Groesbeck Lodge #354 History

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GROESBECK MASONIC LODGE #354

 

In March 1835 the first Masonic meeting was held in Texas for the purpose of establishing

a lodge inTexas. Six Masons met under an oak tree near the town of Brazoria. They

applied to the Grand Lodge of Louisiana to form and open a lodge. A dispensation was

issued and later a charter was issued. The first Texas Lodge was called Holland Lodge

No.36. It was named after the then Master of Masons in Louisiana, John Henry Holland.

Anson Jones was the first Worshipful Master of Holland Lodge No. 36, now Holland

Lodge No. 1. The charter was brought by John M. Allen and given to Anson Jones just

prior to the Battle of San Jacinto. When Limestone County was organized in 1846, there

was no Masonic Lodge in Groesbeck. In June, 1872, twenty-five Masons signed a

petition seeking dispensation for a lodge in Groesbeck. On June 14, 1872, while the

Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas was in session in Houston, Texas, the Most Worshipful

Samuel Bramlette, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas signed the Charter of the

Groesbeck Masonic Lodge #354. The twenty-five charter members were set to labor on

July 10, 1872, by Brother A.B. Pickens, a member of Springfield Lodge #74 in Mexia. The

 charter officers were J.J. Lewis, Worshipful Master; J.W. Ferrill, Senior Warden, J.C.

Welch; Junior Warden, A. Anglin, Treasurer; A.B. Robinson, Secretary; J.C.Anglin, Senior

Deacon; William Wilson, Jr. Deacon.

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