DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker at Masonic Cemetery in Gonzales County tells it, here's what happened on that ground. Gonzales Masonic Lodge No. 30, A.F. and A.M., came into being with a charter dated January 1847. Just two years on, in 1849, the lodge purchased eleven acres right here for use as a cemetery.
They weren't done yet — in 1903, they added to the property. But here's the thing that stops you cold when you read it: the land was already holding the dead before the lodge ever owned it. Two graves sit out there that predate the lodge's ownership entirely.
Calligula Walker, who died in 1846, and Allen Walker, who died in 1848 — both of them were in the ground before the ink was dry on the lodge's deed. The land chose its purpose before anyone made it official. Now, once the lodge took ownership, the cemetery became a gathering place for men who had carried something heavy in their time.
Eight veterans of the Texas Revolution found their rest here — Jesse Davis, Edward Dickinson, Charles Mason, William Matthews, Eli Mitchell, Thomas Polk, Andrew Ponton, and Amasa Turner. Eight men who had stood in the fire of that revolution and lived long enough to be buried in the state they helped bring into being. And the roll doesn't stop there.
Three men who served as Texas Masonic grand masters are buried on these eleven acres — J.F. Miller, B.R. Abernethy, and W.M.
Fly. Prominent local businessmen, too, found their way here across the generations. Eleven acres in Gonzales County, holding all of that — revolution, ritual, commerce, and two souls who were there before any of it had a name.
What the marker says
Masonic Cemetery The Gonzales Masonic Lodge No. 30 A.F. & A.M., chartered January 1847, purchased 11 acres here for use as a cemetery in 1849, adding to the property in 1903. Two graves, those of Calligula Walker (d. 1846) and Allen Walker (d. 1848), predate the lodge's ownership of the site. Since that time, notable burials include those of Texas Revolution veterans Jesse Davis, Edward Dickinson, Charles Mason, William Matthews, Eli Mitchell, Thomas Polk, Andrew Ponton and Amasa turner. Others buried here include three men who served as Texas Masonic grand masters--J.F. Miller, B.R. Abernethy and W.M. Fly--as well as prominent local businessmen. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002