When we discuss the origin of the "Old Family red Nose" dogs, we are really discussing the original dogs bred by such men as William J Lightner and Con Feely. It was around 1914-1916 that Red Howell, Al Dickson and Joe Pearce had dogs from the first two litters off of Lightner's "Vick" and Lightners "Pansy". When the first world war came along, Joe Peace and Al Dickson were drafted and Red Howell was left with the dogs. Red Howell sold some of the dogs, however, most of the dogs he placed in capable and reliable hand of those he knew he could trust. During this time they were known as just good pit dogs. The name "Red Nose", at that time had never been used to describe a particular line of dogs. It would be Dan Mc Coy who would later be credited as the first man to coin the phrase, "Old Family Red Nose" to descibe and distinguish these dogs as an individual line or strain of American Pit Bull Terriers. History later gave us the litter of Furguson's "Centipede", Hemphill's "Goldust", Morris' "Pinkie" and Howell's "Banjo" as well as thier close relative William's "Cyclone".
Robert H. (bob) Hemphill, along with Red Howell, went to the kennel of Harvey and Owens in Amarillo, Texas and together they purchased "Goldust". "Goldust", of course, later went to Harry Clark and then to D.S McClintock, where he died. Earl Tudor obtained "Centipede". "Centipede" was then loaned to Red Howell. Later, Earl Tudor sold "Centipede" to Dave Furgusson. Earl Tudor was also the man who owned the dog called "Cyclone" and eventually sold him to J Williams. It is felt that if Earl Tudor and Red Howell had not won such great battles with these dogs mentioned above, as well as others, that made this particular line so popular. This was the first time you really began to hear about those "Red Nose" dogs as a strain.
Now, not all of the off-spring were whelped "Red Nose" from this stock. Some people still feel that the blood in the Con Feely dogs was much more "Red Nose" than those of the Lightner dogs. It is said that W.C (Bill) Roper bred some of the best "Red Nose" dogs, sent him to him by Jim Williams and Bob Wallace. I.D. Cole of Arizona also bred some extremely high calibre dogs, bred down from Slattery's "Mike" and Williams "Blaze". I.D. Cole also owned Cole's (Fulkerson's) "Spook", a direct grandson of the old Lightners "Spook". However the "Red Nose" dogs were never controlled by one individual or select group group of individuals. Many of the "Red Nose" dogs were produced through different crosses. In fact, there were many breeders and fanciers of the "Old Family Red Nose" dogs. There were men such as W.J Lightner, Con Feely, J.P Colby, D.A Mc Clinton, Dan McCoy, Harvey & Owen, Furgusson, Ferrel, Conklin, Anderson, Bourgeous, Plemmons, Dickinson, Hanson, Williams, Roberts, Cole, Leo Kinard, Ed Crenshaw, Joe Beal, Jake Wilder, just to name a few. However, two of the leading breeders into the late 1960's and the men more often associated with the "Old Family Red Nose" dogs were Robert H. (Bob) Hemphill Jr. and Robert foster (Bob) Wallace.
Robert Hemphill had been friends with Earl Tudor as early as 1914. Hemphill became personally interested in the Lightner5 dogs and in the 1920's began an extensive search to locate and obtain high calibre dogs from this line.
It was Dan MCCoy who received word of the Frenchman who lived in Louisiana by the name of Bourgeous. Bourgeous had received several dogs directly from Mr William Lightner and for many years had bred and raised these dogs strictly for his own personal satisfaction. Bourgeous was extremely successful in preserving the "Red Nose" strain. robert Hemphill went with Dan McCoy to Louisiana, and aided by Gaboon Trahan, they purchased several dogs from Bourgeous. Hemphill kept only the highest caliber of these "Red Nose" dogs and began to form his foundation stock from them. Hemphills early advertisements reflect that he had been raising "Old Family Red Nose" dogs since 1927. Throughout his life, Robert Hemphill remained dedicated to the breed and faithful to the "Old Family Red Nose" line. Old advertisements throughout his life reflected his great devotion to keeping the line pure. Until 1966 he advertised strictly "Old Family red Nose" dogs. After that time, From the Kennel of Harvey & Owen in Amarillo, Texas Furguson's "Centiped" was sired by Harvey's "Red Devil" and whelped by Owen's "Mickey". Owned by Earl Tudor, then sold to Gene Furguson, Furguson's "Centipede" is a famous cornerstone to the "Old Family Red Nose" dogs."
Concerning the Lightner dogs, some fanciers are under the false assumption that W.J Lightner bred only "Red Nose" dogs because of his overwhelming association with them. Those who hae really done there homework knows that this is not the case at all. He also raised great blacks and dark coloured dogs as well. The pinnacle of Lightners success as a breeder is demonstrated through two dogs: Hall's "Searcy Jeff" , owned through time by Jim Searcy, Bob Hemphill and Dr. Hall and then Bob Wallace, was reputed as being the best of the "Red Nose" blood that could ever be bred. The second dog was "Colorado Imp", owned by Jeff Runyon and said to be the best of the black and/or dark blood that could ever be bred. Both of these dogs being bred from the same basic early foundation dogs of the same man, William J Lightner. When these two dogs met each other at the Medicine Park, Oklahoma in 1937, they proved William j Lightner to be one of the greatest breeders of all time. After this meeting, Bob Wallace told Hemphill that he was going to buy this dog, "Searcy Jeff", even if it cost him a thousand dollars!
Later, in 1937, when Hemphill left that part of the country, he divided up the dogs with Red Howell and Dr. Hall. Dr. Hall received "Searcy Jeff" and Bob Wallace did eventually buy "Jeff" from him. Also in 1937, Robert Hemphill sent a young dog back to William Lightner, that dog now appears in many of the "Old Family Red Nose" lines of today, That dog is known as Lightner's"Pumpkin".
Bob Wallace is also remembered in history for his association and great success with the "Old Family red Nose" dogs. However, there are two main misconceptions concerning Mr Wallace that should be cleared up at this point. One is that Hemphill and Wallace were partners. They were not. They both shared a deep respect for the "Red Nose" dogs and were both dedicated to keeping the line pure,. They were both successful breeders in keeping the line pure, strong and beautiful They even shared common breedings and interbred their dogs within each others line, but they were not partners.
At the age of thirteen, bob Wallace met and became friends with the "Old Timer" ben Flannery. Throughout his teens, Bob Wallace owned many outstanding Bulldogs. He later obtained dogs from the bloodline of Dugan's "Pat". The second misconception concerning Bob Wallace was that he bred primarily "Red Nose" dogs. His original line was quite variable in colour and were extremely talented dogs. Though these dogs did not show it, they carried a large amount of the "Red Nose" blood. One of the first foundation females of Bob Wallace was the famous Shipley's "Penny". Shipley's "Penny" was a direct descendent of the old Corcoran dogs. Wallace had always considered Corcoran to be one of the greatest breeders of all time. Other great dogs that are considered part of the foundation of the Wallace dogs were ones such as, Furguson's "Centipede", Hall's "Searcy Jeff" and the famous Wallace's "Tony". "Tony" was said to be Wallace's pride and joy. Wallace bred Shipley's "Penny" to Furguson's "Centipede" and produced these three great dogs, "Stinger", "Scorpion", and "Spider". He later bred "Searcy Jeff" to "Spider" and produced Wallace's "Madame Queen". When he bred "Madame Queen" to "Tony" he produced the ever famous Wallace's "King Cotton"."