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Masonic membership was often the one
common denominator among the early settlers and adventurers that came to
Texas in the early 1800's. Men of different backgrounds and
cultures often found a hearty welcome in the "friendly grip" of a brother
Mason's handshake. The first Mason known to have entered Texas
was Major Zebulon M. Pike, a member of Lodge No. 3, Philadelphia.
He came in 1806 and 1807, scouting the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red
rivers, and the Spanish settlements of the Rio Grande.
As the winds of Texas' war of independence
began to blow in the fall of 1835, there were many Masons in the foremost
positions of authority, both military and political. The Texans'
first shot was fired by Eli Mitchell on October 2, 1835, near Gonzales.
He and his commander, Colonel John H. Moore, were both Masons.
Masonic historian Dr. James D. Carter counts
twenty-two known Masons among the fifty-nine signers of the Texas
Declaration of Independence, signed at Washington-on-the Brazos on
March 2, 1836. (Including Lorenzo de Zavala) Records from the early 1800's are often incomplete
and sometimes non-existent. As a result, some memberships cannot
be verified and many Masons are left uncounted.
On March 6, 1836, after thirteen days of siege,
the fortified Mission San Antonio de Valero, known as the Alamo,
fell to the final onslaught of Mexican troops under the dictator General
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Among the 188
Texans who died that day, only a handful can be reliably identified
as members of the fraternity.
By the end of 1837, three lodges had been chartered in Texas
by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana: Holland Lodge No. 36, Milam Lodge No.
40 at Nacogdoches, and McFarland Lodge No. 41 at San Augustine. On December
20, 1837, President Sam Houston presided over a convention of representatives
of these three lodges in the city of Houston, and elected Anson Jones the
first Grand Master of Masons in Texas.
By 1846 Masons had served in nearly every major governmental
post in the Republic. All the Presidents and VicePresidents of the Republic
of Texas were Masons. (Including Lorenzo de Zavala) In 1844, George K. Teulon, Grand Secretary
of the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas, addressing a gathering of
Masons in Portland, Maine, observed "Texas is emphatically a Masonic Country:
Our national emblem, the 'Lone Star', was chosed from among the emblems
selected by Freemasonry, to illustrate the moral virtues -- it is a five-pointed
star, and alludes to the five points of fellowship."
Freemasonry was without doubt the single most important social institution
in early Texas. The first public building erected in a new
community was often the familiar two-story Masonic Lodge. The
first floor ordinarily served as the school classroom and town meeting
hall, while the lodgeroom occupied the upper floor.
Freemasonry in Texas has grown in the last 164 years. Today
there are about 132,000 Masons in nearly 900 lodges in The Grand Lodge
of Texas, making it the fourth largest grand lodge in the world.
Texas Masons can take just and lasting pride in their Texas Masonic heritage.
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