The Junior Warden's Station

The Lodge The beautiful old handmade furniture inside of Waller Lodge #808 was donated by Holland Lodge #1 to the Waller Lodge in 1911. Since the furniture was used in the first lodge in Texas it is very likely that when you sit in lodge in Waller, you are sitting where Sam Houston, Anson Jones and many other Texas heroes sat before you. The original Waller Masonic Lodge was in the Mason Building on the southeast corner of Main and Smith Streets. In 1910 the building, along with Dr. Danial's Drug Store on the ground floor and Rochen's Blacksmith Shop next door burned in a disastrous fire. Everything inside the Lodge building was lost. After the fire the Lodge met in the second floor over Umland Brothers Hardware Store on the northwest corner of Main and Farr Streets. The store was sold to J.C. Jenkins in 1920, but he allowed the Lodge to continue meeting upstairs until the building was torn down in 1935. The Masonic Lodge moved to the upstairs over Garrett's Drug Store on the southeast corner of Main and Smith Streets. They stayed there after the store was sold to R.C. Smith in 1938 and still later after it was sold to Mattie Armer in 1942. The Lodge moved into the present Lodge building on the northwest corner of Main and Locust Streets when it was completed in 1957. In 2001 a new addition, doubling the size of the existing building was completed and dedicated in a ceremony conducted by Right Worshipful DAVID B. DIBRELL Grand Master of Texas. It added a new modern kitchen and a walk in pantry, a large dining room, two offices and two restrooms. The Brothers Brother A.W. Umland, or Uncle Albert as he was known, was one of the mainstays of the early Lodge. He was elected Worshipful Master ten different times. One example of Brother Umland's dedication to Masonry came about because he was the only one in the area who knew all of the work. He rode his horse over to Brookshire to help the Brookshire Lodge put on some degrees. He was the Worshipful Master for an E.A. degree and gave the lecture and charge. Then he did a Fellowcraft degree and gave the lecture and charge. When it was finished he did a Master Mason degree and gave the lecture and charge for it. By Grand Lodge law they had to close the Lodge at midnight. So Brother Umland opened another Master Masons Lodge after midnight and they didn't finish the work until about daylight. He got on his horse after daylight and started riding toward Waller. He arrived in Waller that morning just in time to open the bank for business and start his day's work. Brother J.C. Jenkins was elected Worshipful Master eight different times. Brother A.W. Lay was elected Worshipful Master four different times. Brothers R.L Burton J.A., McWilliams and W.E Ellis were both elected Worshipful Master three different times. Brothers H.C. Cater and R. Benayd were both elected Worshipful Master two different times. To explain why Waller and many other Lodges had Worshipful Masters who had been elected multiple times, it was mostly before, during and after wars when most of the young men were in the armed services and it was difficult to even get enough men together to be able to open a Master Mason Lodge.