DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little something extra in the pacing. This is the story of Liberty Masonic Lodge Number 48, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, out of Liberty County, Texas. Eleven men.
That's where it starts. Eleven charter members, gathered together in 1848, organizing what would become one of the enduring institutions of Liberty, Texas. The lodge received its charter the following year, and those founding names are worth saying out loud: William J.
Mills, W. C. Abbott, E.
T. Branch, B. W.
Hardin, William Beazley, Jesse Devore, Reason Green, William H. Mills, and C. J.
O'Connor. Nine names right there, part of that original eleven, and you can imagine the kind of men they were, the kind of town they were building. They met first in a room of the county courthouse.
That arrangement held until 1851, when the lodge built its own hall. Now, here's the first little mystery this story carries: the exact location of that hall is unknown. Gone from the record entirely.
And gone from the earth too, because in 1858, that building was destroyed by fire. What happened next, where they gathered in the years between that fire and 1867, the records simply do not say. Sometimes history keeps its secrets.
But in 1867, a new facility rose up on the corner of Main and Trinity streets, and the lodge had a home again. You might think that's where the story settles. You would be wrong.
Because in 1909, fire came for the lodge hall on Main and Trinity a second time. Twice now, fire had taken what these men built. But here's the thing about a lodge that's been around since 1848: it does not quit.
A new two-story brick structure went up at that same corner, same location, and the lodge called it home for decades, right up until 1979, when a new lodge hall was erected at this very site. Through all of it, through fires and rebuilds and the long passage of years, the Liberty Masonic Lodge stayed woven into the life of this community. Its members have been involved in local government, public education, and community affairs.
And when you look at the roster of who has counted themselves among Liberty's Masons, well, the list carries some weight: Texas Revolutionary War veterans, representatives to Republic of Texas conventions and congresses, state legislators, supreme court justices, city and county officers, school board trustees, and one governor of Texas. Eleven men started this. One governor came out of it.
That corner on Main and Trinity saw two buildings burn and a third one rise. And somewhere in an unmarked spot lost to time, that very first hall stood, the one we can no longer find. Some things survive the fire.
Some things survive everything.
What the marker says
Organized in 1848 and chartered the following year, the Liberty Masonic Lodge had an initial membership of eleven. Charter members included William J. Mills, W. C. Abbott, E. T. Branch, B. W. Hardin, William Beazley, Jesse Devore, Reason Green, William H. Mills, and C. J. O'Connor. The Lodge met in a room of the county courthouse until 1851, when a lodge hall was built, the exact location of which is unknown. The building was destroyed by fire in 1858, and records do not indicate where the group met until a new facility was built in 1867 on the corner of Main and Trinity streets. Once again, the Lodge Hall was destroyed by fire, in 1909. A new two-story brick structure replaced the former one at the same location, and was home for the Lodge until 1979, when a new Lodge Hall was erected at this site. The Liberty Masonic Lodge has taken an active role in the community, with its members involved in local government, public education, and community affairs. Liberty Masons have included Texas Revolutionary War veterans, representatives to Republic of Texas conventions and congresses, state legislators and supreme court justices, city and county officers, school board trustees, and one governor of Texas. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986