Past Most Excellent Grand High Priest Jewel Made for A. G. Mackey, 1874-1875. Joseph Bock, Charleston, South Carolina. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Gift of the Estate of John F. Bemis and Randall E. Bemis, 2024.011.64. Photograph by Michael Cardinali.
Hilary Anderson Stelling, Director of Collections and Exhibitions, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library
On February 12, 1867, Dr. Albert Gallatin Mackey, Grand High Priest, addressed his brethren at the Annual Grand Convention of the Most Excellent Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of South Carolina in Charleston. In his remarks, Mackey (1807-1881) let his fellow Royal Arch Masons know that “for the first time in twenty years” he would not be there for the entire meeting due to “imperative and unexpected calls of public business.” Mackey continued, lamenting the beleaguered state of Royal Arch Freemasonry in South Carolina, noting that “strife in our land pressed heavily on the condition of our Chapters.” Most chapters in South Carolina had stopped work during the Civil War. In 1867, when Mackey offered these comments, several remained closed. Representatives from fourteen chapters attended the 1867 gathering.
In his remarks, Mackey reviewed his long association with Royal Arch Masonry in South Carolina, recalling that in 1847, when he first served as Deputy Grand High Priest, the state claimed only two functioning chapters. By 1860 Mackey had helped establish twenty-two chapters. He recalled that he had spent time at each of the chapters to “instruct them in the work.” Mackey summed up his long involvement with Royal Arch Masonry in South Carolina stating that he could, “without arrogance, claim that the present organization of Royal Arch Masonry in the State, has been produced by my personal labor and teaching.”
The next day, to acknowledge Mackey’s significant contributions to Royal Arch Freemasonry in South Carolina, a group recommended that a committee be appointed and charged to “show some, though inadequate, evidence of the high appreciation of Comp. Mackey’s services to Royal Arch Masonry” and to “prepare a Jewel or other suitable memento” to present to Mackey “as the funds of the Grand Chapter will admit.”
Several years passed before the Grand Chapter could afford to commission Mackey’s jewel. In 1875, the project moved forward with a $50 appropriation combined with $30 contributed by five chapters to procure jewels for Mackey and another past Grand High Priest. From an expense recorded in the Grand Treasurer’s report for the year, it appears the two jewels together cost $100. Mackey’s jewel was recently donated to the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library.
Charleston silversmith, jeweler, and fellow Freemason, Joseph Bock (1837-1903), crafted Mackey’s handsome jewel in gold over silver in the shape of a high priest’s breast plate floating over three equilateral triangles, all symbols related to the office of High Priest. The jewel bears his maker’s mark, “Jos. Bock” stamped on the back and the name of the recipient “A. G. Mackey” is engraved on the hanger. Bock, a member of La Candeur Lodge No. 36 in Charleston, advertised “Masonic Jewels in sets or singly furnished to order” in 1867. Newspaper notices in the late 1860s and early 1870s complimented the “artistically wrought” and “handsome” jewels crafted in “exquisite style” that Bock created for the Masonic community.
Upon receiving the jewel at his home in Washington D. C., in 1875, Mackey wrote to thank the Grand Chapter. In his letter, Mackey spoke of the “very close and warm place in my heart” held by the chapters and members of the Grand Chapter. He also stated that he would wear “this token of brotherly love, coming from the cherished companions of my dear native State” with gladness and pride. Mackey is primarily remembered today for his books about Freemasonry including A Lexicon of Freemasonry (1845), The History of Freemasonry in South Carolina (1861), and An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and its Kindred Sciences… (1873). This jewel is a tangible reminder of the time he spent solidifying Royal Arch Freemasonry in South Carolina and of the regard he earned from his fellow Freemasons in this endeavor.