Editing Albert Mackey

{{short description|American physician (1807–1881)}}
{{for|the American politician from Maryland|Albert D. Mackey}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Albert G. Mackey
| image              = Albert mackey.jpg
| alt                = Photograph of older man
| caption            = Albert Mackey about 1870
| birth_name         = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1807|03|13}}
| birth_place        = [[Charleston, South Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1881|06|21|1807|03|13}}
| death_place        = [[Fortress Monroe, Virginia]], U.S.
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = Physician
| known_for          = Pioneering Masonic author and encyclopedian
| children           = [[Edmund W. M. Mackey|Edmund Mackey]]
}}
{{Freemasonry}}

'''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]], 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==
[[File:Albert Mackey grave - Glenwood Cemetery - 2014-09-14.jpg|thumb|left|Grave of Albert Mackey at Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C.]]
Albert Gallatin Mackey was born in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], the son of John Mackey (1765 &ndash; 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.<ref name=acab>{{Appletons'|wstitle=Mackey, John|year=1900|inline=1}}</ref> 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 [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. 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]].<ref name=acab/> 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]]. Subsequently, he turned his attention exclusively to the investigation of abstruse symbolism, and to [[cabal]]istic and [[Talmud]]ic researches.<ref name=acab/>

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, Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction, USA)|Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States]].<ref>Masonic Dictionary: {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190517211339/http://www.masonicdictionary.com/mackey.html Mackey Albert]}}</ref>

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 [[Constitution of South Carolina|1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.carolana.com/SC/Documents/sc_constitution_1868.html|title=South Carolina Constitution of 1868|website=www.carolana.com|accessdate=July 20, 2023}}</ref> He ran for the [[United States Senate]] 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.<ref name=acab/>
{{clearleft}}
==Bibliography==
Mackey's books were often revised and expanded during and after his lifetime, and published by many different publishers.

*{{cite book|
author=Albert Gallatin Mackey|
title=A Lexicon of Freemasonry|
year=1845}} 2nd ed., 1852 <ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/85792033 Worldcat entry]</ref>
*{{cite book |
author = A. G. Mackey (M.D.)|
title= Lexicon of Freemasonry |
year = 1869|
edition =30th|
location = Philadelphia|
url = https://archive.org/details/MackeyAGLexiconOfFreemasonry1869Raw}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12186/12186-h/12186-h.htm The Principles of Masonic Law], 1856
*{{cite book|
author=Albert Gallatin Mackey|
title=The Mystic Tie| url=https://archive.org/details/mystictieorfact00mackgoog|
publisher=Masonic Publishing andManufacturing Co|
year=1867}}
* ''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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/12033546|title=An encyclopaedia of freemasonry and its kindred sciences : comprising the whole range of arts, sciences and literature as connected with the institution &#124; WorldCat.org|website=www.worldcat.org|accessdate=July 20, 2023}}</ref>
* {{ws|[[s:The Symbolism of Freemasonry|The Symbolism of Freemasonry]]|ps=no}}, 1882
*{{cite book|
author=Albert Gallatin Mackey (with William R. Singleton)|
title=The History of Freemasonry: Its Legends and Traditions|
year=1906}}

*''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.''<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/12119005 WorldCat]</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/6823396 Worldcat entry]</ref>
*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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/262842935|title=The book of the chapter : or, Monitorial instructions, in the degrees of mark, past and most excellent master, and the holy Royal arch. &#124; WorldCat.org|website=www.worldcat.org|accessdate=July 20, 2023}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wikisource author}}{{Wikiquote}}{{commonscat}}
*{{cite web|access-date=1 March 2005 |
url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/mackey_a/mackey_a.html|
title=Albert Gallatin Mackey|
work=Masonic Biographies, Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050214112558/http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/mackey_a/mackey_a.html| archive-date= 14 February 2005 | url-status= live}}
* {{gutenberg author| id=4142| name=Albert Mackey}}
* {{Librivox author|id=18404}}
* {{cite book | author = Albert Mackey | author2 = William J. Hughan | author3 = Edward L. Hawkins | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaoffr02mack | title = Encyclopedia of freemasonry and its kindred sciences, comprising the whole range of arts, sciences and literature as connected with the institution | publisher = The Maosnic History Company | location = New York; London | volume = II | edition = New and revised | year = 1916 | via = [[Internet Archive]] | archive-url = https://archive.today/20200528144831/https://archive.org/stream/encyclopediaoffr02mack/encyclopediaoffr02mack_djvu.txt | archive-date = May 28, 2020 | url-status = live | access-date = May 28, 2020 }}

{{Authority control}}

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