It took half a day to walk to Mount Hope from the nearby places, such as MT Zion. Masons who went to the meeting of the lodge went on the Saturday at 2:00p.m. following the full moon, so that they could ride the horse by moonlight on the way home. That way, it would not be as dark as it might have been through the thick virgin forest before the first timber was cut for commercial purposes.
Mount Hope is one of the earliest settled places in the Menard District, that was later named Tyler County when Texas became a state. Mount Hope was a major place for trade, the stage coach stop and later the railroad. Today, when looking for Mount Hope, look on the map where Chester, the town built later, is. Chester was just a few miles away, as was Peach Tree.
Below is a list of persons who lived in the areas indicated, which were in and around MT Hope. These places included what is now Peach Tree, Colmesneil, Chester, MT Zion and various other settlements. It is not an all inclusive list. All of these persons were there by 1853, when the MT Hope Lodge was chartered. The lodge building was also the church. It was also a place for a few social gatherings, if approved by both the church and the Masons. This writer is uncertain at the time of this writing if it was used for a school also, but that was customary other places, and likely at MT Hope.
Later, the lodge building was moved to MT Zion, the historical church there standing where it was moved to 125 years ago. A new lodge building and a new church building were built. These buildings are by now more than 100 years old. Persons interested in viewing all of these buildings would also want to visit MT Hope cemetery, down the road from the Chester High School. Another significant place is the Peach Tree Church Museum, shown by appointment, on the Shivers Property.
Other papers of interest in this regard are; Billums Creek and the Mount Hope Lodge 121 Minutes and various items about Chester, Texas and Peach Tree, and Mt. Zion..
Setters of the MT Hope and surrounding areas:
H. W. Carter secured a Post Office at Mount. Hope, May 27, 1851, and was named as the first Postmaster. He ran a general store and established Mount Hope as a trade center for the area, which continued after his death in 1854, to the coming of the railroads and the death of Dr. Whitehead in 1884.
Martin Buxton succeeded Carter in the ownership of the property and the operation of the business.
Hiram A. Willson was a farmer, age 28. He was born in Georgia and his wife in Tennessee. Their first child, Stephen E., was born in Texas in 1847.
Henry West, a farmer, was born in Tennessee in 1827. He was elected District Clerk of Tyler County in 1866 and later served as County Judge of the County. No information is available as to Jefferson Laird.
Benjamin Green was one of the earliest settlers of the area and his farm was located within two miles of Mount. Hope on the old Spanish Road, heretofore mentioned.
William Priest was 24 at that time. He was a native of Tennessee. He was a member of Captain Veatch's Company of Mounted Volunteers in the War with Mexico in 1847. He was living in the home of Benjamin Green when the census of 1850 was taken.
Milton McQueen was one of the first pioneers of Tyler County. He had a cotton plantation with several slaves and had a high property value on the census of 1850. Milton McQueen had some children by his first wife Susan Simmons and was stepfather to the children of his second wife, Sarah McKinsey (Barclay) McQueen.
Others were; G. E. Polk, D. M. Marshal, W. L. Uzzell, W. H. McDonald, A. T. Courch, J. S. Mooer, W. L. Baker, J. W. Simmons, W. A. Mahaffey, M. C. Parks, F. D. L. Himmey, John Henry Kirby, S. B. Cooper, U. H. Shine, V. C. Tucker, H. J. Davis.John T. Kirby, Robert Rotan, G. P. Keahy, Daniel Denny, Henry Costellow, Jno. C. McGee, Martin C. Buxton, Dan R. Smith, John Felder, J. Harrison ,Archibald Laird, Henry S.Kirby, Henry Cliburn Sam Slater, Isaac Futch, Wm J. Thigpen,A. T. Nowlin, S. T. Strong, M. McQueen, Moses Summeral, W. D. Maddox, Wm. Lowe, AmosMahaffey, Wm. Butter, Jno. Hammons, D. Byrd, H. B. Arrant, S. H. Barnes, J. W.L.Davis, D. Z. Davenport , E. Barclay, Walter Barclay, John S. Havis, Wm. Lowe, Stepen Lewis, H. S. Kirby, J. T. Kirby,W. L. Mann, A. L. McAlister, W. A. Mahaffey, Johnathan Perers, E. Sandlin, J. T. Priest, R. Rotan, M. C. Parks, W. W. Whitehead, H. A. Willson, P. J. Waldrep, Laird, W. M. Watt Barclay, J. S. Havis, H. A. Willson, J. T. Priest, J. T. Kirby, S. H. Barnes, Stephens Lewis, J. M. Hallmark, E. Sandlin.
Here is a list of leaders in the Mount Hope Chester Area starting in 1853 and going to 1953 in chronological order; They were grand masters of the Mont Hope Lodge;
Wm Harris, H. W. Carter, H. A. Willson, Henry West, A Laird, S. H. Barnes, W. W. Whitehead, Wm. Lowe, Jonathan Peters, I. G. Futch, James T. Priest, J. W. Futch, J. W. Simons, J. W. Futch, Jas Mann, U. H. Shine, M. C. Parks, L. R. Cade, T. B. Morgan, U. G. Feagin, J. G. Angel, S. T. Russel, B. F. Adams, J. R. Wallace, G. S. McAlister, J. C. Feagin, G. C. Enloe, Vinson Goolsbee, J. A. Vinson Jr., C. A. Seamans, M. O. Sutton, M.O. Sutton, J. M. Sheffield, J. A. Vinson.
We are greatful for these settlers who forged a great state out of the wilderness of the big Ticket of East Texas, and the area that became Tyler County.
