DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Somewhere out in Medina County, on ground that's seen more than a century of Texas sky, there's a cemetery with a story that starts before the Civil War and ends with a mystery nobody's ever fully explained. This is the tale of the Masonic Cemetery of Hondo Valley Lodge No. 252.
Settle in. It's a good one. Back in 1859 — a full decade after Medina County was created — the Freemasons and their neighbors out in the New Fountain Settlement put up something to be proud of: a two-story stone church-lodge hall, right here at this site.
Stone. Two stories. These were people who intended to stay.
The very next year, in 1860, Hondo Valley Lodge No. 252, A.F. and A.M., received its charter. Official. Recognized.
Rooted. But the ground itself didn't become a cemetery until 1864, and the reason for that is one of the harder facts of frontier life. Junior Warden Rubin Smith was killed by Indians that year, and when the Masons laid him to rest here, they opened this cemetery.
Twenty-two graves in all — Masons and members of their families, resting in this quiet corner of Medina County. Now, here's where the story takes its turn toward the strange. On two of those headstones, the Masonic emblem is upside down.
Nobody knows why. The marker itself calls it an unexplained circumstance, and honestly, that's the most honest thing you can say about it. Was it intentional?
An accident? A message? The stones aren't talking.
Hondo Valley Lodge itself demised in 1883 — that's the word, demised, and it carries the weight it's supposed to — but before it went, it became the parent of two lodges that carried on: Devine Lodge No. 590 and Hondo City Lodge No. 756, A.F. and A.M. The lodge is gone, but its children are still out there, and its cemetery is still here. Twenty-two graves, two upside-down emblems, and one question that West Texas has been sitting with ever since.
What the marker says
In 1859, a decade after Medina County was created, Freemasons and others in the New Fountain Settlement built a 2-story stone church-lodge hall at this site. Hondo Valley Lodge No. 252, A.F. & A.M., was chartered in 1860. The Masonic Cemetery was opened here in 1864 when Junior Warden Rubin Smith was killed by Indians. Masons and members of their families rest here in 22 graves. By an unexplained circumstance, Masonic emblem is upside down on 2 headstones. Hondo Valley Lodge, demised in 1883, was parent of Devine Lodge No. 590 and Hondo City Lodge No. 756, A.F. & A.M. (1973)