01-22-01

Green Valley’s One Room School

I was working in the store this past week when a phone call came from Justin Reeves. Justin is a 16 year-old grandson of J.D. Reeves from the Cross Roads community. Justin wanted to come in and talk to me with his Grandpa regarding local historical happenings especially in the Green Valley community. I told him he could come in any time because I was spending the whole day in the store. Justin wanted to exchange local history verbally and compare notes for a couple of hours. I must say this young man’s knowledge of local history is a most valuable asset to the area. He is a very alert, punctual and intellectual, young man who is precise and to the point in his conversation. The community of Green Valley is very fortunate to have a person this interested in its past. He showed me 500 to 600 pages of research he had in separate loose leaf files. The information was very well organized and orderly, and I was just hoping that I could get my artifacts as presentable as his were.

Green Valley and Aubrey have been excellent neighbors and friends throughout their existence. I explained to Justin that my Grandmother Laura Harmon was married to my grandfather, Wood Goin in the Green Valley home of Rev. White, a Methodist pastor that lived at GreenValley in 1892.

Justin is working on the community of Green Valley’s history seeking a historical marker for the old school. I wish him well as he attempts to recover history on this area and these two communities.

During the early part of this same week a very beautiful lady came in asking questions about her family that lived here during the early 1900's. I told her that I couldn’t get my mind to thinking about her family, however, I could referred her to some of my older advisors and I’m sure she could find out something. And just at that instant, J.H. Byrom walked in the door. I referred my fact finding client to J.H. and I believe he became 20 years younger while he was talking with this lady. He quickly gathered his mind to answering questions at great length. J.H. Byrom has shared many historical happenings around Aubrey and I intend to use them as time goes by. He is also a friend to Mr. Reeves and his grandson Justin, and has shared information with Justin in his search for local history.

J.H. Byrom’s grandparents were early day pioneers that settled in the Sandtown village during the 1850's. Parts of his ancestry arrived as early as 1828 near Throckmorton and Jacksboro.

According to a map that my grandmother handed down to me, it shows the original layout of Aubrey’s original town and the outlying area. I have noticed the road that leaves out on the west side had pretty well played out before it got to the Elm bottom land; however, another map many years earlier called Black Jack Road did come around and intersect into the road leaving Aubrey’s west side. If while you are driving toward Green Valley sometime, watch the rows of trees, many times this is an indication that this was a fence row or property line and the road to Green Valley and then on into Denton through what was then known as Toll Town, before it was called Green Valley. The road as it approached the Big Elm Creek leads into a shallow small rock and shell bottom that supported the wagons and teams and cattle crossing the creek as they traveled into Toll Town and then on into Denton. This was one of the four different roads to Denton from Pilot Point. Gribble Springs community was also served by the river road crossing.

The photo this week is of the Green Valley school during its 1894 school year and listed below it are the students names with the one Professor Wilson. This was a one teacher school and I counted 50 students under this teacher’s guidance. I understand that of the group some went on to be lawyers and judges.

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