Stuart Hamblen - Jefferson, Texas
Posted by: txoilgas
N 32° 45.352 W 094° 20.807
15S E 373838 N 3625025
Stuart Hamblen, (born Carl Stuart Hamblen) (October 20, 1908–March 8, 1989) was one of radio's first singing cowboys in 1926, and later became a Christian songwriter, temperance supporter and recurring candidate for political office.
Waymark Code: WM7VQF
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/08/2009
Views: 4
YouTube link to Stuart Hamblem singing "This Ole House". (
visit link)
From Wikipedia
Hamblen was born to the family of an itinerant Methodist preacher on 20 October 1908, in Kelleyville, Texas, USA. He married to Suzy Daniels and fathered two children with her. Hamblen's father was Dr. J. H. Hamblen, a minister in the Methodist Church in Texas, who in 1946 founded the Evangelical Methodist Church denomination in Abilene, Texas.
From 1931-52, Hamblen had a series of highly popular radio programs on the West Coast of the United States. He composed music and acted in motion pictures with such other stars as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and John Wayne. He was the first artist signed by MCA Records in 1934.
He was also a racehorse owner for a portion of his career, until 1949 when he underwent a religious conversion at a Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles. He soon gave up his secular radio and film career (and horse racing) to enter Christian broadcasting with his radio show, "The Cowboy Church of the Air," which ran until 1952.
During a 1963 crusade in Los Angeles, Graham called Hamblen's conversion "the turning point" in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's ministry, where before Hamblen accepted Christ the crowds were rather small. Graham said Hamblen was the No. 1 radio personality in Los Angeles, which drew in crowds. That evening, also Graham's first coast-to-coast television broadcast, Hamblen shared about his faith and sung/spoke his signature hymn "It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)." Graham attributed Hamblen's hunting skills as instrumental in capturing a wild panther in the Los Angeles area prior to the crusade.
Stuart Hamblen died 8 March, 1989, in Santa Monica, California, USA, of brain cancer.