Perla Assembly

Our Founder

William Mark Sexson

William Mark Sexson was born in the small town of Arnica Springs, Missouri, on July 8, 1877. He was the son of Thomas and Hannah Sexson, who came from Illinois as pioneers in the early settlement of southwest Missouri, and lived on a farm in the valley of Soc River, Cedar County, Missouri, near the village of Arnica Springs. At twelve years of age he joined the church, and at fourteen began his ministry. At seventeen he was ordained a minister of the Christian (Disciples) church by Elder John H. Breeze. When he was twenty, he went to his parents' hometown of Windsor, Illinois, where he met Miss Edith Edwards. They married in 1898, when he was twenty-one and Edith was twenty. As a young married couple, they went to Bloomfield, Indiana where he became pastor of the First Christian Church. After serving for two years as minister of this church, he moved to Indianapolis where he entered Butler College in further preparation of his ministry. He served as Evangelist in the Christian Church conducting revival meetings in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and a number of western states. He came to Cleveland, Oklahoma, in 1906 as minister of the Christian Church at that place. He afterwards served the church at Cherokee and Stroud, Oklahoma. Mr. Sexson was initiated, passed and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in Bloomfield Lodge No. 80, at Bloomfield, Indiana, in 1902, during the time that he was minister of the First Christian Church of that city. He immediately became identified with the craft as a lecturer and contributor of fraternal literature. He was a prolific writer and Masonic scholar who traveled extensively in 1909, spending some time in the near European Countries and then journeying to Assyria, Palestine, and Egypt as preparation for his work as a contributor to Masonic literature. He spent practically all of his life in this field of research work and as a result of such research has been honored by the Fraternity on many occasions. He wrote many books, articles and other works, most related to Rainbow or other Masonic organizations. His bibliography (incomplete, I am certain) includes: 1929 - History and Purpose of Rainbow, also Scriptural Quotations and Allusions in the Rainbow Ritual (found in the front of the "Rainbow" Holy Bible) 1930 - History and Facts concering the Order of Eastern Star, with Scriptural Quotations and References (found in the front of the "OES" Holy Bible) 1938 - The Power of Color ("a general story for all who love color and rejoice in its power") 1939 - Little Boy Bo (a collection of stories and poems for children) 1944 - Rainbow Building (topic unknown) In 1912, when he came to McAlester to become Secretary of the McAlester Scottish Rite Bodies, he also came to the congregation of the First Christian Church in McAlester, agreeing to serve as pastor until the church could get someone to take his place. He served for eleven years, resigning in 1923 to devote full time to his work in developing Rainbow. His greatest work was the organization of the Order of the Rainbow for Girls. This is a junior organization for girls of the teen age from Masonic and Eastern Star homes. It also admits the girl friend or chum of the Masonic or Eastern Star home. One evening in the spring of 1922, Mr. Sexson had been asked to make an address before South McAlester Chapter No. 149. As the DeMolay had come under his close study and observation during his masonic activities, he became more and more conscious of the fact that an Order for girls setting forth some of the truths of Masonry would be necessary. He made a stirring appeal for such an organization in his address and the Worthy Matron, Mrs. Sarah Church, immediately replied, "We would start it if we had someone to write the ceremony of Initiation." Mr. Sexson said, "I will write the Ritual." The next day, he wrote the Ritual, giving it the name "Order of the Rainbow for Girls." He dictated it to the Church stenographer, Mrs. Helen Ambrose, in the study of the first Christian Church of which he was then minister. He asked the regular officers of South McAlester Chapter No. 149, O.E.S, to exemplify the work and furnished them with typewritten copies of the Ritual. On April 6, 1922, the degrees were exemplified for the first time on a class of one hundred seventy-one girls in the auditorium of the Scottish Rite Temple, McAlester, Oklahoma. Rev. and Mrs. Sexson traveled extensively in assisting with the development of Rainbow. The Supreme or Governing Body was formed by Mr. Sexson in June, 1922. He wrote the law governing the Supreme Body as well as the law governing the Subordinate Assemblies. At the formation of the Supreme Body, Mr. Sexson was made the Supreme Recorder and oversaw the business of running the Order. He was later given the title Supreme Worthy Advisor Emeritus. In addition to his Masonic activities, Rev. Sexson was involved with several educational and civic organizations. He was very active in the Red Cross, especially during both World Wars. Also, he was a member of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Rev. and Mrs. Sexson had one child; a boy, Thomas, born in 1905. Thomas died on May 26, 1943 in California. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in McAlester. Rev. Sexson's wife Edith died on March 14, 1951 after an extended illness and was also buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Until her death, she had served as Supreme National Organizer of the Order of the Rainbow for Girls. Rev. Sexson continued his work as Supreme Recorder after the death of Edith. After the July 1952 session of Supreme Assembly, held in Kansas City, Missouri, he married Mrs. Leta Summers, a widow, who had been with the Rainbow organization since its beginnning. On December 20, 1953, Mr. Sexson died in a McAlester hospital, following a short illness. The funeral service was held at the First Christian Church where he served as minister for many years and where the Ritual of the Order of the Rainbow for Girls was written. Burial was in the Masonic Section of Oak Hill Cemetery in McAlester, Oklahoma. Mrs. Leta Sexson served as Supreme Recorder from 1952 until her death in 1968, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in McAlester, Oklahoma.

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The list of Rev. W. Mark Sexson's Masonic affiliations shows his committment. They include:
Master Mason, Bloomfield Indiana -- 1902;
Demitted Bloomfield Lodge No. 80 -- 1913
Affiliated with South McAlester Lodge No. 96 at McAlester, Oklahoma -- 1914
Worshipful Master -- South McAlester Lodge No. 96 -- 1921
Secretary Scottish Rite Bodies, McAlester, Oklahoma -- 1912-21
Offices held in the Grand Lodge of AF & AM of Oklahoma: Grand Chaplain (1920-21), Grand Orator (1923-24), Junior Grand Warden (1925), Senior Grand Warden (1926), Deputy Grand Master (1927), and Most Worshipful Grand Master of Oklahoma (1928-29)
Member -- Order of the Eastern Star, South McAlester Chapter No. 149 -- 1923
Worthy Patron -- South McAlester Chapter No. 149 -- 1923
Worthy Grand Patron -- Grand Chapter of Oklahoma, Order of the Eastern Star -- 1925-26
Member -- Ritual Committee General Grand Chapter, OES -- 1928-31
Master of the Royal Secret, Oklahoma Consistory No. 1 at Guthrie -- 1907
Knight Commander of the Court of Honor at Guthrie -- 1911
Secretary of Scottish Rite Bodies, McAlester, Oklahoma -- 1912-21
33rd Degree Mason and Coroneted Inspector General Honorary -- 1913
Indian Chapter No. 1, Royal Arch Masons, North McAlester, Oklahoma -- 1916
Royal and Select Master -- 1917
Knighted a Knight of Malta -- 1917
McAlester Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar -- 1930
Noble of the Mystic Shrine -- Active Membership -- Indian Temple, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Honorary Membership -- Bedouin Temple, Muskogee, Oklahoma
Honorary Membership -- Akdar Temple, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Amrita Grotto -- Ft. Smith, Arkansas
Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem -- 1937

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