The First 150 Years of Victoria Lodge

Our current Lodge has been in existence since June 18th,

1870, when the Grand Master of Masons of Texas, then located in

Houston, granted our Charter under the hand of the Grand Lodge

Officers and Seal of the Grand Lodge of Texas. On July 19th,

1870 the proxy to the DDGM of the 10th Masonic District, J.D.

Braman, appointed Brother Charles Frarey as Marshal and

proceeded to regularly constitute Victoria Lodge No. 326 and duly

install the elected Officers. The same slate of Officers which

were listed under the Dispensation were elected and installed.

These Officers were as follows: Master of the Lodge was William

S. Glass, Senior Warden was George F. Rogers, and Junior

Warden was Thomas Sterne. Worshipful Master Glass then

appointed William Shry as Treasurer; N.A. Thomson as

Secretary; H.S. Cunningham as Senior Deacon; Mayer Levy

as Junior Deacon; and W.J. Whitehead as Tiler.

Hang on a second –yes I said Victoria Lodge No. 326.

Why No. 326? The short version of that story is that the

original Victoria Lodge No. 40 was first Chartered in 1849 but

demised during the turbulent times right before the Civil War in

1859. The Lodge languished during this time, but the same brave

members of the community, still held the same ideals and vowed

to reconstitute the Lodge as soon as the time was right for such

an event to occur. It is notable that William S. Glass, who later

became the 1st Master of the Lodge, arrived in Victoria in about

1845 and was one of the City’s most prominent attorneys and one

of the original members of Victoria Lodge No. 40. Several members

of the original Lodge No. 40 played a conspicuous part in the

Masonic history and the general history of the City of Victoria.

Events that occurred during this period were the building of a 40

by 50 foot, brick Courthouse on what is the present day

Courthouse Square and the erection of the first bridge over the

Guadalupe River. This was an amazing feat considering the City

of Victoria had less than one thousand citizens at the time.

Victoria Lodge’s first meeting was held on May 31st, 1870

while the Lodge was under dispensation and was presided over

by J.D. Braman, Past Master of Lavaca Lodge No. 36. The

petitioners for Dispensation were recommended to the Grand

Lodge by the Master, Wardens and Brethren of Lavaca Lodge

#36. The Petitioners were as follows: B.T. Davies, N.A. Thomson,

Mayer Levy, W.G. Thornton, W.J. Whitehead, D.M. Stapp, John

Ware, G.F. Rogers, William S. Glass, Thomas R. Cocke, H.S.

Cunningham, Thomas Sterne, James B.P. January, John A.

Cunningham, John J. Greene, Leander Walker, and William Shry.

Dues for the ensuing year were paid that night and the first and third

Tuesdays in each month were designated as regular meeting nights.

On the second meeting of Victoria Lodge U.D. held June 7th,

1870 they received the petitions of E.H. Gaylord and T.W. Pearson

for initiation and that of R.P. Carr for affiliation. Brother Gaylord

played a prominent and tragic role in the Lodge. He was the first

to be initiated, passed, and raised in the Lodge and was the first

proxy delegate to the Grand Lodge. He was unfortunately, also

the first to die and receive a Masonic Funeral on August 13th,

1873. District Deputy Grand Master D.C. Proctor, also the Master

of Indianola Lodge No. 84 conferred the first degree in Masonry

upon E.H. Gaylord. Applications for membership were also given

to F.R. Pridham, S.P. Weisiger, and W.O. Stafford for the Degrees in Masonry.

Also, J.M. Brownson; a member of the Terry Military Lodge, was

examined in the Fellowcraft Degree and petitioned for the Master’s Degree.

There were many members of Victoria Lodge who were

quite prominent in the community. Among those were Simon

Levy, who was known as “that grand old man of Masonry” in his

later years. He petitioned this Lodge for affiliation on January

16th, 1872 and was elected to membership in February. He, along

with three other Brothers, Marks Rouff, J.A. Donalson, and T.P. Lenoir

had the unusual distinction of being Masons for over fifty years

during the same period of time in our Lodge. This occurred in

the year 1926 until 1930 when Mr. Levy passed away. Mr. Levy served as

Master of this Lodge seven times during his lifetime. A photograph of

these four great Masons is hanging in the dining room of our Lodge Building.

Many events occurred during the early life of Victoria Lodge

that affected not only the Masons, but the community as a whole.

In the latter part of the 1870’s, an economic depression occurred

in the community and threatened the very young life of the Lodge

because of the large expense incurred purchasing regalia and

furniture for the Lodge. Only by the love and generosity of the

old patriarchs; was the Lodges finances restored and all

indebtedness was retired. On September 16th, 1875 a great gulf

storm destroyed the town of Indianola which at that time boasted

a population of over thirty five residents, it was ranked the second

largest city in Texas; the largest at that time, was Galveston. The

town was attempting to rebuild with the assistance of members

of the area’s Masonic Lodges when a second devastating storm

occurred on August 26th, 1886 and completely destroyed the town

which was never fully rebuilt. That second storm dealt far

reaching damage and completely destroyed the Lodge building

in Victoria as well. Of the furniture and regalia; only the Bible,

Charter, minute’s book, visitors register and jewels were saved.

The Master of the Lodge, C.C. Chaffee, sent out a plea letter to all

area Lodges detailing the destruction and appealed for assistance.

The Lodge found new quarters in the Weber building on the

NW corner of Liberty and Constitution Streets. The Lodge had its

first meeting in November and remitted all dues for that Masonic

year. On June 5th, 1888, the Lodge entered into negotiations with

a Mr. Joe Noll of Meyersville to build on the North side of the

Public Square a two story building. The Masonic Order retained

the upper floor of the building and entered into a contract that

stipulated that no saloon was to occupy the lower floor. In March

of 1889, the Lodge room was ready and subsequently occupied. The Lodge was

obligated to pay the sum of One hundred fifty dollars per year, payable quarterly.

The 1890’s were again difficult in Victoria and there was

discussion as to the surrendering of the Charter. At the Stated

Meeting on February 18th, the Lodge voted unanimously to keep

the Charter; but financial difficulties continued. On April 5th, 1891,

the Grand Master of Masons, George W. Tyler issued the

following: “Upon application made by and in behalf of Victoria

Lodge No. 326 A.F. & A.M., a dispensation is hereby granted to said

Lodge to continue to meet as a regular Lodge until the next

Grand Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Texas

notwithstanding the failure of said Victoria Lodge No. 326 to meet

for three consecutive months.” The Lodge continued under

Special Dispensation until December 1892. At the Stated Meeting

of December 20th, Brothers Simon Levy and J.A. McFadden

reported that they had attended the Grand Annual Communication of the

Grand Lodge of Texas and that the Charter of this Lodge had been restored.

Masonry in Victoria struggled until early in 1892, when the

Commissioner’s Court of Victoria County requested the Lodge

lay the cornerstone of the new Courthouse Building. On June 1st,

1892, a representation of the Grand Lodge of Texas was opened

in Victoria for the purpose of leveling the Cornerstone. Past

Grand Master Fly officiated with many of the Grand Lodge

Stations and places filled by the local Brethren. This rekindled

interest in our Fraternity as the event was observed by a throng

of people that included Masons and non-Masons alike. The

cornerstone was leveled in due and ancient form followed by a

gala that evening in the Casino Hall under the auspices of the

Lodge and a great number attended the event. From this point

on, a wonderful revival of interest in Masonry occurred and many

began to knock at the portals for admission into our Fraternity.

In the year of 1894, much discussion was had regarding the

purchase of property and building of our own Masonic Temple.

At the same time, the “Violet Chapter” of the Order of the Eastern

Star was formed when on April 2nd, a meeting was held for the

purpose of organizing a Chapter with W.S. Hoskins acting as

Grand Worthy Patron. The Chapter continued to work under

dispensation until October 10th, 1894 when they were granted a

Charter by the Grand Chapter of Texas of the Order of the Eastern Star.

In August of 1894, our Lodge purchase a lot from Mr. L.P.

Leibold for the sum of six hundred dollars. Also, we borrowed an additional

two thousand dollars and a contract was made with a Mr. G.R. Norton to build

our Lodge building. On May 20th, 1895 the new Lodge building

located on Forrest Street across from the County Courthouse

was dedicated and electric lights were installed costing the

Lodge thirty five cents per meeting for twelve light fixtures. The lower

floor of the Lodge building was leased to the Jewish Community

congregation for seven dollars per month and was continuously occupied

by them until the erection of their own synagogue.

At the January 15th Meeting of 1935, Brother T.M. Scott

reported on the history of Victoria Lodge No. 326. The Master of the

Lodge, T.H. Garner, appointed Bros. T.M. Scott, G.H. Hensley and

G.J. Roemer to draft a petition to the Grand Lodge to restore the

number that Victoria Lodge was originally chartered under,

namely Lodge No. 40. The fact that W.R. McCright, a member of

Victoria Lodge, was serving as the District Deputy Grand Master

for Masonic District No. 36, greatly helped. Then on November 5th,

the resolution to have the number of Victoria Lodge No. 326

changed to Victoria Lodge No. 40 was adopted by our local

Brothers, and was later approved at the ensuing Grand Lodge

Grand Annual Communication in December of the same year.

On June 18th, 1945, a meeting was called for the purpose of

celebrating the 75th anniversary of this Lodge. The meeting was

held in the Armory Building for size considerations. Past Grand

Master John H. Crooker was escorted to the altar by Bros.

McCright and Tolson where he was recognized as the

representative of the Grand Lodge of Texas. A short history of

Victoria No. 40 was given by Brother C.C. Kerlagon. The roster

revealed that two hundred thirty Masons had registered representing forty Texas

Lodges and twenty four Lodges from other Grand Jurisdictions. The

following year on September 12th, 1946, Grand Master Pat M. Neff

along with four other Grand Lodge Officers; presented the “Hats off

to the Past, Coats off to the Future” program, also held at the

Armory, here in Victoria. There were in attendance, four hundred Masons

representing fifty nine Texas Lodges, six Masonic Districts, five Grand

Jurisdictions, and twenty two present Masters of Lodges.

Masonry in Victoria was again booming. On September 18th, 1956 S.D. Coffey,

current Master of the Lodge was authorized to sell a W.D. Coleman, the

property located at 206 W. Forrest Street for a total cash consideration of twelve

thousand five hundred dollars. He was also authorized to execute and deliver to

the Victoria National Bank a Promissory Note in the sum of thirty thousand dollars

bearing interest of five percent annually, and finally to execute and deliver

to Frank Guittard, trustee, a deed of trust to secure the payment

of note to property on Navarro, deed dated July 28th, 1954 from

the Ada Oil Company to Victoria Lodge No. 40. An open house

for the new Lodge Building was held on April 27th, 1957 at 2pm to

5pm for the public and at 7pm for all Masons and their families.

Our current home has now been occupied for sixty three years. As we

complete our one hundred fiftieth year, we reflect on the victories and perils of

the past. Our ranks have thinned from the glory years of the sixties

and seventies, but now is the time for us to take bold steps into the

future while subduing our passions and improving ourselves in Masonry.

In reading and jotting down the history of this Lodge, one

thing became very apparent to me. The men who built and

governed this Lodge were giants in their own right. Names like

Atzenhoffer, Glass, Fossatti, Fly, Jordan, Levy, Hausechild, Estes,

Lazor, McFadden, McCann, Rouff, Simon, Donalson, Lenoir,

Keeran, Woodhouse, Yeary and many others; where the pillars of

this community and without them, this Lodge would not have

withstood the difficult times that it had to endure.

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Thursday through Friday 9AM–8PM

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