Mordecai Gist – The Rock at Camden

Mordecai Gist was born into a family that was already well known and would become even more notable in the American War of Independence. He was born to Thomas and Susannah Gist in Maryland on February 22, 1742, and it has been reported that his great-great-grandfather, Lawrence Washington of England, was also the great-great-grandfather of the man that would eventually become the first President of the United States.

Gist was trained in the commercial interests and was apparently successful at accumulating some wealth since he was able, with his own money, to start the Baltimore Independent Company, or Baltimore Independent Cadets, in 1774. His involvement with this organization shows that he was anticipating, and possibly hoping for, the conflict that was looming on the horizon with Britain. In 1776, Gist was appointed as an officer in the Continental Army and he quickly rose through the ranks - becoming a Brigadier General in 1779.

It is in that next year that Gist’s name truly becomes worthy of printing in the history books since, in 1780, the Battle of Camden occurs. At the Battle of Camden, South Carolina, Gist is the Commander of the Second Maryland Brigade, part of the Maryland Line of the Continental Army, with a regiment from Delaware attached to his command. Though Camden was a sounding defeat for the Continentals, Gist achieved notoriety for his fortitude and leadership on the field. He, along with the Baron de Kalb, led the forces on the right of the American line. As the left and center of the Continental line gave way to Lord Cornwallis’ British regulars,

De Kalb and Gist yet held the battle on our right in suspense. Lieutenant Colonel Howard, at the head of William’s regiment, drove the corps in front out of line. Rawdon could not bring the brigade of Gist to recede: - bold was the pressure of the foe; firm as a rock the resistance of Gist. Now the Marylanders were gaining ground; but the deplorable desertion of the militia having left Webster unemployed, that discerning soldier detached some light troops with Tarleton’s cavalry in pursuit, and opposed himself in the reserve brought up by Smallwood to replace the fugitives. Here the battle was renewed with fierceness and obstinacy. The Marylanders, with Dixon’s regiment, although greatly outnumbered, firmly maintained the desperate conflict; and De Kalb, now finding his once exposed flank completely shielded, resorted to the bayonet. Dreadful was the charge!

De Kalb would die from the wounds he received during the Battle of Camden and, though he was German, he would forever be remembered as a hero of the Revolution and as an esteemed Brother by the Freemasons of the United States. General Gist, who fought so valiantly with De Kalb at Camden, was one of his fellow Freemasons.

In 1775, five years before the Battle of Camden, Gist had become a Freemason in Lodge No. 16, Baltimore, Maryland. On April 4, 1780, he received a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania that gave him the authority to hold Lodges in the Maryland Line of the Continental Army.

On the twenty-seventh of April, 1780, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted a charter for Army Lodge No. 27 to the Masons of the Maryland Line in the Revolution. Its officers were General Mordecai Gist, Worshipful Master; Colonel Otho Holland Wlliams, Senior Warden, and Major Archibald Anderson, Junior Warden…

Based on the fact that Gist’s birth state of Maryland did not yet have its own Grand Lodge - it not being formed until 1783, and on some of his future Masonic activities that will soon be presented in this article, it can be reasonably assumed that Gist’s home Lodge in Baltimore was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and, therefore, he was an Ancient York Mason as opposed to a Free and Accepted Mason.

Following the end of the War, Gist moved to the Charleston, South Carolina, area and purchased a plantation near that city, where he resided until his death in 1792. Gist petitioned the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1786 for a warrant to hold a Lodge in Charleston and, reportedly, said petition was granted and the new Lodge was given the number of 27, the same number he had received for his Military Lodge in 1780. This writer, however, is more inclined to believe that the number was actually 47. Albert G. Mackey writes,

There were in the State in the year 1786 five Lodges of Ancient York Masons which dd not acknowledge allegiance to the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of South Carolina. These were Lodges No. 190 and 236, which derived their warrants from the Athol Grand Lodge of England, and Lodges No. 38, 40, and 47, which held under the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, that body being Ancient York in its Masonry.

Being the newest of the Lodges in South Carolina chartered by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, it is doubtful that Gist’s new Lodge would have had a number lower than the other two and this writer must reasonably assume that 47 is the correct number given his Lodge formed in 1786.

On March 24th, 1787, these five Lodges would form the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons of South Carolina and the Honorable Mordecai Gist would be elected as its first Deputy Grand Master. The said Grand Lodge issued the following preamble in a circular to the different Grand Lodges of England, Scotland, Ireland, and America:

We, the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons for the State of South Carolina, and the Masonic jurisdiction thereunto belonging, legally and constitutionally erected and organized, and in ample form assembled; beg leave, with all due respect, and in the true spirit of brotherly love, to announce to you our formation as such; to declare the purity of those motives which led to it; to assure you that, by this act, we mean not to dissolve, but to strengthen that union by which the ancient brethren throughout all nations are connected, and to request your countenance and correspondence.

In 1790, Gist succeeded the Honorable William Drayton and became the Grand Master of the Ancient York Masons of South Carolina and held this position through 1791. Gist died the next year at the age of fifty. The Ancient York Mason Grand Lodge that he had been so involved in creating would, in 1817, eventually unite with the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of South Carolina to form the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free Masons of South Carolina.

Gettysburg - A Reflection on My Recent Visit

I have just returned from the Gettysburg National Military Park and I am still trying to get my thoughts in order concerning my visit to that place where so many added their blood to the soil. As an amateur historian, I have studied the Battle of Gettysburg up one side and down the other but was not prepared for the feelings that were generated once I stood upon that battlefield.

I was quickly struck by the immenseness of the battlefield. Yes, I knew that by the end of the second day of fighting the Confederate line stretched for about seven and a half miles, but I didn’t understand it until I saw it. I knew about the nastiness of the Devil’s Den and the steep slope of Little Round Top, but I again didn’t understand it until I saw it.

I knew that the Confederate advance on the third day required the soldiers the cross a wide open area under enemy fire. I just didn’t understand it until I saw it. The picture posted here is one I took from the Union position near the Angle, also known as the High Water Mark (click on the picture for greater detail). The tree line in the distance is from where Pickett and the other Confederates started their advance. Along that tree line and almost in the center of the picture, you can see a small white object. That “small” white object is the Virginia Memorial with a statue of Robert E. Lee atop it. It is about the height of a two storey building, which should give you a perspective of how wide that open field is – nearly a mile.

The deeper thoughts and emotions that I bring back from my short visit to Gettysburg are the ones that I can’t quite put into written words, so I’ll just say the following. I walked the ground where fellow South Carolinians fought, died, and are buried in unmarked graves. I saw their bodies, still lying where they had fallen, in pictures taken three days after the battle was over. I saw the flat rock, which served as a makeshift operating table, where a Union surgeon provided medical care to soldiers, Union and Confederate alike, for twenty-four hours straight while the battle raged around him on the second day of fighting. That surgeon collapsed and died as he was walking away from that location. I saw the rows upon rows of small, numbered stone markers that designated the final resting places of the many hundreds of unknown soldiers buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery. I heard the words of the licensed guide as he told me that, one hundred and forty-five years later, body parts are still being found. I saw the spot where Lewis Armistead fell and, thus, where the Masonic story of his final hours began.

I am still reflecting. If you have not visited Gettysburg, you should. If you do, I suspect that you will then be doing some reflecting of your own.

The Schism’s Shadow Falls on the First President

Any Mason with a reasonable knowledge of the Craft will be familiar with the fact that George Washington, the First President of the United States, was a Freemason. The same studious Mason will also be fully aware of the schism that existed between the Ancient, or Antient, and the Modern Masons for many decades in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Some events that surrounded President Washington, occurring decades after he became a Freemason, give a clear indication as to the deepness of that divide between the Ancients and the Moderns.

A brief description of the how the schism between the Ancients and the Moderns developed may be in order. The Athol Grand Lodge, or Grand Lodge of Ancient Masons, had formed in England several decades after the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, which dates to 1717. The Grand Lodge of England and the Athol Grand Lodge were often bitter rivals and the Athols described the Grand Lodge of England as “Modern Masons.” This was meant to be a derogatory term, in that the Athols felt themselves to be “Ancient” and, therefore, more in line with the old traditions, rituals, and teachings of Freemasonry. In 1813, these two Grand Lodges eventually united to form the current United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England, but not before the rivalry had spread to the American Colonies and, thus, to the new United States of America. Having their roots in York, England, the Ancients are often referred to as York Masons or Ancient York Masons. It is important to note that the York Masons and the Modern Masons did not recognize each other and both parties looked to the other as innovators and invaders.

It is known that Washington was initiated into Freemasonry on November 4th, 1752, in the Lodge at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and he became a Master Mason in that same Lodge on August 4th of the next year. The early history of Freemasonry in Virginia is murky, at best, and it appears that there were no less than five Grand Jurisdictions that had chartered Lodges in that territory by 1777. It was in that year that a movement began to form a Grand Lodge of Virginia and this effort culminated in the creation of the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free & Accepted Masons of Virginia on October 30th, 1778. Washington’s home Lodge was part of the convention that gave birth to this new Grand Lodge. But what type of Grand Lodge was it? Was it Ancient or Modern?

It is inferred in Albert G. Mackey’s History of Freemasonry, that the first Grand Master of the new Grand Lodge of Virginia, John Blair, was an Ancient York Mason and one can extrapolate that his new Grand Lodge was of the same character. As will be seen further in this article, Mackey asserts that George Washington himself was an Ancient York Mason. Let us now turn to some events in South Carolina that surrounded President Washington in order to truly visualize the width of the division that existed between the Ancients and the Moderns.

Two years after being sworn in as the first President of the United States of America, Washington began a tour of the Southern States of the new Union. This created much excitement in the South, especially since Washington had never travelled to that part of the country, and this excitement spilled over into the Masonic Fraternity. At this time in South Carolina, the division between the Ancients and the Moderns was alive and well and there existed two Grand Lodges, namely the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons of South Carolina and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of South Carolina. Neither body recognized the other as true Masons nor would they undertake the process of mending the schism in South Carolina for another sixteen years.

On May 2nd, 1791 and on the occasion of Washington’s arrival in South Carolina, General Mordecai Gist, Grand Master of the Ancient York Masons of South Carolina, addressed the President in a most respectful, congratulatory, Masonic, and heartfelt manner on behalf of his Grand Lodge. Washington responded to the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons in similar fashion. The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of South Carolina offered no such address, though it was certainly in proximity to have been able to do so.

Mackey, in the History of Freemasonry in South Carolina, notes another and more glaring “omission of a duty of respect” on the part of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of South Carolina. This omission occurs after Washington dies on December 14th, 1799. Mackey writes,

"...I can find no record of any public action taken by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons on this occasion. Indeed there is no mention in the journals of the day of that body having taken any part in the civic procession of the community of Charleston, which took place on the 15th of February, in which the York Masons, to the number of 250, took a prominent part, and appeared in ‘funeral order.’ I am almost afraid to record the explanation which alone suggests itself to me, of the surprising silence and absence of the Free and Accepted Masons on this occasion."

The official actions of the York Masons following the death of Washington are extensive and well recorded. In addition to participating in the procession on February 15th, 1800; the Ancient York Mason Grand Lodge recommended that its members adorn themselves with symbols of mourning for a month, resolutions concerning his death were adopted, and the equivalent of a Lodge of Sorrow was conducted on February 22nd, 1800.

Mackey goes on to reluctantly conclude that the “failure or refusal” of the Modern Masons to participate in any Masonic fashion in the ceremonies meant to honor the recently deceased first President had everything to do with the schism between the Ancients and the Moderns. Mackey writes,

“…it to be attributed solely to the fact, that having been made in Virginia, he was an Ancient York Mason, and that his Masonic claim was not therefore recognized by them. They mourned him as citizens, but could not admit his right to Masonic funeral honors.”

That the dark shadow of the schism between the Ancient Masons and the Modern Masons extended even to such revered general, statesman, and Freemason as George Washington is truly indicative of how troubling those times were for Freemasonry. The Masons of today will forever be indebted to those of many years ago who found the desire and courage to heal that old wound and erase that shadow from the landscape of the Fraternity.

The Only Ancient Free Mason Grand Lodge

In South Carolina, we style ourselves as Ancient Free Masons, or A.F.M. Our Grand Lodge is the only known and recognized Grand Jurisdiction that uses this title. The other Grand Lodges are usually some variation of Free and Accepted Masons (F. & A.M.) or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons (A.F. & A.M.). To get to the origins of A.F.M, we must first look at some earlier events that occurred in England.

For a time, there were at least four Grand Lodges operating in England. Two of them, however, emerged as the most influential when it came to the spread of Freemasonry to the American Colonies. The Athol Grand Lodge, or Grand Lodge of Ancient Masons, had formed in England several decades after the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, which dates to 1717. The Grand Lodge of England and the Athol Grand Lodge were rivals and the the Athols described the Grand Lodge of England as “Modern Masons.” This was meant to be somewhat of a derogatory term, in that the Athols felt themselves to be “Ancients” and, therefore, more in line with the old traditions, rituals, and teachings of Freemasonry. Eventually, in 1813, these two Grand Lodges united to form the current United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England, but not before the rivalry had spread to the American Colonies and, thus, to the new United States of America and, of course, to South Carolina.

There was a time when there was a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons (F. & A.M.) in South Carolina. This was the original Provincial Grand Lodge of South Carolina, as established under the authority of the Grand Lodge of England and dated back, according to several Masonic historians, to 1737.

Just like in England, however, there was for many years, another Grand Lodge operating in South Carolina. The Athol Grand Lodge had chartered Lodges in Pennsylvania, which in turn, as a Grand Lodge, had chartered Lodges in South Carolina. In 1787, five of these type Lodges came together and formed the South Carolina Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons, or A.Y.M. Within four short years, these original five A.Y.M. Lodges had multiplied to thirty-five Lodges. Remarkably, the rival Grand Lodge only claimed about a third of that number of Lodges, even though it had been in existence since 1737.

The rivalry between the A.Y.M. Grand Lodge and, what was becoming known more and more as the “Modern Mason”, or M.M. Grand Lodge became very bitter as the years went by. An A.Y.M. quote of unknown origin describes the feelings in those days: “Those Modern or new Masons, we know not, neither indeed can we, since he that cometh not in the door agreeably to our ancient landmarks, but climbeth over the wall or some other way is a thief and a robber.”

Many influential Masons in both Grand Lodges recognized that the division was harmful to Freemasonry in South Carolina and, as early as 1807, steps were taken to resolve the problem. In 1809, after several negotiations and meetings between the two Grand Lodges, a new united Grand Lodge was born.

The union quickly fell apart, however, when many of the former A.Y.M. Lodges, under the leadership of then St. John’s Lodge No. 31, seceded from the new Grand Lodge of South Carolina. Less than a year after the formation of the united Grand Lodge, sixteen of the A.Y.M. Lodges had reformed the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons.

Interestingly, the new unified Grand Lodge could no longer be described as M.M., or “Modern”. Enough of the A.Y.M. Lodges had remained with it and influenced it to the point that it appeared to be more in line with the Ancient York Masons than the former Free and Accepted Masons (F. & A.M.), or “Modern”, Grand Lodge of SC. In fact, they discarded Anderson’s “Constitutions”, as their code, in favor of the “Ahiman Rezon”, as used by the Ancient York Masons. For all intents and purposes, there were now two “Ancient” Grand Lodges working is South Carolina.

By 1816, efforts were again underway to unify the two Grand Lodges. By this time, the South Carolina Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons had again grown to include thirty-five Lodges while the Grand Lodge of South Carolina only counted fifteen. In 1817, committees from both Grand Lodges adopted a plan that called for union of the two into “The Grand Lodge of Ancient Free Masons of South Carolina”, which is when A.F.M. first appears.

On December 26, 1817, the Grand Lodge of South Carolina and the South Carolina Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons ceased to exist and the new Grand Lodge of Ancient Free Masons of South Carolina became the only true and lawful Masonic authority in the State.

Many of the other state Grand Lodges, especially those existing in those states that had been colonies, went through similar splits and re-unions as South Carolina. The adoption of the names (F. & A.M., A.F. & A.M.) often reflects which Grand Lodge (“Ancient” or “Modern”) was the most influential at the time.