Albert Gallatin Mackey is Born

Today in Masonic History Albert Gallatin Mackey is born in 1807.

Albert Gallatin Mackey was an American physician and author.

Mackey was born in Charleston, South Carolina on March 12, 1807. After completing his primary education, Mackey worked as a teacher while he earned enough money for medical school. In 1832 he graduated from the College of South Carolina. Six years later he returned as the demonstrator of anatomy.

In 1844, Mackey left the medical profession. For the rest of his life Mackey wrote books on a variety of topics. The three primary subjects were languages, the Middle Ages and of course Freemasonry.

In 1849 Mackey began publishing a weekly magazine called The Southern and Western Masonic Miscellany. He published it for three years, mostly at this own expense. He created another magazine called Quarterly which he published from 1858 to 1860, similar in content to The Southern and Western Masonic Miscellany he published nearly a decade before.

Mackey had a talent for picking up foreign languages. He learned Greek, Hebrew, Latin and other continental languages. He lectured frequently about the intellectual and moral development of the Middle Ages. This led Mackey to study abstruse (obsure) symbolism as well as cabalistic and talmudic items.

Mackey wrote many books on the subject of Freemasonry. One of the biggest and most important is the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. He also wrote books about York Rite and Scottish Rite Freemasonry.

Mackey passed away on June 20th, 1881.

Mackey was raised in St. Andrews Lodge No. 10 in Charleston, South Carolina. He was the General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of the United States. He was a 33° Scottish Rite Mason in the Southern Masonic Jurisdiction. Mackey served in a variety of roles in the Masonic fraternity. He served as the Grand Lecturer and Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina. He also served as the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States.

This article provided by Brother Eric C. Steele.