Lillian Glinn
Although all her recordings were issued under the name Lillian Glinn her real name was Lillian Glenn. In the 1900 Census she is living in Kaufman TX with her parents Tom and Amanda Glenn. Her birth date is given as December 1895. In the 1910 Census, still in Kaufman, her mother has re-married and is now Amanda Meeks; Lillian, aged 15, is living with her mother and stepfather, Charly Meeks. In 1920, still in Kaufman, she is aged 24, listed as Lillian Gibson with her 4 year old son Morris Gibson, working as a cook with a private family and living with her mother and stepfather. From Bob Eagle I learn that she had married Charles Gibson in Kaufman County on March 1 1915. She was interviewed by Paul Oliver in 1970; her recollections of her early years can be found in Paul Oliver, Blues Off The Record (1984) pp. 220-1 and Alan Govenar, The Blues Come To Texas: Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick's Unfinished Book (2019) pp. 92-5, 364-5. Between December 1927 and December 1929 she recorded 22 titles for Columbia, all of which were issued on eleven 78s.
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She must, I presume, have begun to make public appearances as as soon as her first recordings were issued but I have not found anything earlier than October 1928 when she was appearing with a company called Steppin' High in shows called "Struttin' Sam" and "Miss Broadway." That lasted until March 1930; after that I have found a solitary appearance in January 1931.
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Amarillo Globe-Times Oct 15 1928
Springfield (MO) Leader Dec 29 1928
Sentinel-Record (Hot Springs AR Jan 20 1929
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Ponca (OK) City News Nov 27 1928
Morning Advocate (Baton Rouge) Feb 9 1929
Tennesseean (Nashville) Mar 2 1929
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Atlanta Constitution Mar 14 1929
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Asheville Citizen Times Mar 31 1929
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Chattanooga Daily Times Apr 12 1929
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Atlanta Constitution Mar 30 1929
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Shreveport Journal Nov 29 1929
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Houston Post-Dispatch Jan 16 1931
St. Louis Argus Jan 11 1929
Sentinel-Record (Hot Springs AR) Jan 22 1929
Chattanooga Daily Times Mar 8 1929
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Indianapolis Recorder Apr 7 1929
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Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock) Mar 26 1930
I cannot find Lillian in the 1930 Census - her son was still living with his grandparents. She had appeared at the Little Roxy Theatre in Little Rock AR a couple of days before the Census was taken, so it may be that being on the road led to her not being recorded in the Census. The 1940 Census finds her, as Lillian Glenn, in Dallas along with her son Maurice G. Gibson - her occupation is “traveling evangelist.” When Maurice Glenn Gibson registered for the Draft on October 16 1940 he listed as next of kin his mother, Lillian Glenn. He gave a Dallas address but it was at some stage corrected to 936 33rd St., Oakland.
In the early months of 1941 Fresno and Oakland newspapers report appearances by “Lillian Estelle Glenn of Dallas, Texas, Negro gospel singer”/“Mrs. Lillian Glenn, of Dallas, Texas, . . singing evangelist.” But in July and December of 1941 she is described as “Mrs. Lillian Glenn Smith, a gospel singer from Berkeley” and “Lillian Glenn Smith of Oakland.”
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Fresno Bee Feb 13 1941
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Fresno Bee May 31 1941
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Fresno Bee July 15 1941
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Oakland Tribune Apr 3 1941
Fresno Bee Dec 9 1941
The explanation of this change is to be found in the report in the Oakland Tribune June 6 1941 of the issue of a marriage license in Reno to “Henry Smith, 55 and Lillian Glenn, 40, both Oakland.” The 1943 Oakland City Directory lists Rev. Henry R. Smith, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church and his wife, Lillian G. as resident at 936 33rd St. (which is the second address on Maurice Gibson’s draft registration). In the 1950 Census the couple were living at 288 Chestnut Street but the White Pages of 1960 have Lillian Glenn Smith back at the 33rd Street address with no mention of Henry, which suggests he may have died some time in the ‘50s, though I can find no record of this. California Death Index and Social Security Death Index list the death on July 22 1978 of a Lillian Smith (her birth date is given as 10 May 1904 and 1902 respectively) whose last residence is given as Richmond CA - this may well be Lillian Glenn. I can find no record of her burial place.