Judge Jackson Barkley Smith, Jr.

Jackson Barkley Smith, Jr., was born in Houston on June 14, 1920, the son of J. B. and Beulah Floyce Smith. Masonry ran deep in his family: his great-grandfather, the Rev. Young Harrington Hamilton of Hill County, was a Mason; his father was raised in Gray Lodge on October 25, 1923; and his brother, Judge R. Shearn Smith, became the Centennial Master of Gray Lodge in 1969–1970.

He graduated from Reagan High School, attended the University of Texas, and earned his Bachelor of Science and law degrees at the University of Houston in 1950. He served in the Air Force from December 1941 to December 1946, rising to Major and flying B-29s in the Pacific. After teaching four years in Houston high schools and a year at the University of Houston, and three years as Executive Assistant to the County Judge, he was elected Probate Judge of Harris County in 1963. He married Myrtle Scheidemantel in 1950, and they had four children: Barkley, Louis, Stephanie and Kevin. A deacon and ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, he was a past president of the University of Houston Bar Association and Alumni and received the Outstanding Alumnus Award of the University of Houston College of Law in 1966.

He received his degrees in Gray Lodge in 1947: the Entered Apprentice on January 13, the Fellowcraft on February 26, and the Master Mason degree on April 5. Appointed Junior Steward in 1955–1956, he rose through the stations and was installed as the 89th Master in 1960 by Past Master Ted O. Boswell, assisted by Past Master Melvin E. Prescott. The Junior Past Master gave him a workbook and a gavel made from the Masonic Oak at Brazoria, and his brother Shearn gave him a new watch. Judge Bill Elliot was the featured speaker.

Houston was now the nation’s seventh-largest city. On October 26, 1960, about 350 people gathered for a barbecue supper and open meeting marking the lodge’s 90th anniversary, with an address by Past Master William G. Vollus and music by the Arabia Temple Shrine Chanters. When the ground-floor tenant fell behind on rent, Gray and Temple Lodges each advanced funds so the Gray-Temple Masonic Corporation could pay its taxes. Past Grand Master Albert J. DeLange spoke on Scottish Rite Night and again at the Fourth Annual Reunion and Awards Day, where he presented Fifty-Year Awards to F. W. Bema, Z. W. Davis, W. E. Hochmuth, E. J. Parks and R. R. Sanders, Jr. Brother Guy Dickens was thanked for his long service with a gift certificate for a new hat.

Judge Smith, who had earlier helped purchase the Hillcroft site, later installed J. T. Williamson as Master and pronounced the benediction at the 1964 groundbreaking for the new lodge building. He served as Chaplain in 1969–1970. He was a 32° Scottish Rite Mason and held the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.