Navasota Examiner
“Originally built here in Anderson and then moved to various locations, including most recently Carlos, it is like the lodge has come full circle,” said Grimes County Sheriff Donald Sowell.
As the Masons gathered and remembered the lodge’s journey, they also reflected on the three basic tenets of Freemasonry — faith, commitment and service.
Faith
“Orphans Friend Lodge No. 17 has been in the business of supporting their community for 175 years,” said Jerry Kirby, Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas. “If you go back and go through the minutes of the community, you will discover that Orphans Friend Lodge has done awesome things to support this area and to do what is necessary to illustrate our belief that we are the brotherhood of men, under the fatherhood of God.”
Originally organized by transplanted Mississippians from Copia County, the Orphans Friend Lodge was established in 1842 and held in the home of Henry Fanthorp in Alta Mira, later to be called Anderson. The men petitioned the Grand Lodge of Texas for dispensation and were granted a charter effective June 30, 1842. David Moore, the current secretary of Orphans Friend Lodge, has been researching the history of the lodge for many years, attempting to piece together the remnants of the past from scraps found in an old barn and various books written about the area.
“This has been an endeavor of love for me,” said Moore. “Where our lodge came from, who were the members and what was their impact on this area. How was the godliness of Masons portrayed by these men in the community?”
According to Moore, the godliness of these men can be seen in many aspects of the history that has been uncovered, including the name of the lodge.
“Our name came from a book that was written in 1842 and in that book it says Orphans Friend,” said Moore. “If you read the book, you will find that it is the impact an old man had on young children and people of his community and how he served those young people. This was an important and religious tract printed at that time.”
Moore said that the research has divulged that the original founders of the lodge were “men of temperance, they neither drank, nor smoked, nor cursed, nor partook of any of the things of ill wills of society.”
“They were the pillars of the community, men to be looked up to,” said Moore.
Commitment
In the “Saga of Anderson”, a book written by Irene Taylor, the Orphans Friend Masonic Lodge is shown to be the basis of the education system in the area. Originally private in nature, the schools flourished giving way to the first all-girls academy in the area and beginnings of the Anderson-Shiro public school system.
“As we look at this community we can see what these men built within Grimes County,” said Moore. “These were Masons and our brothers who formed this county.”
Additional colleges and institutes would follow, helping the area children grow in education and citizenship. The lodge donated more than 25 acres off of Darius Gregg’s headright for the permanent establishment of an institution of learning. More land would be donated through the years to various causes, including a Protestant Episcopal Church and an auditorium-gymnasium, essentially leaving the lodge without land for their own building.
Service
“I want to tell you about service, in 1908 my grandfather was Worshipful Master of my home lodge and a widow’s house burned down within the community,” said Kirby. “My grandfather went out and solicited every member of the lodge for money and a promise of time, bought materials and within five days of work they built the house and gave it to the widow.”
According to Kirby, a house in 1908 is not the same as a house in 2017, but the important thing to remember is the service, because Masons have always been people with eyes to see the need and hearts to care.
“Because people see what our tenets are and see the character of men that were there to help their fellow man,” said Kirby. “We are a fraternity to take good men and make them better men, by showing them opportunities for service to their fellowman. You demonstrate your service to your fellow man by having your eyes wide open so you can see the need and hearts that care enough to take action.”
After 175 years, the Orphans Friend Lodge has held meetings in various locations, always reaching out to aid and comfort those around them. Educational endeavors from schools to scholarships, service orientated projects and the continued development of a community have been cornerstones of the lodge’s members. Orphans Friend’s new home along FM 149 returns the members to their original location, an area that they wish to continue their long history of service for years to come.