Friday's Photo: Another Funeral for Mackey Lodge Members - Part II: A Work in Progress

A funeral in Bienville Parish, Louisiana

Last week, I posted this photo of the lodge members at a funeral. I assumed these men were members of Ringgold's Mackey Lodge. With input from some descendants of Mackey Lodge members, some reading about Freemasonry, and time spent looking at photos on Ancestry.com, I have identified a few more persons in the photo and have more questions. 

What I Have Learned

I learned that this photo was taken much earlier than my prediction of 1928. The Worshipful Master in this photo was William T. Stevens. He is the tall man (#7) holding the gavel. William T. Stevens was Worshipful Master between 1901 and 1906. He died in 1915, and exactly matches a photo seen of him at Ancestry.com. 

Other possible matches are below. If any of these are your family members, tell me what you think. 

• #3 Hiram Harper
• #4 F. N. Harper
• #5 Carey Allen Thomas
• # 9 Daniel Hicks
• #10 Joseph Cook 
• #14 Uriah Page
• #15 Barzillia H. Evans
• #17 Henry Martin Davis
• #22 James Bryan Martin
• #24 Charles Martin

Below are lodge members in approximately 1901. Do you see your family? If so, do you or another family member have photos to share? 

What I Want to Know

There are men identified that do not show up on this membership list or any lists dating to 1907. How long can men participate within the lodge before they are Initiated? 

I still have questions about the following items and symbols:

The first man (left) and the second man (Joseph W. Cook) are holding rods in the photo to
form an arch (maybe a compass). The third and fourth men in this row are holding tall rods. What is the significance of these rods? 

What is the significance of the man's white sash and the open book? What meaning can I attach to these items - One man was holding a gavel, and another holding a closed book. The two symbols were each worn on a ribbon. 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

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Diana

© 2023  

Bonnie Sims, The Charles Elman Butcher and Dorothea Alison Bode Family Tree - Photo of William Thomas Stevens, public tree, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/profile/04f43133-0006-0000-0000-000000000000?: accessed 26 May 2023). 

Masons at a Funeral, n.d.; digital images held by D. B. Quinn, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas, on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Louisiana at the Ninetieth Annual Grand Communication, February 10th, 11th, and 12th, 1902. (New Orleans: A.W. Hyatt Stationery Manufacturing, 1902);  PDF download, Louisiana Masonic Library/Museum (https://library.la-mason.com/PastProceedings/1900/1902.pdf: downloaded 21 ‎March ‎2020).