Robert Florence Love was born April 17, 1870 to John Dillard Love and Nancy Jane M. Austin Love in Palo Pinto County, Texas. John Dillard Love had been born in North Carolina in 1822 while Nancy Jane was a number of years younger having been born in Arkansas in 1837. John Dillard and Nancy Jane … Continue reading The Robert F. Love Family
Arkansas Junction
Arkansas Junction is a name given to the intersection of New Mexico highway 483 and US 62-180 (the Hobbs-Carlsbad highway). The location never really rose to the level of a settlement or community, like some others in the county, but most of the time has had businesses there, such as a gas station and a … Continue reading Arkansas Junction
The Joseph Hall Graham Family
Joseph Hall Graham was born May 18, 1848 to Spencer Corp Graham and Nancy Venters Graham in Denton County, Texas. Both of his parents died in the mid to late 1860s. Joseph married Marianne (or Marian) Elizabeth Johnson of Tarrant County, Texas in 1879. The census in 1880 shows them to be living in Young … Continue reading The Joseph Hall Graham Family
The Causey Brothers
The Causey brothers were formerly buffalo hunters. The big lumbering buffalo were hunted in the southwest to the point where they declined from a peak of over 100 million animals to near extinction in only a few decades during the late 1800s. Likely the best known Causey brother went by George Causey, though his given … Continue reading The Causey Brothers
William Rufus Shafter and the Monument
Colonel William R. Shafter (1835-1906) was a United States Army officer in command of so called Buffalo Soldiers of the 24th United States Infantry Regiment in West Texas and the New Mexico Territory. He led troops during the Civil War as a first lieutenant in the 7th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment and for his actions … Continue reading William Rufus Shafter and the Monument
Addison “Add” Jones, Well Known Black Cowboy
Addison "Add" Jones was born a slave in Texas. Much of what we understand about his early life was told by his wife Rosa when she furnished information for his death certificate after he died. He is thought to have been born in Gonzalez County in 1845. Jones worked for many years for George Washington … Continue reading Addison “Add” Jones, Well Known Black Cowboy
Nadine
This community is situated about 5 miles south of Hobbs. There is some indication that it was formerly known as Roberts, but its first postmaster was James Henry Elijah Hughes who named it for his youngest daughter Nadine. The name was accepted by the Postal Service and still is associated with it today. Nadine had … Continue reading Nadine
Oil Center
Oil Center is one of the “newer” communities of the county. It is located due south of Monument, sixteen miles south southwest of Hobbs and roughly seven miles west northwest of Eunice. It grew around 1937 up to serve the nearby plants of Phillips Petroleum Company and El Paso Natural Gas Company. It had a … Continue reading Oil Center
J. T. Easley and Lorena Lee Anderson
When this couple married in Post, Texas in the 1920s, the wedding united two families who were early settlers in the area that became Lea County. John Thomas Easley was one of eight children born to Robert Henry Easley (1864 -1928) and Rosa Belle Jones Easley (1873 - 1962). The other children included Minnie, Levie, … Continue reading J. T. Easley and Lorena Lee Anderson
Plainview
Once located about 15 miles north of Lovington in the northern part of Lea County, this settlement grew up about 1907 as settlers began to move west into the territory. It was once called Rat, for Rat Mill, after what is described as a watering place, perhaps the location of a windmill. Rat Mill itself … Continue reading Plainview
Old Lea County, N.M. 