Andrew James Dow

Andrew James Dow was born in Houston on August 23, 1884, the son of Andrew and Elizabeth Dow. He graduated from Houston High School and continued his education at Kenyon College in Ohio. As a boy he sang soprano in the choir of Christ Church, now Christ Church Cathedral, and he grew into a well-known tenor soloist who appeared with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Damrosch Orchestra of New York.

After college he worked for the Commercial National Bank, and in 1911 he joined the Magnolia Petroleum Company, where he was assistant manager until 1921. He then became a Ford dealer and moved to Galveston, and from 1922 he ran a Chevrolet dealership in his own building until he retired in 1955, adding Chevrolet and Oldsmobile dealerships in Texas City along the way. He married Mary Lucy Turner in 1917, and they had two daughters.

His father, Andrew Dow, was raised in Gray Lodge in 1889. On his 21st birthday the son handed his father his signed petition. He received the Entered Apprentice degree on October 20, 1907, the Fellowcraft on January 15, 1908, and the Master Mason degree on February 25, 1908. He was elected Junior Warden in 1913 and Senior Warden in 1914, and he was installed as the 44th Master in 1915 by District Deputy Grand Master Gus A. Brandt, in a joint installation with Holland No. 1 and the new Temple No. 4.

Brother Dow brought his voice to the lodge. He sang at its family entertainments, often with the Masonic quartette, and was a frequent speaker on Masonry. In August 1915 a hurricane struck Houston, and the lodge formed a committee to relieve the distress it caused. His year is best remembered for the first “raising day.” Beginning February 3, 1916, the lodge conferred ten Master Mason degrees over three days, with 89 members and 192 visitors attending, and closed with a banquet at which Worshipful Master Dow served as toastmaster. The minutes called it “the greatest, grandest & most Harmonious Assembly of Masons hitherto held in this 30th Masonic District,” and it became an annual event.

He held nearly every lay office in the Episcopal Church at Christ Church in Houston and Trinity in Galveston, served on diocesan boards, and taught Sunday School for 15 years. He was president of the Rotary Clubs of both Houston and Galveston, president of the Galveston Chamber of Commerce and of the Galveston Country Club, and a longtime Red Cross volunteer. He was a member of both the York and Scottish Rites, a Past Potentate of Arabia Temple, and a Past Worthy Patron of Mispah Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star.

When the lodge’s centennial history was written in 1970, he was the oldest living Past Master of Gray Lodge. Asked about his hobbies and interests, he answered simply: “my fellow man.”