Grand Lodge of Massachusetts - Scotland, Ireland, and The Antients

Scotland, Ireland, and The Antients

In a manner similar to the creation of St. John's Grand Lodge, a number of Masons who had been active in the Antients style of Freemasonry grouped together, and petitioned the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a warrant, which was given to "The Lodge of St Andrew" in 1756. These Antient Freemasons, desiring equal stature with the Moderns, joined with the Lodges attached to three British military units in petitioning the GL of Scotland for Provincial GL status:

Lodge of St. Andrew (Scotland)

British Army Lodge #58 (Antient) in the 14th Regiment of Foot

Glittering Star Lodge #322 (Ireland) with the 29th Regiment

Lodge Number 106 (Scotland) with the 64th Regiment (which left before the inauguration of the GM, Joseph Warren)

Due to the Revolution, and based on the state of affairs between the US and Great Britain, the Scottish Provincial Grand Lodge drafted new constitutions, breaking from the Grand Lodge of Scotland and becoming Massachusetts Grand Lodge in 1782.

There was a growing rift in the Lodge of St Andrew regarding this decision to separate, and in December of that same year, it came to a vote. Thirty Masons voted to stay part of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and nineteen voted for the Massachusetts Grand Lodge. No action was taken on this vote, and it was laid on the table until the end of the war. In January 1784, they voted again, with twenty-nine voting for Scotland, and twenty-three for Massachusetts. Those voting for membership in the Massachusetts Grand Lodge were expelled from the Lodge of St. Andrew. However, they formed their own Lodge of St. Andrew under the new Massachusetts Grand Lodge, which caused confusion for some time, until it was renamed Rising States Lodge.