How It All Began

Taken From The SONA Short History Booklet

In 1870, several thousand of the 900,000 residents of Manhattan were Masons. Many of these Masons made it a point to lunch at the Knickerbocker Cottage, a restaurant located at 426 Sixth Avenue. At a special table on the second floor, a particularly jovial group of these men used to meet regularly.

The Masons who gathered at this table were noted for their good humor and wit. They often discussed the idea of a new fraternity for Masons, in which fun and fellowship would be stressed more than ritual. Two to the table regulars, Walter M. Fleming, M.D., and William J. "Billy" Florence, an actor, took the idea seriously enough to do something about it.

Billy Florence was a star. After becoming the toast of the New York stage, he toured London, Europe, and Middle Eastern countries, always playing to capacity audiences. While on tour in Marseilles, France, Florence was invited to a party given by an Arabian diplomat.

Florence, recalling conversations at the Knickerbocker Cottage, realized that this Arabian theme might well be the vehicle for the new fraternity.

Dr. Walter Fleming was a prominent physician and surgeon. Born in 1838, he obtained a degree in medicine in Albany, N.Y., in 1862. During the Civil War, he was a surgeon with the 13th New York Infantry Brigade of the National Guard. He then practiced medicine in Rochester, N.Y., until 1868, when he moved to New York City and quickly became a leading practitioner.

Fleming was devoted to fraternalism. he became a Master Mason and completed some of his Scottish Tite work in Rochester. Fleming then completed his Scottish Rite degrees in New York City and was coroneted a 33 degree Scottish Rite Mason on September 19, 1872.

Fleming took the ideas supplied by Florence and converted them into what would become the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (A.A.O.M.S.).

With the help of other Knickerbocker Cottage regulars, Fleming drafted the ritual, designed the emblem and costumes, formulated a salutation, and declared that members would were a red fez.

The initaiation rites, or ceremonials, were drafted by Fleming with the help of three Brother Masons: Charles T. McClenachan, lawyer and expert on Masonic Ritual; William Sleigh Paterson, printer, linguist and ritualist; and Albert L. Rawson, prominent scholar and Mason who provided much of the Arabic background.

The First Meeting

Taken From The SONA Short History Booklet

On September 26, 1872, the first temple in the United States was organized in the New York City Masonic Hall. Charles T. McClenachan and Dr. Fleming had completed the ritual and proposed that the first temple be named Mecca. The original 13 Maons of the Knickerbocker Cottage lunch group were named Charter Members of Mecca Temple (now Mecca Shriners). Noble Florence read a letter outlining the "history" of the Order and giving advice on conducting meetings. The officers eledted were Walter M. Fleming, Potentate; Charles T. McClenachan, Chief Rabban; John A. Moore, Assistant Rabban; Edward Eddy, High Priest and Prophet; George W. Millar, Orinetal Guide; James S. Chappel, Treasurer; William S. Patterson, Recorder; and Oswald M. d'Aubigne, Captain of the Guard.

The organization was not an instant success, even though a second temple was chartered in Rochester in 1875. Four years after Shriners' beginnings, there were only 43 Shriners, all but six of whom were from New York.

The Imperial Council

Taken From The SONA Short History Booklet

At a meeting of Mecca Shriners on June 6, 1876, a new body was created to help spur the growth of the young fraternity. This governing body was called "The Imperial Grand Council of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine for the United States of America". Fleming became the first Imperial Grand Potentate, and the new body established rules for membership and the formation of new temples. The initiation ritual was embellished, as was the mythology about the fraternity. An extensive publicity and recruiting campaign was initiated.

It worked. Just two years later, in 1878, there were 425 Shriners in 13 temples. Five of these temples were in New York, two were in Ohio and the others were in Vermont, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Iowa, Michigan and Massachusetts.

The number of Shriners continued to grow in the 1880's. By the time of the 1888 annual session (convention) in Toronto, there were 7,210 members in 48 temples throughout the United States and one in Canada.

While the organization was still primarily social, instances of philanthropic work became more frequent. During an 1888 yellow fever epidemic in Jacksonville, Fla., members of Morocco Shriners and Masonic Knights Templar worked long hours to relieve suffering. In 1889, Shriners came to the aid of the Johnstown Flood victims. In 1898, there were 50,000 Shriners, and 71 of the 79 temples were egaged in some sort of philanthropic work.

At its 1900 Imperial Session, representatives from 82 temples marched in a Washington, D.C., parade reviewed by President William McKinley. Membership was well over 55,000.

The Early 1900s

Taken From The SONA Short History Booklet

Shriners were unstoppable in the early 1900s. Membership grew rapidly, and the geographical range of temples widened. Between 1900 and 1918, eight new temples were created in Canada, and one each in Honolulu, Mexico City, and the Republic of Panama. The organization became, in fact, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine for North America. New flourishes were added to a growing tradition of colorful pageantry. More bands were formed, and the first circus is said to have opened in 1906 Detroit.

During the same period, there was growing member support for establishing an official charity. Most temples had individual philanthropies, and sometimes Shriners as an organization gave aid such as the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. But neither the individual projects nor the special one-time contributions satisfied the membership, who wanted to do more. Thus in 1919 the beginning of the Shriners Hospitals started.

To read more about the history of the Shriners and how the Shriners Hospitals began, visit our Shriners Hospitals History page.