Mike McCabe Bringing Brothers Together

You might remember a previous story from The Beehive on Mike McCabe and how he was unceremoniously bounced out of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey. Granted McCabe is an intense fellow but he was and still is passionate about his Freemasonry.  And he did much in his tenure within the Grand Lodge of New Jersey and was recognized by his Grand Lodge for superior achievement. Yet his insistence to do things correctly and “by the book” landed him in trouble with a Grand Lodge whose officers liked to violate its Constitution and do whatever they felt like.

justiceloplate1-297x300McCabe deserves a lot more credit than he is being given which is so often the plight of an expelled Brother.  It needs to be pointed out that McCabe was present on the deck of the Battleship USS New Jersey on September 22, 2002 where formal recognition between PHA & Mainstream Masonry in New Jersey was ratified.

And it was he who a scant three weeks later on October 16, 2002 as Master of Mainstream  Justice Lodge No. 285, Linwood New Jersey welcomed the visitation of Prince Hall Lodges No. 16, Hiram Abiff and No. 27, Prince Hall along with the Grand Masters justiceloplate2-294x300of both Grand Lodges and other Past Grand Masters and dignitaries.

McCabe and his officers worked hard to put together one of the first joint meetings of PHA & Mainstream Masonry in the state of New Jersey.  As a long time champion of Prince Hall Masonry, McCabe endeavored to make the occasion memorial and remembered by casting a plate with front and back inscriptions which you see here pictured.

But The Beehive cannot help but wonder at perhaps how much trouble championing Prince Hall might get you in.  PGM Frank Haas of West Virginia met with Prince Hall Officers in the hopes of starting recognition.  Derek Gordon of Arkansas championed Prince Hall recognition and boldly denounced the Grand Lodge ruling that the generic license plate created by Prince Hall Arkansas was clandestine.  Counting McCabe all three, of course, have been expelled.

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Fred is a Past Master of Plymouth Lodge, Plymouth Massachusetts, and Past Master of Paul Revere Lodge, Brockton, Massachusetts. Presently, he is a member of Pride of Mt. Pisgah No. 135, Prince Hall Texas, where is he is also a Prince Hall Knight Templar . Fred is a Fellow of the Phylaxis Society and Executive Director of the Phoenix Masonry website and museum.