ECMS leveling part of Mason's club foundation
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

When Masons level the cornerstone at the new El Campo Middle School Saturday, it won't be the only building in the county with such a distinction.

D.D. Hill, master of El Campo Lodge 918, said local Masons have put cornerstones in many important public buildings in El Campo and Wharton County.

"There's one in the high school," Hill said. "First Methodist Church has a cornerstone the Masons put there. We laid the cornerstone about a year ago for the new courthouse. Whenever we're asked to do it, it's the thing to do."

Hill said the symbolism inherent in the cornerstone leveling ceremony fits in with Masons long interest in education as well as the organization's principles.

"Masons were, first, a labor union back in the 15th Century, and they were responsible for a lot of cathedrals and buildings that have

lasted a long time in Europe," Hill said. "When they started building, they plumbed it and squared it. They started with one large stone and built away from that, and it was the anchor, so to speak, of the whole building.

"As we changed from actual masons' work, we took the plumb line and square and compasses and developed a fraternity where these instruments have meaning as a fraternity. For instance, the square: We're taught to square our actions by virtue to all people. When masons were a labor union, a square was to square a whole building, but now we use it esoterically."

He said the local Masonic lodge asked to place the cornerstone at the new school.

"Masons have been interested in education since the beginning of this country, when Masonic lodges were used as school buildings," Hill said. "Masons met at night then they'd leave the lodge open so they could have school during the day. Mirabeau B. Lamar, the second president of the Republic of Texas, was the father of public education in the state. He was the man who had the plan to use public lands for education, which goes to fund the state university system to this day."

Hill is a retired El Campo High School agriculture teacher who in January honored by the El Campo Chamber of Agriculture as Citizen of the Year.

The Hon. Brian Dodson of Missouri City, past grand master of The Grand Lodge of Texas, A.F. & A.M., has been deputized by current Grand Master Thomas Griffin to act as his representative in the leveling of the cornerstone, which takes place Saturday at 11 a.m. at the new, $17.6-million campus on FM 2765.

The public is invited to attend.

Hill said local Masons who can attend the ceremony are asked to meet at the lodge at 9:30 a.m.