For decades after the Civil War the African American community dealt with various forms of legal and social discrimination. Nevertheless, professionals and entrepreneurs began to emerge from the community with perhaps the greatest growth occurring after 1900. Like other states in America, Texas began to see practicing professionals and other new business owners come from the African American community. Dallas was one of several towns in Texas and other states to have funeral homes that went by the name of People’s Undertaking Company.
There appears to have been at least one Dallas business by the name of People’s Undertaking Company as early as 1900. However, the business to which we refer is the one that was formally incorporated several years later. The February 12, 1913 issue of the Galveston Daily News carried the following sentences under its heading New Business Concerns: “People’s Undertaking Company, Fort Worth; capital stock, $3,000. Incorporators: C. Morrow, J. P. Starks, E. Ewing.” For a filing fee of $50 and a franchise fee of $10, People’s Undertaking Company was incorporated with 30 shares of stock. Messrs. Starks and Ewing appeared to be the principal officers and individuals directly involved in the business while Mr. Morrow was possibly their attorney. The company’s Articles of Incorporation was a fairly simple document. Texas law required a minimum amount of capital of $1,000 to officially fund a corporation and both Starks and Ewing stated that they each had contributed $500. Companies could organize themselves for a set number of years. The documents further stated that the purpose of the company was to conduct the business of undertaking and embalming, that its term of existence was to be 50 years and the initial directors were Morrow, Starks and Ewing.
J. P. Starks (1865 – 1923) might have been the better known of the three incorporators. He moved to Texas at the age of 18 and taught in public schools, later becoming an administrator. An elementary school in the Dallas Independent School District is named for him. He was influential in the creation of Booker T. Washington High School. Starks was also a businessman, known for being a co-founder of People’s Undertaking Company, an owner and publisher of the Dallas Express after the murder of its original editor and publisher, William E. King. Mr. Starks retired around 1922 due to illness and he died in 1923. At present, his burial place is unknown. At least one child of Sallie and J. P. Starks by the name of Frederick Ewell Starks succeeded him in the undertaking business.
Mr. Ewing (1878 – 1936) continued in the business until his own death. He had been born and raised in Dallas. He and his wife Annie had two children. Mr. Ewing died of complications during a medical procedure. He and other family members are buried in Lincoln Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas.
The business operated at several locations over the years, primarily at 500 Good Street near Deep Ellum, just outside downtown. The business continued for a time after the deaths of Starks and Ewing, but had ceased operations by 1950. During its entire existence, it appears to be the only such business that was run by and for the benefit of the Dallas area African-American community.
Listing of Dallas Undertakers – Website Attributed to Historian Jim Wheat
