History of our Lodge
Bay City Masonic Lodge #865 , A.F. &
A.M.
In 1902, eight years after Bay
City was founded, there were some twenty Masons living in the area. They came
from diverse sections of the country; no two Masons were from the same Lodge. At
that time there was only one other Masonic Lodge in Matagorda County;
Trespalacios Lodge No 411 (Now called Blessing Lodge #411 was situated some
twenty miles from Bay City on the Trespalacios River.
A petition for the
dispensation to form a Lodge in Bay City was presented to the Most Worshipful
Grand Master (M.W.G.M.) William Clark, in April, 1902, and was signed by the
following Master Masons: C. F. Baker, Jr., J. W. Brown, John T. Sargent, Dr.
James Byars, T. F. Carr, R. W. Fullwood, John A. Green, James M. Hamby, W. P.
Johnson, W. H. Glenn, Isadore Marks, E. F. Higgins, Dr. A. S. Morton, Dr. E. E.
Scott, Theodore Schaedel, John Sutherland, J. M. Moore, and W. C.
Carpenter.
On April 13, 1902, the Grand Master issued his dispensation
authorizing the said brethren to organize a lodge and confer the degrees of the
Blue Lodge at Bay City, known as Bay City Lodge No. 865 A.F. & A.M. The
petition was endorsed by Trespalacios Lodge No. 411. The following officers were
named: W. C. Carpenter, worshipful master; Isadore Marks, senior warden; A. S.
Morton, junior warden; V. L. LeTulle, treasurer; C. F. Baker, tiler; and E. F.
Higgins, secretary.
Shortly after the granting of the dispensation, the
lodge was instituted by D.D.G.M. J. J. Davis of Galveston. Records as to the
exact date were lost in the 1909 tropical storm which severely damaged the
Masonic building. The charter was dated December 4, 1902.
The 23 charter
members were Dr. E. E. Scott, A. C. Fox, W. P. Johnson, Ernest Zuch, Isadore
Marks, J. W. Brown, R. W. Fullwood, Dr. A. S. Morton, V. L. LeTulle, J. M.
Moore, John A. Green, C. F. Baker, T. F. Carr, J. M. Sims, J. M. Hamby, John
Sutherland, J. T. Sargent, Theodore Schaedel, James Byars, W. H. Glenn, E. F.
Higgins, M. N. Cain, and W. C. Carpenter.
The first lodge meetings were
held on the second floor of a two-story wooden building, which housed a saloon
on the first floor. W. C. Carpenter wrote of the location, Pardon the allusion,
there was not elevator connecting the two places." In January, 1907, the Masons
moved into their own building, away from the saloon environment. C. F. Baker was
architect for the $7,000 brick building. This new building, situated on Seventh
Street, was dedicated February 2, 1907, with John P. Bell, Grand Master,
presiding. Visitors from Wharton, Blessing, Weimer, Jefferson, Bellville, and
Dallas attended the ceremonies.
The members of Masonic Lodge No 865 have
met regularly through the years, and they have conducted many Masonic funerals
and appeared in public in regalia for special occasions. In 1909, under proper
dispensation, the lodge laid the cornerstone of the First Methodist Church in
Bay City with William Walker, worshipful master, presiding. In 1914 the Lodge
laid the cornerstone for the First Baptist Church with Thomas H. Lewis,
worshipful master, conducting the ceremonies.
The lodge has prospered all
these years with the exception of the depression in the 1930's. There was one
year during which the lodge was in arrears with the Grand Lodge for not paying
assessments.
the Masonic Lodge moved from the two-story brick building on
Seventh Street to a new building in the 1600 block of Avenue F.
Hurricane
Carla caused much damage to the lodge building in 1961. The building was
repaired; however, a move was begun to erect a new Temple. The lodge sold the
old building, and with donations from Bay City Chapter No 315, Bay City Council
No. 251, Bay City Commandery No. 74, and Bay City Chapter No. 380 Order of the
Eastern Star; the lodge moved into its present building, situated at 3301 Avenue
F, free of debt.
By 1919 the membership had grown from 23 to 159, and in
1971 there were 380 members.
Masters of the lodge since 1902 have been:
W. C. Carpenter, I. Marks, A. S. Morton, the Reverend John Stone, William
Walker, G. A. Moore, T. J. Poole, John W. Gaines, Dr. J. W. Reed, George W.
Adams, R. R. Lewis, Thomas H. Lewis, Bert Carr, George E. Serrill, S. S. Taylor,
Arthur Harris, Sr., C. M. Gaines, E. N. Gustafson, C. A. Erickson, E. E.
Williamson, W. F. Tetts, R. E. Britt, F. A. Verser, Jr., D. E. Cates, F. J.
Baker, Sr., P. S. Lewis, F. S. Taylor, H. H. Potter, L. M. Matchett, P. R.
Hamill, R. S. Davidson, S. G. Selkirk, Jr., J. J. Spurgeon, H. S. Mosley, A. D.
Magruder, H. I. White, C. S. Jones, L. Bunch, C. E. Newman, A. Greenberg, W. M.
Morehead, R. A. Christy, J. F. Ward, S. Burr, J. Lawrence. T. Mayberry, W.
Butler, R. C. Crocker, E. C. Davis, W. P. Holmans, J. A. Taylor, C. S. Garrett,
J. M. Warnock, J. H. Cox, D. B. Wells, E. L. Gentry, W. B. Sirman, J. P.
Mielsch, W. R. Mullenax, R. L. Chandler, A. W. Noster, R. I. Hoke, A. M. Barber,
Kermit Spielman, W. E. Frazier, George R. Brown, C. R. Ogletree, Jr., P. E.
Gordon, Henry Mann, L. R. Thomas, H. D. Gibbs, S. O. Evans, Jr., E. W. Reynal,
Clyde E. McKinney, Jr., John T. Lynch, H. C. Mayo, Paul Pennington, Grady
Williamson, L. L. Sutton, G. W. Dokes, Jerry A. Thompson, Michael Plemons, Lew
Wallace, and T. M. Abendroth, R. J. McElhenny, H. F. Valley, D. E. Cockrell, M.
C. Smith, P. H. Barron, E. J. Dare Jr., H. L. Carroll Jr., W. E. Holland,
Michael L. Coppinger, Bruce D. Smith, Rodney R. Mount, J. Barry Fry.
This history was taken from the
Matagorda County Historical Society . Copyright 1986 International Standard Book
Number: 0-918464
