Many of Saline County’s most influential and well-known men were members of the local Masonic lodge. The Benton Masonic Lodge was chartered on November 6, 1850, and its first Worshipful Master was A.C. Scott.¹ Like Dr. Gann, Sr and his son, Niloak Pottery owner and creator Charles “Bullet” Hyten was a Freemason.  

Charles Hyten was born on March 14, 1877, in Benton to John and Hattie Hyten. He would later become well known because of the pottery his business made.² At the Gann Museum, we have on display two articles of clothing worn by Hyten during Masonic events and rituals. According to Hyten’s apron, he was initiated into Benton Lodge No. 34 on October 27, 1920.³ Masonic aprons are worn around the waist during ceremonies and important events. 

The Masonic Monitor, a kind of Masonic guidebook, said that the “lamb skin or white leather apron is an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason.”⁴ In our display on the Saline County Courthouse at the Gann Museum there’s a large picture of Dr. Gann and the other Masons standing at the foundation of the Courthouse. All of them are wearing their aprons.  

In addition to Charles Hyten’s apron, we have his Shriner’s fez hat and the bag it came in. These little red caps are named for the city from which they first manufactured – Fez, Morocco. They reflect the Shrine’s Arabic theme.⁵ Both artifacts are part of the new “Only the Names Have Changed” exhibit at the Gann Museum. They are in our display on the Benton Masonic Hall along with a list of Masons found in the Courthouse’s cornerstone time capsule. 

(Pictured Above: Masonic Hall photo and accompanying pin; part of the new “Only the Names Have Changed” exhibit at the Gann)

“Only the Names Have Changed” will run at the Gann Museum until January 2025. 

Citations:

¹ “Benton Masonic Lodge Dates Back Eighty-Six Years – List of Officers,” Benton Courier – Centennial Edition, March 25, 1937, p. 59. 

² Cody Lynn Berry, “Charles Dean Hyten (1877-1944),” CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/charles-dean-hyten-1678/, Date Accessed 10/8/2024. 

³ “Presented By Benton Lodge No. 34, F. & A. M., Benton, Ark,” Masonic Apron signed by C. D. Hyten, 1920. 

⁴ Masonic Monitor of the Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason, 1961, p. 16. 

⁵ “Why Shriners wear a Fez,” Amran Shriners, https://www.amranshriners.com/history/history04.htm, Date Accessed 10/8/2024.