A History of the SPRING HILL MASONIC LODGE# 155 Navarro Co. Texas
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The Corsicana Masonic Lodge #104
had formed in December 1851 when James Riggs was Secretary. Corsicana Lodge members who, later, became member at Spring Hill included: William Ritchie, John Treadwell, William J Stokes, William P Wood, James Maudling, James A Johnson,
The following Petition was first presented to the Corsicana Lodge 104, then to The Grand Lodge of Texas.
Spring Hill Navarro Co Texas June 3, 1854
To The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of Texas the petitioners humbly show that they are Ancient Free and Accepted Master Masons having the prosperity of the fraternity at heart they are willing to exert their best endeavors to promote and defend the general principles of Masonry.
For the convenience of their respective dwellings and for other good reasons they are desirous of forming a new Lodge in the County of Navarro near Spring Hill to be named Spring Hill. In consequence of this desire and for the good of the Craft they pray for a Charter or Warrant to empower them to assemble as a legal Lodge to discharge the duties of Masonry in the several degrees of Entered Apprentices Fellow Craft and Master Masons in a regular and constitutional manner according to the Ancient form of the Fraternity and the Laws and Regulations of The Grand Lodge that they have nominated and do recommend….Henry Fullerton as Worshipful Master, Henry W Ward to be the first Senior Warden and Wm Richey to be the first Junior Warden of said lodge….that if the prayer of the petition should be granted they promise a strict conformity to all the constitutional laws rules and regulations of the Grand Lodge.
)( William Stuard J B Maulding )( Henry Fullerton )( H W Ward )( William Walker )( William Richey )( Guy Stokes
C M Winkler, Secretary Pro Tem of the Corsicana Lodge, wrote the following…
Bros. W J Stewart, Henry Fullerton, H W Ward, William Walker, William Richey, Guy Stokes, and James B Maulding…..having presented this petition for a New Lodge at Spring Hill in Navarro Co for the recommendation and action of this Lodge on motion it is resolved that this petition be recommended and that this lodge vouch that the three officers of said new lodge are qualified the degrees of E.A., F. C., and M. M., and said petition be furnished, with a certified copy of this resolution.
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the Resolution adopted by Corsicana Lodge 104 at regular meeting, June 3rd, 1854.
Signed….. C M WINKLER Secretary Pro Tem
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The Spring Hill Masonic Lodge No. 155
was organized in 1854 and a Lodge Hall constructed the same year. The initial Lodge Hall was located in the vicinity of the present day Spring Hill Cemetery , sometimes referred to as "The Old Spring Hill" as opposed to "The New Spring Hill" which was not created until after 1858. and located a mile north and across Treadwell Branch.
The Lodge Hall at "The New Spring Hill" was located on the second floor of a brick building and the lower floor of the structure housed a General Merchandise Store on the west side oF Broadway.. The Lodge Hall was accessed by wooden steps mounted to the outside of the structure.
Early minutes of the Lodge reveal that membership during years prior to the Civil War averaged eighteen. Reports made during the Civil War indicate that the entire membership was in the service of the CSA. After the Civil War membership grew to almost fifty and the Lodge flourished.
When the Town of Dawson was organized on the new railroad many residents of Spring Hill moved their homes to the new town. The Masonic Lodge moved from Spring Hill to Dawson in 1881, but the name remained Spring Hill Masonic Lodge No. 155 until 1905.
Early meeting sites for the Spring Hill Lodge in the new town of Dawson are unknown, but when a two story building was constructed on "Rat Row" the second floor was always known as The Lodge Hall. Lodge Night brought members from Dawson and the outlying areas...all dressed in their finest.. who would gather for a few minutes on the sidewalk to exchange pleasantries before climbing the stairs to the secret meetings. Members, sometimes, conveyed an idea to little boys that the Lodge Members rode goats at their meetings.
The Spring Hill Masonic Lodge SEAL disappeared for many years, but was found in a field several counties away. The journey of the SEAL was never discovered, but it remains on display at the Museum of The Grand Lodge of Texas at Waco.
Recent research at the Library of The Grand Lodge of Texas at Waco revealed that a petition for a Masonic Charter was submitted to The Grand Lodge of Texas on June 3, 1854 by a group of men led by J B Maulding. The others, whose names appear on the petition, include: William Stuart (shown as Stewart, also) , Henry Fullerton, H W Ward, William Walker, William Richey, and Guy Stokes.
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James B Mauldin : Probably,a son of James Presley Maulding. .The Maulding Family arrived in America about 1633 and were said to have been of the Quaker faith. Presley Maulding, born c 1800, married Catherine Poer at Madison Co TN. The family lived at Hempstead AR in 1836 and received a headright in Bowie Co TX in 1837. Presley, apparently, died soon thereafter. Catherine brought her family to Navarro Co TX. Children were: Richard, Matilda, Taylor, Minerva, James, William, Nancy Ann, and John. No Maulding marriages were found in NavCo records. The family, apparently, returned to Bowie Co to live. James Maulding had, earlier, been a member of the Corsicana Lodge ….4
H W Ward probably, William Ward b1797, married Rebecca Powell in Jones Co GA, migrated to Lauderdale Co MS, and settled in Navarro Co TX around 1845. Their daughter, Nancy Powell Ward, married 1841 Lewis Rogers in MS. Other children were: Moses Ward, Mary Ann Ward, Sarah Elizabeth Ward, John Ward, and William Ward Jr.
Guy Stokes a son of Jordan G and Hannah Hill Stokes of Chatham Co NC. His siblings were Thomas, William, Mary, Hannah, Rhoda, & Ann. His family descended from Sylvanius Stokes who migrated to Maury Co Tenn. from NC. Three Stokes men served the CSA from NavCo Texas: Thomas Stokes, Dresden; C W Stokes,Cryer Creek(Another family) ; William F Stokes, buried at Dawson. Georgia Anna Stokes married 1866 Benjamin Franklin Carrol in NavCO TX Jaseph Stokes married 1869 Lucinda Rogers in NavCo.
William Richey William Richey, bc1800….a son of James Richey Sr who married Elizabeth Dunn in SC…….. came to Texas and married the Widow Cannon whose daughter married Brit Dawson. . William Richey had, earlier, been a member of the Corsicana Lodge
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The petition, written in longhand, stated that the group had nominated Henry Fullerton as Worshipful Master; Henry W Ward as Senior Warden; William Richey as Junior Warden;
C M Winkler attested that the Corsican Lodge # 104 had previously received and approved the petition. It was on June 24th that Francis L Barziza, of the Wheelock Lodge, filled in longhand the blanks of a printed form titled
“IN THE NAME AND BY THE AUTHORITY of the GRAND LODGE OF TEXAS”
which granted the petition and appointed the above stated officers to serve.
OFFICERS FOR YEAR 1854-1855 Appointed by Francis J Barziza Deputy Grand Master. Grand Lodge of Texas
Henry Fullerson First Master Henry W Ward First Senior Warden William Richey First Junior Warden
OFFICERS FOR YEAR 1856 Elected by Eighteen Lodge Membership
William Blackburn Worshipful Master Samuel Wright Senior Warden William Walker Junior Warden John R Ogilvie Treasurer Nicholas T Sneed Secretary Henry Fullerton Senior Deacon B J C Hill Junior Deacon Robert A Younger Stewart G W Clary Steward Jesse Clary, vet TX Revolution…from NavCo John T Clary m. Mary V….son John H b.1873 NavCo Frances Marion Clary b. 1822 AL ..d NavCo William Williams Tiler
WORSHIPFUL MASTERS Serving Spring Hill Masonic Lodge 1854-1883
Henry Fullerton 1854 William Blackburn 1855 Benjamin J C Hill 1856 Nicholas T Sneed 1857 Benjamin J C Hill 1858 L L Cook 1859 Nicholas T Sneed 1860-1864 M Cyrus Spence 1865-1867 J J Cleghorn 1868 William H Pursley 1869 J J Cleghorn 1870 William Walker 1871 William H Pursley 1872 William Booth 1873 Larkin Hill 1874 William Walker 1875-1876 J A Scales 1877 Joseph Calvin Matthews 1878 Robert Harvey Matthews 1879-1880 M A Fox…. .1881 Robert Harvey Matthews 1882 J H Galbreath 1883
SPRING HILL LODGE Moved to Dawson
W T Westmoreland 1884-1885 J M Perry 1886 T D Dickson 1887-1888 W T Westmoreland 1889 J F Sims 1890-1891 Albert Henry Berry 1892 W T Westmoreland 1893 James Henry McCulloch 1894-1895 W E Berry 1896-1898 J S Berry 1899-1900
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