My formative years were spent at Buckner Orphan’s Home near Dallas, and R.C. Buckner Lodge No. 1176 met on campus during my stay at Buckner Home. R.C. Buckner Lodge was named after Dr. Robert Cooke Buckner, an ordained Baptist Minister who founded the orphanage to care for orphaned children following the devastating hurricane which struck Galveston Island in 1900. I noticed that many of the men who were staff members at the home attended meetings of the Lodge, and members of the Lodge would often pay some of us to help clean up the meeting room after the Lodge had met. They were always nice to us. Being a typical boy with a great deal of curiosity, I often wondered what went on during meetings of the Lodge.
Having been baptized into the church during my stay at Buckner Home, when I moved to Dallas it was natural that I would seek a Baptist Church to continue my worship experiences. I soon joined the fellowship of Gaston Avenue Baptist Church where I later met Lena Ruth Wiley, and we were married in the church on July 23, 1948. My new wife was a member of a very active Masonic family. Her father, Charles Preston Wiley was a Charter Member and Past Master of the Lodge that eventually became my Lodge – Keystone Lodge No. 1143 in Dallas.
I soon discovered that a rather large number of the men who attended my church were also members of the Masonic Lodge that I would later petition for membership. Based upon the character of those men; their dedication to their families and to their church; their commitment to what I perceived to be the principles of Masonry, and their active participation in the community led me to decide that Masonry was something that I wanted to become a part of.
Such was my appetite for more information about Masonry that I discussed the matter with my father-in-law and was told that the minimum age for petitioning was twenty-one. So, we decided that on my twenty-first birthday I would give him my petition. Unfortunately, on December 7, 1948 my father-in-law passed away before I turned twenty-one the following March. It was to his friends – those who impressed me so much – that I later turned for membership in Masonry.
Why did I turn to those men? It was the character that they displayed in every association that I had with them. I observed the impressive manner with which they blended their lives with their religious experiences; their dedication to Masonry and their community involvement. I just wanted to be a part of an organization that influenced men in their family, spiritual, social and community activities. I found that as a Master Mason.
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Thank you very much for
Thank you very much for posting this, PGM. While what you typed was a very interesting read, it also prompted me to do a little bit of research. I was never in the position to have to live in home like Buckner Orphan's Home, I do have a bit of knowledge of the homes the organization had.
I am originally from a small town a little bit Northwest of Austin called Burnet. When I first moved here in the 5th grade, I made a few friends that were living at a place called Buckner Boys Ranch. I knew that it was an orphanage of some sort, and also provided a place for troubled teens.
As I said, reading what you typed prompted me to do a bit of research in an effort to find out if the organization that ran the home you mentioned was the same as the one that was here. Turns out that it was. The Buckner Boy's Ranch in Burnet opened in 1951 (I had no clue it went back that far) and housed orphaned and troubled boys from around the state. Sometime later, while I was in Jr. High or High school, it started to house girls as well. Unfortunately, in 2001 they stopped housing teens (financial reasons from what I can gather).
Anyway, I found it rather neat what R.C. Buckner contributed to the community. And I can totally understand how being around those that worked there at the home that attended the lodge could have had some sort of impact and influence on your decision to become a Mason.
Thank you for the great read!