Derrick G. Jeter

Every time I post a photo of Santa Anna, somebody mentions that the reason Sam Houston did not have Santa Anna executed after the Battle of San Jacinto is that both were Masons and Santa Anna flashed Sam Houston his masonic ring after being captured and brought before Sam. Then folks send me DMs asking if that's true. Here's my short, succinct response: there is no real evidence, just a persistent legend wrapped around a couple of true facts. The true parts first: Sam Houston was a very active Mason, initiated in Cumberland Lodge No. 8 in Tennessee in 1817 and later affiliated with Holland Lodge No. 1 in Texas. And thanks to a Scottish Rite certificate in New York, we now know that Antonio López de Santa Anna was a Scottish Rite Mason in Mexico. So yes, both men had been Masons. My problem is with the claim that Houston spared Santa Anna because of that. The Texas Scottish Rite folks who dug up Santa Anna’s membership certificate went out of their way to say that, while it proved Santa Anna was a Mason, it does not prove the story that Masonry saved his life. Also, many masons even at the time were saying that Santa Anna, by his actions, had effectively disavowed Masonry. Houston himself gave very different reasons. In an 1842 letter to Santa Anna, he wrote that he was guided by “considerations of mercy, humanity and the establishment of a national character,” and by the hope that a living, freed Santa Anna would promote Mexican recognition of Texas independence. U.S. President Andrew Jackson—also a Mason, but writing as a hard-nosed politician—wholeheartedly urged Houston to keep Santa Anna alive because he’d be far more useful as a bargaining chip than as a martyr, noting that while Santa Anna was in Houston’s power it would be harder for Mexico to raise another effective army. Also ---- and maybe I don't even need to point this out ---- but it wasn’t solely Houston’s personal call. There was an interim Texas government above him, and the question of what to do with Santa Anna was a hot political issue. As far as I can tell, the “he flashed a secret sign and Houston had to save him” story shows up later, pushed by Houston’s enemies who thought he’d gone soft by not Santa Anna on the spot. I'm looking at you, David Burnet. So: Both men were Masons? True. Santa Anna may have used a Masonic distress sign? Possible but unproven and, even if he did, that only matters if Houston was planning to execute him. But Houston’s decision was driven by politics, strategy, and image-building for the new republic, not by lodge business. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 😉

The New York Times profiled Peter-Ayers Tarantino’s Manhattan apartment, which is teeming with books (over 4,500), packed into a 1,100-square-foot apartment; nothing short of paradise to many bibliophiles. Photo Credit: Annie Schlechter

The New York Times profiled Peter-Ayers Tarantino’s Manhattan apartment, which is teeming with books (over 4,500), packed into a 1,100-square-foot apartment; nothing short of paradise to many bibliophiles. Photo Credit: Annie Schlechter