The first Freemasons to settle in San Saba County were J. S. Williams, John H. "Shorty" Brown, Wiley T. Murray and H. M. Wadsworth. To the east of San Saba was Simpson Creek, which was settled by Jerry W. Flemming and Hugh Taylor. In the southern section, Upper Cherokee was settled by Elijah Estep, David S. Hanna and Joe B. Hext. The Chappel Community, located in the southeast section, was settled by Joseph Pullen. Rock Shoals, later known as the Sloan Community, was settled by Henry Taylor, and Danny Beasley. The Locker community was settled by B. T. Trowbridge and the Colony Community by Richard Kolb. By 1856, there were nearly nine hundred people living in the area. On 8 November 1855, Jerry W. Flemming, David Matsler and Joseph B. Hext were among those who filed a petition to the Sixth Texas Legislature requesting formation of San Saba County from Bexar County.

After the first boundaries were set by the legislature, the first county elections were held 3 May 1856. The county judge, county clerk, two commissioners, tax assessor-collector and ten grand jurors were all Freemasons. There were eleven Masons selected to review the several new roads in the county. On 22 December 1860, H. M. Wadsworth was employed by the commissioner’s court to locate the school lands in the county. This trend of public service by Freemasons, especially in education, would continue and for years to come. By 1900, San Saba County Masons had been elected to sixty-nine county positions as well as three state legislative seats.