M. W. United Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons v. Green

Boyd, O. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The Most Worshipful United Grand Lodgie of Free and Accepted Masons of Maryland, Incorporated, filed a bill in ⁵⁸³ equity against the Grand Master of the Free and Accepted York Masons, the Worshipful Master of a Lodge, affiliated with the Free and Accepted York Masons, and twenty-four others, who are alleged to be the officers, and members of a voluntary unincorporated body of men, known as Mount Sinai Lodge No. 1 Free and Accepted Ancient York Masons. The object of the bill is thus stated in the prayer: “That the said * * * may be enjoined from using the name of Masons, or Free Masons, as .the name of a fraternal, benevolent or charitable organization, and from using any name of which the term Masons or Free Masons forms a part, or using the said words Masons or Free Masons for any purpose, whether alone, or in conjunction with any other words; and from engaging in any other effort to add to the membership of said Mt. Sinai Lodge, or from organizing any other lodges of the same kind and character bearing the name of Masons or Free Masons or any other name which the name Masons or Free forms a part, and from in any manner representing as members of said lodge so organized, or as being members of the Order of Masons, or Order of Free Masons, or connected in any way with said order, or in any way forming a component part of the said Order of Masons or Order of Free Masons.” The plaintiff (appellant) alleges, that for many years prior to the grant of any of its. charters referred to in the bill: “The Fraternity of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, now generally known as Free and Accepted Masons, bad operated among colored men in tbe State of Maryland, sometimes with divided ranks, bearing different names, but holding all of them to the essential rites, ceremonies and traditions of the great Fraternity of Free Masons, until in the year 1876 all of these separate bodies of colored men claiming the rights and benefits of the Fraternity of Free Masonry were united in one body, known as The Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted ⁵⁸⁴ Masons of the State of Maryland, and that from that date until very recently no other body of Free Masons, operating among colored men, has been known in this State, nor has authority been given to nor exercised by any other body of men to so operate in this State.” It is also alleged that the appellant has at this tizne about 2,000 members in this State, who are attached to and members of forty-eight subordinate lodges, located in different parts of the State, which are component parts of and are under the supervision, of said Grand Lodge; that it has since its first institution among the colored men in this State, and before then in Boston and where the Fraternity of Masons existed among colored men: - “borne at different times the name of Azzcient Free and Accepted Masons and of Free and Accepted Masons, and this name has been continuously used by the complainant, and now is used by it and its votaries, and by long use it has acquired the sole and exclusive right to use such name as it refers to colored men izi the State of Maryland, and no other persons or order has any right to the use of such name as it refers to colored men in this State, either along with or in connection with any other words, or paz’ts of a name, of any other fraternal organization operating among colored men in the State of Maryland.” It further alleges that the use of the name Masons by the defendants has caused and is causing great confusion and is tending to mislead the public into believing that the defendants, constituting’ the said Mount Sinai Lodge No. 1, is a part of appellant’s organization, whereas it is not and cannot be, “but is made up laz’gely of a class of men who cannot become affiliated with any regular body of Free Masons anywhere, and as part of its scheme to embarrass your complainant- it is making the claim that it, and not your complainant, is the original Order of Free Masons.” ⁵⁸⁵ Among other things, it is alleged: “That the use of the name Masons by the defendants, its agents, servants and members is part of a fraudulent scheme to induce the public and those seeking to join the Order of Free Masons into believing that they are joining the said named order, and it will be impossible to prevent such persons from so believing if said defendants are allowed to continue to use the same name, all of which is contrary to equity and is a fraudulent and illegal invasion and an infringement of the rights of the Order of Free Masons in the premises and a fraudulent and inequitable competition in business, and an infringement upon and an illegal invasion of the rights, good-will and name of the Order of Free Masons.” An order to show cause why a writ of injunction should not be issued as prayed was passed, the defendants answered and, after a large amount of testimony was taken, the bill was dismissed and this appeal was taken.

The defendants denied all allegations of deception, fraud, misleading acts, etc., and set out in some detail a history of the organization of colored lodges of Masons. They allege: “That in the year 1775 or 1776 a regiment of British soldiers stationed in Boston, in possession of regular authority from the Grand Lodge of England, made Masons of a number of colored men, who obtained a dispensation under which they worked for a number of years, and that in November, 1784, the Grand Lodge of England granted to one Prince Hall and other colored men residing in Boston a charter under the name of African Lodge No. 457 of the roll of the Grand Lodge; that thereafter other lodges were warranted in other States of the Union, and that on or about the 24th day of June, 1847, a convention was held in the City of Boston, composed of representatives from the various lodges of colored men throughout the United States,” who unanimously adopted a resolution “to organize and open a National Grand Lodge of Free ⁵⁸⁶ and Accepted Ancient York Masons, National Compact, Inc., for the United States of America and Masonic jurisdiction; that the said National Grand Lodge working under and by authority of the only warrant that was ever granted colored Masons in the United States, established subordinate and Grand State lodges in the different States of the Union, among which was Friendship Lodge No. 6 of Baltimore City, Maryland, warranted on the 2nd day of February, 1825, and that thereafter other subordinate lodges were organized by the National Grand Lodge within the State of Maryland, and that some time thereafter, about the year 1873 or the year 1874, the Grand Lodge of Maryland seceded and withdrew from the National Grand Lodge, carrying with it the warrant that had been given it by the National Grand Lodge.” It is alleged that the appellant was declared by the National Grand Lodge to he rebellious and was expelled, and was existing only as a spurious and clandestine body and has no masonic authority whatever from the National Grand Lodge. It is further alleged that the respondents in August, 1918, formed a club and made application for membership in the so-called body (the plaintiff), that one Joseph P. Evans, the Grand Master of the said lodge,' met the respondents and after lecturing; to them accepted ten dollars for an application for membership in the said lodge; that-they were examined by % physician and passed the physical test and several of them desired to be informed whether the appellant was connected in any way with any National Grand Lodge and were informed that it was not, thereupon all of the respondents refused to become members of the said lodge and made application to the National Grand Master of Masons at Montgomery, Alabama, for a warrant as a subordinate lodge of the National Body; that the National Grand Master of Masons.sent the National Grand Organizer for the State of Virginia and adjacent territory to Baltimore with a warrant and masonic authority to organize respondents into a ⁵⁸⁷ subordinate lodge, which he did on the 20th of November, 1918, under the name of Mount Sinai Lodge No. 1 Free and Accepted Ancd-ent York Masons, National Compact. It is thus seen that the plaintiff claims to be the only-authorized masonic power in this State, while the respondents claim that it is spurious and clandestine, and that they are the duly authorized Masons through the action of the National Grand Lodge-.

The evidence is conflicting, the feeling is bitter and it is not the kind of ease which appeals to a count of equity. It is always, unfortunate when such controversies get into the courts, and before a court of equity can grant such relief as is sought in this case the right to it must be clearly established. It is- not merely a question of what relief a court of equity can grant to- an Order, to protect it from an unjustifiable use of its name, etc-., by those having no claim of right to use them, but the first question is whether the appellant has shown that it has such an exclusive right to represent the colored Masons of Maryland that it can pro-perly ask a court to prohibit by injunction the respondents from doing what it complains of. Each side claims descent from a lodge which was established in Boston under the name of African Lodge No. 459 (457 in answer), generally referred to as Prince Hall Lodge.

The first colored persons who became Masons were admitted to an English army lodge attached to the command of General -Gage, at Boston in 1775, as stated in Funk and Wag-nails’ Standard Encyclopedia, and as we understand to be admitted in this ease. Lodges were established in the different states, and Grand Lodges were formed in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Pennsylvania. William Henry Grimshaw, assistant librarian