History of Sethos Temple No. 170 Sethos (Son of Rameses)

 

 

In 1944, a group of Masons from Winston-Salem, North Carolina traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina and were created as Shriners in Rameses Temple. Some of them were: Thomas F. Poag, Clark S. Brown, Sr., Carl H. Russell, Sr., Aldene Robinson, R. P. Pearson, Dan Andrews, Dr. Cromwell, Percy Rivera, John Herrington, Frazier Lane, Dr. Sheppart Wright, Carl Cloud, Sr., James H. Mitchell, Dr. H. T. Allen, Willie Grier, Ben Davidson, C. C. Hoover and Leo Thomas.

After returning to Winston-Salem, the Rameses Shriners organized the Red Fez Club and held their meetings at the Chauffeur Club and operated under Rameses' Charter.

The Imperial Council ruling at that time was that no Temple could be set up within 28 miles of each other. Khalif Temple existed in Greensboro, North Carolina, so the ruling elimated the organization of a Temple in Winston-Salem.

In 1946, the Imperial Session was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Noble Zack Alexander, Sr., Deputy Imperial Potentate and Imperial Deputy of the Desert of North Carolina requested a meeting with the Imperial Potentate, Noble Raymond Jackson to change the distance between temples to 10 miles. Winston-Salem was granted a dispensation to form a Temple.

The Red Fez Club met at Clark S. Brown Funeral Home to elect officers and name their local Temple. The Son of Rameses is Sethos and Sethos was the One Hundred and Seventyth Temple in the Domain. This gave birth to Sethos Temple No. 170.

The three top officers elected were Noble Thomas F. Poag, Illustrious Potentate; Noble James H. Mitchell, Chief Rabban; and Noble Leo Thomas, Assistant Rabban. In 1963, Past Potentate Thomas F. Poag became the first Illustrious Potentate from Sethos Temple to be elected Imperial Potentate, from 1963 to 1965. He was the second Imperial Potentate from North Carolina.