Henry L. Webb

Henry L. Webb was born at Beeville, Texas, on October 4, 1894. He worked as a cook, often on night shifts, and later as an automobile salesman.

He received his degrees in Gray Lodge during the postwar surge in membership: the Entered Apprentice on December 23, 1918, the Fellowcraft on January 21, 1919, and the Master Mason degree on March 7, 1919. He was appointed Senior Deacon for 1920–1921 and was then elected Junior Warden, Senior Warden and Worshipful Master in turn, serving as the 52nd Master in 1923–1924.

His year was dominated by the lodge’s greatest undertaking of the decade, the new Gray-Temple Masonic Temple. Degree work was still heavy but beginning to level off, and the lodge poured its energy into the building. In July 1923 it purchased $40,000 of stock in the Gray-Temple Masonic Corporation, and new members pledged another $6,000 after hearing the building plans in October. On October 31, 1923, the cornerstone was leveled by a representation of the Grand Lodge under Deputy Grand Master Gus A. Brandt, with the Brethren marching behind a band from the old Temple to the building site and back.

The lodge also took part in the Grand Lodge’s leveling of the cornerstone at Hermann Hospital on November 12, 1923. With the cost of the new Temple weighing on the lodge, Past Master Norman Atkinson, Treasurer of the building corporation, laid out the financial plan and proposed raising annual dues, a question the lodge ultimately postponed. In January 1924 the Brethren and their families were guests of Arabia Temple for an evening of entertainment at the City Auditorium, and in 1924 the old Camp Logan grounds were given to the city by the Hogg family to become Memorial Park.

He died in 1925, and his death was announced in Gray Lodge on July 15 of that year. He was buried in Houston.