Minutes of the Henderson Yoakam Chapter No. 39 [manuscript cover title]

Moscow, Tx, 1888. Good plus.. [23],331pp. Folio. Contemporary vellum boards. Front board coming detached from foot; loss from foot of spine; moderate wear to corners and edges. Final leaf detached, otherwise minimal internal wear. A detailed and long-running record of minutes for the Henderson Yoakum chapter of Freemasons, which covers well over thirty years of the group's history. This chapter was located in the small east Texas town of Moscow, south of Lufkin, whose population was 228 in 1880 according to the census. These entries document the formation of the chapter, record votes on members (with a count of white and black balls cast), bylaws, design of a chapter seal, announcements of deaths of members, foundation of a Masonic school in town, and much other chapter business. The book also includes proceedings of trials against members, including one on May 27, 1860, at which, "It was decided that accused was guilty of gross unmasonic conduct by 6 b[lac]k ball to three white." The entries are interrupted after the meeting on October 20, 1860, at which a committee was appointed, "To report on the propriety of withdrawing or seceding from the Grand Chapter of the United States." On August 19, 1865, after the close of the Civil War, the entries resume. An alphabetical index of subjects occupies the initial leaves. The namesake of the masonic chapter, Henderson King Yoakum, was a soldier, politician, and author, whose 1855 History of Texas was described by John Jenkins as, "The first scholarly history of Texas written after annexation." He was a close friend of Sam Houston, and a founding member of the chapter that adopted his named. Laid into this record book is a carbon copy of a letter to the son of Texas Governor William P. Hobby, remarking that his grandfather, Edwin Hobby, was a member of the Henderson Yoakum chapter, as well as three additional pieces of later Texas masonic ephemera. Also notable is the bookseller's label on the front pastedown, denoting that the blank book used to record these minutes was obtained from Henry Hinck, Bookseller & Stationer, Galveston, Tx. A fine document of masonic participation in rural Texas in the second half of the 19th century.