The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Colorado, also known as the M.W. Grand Lodge of Colorado, A.F.&A.M., or simply the Grand Lodge of Colorado, is a Masonic Grand Lodge, being one of two sovereign Masonic jurisdictions in the State of Colorado, having a mutual recognition and relationship by compact with the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Colorado and its jurisdiction. It was originally formed in 1861 by three lodges holding charters from the Grand Lodge of Nebraska and the Grand Lodge of Kansas. It currently has 114 active Masonic lodges in its jurisdiction, along with four memorial lodges and one research lodge.
History Pre-Grand Lodge The first meeting of Masons in what is today the State of Colorado, then still part of the Kansas Territory, was on 3 November 1858. J. D. Ramage gives an account that, after he arrived at the junction of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River, which came to be called Auraria, and is now called Denver. Ramage was approached by Henry Allen, who shouted to him and gave a Masonic sign, then pointed toward a tent. Ramage would join Allen, along with William M. Slaughter, Dr. Levi J. Russell, Andrew Sagendorf, Oscar E. Lehow, and Charles H. Blake.Centennial Celebration: 1861-1961, Grand Lodge A.F.&A.M. of Colorado: Commemorative Volume (1961), pg. 2-7. These men would meet every Saturday to exchange "news of any mines we might discover, or any information which might be beneficial to the brethren, Masonically or financially, would at the next meeting, be given to the Masons there assembled."Centennial Celebration: 1861-1961, Grand Lodge A.F.&A.M. of Colorado: Commemorative Volume (1961), pg. 1-2. Their gathering was not an official lodge meeting, but rather an informal gathering of Masons to benefit each other. By 27 December 1858, there were twenty-six Masons in Auraria, holding dinner together to celebrate the Feast of Saint John the Evangelist, and had to borrow a tablecloth from a Mormon family, but nonetheless had no chairs to sit on.George B. Clark. Masonry Came to Colorado (undated, c. 1960), pg. 6. These early gatherings of Denver-Auraria Masons met in the Lehow-Sagendorf Cabin near the junction of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River.
It was noted by John Chivington that Masonic lodges existed in Colorado before churches. He would remark: "On May 8, 1860, I arrived in Denver, published an appointment, and preached the following Sunday in the Masonic Hall. Henry Allen founded a Masonic Lodge in Colorado long before there was a church or school."Ibid, pg. 2.
What is recognized as the first Masonic hall in Colorado is in Central City. In May 1859, John H. Gregory discovered a large deposit of gold in the area of modern-day Central City and Black Hawk, what at the time came to be called "Gregory's Diggings." A plot of land would be secured by approximately 100 or more Masons who resided in the area, and there built a cabin.Centennial Celebration: 1861-1961, Grand Lodge A.F.&A.M. of Colorado: Commemorative Volume (1961), pg. 6. The site today is marked by a granite marker located between Central City and Black Hawk.]
Formation The Grand Lodge of Colorado was originally formed as the "Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Colorado"Masonic Convention to Organize the Grand Lodge of the Territory of Colorado (1861), pg. 8. at Golden City, Colorado Territory, in 1861. The Masonic convention to form the Grand Lodge was opened on 2 August 1861 and concluded the following day. Three lodges formed the Grand Lodge of Colorado: Golden City Lodge No. 34 of Golden City (charter from the Grand Lodge of Kansas), Summit Lodge No. 7 of Parkville, and Rocky Mountain Lodge No. 8 of Gold Hill (the latter two lodges with charters from Nebraska). There were three other lodges in the Territory of Colorado when the Grand Lodge was formed: Nevada Lodge No. 36 of Nevada City (dispensation from Kansas), Auraria Lodge No. 37 of Denver (dispensation from Kansas), and Central City Lodge U.D."U.D." is a customary Masonic abbreviation for "under dispensation," i.e. a group of Masons are permitted to form a lodge, but they have not received an official charter or warrant. of Central City (dispensation from Nebraska). It had been presumed that Nevada Lodge was ignorant of the formation of the Grand Lodge of Colorado, and that is why they petitioned for dispensation and a charter from the Grand Lodge of Kansas.Lawrence N. Greenleaf, "An Important Discovery: The Missing Records of Auraria Lodge U.D. are Found," Square and Compass, 3.2, April 1895, pp. 36. However, according to members of Nevada Lodge, they withheld from participating in the convention because the Colorado Territory was formerly a part of the Kansas Territory, and therefore the lodges holding charters from the Grand Lodge of Nebraska were an infringement on the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Kansas.Henry Ress, "From the Archives," One Hundred Years of Masonry: Nevada Lodge No. 4, A.F.&A.M. (1960), pg. 41. The reality is that Nevada, Auraria, and Central City Lodges were all still under dispensation when the Masonic Convention of the Grand Lodge of Colorado was held, and therefore could not participate in its formation. Central City Lodge would never received a charter prior to severing from the Grand Lodge of Nebraska, whereas the other two would obtain charters before severing from Kansas and affiliating with the Grand Lodge of Colorado.
One other lodge had been formed in the Territory prior to the formation of the Grand Lodge, which is confusingly named Denver Lodge U.D. of Denver, on the opposite side of Cherry Creek from Auraria Lodge (which would later change its name to Denver Lodge No. 5). Denver Lodge U.D. received their dispensation in 1860 from the Grand Lodge of Kansas, however, they would relinquish their dispensation after only a few months and their membership would join with Auraria Lodge.Proceedings of the M.W. Grand Lodge of Kansas, A.F.&A.M., ref. “Address of the Grand Master,” (1859), pg. 154 (f6).
At the formation of the Grand Lodge, James Ewing was called to preside as the Worshipful Master with O. A. Whittemore as the Secretary. Customarily, the Master of the oldest lodge represented in the jurisdiction would preside, but Eli Carter of Golden City Lodge waived his right to preside, except to open the convention. The election of Grand Officers would elect John Chivington as the first Grand Master of Colorado Masons. The three lodges that formed the Grand Lodge would receive new charter numbers, thusly: Golden City Lodge No. 1, Summit Lodge No. 2, and Rocky Mountain Lodge No. 3.Masonic Convention to Organize the Grand Lodge of the Territory of Colorado (1861), pg. 3-7.
The first Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Colorado was held four months later on 10–11 December 1861. John Chivington was elected once again to the office of Grand Master, though he would be absent throughout much of his first full term as Grand Master, with Andrew Mason, Deputy Grand Master, taking on the responsibilities of the Grand Master.Andrew Mason, "Annual Report," Proceedings of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Colorado, A.F.&A.M. (1862), pg. 47.
During the early history of the Grand Lodge of Colorado, many of the Grand Officers, both elected and appointed, were notable Colorado pioneers, and some of the prominent politicians and businessmen in the formation of the State of Colorado were Freemasons and Grand Lodge Officers. To name but a few: John Chivington, a Methodist minister, Union Army Colonel, and Grand Master in 1861; Allyn Weston, a banker, investor, and Grand Master in 1862; Henry M. Teller, a lawyer, the first Senator from Colorado, the 15th United States Secretary of the Interior, and Grand Master in 1863; Archibald van Deren, commissioner of Gilpin County, Colorado, and Grand Master in 1864; Andrew Mason, a miner, mining superintendent, Grand Master in 1865, and one of the proponents of the formation of the Grand Lodge of Utah; Webster D. Anthony, the private secretary of Territorial Governor John Evans, first Speaker of the House of the Colorado House of Representatives, and Grand Master in 1873-1874.
Recognition of Prince Hall As early as 1897, the first attempts of any Grand Lodge in the United States to recognize Prince Hall Freemasonry would be made, but with much struggle. In 1897 the Grand Lodge of Washington would formally recognize Prince Hall, but with an overwhelming backlash from other Grand Lodges, Washington Masons opted to rescind their recognition of Prince Hall. Starting in 1972, the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin sought to form fraternal recognition with Prince Hall, but such was drawn out for many years. The Grand Lodge of Connecticut would be the first Masonic jurisdiction to recognize the legitimacy of Prince Hall in 1989."Grand Lodge of the Month: The Grand Lodge of Connecticut," The George Washington Masonic National Memorial, published 1 July 2020, accessed 13 March 2024. One month later, the Grand Lodge of Nebraska would recognize Prince Hall as well, granting full recognition of any Prince Hall Grand Lodge with fraternal relations with the M. W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Nebraska. In 1990, the Grand Lodge of Colorado started their own process of recognizing Prince Hall, and that same year the Grand Lodges of Wisconsin and Washington would recognize Prince Hall.John B. Williams, "Recognition of Prince Hall Grand Lodges in America," The Phylaxis Society, presented 5 March 1993, accessed 13 March 2024. At the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Colorado in January 1990, Grand Master Dwight A. Hamilton recommended "mutual recognition and rights of visitation."Proceedings of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Colorado, A.F.&A.M. (1991), ref. "Address of the Grand Master." The agreement between the Grand Lodges is in the form a "compact," a document which states the two Grand Lodges are sovereign and lawful, coexisting within the same territory, and that their members are permitted full rights of visitation to each others' lodges. The compact does not permit affiliation between the two jurisdictions.
On 19 October 2022, the M. W. Grand Lodge of Colorado, A.F.&A.M. and the M. W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Colorado and Its Jurisdiction, F.&A.M. would formally rededicate their compact in the Hall of the Colorado Supreme Court of the Colorado State Capitol, as a ceremonial public gesture of the two jurisdictions continuing their mutual recognition of each's sovereignty. The keynote speaker of the occasion was Wellington Webb, former Mayor of Denver and Thirty-Third Degree Scottish Rite Mason, Prince Hall affiliated.Patrick M. Dey and Benjamin Williams, “The Compact Rededication with the M.W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge F.&A.M. and the Grand Lodge A.F.&A.M. of Colorado,” Rocky Mountain Mason, Iss. 27, Spring 2023, pg. 6-9.
Lodges Early Colorado Lodges