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George Ransome Hamblen & Mary Ellen Young GEORGE RANSOME HAMBLEN: Born February 14, 1858, in
Berry County, Missouri. He was named after his maternal grandfather, George
A. Ransome. The family moved back to Franklin County, Arkansas in
1859 and then back to Missouri in 1864. In 1867 they resettled in Franklin
County, Arkansas, until 1878, when they moved to Texas.
George moved to Sherman, Texas in 1879. He married Mary Ellen Young, daughter of Charley and Sarah (Whittenburg) Young. Charley Young was born in South Oak, Tennessee. Sarah Whittenburg was born in Tennessee. Mary Ellen Young was born May 18, 1862, in the state of Texas.  L-R George Ransome Hamblen, Willie Hamblen, Mary Ellen Hamblen On July 22, 1893, George joined the Sherman Fire Department. When he went to work for the fire department, Tom Forbes was fire chief and the equipment consisted of three horse-drawn wagons. Working with George at that time were George Althoff, captain; Gus Moody and Leslie Turner. At this time the fire department consisted of four paid men and a bunch of volunteers. Tom Forbes served as chief for about a year. After he resigned Abe C. Tyree was appointed by the council in his place. Mr. Tyree served as fire chief until May 1895, when the council appointed Lee Totten in his place. Mr. Totten resigned after holding that position for two years. His place was filled by Wes Chapin, who served for eight years. Ernest Arnoldi then became fire chief and was leader for eight years. George R. Hamblen was made fire chief in 1913, and then on September 17, 1917, he was appointed fire marshal. As the city of Sherman grew, one or two men were added to the department every few years. When George was made chief, the number had been increased from four to sixteen men, with one extra man. Several pieces of apparatus and new equipment was also added. One of the important pieces of apparatus was the purchase in 1902 of the ladder wagon which was still in service when George retired. One of the most important improvements a short time after the central station was built was the location of Station No. 2 in the east part of the city. For a number of years only one wagon was kept at this station. When the first piece of motor equipment was purchased, the steamer pump at the central station was moved to the fifth ward station, according to George at his 34th anniversary with the department. One of the big fires recalled by George before he was elected fire chief was the burning of the compress. He and other members of the department fought this blaze for ten hours, before getting it under control. A large amount of cotton on the platforms was destroyed. Other big fires were a drug store and cafe in the 100 block on North Travis Street, the two big oil mill plants on North Willow Street and the burning of nineteen residences in the north part of the city. Perhaps George's most trying time with the fire department was in 1930 during what is called "Sherman's Day of Lawless Shame." The essence of the incident was that a mob which gathered for the trial of a black man accused of assaulting a white woman, became incensed when it was refused custody of the man. In the mad, frenzied atmosphere of the mob, rocks were thrown into courthouse windows and by 2:00 p.m. fire broke out when gasoline was hurled inside. The courthouse burned all night, as the crowd thwarted attempts of the fire department to extinguish the blaze by slashing fire hoses with knives. The defendant had been placed in a steel vault for his own protection when the mob became mad, and was presumed roasted to death in the blaze. About midnight leaders of the crowd recovered his body after dynamiting the vault. Later indications were he survived the fire but was killed by the dynamite blast. The body was dragged through the black section of town and hung from a tree, under which a fire was built. The Grayson County Courthouse was destroyed with valuable and historic records of the county. The black business section was destroyed and never rebuilt. For two weeks following this incident, Sherman was under martial law. At the request of Sherman citizens and community leaders, State Militia and Texas Rangers were stationed there. In December of 1932, after almost 40 years of active service, George retired from the fire department. For a while following his retirement, he was retained to assist his successor as fire marshal, J. L. Estes.
Children of George Ransome Hamblen & Mary Ellen Young
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