The Men Who Built Dallas| Tannehill Lodge No. 52

Past Masters of Tannehill Masonic Lodge No. 52

"The Men Who Built Dallas"

1848 - 1910

John M. Crockett

1848 - 1849, 1849 - 1850

***Charter Member***

Brother Crockett was the second Mayor of Dallas, Texas. He served as Mayor 3 times, from 1857 – 1858, 1859 – 1861, and 1865 – 1866. He also served as Lieutenant Governor of the State of Texas in 1861. He died August 4, 1887, and he and his wife Catherine are buried in the Tannehill Masonic Lodge Cemetery (Pioneer Cemetery) in Downtown Dallas.

Crockett Street in Downtown Dallas is named fro Brother John M. Crockett.

Nathaniel M. Burford

1850 - 1851

***Charter Member***

Brother Burford formed a law practice in Dallas with John H. Reagan, and in 1850 and 1852 was elected District Attorney. He drafted the charter for Dallas, which the legislature accepted in 1856. He served as the First Master of Tannehill Masonic Lodge No. 52 upon receipt of their charter in 1850. He died in Dallas on May 10th, 1898 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

Simon B. Allen

1851 - 1852

***First Master Mason Raised in Tannehill Lodge***

Brother Simon Bolivar Allen was a merchant in Dallas in 1848. He served as Tannehill Lodge’s third Master and was on the committee that purchased lots 3 and 4 in block 27 of the town of Dallas for $40 to erect the first Masonic Hall. Petitioning the Lodge in 1849, Brother Allen holds the distinction of being the first Master Mason Raised in Tannehill Masonic Lodge. Brother Allen later moved to Bonham, TX, and donated the land to build Allen Memorial Hospital.

Allen Avenue in Bonham, TX is named for Brother Simon B. Allen

John C. McCoy

1852 - 1853

***Charter Member***

He was the first active lawyer to settle in Dallas and was generally considered the founder of the Dallas Bar Association. He played an active role in the organization of Dallas County and was elected its first district clerk in July 1846. In 1862, he was elected to represent Dallas County in the Texas House of Representatives. He was reelected in 1864. He was a founder and the first president of the Dallas County Pioneers Association, organized in 1875. In October 1880, he joined the First Baptist Church of Dallas, and he remained active in that church for the remainder of his life. At the time of his death he was president of the Dallas Public Library Association. He died on April 30, 1887. McCoy's philanthropy in general and his love for children of all classes and races were widely recognized in Dallas. After his death, his body lay in state for four days at his home, where, according to the Dallas Morning News, "hundreds and hundreds of his old neighbors, of his newer friends, the rich and the poor, the black and the white...visited." The burial service at the Tannehill Masonic Lodge Cemetery (Pioneer Cemetery) was attended by a crowd that the Dallas Morning News estimated in the thousands.

John M. Crockett

1853 - 1854, 1854 - 1855

***Charter Member***

Crockett Street in Downtown Dallas is named fro Brother John M. Crockett.

James A. Smith

1855 - 1856

In 1849 Brother James A. Smith and John Neely Bryan were delegates to the Convention for improving the Trinity River. James A. Smith was initiated in Tannehill Lodge No. 52 on May 31, 1851, Passed on June 28 and Raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason on July 26,1851. Reverend Smith was known for his contribution to the spread of the Methodist denomination in the Dallas area.

Reverend James A. Smith came to Texas in 1846 and in that year, was the first preacher to establish a Methodist Church in Dallas County. Brother Smith planted the first cotton plant and constructed the first cotton gin in Dallas. It is written in the Dallas Herald Newspaper that Brother Smith floated the cotton down the Trinity River on rafts to Porters Bluff, near Palestine, Texas, then overland to Houston Texas. On December 8th, 1858, Reverend Smith was appointed the first president of the first annual Dallas County fair, which is now the State Fair of Texas.

Brother James A. Smith died in 1863 and is buried in the Tannehill Masonic Lodge Cemetery (Pioneer Cemetery) in downtown Dallas. Brother James A. Smith is the Namesake for James A. Smith Lodge No. 395 A.F. & A.M. in Farmers Branch, TX.

James Latimer

1856 - 1857

Brother James W. Latimer was the co founder, editor, and co publisher of the first Newspaper in Dallas, Texas which became the Dallas Times Herald. He served as Justice of the Peace in 1851 and later served as Chief Justice of Dallas County from 1852 to 1854. He served as Grand Orator for the Grand Lodge of Texas in 1858, and his oration was so well received that it filled 13 pages in the published proceedings of the Grand Lodge for that year. He died unexpectedly from a fall at the age of 32 in 1859. The city shut down and all the citizens turned out to pay their respects to Judge Latimer. Brother Latimer is buried in the Tannehill Masonic Lodge Cemetery (Pioneer Cemetery) in Downtown Dallas.

The Good-Latimer Expressway in Downtown Dallas is named for him and Brother John Jay Good

W.K. Masten

1857 - 1858

Brother WK Masten served the City of Dallas as county clerk from 1846 – 1850. He was a Methodist Preacher, leading the services for what was to become the First Methodist Church of Mesquite. He also served as the first preacher at the First Methodist Church of McKinney in 1851. Brother Masten also ran a store at the Dallas Steam Mills at the Cedar Springs.

William L. Murphy

1858 - 1859

Sam B. Pryor

1859 - 1860

***First Mayor of Dallas, Texas***

Brother Samuel B. Pryor was the first Mayor of Dallas, Texas in 1856. He also served as County Clerk from 1848-1849. Brother Pryor was a physician. He served the Lodge and the city in many capacities. He died October 16, 1867 and he is buried in the Tannehill Masonic Lodge Cemetery (Pioneer Cemetery) in Downtown Dallas.

Pryor Street in Deep Ellum is named for Brother Samuel B. Pryor

George W. Guess

1860 - 1861

George W. Guess

1861 - 1862

George W. Guess

1862 - 1863

Sam P. Pryor

1863 - 1864

John C. McCoy

1864 - 1865

John C. McCoy

1865 - 1866

T.E. Sherwood

1866 - 1867

George W. Guess

1867 - 1868

John P. Hill

1868 - 1869

Z.E. Coombs

1869 - 1870

Served as Grand Master of Masons in Texas 1886 - 1887

W.C. Young

1870 - 1871

E.G. Bower

1871 - 1872

J.K.P. Record

1872 - 1873

Henry Boll

1873 - 1874

John Good

1874 - 1875

Brother John Jay Good was born in Mississippi where he studied and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He moved and settled in Dallas in 1852. After the Civil War Brother Good was elected judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District in Dallas. He practiced law in Dallas with two fellow Masons at the firm of Good, Bower, and Coombes. In 1880 he was elected as Mayor of Dallas. He served as Master of Tannehill Masonic Lodge No. 52 from 1874 – 1875. He was active in the Odd Fellows and Dallas Commandery No. 6 Knights Templars. Brother Good is buried in the Tannehill Masonic Lodge Cemetery (Pioneer Cemetery) in Downtown Dallas.

The Good-Latimer Expressway in Downtown Dallas is named for him and Brother James Latimer.