Hyman Isaac Long

Who is Hyman Isaac Long?

Hyman Isaac Long was originally from the island of Jamaica in the West Indies and is listed in the first New York City directory as an early Jewish physician of that city. He was later involved in Masonic activities in New York, Virginia and South Carolina.

At Kingston, Jamaica, on 11 January 1795, Long was appointed a Deputy Inspector General of the Grand Consistory of the twenty-five degree "Rite of the Royal Secret," a governing body of high "Ecossais" degrees of Freemasonry, and a predecessor of the Scottish Rite. This appointment was made by Moses Cohen had received a similar appointment the previous year at Charleston, South Carolina, by Barend Spitzer.

Then, on 12 November 1796, Long elevated seven French Masons in Charleston to the rank of Deputy Inspector General. These men were all French refugees from the slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Among these seven were Alexandre Françoise Comte de Grasse-Tilly and his father-in-law, Jean-Baptiste de la Hogue. Together, these eight organized a Consistory of the 25th Degree, or "Princes of the Royal Secret," which would later become the first Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite.