CHARTER MEMBERS: Who were these men? Thomas Hunt

Dr. Thomas G. Hunt was born Jan 8, 1779, Granville Co., NC.  He died 1862, in Gay Hill,Texas.  The husband of Elizabeth Duke,and son of Memucan & Mary (Wade) Hunt, His father, Memucan was a US Revolutionary War Soldier and the “First Treasurer” of NC 1777 - 1787.

Hunt family history recalls the cause of death as being due to robbery and murder while Dr. Hunt was traveling on the La Bahia Road early in 1862 about 4 miles northwest of his home. Local legend indicates Dr. Hunt is buried in Oak Rest Cemetery.

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? David Fisher

Additional information added Jan. 18, 2019

David Fisher was a prominent Baptist Missionary. His brother Orceneth, an equally prominent Methodist Missionary.  A photo of his tombstone, right, fallen over and forgotten was found on the internet, but the location of that burial site was unknown – until 2014. 

Research demonstrates that David Fisher was a prominent Baptist Missionary of the Union Baptist Association.  He was instrumental in founding or leading many churches that would go on to become prominent in their communities, among them: 

• Brenham Church, Washington County constituted in 1846 by R.E.B. Baylor and Hosea Garrett.  the First Pastor of Brenham church was David Fisher.  Brenham Church would later become "Brenham's First Baptist Church."

• Union Church, Washington County constituted in 1851 by R.E.B. Baylor, G.W. Baines, and H.L. Graves.  David Fisher was the first pastor of this Baptist Church.  Was this church located in Gay Hill as part of the "church and Masonic Lodge" referenced in Baylor Lodge minutes?  It would seem so since many of those constituting the church are also the officers and members of Baylor Lodge:  R.E.B. Baylor, David Fisher, along with his wife Nancy and his daughter Eliza, John Lauderdale, W. G. Veazey, and perhaps others.  As "Union" was the name of the community where his parents were from, and the Baptist Association took the name Union Baptist Association, it would seem logical that Union Church would be closely associated with David Fisher.  Research continues.

Baylor Lodge Restoration Project

Currently, the Baylor Lodge No. 125 restoration project is on hold.  If a groundswell of interest is restored, the project is ready to proceed.  

If you have an interest in pursuing this project in or near Independence, TX please leave your comments.

We have digitized the minutes from its origin in 1853 through its last meeting in 1888.  Now all we need are Masons interested in preserving the Masonic history along the La Bahia trail and old Independence.

Please learn more about the project from these pages:
     Lodge Restoration
     Objective
     Purpose
     1873 Lodge Memorial of Judge Baylor

If you are interested in pursuing this project please contact us.

The Sine of Masonry (Conclusion)

By Sir Knight Thomas J. Driber, Ph.D.
Excerpted from an article in the Knight Templar Magazine, August, 2015  for educational purposes.

Builders

So one may ask, what does all this mean and why is this important?  The answer lies in the question of whether or not we are Masons .... So then, what is a Mason?  insofar as we claim the Operative Masons as our "ancient brethren" we must define ourselves according to what our ancient brethren were.  They were builders.  They built cathedrals, convents, shrines, priories, etc.  They built or created something where before there was nothing other than raw materials.  As such we can say that they were builders, and builders are in this world, creators.  As we do not build with brick and mortar, we are now speculative Masons or philosophical Masons, building a corpus of moral science upon which to guide our lives.  Simply put, we are thinking Masons who are building in the vanguard of creation, expanding the universe through our thoughts and actions.  In this regard we are the light after which we incessantly week, creating as in the beginning, in the present, and in the future which is now.

Education on the La Bahia Road

Washington County was one of the religious and educational centers of early Texas by virtue of one of the capitals of the Republic's being located there. A failure to provide education facilities was one complaint Texas revolutionaries had against the Mexican government. But after independence, the government of the Republic, lacking money, did no better. Therefore the early responsibility for education fell to private and religious groups.  

The church denominations were interested in training ministers, as well as providing a general education. Dr. Frederick Eby, an education historian, calculated there were 19 educational institutions chartered by the Republic of Texas, including Baylor University and a forerunner of Southwestern University of Georgetown, the state's two oldest educational institutions.

The Sine of Masonry (Part 3)

By Sir Knight Thomas J. Driber, Ph.D.
Excerpted from an article in the Knight Templar Magazine, August, 2015  for educational purposes.

Jacob's Ladder

In the allegory of Jacob's ladder, Jacob is said to have left his father's house at Beer-Sheba and traveled toward Haran.  He stopped for the night and gathered rocks for his pillow, and after falling asleep, he dreamed of a ladder extending from earth to heaven and from heaven to earth.  Angelic beings were descending and ascending the ladder (Gen. 28: 10-22).  At the top of the ladder is the voice of God which speaks to Jacob.  Clearly we find Jacob in the material world as symbolized by his head laying on the denseness of a rock as he dreams of the voice of God and the ongoing descent and ascent of those angelic beings going up and down the ladder from heaven to earth and back again.  Again, the periodic oscillation of proportional displacement is depicted in imagery for us as a sine wave of continuous undulation of up and down on the ladder.  With God's voice at the top of the ladder, there can be no doubt as to where those beings are going who are ascending up.  With Jacob asleep with his head on a rock there can be no doubt as to where those are going who descend the ladder into the density of the material world.

More to come...

Gay Hill

Gay Hill is a historic town with strong business and cultural ties to Independence, Texas.  The town was an educational and religious center on the La Bahía Road in early Texas. Rev. Hugh Wilson established the second Presbyterian church in Texas there in 1839. Presbyterians from throughout the republic met in the community, then known as Chriesman Settlement, to organize the Brazos Presbytery in 1840. By 1840 the Republic of Texas established a post office in the new town under the name Gay Hill, after the owners of the town store, Thomas Gay and William Carroll Jackson Hill.

The beautiful forested hills and healthy climate attracted prominent early Texans, including residents Horatio Chriesman, R. E. B. Baylor, John Sayles, and Dr. George C. Red. Horticulturist Thomas Affleck's Glenblythe Plantation was located in the Gay Hill vicinity. Old Gay Hill served as the supply point of a moderately prosperous agricultural area. In 1854 a Masonic lodge was founded there.  Between 1853 and 1888 Rev. James W. Miller operated Live Oak Female Seminary in Gay Hill. By 1860 the town had flour and lumber mills and a population of 280. After the Civil War a cotton gin augmented the town's prosperity; retail establishments continued to thrive. The Masonic lodge and Presbyterian and Baptist churches were active.

The Sine of Masonry (Part 2)

By Sir Knight Thomas J. Driber, Ph.D.
Excerpted from an article in the Knight Templar Magazine, August, 2015  for educational purposes.

The Sine Wave

Here for the first time in Masonry we see the sine in the allegory of our descent into humanness and our return again to eternal spirit.  ... a "sine wave" ... must be a wave form of periodic oscillation...."  The first problem then is in defining the aspect of "periodic oscillation." That is given in another question and answer where the newly made Brother indicates that, "...has arrived of his own free will and accord" and says further that "...has been often tried, never denied, and willing to be tried again."

This makes no sense in the customary manner of usage since an apprentice has no idea of what trial is, nor has he any idea of how to be tried, never mind being repetitively tried.  ... Knowing that we have descended into this materiality from our spiritual eternity, the answer indicated free will and accord suggests that we have chosen to incarnate here.

Insomuch as this incarnation may represent a kind of trial, the response of the apprentice now makes more sense, and therefore the fuller translation that fulfills the need for "periodic oscillation" would more clearly be stated as; " I come from eternity, that place of truth, descended into the material world, and am ascending back to my eternal nature and doing so of my own free will as I have done many times before, am doing now, and will do many times in the future."

All things in Masonry are given repetitiously and in multiple forms. ... The apprentice is told that in more ancient times our Lodges were held atop the "highest hills and in the lowest valleys and most retired groves."  Considering the highs and lows of the "hills and valleys" it is again the appearance of the sine wave and is elaborated further by the caution of "most retired groves" which can only refer to that which is clearly visible but yet out of ordinary sight.

More to come...

La Bahia High Way

La Bahia trail – FM 390

In the late 1600s and through the 1700s, 1800s, and into the 1900s there existed in what is now Texas a system of cattle trails and well known thoroughfares connecting Mexico with Texas, Louisianna and the United States.

The Sine of Masonry (Part 1)

By Sir Knight Thomas J. Driber, Ph.D.
Excerpted from an article in the Knight Templar Magazine, August, 2015  for educational purposes.

The Holy Saints John of Jerusalem

Today Masonic Lodges are dedicated to the Holy Saints John.  John the Baptist and John the Evangelist were not adopted simultaneously as the Patron Saints of Masonry ... John the Evangelist was not adopted until late in the sixteenth century.  Their feast days were arbitrarily chosen [on the calendar] and have nothing to do with their conceptions, births, deaths, deaths or any other known fact of their lives.

The first question and answer of the Entered Apprentice Catechetical lecture where the Holy Saints John first make their appearance to the newly made Brother requires a clear re-statement and a translation of the terms since they are as expected, "allegorical"... "Whence came you?"  The answer is given "from the Lodge of the Holy Saints John at Jerusalem."

CHARTER MEMBERS: Research Continues

Research on these charter members continues...

Thomas Hunt

W. S. Bishop

R. M. Morris

Patrick Gorman

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? Y. Gaines Lipscomb

•  28-29 year old Son of A. S. Lipscomb
•  Came to Texas to participate in Somervell Expedition, but became ill on the way and arrived too late to participate.
•  Texas Ranger 
•  Indian Fighter
•  Mexican War Veteran
•  Participant in Battle of Monterey 

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? John Alexander

In 1866, R.E.B. Baylor, Sayles, R.T. Smyth, John Alexander, and James E. Shepard were reappointed to the law school faculty.

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? George Washington Gentry

•  George Washington Gentry was born November 6, 1808
•  A member of Stephen F. Austin's Colony he came to Texas in 1835 with his father and brother. 
•  He worked as a farmer and surveyor. 
•  He participated in the Texas Revolution, several Indian skirmishes, and the defense of San Antonio during the 1842 invasions of Rafael Vasquez and Adrian Woll.
•  In 1860 he is listed as Superintendent for Mrs. Stamps 
•  George and his family continued to live in Long Point until sometime in 1882 when they moved to Comanche County, Texas. 

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? Judge John Stamps

• By 1841 he had enough influence to have Mount Vernon, a site near his residence, declared the county seat of Washington County. 
•  The new community was county seat for three years. 
•  Stamps represented the county as a member of the House in the Eighth Congress of the Republic. 
•  He is listed in the 1850 agricultural census as the owner of extensive farmland and livestock. 
•  At the time of his death he was on the board of directors of Baylor University and Baylor Female College. 
• Contractor of 4th Washington County Courthouse in Brenham in use from 1855 to 1883

Mount Vernon, the second county seat of Washington County, was on or near New Year's Creek six miles northwest of the site of present Brenham and ten miles from the town of Independence. Judge John Stamps, a prominent citizen of the county, built an imposing home, named for George Washington's residence, at the future townsite. A school existed there as early as 1835.  

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? Henry L. Graves

• Henry L. Graves named President of Baylor University in 1846

• Assumed responsibility for Baylor University 1847

• Pastored Independence Baptist Church

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? Abner S. Lipscomb

• Veteran of the War of 1812
•  Lawyer, Judge, Secretary of State under Mirabeau B. Lamar
•  Studied Law in office of John C. Calhoun, future VP of the U.S.
•  Alabama Judge and Chief Justice of its Supreme Court
•  Texas Supreme Court Judge 
•  1845 Constitutional Convention Member

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? Gideon Lincecum

•  Jim Bowie’s Second Cousin  
•  Explorer of Alabama, Mississippi, Texas
 Friend and researcher of Native Americans

 Extensive Author of at least Six Scholarly works

 While continuing to practice medicine, he became recognized as an astute naturalist, corresponded with internationally known scientists, and contributed valuable collections to the Philadelphia Academy of Science and the Smithsonian Institution.

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? R. E. B. Baylor

•  Veteran of the War of 1812
•  Lawyer in Kentucky, Alabama, Texas
•  State Representative Kentucky
•  State Representative Alabama
•  Made a Mason 1825 
•  Ordained Baptist Preacher
•  Member 21st U.S. Congress
•  Republic of Texas District and Supreme Court Judge
•  1845 State Constitutional Convention Member
•  School Founder, Educator, Missionary
•  Baylor University co-founder and namesake
•  Grand Chaplain, Grand Lodge of Texas 1843, 46, 47
•  Namesake of Baylor Lodge No. 125

CHARTER MEMBERS: Who Were These Men? John Sayles

 John Sayles served as a faculty member of Baylor Law School when it first opened in 1857 and continued a faculty member until the law school ceased its operation.

 He wrote numerous books pertaining to Texas laws, including Sayles' Texas Statutes, predecessor to Vernon's Texas Statutes.

 Shortly after receiving his degree, he moved to Brenham, Texas, where he read law and taught school. 

He represented Washington County in the Texas House of Representatives of the 6th Texas Legislature from 1855 to 1856.

 During the Civil War he attained the rank of brigadier general of the militia.

 He is the Youngest Grand Master of Masons in Texas History