Forrest Lodge No. 19, A.F. & A.M.

When Sam Houston died on July 26, 1863, Forrest Lodge took charge of his funeral. Sam Houston Memorial Museum accounts say local Masons from the lodge performed the service on July 27, held in the house where he died. The Handbook of Texas adds that he was dressed in Masonic ceremonial regalia and buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Huntsville. He had died of pneumonia, at seventy, in the downstairs bedroom of the Steamboat House after several weeks of illness.

What the plaque says

Forrest Lodge No. 19, A.F. & A.M. One of 25 lodges started during the Republic of Texas, Forrest Lodge No. 19, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was chartered on Jan. 11, 1844. It is the eighth oldest lodge in Texas. Among its early members were Sam Houston and Texas historian Henderson Yoakum. Another outstanding member, William Martin Taylor (1817-1871), is known as "The Father of the Texas Work". He published a handbook called "Taylor's Monitor" which brought uniformity to Texas Masonic ritual. It was approved by the Grand Lodge at a meeting held here in 1858. At least 28 local Masons have attained offices in the Grand Lodge. The upper floor of a store owned by Alexander McDonald, the first worshipful master, served as an early meeting place. A two-story lodge hall on the north side of the square, built in 1850, was destroyed by fire in 1881. It was replaced by a brick building near the corner of University and 11th Street in 1883. The present property was acquired in 1896 and the new structure dedicated in 1909. The Masons have shared their facilities with the Red Cross, the First Baptist Church, and the public schools. Lodge funds have aided distressed members, widows, and orphans; bought war bonds; and supplied scholarships. (1978)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site — 31 mi
  A cedar-log dogtrot cabin of 1834 on the road through Anderson that grew into a seventeen-room inn and post office for travelers of the Republic, kept by one family until 1976.

More markers nearby

• Henry Opera House — steps away
• The Five Courthouses of Walker County — steps away
• Site of Cumberland Presbyterian Church — steps away
• First Baptist Church of Huntsville — steps away