Prior to the American Revolutionary War, Prince Hall and fourteen other free black men petitioned for admittance to the (at that time all white) Boston St. John’s Lodge.
[1][2][3] Having been rejected by colonial Freemasonry, they petitioned to join a Masonic lodge attached to the 38th British Foot Infantry (then meeting at Castle William Island in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts) which operated under a charter from the Grand Lodge of Ireland.
Prince Hall and his associates received a "permit" from the Grand Lodge of Ireland to meet for the purpose of Masonic funeral services and processions.
[7] With a charter, African Lodge #459 could initiate more men from the free black community in Boston.
In 1797 Prince Hall organized subsidiary lodges in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Providence, Rhode Island.