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Warren, Ivey G.
Lubbock County Pg.I
December 28, 1936. District 17
11,
1311.ite- 10E-_.ttra,
Bibliography.
Mrs. J. B. Mobley.
"I was teaching school in Virginia when I decided to come to Texas", Mrs. J. B. Mobley
said. "I always was adventurous and I said to myself,mLaurel Davis, I walk* to see a little
of this old world. Texas seemed, in these early days, a long, long way from Virginia, still
the more I contemplated the trip, the more daring I grew, so I advertised in the Ft. Worth
Gazette for a school to teach in Texael".
"I got several offers and aft -r carefully considering each one, I made up my mind to
accept a position in a school at Amei4n, Texas. So in Sepltember, 1888, I left my native
state and came to Texas.
"My work was pleasant and I liked the country fine, though I have never considered
the scenery of Texas anything comparable to that of Virginia". Mrs. Mobley continued.
!But I was well satisfied with my new location until my health began to fail and it soon
became apparent that the climate of Iravis County was not agreeing with me, se the next
year I secured a school at Colorado City and came Westi-
"The rugged beauty of the west enthralled me and I began to take places out on the
ranches as private tutor for the ranchmen's children. For several years I taught on ranches
over the country then in 1897, I came to Lubbock and taught two terms here. About -a month
aftsT-my school was out in 1899 I was married to 3. B. Mobley, who was at that time the
Treasurer of Lubbock County. We had a very quiet wedding. our ceremony was performed by
Reverend Liff Sanders, who still lives in Lubbock. I was a Baptist and had never felt that
marriage vows administered.
I could have my weeleUng-eereeemic 'ea& by a minister of any other denomination and Brother
Sanders was a Christian, but he was the only preacher there was in Lubbock at this time,
so we asked him to read the ceremonyi.
"We located on Singer Street, which is now Avenue H. For awhile I busied myself with
Warren, Ivey 'T.
December 28, 1936.
Lubbeck County
District I?
The First Church Building In Lubbock,
Pg. 2
the affairs of my home and the social life and educational work of our village, then one
day in 1900 while I was out in the yard working with my little flowers, I got to thinking
about Lubbock not having any church house i we always had our religious services at the
courthouse and I came to the conclusion that it was time to start taking up a collection
to build a church house. I was wearing a big shade bonnet and I just walked rkght on up
town with that bonnet on' the first man I met was George M. Hunt, when I told him what I
wanted to do, he gave $10.00 for the church. That was the first donation on the Baptist
Church, I collected $70.00 that afternoon. I was so elated when I went home that I took
my bonnet off and waved it triumphantly as I went down the street. It seemed to me that
evendomk that the church house was in si4t, I could just see how it would look, and I
kept right on talking to people about it and asking for donations. I sat down and wrote
to people who I thought would like to see a church built in Lubbock and who were able to
contribitte
melte-demotions and would like to do so.4
"I received a heart,' respnnve from most of these from whom I had solicited,ftede,
t ti
C. C. Slaughter sent $50.00. Fuqua and Smith of Amarillo, donated. J. M. Dupree of Mt.—
Pleasant and R. H. Lowry of Brady made donations. Then we received $100.00 from H. L.
Koconut of San Antoniorwith a request that it be used on a parsonage for the preacher,
Lester Lewis, Banker of Canyon, gave $50,00 for this fund also."°'
"We got a considerable sum of money". Mrs. Mobley went on. "We had the money, or at*.
least enough to make a good stare, but somehow it seemed that we just could not get the
church up, and then one day I received word to net up on the church for awhile, we don't
need a church built in Lubbock now.. I sent word back,* Lubbock does need a church and I
intend to keep on working for one until): we get it'll.
"It wasn't that I wanted to run things", Mrs. Mobley explained. "Where I grew up in
Virginia we had old churches. In my childhood I had always gone to church and I learned
when I was quite small to hake part in the services. After I came west I just couldn't
Warren, Ivey G.
December 28, 1936
Lubbock County
District 17
The First Church Building In Lubbock,
Pg.3
go on without some form of worships when I taught on the ranches I used to get my bible
down on Sunday morning and read to the little children and I taught them religious songs
to singf.
"It was not long aster I received the request to let up on the church building ,that
4 Lubbock County ranchmen came down to our house to discuss ways and. means of getting the
church started. This was in January 1901 and pretty soon the building was put up. These
men were George M. Boles, J. W. Winn, E. Ye Lee, all of Lubbock and R. M. Clayton, who
owned ranch property in Lubbock County, but resided in San Antonia4.
"I have watched with great interest the building of all of the churches in Lubbock".
Mrs. Mobley said, "For sometime after the Baptist church was built, it was a ;sort of
community building i we were always glad for any denomination to have their services there,
when we were not hard-INg-tervieetiourselves.0
We had a good presbyterian meeting here in 1904. The; Presbyterians did not have a
Church here at that time, bit two Presbyterian preachers, Rexareed Hammock and Rei4orAmiii-
Anderson came to Lubbock from Colorado City to hold the meeting/ they did not stay at the
hotel, bet* they -iesid brought a few quilts and a little camping outfit along with them and
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were-1pg-ta batchV-It so happened that at this time a house just below us was vacant, so
the preacherslweitere-te -camp. Mr. Mobley and I banded them a feather bed, for we
knew that they couldn't be very comfortable on a pallet of quilts. They had good services
and we all enjoyed them so much. On saturday we asked the preachers to take dinner at our
house. We had plenty of young frying chickens then and if I do tell it myself, I used to be
complimented on making extra good salt -rising bread. We had an excellent meal tira*-4,ayand
the preachers talked over their work in the meeting and planned the services for the next
day. Brother Hammock asked me if I would supply them with some salt -rising bread to use in
their communion services. Ofcourse I was glad to do *hat I could in religious work and I
readily agreed to provide the bread.%
Warren, Ivey G.
Lubbock County Pg. 4
December 28, 1936, District 17
The First Church Building In Lubbock.
"'But they did not get to have the Coznunion services the next dayV Mrs. Mobley stated.
"It came the biggest rain that night that I think I ever saw in my life. Lubbock did_ not
have any drainage system then and water stood everywhere all over town. When we got up the
next morning and looked down at the house *here the preachers were camped, we knew that they
could not get out and cook their breakfast on a camp fire, so I hurried and fixed up a basket
off hot food for them and Mr. Mobley put his old high top boots on and wadded down to the house
and serried the basket to them. Later vo in the day, when the clouds had drifted away and the
water had run off a little, we looked out of a winlow and saw the Reverend Anderson splashing
coming
up the muddy road/to foto house, bringing the feather bed home on his back. The rain had
broken up the meeting and the preachers were preparing to go home,. Shortly after this, one of
the Presbyterian brethern arrived in his wagon and helped the visiting preachers load up their
camping outfit and they left Lulbock4.
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"I have been on the Plains for 410-years"7 Mrs. Mobley concluded. "I have been happy here,
and I have thrilled with the satisfaction of seeing Lubbock progress and grow from a few
houses on the Prairie to an enterprising little city. I feel that both My husband and I have
hebped to make Lubbock what it is today, but now he is goner and I can no longer take active
part in the things that go on about me, so I just sit here and think and think, sometimes I
pass the time away writing; I used to write almost incessantly when I was in Richmond College
in Virginia. After I started to teaching school I did not have so much time to write, but even
then I wrote for a long time for4The Blue Ridge Echo/ in Little Washington. Later I was a
correspondent on the staff of a South Carolina paper. After I came to Texas I gradually put
my writting aside, but after Mr. Mobley died aw. I became almost a shut—in following an
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accident and subsequent ill health, I turned to my writing again to help me through the
lonely hours. Since then I have written several articles for some of our leading magazines,
and also some historical and geographical items for the Dallas News, But writing tires me
now and so sometimes I just sit and think of my childhood home in the shadows of the Blue
Ridge mountains in old Virginia *here the Mountain Laurels grow. That is why my parents named
Warrens Ivey G.
December 28, 1936.
Lubbock County
District 17
The First Church luilding In Lubbock.
Pg. 5
me Laurel, because the Laurels grew all around our house and Father loved them so. After
I started to school people began to call me Laura, but Father never did. Virginia seems
far, far away indeed now, much farther than Texas seemed to me in those early years. All
of my relatives are still tglempe in Vegea4e Virginia, andiI am alone on the Great South
Plains. Ofcourse I have friends, for whom I am very thankful and I have my memories, the
most pleasant of which are the early years of my marriage, the years when the plains was
still a cattle country and Lubbock was only a village trying to build schools and churches,