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W. R. "Bill" Dunlap was born July 30, 1901, in a half dugout near Graham, in Young County. He was the eldest son of J. A. and Artie (Stout) Dunlap. They were farmers of Scotch-Irish ancestry.When Dunlap was six, the family consisting of six children, Mabel, Bill, Marion, Jake, Floyd and Tillman, piled their belongings into a covered wagon and headed for Dunlap, New Mexico. This was Bill´s first sight of Crosby County in 1907. The land which was being opened for homesteading was located near Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. Will Dunlap, a brother of J. A.´s, was an agent in charge of the State Land and influenced them to make the long perilous journey.
After enduring many hardships, they reached the land and finally hauled enough lumber to construct a half dugout. Drought was their worst enemy, along with sandstorms and poison weeds which killed their stock. They stuck it out for six months, which was the requirement to secure title to the land, (construct a dwelling and live six months for two consecutive years).
They returned a second time in 1908 for the six month stay. This time another son, Johnny was born. After all the work and danger of "proving on the land" they sold it and returned to a small town, Vera, located west of Seymour. Here they farmed and the children attended school, when they were not working in the fields. While living here another daughter was born into the family in 1915. Her name is Millie and she is not Mrs. Virgil Wallace of Truth of Consequence, New Mexico. Here the eldest daughter, Mabel, became the wife of C. A. Shipman, and moved to near Lamesa. In late 1921, J. A. bought a farm of 360 acres in the Robertson community south of Ralls.
Bill was already in the area, having ridden his horse to Pitchfork Ranch in Kent County, in October 1921. He worked here for several months, then moved to and worked on Savage Ranch near Lamesa, where his sister and husband lived.
Bill received very little formal education due to working in the cotton fields, and working on ranches to help with the family income. He became enraged while working on a ranch north of Ralls when the rancher told him to skin a cow which had been dead for three days and use the carcass for hog feed. He left the ranch and returned to the family home at Robertson and enrolled in the school there. This order by the rancher gave him the determination to complete his education by any means. At this time he was 19 years of age. He attended the rural school until the 1923 term at West Texas State Teachers College in Canyon began. While attending college there, he also joined the National Guard. When Texas Tech opened in September, 1925 he was enrolled in the first class. He secured enough education to get a teacher´s certificate.
On July 16, 1926 Bill was married to Leona Blanche Easter. They spent their first year of marriage in Canyon while he attended classes and on August 16, 1927 their first son was born. Roy L. Dunlap and his wife, Riley Butler Dunlap, have one son, Roy Joe; they reside in Killeen where he has an office and also one in Temple. He is a civil engineer and an admiral in active Naval Reserve, having served in the Navy during the latter part of WWII and the Vietnamese conflict.
In October, 1927, he moved to a small community, Pleasant Valley in Cottle County to teach his first school. He taught two terms in this school, which had been unable to keep a teacher due to the "tough boys". He reported "no problems". While here their second child, Willie Ruth, was born. She and her husband, Nolan Butler, now reside in Eastland. They are the parents of Larry and Elaine, who are both married.
In 1929 the family returned to Crosby County and he taught in various schools including Canyon Valley, where a second daughter, Mary Lou, was born. She is now Mary Lou New and resides in Victoria. She has two daughters, Sue and Julie and one son Stanley. All are now married. She also has one grandson, John Phillip Garza.
During the 30´s Bill taught in Canyon Valley, Self County Line and Farmer and Fairview schools. During this time they had acquired another son, Franklin, who now lives with his wife, Lala, a daughter, Lu Ann, and a son, Andrew, in Plainview.
In 1935 tragedy struck when Blanche´s parents, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Easter, were both killed when a tornado leveled their farm home, on June 19. Bill bought a quarter section of land in Caprock community and they built a small farm home there and worked the land several years. Both continued to work toward their degrees and Mrs. Dunlap began her teaching career. In the 40´s the farm home was moved to Lubbock so the different members of the family could attend Texas Tech. On August 18, 1952, just a few weeks before Blanche was to receive her degree from Texas Tech, she succumbed following surgery. Tragedy had visited them again.
During the 40´s and early 50´s he and his wife taught in the following schools; Fairview, Self County Line, Caprock, Farmer, Kalgary, Lorenzo, Cone and one more term in Terry County in Union School.
On December 5, 1953, Bill married Blanche E. Turner Rogers, a widow. In 1957 he was employed by Buffalo Trail Council of Boy Scouts of America to be Camp Ranger at Camp Murphy which was located on Lake Thomas, 22 miles west of Snyder. While working here he was hired as teacher and bus driver for Murphy and Fluvana school system. He enjoyed these years on the lake with plenty of fishing and quail hunting. During the 60´s he also spent time teaching in Gail, also located in Borden County. They lived for several years in Snyder and part of a year in Estancia, New Mexico. In 1971 they moved to Ralls to make their home. Mrs Dunlap died June 26, 1972 after a long illness. Again Bill was left alone. He traveled for a year; spent some time on White River Lake.
In September, 1973 he met Dama Richardson, who was a widow. In December 1973 they were married. They established their home in Crosbyton. During the next three years they traveled and were very happy. On December 14, 1976, Bill left early on a quail hunting trip in the old camp in Borden County where he had lived seven years. When he didn´t return at the expected time, a search was made and his body was found, just a short distance from the Boy Scout mess hall in Old Camp Murphy. He had apparently suffered a heart attack. Dama, his widow, still lives in Crosbyton.
Source: "Crosby County History Book 1876-1977", Crosby County Historical Commission, ©1977
Transcribed by Cheryl McDonald
Services for Willie Richard "Bill" Dunlap, 75, of Crosbyton, long time school teacher were held at 2 p.m. Friday at the First United Methodist Church here with the Rev. Johnnie William, pastor officiating, assisted by Creed Mullins, minister of the Emma Church of Christ in Ralls, and the Rev. Bobby Rine, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Crosbyton.Burial was in Ralls Cemetery under the direction of Adams Funeral Home of Crosbyton.
Dunlap was found dead on the Murphy Ranch in Borden County Wednesday morning. He was on a hunting trip at the time of his death. Justice of the Peace M. M. Monk ruled the death was due to natural causes.
Dunlap married Dama Bennett, Dec. 13, 1973, in Crosbyton. The Young County native was a retired school teacher and a charter member of Texas Tech University.
He holds a Masters degree in education and taught in schools in Crosby, Childress, Eastland, Terry and Scurry Coutnies. He was a master Mason and was a member of Emma Lodge No. 931 in Ralls. He was a member of the Order of Eastern Star in Ralls and was a past Worthy Patron.
He came to New Mexico in 1903 and moved to Texas in 1908. He settled in the Robertson community, and worked for the Pitchfork, Slaughter and Bridwell Ranches. He was a member of the Texas State Guard and the National Guard.
Dunlap moved to Crosbyton in 1973 from Ralls, and having lived there previously in 1933 and 1934.
Survivors include his wife; two sons, Roy L. of Killeen and Franklin Easter of Plainview; a stepson, Geroge Richardson of LaPorte; three daughters, Mrs. Willie Ruth Butler of Eastland, Mary Lou New of Victoria, and Mrs. Leona Marie Brock of Lockney; three stepdaughters, Mrs. Nancy McDuff of Deer Park, Mrs. Priscilla Marsh of Crosbyton and Mrs. Myrna Dickey of Lubbock; four brothers, Marion and Tillman, both of Lubbock, Johnnie of El Paso, and Floyd of Fort Worth; two sisters, Mrs. Mabel Shipman of Lubbock and Mrs. Millie Wallace of Truth or Consequences, N.M.; 19 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Crosbyton Review, Dec. 21, 1976
Submitted by Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum
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Crosby County TXGenWeb Project
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