Supreme Council of Louisiana

History

The Supreme Council of Louisiana came into being in New Orleans during 1839, following the Morgan Affair. At that time, the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction had only two members, John James Joseph Gourgas and Giles Fonda Yates, and they did nothing from 1832 to 1843. Meanwhile, Moses Holbrook, who led the Southern Jurisdiction, wanted to give up his role as Sovereign Grand Commander and went to work as a doctor in rural Florida. It was in this gap that the Louisiana group appeared, basing its authority on Cerneauism, a form of Scottish Rite Masonry unconnected to either the Northern or Southern bodies.

On July 30, 1853, Foulhouze stepped down from his positions as Grand Commander and member of this Supreme Council. In 1855, a formal agreement was sent to Charleston on January 31, signed there on February 6 by Grand Commander John H. Honour, Lieutenant Grand Commander Charles M. Furman, and Grand Secretary General Albert G. Mackey. The document was then carried back to New Orleans, probably by Mackey, and signed on February 17 by Grand Commander Charles Claiborne, along with Samory and Laffon de Ladébat. That same day, the Charleston Supreme Council issued a warrant to Claiborne, Samory, Laffon de Ladébat, John H. Holland, and others, establishing a Grand Consistory of Louisiana and appointing them as officers with full authority.

On October 7, 1856, one year after the Louisiana group made its pact with Charleston, Foulhouze, Thomas Wharton Collens, and J.J.E. Massicott—all of whom had resigned in 1853—announced that the Supreme Council was still active and resumed its operations. In 1859, the Grand Orient of France expelled Foulhouze. At that time, the Grand Orient was led by Lucien, 3rd Prince Murat, whom his cousin Napoleon III had put in charge of Freemasonry after seizing power by force in 1851. The Supreme Council of Louisiana refused to accept Murat’s authority. In 1867, this council became the first mostly white Masonic group to admit former slaves and people of color as members. Giuseppe Garibaldi, himself a Freemason, praised the council for this move toward racial integration.