Yes, they were an offshoot. Basically some Masons forming their own secret society. I know General Stand Watie of the CSA - Cherokee Chief - was one of them. They were a secretive, subversive Confederate group, the Knights of the Golden Circle, or KG. There are those who believe that the group buried millions in ill-gotten gold across a dozen states, to finance a second Civil War - that never came. Wanted to create a Caribbean Empire of the South based on the sugar trade apparently, with slaves of course. Never dug deep into them but I read that some of the legends of lost or hidden gold in the South are related to this group. Look up Bob Brewer and his hunt for this gold. This from a PDF article I have on the subject:

Along the way, Brewer says, he has unearthed about $200,000 worth of gold and silver coins. It's enough to support his modest lifestyle, and to thumb his nose at those who might think he's just another old coot with a metal detector.
"It's my damn story," he says, "and if they don't believe it I'm not gonna worry about it, damn it. Pardon my French."
Brewer's life is detailed in "Shadow of the Sentinel: One Man's Quest to Find the Hidden Treasure of the Confederacy," a book he wrote with Warren Getler, a former Wall Street Journal reporter.
The authors say their 2003 book, reissued in paperback as "Rebel Gold," sheds new light on the hidden history of the KGC, even as it lays out Brewer's efforts to trace his familial connections to the group and crack the code behind its legendary "depositories."

George, I have the L.A. Times article from 2007 where I got this information from if you'd like me to email you. Just hit me up at: mkarpovage@gmail.com