What Is the Royal Arch → History in the United States
In North America, Freemasons until the end of the 18th century performed Royal Arch ceremonies as well as some others that are now more familiarly part of the Knights Templar and the Red Cross of Constantine.
Fredericksburg Lodge in Virginia lists a conferral of the Royal Arch degree on December 22, 1753. There is also a Royal Arch Chapter noted in 1769 in Massachusetts (St. Andrew’s Royal Arch Chapter in Boston, then known as Royall Arch Lodge), where the first Knights Templar degree was also conferred. Through a report compiled by the Committee on History and Research appointed by the Grand Chapter of Massachusetts in 1953 and 1954, it was found that St. Andrew’s Royal Arch Chapter was the oldest constituted Chapter in the Western Hemisphere, having been officially constituted April 9, 1769, though the records implied that the Chapter had been working prior to that date, and perhaps as early as 1762. The report also states that it is unknown whether the Fredericksburg Lodge in Virginia conferred only the Royal Arch degree or the entire series of degrees.
After the independence of the American Colonies in 1776, Freemasonry in the United States remained relatively little influenced by the rivalry between the “Antients” and “Moderns” in England. In 1797, a group of Royal Arch Masons met in Hartford to try to establish some sort of governing body for degrees that were largely conferred in the New England states, which became the Grand Chapter of the Northern States, and later was broken down into the state-by-state Grand Chapter system. This body later became the General Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons International.
Capitular Masonry in the District of Columbia
Capitular Masonry has a deep and rich history in our nation’s capital. The first Chapter in the District of Columbia was formed following a meeting on December 14, 1795, initially working under the Charter of Federal Lodge. Columbia Chapter No. 1 was chartered in 1840 and was instrumental in the efforts to reorganize and establish the Grand Chapter of the District of Columbia in 1867.
On 10 November 2004, the Grand Chapter of the Holy Royal Arch in England declared the Royal Arch to be a separate degree in its own right, albeit the natural progression from the third degree, and the completion of “pure, antient Masonry,” which consists of the three Craft degrees and the Royal Arch. Following this decision, there are currently significant ritual differences between Royal Arch Masonry as worked in England and Royal Arch Masonry worked as part of the York Rite in the USA. Fraternal inter-relations remain as before.
Continue reading: What Is the Royal Arch • Origins of the Royal Arch • The Royal Arch Degrees