Marcus E. Avant - Tyre Masonic Lodge No. 198 - Tennessee Colony, TX - Citizen Memorials on Waymarking.com

Manufactured to mark someone's final resting place, this gray granite monument turned out to be a simple memorial, and it features the compass and square of the Freemasons above a light gray box which reads:

In Memory of
Marcus E. Avant

To Know Him Was to Love Him

He Gave This Masonic Site

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The reverse is blank, but a 2002 Texas Historical Marker for the Order of the Eastern Star chapter here notes that Mr. Avant and his wife were charter members of the chapter, and of course, Mr. Avant was a Freemason. You'll find them buried at the Tennessee Colony Cemetery, just up the road from here, with the respective emblems on the headstone that they share. The historical marker for the Order of the Eastern Star reads:

The first Order of the Eastern Star (OES) chapter chartered in Anderson County, this organization was founded in 1902 for the wives and female relatives of the members of Tyre Masonic Lodge No. 198. Originally known as the Redbud Chapter, it took the name of the Tennessee Colony community in 1936.

Charter members of this chapter, which included members of the Tyre Masonic Lodge, were: Will H. and Annie Calcote, Pete Oldham, Tom Wyley, H.H. Auld, Marcus E. and Tennie Avant, Albert DuPuy, T.F. Wylie and John L. Carroll. Officers elected for the first year were: Bula Graham, W.N. Montgomery, Mamie DuPuy, Fannie Holt, Jesse Graham, Missie Swayze, Maud Montgomery, Emma Swayze, Eva Woolverton, Addie Carroll, D. Welborn Gore, Carrie Carroll, Annie Calcote, Alice Swayze, Vera Vannoy, Mattie Woolverton, E.A. Swayze and Will H. Calcote.

The Order of the Eastern Star is always associated with a Masonic Lodge, and its purposes are fellowship and charitable works. Meetings of the Tennessee Colony Chapter were held once a month until 1940-41, when a change was made to hold meetings twice monthly. The chapter met in the Masonic Lodge hall.

Membership in the Tennessee Colony OES increased substantially after World War II, with many local and area residents accepted into membership. Members have been active at the district and state level, and their charitable works have played an important part in the cultural heritage of Tennessee Colony.

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While Mr. Avant isn't named specifically, his donation is referenced on another historical marker here, this one for the Tyre Lodge:

Until this Masonic Lodge was chartered in 1857, local Masons traveled to Magnolia Lodge No. 113 near the Trinity River. On March 3, 1856, seven Tennessee Colony Masons met at the store of James S. Hanks and adopted a resolution to petition the Grand Lodge of Texas for a new lodge. The Grand Lodge approved the request on January 19, 1857, and Tyre Lodge No. 198, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, was officially chartered four days later.

A.L. Porter served as the first worshipful master. Other officers the first year were John Nelson Woolverton, Dr. W.C. Kenney, John Vannoy, John M. Burns, Thomas Hudson, Joshua Brown Hanks, J.R. Fulton, C.D. Holliman and M.A. Anderson. Members met in a log building, but soon bought a house for lodge purposes. In 1861, a two-story building was constructed and put into use as a community school, a place for Sunday worship and a meeting place for the Masons. A 1949 building replaced the 19th-century structure as the hall.

Throughout its history, the members of Tyre Masonic Lodge have sponsored a number of programs and outreach projects for the community, including the Tennessee Colony Masonic Institute, which provided school classes for local children in the late 1850s. Lodge members have served in various armed conflicts, including the Civil War, World War I and World War II. The organization draws members from surrounding communities as it continues to uphold the ideals and traditions of its founders.

Website with more information on either the memorial or the person(s) it is dedicated to: [Web Link] Location: Tyre Masonic Lodge No. 198

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