Do You Know How Your Consistories Originated? SGIG Reginald B. Stewart 33°, Grand Historian
Fort Wayne Consistory No. 66 Valley of Fort Wayne—Orient of Indiana
St. John ’ s Consistory No. 54 Valley of Evansville—Orient of Indiana Chartered May 1923
Established December 17, 1899; Chartered May 1940 (Defunct)
This Consistory was formed in the wake of the goodwill generated by Illustrious Sumner A. Furniss 33° changing his allegiance (and that of Constantine Consistory) from John G. Jones to the USC NJ in 1911. That positive spirit of legitimate Scottish Rite freemasonry then traveled to Richmond and on to Evansville. Then Deputy for the Orient, S.G.I.G. Clarence E. Dunlop 33°, was an integral factor in the creation of this Consistory. This Consistory was eponymously named after the city where it is located. There was also a St. John ’ s Consistory No. 58 chartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. It is not known why two Consistories were named in a similar fashion in such a short time span. St. John ’ s has been a popular name in our jurisdiction: • There is a St. John ’ s Lodge of Perfection as a co- ordinate body of James E. Morley Consistory No. 73, Valley of Nassau, Orient of the Bahamas. • There is a St. John ’ s Chapter of Rose Croix as a co- ordinate body of Hartford Consistory No. 80 Valley of Hartford, Orient of Connecticut • There is a St. John ’ s Lodge of Perfection as a co- ordinate body of Martin Luther King Consistory No. 86, Valley of Ambler, Orient of Pennsylvania. • There is a St. John ’ s Chapter of Rose Croix as a co- ordinate body of Robert Henry Consistory No. 95, Valley of Bangkok, Orient of the Far East (defunct). • There is a St. John ’ s Lodge of Perfection as a co- ordinate body of Pentecost Consistory No. 98, Valley of Ossining, Orient of New York. • There is also a St. John ’ s Consistory No. 233 in Wetumpka, Alabama, belonging to our sister Prince Hall jurisdiction to the south.
There has been a Scottish Rite presence in Fort Wayne since 1889 when Milton F. Fields established St. Stephens Consistory beholden to his irregular, bogus, clandestine, and spurious Northern and Western Jurisdiction. They were assisted in their endeavors by members from Occidental Consistory No. 2 (now Western Consistory No. 28), who at that time belonged to the same Supreme Council. The subsequent Consistory as we know it was formed Under Dispensation in May 1939 with its chartering the following May with the number 66. It is highly doubtful that any remaining members from St. Stephen ’ s became a part of the new body. This Consistory was eponymously named after the city where it is located.
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