MOGMTBrace

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THEODORE BRACE 1835-1921

TBrace.jpg

Grand Master, 1889-1890

BIOGRAPHY

From Biographies of Past Grand Masters, 1821-1901, by the Grand Lodge of Missouri:

Note: This biography was written when Brother Bruce was still alive. He died in 1921 and is buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery, Paris, Missouri.

Most Worshipful Brother Theodore Brace appears to have entered the Grand Lodge in 1866 as Worshipful Master of and representing Paris Union Lodge No. 19. At this Annual Communication he was appointed District Deputy Grand Master for the Seventh District. He was not a regular attendant upon the Annual Sessions of the Grand Lodge by any means; however, in 1872 he was appointed Grand Marshal, and in 1886 received the appointment of Grand Orator. This was followed at the session of 1887 by his election as Senior Grand Warden, in 1888 elected Deputy Grand Master, and at the Annual Session of 1889 he was elected Most Worshipful Grand Master.

Brother Brace was born June 10, 1835, in the State of Maryland, and spent the earlier years of his life in the city of Cumberland, where he attended school, first under private tutors and then in Alleghany Academy, where he graduated. He was engaged for a time in a wholesale grocery house, afterward in the Circuit Clerk's office, post office and a bank. While in the latter, three years, he gave all his spare time to the study of law, his chosen profession. He was licensed to practice in 1856, and soon thereafter removed to Bloomfield, Iowa, where he was admitted to the bar. The following winter he settled in Paris, Missouri, where he followed his profession until 1861, when he entered the Confederate service, from which he emerged as Colonel. Returning to Paris he resumed the practice of his profession. In 1874 he was elected State Senator, afterward elected Probate Judge, and in 1880 he was elected Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit. At the State election in 1886 he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court, taking his seat January 1, 1887. the end of his term he was re-elected and still remains on the bench which he has honored so long.

Judge Brace was made a Mason in Paris Union Lodge No. 10, at Paris, Missouri, February 2, 1864, and received the degree of Master Mason, May 2d of the same year. He was elected Worshipful Master in June, 1866, re,elected in 1867, again in 1869, and four terms afterwards. He received the Capitular degrees in 1865, was elected Excellent High Priest in 1870 and served several terms. He received the Orders of Knighthood in 1884, was chosen Prelate, and in 1886 Eminent Commander.

From Missouri Lodge of Research:

Theodore Brace was born on a farm in Ryana Glades, five miles from Oakland, Maryland on June 10, 1835, He graduated from Alllegheny Academy. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in Allegheny County. He moved west and settled in Bloomfield Iowa practicing law. He was offered a partnership in a friends law firm in Independence Mo but on his way to Independence he was forced to stop his journey in Paris, Mo. due to heavy rains and impassable roads where he became acquainted with Miss Roene C. Penn who alter became his wife. It was in Paris Mo. that he established the law firm of McVeigh and Brace.

At the outbreak of he Civil War, and in response to a call form Governor Jackson, Brother Brace left his family to join the ranks of the Confederate Army. He raised a company and was elected its Captain. He saw hard and dangerous service under General Sterling Price until he was taken a prisoner and carried to St Louis. At the end of the war he returned to his family and practice and in 1872 was elected Probate Judge of Monroe County. In 1886 he was elected to the bench of the Missouri Supreme Court and altogether spent twenty years on the bench.

He was made a Freemason in Paris Union Lodge No 19 in 1864 and was elected Master in 1866, 1867, 1869 and four time afterwards. He was appointed Grand Marshal in 1872 and advance to Grand Master elected in 1889.

His death occurred at his home in Paris Mo., May 27, 1921 at the age of eighty-six. Grand Master Wm. F. Johnson conducted the burial service on May 29th with Past Grand Masters Boor, Jesse, and Higbee in attendence. He is buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery at Paris, Mo.


Missouri Grand Masters