La Fayette Masonic Lodge No. 34 A.F. & A.M.

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight. Way back in 1847, the Masons of La Grange got organized. They called themselves La Fayette Lodge Number 34, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and they put John Murchison in the chair as their first worshipful master.

Now, that's a serious title for a serious brotherhood, and these men took both things seriously. Masons have long had a hand in civic life, education, all the causes a community leans on when it needs building up. And this lodge was no different.

Come 1891, when Fayette County needed a cornerstone laid for its new courthouse, it was La Fayette Lodge that showed up with their regalia and their ritual. District judge and lodge member Lyttleton W. Moore delivered the oration that day.

A man who belonged to the brotherhood laying words into the foundation of the county's justice. There's something fitting about that. But here's where the story takes a turn.

The lodge lost its charter. Eighteen eighty-three, eighteen eighty-four, inactivity had done what time and neglect tend to do. The lights went out.

Now most outfits, that's the end of the story. Not this one. By 1889, La Fayette Lodge reformed.

Same original lodge number, thirty-four, and R.P. Kirk installed as worshipful master. They came back.

And they kept building. On June 22, 1939, they dedicated the present lodge temple. The names that filled those meeting rooms over the years read like a who's who of local and state leadership.

Judge Moore, G.A. Stierling, William Loessin, Charles Jungmichel, and plenty of others who shaped this corner of Texas. A lodge that lost its charter and came back with its number intact.

That's not just a masonic story. That's a Fayette County story.

What the marker says

La Grange's Masonic lodge organized in 1847, with John Murchison as the first worshipful master. Historically, Masons have supported many civic causes including education. The La Fayette lodge laid the cornerstone for the Fayette County Courthouse in 1891, with district judge and lodge member Lyttleton W. Moore delivering the oration. The lodge lost its charter in 1883-84 due to inactivity, but reformed in 1889 with its original lodge number and R.P. Kirk installed as worshipful master. The present lodge temple was dedicated Jun. 22, 1939. Notable members have included Judge Moore, G.A. Stierling, William Loessin, Charles Jungmichel, and many other local and state leaders. (2012)