Archibald St. Clair Ruthven

Bro. Ruthven was born in Edinburgh in 1813 and immigrated to the US in 1832. Just one year after his arrival in Houston, Ruthven was initiated into the state’s first Masonic lodge, Holland Lodge No. 1, and very quickly advanced through its ranks, serving first as Senior Warden in 1842, and later in a wide variety of both elective and appointive offices for the Grand Lodge of Texas, chief among which being those of Grand Master (1846-1847), and Grand Secretary (1848-1861). It was during his time as Grand Secretary that Ruthven compiled the twovolume Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Texas: 1837-1857, a chronicle of the early history and important records of the organization for which he is most recognized within the Masons.

In 1844, Ruthven became involved in protesting the annexation of the Republic of Texas to the United States. Ruthven was himself involved in running the blockade of the Texas coast during the war, and was even incarcerated for a time in Matamoras as a result of a freight mishap which purportedly violated the revenue and neutrality laws of Mexico.Near the end of the war, Ruthven and his wife returned to Scotland for a visit, at which point he appears to have fallen ill for several months.

He died of TB in 1865 at Broomhill Cottage in Pollokshields and initially was buried in an unmarked grave. Over a century after his death, the Rev. Bruce Brannon, Past Grand Master of the Texas, arranged for a monument to be commissioned in the Glasgow Necropolis to honour Ruthven and to serve as a proper grave marker. A commemorative dedication ceremony was held on June 25, 1969, and was attended by several members of both the Grand Lodge of Scotland and the Grand Lodge of Texas (bottom).

The stone says: Bro. Archibald St. Clair Ruthven who served the Grand Lodge of Masons in the Republic of Texas as Grand Master from 20-2-1846 to 18-1-1847 and as Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Texas from 1847 to 1858. He died while here on a visit to his native country. [Thanks to Bro. Jim Jack PPGM LMW for the photo to the right]