First Prince Hall Masonic Lodge in Texas Hosts Elections, Honored by Bexar County
(By: Bro. Burrell Parmer, San Antonio Lodge No. 1 ) — San Antonio Lodge No. 1, the first Prince Hall Affiliated Masonic organization establish in Texas, held its annual elections at the Masonic Temple located at 1163 Rice Road, April 7.
Elected to serve during the lodge’s sesquicentennial year were Shevin Ravenel (Master of the Lodge), Booker Arradondo (Senior Warden), Samuel Calvin (Junior Warden), Robert Bonner Jr. (Secretary), Crete Hwang (Treasurer), Keven Lomax (Chaplain), and Trancle Byrd (Tiler).
The newly elected officers were installed by Special District Deputy Grand Master Derek Scott in a ceremony that emphasizes the values of leadership, responsibility, and brotherhood within the Masonic tradition.
On April 28, in recognition of “150 Years of Service to the Alamo City,” members of the lodge attended Bexar County Commissioners Court to receive a proclamation honoring the lodge.
In March 1873, the first Masonic lodge of Black men, San Antonio Lodge No. 22, was established in San Antonio under the jurisdiction of the King Solomon Grand Lodge of Kansas (National Grand Lodge). Rev. William R. Carson, pastor of St. James A.M.E. Church and district deputy grand master for the Western District of Texas under the Kansas Jurisdiction relocated to San Antonio in November 1872 and was instrumental in establishing and strengthening San Antonio Lodge No. 22, and other early lodges under the Kansas Jurisdiction in Texas, providing crucial on-the-ground leadership.
On Aug. 19, 1875, representative of three of the six Prince Hall lodges in Texas met in Brenham and formed The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Ancient York Masons of the State of Texas on Aug. 20, 1875, in which San Antonio Lodge No. 22 was re-chartered as San Antonio Lodge No. 1 on May 10, 1876. The lodge’s first principal officers were Brothers George Jackson (Master of the Lodge), Richard Wallace (Senior Warden), and Nelson Williams (Junior Warden). In 1950, a resolution was approved to rename the Grand Lodge to The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of Texas and Jurisdiction.
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