Merlin Clifton Davis

Merlin Clifton Davis was born at Carthage, Illinois, on November 30, 1901. An electrician by trade, he became Superintendent of the Meldrum Electrical Company in Houston.

He received the Fellowcraft degree in Gray Lodge on October 8, 1947, and the Master Mason degree on November 12, 1947. Appointed Junior Steward in 1948, he served in each place and station up the line and was installed as the 83rd Master in 1954 by Past Master C. Howard Phifer, aided by Past Master Wm. P. Wantzloeben, with music by the Arabia Temple Chanters. That same night Roy S. Hall began his long service as Secretary.

His year is remembered for the first careful look at where Gray Lodge’s members lived. Secretary Hall pinned the home of every member on a large city map and kept it current as members moved. The largest concentration was around Westheimer and Shepherd Drive, and within a year the drift toward west Houston was plain, a finding that later guided the choice of a new site for the lodge.

Meanwhile the lodge kept up its charity, helping several brethren in need, including one in Jefferson Davis Hospital. On November 11, 1954, Fifty-Year Awards were presented to Past Master D. E. Bloxsom and S. L. Franklin, and Past Master F. G. Belk received his in El Paso. The lodge approved the formation of Lindale Park Lodge and North Shore Lodge, and on February 16, 1955, the Master announced the death of Past Master Fred H. Burkey. Grand Master George Moffett asked the lodges to search their records for their part in the cause of public education in Texas and to send items for the Grand Lodge Museum, and Brother Bill Terry Swanson presented the lodge with an American flag and an account of its history.

Brother Davis later served on the committee charged with finding a new home for Gray Lodge, and he installed Fred W. Lackner, Jr., as Master in 1958.