GRANDVIEW MASONIC LODGE 

In the winter of 1834 (one source says March 1, 1835) the first Texas Masonic Lodge was organized beneath the branches of a Live Oak in Brazoria County.

This organizational meeting consisted of five or six Masons - including Dr. Anson Jones. After organizing, a petition was sent to the Louisiana Grand Lodge and the Texas Grand Lodge was granted soon after with Anson Jones as the first Grand Master.

Anson Jones was a Massachusetts physician who had failed at business in New Orleans and had just spent two years in Venezuela. He was coaxed into coming to Texas by close friends in Brazoria. In a few years he had a thriving medical practice and he eventually became the Third (and last) President of the Republic of Texas.

Although he retired to Barrington - his farm in Austin County - Jones had suffered from depression for years and eventually committed suicide at the Capitol Hotel* in Houston.

His grave in Houston's Glenwood Cemetery acknowledges his Masonic accomplishments.