Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
Freemasonry “misnomer”
The use of the name “Freemasonry” in this part of the our study, is a misnomer, a mistaken identity. Chinese migrants did not bring freemasonry to the United States.
They brought family, regional, and kinship societies with them, not, the racist organization Euroamericans brought into California during that period of time. The Chinese also brought Tongs or sometimes groups called by an alternate name, the Triads, a very old and somewhat secret group of societies that did not act in the best interest of the immigrants.
White Americans, it seems, came to the gold rush carrying with them dispensations or charters authorizing them to organized “Freemason” lodges in the undeveloped far west. As a result, these dispensations were used to create what were known then as traveling lodges. Below we will spend some time and space to report on white American male Freemasonry and contrast it to many Chinese society groups organized in California replicating cultural norms in Canton and other parts of China.
The first California lodge, Western Star Lodge No. 98 was located in Benton City (now Vina in Tehama County) in October of 1849. It was the famous Lassen Charter (Stansel 1975:12, 13), housed in Peter Lassen’s Trading Post. The first Master of this lodge Reverend Saschel Woods was one of those who helped to form the Grand Lodge of California, becoming the first Junior Grand Warden. The two local Wardens named with Woods on the charter was Peter Lassen and L. E. Stewart (Stansel 14, 17). Many of the early communities were not permanent in nature and in 1851 the Western Star Lodge was moved to Shasta (now old Shasta). Between 1853 and 1856 the task of regulating the ritual and assuring its uniformity was accomplished (Heyman 1971:12). After the land boom of the 1880s and 1890s there were 242 California Lodges and about 16,000 members.
A May 16, 1856 issue of the Northern Californian (Volume 1, No. 27, page 3, column 1) has a small article on “Masonic Lodges in California.”
From the reports made to the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, in session at Sacramento, it appears there are 74 chartered lodges in the State under the authority of this grand Lodge, besides 27 acting under dispensation with probably 4,000 members.
An address to the Brethern of the Masonic Fraternity covered the whole first page of the July 4, 1856 issue of the Northern Californian. In column 4 it was noted that the rites and ceremonies of “ Free Masonry are open to all mankind, with one exception, that of the infidel the disbeliever in a God”. The Chinese Americans in Oroville could not be Freemasons, they were not Christians. Reports suggest only 5 to 10 percent were converted to Protestant Christianity by 1910. Lodges were also authorized by The Grand Lodge of California for establishment in foreign lands (Stansel 1975:26,27; Heyman 1971:14). Valparaiso, Chile received a California dispensation in 1853 (but they went with a Massachusetts’ dispensation instead). Three California lodges were established in the Philippine Islands (around the turn of the century), ten Hawaiian lodges were in existence by 1971. Even China saw California Masonry at work. Grand Master Leslie E. Wood issued a 1943 (the year the Chinese exclusion acts were repealed) dispensation to open a lodge known as Fortitude Lodge U. D. in Chungking, China with the understanding that a charter would never be granted (Heyman 1971:29; Stansel 1975:27). Chinese, again, could not be Freemasons.
William Pettus (1940), a Past Master of the International Lodge, Pieping, China, who was an educator and authority on Chinese languages, presented to the Grand Lodge a copy of the Bible written entirely in the Chinese language (Stansel 1975:90). This Bible was awarded each year between 1941 and 1947 to lodge which rendered the most outstanding service to Masonic charity. Lodges in San Francisco (1941), Pearl Harbor (1942), Chungking (1943), Sacramento (1944), Trona, California (1945 and 1946), and Castroville, California (1947) were awarded.
These few facts were the only references found concerning Chinese Freemasonry in the Heyman and Stansel publications. The authors did indicate that foreign languages were permitted in some of the California lodges. They were the German (1858 and 1913), Italian (1872) and French (1852 and 1892) languages.
Mentions of Freemasonry in the Oroville and Chico areas come from the Stansel book. On the 4th of July 1888 the Grand Lodge laid the corner stone of the Branch Normal School in Chico (Stansel 1975:48), George C. Perkins (1874) was the Fourteenth Grand Master of Oroville Lodge No. 103 (Stansel 1975:169, 184); Albert E. Boynton (1925) was the Fifty-Ninth Grand Master of the Oroville Lodge No. 103, and Theodore Meriam (1964) was the Ninety-ninth Grand Master of Chico Lodge No. 111.
While doing research in the ledgers listing assessments, taxes were being paid by what they called “China Free Masons” or “Chinese Free Masons” in the Oroville Chinatown. The name seemed to come from government officials in white America at the time. The name just hung on in Oroville. The controversy over the name continues even now. Collection of taxes for Freemasons began in the ledger dated 1875 (Butte County Tax Assessment Records). The China Free Masons’ first tax bill was for Outside Lot No. 86 and a 13-foot front of east side of Outside Lot No. 87. The property was valued at $50 with $600 worth of improvements. Total taxes paid were $12.60. The same group were taxed in 1876 under the same property description with the same estimated property value, but the taxes are now $14.00. A third time (1877) this group was taxed for Outside Lot No. 86 and the E 1/2 of Outside Lot No. 87 with a value of $100 and $700 worth of improvements, but the total taxes paid were $23.80.In the 1878 ledger the group’s name is now “Chinese Free Masons.” Property is again valued at $100 with $700 of improvements but taxes are back down at $14.00. Property and improvements are valued at $700 in 1879, 1880, and 1881 with taxes paid being $11.90 (in 1879) and $11.20 (in 1880 and 1881). Taxes levied for the “Chinese Free Masons” in 1882. They were assessed for Outside Lot No. 80 and 12 feet of Outside Lot No. 87, value of property was $50, total taxes paid were 80 cents. Several other people were assessed for Outside Lot No. 80 in the same year: a Quong Wing Hi was also assessed in this year for the east 32 feet of Outside Lot No. 80, valued at $125 and $675 worth of improvements (this was only part of his assessment for this year); Ah Fun was assessed for Outside Lot No. 80, valued at $60 and 96 cents taxes paid; and Hoop Ye Tong was assessed for Outside Lot No. 80, valued at $50 with $2.40 in taxes paid. Are these duplicates, four different levies, a sign of fraudulent activity in the assessor’s office? Did not find any Chinese entries showing who was being assessed for Outside Lot No. 86 or 87. In 1883 the assessment for the Chinese Free Masons is for Outside Lot No. 80, valued at $50 and a tax paid of 75 cents. Once again others are being assessed for Outside Lot No. 80 in this same year; Ah Fun was assessed for this lot, valued at $75 and paying a tax of $1.13; and Wing Lee Hong was assessed for Outside Lots No. 80 & 81, valued at $250, and paying taxes of $5.75. One lot in Chinatown, valued at $50 was the only assessment for the China Free Masons in 1884. They paid taxes of 75 cents. Quong Wing Hi was assessed for 32 feet of east end of Outside Lot No. 80, valued at $150 with $700 worth of improvements (this was only part of his assessment for that year). The China or Chinese Masons disappear from the tax assessment ledgers in 1885 but Quong Wing Hi is once again assessed for 33 feet of the east end of Outside Lot No. 80. It was valued at $200 with $700 worth of improvements. This was only part of his assessment of $3170. He is not assessed for this property in 1886. However, as noted below, the Chinese “Free Masons” are mentioned conspicuously elsewhere especially in newspapers. All of this publicity carried this misnomer forward even until now.
September 10, 1859 in what is now Plumas County page 3, column 2. (Butte Democrat). Chinese Celebration. The Mountain Messenger states that “the Chinamen of Laporte celebrated a Masonic festival on Monday. About forty Celestials assembled above the Rabbit Creek Bridge, in the afternoon, and raised a flag. They drank champagne and brandy, made extemporaneous speeches, shot off a large amount of fire crackers, and appeared to enjoy themselves to the fullest extent of their abilities”.
January 17, 1875, columns 1-6 (Weekly Mercury). Under “Delinquent Tax List.” Free Masons, China – Ophir Township, Outside Lot No. 86 in Oroville – $50, improvements $650. Total taxes due $15.20.
January 25, 1897, page 3, column 2 (Oroville Daily Register) had an article on the funeral of Gee Chung Oy, the second officer in the Chinese Free Mason Lodge of Oroville. Article was titled “Chinese Funeral – A Large Crowd Witnessed the Ceremonies.” The funeral ceremony took place in front of the “Masonic Building”. His “splendid” coffin lay in state on the street, surrounded by numerous flags and emblems of the order, while close by stood two tables on which was a large roasted hog, and various other articles of food. After some ceremonies, a procession formed and the participants made their way to the cemetery. In the procession were members of the order on foot, bearing flags and banners, each one wearing a rosette of red and white ribbon (which are the Chinese mourning colors). The deceased, Gee Chung Oy, a native of Canton, had been a resident of Oroville twenty years or more. He was 58 years old at the time of his death.
February 10, 1898, page 3, column 1 (Oroville Daily Register). In this issue was a nice write up of the “Grand Chinese Parade.” About the sixth paragraph into the article it says “The Chinese Free Masons were conspicuous by their dress and a peculiar round plate worn by each in back and front. Following this organization a red flag with a black border was carried.”
The umbrella organization in the Chinese American society evolved from the old Six Companies to the bew Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) Company in California. The separate groups formed early in Chinese society in some provinces and districts (but especially in the south near Canton). Their stated goal was to assist Chinese people in their homeland with food, water, housing, protection and jobs. When gold seeking migration began they organized in multiple places in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina. The original Six Companies were named Huiguans: See Yup, Sam Yup, Yeung Wo, Hip Kat, Hop Wo, and Ning Yuen (1868) were later joined by other groups. The evolution of the umbrella group was exceptionally successful in helping Chinese Americans thread the cultural, language, and legal barriers of the “rude republic” (the United States). As restrictions and exclusion laws multiplied, the Company hired spokespeople, especially well known attorneys to plead for softening the laws and defending the Chinese in court. They helped thousands of newcomers, young men mostly, to land and provide ways for them to get to the mines. Newspapers published in Oroville mention the CCBA and the Six Companies many times as representatives visited the area. A short article in the Weekly Butte Record, volume 25, Number 3, November 1877 reads: “From one of the members of the six Chinese Companies… have been in town during the last week we learn …. are trying to get the steamship lines to agree to charge passengers $200 dollars that come from China… and only charge $50 for those who go back. This is to deter those who are in China from coming to this country, and at the same time enable those already here to get back for only a small amount. It is hoped that the agreement will be entered into”. We are still to discover if full blown agents lived in the city. The “Chinese freemasonry” building could have belonged to the CCBA. Also possible was a connection to Tong groups (secret societies) or Triads formed in the 19th century in China. (See: Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No1, part 2 (1826), authored by William Milne). It regrouped in San Francisco in 1849 just as thousands of young Chinese men from peasant families began to immigrate to the United States. (Memoirs of a Chinese Revolutionary, San Yet Sen, Arno Press Reprint, 1970). San Yet Sen was key to the rebellion against the Qing dynasty in 1911.
REFERENCES SITED
Butte County
1875 – 1888 Tax Assessment Record Ledgers. These ledgers were stored at Special Collections, Meriam Library, Chico State University, Chico until 2002. They have now been returned to the County of Butte. The microfilm is available in Special Collections. Meriam Library, California State University, Chico.
Butte Democrat
1859 September 10, 1859 issue, page 3, column 2. Published in Oroville.
Heyman, Jr., Max L., editor
1971 A Perfect Ashlar in the Making. Grand Lodge of California, San Francisco.
Oroville Daily Register
1897 January 25, 1897 issue, page 3, column 2. Published in Oroville.
1898 February 10, 1898 issue, page 3, column 1. Published in Oroville.
San Yet Sen
Memoirs of a Chinese Revolutionary, Arno Press Reprint, 1970.
Stansel, Edwin N.
1975 1850-1975 – A History of Grand Lodge of Fee and Accepted Masons,
State of California. Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the
State of California, San Francisco.
Weekly Mercury
1875 January 29, 1875, page 3, columns 1 thru 6. “Delinquent Tax List.” Published in Oroville.
Weekly Butte Record, Volume 25, Number 3, November 1877. Will they do it.
Orovillechicochinese 