April 1, 2020

A Bold and Ardent Friend: Grand Master Henry L. Muldrow

By T.S. Akers

Grand Master Henry L. Muldrow

Throughout the history of Freemasonry, there have been a handful of men who have left an indelible mark on the Fraternity in Oklahoma. Within our halls, there are names that are instantly recognizable throughout our jurisdiction. Men like Joseph S. Murrow, Harper S. Cunningham, and William Busby are either well known across the state or in their specific corners of influence. However, there is another name that should number among those men. In 1951 Charles Evans, former University of Tulsa president, said the following of this Oklahoma Mason, “One recognized in him that he would make a bold and ardent friend, or a dauntless, unyielding enemy.”[1] In Henry L.  Muldrow, Freemasonry found just the bold and ardent friend it needed in Oklahoma.

Known as “Hal,” Henry Lowndes Muldrow was born in Paducah, Kentucky, on October 12, 1872. His father was Major Robert Muldrow, a graduate of the first class of Mississippi State University who served in the state legislature as a young man representing Oktibbeha County before joining the Confederacy with Wirt Adams’ Mississippi Cavalry. Hal’s mother was Annie Oliver, the daughter of Simeon C. Oliver, former Governor of the State of Mississippi. Hal’s father died a year after he was born and at the age of eleven, he and his mother returned to Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. Hal went on to attend Mississippi A&M and then George Washington University where he earned a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1894.[2]

Shortly after graduation, Muldrow came to the Indian Territory with the U.S. Geological Survey where he assisted in establishing section lines in the Choctaw Nation. He went with the U.S. Geological Survey to Alaska in 1898 as a topographer for a party surveying the height of what was then known as Mount McKinley.[3] Muldrow returned to the Indian Territory and married Mary Daisy Fisher on April 12, 1899, at Tishomingo.[4] Miss Fisher was the daughter of David Osborn Fisher, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation and an adopted citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, who served in various tribal positions of importance as well as operating a mercantile.[5]

It was while with the U.S. Geological Survey in 1896 that Muldrow took the degrees of Freemasonry in South McAlester Lodge No. 81 (now No. 96). He was initiated an Entered Apprentice on April 3, passed to the degree of Fellowcraft on May 1, and raised to the degree of Master Mason on June 26.[6] After returning from Alaska and marrying, Muldrow established his residence in Tishomingo where he practiced law. He also pursued real estate interests and engaged in the buying and selling of cotton and gravel. When the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railway built a branch line from Haileyville through Tishomingo to Ardmore in 1901, Muldrow became the townsite agent.[7] He demitted from South McAlester Lodge No. 81 in 1902 and affiliated with Tishomingo Lodge No. 77 (now No. 91).[8]

In Tishomingo, Muldrow really began to devote himself to Freemasonry. He was elected Worshipful Master of Tishomingo Lodge for the year 1903 and would not vacate the East until the end of 1905. During this period, Muldrow was elected Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory. He proceeded through the progressive officer line, becoming Grand Master of Indian Territory in 1908.[9] A member of the Scottish Rite at McAlester, having received those degrees in 1902 at Washington, D.C., Muldrow was coroneted a 33rd Degree at the age of thirty-seven in 1909. He was a charter member of Tishomingo Chapter No. 40, R.A.M. (chartered April 12, 1904), and a charter member of Tishomingo Council No. 9, R. & S.M. (chartered April 19, 1905). Muldrow was knighted in Ardmore Commandery No. 9, K.T. in 1904.[10]

With statehood for Oklahoma arriving in November of 1907, the state then had two grand lodges for the Twin Territories operating within its borders. A fair portion of Muldrow’s 1908 term as Grand Master of Indian Territory was devoted to the issue of uniting the two jurisdictions. On February 9, 1909, the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory assembled as her own entity for the final time at McAlester. There, Muldrow delivered the following remarks on what was to come:
… the new Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma, which under all human probability will be organized tomorrow, will not be any greater, any prouder, any more willing and anxious to do that for which it is organized than this one but with the majority of my brethren I believe that the best interest of all is better served by the union of the two Grand Lodges now within this State and I rejoice that the union will but unite noble-hearted men in closer communication in the Great Brotherhood.[11]
The next day, representatives of the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory travelled by train to Guthrie for the special convention to form the new Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma. When his grand lodge was formed in 1874, Muldrow was but a toddler. Alive then, but not present that day, was Joseph S. Murrow, the “Father of Freemasonry in Oklahoma.” Murrow became the second Grand Master of Indian Territory in 1877. At the age of seventy-four, Murrow would assume another important role, this time as secretary of the convention to form the new grand lodge.[12] As the day concluded, the Craft united as one grand body chose Henry L. Muldrow as the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma.[13]

Past Grand Master Jewel of Henry L. Muldrow, c. 1910
(From the collections of the McAlester Scottish Rite)

While Muldrow’s first term in the Grand East as the last Grand Master of Indian Territory was occupied with some very serious administrative duties, he found his second term in the Grand East as the first Grand Master of the State of Oklahoma to be equally as well occupied. One major task of combining two grand jurisdictions was establishing a uniform ritual for the degrees. This task fell to a committee comprised of Grand Lecturer David D. Hoag, William M. Anderson, and William A. McBride.[14] During a Special Communication held over the course of two days at McAlester, beginning on February 8, 1910, the three degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry for the jurisdiction of the State of Oklahoma were conferred upon a series of candidates and adopted as the ritualistic work.[15] One man assisting with the degree conferrals was Joseph S. Murrow. He would himself be tasked with preparing a Masonic monitor for the new grand lodge, the written ritualistic work.[16] With the assistance of William M. Anderson, “The Murrow Masonic Monitor” was completed and remains in use today.

Muldrow’s most important administrative task surrounded the Masonic Children’s Home. In 1888 the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory had resolved to “raise funds therefor and secure legal title to a suitable body of land on which to erect a Masonic Orphanage.”[17] By 1907, temporary accommodations had been secured for the Masonic orphanage at the Murrow Indian Orphans’ Home in Atoka.[18] It was discovered in 1909 that the old Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian School Reservation at Darlington, four miles west of El Reno, was being offered to the city of El Reno for the appraised value of $73,288.41. Muldrow convinced the city of El Reno to relinquish its option to purchase the 634 acres and secured access for the Masonic orphans to the city high school. Muldrow’s work required visits to Washington, D.C., in order to help usher a bill through Congress allowing the Fraternity to purchase the property. With the sponsorship of Representative Dick T. Morgan and Senator Robert L. Owen (a Brother Mason), the bill made it out of committee, but not without help. Thanks to Brother J.H. Shephard of South McAlester Lodge No. 96, who was assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, the bill received the approval of the Department of Interior and did not become stalled in committee. The bill, which required three separate payments for the property, was passed by Congress in January of 1910.[19] Darlington would house the Masonic Home until it moved to Guthrie in 1922.

To help with the mission of Oklahoma A&M at Stillwater, a series of subsidiary schools were established at Tishomingo, Lawton, and Warner. Muldrow was made president of the college located at Tishomingo, but he did not remain in that city for much longer. He moved to Norman in 1914 and soon went to work for the Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company, remaining in their employ for forty years. In Norman, Muldrow began to serve on the Board of Education. Active in Democratic politics, he also managed two gubernatorial campaigns, which resulted in his appointment to the Board of Regents for the University of Oklahoma.[20]

Muldrow’s tenure on the Board of Regents saw him advocate for the Regents to not become involved with the powers and prerogatives of the university president. He also demanded that the Regents resist the overreach of elected officials in meddling with the business of the university, the campus was often susceptible to political whims.[21] While a Regent, Muldrow saw a need for housing for young Masons and the children of Masons who were attending the University of Oklahoma and proposed the idea to the McAlester Scottish Rite Valley[22]. It was reported that 184 young men on campus were Masons and that 484 boys and 463 girls were the children of Masons.[23] The Albert Pike Lodge of Perfection at McAlester purchased two plots of land in 1919 for $17,200 to erect dormitories on. The site that would become the boys’ dormitory was located at the corner of Boyd and University. What was to become the girls’ dormitory was located on the same block, north of what was then the Delta Delta Delta sorority house.[24] While the girls’ dormitory did not come to fruition, the cornerstone for the boys’ dormitory, known simply as the Masonic Dormitory, was laid on October 11, 1920.[25] The building opened in 1921 with accommodations for 135 students. Each pair of rooms was equipped with disappearing beds and an adjoining study room, providing living quarters for four young men. There was a lodge room located on the fourth floor, in the wing behind the tower, for use by the local DeMolay and Acacia chapters.[26] The total construction cost for the building was $250,000.[27]

Masonic Dormitory at the University of Oklahoma
(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)

Muldrow also had another moment of note arise while serving as a Regent, this time involving one of the university’s four original professors. Edwin C. DeBarr arrived in Norman in the autumn of 1892 to teach chemistry. DeBarr came to be well liked by his students and rose to prominence in Masonic circles. He was the eleventh Worshipful Master of Norman Lodge No. 38 and the first High Priest of Lion Chapter No. 24, R.A.M.; even serving as Grand Prelate of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Oklahoma in 1902.[28] Unfortunately, DeBarr was also involved with the Ku Klux Klan, eventually holding the position of Grand Dragon of Oklahoma and later Imperial Kludd.[29] DeBarr had in time become vice president of the university and when President Stratton D. Brooks was away from campus in August of 1922, DeBarr called for his fellow Klansmen to vote for Klansman Robert H. Wilson for governor.[30] Wilson was the state Superintendent of Public Education in 1917 when the campus’ new chemistry building was erected and named DeBarr Hall.[31] DeBarr’s actions were in direct violation of a decree issued by the Board of Regents banning faculty from becoming involved in the pro and anti-Klan politics of the day.[32] As Chairman of the Board of Regents, Muldrow called for DeBarr’s dismissal from the faculty. The Regents ultimately recommended that Debarr not retain his position as vice president. The gubernatorial election did not end well for DeBarr though, his candidate lost, five brand new Regents were appointed, and DeBarr was removed from the faculty at the University of Oklahoma in the summer of 1923.[33]

In October of 1929, the stock market crashed in the United States, thrusting the world into what would become known as the Great Depression. It became evident that Masonic relief would be needed and here Muldrow saw an opportunity for something good to be created. In 1929 the Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma had appropriated $80,000 for the Masonic Home, which was overseeing Masonic relief. The Home, which included children and adults in two separate locations now, had two hundred residents and a total of $13,329 was spent that year for the relief of those outside of the Home. The problem being faced was that while the Grand Lodge received donations and bequests by will, this all went into a general fund with an annual appropriation for Masonic relief. As applications for relief were numbering in the hundreds and climbing, it could very well take the entirety of the annual revenue to care for those requiring assistance. In 1930 Muldrow and a special committee brought a resolution before Grand Lodge that read in part:
…for the particular purpose of receiving, segregating and securing proper and efficient management, control, and use of such donations, gifts and bequests, as are properly intended for the financial support of our Masonic Homes and Masonic relief, and for the further purpose of encouraging charity, benevolence, education and philanthropy… there shall be created, incorporated and organized a holding company, or Masonic Charity Foundation.[34]
Upon adoption of the resolution, Muldrow became the Executive Secretary of the new foundation, a position he held until his death.[35] By 1932 the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma had a net worth of $59,858.33.[36] Today, the Foundation’s net assets exceed $90,000,000.

Muldrow also worked to spread further Masonic light in helping to organize the Red Cross of Constantine in Oklahoma, an invitational Masonic order for those who have made noteworthy contributions to the Fraternity. He remained committed to lifelong learning and spent ten years on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Historical Society, depositing a collection of annual proceedings of various Oklahoma Masonic orders in their archives.[37] Henry L. Muldrow passed away on May 16, 1951, and was laid to rest in the IOOF Cemetery of Norman, Oklahoma.[38] The fall Reunion of the McAlester Scottish Rite Valley that year, held September 22-23, was conducted in Muldrow’s honor. The two hundred men who took their 32nd Degree that day became known as “The Henry Lowndes Muldrow Class.”[39] It was a fitting memorial for a great Oklahoma Mason.

 Muldrow family grave marker at the Norman IOOF Cemetery


[1]  Charles Evans, "Henry Lowndes Muldrow," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 29, no. 4 (1951-1952): 394.
[2]  Evans, 394-395.
[3]  J. Fred Latham, The Story of Oklahoma Masonry: The First Seventy-Five Years of Symbolic Masonry 1874-1949 (Guthrie: Grand Lodge of Oklahoma, 1978), 201.
[4]  Evans, 395.
[5]  Harry F. O'Beirne, Leaders and Leading Men of the Indian Territory: With Interesting Biographical Sketches (Chicago: American Publishers Association, 1891), 1: 36-37.
[6]  Latham, 200.
[7]  Evans, 395.
[8]  Latham, 200.
[9]  Ibid., 200.
[10]  William E. Godfrey, ed., Grand Masters of Oklahoma (Oklahoma Lodge of Research, 1975), 31.
[11]  Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Thirty-Sixth Annual Communication (Guthrie, Okla.: The State Capital Company, 1909), 38.
[12]  Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Oklahoma: Seventeenth Annual Communication (Guthrie, 1909), 199.
[13]  Oklahoma: Seventeenth Annual Communication, 236.
[14]  Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of the State of Oklahoma: Second Annual Communication (Guthrie, 1910), 49.
[15]  Latham, 293.
[16]  State of Oklahoma: Second Annual Communication, 147.
[17]  Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Fourteenth Annual Communication (Muskogee, Ind. Ter.: Phoenix Steam Printing Company, 1888), 23.
[18]  William H. Phelps, Memories: Oklahoma Masonic Children’s Home (Oklahoma Lodge of Research, 1995), 1.
[19]  State of Oklahoma: Second Annual Communication, 84-86.
[20]  Evans, 396.
[21]  Ibid., 396.
[22]  "Masonic Dormitory Sets Pace for U.S.," The Daily Transcript (Norman, OK), October 19, 1919, https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc114177/m1/1/.
[23]  "The Beautiful Masonic Dormitory," The Daily Transcript (Norman, OK), January 1, 1920, https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc114238/m1/2/.
[24]  "Masons Purchase Two Building Sites on University Boulevard," The Daily Transcript (Norman, OK), November 6, 1919, https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc114193/m1/1/.
[25]  Robert T. Shipe, Cornerstones by Grand Lodges, A.F. & A.M. in Oklahoma: 1875-2015 (Guthrie: Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma, 2016), 423.
[26]  Elisha A. Paschall, "Masonic Dormitory is Completed: Beautiful Structure at Oklahoma University is Campus Home for Masons and Sons of Masons," The Acacia Journal 16, no. 1 (1921): 61, https://books.google.com/books?id=dXTorvYplfsC&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q&f=false.
[27]  "Norman Building is Over Million, Says O.U. Publicity Man," The Daily Transcript (Norman, OK), June 27, 1920, https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc114381/m1/4/.
[28]  Oklahoma Templary (vertical file, T.S. Akers Private Collection).
[29]  David W. Levy, “The Rise and Fall and Rise and Fall of Edwin (“Daddy”) DeBarr,” The Chronicles of Oklahoma 88, no. 3 (2010): 298.
[30]  Levy, 299.
[31]  Ibid., 293.
[32]  Ibid., 298.
[33]  Ibid., 300-302.
[34]  Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of the State of Oklahoma: Twenty-Second Annual Communication (Guthrie, 1930), 203-205.
[35]  Evans, 397.
[36]  Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of the State of Oklahoma: Twenty-Fourth Annual Communication (Guthrie, 1932), 216-217.
[37]  Evans, 397-399.
[38]  Latham, 200.
[39]  Evans, 400.