Stephenville Masonic Lodge #267

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Stephenville Masonic Lodge Number Two Sixty-Seven, right there in Erath County. Now, picture a summer day in 1860, the kind of July that makes you wonder why anyone settled Texas in the first place. The twenty-third of that month, to be precise, and twenty-four masons are assembling in Stephenville.

Twenty-four. Not a crowd that would fill a courthouse, but enough to start something that would last. Among them, the town's own founder, John M.

Stephen, and four visitors who had made the trip from Gatesville Lodge Number One Ninety-Seven. You have to appreciate a man who rides in from Gatesville just to help a new lodge find its footing. That is a certain kind of dedication.

The members first gathered in a two-story log building facing Belknap Street, and this is where it gets interesting. The upper story belonged to the lodge. The lower story, well, that served as school and church.

One building, carrying the weight of just about everything a frontier town needs to hold itself together. William Motheral was appointed the first worshipful master, a title that carries more gravity than it might sound to modern ears. The lodge received its charter from the Grand Lodge of Texas on June 12, 1861, making it official in the eyes of every mason in the state.

Then, thirty years on, in 1891, these same men leveled the cornerstone of the Erath County Courthouse. Think about that. A lodge that once met above a schoolroom was now setting the foundation stone of the county seat.

The masons of Lodge Two Sixty-Seven have kept on giving ever since, through Scottish Rite Hospital, through Masonic Children and Family Services, through scholarships for students at Stephenville High School. From a log building on Belknap Street to a legacy that stretches across generations. Twenty-four men showed up on a hot July day, and Stephenville has never quite been the same.

What the marker says

The Masonic Lodge in Stephenville organized on July 23, 1860, with 24 masons assembling, including town founder John M. Stephen and four visitors from Gatesville Lodge No. 197. Members first met in a two-story log building facing Belknap Street, with the upper story used for the lodge and the lower story used for school and church purposes. William Motheral was appointed the first worshipful master. The lodge received its charter from the Grand Lodge of Texas on June 12, 1861. In 1891, the lodge leveled the Erath County Courthouse cornerstone. The masons have been active in local and statewide charities, including Scottish Rite Hospital, Masonic Children and Family Services, and scholarships for students at Stephenville High School.