Past Most Excellent Grand High Priests

10th MEGHP
Eugene C. Johnson
2014

7th MEGHP
Johnny McCray
1994-2003

4th MEGHP
Carey P. Bentley
1979-1980

1st MEGHP
Reuben S. Mitchell
1897 – 1906

John Gilmore Riley was born in 1857, when slavery was a way of life and educational pursuits for blacks were illegal. In 1881 he began teaching at Lincoln Academy, one of three freedmen schools built during the Reconstruction era in Florida to provide secondary instruction to blacks. In addition to his career as an educator, he also distinguished himself as a leader in business and was Grand High Priest of the Royal Arch Masons of Florida. John G. Riley died in 1954. The house he built for his family in 1890 stands today as a testament to the rich, cultural heritage of African-Americans.