The countryside was rife with buffalo hunters, cavalry troopers, cattlemen and American Indians.
In 1879 Singer brought two wagons, one carrying lumber and the other merchandise, to the last waterhole in Yellowhouse Canyon. Above that small lake he built what author W.C. Holden described as “an 18-foot square boxed structure,” the first in what would become Lubbock. His store became the first official post office in 1884.
The store burned to the ground in 1886 in a fire started by a “demented” man, but Singer rebuilt a half mile up the canyon. He remained there until the townsite for Lubbock was set and Singer moved his store to what is now the northeast corner of Main Street and Buddy Holly Avenue.
Singer, his wife and two children left Lubbock shortly before 1900, saying that he wanted his children to receive a proper education.
George W. Singer death - December 22, 1910 in Urbana Texas at age 66. Married 2 May 1878 Huron Ohio, USA
SINGER, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1844–1910). George Washington Singer, pioneer merchant, was born on May 24, 1844, in Ashland County, Ohio. His first occupation may have been schoolteacher. His first marriage, in 1867, was to a woman named Mary Richards with whom he had two children, a daughter Ida Sorena and a son who died as an infant. Although born a Lutheran, he joined the Quaker sect after marrying Rachel Underhill, daughter of Harvey Underhill, and subsequently Singer, his bride, and his daughter accompanied the Underhills to the new Quaker settlement of Estacado, Texas. Not long afterward Singer erected a small, one-room store near the Lubbock Lake site in Yellow House Canyon, where four military routes crossed. There he catered mostly to freighters and passing cowboys from neighboring ranches. Although some accounts attempt to date Singer's store as early as 1879, the most reliable sources place the date as 1881 or early 1882. At any rate, Singer's store was a well-known area landmark by 1885. Here the Singers handled local mail and graciously served meals to hungry passersby at their nearby home. Their oldest son, Perry, was born there in 1883, thus becoming the first white child on record to be born in Lubbock County. Subsequently three more sons and a daughter were born to them. Although a settler named De Quazy attempted to give the Singers some competition at Yellow House Canyon and was listed as Lubbock County's first official postmaster in the spring and summer of 1884, his venture apparently was short-lived. Reservation Indians from Oklahoma, as well as cowboys and other travelers were welcome to camp out around the store, which was never locked, even when Singer was away; never once did a customer betray his confidence. His flowing beard and ever-present buffalo gun made "Old Man" Singer a legend among the West Texas cowboys. In September 1882 he and his wife gave the last rites to a dying Union Civil War veteran named Harve Cannon at their home before burying him in the old Estacado cemetery. In 1886 a Mexican arrived at the Singer home while he was away, was given a meal, and then allowed to wait for him at the store. When Singer returned shortly afterward, the man suddenly peppered the house with bullets and then set the store on fire; when the flames spread to the ammunition, the building exploded, killing the arsonist. Subsequently the erroneous story arose that Singer had shot and killed the arsonist himself. The Singers almost immediately set out for Colorado City to get more lumber and provisions and rebuild their store about a half-mile from the original site. The first religious service in Lubbock County was held at Singer's store on May 24, 1890, by Rev. H. M. Bandy, a Church of Christ minister. As more settlers moved into Lubbock County, both Singer and his wife filed on their land. In 1891, after the town of Lubbock was founded, Singer moved his business to the corner of Main Street and Avenue H. Gov. James S. Hogg appointed Singer as the county's first tax collector and state official on May 1, 1891. Singer desired better educational opportunities for his children, and in November 1897 he sold his store and lot to George S. Beatty. Singer and his family moved briefly to Stark, in Neosha County, Kansas, before developing a prosperous farm near Chanute. He died on December 22, 1910, while on a visit to Urbana, Kansas, and was buried in Chanute. His widow resided there until her death in 1933. In the late 1950s Marion Maxwell (Max) Coleman, a Lubbock attorney and historian, attended a Singer family reunion in Kansas, interviewed George Singer's children, and subsequently arranged for some of them to visit the Lubbock Lake site, where a historic marker designates the location of the original store.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Max Coleman, From Mustanger to Attorney (Lubbock, 1960). Lawrence L. Graves, ed., A History of Lubbock (Lubbock: West Texas Museum Association, 1962). William Curry Holden, Rollie Burns (Dallas: Southwest, 1932; rpt., College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1986). Vertical File, Southwest Collection, Texas Tech University (George W. Singer, Singer's Store).
Published: Sunday, January 02, 2000
The Families of Lubbock is a weekly feature that will appear each Sunday throughout the year as The Avalanche-Journal celebrates its 100th birthday. Families are selected by A-J staff and 100th birthday partners on a variety of criteria, including historical significance and civic contributions. This week's feature focuses on South Plains pioneer George W. Singer.
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| From You tube video on Lubbock Texas, see bottom of this post. |
The name may have faded a bit from the city's collective memory, which is too bad because George W. Singer holds a special place in the development of early Lubbock.
Born May 24, 1843, Singer moved to West Texas in the late 1870s. A deeply religious man, he settled in Estacado, the Quaker community in Crosby County and was intent on opening a store.
What evolved from that dream was Singer's store, which sprung to life in 1879 and became the first store built in the area that would eventually become Lubbock. The store was originally located about a half-mile northwest of the intersection of the Clovis Highway and north Indiana Avenue.
Singer had arrived on the Llano Estacado earlier in 1879. It was still rugged terrain. The countryside was rife with buffalo hunters, cavalry troopers and Indians.
Singer came into the territory with two wagons, one filled with lumber and one with merchandise. He pushed into the Yellowhouse Canyon to the last live water hole and set up shop.
W.C. Holden, noted Texas Tech historian, described Singer's store in his book "Rollie Burns." The building was "an 18-foot square boxed structure which sat at the junction of two military trails."
"One trail was from Fort Griffin (near where Graham now is) to Fort Sumner, N.M., and the other was from Fort Stockton to Fort Elliott."
According to Holden, "customers ... were slow in coming. The hunters were beginning to leave the range and not many cowboys had as yet arrived."
The Fort Stockton-Fort Elliott trail wasn't very heavily traveled, but Singer's business began to pick up as travel increased on the Fort Griffin-Fort Sumner route.
Burns, one of Lubbock's pioneers, told Holden about his first impressions of Singer's store shortly after arriving in the area.
"I rounded a bend in the canyon and saw Singer's store, diminutive and forlorn, nestling on the southwest side of a lake which formed the headwaters of the Yellowhouse.
"The lake covered several acres and was fed by springs.
"When I rode up, a dozen or more horses were tied to the hitching rail out in front. In and around the store was a motley crowd of cowboys and a half-dozen Apache Indians.
"I mailed my letter (Singer's also was the first post office in the area), bought a drink of whiskey and some candy, stood around a while and started back."
Goods reached Singer's from Fort Griffin and Fort Worth. Among the items on hand were sardines, salmon, cheese and crackers. Prices ranged from 10 cents for a pound of bacon to 60 cents for a gallon of syrup to 3 cents for a pound of onions to 20 cents per joint of stove pipe.
Although letters were posted from Singer's from the day it opened, it became the area's first official post office in 1884. "Old Man" Singer, who in his 40s, was the postmaster.
Over the course of the next few years, the reputation of Singer's store blossomed. The boom is best described by J. Evetts Haley in the book "XIT Ranch:"
"When the cowboys pushed up the canyon with their cattle, he (Singer) was there. When the roundups drew to a close and jingling spurs struck music from the floor of his store, Old Man Singer was in his glory.
"Pack horses were hobbled out, bed rolls thrown upon the floor, and when night came the old man left the cowboys in charge and went to bed. Until far in the night, the old game of poker held forth. When the money was gone, a cowboy reached up and pulled down a stick candy or a plug of tobacco from the shelf, 'sweetened the pot' and the game went on.
"Another went broke and another and down came a pair of California pants to be bet against a couple of shirts. Singer appeared the next morning after the game was over. Never did a padlock fasten his door, and never was his confidence betrayed to the loss of a cent by these men who gambled in zest and would have shot at a word."
Those were the most familiar scenes at Singer's until a sad day in 1886, when what is described as a "demented" man set the store afire while Singer was away.
According to legend, Singer returned just in time to see the man running from the blazing building, and he shot and killed him. The man was never buried.
However, that part of the story may not quite be true. According to a letter from Pearl Debler Singer, one of George Singer's five children, her father never shot the man responsible for starting the fire.
"My father did shoot, but only around the door casing to keep him from coming out and shooting the family," she wrote in 1959. "I was only six months old. My mother had me lying on a pillow in a big old-fashioned rocking chair, and when she went to pick me up there was a spent rifle bullet about two or three inches from my head.'
"It was covered with cotton, as it had come through a mattress and carried the cotton with it, or I would have been no more. I saw the bullet in my childhood, and I know of what I speak for the man never came out of the store.
"He was never buried right as his head, arms and legs were burned, so you can see I know wherein I speak when I say my father never shot him.
"My father carried a gun. All early day settlers did, but I have heard him say he never shot a man in his life, and being and honest and truthful man, I believed him."
Regardless, Singer was unable to save the original store, and most of his goods were destroyed. However, not to be discouraged, he brought lumber from Colorado City and built another store about a half-mile up the canyon.
The store remained there while a hassle between Lubbock and Monterey raged over what would become a new Lubbock townsite. Once the fuss was over, Singer moved his store again, this time locating the establishment "in town."
For years, Singer's sat at what is now the corner of Main Street and Avenue H, and it served many purposes. At one time, Judge George L. Beatty, a former McCulloch County judge, had his law offices in the building. Other lawyers also quartered there.
While the building remained, Singer did not. Sometime in 1896 or 1897, he opted to leave Lubbock County. The primary reason cited was he wanted to be closer to a school to make sure his children received a quality education.
A cowboy named Big Jim McGuire offered Singer $250 for the section of land where his original store stood.
Singer eventually settled in Kansas. He passed away in 1910 in Urban, Kan., and is buried in Chanute, Kan.
George Washington Singer, pioneer merchant, was born on May 24, 1844, in Ashland County, Ohio. His first occupation may have been schoolteacher. His first marriage, in 1867, was to a woman named Mary Richards with whom he had two children, a daughter Ida Sorena and a son who died as an infant. Although born a Lutheran, he joined the Quaker sect after marrying Rachel Underhill, daughter of Harvey Underhill, and subsequently Singer, his bride, and his daughter accompanied the Underhills to the new Quaker settlement of Estacado, Texas.
Not long afterward Singer erected a small, one-room store near the Lubbock Lake site in Yellow House Canyon, where four military routes crossed. There he catered mostly to freighters and passing cowboys from neighboring ranches. Although some accounts attempt to date Singer's store as early as 1879, the most reliable sources place the date as 1881 or early 1882. At any rate, Singer's store was a well-known area landmark by 1885. Here the Singers handled local mail and graciously served meals to hungry passersby at their nearby home. Their oldest son, Perry, was born there in 1883, thus becoming the first white child on record to be born in Lubbock County. Subsequently three more sons and a daughter were born to them.
Although a settler named De Quazy attempted to give the Singers some competition at Yellow House Canyon and was listed as Lubbock County's first official postmaster in the spring and summer of 1884, his venture apparently was short-lived. Reservation Indians from Oklahoma, as well as cowboys and other travelers were welcome to camp out around the store, which was never locked, even when Singer was away; never once did a customer betray his confidence. His flowing beard and ever-present buffalo gun made "Old Man" Singer a legend among the West Texas cowboys.
In September 1882 he and his wife gave the last rites to a dying Union Civil War veteran named Harve Cannon at their home before burying him in the old Estacado cemetery. In 1886 a Mexican arrived at the Singer home while he was away, was given a meal, and then allowed to wait for him at the store. When Singer returned shortly afterward, the man suddenly peppered the house with bullets and then set the store on fire; when the flames spread to the ammunition, the building exploded, killing the arsonist. Subsequently the erroneous story arose that Singer had shot and killed the arsonist himself. The Singers almost immediately set out for Colorado City to get more lumber and provisions and rebuild their store about a half-mile from the original site.
The first religious service in Lubbock County was held at Singer's store on May 24, 1890, by Rev. H. M. Bandy, a Church of Christ minister. As more settlers moved into Lubbock County, both Singer and his wife filed on their land. In 1891, after the town of Lubbock was founded, Singer moved his business to the corner of Main Street and Avenue H. Gov. James S. Hogg appointed Singer as the county's first tax collector and state official on May 1, 1891.
Singer desired better educational opportunities for his children, and in November 1897 he sold his store and lot to George S. Beatty. Singer and his family moved briefly to Stark, in Neosha County, Kansas, before developing a prosperous farm near Chanute. He died on December 22, 1910, while on a visit to Urbana, Kansas, and was buried in Chanute. His widow resided there until her death in 1933.
In the late 1950s Marion Maxwell (Max) Coleman, a Lubbock attorney and historian, attended a Singer family reunion in Kansas, interviewed George Singer's children, and subsequently arranged for some of them to visit the Lubbock Lake site, where a historic marker designates the location of the original store.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Max Coleman, From Mustanger to Attorney (Lubbock, 1960). Lawrence L. Graves, ed., A History of Lubbock (Lubbock: West Texas Museum Association, 1962). William Curry Holden, Rollie Burns
(Dallas: Southwest, 1932; rpt., College Station: Texas A&M
University Press, 1986). Vertical File, Southwest Collection, Texas Tech
University (George W. Singer, Singer's Store).
Westbrook: Singer was a businessman and a survivor
George Washington Singer must have been born with the talents of a merchant.
Posted: May 8, 2011 - 9:41pm
Ray Westbrook - The A-J Remembers
George Washington Singer must have been born with the talents of a merchant.
Wherever his name appears in history, it seems always associated with retail stores and prominence in the community. It is certain, though, that he was a pioneer businessman living on the outer edges of civilization in the 1880s.
But Singer also had a characteristic beyond his business and leadership skills — he was a survivor.
It may have been because of the necessities of the day: His first wife died while he still lived in Indiana, leaving him with a young daughter in the sorrow of a lost home.
Singer recovered, though, and later married Rachel Underhill, who was a member of a Quaker community. Notes from history indicate that Singer persuaded her family to move with them to the new community of Estacado.
They traveled from Indiana to what was thought to be northwest Crosby County. In fact, it was northeast Lubbock County.
Paris Cox, the community’s founder, had recorded a claim to land in that area for what he envisioned as a Quaker colony.
The Singers and Underhills didn’t travel the entire way by covered wagon, according to a thesis prepared by Karen Kaye Bilbrey Hicks for a graduate degree at Texas Tech.
Her research found the following methods of travel: “The Singers traveled by railroad as far as possible, and bought a wagon and horse or mule teams to complete the journey.”
Singer brought along his daughter, Arena, of course.
His four stores were operated consecutively during a period of about 15 years in Lubbock County. The first one, located in Estacado, is believed to have been an adobe-type structure.
Tommy Fondren, who grew up in Estacado and attended school there until it consolidated with Lorenzo, now is poring over maps of the abandoned town site, and is finding how it began.
His research has found that Singer’s initial store was likely built of sod.
“I know the store was on the square. They took blocks of turf and stacked it like brick. And they took the tarps off the wagons they came in, and used them for roofs,” he said.
It was a matter of using whatever was available at the time. And according to a deed signed by Singer, they had arrived in 1881.
Eileen Johnson, director of the Lubbock Lake Landmark, said Estacado would have been the first town established in this region.
“It goes back as far as the ranchers do,” she said.
Johnson noted that part of the reason for Estacado was to serve ranchers in the region. “That’s what brought the Singers to this area. They were part of the founding population in Estacado. He saw an opportunity in coming closer to some of the big ranches.”
But Singer didn’t tolerate competition well. When someone else opened a store in the new town, he moved to Yellow House Draw, where there was a spring-fed lake. It also was near an intersection of the military trails from Fort Griffin to Fort Sumner, N.M., and Fort Stockton to Fort Elliott.
According to research material provided by Deborah Bigness, manager of site operations at Lubbock Lake Landmark, the most reliable dates for Singer’s original store at the landmark are 1883 to 1886. In 1886, it was lost to fire.
Hicks’ research indicates the store’s merchandise included saddles, bridles, halters, ropes, ammunition, guns, kerosene, flour, meal and canned goods.
The business apparently was prospering. Cowboys with money to spend and poker to play patronized the store, and apparently U.S. Cavalry troops visited occasionally.
All sources note that Singer never locked his doors, and cowboys could sleep inside at night if they wanted to. His merchandise was never reported missing, and even that which was used while he was away was paid for.
Then a man who appeared to be of Mexican descent came to the Singers’ home while George was temporarily away. Although Rachel set food before him as she was accustomed to do for others who visited, he seemed mentally unstable. After eating, he went to the store alone.
From one account, George returned and started toward the store to see what was needed, and the stranger began shooting toward the Singers’ house. Singer took his own rifle, and in the exchange of gunfire, the store caught fire.
The man inside died where he was — whether by fire, the exploding ammunition kept in the store, or by a shot fired into the store by Singer. After the fire had consumed the entire building and everything inside, it was impossible to tell.
The total loss of the store and its merchandise could have been enough discouragement to occasion surrender as a frontier businessman, but Singer apparently didn’t hesitate. He ordered more lumber and supplies from Colorado City, and began again, this time about a quarter of a mile down the draw to the east.
Referring to the original store at what is now the landmark, Johnson said, “We know where the Singer store was located, and we have done excavations within the store itself.”
She added, “First, that occupation is part of the record at the landmark. Secondly, I always look at that as basically the founding of the community of Lubbock. That’s where the post office was. Everybody came to the Singer store.”
Singer operated the new store until the small towns of Monterey and the first Lubbock moved together into the present town site of Lubbock, and he moved with them to his fourth location.
According to Hicks’ research, in January or February of 1891, the Singers moved the store to Lot 6, Block 105, of the town of Lubbock.
She even has the address in terms of the present: 802 Main St.
It was at that time located, appropriately, on Singer Street.
Singer had become known for his honesty and for his trust in his neighbors across the South Plains. Many knew him as postmaster. He was the first to establish a permanent home in Lubbock County. He became the first Lubbock County tax official and served as foreman on the first grand jury.
And then the end came in a political fight.
What he was asking in return for his service to the Lubbock area, was to serve in the elected position of a county commissioner.
But someone else was running for the same office, and Singer was always uncomfortable with competition.
J.J. Dillard wrote an article for the Lubbock Morning Avalanche in 1924 that recounted his memories of the event.
The article was discovered by Yvonne Perkins and Judy Womack while they were working on a project for the South Plains Genealogical Society, titled “Early Lubbock Newspapers.”
According to Dillard’s article, there was an issue before the candidates that involved the drilling of a water well, the construction of a windmill tower and the installation of an elevated water tank for use by the public.
Singer’s store was located to the north, and his rival’s store was located to the west, of the courthouse. Voters lined up geographically, figuring the well would be drilled closest to the successful candidate’s store.
Dillard recalled that when the votes had been counted, J.D. Caldwell won the election, with Singer going down in ignominious defeat. Singer had been a resident longer than his opponent, and he felt that his claim to the office had been stronger after being a supporter of Lubbock County for several years.
He expected to win.
“But he was mistaken,” Dillard wrote. “Thus he felt much humiliated, and broken down in heart and spirt at the voters’ non-appreciation of his efforts.”
Singer disposed of his property soon afterward, and moved to Kansas, according to Dillard.
“Thus he died of grief after enduring many hardships for the benefit of Lubbock, and the last act of ingratitude to this pioneer, was to change the name of one of the principal streets of Lubbock from North and South Singer to Avenue H.”
Today, the Singer store would be located at the northwest corner of Main Street and Buddy Holly Avenue — just a short walk to the Commissioners Court.
In fact, about the same distance that his home was to Singer’s store when it was open all night to cowboys on the edge of Yellow House Draw.
Research information: excerpt:
First buffalo kill brought prestige to young Texas explorer
Published: Monday, February 01, 1999
(EDITOR'S NOTE The following article appeared in the Dec. 2, 1923, edition of the Lubbock Morning Avalanche as part of the ''Early Days on the Plains'' series and was written by Lubbock pioneer R.C. Burns. This is the first in a series of 25 articles that will appear each Monday in The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.)
In July 1881, I came to Crosby County and went to work for Hensley brothers, owners of the ''22'' Ranch. Van Sanders was foreman of this ranch. I think it was during the month of September that Van sent me to Singer's store, located northwest of the town of Lubbock about three miles.
About 10 miles further on, at the headwaters of the Yellowhouse Creek, I had come to my journey's end. Here I found two stores, one dwelling house and one dugout, occupied by G.W. Singer and a Mrs. D'Quay. Each had stocks of goods. Mr. Singer's family lived here. Up to this time the goods and supplies were hauled from Fort Griffin and Fort Worth.
The latter part of 1881 the freighting of all supplies was from Colorado City.
At Singer's store I found a motley crowd of cowboys, freighters, Mexicans and about a dozen Apache Indians. Most all, except the Indians, were occupied in playing cards.
I stayed all night here, returning the next day to the ''22'' camp. As I remember, this was the only settlement in Lubbock County, with the possible exception of two or three families near Estacado, composed of the two Marshmans and Underhill.
Westbrook: Pioneers brought with them the cross of Jesus Christ
Posted: April 17, 2011 - 11:11pm
Ray Westbrook - The A-J Remembers
When the pioneers cast their lot with the land, the blowing dust and a new life in Lubbock, they brought with them the message of the cross and resurrection of Christ.
Most families also found space in their covered wagons for a library of 66 books that was called the King James Version of the Bible.
Baptisms continued just like they did back in the established towns and churches where the settlers had come from, except that in Lubbock County they were conducted in a stock tank.
The pioneers simply used whatever was available to them. In one instance, six Baptist women who saw a need in 1891 for an organized church, met in an unfinished jail that had no floor, according to material provided by librarian Rheba Herman.
A church service that must have been picturesque was conducted in the late 1880s by a Church of Christ preacher at George Singer’s store on the edge of Yellow House Draw.
Singer himself had apparently come from Estacado, a community of Quakers.
Methodist believers met in the county jail, also. Then, circuit rider R.M. Morris came to Lubbock and established the first Methodist church with 12 members in 1892, according to a timeline provided by archivist Betty Carr.
The members included the families of Isham Tubbs, W.A. Carlisle, Columbus Washington Mallard and John Caraway.
The pioneer spirit of helping each other extended to church buildings, also. When one denomination would build a church, other denominations would contribute to the construction.
According to the research for a graduate thesis done by Steve Doles, now pastor of Cumberland Presbyterian Church, harmony was the prevailing tone during the first years of Lubbock. After the jail, the courthouse was the common meeting place for Baptists, Church of Christ, Methodists and Quakers. The congregations would simply rotate pastors to head consecutive Sunday services.
As late as 1905, Baptists and Methodists shared a common choir, and up until World War I, there was a union Sunday School directed by those in authority from several of the churches.
Doles, who said his ministry focus paper — which was done to wrap up doctoral work for Fuller Theological Seminary — was about the organization Pray Lubbock and the spiritual dynamics of the city.
“One of the small parts of that was to try to understand the historical background of the churches and of prayer in the city,” he said.
A 1991 book edited by Weston A. Pettey for a 100th church anniversary, titled “The First Baptist Church of Lubbock Texas,” traces the origin of formal churches in this area to Henry “Hank” Smith and his guest.
“Hardly had Smith completed and occupied his home, when a lone Quaker, Paris Cox, from Indiana, stopped and asked Smith to go with him up on the plains and help him find a choice parcel of land where he could build a Quaker community,” the book stated.
That became Estacado, and the first formal church on the South Plains.
The second religious gathering was the Sunday service at Singer’s for about a dozen people from the Church of Christ denomination, though the group was not a formal church at that point.
Then the Baptist church was organized by a missionary, Thomas H. Stamps, and shortly afterward the Methodist church became a formal congregation. The Church of Christ then organized into a church that eventually was known as Broadway Church of Christ.
Doles said a church that became First Presbyterian was founded in 1903 in Lubbock, and that Cumberland Presbyterian was organized in 1908. “The First Church of the Nazarene was founded in 1909 right after the city was founded, and the St. Paul on the Plains Episcopal Church in 1910.”
An eyewitness account of the St. Paul’s Church by Mary Elizabeth Randal was quoted in a June 1997 article in the Avalanche-Journal:
“The first tiny St. Paul’s Church was heated by a wood- and coal-burning stove, and the men in the congregation took turns stoking the fire during the service.
“The members who sat away from the stove froze in the wintertime, and those closest to the stove fainted. At Easter, it was not considered a successful service unless at some time someone would faint from the heat and had to be carried out.”
Doles said members of the early churches were concerned about the moral condition of the city, too. “John Welch from First Christian said, ‘May we all help build Lubbock morally while she is young that when she is old she may not depart from it.’
“One of the Baptist preachers said, ‘We ought to make this hub of the plains a religious hub.’
“And they were already: The editor of the newspaper would print what the preachers were saying. He recorded this comment: ‘Let us keep Lubbock clean of dives and hell holes, and we will have an ideal town.’”
Doles said, “I know they also had tent revivals.”
Philosophical challenges to Lubbock’s churches came from the secular side of academia: “There was a great debate going on in the 1920s and 1930s with Texas Tech from evolution teaching, and the churches were preaching against it,” Doles said.
“In 1927, a great four-week revival took place among the leaders and members from First Baptist, First Methodist, First Presbyterian, Church of the Nazarene and Cumberland Presbyterian. The Church of Christ held its own gospel meeting, and didn’t participate.”
He said, “In 1929, similar union services were held — in a tent revival — with 2,000 to 2,500 attending.”
The churches were building a foundation for generations to come, and apparently they did it the same way they developed the land — with patient endurance no matter the adversity, and by helping one another.
Doles thinks the work of the early churches successfully produced something vital and basic: a kind of spiritual DNA that has shaped Lubbock until now
More research:
• n 1883, Perry Singer was born to George W. and Mollie Singer, the first white birth in Lubbock County. Singer had a store in Yellowhouse Canyon in the crossroads of four major military routes. In 1884, a federal post office opened at Singer's store, though he had already been handling mail for the area.
*George W. SINGER, b. May 24, 1844, Nova, Orange Township, Ashland, Ohio,
Parents, John and Catherine SINGER, b. Oct. 23, 1803, PA, d. July 29, 1880,
Ashland Co. Ohio. Buried, Ruggles Township Cemetery
George W. Singer: First wife Mary born November 22, 1846, d. Jan. 28, 1877
2nd wife of George W. Singer: Rachel Ann UNDERHILL b. Jan. 3, 1854, Ohio
George and Rachel moved to Texas, then to Kansas where they died.
Her name is Arena Singer SAMSEL. She was the first born to George W. and his first wife, "Mollie". Mollie died soon after childbirth of their second child, a boy, and in 1878 George married Rachel. Arena was living with them at the time, but when she was a young girl he was living in Lubbock, TX at that time, he felt she wasn't getting the education she should have so sent her back to Ohio to live with her grandparents. She was living in Mansfield, in 1906. Her husband's name was Frank Samsel. They had 1 daughter and 3 sons, I believe. It was said she was a teacher for quite sometime, and then married Frank. She must of been born around 1866, as George was married the first time shortly after his 21st. birthday.
1850 census:
1860 census:
1878 marriage:
1880 census
1900 census:
1910 census:
Researcher: Myrna Casey
Email: mybill@msn.com
Date posted: Monday, February 8, 1999
Dear Maggie,
Well here goes, I get the feeling that the group of people you have on your list come to you to seek answers to their genealogy questions, and look ups. If I'm incorrect just junk the rest of this.
My Gr. Grandfather George W. SINGER was born in Nova, Ohio, Ashland Co.May 24, 1844. He had 3 known brothers, Jerry, who was a prisoner at Andersonville, transferred back to Ohio as a prisoner exchange, and was on the ship Sultana when it exploded and burned to the ground. He was lost there. Another brother Jacob who married a Mary, and they lived outside of Ashland, Oh. He was a farmer, and lived there in 1906 for sure. Brother Will wife, who lived NW of Ashland, in walking distance from Ashland.
I have information to the effect that Will Jacob are buried in two local cemeteries there, but what I'm trying to find out is "Who" were their parents. My grandfather, son of George W. saw their graves when he was a boy in 1906, in the area between Ashland and Nova. He didn't put the names in his diary that he kept for 75 years, which I'm reading. I have absolutely no information on the parents of George, as I didn't know any of the family until just recently, and I have found several members, but they don't have any information.
Is there a way to find out who these people were? I tried LDS, it shows my Gr.Grandfather G.W.Singer married to Rachel Ann Underhill, but that's all. No parents listed for him. Do you think a Census might be the place to look? Would it list the children's names, so I would know the connection?
Sorry this is so long, there is one more person I'd like to find, her name is Arena Singer SAMSEL. She was the first born to George W. and his first wife, "Mollie". Mollie died soon after childbirth of their second child, a boy, and in 1878 George married Rachel. Arena was living with them at the time, but when she was a young girl he was living in Lubbock, TX at that time, he felt she wasn't getting the education she should have so sent her back to Ohio to live with her grandparents. She was living in Mansfield, in 1906. Her husband's name was Frank Samsel. They had 1 daughter and 3 sons, I believe. It was said she was a teacher for quite sometime, and then married Frank. She must of been born around 1866, as George was married the first time shortly after his 21st. birthday.
If you can direct me in the right way, or if you have information handy would a look-up be possible?
Thank you very much
Myrna Singer Casey
Well here goes, I get the feeling that the group of people you have on your list come to you to seek answers to their genealogy questions, and look ups. If I'm incorrect just junk the rest of this.
My Gr. Grandfather George W. SINGER was born in Nova, Ohio, Ashland Co.May 24, 1844. He had 3 known brothers, Jerry, who was a prisoner at Andersonville, transferred back to Ohio as a prisoner exchange, and was on the ship Sultana when it exploded and burned to the ground. He was lost there. Another brother Jacob who married a Mary, and they lived outside of Ashland, Oh. He was a farmer, and lived there in 1906 for sure. Brother Will wife, who lived NW of Ashland, in walking distance from Ashland.
I have information to the effect that Will Jacob are buried in two local cemeteries there, but what I'm trying to find out is "Who" were their parents. My grandfather, son of George W. saw their graves when he was a boy in 1906, in the area between Ashland and Nova. He didn't put the names in his diary that he kept for 75 years, which I'm reading. I have absolutely no information on the parents of George, as I didn't know any of the family until just recently, and I have found several members, but they don't have any information.
Is there a way to find out who these people were? I tried LDS, it shows my Gr.Grandfather G.W.Singer married to Rachel Ann Underhill, but that's all. No parents listed for him. Do you think a Census might be the place to look? Would it list the children's names, so I would know the connection?
Sorry this is so long, there is one more person I'd like to find, her name is Arena Singer SAMSEL. She was the first born to George W. and his first wife, "Mollie". Mollie died soon after childbirth of their second child, a boy, and in 1878 George married Rachel. Arena was living with them at the time, but when she was a young girl he was living in Lubbock, TX at that time, he felt she wasn't getting the education she should have so sent her back to Ohio to live with her grandparents. She was living in Mansfield, in 1906. Her husband's name was Frank Samsel. They had 1 daughter and 3 sons, I believe. It was said she was a teacher for quite sometime, and then married Frank. She must of been born around 1866, as George was married the first time shortly after his 21st. birthday.
If you can direct me in the right way, or if you have information handy would a look-up be possible?
Thank you very much
Myrna Singer Casey
Thank you Myrna Singer Casey
Subject: Re: Roll
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 18:10:34 -0800
Hi everyone. I've had a stalemate for years, maybe just one of you might
know where I can search for more info, or you may be related in some way,
hopefully the latter.
Some of these range from Ashland to Richland during their lives. Hope it's
ok to put them all here.
Arena SINGER SAMSEL , b. 1868-73, Richland Co. Ohio, to George W. and Mary
RICHARDS SINGER. m. Frank SAMSEL before 1900, children: Cecil, Ray, Glen &
Lois. Residence in 1906, Mansfield, Ohio. Frank was a dairyman.
*George W. SINGER, b. May 24, 1844, Nova, Orange Township, Ashland, Ohio,
Parents, John and Catherine SINGER, b. Oct. 23, 1803, PA, d. July 29, 1880,
Ashland Co. Ohio. Buried, Ruggles Township Cemetery
Catherine SINGER, b. June 4, 1807, PA, d. July 29, 1880 Ashland Co. Ohio.
Buried Ruggles Township Cemetery
Catherine SINGER b. abt. 1830 PA
John A. SINGER b. abt. 1834 PA Civil War Soldier, not found, prisoner
at Andersonville but not accounted for.
Anna SINGER b. abt. 1836 PA
Jeremiah SINGER b. abt. 1840 Nova, Ohio Civil War Soldier Prisoner at
Cahaba, lost on the "Sultana"
William SINGER b. Nov. 16, 1842, Nova, Ohio( m. Olive Vananda b. Oct.
15, 1847 d. Sept. 8, 1898,) Civil War Soldier/ came home d. Sept 29, 1926,
Old Dutch Cemetery. Children:Martin LeRoy, Walter Myron, William Jr.
Jacob SINGER b. abt 1848, Nova, Ohio, (m. Mary J. ? b. 1852,
d.1933-39) buried: Ashland Co. Children: Nora, Charles & Harold.
*George W. Singer: First wife Mary born November 22, 1846, d. Jan. 28, 1877
2nd wife of George W. Singer: Rachel Ann UNDERHILL b. Jan. 3, 1854, Ohio
George and Rachel moved to Texas, then to Kansas where they died.
Depictions of Wild West were part of Lubbock's history
BY RAY WESTBROOKAVALANCHE-JOURNAL Much of the Wild West imagery that even Hollywood might have imagined has taken place in Lubbock's history.
From skirmishes between buffalo hunters and Comanches, to pioneer ranchers pasturing their herds in a seemingly endless sea of grass, Lubbock has experienced it all. And the city that emerged from that heritage of resourcefulness, symbolically began with a lonely first store set up by George Washington Singer in 1882.
Singer's outpost store, located near the present Lubbock Lake Landmark in Yellow House Canyon, also was positioned in an area where four military routes crossed, according to research done by H. Allen Anderson for an article in "The handbook of Texas."
During its short lifetime in Yellow House Canyon, Singer's store thrived, was burned to the ground by a Mexican outlaw, rebuilt from lumber hauled from Colorado City, and finally moved to the foundational site of the town of Lubbock.
Lubbock actually can trace its origin to a spirit of unity. There were two competing communities at first, one located north of the present Texas Tech campus, and the other along the western edge of what is now Lubbock International Airport.
Lubbock timeline
The XIT Ranch of Texas and the Early Days of the Llano Estacado
By J. Evetts Haley :
| Birth: | 1844 |
| Death: | 1910 |
 | |
| Burial: Shaw Cemetery Shaw Neosho County Kansas, USA | |
I am looking for Singers that desended from Rachel & George
W.Singer. Their children were Perry, my grandfather, Pearl,who married
Albert Debler,1905, their children, Earl, Kenneth,Crystal & Alfred:
Frank who married Amy Strange 1914, Charles who married Ellen Crow 1911.
Their son is Alvin C.; Clay who married Marion Hutchinson 1943.
Would like to hear from anyone.
Research notes and corrections:
John A. Singer was never in the Civil War, his brother Jeremiah however was and was the one captured in Athens, Georgia, sent to Cahaba, was aboard the Sultana when it exploded, was lost to the river. We go back to reunions for descendants of those aboard the Sultana, very interesting, they are meeting at Cahaba this year in just a few weeks for a 3 day reunion. Wanted to go but just don't have the time this year.
Also my grandfather Perry was George and Rachel's first born, in Lubbock, one of the articles mistakenly said he was Mary's son. Not possible as he was born 1883.
May of told you before, not sure, Grandpa Perry kept a diary from age 15 to 90. Everything that started in Kansas, was written by him, up to his 90th year when he thought that was enough. He lived to 96 in MN. I have all the books, he wrote in it every day. Fun reading how a 15 year old matures into an adult, and the life he lead. He was a very proper man but did some wild things for that era when a teen.