On April 8, 1843, M. LeTellier, Captain of the Whaling bark Ajax, acting under a legal commission to do so, did so regularly congregate and constitute a group of eleven sojourning Master Masons as Lodge Le Progres de l’Oceanie under the Supreme Council of France A.A.S.R.
Captain LeTellier working through his one interpreter brother inspired his English and German speaking brothers to accept a French dispensation, and apply for a French charter which was finally issued on July 24, 1850.
In 1852, another group of Masons founded Hawaiian Lodge No. 21 under the Grand Lodge of California. On the ninth day of April 1895, a group of Masons gathered together at the home of Clinton B. Ripley to discuss the formation of a new lodge in Honolulu. Worshipful Brother Henry E. Cooper, the Junior Past Master of Hawaiian Lodge, spearheaded, engineered, organized, and obtained the proper documentation needed to institute a new lodge and laid the cornerstone to erect the new lodge. Pacific Lodge No. 822 was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland through the District Grand Lodge of Queensland.
In 1910, this Lodge transferred to the Grand Lodge of California and became known as Honolulu Lodge No. 409.
On May 20, 1989 the Grand Lodge of Hawaii was founded, and the lodge number was subsequently dropped.
Presently all lodges in the Hawaiian Islands are under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Hawaii.
The Lodges of the Hawaiian Islands are the only lodges in the American jurisdiction which has Hawaiian Freemasons of Royal Lineage of the Kingdom of Hawaii and Royal Past Masters.
Alexander Liholiho – Kamehameha IV
Past Master of Lodge Le Progres de I’Oceanie -1859, 1861 and 1862
David Kalakaua Rex
Past Master of Lodge Le Progres de I’Oceanie -1876
Lot Kamehameha – Kamehameha V – 1854
Prince William Pitt Leleiohoko – 1874
Prince David Kawananakoa – 1900
Definition of hawaiian words:
Hui Makona: Masonic Lodge /// Aloha : Universal greeting of farewell // Imi Ka’kou E Ka Kukui : Let us see the light
Symbolism
The light blue sky denotes immortality, eternity. Pale blue in particular represents prudence and goodness. In Freemasonry blue is the emblem of universal brotherhood and friendship and instruct us that in the mind of a Mason those virtues should be extensive as the blue arch of heaven itself. It is said that in ancient days the most solemn oaths were sworn on blue altars as the color represented the canopy of heaven where God Almighty resides.
Beginning of Masonry in Hawaii :
Our story begins in the days of the Hawaiian Monarchy during the reign of King Kamehameha III, (Kauikeaouli) the son of Kamehameha the Great who united all the Islands under one ruler and founded the Kamehameha Dynasty. Kamehameha III ruled the Island Kingdom from June 6, 1825, to December 15, 1854, the longest reign of any ruler of the Hawaiian Monarchy. During his reign Lodge le Progres de l’Oceanie No. 124 Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (A.A.S.R.) was constituted on April 8, 1843, under the Supreme Council of France, and Hawaiian Lodge No.21 Free and Accepted Masons was chartered on May 5, 1852, under the Grand Lodge of California. These were the first two Lodges to be warranted in Hawaii and with the founding of these Lodges, Freemasonry became firmly established in the Sandwich Islands. These two Lodges became the foundation of the Craft in Hawaii and both are presently on the register of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Hawaii.
THE ROYAL CONNECTION
The association between Freemasonry and the Hawaiian Monarchy started with Prince Lot when he was raised in Hawaiian Lodge in 1854, and became the first Native Hawaiian to become a Freemason. He later became Kamehameha V, ruler of Hawaii. Prince Lot was followed into the fraternity by his younger brother Prince Alexander Liholiho, who later became Kamehameha IV, and was the Master of Lodge le Progres de l’Oceanie in 1859, 1861 and 1862. Next came John Owen Dominis, the Prince Consort of Lydia Kamakeaha, older sister of King David Kalakaua, and later known as Queen Lili’uokalani. Dominis was the Master of Lodge le Progres de l’Oceanie in 1863, 1864 and 1868. He was followed by his brother-in-law, Archibald Scott Cleghorn, later Governor of the Island of Oahu, and husband of Princess Miriam Kapili Likelike, the younger sister of King Kalakaua. Cleghorn was raised in Hawaiian Lodge in 1873. Next came Prince William Pitt Kalahoolewa Leleiohoku, younger brother of King David Kalakaua who was raised in Hawaiian Lodge in 1874. The next member of Hawaiian royalty to join the Craft was David Kalakaua who was elected Master of Lodge le Progres de l’Oceanie for 1876, about a year and a-half after being elected King of Hawaii in 1874. Kalakaua was one of the most active members of the Craft in the Island Kingdom.
‘IOLANI PALACE IS BUILT
David Kalakaua had not been King very long when he made it known that he wanted a new palace. He considered that the one he was living in had been neglected and was dilapidated, and definitely unfit for a King. During the legislative session of 1878, funds were authorized for a new palace.
Wednesday, December 31, 1879, the forty-fifth birthday of his wife Queen Julia Kapiolani, was selected by King Kalakaua to lay the cornerstone of the new Royal residence, ‘Iolani* Palace. The brethren of Lodge le Progres de l’Oceanie No.124, and Hawaiian Lodge No.21, were invited by the King to conduct the ceremony.
The cornerstone laying ceremony of ‘Iolani Palace was conducted in the Masonic tradition, and included the participation of His Majesty King Kalakaua, who descended from the dais and gave the cornerstone three sharp raps with a gavel. The Freemasons in attendance responded with Grand Public Honors. The working tools used in the ceremony were made of wrought silver expressly for King Kalakaua. At the completion of the ceremony, the King donated the silver working tools to his Lodge. Lodge le Progres de l’Oceanie has maintained the tools in mint condition to this very day. One hundred and fifteen years later, on November 11, 1994, the same silver working tools were used by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Hawaii, in laying the Cornerstone of the Memorial Building of the Hawaii State Veteran’s Cemetery at Kaneohe, on the Island of Oahu. The story of the Silver Working Tools is a chronicle in itself.
