DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Mount Hope Lodge Number 121, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, out in Tyler County. Now, if you want to talk about old, really old, let's start at the beginning. Two miles north of where this lodge stands today, there is a piece of ground that carries the oldest land grant in Tyler County.
The state of Coahuila and Texas issued it on March 17, 1834, to a man named Gavino Araujo. That land was already carrying history before most of this part of Texas had drawn its first organized breath. On October 13, 1852, five men stepped forward as trustees of something called Mount Hope Chapel.
James and Samuel Barnes, John I. Davis, William Sterling, and G. B.
Wallace. They acquired a building site on that same old land grant, and the purpose was plain and ambitious all at once: a free Protestant church, a schoolhouse, and a lodge hall. Three things under one idea.
The lodge that took shape there was organized by ten men. H. W.
Carter, Benjamin Enloe, William Harrison, Jefferson Laird, William L. Mann, William Priest, William P. Sansom, Israel Sneed, Henry West, and H.
A. Willson. Alongside them, three more, Samuel H.
Barnes, G. W. Payne, and J.
W. Rotan, were initiated under dispensation. And then, on January 23, 1853, the charter was granted.
Mount Hope Lodge Number 121 was official. That original charter has never been surrendered, never been replaced, never been set aside. This is the oldest Masonic lodge in Tyler County in continuous existence under its original charter.
That is not a small thing. That is a rare thing. Now, the town of Chester eventually came to be founded on that same old land grant, and the lodge followed, moving to Chester and dedicating its new hall on March 4, 1892.
For that dedication, they brought in two speakers who were, even then, men worth listening to. Samuel Bronson Cooper, who was soon to become a United States Congressman, and John Henry Kirby, a lumber magnate of some considerable standing. Both of them, Tyler County men.
Sixty years after the charter was granted, the centennial anniversary of Mount Hope Lodge was celebrated on May 23, 1953. Texas Governor Allan Shivers made the address that day. He was, the marker takes care to note, also a Tyler countian.
Judge J. E. Wheat of Woodville gave the lodge history.
And then the marker closes with a quiet line that lands heavier the longer you sit with it. Later generations, it says, continue the works of the founders. Ten men organized a lodge on an 1834 land grant in East Texas, the charter came through in 1853, and the works are still going.
Some things, turns out, are built to last.
What the marker says
Oldest Masonic Lodge in Tyler County in continuous existence under original charter; founded at a site (2 mi. N) on oldest land grant in county, issued on March 17, 1834, to Gavino Araujo by state of Coahuila and Texas. On Oct. 13, 1852, James and Samuel Barnes, John I. Davis, William Sterling, and G. B. Wallace, trustees of Mount Hope Chapel, acquired building site there for a free Protestant church, schoolhouse, and lodge hall. Lodge was organized by H. W. Carter, Benjamin Enloe, William Harrison, Jefferson Laird, William L. Mann, William Priest, William P. Sansom, Israel Sneed, Henry West, and H. A. Willson. Samuel H. Barnes, G. W. Payne, and J. W. Rotan were initiated under dispensation. The charter was granted on Jan. 23, 1853. After town of Chester was founded on the same old land grant, the lodge moved here, dedicating its new hall on March 4, 1892. Samuel Bronson Cooper (soon to be a U. S. Congressman) and lumber magnate John Henry Kirby -- both from this county -- were program speakers. The centennial anniversary of Mount Hope Lodge was celebrated May 23, 1953, with Texas Governor Allan Shivers -- also a Tyler countian -- making an address. Judge J. E. Wheat of Woodville gave the lodge history. Later generations continue works of the founders.