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Isaac Lindsey  Isaac Lindsey spent much
of his adult life as an undertaker in Texas. Born in Cartersville,
Georgia, on
March 6, 1848, he married Mary E. Talley
(1853–1931) in Marshall County, Tennessee, in 1870. At that time he was
working as a carpenter. He continued that occupation when the couple
moved to
Sherman, Texas, by 1880. In 1891, the Denison
City Directory listed Isaac Lindsey as an undertaker and funeral
director at
517–519 West Main Street. He and Mary were living at 612 West Crawford
Street.
from "Art Work of Grayson County. Published in Twelve Parts." [Edited by Nat Decker.] 12 volumes. N.p. [Chicago]: W.H. Parish Publishing Co., 1895 Five years later, in
1896, Lindsey, "undertaker and embalmer, mouldings and picture frames,"
had moved his business across the street to 502-504 West Main.
This prestigious location was on the ground floor of the
Denison Commercial College. Constructed
in 1890, the Commercial College was an ambitious undertaking for a
small city.
It billed itself as “the largest business college in America,” with
86,000 square
feet of floor space and the capacity for 1,500 students. Four of
Denison’s most
prominent residents were the officers: T. V. Munson, president; Samuel
Hanna,
vice-president; T. W. Roach, secretary; and A. H. Coffin, treasurer.
500 West Main Street Lindsey Coffins occupies part of the ground floors, at 502-504 Wet Main. Photo ca. 1895 The Herald newspaper occupies 506 West Main, next door. Source of photo: "Art Work of Grayson County. Published in Twelve Parts." [Edited by Nat Decker.] 12 volumes. N.p. [Chicago]: W.H. Parish Publishing Co., 1895 In 1896, Isaac and
Mary were living at 506 West Main, next door to the Lindsey funeral
parlor. In
June of 1900, the U.S. Census found Isaac and Mary still living at 506
West
Main. He was listed as an undertaker. At the same address was another
family,
Frank Frederick, a German immigrant butcher; his wife Rose; and their
ten-year-old son Guy. Also present was Ellery C. Dempsy, age 26, nephew
of the
Fredericks; he was a machinist on the railroad. Around the turn of the
century, the Commercial College was converted into the first Denison
Hotel. In 1909, this hotel boasted electric elevators,
private baths, steam heat, phone in all rooms, a barber shop, billiard
parlors, and dining room.
Source of photo: "The Denison Hotel Building. Carter's Music Store and Pace's Furniture Store on First Floor." Robinson, Frank M., comp. Industrial Denison. [N.p.]: Means-Moore Co., [ca. 1901]. Page 7. Note: Lindsey Coffin next door at 506 West Main Street. Pace Furniture : 502 and 504 West Main Crown Music and Carter Music : 500 West Main The 1901 Denison City
Directory listed Isaac, now 53 years old: "Undertaker, funeral
director,
picture frames and mouldings; embalming a specialty." The business was
now
at 506 West Main, with the Lindseys still living upstairs at the same
address.
506 West Main Street, ca. 1902. "I. Lindsey, Undertaker and Embalmer 506 Main Street. Interior. Phone 99-2 Rings." Source: Robinson, Frank M., comp. Industrial Denison. [N.p.]: Means-Moore Co., [ca. 1901]. Page 39. Apparently
the
Denison funeral home proved untenable, for the Lindseys were not listed
in the
Denison City Directory in 1907 and 1909. In 1910, the Census found them
in
Lubbock, Texas. Isaac was an undertaker in "own store." On 20
February 1911 Isaac Lindsay sold land to the Denison Cemetery
Association for Fairview Cemetery enlargement at a cost of $4,500.
Isaac and his wife Mary were eventually buried in the Fairview
Cemetery upon their deaths of 1929 and 1931, respectively. Ten years later,
Isaac and Mary were back in Denison, apparently in retirement. The 1920
Census
showed them living at 1123 West Walker Street, and he had no occupation.
That same year, the great fire destroyed the Denison Hotel and the adjoining building at 506 West Main Street. At that time, Will H. Halton and his partner John L. Swank were operating a funeral parlor at 508–510 West Main.  Denison Hotel Fire January 24, 1920 500 - 506b West Main Street Collection of Grayson County, Frontier Village Photo by Kelley Studio Isaac died on March
22, 1929, and was buried in Fairview Cemetery
in Denison. Mary Talley Lindsey passed
away on June 24, 1931, and was buried with Isaac in Fairview.  BIOGRAPHY INDEX Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message.  |
