MASONIC LODGE.—Some time in the Spring of 1837, immediately following the organization of a permanent government in Nacogdoches county, a movement for the organization of a Masonic lodge began which culminated in a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana for the Milam Lodge No. 40, which was dated July 29, 1837.

One of the leaders in the Masonic circles of Nacogdoches was Adolphus Sterne, who was a past master of a lodge in New Orleans, and also a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, the first Scottish Rite Mason to come to Texas. Haden Edwards was also a past master of another lodge. The other charter members of Milam Lodge No. 40 were: Isaac W. Burton, John H. Hyde, George A. Nixon, John S. Roberts, Charles H. Sims, Frost Thorn, Simon Weiss, as Master Masons, and Kelsey H. Douglass and John W. Lowe as Estered Apprentice and Fellow Craft respectively.

The first meeting of the Lodge under dispensation was held in the Old Stone Fort on August 16, 1837, with the following present: Haden Edwards, Master; John H. Hyde, Senior Warden; J. S. Roberts, Junior Warden; Chas. H. Sims, Treasurer pro tem; Adolphus Sterne, Secretary pro tem; with George A. Nixon, Simon Weiss and J. W. Lowe, members. The Charter from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana was granted September 22, 1837, and was received in the Lodge on its meeting November 20, 1837.

Upon suggestions from Holland Lodge No. 36, Houston, Texas, a committee consisting of Adolphus Sterne, I. W. Burton, Thomas J. Rusk, Charles S. Taylor and Kelsey Douglass, was appointed to attend a meeting in Houston to consider the formation of the Grand Lodge of Texas. Their mission was accomplished in the city of Houston on February, 1838, with the organization of the Grand Lodge of Texas, and this lodge became Milam Lodge No. 2.

After the first meeting, the Lodge began using the upper floor of Simon Weiss’ store for its meeting-place, and during its long history, it held its meetings in several houses in Nacogdoches, but never succeeded in building its own permanent home until the completion of its present Temple in May, 1931, on North Fredonia street.

During the administration of Haden Edwards as Worshipful Master of Milam Lodge No. 40, one dozen chairs were made for the use of the Lodge, which were of hickory, turned on an old-fashioned lathe, with seats of rawhide. These chairs served the Lodge long and faithfully, and have witnessed the degrees conferred on every Mason made in Milam Lodge for 110 years. In 1914 a resolution was passed, instructing the worshipful master to present to the old past masters then living and to the sons of those old pioneers that had passed away, one of these chairs, that they might be kept as relics and mementos of the long ago. One of them was retained by the Lodge and now occupies a prominent place in the East, there to remain for all time to come, never to be used again except it be by the President of the United States, the governor of Texas, or the Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Texas.

Many of the men prominent in the affairs of Texas have been members of Milam Lodge No. 2, and the minutes show Sam Houston a visitor on more than one occasion.