DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the marker at St. Michael and All Angels tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, before there was a church, there was a ranch — and before there was a ranch, there was a deal struck across the Atlantic.
In 1883, Early W. Spencer and J. John Drew formed the Rocking Chair Ranche Company of London, England.
London, mind you. Not Dallas, not Amarillo — London. And what they put together was something to reckon with: two hundred thirty-five sections of land spread across Collingsworth and Wheeler counties, fourteen thousand seven hundred and forty-five head of cattle, three hundred fifty-nine ponies, plus wagons and equipment.
That is a lot of beef and horsepower by any measure. The Rocking Chair Ranche Company was, as they say, no small operation. But that ranch changed hands.
Colonel W.E. Hughes came along, purchased it, renamed it the Mill Iron Ranch, and eventually much of that land got subdivided and sold off as smaller tracts for settlers. And here's where the story turns, because those settlers — a good many of them — came from Suffolk, England.
They crossed an ocean and landed on the Texas Panhandle, which is about as far from Suffolk as a person can reasonably get. The first of them was a man named George Herbert Aldous, who arrived in 1887. He came into Mobeetie and eventually made his home in a half-dugout along the bank of Elm Creek in northern Collingsworth County.
A half-dugout on Elm Creek. Not exactly the English countryside — but he stayed. Now, George's sister followed him out.
Her name was Constance Fanny Aldous, born in 1860. And Constance did not arrive empty-handed. She brought her Book of Common Prayer, and she brought something harder to carry and harder still to put down: a desire to establish an Anglican church in this corner of Texas.
In 1898, Constance married a fellow English immigrant, Albert Manby, born in 1874, in a civil ceremony. But Constance was not a woman who did things halfway where faith was concerned. When Bishop A.C.
Garrett of the Diocese of Dallas came through, he married them again — this time in a religious ceremony. Two weddings, one marriage, one woman who knew what she wanted. Sporadic Episcopal services and sacraments continued in the area for years.
Constance, in the meantime, was writing letters. She was soliciting relatives and friends for funds to build a proper church, and she was keeping the books — recording contributions in pounds, shillings, and pence. Right there on the Texas Panhandle, she was working in the old currency, tallying up the donations that would one day become something lasting.
She gathered thirteen Episcopalians — thirteen — and led them in petitioning the diocese for acceptance as a mission. Thirteen faithful people in a wide-open land, asking to be recognized. Work on a building in Shamrock began in April of 1909.
And then came the Fourth of July, 1909 — a date Texans already had some feelings about — and Bishop Garrett consecrated St. Michael and All Angels as a mission church. Membership stayed small.
It has never had a resident priest — not once, in all its years. But small and faithful are not the same as small and quiet. St.
Michael's members have supported area congregations of other faiths, and they've connected with their community through charity and outreach, year after year. Constance Fanny Aldous Manby, who died in 1944, arrived in this country with a prayer book and a purpose. She outlasted skeptics and distance and a whole lot of West Texas wind.
The church she helped build is still standing in Shamrock, and its story — the marker says it plainly — is an example of English heritage imprinting upon the culture and faith of this region. Sometimes thirteen is exactly enough.
What the marker says
In 1883, Early W. Spencer and J. John Drew formed the Rocking Chair Ranche Company of London, England, consisting of 235 sections of land in Collingsworth and Wheeler counties; 14,745 head of cattle, 359 ponies; plus wagons and equipment. Later purchased by Colonel W.E. Hughes and renamed the Mill Iron Ranch, much of the land was subdivided and sold as smaller tracts for settlers. Many of these arrivals came from Suffolk, England, the first being George Herbert Aldous in 1887. He first arrived in Mobeetie and lived in a half-dugout along the bank of Elm Creek in northern Collingsworth County. His sister, Constance Fanny Aldous (1860-1944), soon arrived with her Book of Common Prayer and a desire to establish an Anglican church in the area. In 1898, Constance married fellow English immigrant Albert Manby (1874-1941) in a civil ceremony. When Bishop A.C. Garrett of the Diocese of Dallas visited, he married them again in a religious ceremony. As sporadic Episcopal services and sacraments continued for years, Constance solicited relatives and friends for funds to build a church, recording contributions in pounds, shillings and pence. She led 13 Episcopalians to petition the diocese for acceptance as a mission. Work on a building in Shamrock began in April 1909, and on July 4, 1909, Bishop Garrett consecrated St. Michael and All Angels as a mission church. Membership remained small but faithful through many years, and St. Michael's has never had a resident priest. Members have supported area congregations of other faiths and connected with their community through charity and outreach. The church's legacy is an example of the English heritage of the region imprinting upon the area's culture and faith. (2021)