GOD & TEXAS: The Page Quadruplets

When Nannie E. Page delivered her quadruplet daughters on Jan. 8, 1890, the obscure town of Ingersoll, Texas, became nationally known. Crowds of visitors came to see the celebrated children. On one occasion, wagon and carriage manufacturer Clement Studebaker visited and gifted them with a new Studebaker wagon.

Ernest Thomas “E.T.” Page, the English born father of the girls, immigrated to Ingersoll in the 1870s to serve as a schoolteacher. Later, he opened Page's general store selling clothes, coffins, and much more. Page's store quickly became the center of activity in the community. But E.T. was growing uncomfortable with the rowdy culture of this sawmill town.

Founded in the early 1870s, Ingersoll had earned a reputation for civil disobedience, with fist-fights as the favorite sport. Named for secular humanist Robert Green Ingersoll, Sundays held no reverence. Known as “the Great Agnostic,” Ingersoll advocated that William Shakespeare surpassed Jesus Christ as the greatest man of the human race.

Ingersoll’s mesmerizing voice and captivating articulation attracted crowds. But functioning Christians recognized his stinging Biblical sacrilege. In conservative religious circles, Ingersoll was considered an intellectual blasphemer and heretic. E.T. determined to make his settlement more family friendly and devout.

The town of Ingersoll had no church. But with the support of E.T. Page, Rev. D.F. Fuller defied the culture, and started meetings in the one-room McWhirter’s schoolhouse. Later, E.T. donated land for a church to be built, and that’s when revival fell. When the spiritual renewal finished, over 110 souls had accepted Christ as Savior in a town of 50!

Revival changed everything. Civil disobedience lessened as citizens reached out to one another in brotherly love. Because attendance at the local saloon diminished, it closed. Finally, in 1894, the town voted to abandon the name of Ingersoll since it conflicted with their commitment to Christ. Instead, they chose the name Redwater, a tribute to the color of the water in their wells.

In the Bible, many towns were changed through revival. When Jonah preached to Nineveh, the people stopped their evil ways and violence (Jonah 3:8). The revival under King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 16 resulted in the Temple being ceremonially and physically cleansed, and pagan objects of worship removed.

The ministry of Jesus to the woman at the well revitalized the entire Samaritan Village of Sychar. They proclaimed that Christ is “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42). The life-changing power of God was also seen in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost when over 3,000 souls were saved (Acts 2). Later revivals were seen in Caesarea (Acts 10), and Antioch (Acts 11).

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote: “Revival, above anything else, is a glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is the restoration of Him to the centre of the life of the Church.” Rev. Vance Havner said, “Revival is falling in love with Jesus all over again!”

May we agree with Psalms 85:6, “Will You not revive us again?”

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