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Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it, straight from Floyd County. The Floyd City Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, came together in the early days of 1898, and the way it happened was about as deliberate as anything you'd find on the Texas plains. Members of the Floyd City Lodge No. 712, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, along with their families, put together a petition and sent it straight to the Grand Chapter of Texas, asking for a charter.
That's not a small thing. That's a community saying, we're here, we're organized, and we mean to stay. The Grand Chapter listened.
The chapter was officially chartered in October of that year, and it came out of the gate strong, with a full charter membership and plenty of new faces ready to join the work. Mrs. Ella B.
Starks was named worthy matron, and Mr. J. L.
Crabtree was appointed worthy patron. Two names worth remembering. Then came 1933, and with it a change of identity.
The chapter was renamed Floydada Chapter No. 31, falling in step with the Masonic Lodge, which had done the same, because the town itself had been renamed sometime after its founding. So the chapter, the lodge, and the town all carried the new name together. And through all of it, the Floydada chapter kept doing what the Order of the Eastern Star set out to do: contributing time, effort, and funds to charitable and civic projects and organizations across the area.
Some institutions hold on just long enough to get their name on a marker. This one earned it.
What the marker says
The Floyd City Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star (O.E.S.), was organized in early 1898 when members of the Floyd City Lodge No. 712, A. F. & A. M. and their families petitioned the Grand Chapter of Texas O.E.S. for a charter. Mrs. Ella B. Starks was named worthy matron and Mr. J. L. Crabtree was appointed worthy patron. Officially chartered in October of that year, the chapter had a strong beginning with its charter and many new members. In 1933 the chapter was renamed Floydada Chapter No. 31 in keeping with the renaming of the Masonic Lodge, since the town itself had been renamed soon after its founding. In observing their O.E.S. objectives, the Floydada chapter has contributed time, effort and funds to many charitable and civic projects and organizations. (1999)