W. L. Lipscomb

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, picture this: sometime around 1880, a family rolls into Texas from South Carolina. Among them, a boy named William Lawton Lipscomb.

The road ahead of him is long, and Texas, well, Texas had a way of keeping people who showed up with a little grit. By 1894, young William had made his choice. He settled in Hidalgo County, down in the brushy, sun-hammered south of the state, and he took on the work of managing a sugar plantation.

That is not a small thing. That is the kind of work that either breaks a man or builds him. Lipscomb, born in 1874, was the building kind.

He and his wife Ada, born Ada Dougherty in 1877, eventually made their way to Edinburg. And when they got there, they did not wait around to see what the town would offer them. They established one of the city's first general mercantile stores.

First. That word does a lot of heavy lifting. In a young town, being first means you are building something out of nothing but confidence and inventory.

In 1910, a new building was completed, and Lipscomb moved his business right into it. That same year was just one chapter in a longer story of civic life. From 1909 until 1925, William Lawton Lipscomb served as a Hidalgo County commissioner.

Add to that his standing as a prominent businessman, his active role as a Mason, and you have a picture of a man who was not just passing through. He was planting roots so deep the county could lean on them. He passed in 1941.

Ada lived on until 1959. The store, the building, the service, the years of leadership. Not bad for a South Carolina boy who came to Texas around 1880 with his family and decided to stay.

What the marker says

About 1880, South Carolina native William Lawton Lipscomb (1874-1941) came to Texas with his family. In 1894 he settled in Hidalgo County, where he managed a sugar plantation. Later he and his wife, Ada (Dougherty) (1877-1959), moved to Edinburg and established one of the city's first general mercantile stores. Lipscomb moved his business to this building after it was completed in 1910. As an Hidalgo County commissioner from 1909 until 1925, a prominent businessman, and an active Mason, Lipscomb provided significant service and leadership to the community. (1983)