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Charles Haynes was born on September 12, 1814, in Brattleboro, Vermont. Orphaned at an early age, he went to New York City, where he learned the trade of a mechanic. As a 22-year-old working in Cincinnati, he enlisted in the Texas army at a recruiting station set up by an emissary of General Sam Houston. He served two years in a company called the “Buckeye Rangers,” receiving his honorable discharge at Houston in June of 1838. That discharge lists his occupation as “blacksmith.”

He was married to Jane Power in 1840, and lived near present-day Gonzales, a town that he surveyed and laid out after the original was burned during the Revolution. In the early 1850s, he moved to Lockhart, where he operated a blacksmith shop. He participated in Indian fights at Linville and Onion Creek. In 1859, he sold the shops and town lots that he had accumulated in Lockhart, and moved his family to Llano. He had three sons who fought in the Confederate Army, and his descendants eventually numbered in the hundreds.

Somewhere along the line, Charles Haynes became a Mason, and by 1859, he was a Master Mason. When he came to Llano, he realized that the closest lodge was the Valley Lodge in Burnet, more than 30 miles away. He immediately began campaigning to have a lodge set up in Llano County, and sent a petition (with nine other Llano County Masons) to that effect to the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas at Houston, a Mr. Henry Sampson. The petition, supported by the recommendation of the Valley Lodge, was granted on May 26, 1859, and Charles Haynes was appointed First Master.

The lodge was organized in a cypress-lumber schoolhouse on Comanche Creek, about 24 miles southeast of Llano, with H.F. Stockman as senior warden, W.C. Steffey as junior warden, James Billings as treasurer, J.W. Codwell as secretary, J.G. Talley as senior deacon, J.P. Smith as junior deacon, and W. Wimberley, tiler. There were two visitors at that first meeting: John Larremore of the Valley Lodge, and J.G. Burleson of the Hopkinsville Lodge.

The lodge grew quickly. Three residents of the Comanche Creek community petitioned for membership that first meeting: Joseph M. Gibson, Jasper Crownover and Hiram Stockman. At the next meeting Damon Slator applied. Slator was a prominent Llano County rancher who would go down in county history in 1869 for driving 1,400 cattle to California with his brothers-in-law, James and Charles Moss.

Lodge meetings were held almost every month, and always on Saturday nights. Some members traveled 25 or 30 miles on horseback to attend the meetings.

After just 11 meetings at the Comanche Creek schoolhouse, the lodge was transferred into Llano. Nine visitors were present for the first meeting in town, including W.A. Eaker, from Kentucky. The lodge grew even more rapidly in town, attracting prominent citizens such as Seth Mabry, William Haynie, D.J. “Uncle Davie” Owens and Lawrence Miller. During the Civil War, many of the offices were “pro tem,” indicating that some of the regular officials had gone off to fight. Members who were serving in the army had their dues waived, and in a few cases, special meetings of the lodge were held to confer degrees on members who were leaving for the war.

In October of 1862, the first Masonic funeral was conducted in Llano, for R.J. Jackson. The lodge paid $5 to have “resolutions of respect” published in the “State Gazette” in Austin. Early in 1863, a pioneer merchant named F.J. Smith joined the lodge, and eventually, the meetings were held in the upper floor of the “Palace Barber Shop” building that he owned. Smith is the man who hired J.K. Finlay in the 1870s to build the two-story building on the corner of Ford and East Main which now belongs to Charlie’s Store. It was the home of Smith’s dry goods store, and had a sign on the north side, saying “F.J. SMITH” in letters visible nearly a mile away. It later became the home of the first Llano National Bank., and the upper floor served as the Masonic Lodge from 1887 to 1908. Smith was also the long-time treasurer for Llano County.

Many prominent citizens served as “worshipful master” of the Llano Lodge. John C. Oatman, also county judge, served four different times. M.M. Harris was district and county clerk for many years. E.W. Farmer was a long-time justice of the peace. George M. Watkins, who donated funds to build the Lutie Watkins Memorial United Methodist Church in honor of his deceased wife, was worshipful master in 1896. W.C. Wallace, also a sheriff of Llano County was worshipful master when the lodge decided to build a beautiful new “Masonic Temple” on the site then occupied by “Aunt Betty” Haynie’s “Llano House” hotel.

The fine two-story sandstone structure still dominates the southeast corner of the courthouse square in Llano. It cost $16,000 to build and took more than a year to build. Professor F.M. Behrns, formerly head of the Cherokee School in Cherokee, was worshipful master in 1908, when the building was finished, and had much to do with the unique interior design. The first floor has been home to many commercial enterprises, starting with Ben Hoerster’s Furniture in 1908, followed by Miles Buttery’s Furniture and Winkel’s Variety. It now serves as an annex for the county offices.