History of Magnolia Lodge No. 238 F. & A.M.
Eleven members of Sam Todd Masonic Lodge
of Sugartown, Louisiana, petitioned the Grand Lodge
of the Grand Lodge of the State of Louisiana for a
dispensation to form a new lodge to be located on
Barnes’ Creek in Ragley, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.
The petition was signed by J.J. W. Miller, W.P. Simpson,
H.J. Sellers, James E. Sellers, Levi Rawlins, W.W.
McFatter, G.M. Gossett, Henry Brown, John Conley,
George L. Ayrheart and Iva B. Mitchell. J.J. Miller
signed this petition as Worshipful Master and T.H.
Smith signed as secretary. The petition was submitted
to the Grand Master in the fall of 1891 and the Grand
Master granted dispensation to form the lodge in early
1892. The Grand Master of the State of Louisiana at
that time was Charles Buck. The first Master of Magnolia
was J.J. W. “Uncle Jimmy” Miller. He was
sixty-four years old when he became Master of Magnolia
Lodge, having been born in 1828. In 1856, he came
to Louisiana. In 1858 he married our own Laura Lindsey.
For many years the Grand Masters of
the Louisiana Masonic Lodge would make his official
visit to Magnolia by taking the train to DeQuincy,
Louisiana. Then the Worshipful Master of Magnolia
would go get the Grand Master in a wagon and bring
him to the lodge. Tradition has it that when Texas
was awarded its Masonic Charter from the Grand Lodge
of Louisiana, the Grand Master selected the Worshipful
Master of Magnolia to deliver the charter to the Texas
Masons.
For over 50 years, Magnolia had no well
or running water. Occasionally, the members would
use stump water to boil their coffee. More often than
not, the members either brought their water from home
or walked down to the Barnes’s Creek to secure
water.
Until at least 1980, the members of
the lodge were entertained by frequent and violent
wasp attacks during the winter meeting. During the
meeting, if a member would suddenly jump up and dance
around, it was invariably due to a wasp going up his
pants leg or down his collar. This writer recalls
two instances where a wasp went up Brother Fred Jackson’s
pants legs and down Brother Jasper Leslie’s collar.
Jasper beat his chest like Tarzan to kill the wasp
and Fred Jackson appeared to be “in the spirit”
as he jumped around the lodge room. On another occasion,
while the lodge was suffering a night of wasp, Tommie
Cole touched the scalp of Bob Reeves head with a straw.
Bob immediately went to slapping his scalp and slid
to the floor to escape the imaginary wasp, all to
the shrill of the lodge.
During the half century of the lodge,
Magnolia Baptist Church held their church service
on the ground floor of the lodge. One Sunday morning
a relatively new pastor of the church delivered a
service that condemned the fact that the church had
a Masonic Lodge above it. The pastor declared that
the church should have nothing above it and that the
members should expel the lodge from its premises.
Hearing no response from his flock, he continued on
with his morning message. Following the service
the pastor stood at the church door
and extended his “goodbyes” to the members
as they departed. One church member held back so he
could speak to the pastor. I now paraphrase, but the
pastor was advised, “pastor, you don’t understand.
Magnolia Lodge owns this building. They let us use
this building for our meetings”. Shortly thereafter,
Magnolia Lodge gave some land to the church and helped
Magnolia Baptist Church built its church, which now
sits across Magnolia Road, just Southwest of the lodge.
The 10th Masonic District open-air meetings
were held annually at Magnolia Lodge on the First
Sunday following Labor Day. Usually, between a thousand
and thirteen hundred would come to Old Magnolia to
watch a Master Mason’s degree being conferred
outdoors. Many came on large buses from Texas. The
night before the 10th District meeting, members of
the lodge, including but not limited to Fred Jackson,
Jack Leslie and Pat Walkner, would stay up all night,
barbequing chickens for the 10th District noon dinner.
These meetings ceased when a visitor injured himself
on the premises and the owner subsequently sold the
land.
About 1974, Magnolia sponsored a womanless
wedding to raise money for its building fund. Boo
Kooce was our blushing bride, Roddy Kelly was the
angry father of the bride, and lost to history is
the identity of the groom. Many believe the groom
was our own Dempsey Jackson. Many members of the lodge
participated and it was a roaring success. The wedding
was conducted at South Beauregard High School and
was followed by an auction.
Degree Work during these early years
was very serious and at times frightening. The candidate’s
obligation was a very serious matter and the penalty
for any violation was taken seriously. Woe to the
candidate who failed the test at the secretary’s
desk. He was often manhandled and threatened to be
ejected from a second story window. It left a lasting
impression on the candidate and visitors.
Magnolia has always felt that there
were three ways of doing something. There was the
right way, the wrong way and the Magnolia way. Our
dear departed Grand Lecture for many years was Archir
Evans from DeRidder, Louisiana. He was a regular visitor
at Magnolia and he often stressed that we do our work
the right way. Often times, this writer would see
an officer or two leave the lodge from the back door
as Archie Evans drove up to the front door. Brother
Archie was a very good man and Mason and was diligent
in his Masonic work. He may be the reason why Magnolia
was always proficient in its Masonic rituals despite
the slogan of “the right way, the wrong way and
the Magnolia way”.
The Masons of Magnolia, as well as most
lodges are ideally devout Christians, honest in their
endeavors, compassionate men with strong family values.
They are often leaders in their communities. The early
leaders of Magnolia were Hirem Liles, Hugh Smith,
Silvin Gimnick, Verge Reeves, Joe Reeves, and Henry
Brown. Many of these are past masters of our lodge.
Hirem Liles served as Worshipful Master of Magnolia
for a total of ten years, was also a member of Sam
Todd, and was a former parish tax assessor. Silvin
Gimnick is a Past Master of Magnolia, lived to be
a very old man and received his fifty-year pin. Verge
and Joe Reeves are past masters of Magnolia and were
brothers, successful rice farmers and also very active
in the lodge. Verge was also a police juror for Calcasieu
Parish. It is reported that it was amusing to watch
Verge Reeves during the opening of the lodge because
he often would confuse the proper hand signs, giving
the Eastern Star, Master Mason or Fellow Craft signs
at inappropriate times and at the wrong meetings.
Historically, cattle grazers and sheepherders
never got along very well. Both cattle grazers and
sheepherders belonged to Magnolia Lodge. The sheepherders
sat on one side of the lodge and the cattle grazers
sat on the other side of the lodge. Somehow they managed
to get along and the lodge continued to grow.
In 1945, Magnolia began to get new blood.
Robert “Bob” Reeves and Levi Holland had
finished defeating the Nazis and Bob had slowed down
on his wild bull riding and they were initiated into
the lodge in January of 1946. This coming January
2006, Bob Reeves would have been a Mason for 60 years.
Levi past away a few years ago. Forty years of that
time, Bob was the lodge treasurer. I’ve experienced
many meeting when an expense was being considered
and the lodge voted to incur the expense and pay the
bill. When after the members had engaged in due consideration,
Bob would simply shake his head and say NO. Of course,
I was convinced Brother Bob had an absolute veto on
any lodge spending. Other new members were Earl Stokes,
Fred Jackson, John L. Reeves, Bert Stout, and Leon
Koonce, Sr. For many years, Leon Koonce, affectionately
called Luke, was the lodge secretary. I often felt
that if everyone were like Leon Koonce, I would have
to find a new vocation, as there would never be any
use for a policeman, a courthouse or a lawyer. Other
beloved members were Elbert McFatter, Gerald Pullin,
Ben Stout, Other Cole, and M.A. “Foots”
Magehee. Foots, as well as being a past master of
the lodge, conducted some of the most meaningful funerals
that his writer has ever witnessed. I also solicitated
him to be my chaplain when I was master of Magnolia.
Magnolia elected me to be the master of the lodge
in December of 1975 to serve in 1976 and I was the
youngest master of any lodge in the history of the
State of Louisiana. Therefore, knowing that I would
need a lot of guidance, I looked to Foots Magehee
to be my chaplain and to sit at my side during my
term in office. That was my first and best decision
as Master of Magnolia. During my Past Masters night,
opportunities were given to the attending Past Masters
to say a few words for the good of the lodge. Foots
stood up and because Foots was so level headed and
sound in judgment, he immediately had everyone’s
attention. Foots commenced by saying Masonry was good.
Of course, we all silently agreed. He then went on
to say that Masonry was like an old widow woman, you
just can’t get enough. I was sitting next to
him, as I was the Worshipful Master of the lodge,
and I nonchalantly looked over to Mrs. Magehee and
knew instantly that Foots was going to have a long,
hard night. Other notable members of Magnolia were
Pat Walkner who served as Past Master and Tyler of
the Lodge for twenty-seven years. Roddy Kelly who
was also a past master and for thirty years taught
virtually all the new members of Magnolia their lessons.
Leroy Daily, who was also Tyler for many years and
delighted the lodge with his homemade chili on many
occasions and made homemade barbeque sauce for the
lodge barbeques, and finally Nolan Kingery and Jasper
Leslie. Nolan Kingery is often remembered as having
the inability to whisper. One occasion the chaplain
was leading us in a prayer and brother Kingery whispered
to the Master, Fred Jackson, that he had read that
Jackie Kennedy had married that Greek Nazi. Of course,
this caused another round of laughter in the lodge.
From time to time, as in the case in
life, we have lost many of our good members. Members
of the Lodge such as Gerald Jackson, Lee Fogleman,
Leon “Boo” Kooce, Jr., William Clyde “Ginger”
Holland and many others, would cut wood, fix roofs
and floors and sundry other acts of compassion for
members and their survivors, including the widows
of Magehee, Leroy Daily and S. Gimnick.
I’ve seen, been privileged to participate
in, and my family has been the beneficiaries of Masonic
compassion. No lodge has exceeded the care, compassion,
and expressions of benevolence as has often been shown
by “Old Magnolia”.
