees of Masonry. Mississippi requires two current Master Masons of the lodge to sign your petition as recommenders, and they should know you well enough to vouch for your character. The completed petition is read at a stated communication, and the lodge appoints a three-member investigation committee to interview you, your spouse if you're married, and sometimes neighbors or coworkers.

Their report is presented at the next meeting, and the lodge votes by secret ballot. A single black ball rejects the petition. Initiation fees in Mississippi generally fall between $150 and $350 for the three degrees combined, with annual dues typically between $75 and $150. After acceptance you'll receive the Entered Apprentice degree, then progress through Fellow Craft and Master Mason, with proficiency demonstrations required between degrees.

The pace is set by the lodge but most candidates complete all three degrees over a period of three to nine months. Mississippi lodges typically meet monthly for stated communications, with degree work scheduled around them.

Notable Mississippi Freemasons in History

Andrew Jackson, while a member of Tennessee lodges, had deep Mississippi ties through his military campaigns including the 1815 Battle of New Orleans and his political connections in Natchez and Washington, Mississippi. Multiple early Mississippi lodges are named for him. Jefferson Davis, the future president of the Confederacy, was a Mississippi U.S. Senator and Secretary of War who had Masonic connections through Mississippi lodges, though the precise documentation of his lodge affiliation is debated by historians.

John A. Quitman, the antebellum Mississippi governor, U.S. congressman, and Mexican War general, was a prominent Mississippi Mason and the Quitman Lodge in Natchez is named for him. L.Q.C.

Lamar, U.S. Senator from Mississippi, Secretary of the Interior, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, was a Mason in Oxford, Mississippi. James Z.

George, U.S. Senator and Confederate veteran, was active in Mississippi Masonry. James Eastland, the long-tenured 20th-century U.S. Senator, was a Mason.

William Faulkner, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist of Oxford, Mississippi, was not a Mason but several members of his family were. Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader assassinated in Jackson in 1963, was a Prince Hall Mason. The intersection of Mississippi political and military history with Masonry is unusually dense, even by Southern standards.

Prince Hall Freemasonry in Mississippi

Prince Hall Masonry has profound roots in Mississippi. The Most Worshipful Stringer Grand Lodge of Mississippi was constituted in 1875, ten years after the end of the Civil War, and is named after Thomas W. Stringer, a Mississippi state senator during Reconstruction and a major Black religious and civic leader. The Stringer Grand Lodge is one of the older Prince Hall Grand Lodges in the South.

Its headquarters is in Vicksburg, and it currently oversees more than 300 subordinate lodges across the state, making it one of the largest Prince Hall jurisdictions in the country. Prince Hall lodges in Mississippi were absolutely central to Black civic and political life from Reconstruction through the Civil Rights era. Many of the most important Black ministers, educators, business owners, and political organizers of the 20th century were Prince Hall Masons. Medgar Evers, the NAACP field secretary and civil rights icon assassinated in 1963, was a Prince Hall Mason in Mississippi.

Other notable Mississippi Prince Hall Masons include educator and civic leader T.R.M. Howard, longtime Mississippi NAACP president Aaron Henry, and a long roster of pastors, teachers, and small-business owners across the Delta and the rest of the state. Mainstream-Prince Hall recognition between the Grand Lodge of Mississippi and the Stringer Grand Lodge has been a long and contested story. Mississippi was among the very last U.S.

states to extend mainstream recognition, with formal recognition between the two Grand Lodges achieved relatively recently after decades of negotiation. The Stringer Grand Lodge maintains scholarship programs, youth initiatives, and a continuing role in Mississippi civic life.

Frequently Asked Questions about Masonic Lodges in Mississippi

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.msgrandlodge.org
• https://mdah.ms.gov
• https://www.stringergrandlodge.org
• https://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov