Historic Oklahoma Masonic Photo Archive

 

T.S. Akers surveys historic Templar photos

When I was conducting research for my book Knights on the Prairie: A History of Templary in Oklahoma in 2012, I made a startling discovery.  I quickly learned that the state of our Masonic photo archives across the state was actually quite poor.  Upon being appointed Curator of Collections at the McAlester Valley of the Ancient and Accept Scottish Rite in 2014, the reality of the condition of our Masonic photo archives was only further cemented.  I immediately knew that something had to be done to rectify this before our historic photos were lost.

It was in 2013 that the worst case scenario struck the Masonic bodies of Okmulgee.  After 87 years on the top floor of the McCullough Building, a fire considerably damaged the meeting hall of Gethsemane Commandery No. 25.  That particular Commandery of Knights Templar had a long history of award winning drill teams and possessed numerous photos of those famed drill teams.  Fortunately, the fire was reasonably contained and those historic photos were not lost.  Unfortunately, the fire forced Gethsemane Commandery No. 25 to consolidate with Muskogee Commandery No. 2 in 2014. 

Knowing that we were just one fire, tornado, or flood away from losing a great deal of our state’s Masonic history, I began to explore a partnership with the Oklahoma Historical Society in 2015.  As Grand Captain General of Knights Templar of Oklahoma, I initially only sought to preserve historic Oklahoma Templar photos.  Our Grand High Priest of Royal Arch Masons, Clyde Schoolfield, also saw the benefit of this initiative; which expanded the project to preserve all historic York Rite photos.

To date, the partnership with the Oklahoma Historical Society has resulted in over 30 historic Masonic photos being preserved.  The photos are actually donated to the Oklahoma Historical Society, where they will be stored in perpetuity, who in turn scans the images.  The photos will be available to researchers through the Oklahoma Historical Society of course, but copies are also provided to the Grand York Rite bodies at no charge. 

To view the online archive please follow the link:  Oklahoma Masonic Photos

 

 1925 Templar Parade Marshals, Tulsa

Bohumil Makovsky: Masonic Bandsman

By T.S. Akers

 Bohumil Makovsky

Freemasons are directed to study the Liberal Arts and Sciences in the Fellowcraft degree.  Masonic teachings tell us that those include grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.  In Oklahoma, one Brother was particularly adept at music.  Born in Frantisky Bohemia, on September 23, 1878, Bohumil “Boh” Makovsky arrived in the United States at age seventeen.[i]  He made his way to Nebraska to join his Sister’s family where he took an apprenticeship with a cigar maker.  Unable to speak English, Makovsky was skilled with his Albert System Clarinet.[ii]  It was Makovsky’s Uncle who taught him to play the clarinet, as Makovsky had little formal education.[iii]

An accomplished musician, Makovsky soon began leading a band in Nebraska.  It was in 1903 that his band was booked to play in Davis, Oklahoma Territory.  Upon arrival, the band learned there was no gig, so Makovsky paid the band members and made his way to Oklahoma City.  There he gave music lessons and played the State Fair on a regular basis.  Oklahoma also happened to be home to an Eastern European community, which allowed for Makovsky to lead polka bands in Woodward, Yukon, and Prague.[iv]

Makovsky settled in Woodward in time and there found himself knocking on the doors of Freemasonry.  On May 21, 1908, he was initiated an Entered Apprentice in Woodward Lodge No. 189 AF&AM.  Makovsky would then be passed to the degree of Fellowcraft on July 2 and raised to the degree of Master Mason on August 6.[v]  During the Reunion of October 6-8, 1908, at Guthrie, he took the degrees of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.[vi]  It was by becoming a Masonic ritualist and committing large portions of degree work to memory that Makovsky was able to master the English language.[vii]

In 1915, Makovsky was asked to become the Band Director at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University).  With that title, he also became the Director of Music.[viii]  Makovsky then made his home in Stillwater, affiliating with Frontier Lodge No. 48 AF&AM in 1918; he was Worshipful Master of the lodge in 1922.[ix]  Makovsky would serve at Oklahoma A&M until 1943.[x]  A bit eccentric, one colleague described Makovsky as the most unforgettable characters he had ever known.  For example, Makovsky liked to refer to rare instruments owned by the school as “his pets.”[xi]

Makovsky in his Oklahoma A&M band uniform, c. 1923

An active Scottish Rite Mason, Makovsky long served as Organist at the Guthrie Temple.  He was elected a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor in 1921 and coroneted a 33^rd Degree in 1927.[xii]  Makovsky was also a York Rite Mason and served as Commander of St. John’s Commandery No. 8, Knights Templar, stationed at Stillwater, in 1928.  He additionally served as High Priest of Stillwater Chapter No. 14, Royal Arch Masons in 1921.  Makovsky was the first Illustrious Master of Stillwater Council No. 50, Royal and Select Masters in 1949.

 Makovsky's Knight Templar Sword

(From the collections of the McAlester Scottish Rite Temple)

Makovsky earned numerous honors throughout his lifetime.  He received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Tulsa and was the first honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi, a music fraternity.  Kappa Kappa Psi would come to call Makovsky their “Guiding Spirit.”  He was also bestowed the title of “The Great Father of Oklahoma Music” by the Kiowa Tribe.[xiii]  Makovsky would be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1938.[xiv]  His trademark crushed velvet bowtie and saxophone shaped pipe were long remembered in Stillwater[xv].  Makovsky died on June 12, 1950, and was laid to rest in Fairlawn Cemetery of Cushing, Oklahoma.[xvi]

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[i]  “Facts About Boh,” Kappa Kappa Psi Alpha Chapter, accessed July 21, 2015, http://www.okstate.edu/osu_orgs/kkp/Boh.html.

[ii]  “Bohumil Makovsky,” Kappa Kappa Psi Alpha Chapter, accessed July 21, 2015, http://www.orgs.okstate.edu/kkp/boh.html.

[iii]  “Facts About Boh.”

[iv]  “Bohumil Makovsky.”

[v]  “Makovsky, Bohumil” (member profile, Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma AF&AM).

[vi]  “Makovsky, Bohumil” (member profile, Guthrie Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite).

[vii]  “Bohumil Makovsky.”

[viii]  Ibid.

[ix]  “Makovsky, Bohumil” (member profile, Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma AF&AM).

[x] “Facts About Boh.”

[xi]  Ibid.

[xii]  “Makovsky, Bohumil” (member profile, Guthrie Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite).

[xiii]  “Facts About Boh.”

[xiv]  “Inductees,” Oklahoma Hall of Fame, accessed July 21, 2015, http://www.oklahomahof.com/Inductees/SearchbyDate.aspx.

[xv]  “Facts About Boh.”

[xvi]  “Bohumil Makovsky,” Find A Grave, accessed July 21, 2015, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7210498.

General Roy V. Hoffman, Soldier and Freemason

An excerpt from Masonic Generals of the Oklahoma National Guard: 1894-1965

By T.S. Akers

Major General Hoffman, c. 1918

(Courtesy of the Library of Congress) 

General Hoffman was born in Neosho County, Kansas, on June 13, 1869.  Of German ancestry, several of Hoffman’s ancestors held positions in the court of Imperial Germany.  His father Peter was a rancher and Hoffman became a cowboy at a young age.  Hoffman attended public school infrequently and the majority of his education was obtained at home.  He studied at the Kansas Normal College at Fort Scott, Kansas, for two years.  In addition to teaching in Fort Scott, Hoffman also read the law under an attorney by the name of Colonel Harris. 

When the Oklahoma Territory was opened, Hoffman made the Run of 1889.  Upon arriving in Guthrie, he found employment in the United States Land Office.  Hoffman would also found a newspaper, the Guthrie Leader, serving as editor.  He continued to study the law in Guthrie as well, in the firm of Speed & Hackney; being admitted to the bar in 1892.  Hoffman would also make his way into public service that year, as he became private secretary to Governor William C. Renfrow.  One of his tasks in this post was laying out the county lines for Oklahoma Territory. 

While residing at Chandler, Hoffman took the degrees of Freemasonry in Chandler Lodge No. 58.  He was made an Entered Apprentice on July 2, 1898, and passed to the degree of Fellowcraft on July 5.  Hoffman was raised to the degree of Master Mason that same day.  This was likely due to the fact that Hoffman had enlisted as a private in the 1st Territorial Volunteer Infantry, as war had erupted with Spain, and he would soon be leaving for the army.  During the Reunion of August 4-5, 1898, Hoffman took the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite at Guthrie.  His degrees were conferred by Harper S. Cunningham, first Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Oklahoma.

Hoffman helped to raise Company K of the 1st Territorial Volunteer Infantry from the counties of Pottawatomie, Osage, Lincoln, and Oklahoma.  He would ultimately serve as captain of Company K.  Unfortunately, the 1st Territorial Volunteer Infantry never saw action and spent the duration of the war in camp in Georgia.  Hoffman secured leave while stationed in Georgia to return to the Oklahoma Territory to marry Estelle Conklin on October 5, 1898.  When the Oklahoma contingent of the 1st Territorial Volunteer Infantry returned home, Hoffman continued in military service.  He became lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Oklahoma Infantry Regiment in 1900 and when the commander was killed in 1901 at Kingfisher, Hoffman was made colonel of the regiment.

When statehood arrived for Oklahoma in 1907, Hoffman had been serving as Assistant U.S. Attorney since 1903.  It was under the direction of Frank M. Canton, who was appointed Adjutant General in 1907, that Hoffman would author the National Guard Maintenance Bill.  The bill allowed for the creation of a 945 man regiment with one company of engineers, one hospital unit, and one signals unit, along with a reserve militia.  In the faithful hands of Canton, the billed passed the legislature by two votes on May 22, 1908.  The year 1907 also saw Hoffman make a bid for the United States Senate, though he lost election by a very narrow margin.  In 1908, he became District Judge of the Tenth District, serving until 1912.  Additionally, Hoffman was appointed to the Board of Affairs in 1909 by Governor Charles N. Haskell and elected chairman.

It was Hoffman who went into the field to bring in Chitto Harjo, the leader known as Crazy Snake, when rebellion erupted at the Hickory Ground near Henryetta in 1909.  On March 28, Hoffman arrived in the area with five companies.  Military telephone lines were built and the Guardsmen hiked into the mountainous region, traversing twenty-one miles on the first day’s march to Pierce, near the home of Harjo.  About 150 followers of Harjo were arrested during the operation, which concluded on April 1.  Though Harjo managed to escape capture, this first test of the new National Guard of the State of Oklahoma was a success as not one man was injured.

Hoffman, an active votary of Freemasonry, was made a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor in the Guthrie Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in 1907 and coroneted a 33rd Degree in 1909.  He moved to Oklahoma City in 1915 and there entered into the firm of Burford, Robertson, and Hoffman.  John H. Burford was a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma Territory.  In time, the firm would become Burford, Miley, Hoffman, and Burford.  J.H. Miley and Frank Burford both served on the Supreme Court as well.  Hoffman was also a stockholder in seven banks and an investor in several businesses.  He was particularly interested in land and oil.

When Pancho Villa became a problem on the Mexican Border in 1916, Hoffman was again at the helm of the Oklahoma National Guard.  Called into active service on June 19, 1916, the 1st Oklahoma Infantry Regiment was stationed at San Benito in the Brownsville District.  The regiment would be mustered out of federal service on March 2, 1917, at Fort Sill, only to be federalized again on March 31, for service in Europe.  At that time, Hoffman was the most senior colonel in the National Guard.  For this reason, and his experience, he was made a brigadier general on August 6, 1917.  Hoffman, along with Adjutant General Ancel S. Earp, was tasked with recruiting men to meet Oklahoma’s quota for soldiers.  This was no easy task as Hoffman penned in 1922:

…after more than four months of efforts in calling for volunteers we were still short more than fifty percent of the number necessary to fill the organization.   Let this be the answer when any one says we could have raised an army without the draft.

The Oklahoma National Guard would be combined with the Texas National Guard to form the 36th Infantry Division.  Hoffman went to Europe commanding the 93rd Infantry Division, an African American unit attached to the 157th French Division.  He served in the Toul Sector, was with the 1st Division at the battle of Cantigny, was part of the defense of the Picardy Sector, and fought at the battle of St. Mihiel.  The 93rd Infantry Division would be awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm for its service to France and Hoffman himself was made a Commander of the Legion of Honor by Marshall Foch, Generalissimo of the Allied Armies. 

General Hoffman and aides at Division headquarters, Maffrecourt, France

(Courtesy of Critical Past)

Incapacitated by injuries suffered from gas attacks, Hoffman returned to the United States.  Upon his return, Hoffman was posted at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, where he began the organization of the 101st Infantry Division before being discharged in March of 1919.  He assumed command of the 190th Infantry Brigade of the 95th Infantry Division, an element of the organized reserves, when that unit was re-organized in 1921.  In 1931, Hoffman was made commander of the 45th Infantry Division with the rank of major general.  He remained in that position until his retirement in June of 1933.

General Hoffman with Governor Robertson, 1919

(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)

Hoffman served as a civilian aide to the Secretary of War immediately following World War I in addition to being an advocate for veterans.  He helped to organize the American Legion, serving as commander of Oklahoma, and also served as President of the Reserve Officers Association.  Hoffman’s legal career would see him represent Phillips Petroleum, Standard of Indiana, and the Prairie Oil Company, which became the Sinclair Oil Company.  He once quipped about his business experiences, “[I] have been into nearly everything except train robbing.”  Hoffman died on June 18, 1953, and was laid to rest in Oak Park Cemetery of Chandler.

General Hoffman visiting the 120th Observation Squadron at Fort Sill, 1932

(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)

Masonic Generals of the Oklahoma National Guard: 1894-1965

This book is a collection of biographical sketches of the Adjutants General of the Oklahoma National Guard and Commanding Generals of the 45th Infantry Division who also held membership in the Masonic Fraternity of Oklahoma.

Chocked full of photos, the book chronicles the lives and careers of the nine Adjutants General and six Commanding Generals of the 45th from 1894 to 1965 who were Freemasons.

Proceeds benefit the museum of the McAlester Scottish Rite Valley.

Available here from Amazon.

The general officers considered:

The Adjutant General
Philip C. Rosenbaum
Alva J. Niles
Frank M. Canton
Ancel S. Earp
Ennis H. Gipson
Charles F. Barrett
Baird H. Markham
Louis A. Ledbetter
Roy W. Kenny

The 45th Infantry Division
Baird H. Markham
Roy V. Hoffman
William S. Key
James C. Styron
Hal L. Muldrow, Jr.
Frederick A. Daugherty

James J. McAlester: Pioneer Freemason

By. T.S. Akers

Oklahoma has two great Masonic cities.  One had dreams of being the state capital and it would ultimately serve in a similar capacity as it became home to the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma.  The vestiges of Freemasonry are still very evident in Guthrie, ranging from the old Masonic Children’s Home to the imposing Scottish Rite Temple perched atop what was to be Capitol Hill at the end of Oklahoma Avenue.  The other city was born of a Freemason and though many of her Masonic halls are now fading memories, such as Mount Moriah, McAlester is still one of the great Masonic cities of Oklahoma.

McAlester is named for the famed merchant of Indian Territory James J. McAlester, who was immortalized by Charles Portis in his novel True Grit.[i]  McAlester was born in Sebastian County, Arkansas on October 1, 1842.  At the outbreak of the Civil War, McAlester volunteered for service in the Confederate Army, rising to the rank of Captain.[ii]  McAlester was present at the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862 and escorted the body of the Late General Benjamin McCulloch to Fort Smith.[iii]

 James J. McAlester
(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society) 

McAlester took up residence in Fort Smith after the Civil War, boarding with an engineer by the name of Oliver Weldon who had surveyed the Indian Territory.  Armed with Weldon’s memorandum book that noted the coal outcrops at the crossroads of the Texas and California Roads, McAlester set out for Indian Territory.[iv]  Serving as a teamster, McAlester was helping transport a saw-mill to Fort Sill.  In about 1868, McAlester became a salesman for the firm of Reynolds and Hannaford; ultimately buying out his partners.[v]  It was in 1869 that McAlester opened his general store, in a tent, at “The Crossroads.”[vi]  

A few years later in 1872, McAlester married Rebecca Burney, sister of future Chickasaw Governor Ben Burney, which gave McAlester full citizenship in the Chickasaw Nation as well as rights in the Choctaw Nation.[vii]  This allowed McAlester to stake a claim in the coal deposits at “The Crossroads.”[viii]  Owing to the quality of the coal in the area, which McAlester had a controlling interest in, the MKT Railroad established a line through what was then Tobucksy County.  This would help the city of McAlester to flourish.[ix]  Officials of the MKT Railroad gave the railway stop at the “The Crossroads” the name McAlester.[x]

McAlester accepted his first political appointment as a Democrat in 1893 as United States Marshal having jurisdiction over matters with the Choctaw Nation, a post he would hold until 1897.[xi]  McAlester sold his mercantile to another area Mason, William Busby, in 1904.[xii]  It was during this period that McAlester was engaged in banking.  In 1901, McAlester appeared in the City Directory of Denison, Texas, as Vice President of the National Bank of Denison.[xiii]  By 1905, McAlester was serving as President of the Bank of McAlester.[xiv]  McAlester’s banking interests secured him a seat on the Corporation Commission after Statehood for a term from 1907 to 1911.[xv]  McAlester left the Corporation Commission to serve as the second Lieutenant Governor under Governor Lee Cruce.  McAlester was acting Governor in the absence of Cruce on at least one occasion, as evidenced by his issuing a pardon in 1915 in the case of Sibenaler v State.[xvi]

For all that McAlester did to see that the city that bore his name flourished; he was an equal proponent of Freemasonry.  Records indicate that McAlester affiliated with Muscogee (Eufaula) Lodge No. 1 in December of 1876, serving as Junior Warden of that Lodge in 1877.[xvii]  McAlester Lodge No. 9 was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory on September 5, 1877.[xviii]  McAlester then affiliated with Lodge No. 9 in 1878.[xix]

McAlester would go on to be a charter member of two Masonic bodies in Southeastern Oklahoma.  In 1878, McAlester along with a number of other Companions petitioned for a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and a charter was granted to Indian Chapter No. 1 in August of 1880.[xx]  McAlester was also one of the Sir Knights who petitioned for a Commandery of Knights Templar in 1894.[xxi]  

When the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Indian Territory was formed in 1890, McAlester was elected the first Grand Treasurer.[xxii]  McAlester also served as first Grand Treasurer of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Indian Territory in 1895.[xxiii]  As further evidence of his financial prowess, McAlester also saw service as Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory from 1878 to 1879 and 1889 to 1899.[xxiv]

J.J. McAlester in Templar uniform with Frank Smith, Past Grand Commander of Indian Territory
(Unknown Source)

James J. McAlester laid down the working tools of life on September 21, 1920, in the city that bore his name.[xxv]  As a testament to his life, the Oklahoman noted the following on McAlester’s death:

Followed probably by the largest concourse of mourners ever witnessed in this city, the remains of Col. J.J. McAlester were buried today in the Masonic cemetery here. Funeral services were conducted at the residence and were heard by nearly 2,000 people.
Out of respect for the memory of Colonel McAlester and the fact that he was the founder of this city, business and industrial life of the city was at a standstill from 2 until 4 o'clock this afternoon.
Preceding the funeral at the home, the Kadosh funeral rites were exemplified at the Masonic temple at midnight. In the procession behind the funeral bier on its way to the cemetery were the allied Masonic bodies, in which Colonel McAlester had been active, the confederate veterans in uniform, the allied civic organizations, 200 members of the chamber of commerce, the United Daughters of the Confederacy and other women's organizations.[xxvi]

The hand of James J. McAlester can still be seen across the city of McAlester today, from the buildings that bore his name to the Masonic halls he once graced, McAlester lives on in the city he helped establish.

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[i]  “History of McAlester.” McAlester, OK, accessed May 7, 2014, http://www.cityofmcalester.com/index.aspx?nid=130.

[ii]  LaRadius Allen, “McAlester, James Jackson (1842-1920),” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, accessed May 7, 2014, http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/M/MC003.html.

[iii]  Clyde Wooldridge, McAlester: The Capital of Little Dixie : A History of McAlester, Krebs and South McAlester (Rich Hill, MO: Bell Books, 2001), 8-9.

[iv]  Allen.

[v]  Wooldridge, 8-9.

[vi]  Jeanne LeFlore, “McAlester History,” McAlester News-Capital, last modified July 23, 2013, http://www.mcalesternews.com/local/x1724758902/McAlester-History.

[vii]  Allen.

[viii]  Ibid.

[ix]  Wooldridge, 8-9.

[x]  Paul Nesbitt, “J.J. McAlester,” Chronicles of Oklahoma 11, no. 2 (1933): 758-764.

[xi]  “Necrology,” Chronicles of Oklahoma 5, no. 3 (1927): 352.

[xii]  Wooldridge, 69.

[xiii]  “James Jackson McAlester,” Grayson County TXGenWeb, accessed May 7, 2014, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txgrayso/Ethnic/Native%20American/Choctaw/Choctaw_JamesMcAlester.html.

[xiv]  Wooldridge, 80.

[xv]  “Necrology.”

[xvi]  “James Jackson McAlester,” Grayson County TXGenWeb.

[xvii]  “McAlester, James Jackson” (member profile, Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma AF&AM).

[xviii]  Oklahoma Masonic Centennial Lodges 1874-1974 (Oklahoma: Oklahoma Lodge of Research, 1974), 9.

[xix]  “McAlester, James Jackson” (member profile).

[xx]  Norman E. Angel, Kenneth S. Adams, and William A. Hensley, History of the Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons of Oklahoma (Oklahoma: 1964), 2-3.

[xxi]  “McAlester Commandery No. 3” (charter, Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America, August 29, 1895).

[xxii]  Angel, 12.

[xxiii]  Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Oklahoma, Proceedings of the 118^th Annual Conclave (Oklahoma:  2013).

[xxiv]  “McAlester, James Jackson” (member profile).

[xxv]  Allen.

[xxvi]  “Capt. James Jackson McAlester,” Find A Grave, accessed May 7, 2014, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13398592.

The Commanderies of Oklahoma

 By T.S. Akers

 

Officers of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Oklahoma in Ponca City, 1923

(Courtesy of the Grand Commandery of Oklahoma)

It is the job of the Historian to relate the events of the past by analyzing the primary sources of the day and paint an accurate picture of what actually occurred.  Sometimes this can be as simple as lists with bare facts and while that can be a bore, they are often essential for other Historians and can contain vital information. 

In Oklahoma, a total of fifty-three Commanderies of Knights Templar have received charters.  Unfortunately, a number of Grand Commanders have had to make the hard decision to revoke charters in order to secure the survival of the Order, while other Commanderies chose to consolidate with nearby Commanderies or simply ceased to exist.  Today there are sixteen active Commanderies in Oklahoma, perpetuating the legacy put forth by their predecessors.

The following is a complete listing of all fifty-three Commanderies of Oklahoma and their present status.

Guthrie No. 1                           July 12, 1890(d)           Guthrie

                                                August 11, 1892(c)

Muskogee No. 2                      October 1, 1891(d)      Muskogee

                                                August 11, 1892(c)

Oklahoma No. 3                      March 5, 1892(d)         Oklahoma City

                                                August 11, 1892(c)

Ascension No. 4                       May 8, 1893(d)            El Reno

                                                August 29, 1895(c)

- Consolidated with Oklahoma No. 3 in 1965

Chickasaw No. 5                     May 31, 1894(d)          Purcell

                                                August 29, 1895(c)

- Consolidated with Norman No. 38 in 1934

McAlester No. 6                      July 14, 1894(d)           McAlester

                                                August 29, 1895(c)

DeMolay No. 7                        August 19, 1896           Chickasha

- Consolidated with Lawton No. 18 in 2008

St. Johns No. 8                        February 1, 1897         Stillwater

Ardmore No. 9                        November 2, 1897       Ardmore

Perry No. 10                            April 10, 1900              Perry

- Consolidated with St. Johns No. 8 in 1987

Cyrene No. 11                         April 10, 1901              Kingfisher

- Charter surrendered in 1932

Pawnee No. 12                        April 10, 1901              Pawnee

- Charter surrendered in 1939

Enid No. 13                             February 14, 1902       Enid

- Consolidated with Guthrie No. 1 in 2004

Ben Hur No. 14                       February 12, 1903       Ponca City

Hobart No. 15                         February 16, 1905       Hobart

- Consolidated with Lawton No. 18 in 1990

Ada No. 16                              April 22, 1905              Ada

- Consolidated with Shawnee No. 36 in 1998

Weatherford No. 17                 February 15, 1906       Weatherford

- Charter surrendered in 1934

Lawton No. 18                        February 15, 1906       Lawton

Frederick No. 19                     February 15, 1906       Frederick

- Charter surrendered in 1939

Trinity No. 20                           April 19, 1906              Tulsa

Ivanhoe No. 21                        March 20, 1907           Sayre

- Charter surrendered in 1955

Elk City No. 22                        March 20, 1907           Elk City

Emmanuel No. 23                     March 20, 1907           Blackwell

- Consolidated with Ben Hur No. 14 in 1990

Lincoln No. 24                         March 20, 1907           Chandler

- Charter surrendered in 1940

Gethsemane No. 25                  April 23, 1908              Okmulgee
- Consolidated with Muskogee No. 2 in 2014

Calvary No. 26                        April 23, 1908              Bartlesville

- Charter surrendered in 2025

Eldorado No. 27                      February 16, 1909       Eldorado

- Consolidated with Lawton No. 18 in 1939

Okemah No. 28                       April 23, 1909              Okemah

- Consolidated with Gethsemane No. 25 in 1938

St. Aumer No. 29                     March 8, 1910             Taloga

- Now stationed in Woodward

Hugo No. 30                            April 22, 1910              Hugo

- Charter arrested in 1983

Durant No. 31                          April 22, 1910              Durant

- Charter surrendered in 1928

Hugh de Payen No. 32             April 22, 1910              Atoka

- Consolidated with Ada No. 16 in 1939

Sapulpa No. 33                        April 22, 1910              Sapulpa

- Consolidated with Trinity No. 20 in 1968

Foraker No. 34                        February 21, 1911       Foraker

- Charter surrendered in 1920

Palestine No. 35                       February 21, 1911       Pawhuska

- Charter surrendered in 1954

Shawnee No. 36                      April 19, 1912              Shawnee

- Consolidated with Norman No. 38 in 2009

St. Augustine No. 37                April 19, 1912              Alva

- Charter surrendered in 1932

Norman No. 38                        April 24, 1914              Norman

Malta No. 39                           April 21, 1916              Heavener

- Consolidated with Hugo No. 30 in 1954

Poteau No. 40                          April 21, 1916              Poteau

- Consolidated with Malta No. 39 in 1939

Claremore No. 41                    April 21, 1916              Claremore

- Charter revoked 1955

Cushing No. 42                        April 17, 1919              Cushing

- Moved to Drumright in 1978 as Cimarron Valley No. 42
- Consolidated with St. Johns No. 8 in 2017

Holdenville No. 43                   May 17, 1922              Holdenville

- Charter revoked in 1948

Cleveland No. 44                     May 17, 1922              Cleveland

- Charter revoked in 1940

Bethlehem No. 45                    May 17, 1922              Oklahoma City

- Consolidated with Capitol Hill No. 53 in 2006

Duncan No. 46                        May 23, 1923              Duncan

- Consolidated with DeMolay No. 7 in 1967

Drumright No. 47                     May 21, 1924              Drumright

- Consolidated with Cushing No. 42 in 1964

Hominy No. 48                        May 20, 1925              Hominy

- Consolidated with Drumright No. 47 in 1954

Miami No. 49                           May 18, 1927              Miami

- Charter revoked in 1998

Hugh de Payen No. 50             April 26, 1960              Atoka

- Charter revoked in 1979

Guymon No. 51                       April 25, 1961              Guymon

- Consolidated with St. Aumer No 29 in 2005

Tipton No. 52                          May 8, 1989                Tipton

- Consolidated with Lawton No. 18 in 1995

Capitol Hill No. 53                   May 8, 1989                Oklahoma City

- Consolidated with Oklahoma No. 3 in 2024

________________________

(d) - date of dispensation 

(c) - date of charter
These charter dates were compiled from the Annual Proceedings of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Oklahoma.

General William S. Key, Soldier and Freemason

By T.S. Akers

Major General William S. Key

The profession of arms and the fraternity of Freemasonry have long marched together.  The British military has throughout its years had Masonic Lodges attached to several of its regiments.  Jessica Harland-Jacobs chronicles the history of Freemasonry in the British Empire in her book Builders of Empire, illustrating how Irish military lodges spread the influence of Freemasonry across the Empire.[i]  The idea of Manifest Destiny in the United States also helped with the spread of Freemasonry.  One can find evidence of Freemasons stationed at the various frontier posts, such as Fort Larned, Kansas; where soldiers with time on their hands carved their names and the square and compasses into the soft stone that comprised the fort’s buildings.

Oklahoma is no exception when it comes to military activity and the advance of Freemasonry.  Several Masonic leaders in Oklahoma have had noteworthy military careers, one of those being Major General William Shaffer Key. 

General Key was born in Dudleyville, Alabama on October 6, 1889.[ii]  Both of his grandfathers had served the Confederacy during the Civil War.[iii]  Key enlisted in the Georgia National Guard on April 7, 1907 and served as a private until 1910 when he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Infantry.[iv]  It was in 1911 that Key made his way to Oklahoma, setting up his residence in Wewoka.  There he established the Key Hardware Company and the Wewoka Gas Company.[v]  On July 12, 1912, Key enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard and was again commissioned a First Lieutenant in 1914.[vi]  It was in Wewoka that he met his future bride Irene Davis and they were married in 1914.[vii]

Key first saw action in 1916 with the First Infantry on the Mexican Border during the Punitive Expedition.  He would be mustered into Federal service a second time in 1917 when the Oklahoma National Guard left for France.  Key rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during WWI, serving as Quartermaster of the 7^th Division.  He would participate in the Champagne Defensive, Chateau Thiery, St. Mihiel, and the Meusse-Argonne Offensive.[viii]

In 1924, Key was appointed to serve as Warden of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester.   During his tenure there he was able to place the prison on a self operating basis requiring no state appropriation for maintenance.  Key moved to Oklahoma City in 1927 and became an independent oil and gas operator and built the Key Building which he owned and operated.  In addition to serving as Chairman of the State Pardon and Parole Board from 1928 to 1932, Key also served as the director of the Security National Bank (1928-1929) and the First National Bank and Trust Company (1929-1933).  He again served as Warden of the State Penitentiary in 1935 at the appointment of Governor E.W. Marland.[ix]

Key found himself in Federal service once more in 1935 as the head of the Works Progress Administration in Oklahoma.  In this capacity he oversaw the construction of more than 350 schools and twenty libraries.  Of the 126 armories built in the United States during this period, fifty-three were constructed in Oklahoma.  The WPA provided $43 million in funds to Oklahoma by March of 1937 and employed over one hundred thousand Oklahomans.[x]  Key entered the political arena briefly in 1938 as the Democratic candidate for governor.  He was defeated by Leon C. Phillips in a 3,000 vote margin.[xi]

Key, having been made a Brigadier General in 1928, was promoted to Major General of the Line in 1937.[xii]  As Commander of the 45^th Infantry Division, he was mobilized for maneuvers in Louisiana and then assumed command of Fort Sill.  In October of 1942, Key received his orders for Europe as Provost Marshall General of the United States Army.  He would next be posted as Commanding General of the American Forces in Iceland, this being one of the most strategic points as it commanded the sea and air lanes to Europe.  For his service in Iceland, Key would be made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Falcon.  He would complete his WWII service in Hungary as Head of the American Armistice Control, directing the successful repatriation of thousands of Hungarian displaced persons.[xiii]

Key had numerous passions throughout his lifetime.  One of those was the Indian and military history of Oklahoma, his adopted home.  Key was first elected to the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Historical Society in 1927.  He went on to serve as Vice President from 1936 to 1950 and acting President in 1948 until his election as President in 1950.  Key remained as President of the Board until 1958.  During his tenure on the Board, the Oklahoma Historical Society broadened its program of work including the marking of historic sites across the state.[xiv]

One of Key’s other passions was Freemasonry.  He was raised a Master Mason in Seminole Lodge No. 147 at Wewoka in 1913, serving as Worshipful Master in 1921.  Key took the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (AASR) in 1920 at Indian Consistory in McAlester.  He would be exalted to the august degree of Royal Arch Mason in Indian Chapter No. 1 and become a Royal and Select Master of Union Council No. 3 both of McAlester.  Key was dubbed and created a Knight of the Temple in Bethlehem Commandery No. 45 of Oklahoma City.[xv]

Key was decorated a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor of the Scottish Rite in 1929 and coroneted a Thirty-Third Degree Mason in 1937.  During this period he was also elected to the Board of the Masonic Charity Foundation in 1930, serving as President in 1950.  That same year Key was appointed Deputy of the Supreme Council of the AASR upon the death of Sovereign Grand Inspector General Rufus Renfrew.  Key was elected an Active Member of the Supreme Council in 1951 and served as Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Oklahoma until his death in 1959.[xvi]

Like many great Oklahoma Masons, Key made a lasting contribution to the landscape of Oklahoma Freemasonry.  Prior to his death he secured Letters Temporary for a Scottish Rite Valley in Tulsa.  It was at the third Reunion of the Tulsa Valley in 1958 that Key invited Sovereign Grand Commander Luther A. Smith to attend.  Key made the trip to Tulsa from Oklahoma City each day of the three day Reunion that December.  Grand Commander Smith noted that Key did not look well, but Key seemed as lively as ever.[xvii]  Key would pass to that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens on January 5, 1959.[xviii]

Key’s funeral was held at the First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.  The officiates were Herschel Hobbs, a member of Guthrie Scottish Rite and Chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Dr. John Wesley Raley, president of Oklahoma Baptist University and former Assistant Division Chaplain of the 45^th Infantry Division.[xix]

Upon learning of the passing of Key, his wife received the following message from the President.

            January 21, 1959

            Dear Mrs. Key:

Word reached me recently of the death, early this month of General Key.  He was a fine soldier and citizen, and served his country with devotion and courage.  I was fortunate to count him among my friends.

            Mrs. Eisenhower joins me in deepest sympathy to you.

            Sincerely,

            Dwight D. Eisenhower[xx]

General William Shaffer Key embodied all that defined the American citizen soldier.  He once remarked “The greatest thing in life is friends.  They comprise the greatest wealth a person may have…”[xxi]  Key was widely respected in the many facets of his life and many would be well served to emulate his example.  

 

William S. Key, 33° 

(From the collections of the McAlester Scottish Rite)

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[i]  Jessica L. Harland-Jacobs, Builders of Empire: Freemasons and British Imperialism, 1717-1927 (North Carolina:  The University of North Carolina Press, 2007).

[ii]  “Key, William Shaffer,” Oklahoma Historical Society’s Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, <http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/k/ke014.html>, Accessed 31 October 2013.

[iii]  Muriel H. Wright, “William Shaffer Key: Oklahoma Patriot,” The Chronicles of Oklahoma 37 (1959):  138.

[iv]  Oklahoma Military Department, Historical Annual National Guard of the State of Oklahoma 1938 (Baton Rouge, Louisiana:  Army and Navy Publishing Co., 1938), 23.

[v]  Wright, 141.

[vi]  Oklahoma Military Department, 23.

[vii]  Robert G. Davis, The Honored Men of Oklahoma Scottish Rite Masonry (Oklahoma:  Oklahoma Lodge of Research, 1997), 55.

[viii]  Oklahoma Military Department, 23.

[ix]  Wright, 141-142.

[x]  “Key, William Shaffer.”

[xi]  Wright, 142.

[xii]  Oklahoma Military Department, 23.

[xiii]  Wright, 139-141.

[xiv]  Ibid., 143.

[xv]  Davis, 58.

[xvi]  Ibid., 58.

[xvii]  Ibid., 59.

[xviii]  “Key, William Shaffer.”

[xix]  Davis, 59.

[xx]  Wright, 148.

[xxi]  Davis., 55.