When the Masonic Home of Missouri built the Missouri Masonic Museum, one of the five galleries was designed specifically to celebrate and highlight the residents and leaders of the Masonic Home located on Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. This gallery is known as the Living Well Gallery. There are many important people celebrated in this gallery that left their lasting impact on the Masonic Home. Two of those individuals are William W. Martin and Wilmoth Waller.
It is impossible to know the full impact of M.W. Martin and Sister Waller’s legacy. Both served the Masonic Home at the height of the demand for care. They served through the impacts of the Great Depression and World War II. Not only was the demand for care at its highest, but those events stressed the Masonic Home’s financial stability while also dealing with scarcity. We celebrate the stories of these two remarkable individuals.
William Wesley Martin
On March 7, 1879, William Wesley Martin was born in DeKalb, Missouri. At the age of seven, his family moved to Colby, Kansas. The family would return to Missouri roughly nine years later, settling in Doniphan, Missouri.
William was in high school during the time they lived in Colby, Kansas, but he went to the University of Missouri, Columbia, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree. Miss Leila Johnson was from Columbia, Missouri, and they married on January 1, 1901. They were blessed with three children: Harold, Elizabeth Ann, and John Wesley.
William and Leila lived in Doniphan. William began his career as a clerk in a drug store, then he took the examination by the State Board of Health to become a registered pharmacist. After achieving this, he owned and operated a drug store in Doniphan. At the same time, he owned and operated a five hundred acre farm in Ripley County. In 1923, he was elected a director of the Federal Land Bank of St. Louis. He also served on the boards of trustees for the following organizations: Shurtleff College; William Jewell College; Y.M.C.A.; Goodwill Industries; Farm Credit Administration; and Children’s Home Society. He was a member of the Missouri State Historical Society, I.O.O.F., and held various other civic offices and chairmanships.
William was a member of the Baptist Church, and he would become recognized as one of the most influential laymen in the State. He served as President of the Missouri State B.Y.P.U. from 1909 to 1918. He served as president of the board of trustees of the Third Baptist Church, and he was elected to the General Council of the Northern Baptist Convention in 1947.
Brother Martin found Freemasonry in Composite Lodge No. 369 in his hometown of Doniphan. He became a Missouri Master Mason on March 24, 1903. He became Worshipful Master of the Lodge in 1905. He was appointed District Deputy Grand Master and District Deputy Grand Lecturer that same year, serving both for the next ten years. Grand Master Frank R. Jesse appointed him to the Grand Lodge Line in 1915. In October 1925, he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri.
M.W. Martin was a member of the Scottish Rite bodies in St. Louis, a member of all the York Rite bodies in Popular Bluff, a charter member of the Red Cross of Constantine in the City of Springfield (later transferring his membership to St. Louis), a member in Alhambra Grotto, a member of Missouri Lodge of Research, and a member of Moolah Temple of the Shrine. M.W. Brother Martin was also an active member of the Missouri Order of the Eastern Star serving as Grand Patron 1928-1929. In all organizations, he was considered an excellent ritualist.
Despite all of his accolades and accomplishments, PGM Martin is most remembered for his service to the Masonic Home. He began serving on the Masonic Home Board in 1926. In 1929, he became President of the Masonic Home Board. Due to other administrative changes that same year, he also began to serve as the Masonic Home Superintendent. PGM Martin served as both President of the Board and Superintendent until 1946 when a new Superintendent was hired. He continued to serve on the Board of Directors and as President until 1950.
The Great Depression was a period of high unemployment, poverty, and scarcity that began in 1929 and continued to 1939. The year PGM Martin became President and Superintendent became one of the most difficult times in our country. It was during this time that the need for the Home’s assistance was stressed almost beyond capacity. This was coupled with the impact of the stock market crash and subsequent economic effects of the depression. There was a significant loss in membership, which caused the Masonic Home to lose much needed revenue due to the decrease in per capita. In addition, the Home suffered losses in investments in the Endowment Fund.
During the Great Depression, unemployed Freemasons bunked in hospital rooms and storage areas. The Home’s census reached its peak in 1933, and the lack of space forced PGM Martin and the governing Board to turn unemployed Brothers and their families back to their local Lodges for assistance. Still, there were adults living in the hospital waiting for rooms in the residence halls. In the middle of the depression, PGM Martin and the Board of Directors courageously began a building campaign.
In 1938, the Home would open a nine-story brick Women’s Building. A typical floor contained 15 single bedrooms. This dormitory-style building had rooms for 105 women and a community kitchen and dining room. This helped provide much needed space to address the overcrowded situation affecting the Home. When World War II began in 1939, the Home once again had to defer maintenance, because they were unable to hire skilled labor or purchase building materials.
By 1942, PGM Martin was once again trying to raise money to build cottages for a new Children’s Home. However, he was faced with new challenges and needs to keep the existing structures functioning. The Home needed a new power plant, a new hospital, and a new men’s building. The new children’s cottages would not come to fruition. By the time PGM Martin left the Board in 1950, the demographics of the residents living in the Home had shifted. Only 13% of the residents were children. The majority of the residents were elderly, with women making up 65% of the residents.
After retiring from his service to the Masonic Home, Martin remained in St. Louis. On August 21, 1962, Martin passed away at the Missouri Baptist Hospital at the age of 83. At the time of his passing, he was the senior Past Grand Master.
In the two years prior to PGM Martin’s passing, the Masonic Home received roughly $2.5 million dollars. The trusts under which those funds were distributed had been created 25 years prior. Those trusts had been established during a time of great need and great leadership by the Masonic Home. In his role of leadership for the Home, Martin understood more than anyone the need for funding for both the children and adults under his care at that time, as well as those in the future.
Historical photo of the Masonic Home’s Administration & Children’s Building.
Wilmoth Waller
Wilmoth Waller was born in Randolph County to William Fletcher and Eliza Jane Bolen Harris. She was the youngest child in her family, but she began to help care for her niece when she was only six years old. As she grew, she was the “self-appointed nurse and guardian to half the smaller children in the neighborhood.” She began teaching at the age of seventeen in the Huntsville schools, where she taught for four years before she married John D. Waller of St. Louis. Wilmoth and John were not blessed with children of their own, but she once again found herself caring for a niece after they married.
In 1918, John passed away. Two years later, Mrs. Waller became matron for the children at the Masonic Home in St. Louis.
When Mrs. Waller arrived at the Masonic Home in April of 1920, she worked for Mrs. Mabel E. Engle as one of the governesses. Mrs. Engle became ill, so Mrs. Waller was appointed acting matron. In July, Mrs. Engel resigned, and Mrs. Waller was elected Matron in September. Mrs. Waller was Matron of Children from 1920-1952. Mrs. Waller was not “Mrs.” to the children; rather, she was called “Mother Waller,” as were the governesses who worked under her.
Mother Waller was responsible for the care and well-being of every child in the Home. She was responsible for overseeing staff that cared for the children, as well as providing care for the children themselves. According to an article in the Missouri Grand Lodge Bulletin, Volume 4, No. 2, Mother Waller was not stern or aloof; rather, she was gentle and loving toward the children in her care. She wanted to know how each child was doing – their health, schoolwork, appearance, and happiness. She would often help in the selection of clothing for the children, because the Masonic Home did not require uniforms. Although new clothing for every child was not an option, great care was taken to make sure the children looked well kept.
Wilmoth Waller smiles with a little boy outside the Masonic Home.
Mrs. Waller earned the devotion of the children in the Home and the love and respect of those with whom she worked. Upon retiring from the Masonic Home in 1952, she returned to Huntsville. She was a charter member of Dorothy Chapter #130, O.E.S., at Huntsville, Missouri. She was also an active member of the Huntsville First Baptist Church. Sister Waller had a stroke March 5, 1960. She never regained her strength, and she passed away in July 1961.
Life at the Masonic Home
In 1931, there were almost 150 children living in the Masonic Home. How did Mr. Martin and Mrs. Waller run a home that cared for so many children in a single year? They accomplished this with a good “system and order without severe restraint.” This meant a schedule for bedtimes and meals, good wholesome food, time for play, household responsibilities for those old enough, and school.
The children all lived in the Administration Building. Mornings would begin at 7:00 a.m. with the children being ready for the breakfast bell at 7:15. The children would file into breakfast in an orderly fashion with the youngest girls first followed by the youngest boys. The older girls would follow, then the older boys. Mother Waller would lead the children in a blessing. The older boys selected to help that week would then bring the trays of hot food to the tables.
Each table would have either a governess or two older girls to help serve the food and assist the smaller children. The children were not restricted from talking, but they were required to all finish their meals at the same time to leave their tables together. The older girls assigned to help with cleaning the dishes remained after the children left. After their task was completed, the girls would be replaced by assigned older boys to sweep and mop the floors around the tables. By a little after 8:00 a.m., all of the children’s work was done, and the children got ready to attend schools.
Historical photo of children living at the Masonic Home playing on the playground.
Life at the Masonic Home was not all about school and chores. The children were given opportunities to sing, learn the piano, and play sports. On Friday evenings, all the children assembled in the dining room where they would play records or someone would play the piano. The children could dance or play games. Mother Waller was often asked to join the children, and she joyfully did so at their request.
The children who enjoyed singing would have regular rehearsals in preparation for Sunday school music in the chapel built by the Order of the Eastern Star. Occasionally, the children would sing two or three songs after dinner as well, to the delight of the other children.
The Home’s children who participated in school athletics had their own built-in cheering squad that was not only large in size but enthusiastic. Many of the children of the Home were talented in athletics, receiving honors, and both boys and girls participated in available school athletics.
Mother Waller would often find her way to the nursery in the evenings to assist the governesses in helping the youngest residents of the Home with bedtime. The children would gather on the floor for their evening prayer, repeating it in unison, and sing their goodnight song. Each in turn would be kissed goodnight and encouraged to go to sleep.
The stories of Martin and Waller remind us of the true meaning of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. They gave of themselves to care for the children left in their charge, but they could not have done it without the support of the membership to fund the Home’s operations, provide food, clothing, furnishings, playgrounds, and higher education expenses for interested children. It is the generosity of the Fraternity – in partnership with Martin and Waller – that helped ensure the children of the Home received this loving care.