FLORIDA. The earliest record of the existence of Freemasonry in Florida, that we can trace, is that a Lodge of Ancient York Masons was organized in the city of St. Augus tine, under a warrant granted by the Grand Lodge of the State of Georgia, about the year 1806, to St. Fernando Lodge. But no certain information can be obtained on the subject from the records of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, as a part of the archives of that Grand Lodge, from 1805 to 1817, were destroyed by the great fire which occurred in the city of Savannah, about the year 1818. This Lodge worked, and made Masons, until the year 1811, when it was suppressed by a mandate of the Spanish government. Notwithstand ing this pointed opposition to Ma sonry, a few faithful spirits cherished in their hearts a love for the insti tution, and, in the year 1820, ob tained from the Grand Lodge of South Carolina a warrant for a Lodge to work in the city of St. Augustine, under the style of " Flo ridan Virtues Lodge, No. 28." But such was the still prevailing hostility of the Spanish authorities, and from ' other causes, its existence was not long preserved. The next Lodge, of which we have any knowledge, was a Mark Master's Lodge, called "Union Mark Lodge," established in St. Augustine, in 1822, under a warrant from the lion. DeWitt Clinton, General Grand High-Priest of the General Grand Chapter of the United States. This Masonic body worked for a short time only, owing, perhaps, to the fact that there was no symbolic Lodge in ,existence in that city, to furnish it with material for work; and to the further fact that Masonry, at that time, had not recovered from thgt effects of the church prejudices and influences. In 1824 another appli cation was made to the Grand Lodge of South Carolina,by the constitu tional number of Master Masons, for a warrant to establish a Lodge entitled "Esperanza Lodge," at St. Augustine. This Lodge, which
worked in the Spanish language, became extinct after one year, by the removal of the greater portion of its members to Havana. Its warrant was surrendered to the Grand Lodge, whence it was re ceived. From this time there was no organized Masonry in East Flo rida, until the establishment of a Lodge in the city of Tallahassee, by a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Alabama, under the title of Jackson Lodge, about the year 1826. The second Lodge was organized in the town of Quincy, by warrant from the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, un der the title of Washington Lodge, and the third from the Grand Lodge of Georgia, under the title of Har mony Lodge, in the town of Mariana. On the 5th of July, 1830, delegates from the three lodges in Florida as sembled in the city of Tallahassee, for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge for the Territory of Florida. After regularly organizing the convention, the necessary reso lutions were adopted, and July 6 the Grand Lodge was legally organized, the Grand Officers elected and duly installed. Brother John P. Duval, the oldest Past Master present, was elected thu first Grand Master. Since this period Masonry has flourished in Florida with remark able vigor and permanency.
The GRAND CHAPTER of Royal Arch Maso' was organized Jan. 11, 1847, This Grand Chapter has ever been an independent body— not acknowledging the authority of the General Grand Chapter of the United States.
The GRAND of Royal and Select Masters was organized in January, 1852.