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On February 8, 1878, the 17 members of this lodge were set to work under dispensation of the Grand Master of Texas. Mineola Lodge was chartered at the annual communication in Houston on December 15, 1879, with a membership of 48. J. R. Rutherford served as the first worshipful master. The early Masons included prominent business and professional men and civic leaders. One member was the well-known lawman William Jesse McDonald (1852-1918), a merchant who became deputy city marshall, Wood County sheriff, and finally a Texas Ranger. Another was J. H. Newsom, a city alderman and county commissioner. Newsom owned the lodge's first meeting place at Broad and Line streets. That building burned on August 10, 1880, destroying the original lodge records. Other groups associated with the lodge include the Mineola Council of Royal Arch Masons, chartered in March 1910. An Eastern Star chapter was active even before its official charter date of 1923. Mineola Masonic Lodge occupied several meeting places before moving to the present location. Two other Masonic lodges have consolidated with Mineola: Golden in 1938 and Albia in 1944. (1979) |
