DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now settle in, because this one goes all the way back to the beginning of Texas itself. We're talkin' about the Grand Lodge of Texas, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons — and friend, the story starts before Texas was even Texas.
The year is 1828. Stephen F. Austin and a group of Masons put together a petition to the Mexican National Grand Lodge, asking for a lodge charter right there in what was still Mexican territory.
Political upheaval being what it was at the time, that petition went nowhere. Just... swallowed up by the chaos of the era. First attempt, no result.
But Masons are not known for quittin'. In March of 1835 — and mark that date, because the world is about to change — five Master Masons met in Brazoria. Five men.
They drafted a petition and sent it north to Grand Master John H. Holland of Louisiana, asking for a charter to form a lodge in Texas. Holland granted it.
And here's where the story takes a turn that nobody writing it down could have planned. That charter was delivered to a man named Anson Jones. And Anson Jones carried it with him into the Battle of San Jacinto.
A Masonic charter, riding into one of the most consequential fights in the history of this continent. The lodge that charter created — Holland Lodge — set up in Houston. By 1837 it had company: Milam Lodge in Nacogdoches, McFarland Lodge in San Augustine.
Three lodges, a young republic, and a sense that something larger needed to be organized. On December 20, 1837, those three lodges met in convention. What they built that day was the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas.
Sam Houston presided. Anson Jones — the same man who'd carried that charter onto the battlefield — was elected First Grand Master. Now, the Grand Lodge moved around for years, meeting in various locations across the state, before it finally put down permanent roots in Waco in 1902.
But here's what you need to sit with for a moment. Twenty-two of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence were Masons. Every single president and vice president of the Republic of Texas was a Mason.
Members of the organization were inside the Alamo. They fought at San Jacinto. This wasn't a fraternal order watching Texas happen from the sidelines — these men were in the middle of it, shaping it, bleeding for it.
That charter Anson Jones tucked under his arm on a battlefield? It wasn't just paperwork. It was the seed of something that grew right alongside the republic itself.
And that, partner, is a story the stone marker on the road doesn't quite have room to hold.
What the marker says
The first attempt to establish freemasonry in Texas occurred in 1828 when Stephen F. Austin and a group of Masons petitioned the Mexican National Grand Lodge for a Lodge Charter. Due to the political upheaval of the time, nothing became of the petition. Five Master Masons met in Brazoria in March 1835 and sent a petition to Grand Master John H. Holland of Lousiana asking for a charter to form a lodge in Texas. The charter was delivered to Anson Jones, who carried it during the Battle of San Jacinto. Holland Lodge was located in Houston and by 1837 was joined by Milam Lodge in Nacogdoches and McFarland Lodge in San Augustine. On December 20, 1837, the three lodges met in convention and created the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas. Sam Houston presided at the convention, and Anson Jones was elected First Grand Master. The Grand Lodge met in various locations before permanently locating in Waco in 1902. Masons were at the forefront of Texas history. Twenty-two of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence were Masons. Members of the organization defended the Alamo and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto. All of the presidents and vice presidents of the Republic of Texas were Masons.