Albert Gallatin Mackey (March 12, 1807 – June 20, 1881) was an American medical doctor and author. He is best known for his books and articles about

freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, particularly the Masonic Landmarks. A unionist, he was a delegate to South Carolina's post-civil war constitutional convention, serving as the body's president, and held federal office.

Biography

Albert Mackey grave - Glenwood Cemetery - 2014-09-14

Albert Gallatin Mackey was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, the son of John Mackey (1765 – December 14, 1831), a physician, journalist and educator. His father published ''The American Teacher's Assistant and Self-Instructor's Guide, containing all the Rules of Arithmetic properly Explained, etc.'' (Charleston, 1826), the most comprehensive work on arithmetic that had been published in the United States. His son was Edmund William McGregor Mackey who became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina. After completing his early education, Albert Mackey taught school for some time to earn money for medical school. He graduated from the medical department of the College of South Carolina in 1832. He settled in

. In 1838 he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy in that institution. In 1844 he abandoned the practice of medicine. For the rest of his life, he wrote on a variety of subjects, but specialized in the study of several languages, the Middle Ages, and

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. After being connected with several Charleston journals, he established in 1849 ''The Southern and Western Masonic Miscellany'', a weekly magazine. He maintained it for three years, mostly by his own expense. He conducted a ''Quarterly'' 1858-1860 which he devoted to the same interests. He acquired the Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and continental languages almost unaided, and lectured frequently on the intellectual and moral development of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Subsequently, he turned his attention exclusively to the investigation of abstruse symbolism, and to cabalistic and

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic researches. Mackey was the Master of Solomon's Lodge No.1 in 1843. He served as Grand Lecturer and Grand Secretary of The Grand Lodge of South Carolina, as well as Secretary General of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. Mackey was a Union sympathizer during the Civil War and in July, 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed him Collector of the Port of Charleston. He was a delegate and president of the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention. He ran for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in South Carolina in 1868, but was narrowly defeated by Republican Frederick A. Sawyer. Mackey moved to Washington, D.C. in 1870. He died in Fortress Monroe, Virginia in 1881.

Bibliography

Mackey's books were often revised and expanded during and after his lifetime, and published by many different publishers. * 2nd ed., 1852 *
The Principles of Masonic Law
1856 * * ''Encyclopedia of Freemasonry'' (1873; reprinted in 1878. Subsequently, enlarged and revised by other authors into several volumes after his death). His largest and most important contribution to masonic literature. **Mackey, Albert Gallatin, Edward L Hawkins, and William J Hughan. ''An encyclopaedia of freemasonry and its kindred sciences : comprising the whole range of arts, sciences and literature as connected with the institution'' 1927. * , 1882 * *''Masonry defined : a liberal masonic education; information every mason should have, compiled from the writings of Dr. Albert G. Mackey, 33,̊ and many other eminent authorities.'' 3rd ed. 1925 *Mackey, Albert G. ''A Manual of the Lodge: Or, Monitorial Instructions in the Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason, Arranged in Accordance with the American System of Lectures, to Which Are Added the Ceremonies of the Order of Past Master, Relating to Installations, Dedications, Consecrations, Laying of Corner Stones, Etc.'' New York: Clark & Maynard, 1870. Print. *Mackey, Albert G. ''The Book of the Chapter: Or, Monitorial Instructions, in the Degrees of Mark, Past and Most Excellent Master, and the Holy Royal Arch.'' New York: Clark & Maynard, 1870.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackey, Albert 1807 births 1881 deaths 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers Physicians from Charleston, South Carolina American Freemasons University of South Carolina alumni American male non-fiction writers Burials at Glenwood Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)