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To separate the Grand
Lodge of the Republic of Texas from the Republic of Texas is not easily
accomplished. Since a large number of the participants
were Masons, it is akin to watching plays on two stages with the same actors
scurrying back and forth. Independence from Mexico had been won at the Battle
of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, and during the next months the infant republic
struggled to establish itself.
As 1837 dawned, the Treasury was almost devoid
of funds, plans for the defense of the republic had hardly begun, and the
economy was shaky.
Yet, it was a society full of hope, a society still predominantly masculine.
As historian Archie McDonald put it, "Masonry in such a society
could perform many functions, including that of fraternity for lonely
men, and it could act as a force for morality for men without other,
more ordinary, restraint."
Anson Jones had returned to Houston and re-opened Holland Lodge No.
1. Milan Lodge No. 2 at Nacogdoches and McFarland Lodge No. 3 at San
Augustine
had formed. In November, 1837, Holland Lodge passed a resolution inviting
the lodges at Nacogdoches and San Augustine to meet with Holland Lodge
in Houston on the 27th of December for the purpose of forming a Grand
Lodge.
The assembly actually was held on December 20 in the Senate Chamber
of the capitol building with Sam Houston presiding. Anson Jones moved
that the several lodges "consider it a matter of right, and for
the general benefit of the Order" to organize themselves "into
a Grand Lodge within the Republic, and that they now proceed to organize
the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas, and the Masonic Jurisdiction
there unto belonging." The motion passed unanimously. Adolphus Sterne
of Milan Lodge then moved that all Master Masons present be made members
of the Grand Lodge, and, in a second motion, that they proceed to elect
Grand Officers. Anson Jones was elected Grand Master. The rules and by-laws
of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana were adopted "for present government
so far as it is applicable to our situation," and a committee was
appointed to draft a Constitution.
At the first communication of the Grand
Lodge held in April 1838, the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee
was adopted "with such
changes in its regulations and phraseology as will adapt it to the local
conditions and wants of this Grand Lodge." No reason for switching
from the Louisiana Constitution to that of Tennessee was given. Meanwhile,
the committee appointed to draft a Constitution continued its work, and
on 19 May 1838, the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas adopted its
own Constitution.
From three small but all-important lodges sprang what
was to become a mighty Grand Lodge, the Masonic heritage of which had
followed a clear
path. Out of the Ancient Grand Lodge of England came the Grand Lodge
of Pennsylvania which in turn chartered four of the five lodges that
formed the Grand Lodge of Louisiana; and out of that body came the charters
for the original three lodges in Texas. Like its forebears, the Constitution
of the Texas Grand Lodge stated that its members were Ancient York Rite
Masons practicing Masonry as it was agreed to at York, England, in 926
A.D. The words "York Rite Masons" were dropped from the Constitution
in 1858, and since that time we have been Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
In 1846, the "Act to Incorporate the Society of Free Masons, composed
of Lodges and Chapters" was adopted. Finally, in 1849, came the "Act
to Incorporate the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in
and for the State of Texas, under and by the name and style of the Grand
Lodge of Texas," and so it has been ever since.
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