Friday's Photo: Uncle Bill and Aunt Kate - Is this the William A. Martin Family?

Marguerite Cook Clark's photo of Uncle Bill and Aunt Kate might be the William A. Martin family of Bienville Parish, Louisiana. The second photo is the same photo edited and enlarged, but the features are still difficult to see. William A. Martin was over 20 years older than his wife, Catherine Evans. If this is his family, I assume most children are his. I don't know which one is his wife, but William would be the older gentleman on the left. 

According to the History of Bienville Parish, Volume I, William A. Martin was the son of John Nutt Martin and Matilda Bateman. If this is correct, William would have been half-brother to Rev. Thomas Jefferson Martin, whose parents were John Nutt Martin and Sarah Pittman. 

William A. Martin was a life member of the Mackey Lodge and, for several years, served as the chaplain. He died in 1902 and is buried with his wife in the  Social Springs Cemetery in Red River Parish. 

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 

Billie Jean Poland, The History of Bienville Parish Vol. I (Bossier City, Louisiana: Everett Companies, 1984), p. 311.

Proceedings of the M. W. Grand Lodge of the State of Louisiana Free and Accepted Masons, Eighty-Ninth Grand Annual Communication, February 11th, 12th, and 13th, 1901 (New Orleans: A. W. Hyatt, 1901), 90;  PDF download, Louisiana Masonic Library/Museum (https://library.la-mason.com/pastproceedings.html: downloaded 21 ‎March ‎2020).

Uncle Bill and Aunt Kate, no date,  digital image, 2016, 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. Used with permission. 

 

Mackey Lodge Centennial Program - Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana 1854 -1954

The following program, created for the 100th anniversary of Mackey Lodge in Ringgold, was found in Marguerite Cook Clark's family files. Find more at these links. 

The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1854 to 1862  

The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1866 -1911

The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1912 - 1954

Photos of Mackey Lodge Members

Friday's Photo: Mackey Lodge Members?

Friday's Photo: Another Funeral for Mackey Lodge Members

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

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. 

.

Diana

© 2023 

Mackey Lodge Centennial Program, 1954; digital images, 2016, from the privately held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Records 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. Used with permission.

The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1912 - 1954

Undated photo of the bank building with the Mackey Lodge above the bank. 

This photo and the written history were found in Marguerite Cook Clark's family history files. Her father and grandfather and many others in her family were members of this lodge. These are the last pages of the typed history found in her files. Find more at The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1854 to 1862 and The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1866 -1911.

Photos of Mackey Lodge Members

Friday's Photo: Mackey Lodge Members?

Friday's Photo: Another Funeral for Mackey Lodge Members

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

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. 

.

Diana

© 2023 

The History of the Mackey Lodge #122, 1954; digital images, 2016, from the privately held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Records 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. Used with permission.

Photo of the Mackey Lodge #122, digital images, 2016, from the privately held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Records 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. Used with permission.

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. 

.

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).

Friday's Photo: Another Funeral for Mackey Lodge Members

The above photo is another found in Marguerite Cook Clark's collection. I scanned these at her sister's home in Texas several years ago. Palma suggested that this might be a photo taken at the funeral of her great-grandfather, Rev. Thomas Jefferson Martin (left). Thomas Jefferson Martin died on 10 April 1928. I suspect Palma was correct. She knew so much about her mother's photos and files. And her family had the photo. 

This photo is not dated - written in pencil under the photo is simply"Masonic Gathering." Joseph W. Cook, who died in 1934, is in this photo, and Thomas J. Martin is not in the photo, so the date could very well be sometime between 10 April 1928 and 3 August 1934. 

I can identify two men in this photo as I have spent so much time looking at photos from the Martin, Bryan, and Cook families - Joseph W. Cook is # 10, and James Bryan Martin is #22. I hope that other readers can match family to the men in this photo, so I have numbered them and enlarged portions so the men could easily be seen. 

I have also found identifying masonic symbols and other items in the photo. I expect that someone more familiar with Freemasonry might be able to help identify these symbols. 

This is a work in progress, and I will post it again when I can identify more of the men. I have looked at the rolls for the time period suspected and can identify the names of the officers. If you can give names to any of these men or know information about the symbols and items below, please comment below this post, comment on my Facebook page, or send me an email (go to the "About Me" tab at the top of this page). 

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 the man's white sash and the open book? One man was holding a gavel, and another holding a closed book. The two symbols were each worn on a ribbon. 

1, 2, 3

4, 5, 6

7, 8, 9

10 Joseph W. Cook, husband of Sarah Catherine "Josie" Bryan, 11, 12

13, 14, 15

16, 17, 18, 19

20, 21, 22 James Bryan Martin

23, 24 (looks like a Martin)

25, 26

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. 

.

Diana

© 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.

Friday's Photo: Mackey Lodge Members?

This photo was found in the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. It is definitely a photo of lodge members attending a funeral as they each have on the funeral aprons. I am going to assume most of the men were members of the Mackey Masonic Lodge, as the lodge was in Ringgold, Bienville Parish. Marguerite's family lived in Ringgold, and her father, E. C. Cook, was a member. Many of his Cook family can be seen as members. Marguerite's grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Martin, and great-grandfather, Joseph B. Bryan, were also lodge members. 

The photo is very fuzzy, and enlarged photos are also fuzzy and pixelated. However, I was able to recognize Thomas Jefferson Martin Senior, which leads me to believe that all or many of these men were members of the Mackey Lodge. 

Above, see one of six receipts for Thomas Jefferson Martin Senior's membership dues paid to Mackey Lodge found in Marguerite Cook Clark's files. Below, Reverand Thomas Jefferson Martin, with a short white beard, is second from the left. There is no date on the photo. Thomas J. Martin died on 28 April 1918, so the photo would have to have been taken prior to that date. I can identify no other persons in this photo. 

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. 

.

Diana

© 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.

The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1866 -1911

Terrell Bryan (left) 1836-1920
Tillman C. Bryan (right) 1830-1899

By 1867, Terrell Bryan, my great-grandfather, his brother, Tillman, and their step-brother, John Regan, were members of this lodge. Catharine Bryan's husband, James C. Watts, died in 1867, and it was noted that he was stricken from the roll. 

In 1867, a Special Committee on lodges in arrears made a report which was read and unanimously adopted. It was explained that the Lodges remaining under the rule of the late Confederate Government until the war ceased, lost in one day the whole funds which they held in their respective treasuries. It was resolved that the amount for dues previous to 1864 and owed to the Grand Lodge be donated to the lodges, thus clearing the debts. 

Mackey Lodge #122 of Ringgold was one of only a few lodges in Louisiana not in need of this help.

This is the second of four posts about Mackey Lodge. Here are links to the other posts. 

• The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1854 to 1862

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. 

Diana

© 2023 

Tillman Bryan, photograph, n.d.; digital image, 2016, 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. Used with permission. 

The History of the Mackey Lodge #122, 1954; digital images, 2016, from the privately held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Records 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. Used with permission.

Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Louisiana at the fifty-fifth Annual Communication Held at New Orleans, February 11, 1867, (New Orleans: Bouvain & Lewis, 1867), 111, 228;  PDF download, Louisiana Masonic Library/Museum (https://library.la-mason.com/PastProceedings/1860/1867.pdf: downloaded 21 ‎March ‎2020).

Terrell Bryan, photograph, ca.1900; digital image, from the privately held photo collection of D.B. Quinn, 2023.