Supreme Council of Louisiana

The Supreme Council of Louisiana is a Scottish Rite branch of Freemasonry founded in 1839. The Supreme Council of Louisiana has chartered lodges in 11 US states.

History

Beginnings The Supreme Council of Louisiana was founded in New Orleans in 1839 in the aftermath of the Morgan Affair. During this time, the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction consisted of John James Joseph Gourgas and Giles Fonda Yates who were "effectively a Supreme Council of two people" and were completely inactive from 1832 to 1843. Likewise, the Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction, Moses Holbrook longed to "relinquish his responsibilities as Sovereign Grand Commander" moving to the rural frontier of Florida to serve as a doctor.

It was during this period that the Supreme Council of Louisiana emerged, which claimed its authority via "Cerneauism" – a type of Scottish Rite Masonry without ties to the either the Northern or Southern Jurisdictions.A recent work on this topic is by Arturo de Hoyos and S. Brent Morris, Cerneaiusm and American Masonry (Washington, D.C.: Scottish Rite Research Society, 2019) Concordant of 1855 Foulhouze resigned “both as Grand Commander and member of this Supreme Council” on July 30, 1853. In 1855, a concordat was sent to Charleston on January 31, 1855, and signed on February 6, 1855, by Grand Commander John H. Honour, Lieutenant Grand Commander Charles M. Furman, and Grand Secretary General Albert G. Mackey. It was then taken back to New Orleans, likely by Mackey, and signed there on February 17, 1855, by Grand Commander Charles Claiborne, as well as Samory and Laffon de Ladébat.See photograph of the original Concordat in Carter and Harris, History of the Supreme Council, 33° [. . .] 1801–1861 (1964), pp. 353–56 On the same day the Supreme Council at Charleston issued a warrant to “our well-beloved, Princes and Knights” Claiborne, Samory, Laffon de Ladébat, John H. Holland, and others, creating a Grand Consistory of Louisiana, and installing them as officers with all the powers relative thereto.See photograph of the original Concordat in Carter and Harris, History of the Supreme Council, 33° [. . .] 1801–1861 (1964), p. 359

Continued existence However, on October 7, 1856, a year after the Supreme Council of Louisiana had formed its concordat with Charleston, Foulhouze, Thomas Wharton Collens, and J.J.E. Massicott, who all resigned in 1853, “declared the Supreme Council to be still in existence and continued its works.”Folger, The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, 2d ed., p 322.

Foulhouze would be expelled by the Grand Orient of France in 1859, then under the leadership of Lucien, 3rd Prince Murat.On February 4, 1859 Foulhouze’s name was "erased from its [i.e., the Grand Orient’s] book of gold," and his patent was declared “void and of no effect.” See “Action Taken by the Grand Orient of France and the Supreme Council of France in the Matter of the Foulhouze Supreme Council, 1858–9," in Official Bulletin of the Supreme Council of the 33d Degree, for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, Vol. VIII ([Washington, DC]: Grand Orient of Charleston, September, 1887), No. 1, pp. 553–73. In particular, see the "Extrait du Ballustre des trav. 4 Février, 1859, (E.V.)" which document is reprinted and translated. Murat had been appointed the head of Freemasonry by his cousin Napoleon III, who had seized power by force in 1851. Foulhouze and the Supreme Council of Louisiana, in turn, rejected the leadership of Murat.

In 1867, the Supreme Council of the Louisiana was the first predominantly white Masonic organization to allow ex-slaves and people of color to become members. In response to the decision, Giuseppe Garibaldi, also a Freemason, complimented the Supreme Council on their decision for racial integration.

In 1868, the Grand Orient of France, under the leadership of Émile Mellinet, re-recognized the Supreme Council of Louisiana. In response, in 1870, the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction and Southern Jurisdiction suspended relations with the Grand Orient of France.

20th century In 1883, Albert Pike wrote a treatise decrying the actions of Foulhouze with respect to the Supreme Council of Louisiana specifically and Cerneauism more generally.

During the 19th and 20th century, the council had fraternal relations with Masonic organizations in Mexico, Italy, Haiti, Egypt, Belgium, Cuba, Scotland, and France.

In 1907, Homer Plessy earlier the plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson served as secretary of the organization.

Under the leadership of George Longe from 1938 to 1985, the Supreme Council of Louisiana tripled in size and expanded to other states, including Maryland and New York. His papers related to the history of the organization and its work during this period are held at the Amistad Research Center of Tulane University.During the 1940s, its headquarters was located at 315 South Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Since 1973, its headquarters has been located at 3200 Saint Bernard Avenue.

21st century In 2005, its headquarters was damaged by Hurricane Katrina and it was abandoned. It was subsequently torn down in 2014. Challenges with the city's zoning regulations delayed construction of a new headquarters until 2022.

In recent years, Masonic scholars Alain Blenheim and S. Brent Morris, along with Arthuro de Hoyos and Michael Poll have conducted research into the history of the organization.

Leadership The list of Sovereign Grand Commanders, who have led the organization, are as follows: +NumberSGCYears in officeNumberSGCYears in office1 1839–184212Arthur J. Guiranovich1889–1891; 1894–19152Jean Jacques Conte1842–184513Joseph N. Cheri1891–18933Jean François Canonge 1845–184814Rene Achille Chiapella1893; 1893–18944James Foulhouze1848–1854; 1857–186715O.A. Giovanni18935Charles Clairborne1854–185616George Ulysses Maury1915–1923; 1925–19266Jean Jacques Edouard Massicot1856–185717Rene C. Metoyer1923–1925; 1926–19377Eugene Chassaignac 1867–187218Charles W. Vance1937–19388Edouard Marc1872–187519George Longe 1938–19859Armand Bertel1875–1876; 1877–188720Joseph Williams1987–199310Jean Gentil 1876–187721Philip Washington, Sr.1993–201711M.J. Piron1887–188922Eddie L. Gabriel, Sr. 2017–present

Gallery

Supreme Council of Louisiana

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