W. W. Coleman

Worshipful Coleman was a Hydraulic Engineer by trade and was actually responsible for installing St. Petersburg’s first water system that supplied fresh water to this pioneer town on the edge of Tampa Bay. Worshipful Coleman and his Wife Mary Ellen also built, owned, and ran the Paxton House Hotel which at the time was one of the largest hotels in the area boasting 32 rooms for guests and stayed open year round. The Paxton House Hotel was a block away from the Detroit Hotel on Central Ave and 1st Street. The location is now an empty lot as seen in the pictures attached. Through Worshipful Coleman’s guidance Lodge 139 was able to forge through the early years and last the test of time. Worshipful Coleman passed to the Celestial Lodge Above in 1909 and is interred at the historic Greenwood Cemetery which is located on 9th street and 11th Ave S. like most of the other early pioneers of St. Petersburg.  Worshipful Coleman not only served as our first Worshipful Master, 1894 & 1895, he also served in that office in 1897, 1903 and again in 1905.

G. L. King

Worshipful King was our second Worshipful Master.  He was one of the first lumber mill owners in lower Pinellas Point/Maximo Point area.   He is credited with spearheading population growth in the 1890s in Lower Pinellas Point/St. Pete Village.  He died after a long battle with cancer in February of 1904.  He is interred at Greenwood Cemetery.

Robert Johnson

Worshipful Johnson was our Worshipful Master in 1898. Unfortunately, we do not have a photograph of him.  Nor do we know very much about his life and death.  We do know, however, he was a Charter Member of St. Petersburg Lodge No. 139.  He was also District Deputy Grand Master in 1901.  At that time we were located in District 16.  If you have any knowledge of Worshipful Johnson, please share it with us.

H. W. Hibbs

Worshipful Hibbs was the Worshipful Master of our Lodge in 1899.  In his personal life, he established one of St. Petersburg’s most important industries.  The shipping of fresh fish to northern markets.  Worshipful Hibbs was the president of the Hibbs Fish Company, president of the Citizens Ice & Cold Storage Company and a director of the First National Bank. He was elected mayor of St. Petersburg in 1894 and again in 1895.  He died 1942 and is buried in Royal Palm South Cemetery.

W. A. Sloan

Worshipful Sloan lead our Lodge into the 20th Century.  He was He was among the Worshipful Masters who were instrumental in the founding of St. Petersburg.  Worshipful Sloan was the first Town Marshal. He passed away on June 25, 1906.  He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

David Murray

Worshipful Murray came to St. Petersburg in 1890 to put in the plant for the Crystal Ice Company, the first ice company in St. Petersburg.  In April of 1893, he was elected Mayor of St. Petersburg to fill out the term of Mayor Judge Wm. H. Benton, who died suddenly while on his way to Tampa.  While Mayor, he laid the cornerstone of the first public school building in St. Petersburg.  After serving at Worshipful Master, he moved to California.

Henry Miner

Worshipful Miner was Worshipful Master in 1904.  As a young lad, 16 years old, he went to sea doing the work of an Able Seaman.  He sailed in all of the seven seas. In 1888, then a Sea Captain, Worshipful Miner sailed from Pensacola to the snapper banks.  After a couple of days fishing they were hit by one of the worst hurricanes ever seen on the Gulf.  More than 200 ships were sunk, including Captain Miner’s.  He and his crew of 19 men spent the next 18 days in open boats before they were rescued.  After recuperating, he became Master on one of the Plant system boats. It was in this capacity that he became a blockade runner to Cuba, during the Spanish-American war.  After several successful trips, he finally fell victim to yellow fever while in Cuba.  He would have died if not for Theodore Roosevelt and other officers, all fellow Masons, pulling him through on a diet of brandy and morphine.  His health no longer good enough to continue as a sea Captain, he retired from that and acquired a pilot’s license and engaged in pilot service on Tampa bay for the next 20 years.  He died on December 20, 1923 and is interred at Royal Palm South Cemetery.