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January 24, 2002 |
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| Personality conflicts seem to have
held the attention of the headlines back during Aubrey’s early life,
and several if not many of the conflicts of personality occurred
downtown on Main Street. The timing of the event would occur at almost any hour of the day, and some of the events would be over before a crowd could gather, and most usually if not always the conflicts brought on the sudden vision of many bystanders. The traffic of people would be relatively quiet, when suddenly a small or large conflict would emerge and all at once the crowds would grow and the attraction would be the scene of entertainment and would be the talk of the grapevine and sometimes the local newsprint. One such event happened during the early 1900's. One day when Arthur Harmon was in one of his historical talking moods and I was in a fast mind to catch the wording, I was able to record the activities as he related them. He gave the precise wording of some of the fights that happened. Soon after Arthur gave the following story, I was serving on the Denton County Historical Commission, and supplying stories and different highlights of Aubrey’s past with Lettitia de Burgos, who was the editor of the Denton County Historical Commission’s newsletter. This story was printed in the newsletter as follows: Aubrey - 1910 – Arthur Harmon relates an incident of that day when he as a young man was standing with friends in front of the Dykes Meat Market on Main Street. Arthur and a close friend, Sam Washburn, were engaged in small talk when they were approached by Drew Copeland, who fired a shotgun blast at Washburn. The charge passed between Sam’s shirtsleeve and his body, ripping the seams from his jacket and leaving it in shreds. The shot went through the front door of a nearby store and was embedded in the store walls. Sam turned to Drew and asked, "Drew, what in the devil do you mean, shooting at us like that?" He then approached Copeland and engaged him in a low conversation which was inaudible to anybody else. The two displayed no animosities and in a short time, appeared as the closest of friends. Old-timers say that in order to understand (or believe) the foregoing story, it would be necessary to know Sam Washburn. He is remembered for his great generosity and gregarious personality. What other sort of man could take the brunt of an Aubrey Main Street shoot-em-up, go home, and after persistent questioning as to what happened to him, simply report, "A friend of mine up town was shooting at me a while ago." While the story took place where the men are sitting and standing in front of the Dykes Meat Marked, it occurred some time close to the time this photo was made. The building was located within the boundary of the present play and day care center that is on the east side of Main Street. The Meat Market was on the corner lot and was next to where the City Hall is now located. The business also provided the large blocks of ice as they were manufactured in the back of the building and loaded out on the north side. The three men standing in the photo are Will Harmon, the Father of Lucias Harmon, on the left, Wood Goin in the middle, and a Medical Doctor on the right. The four men sitting on the porch are known, but at this time I can’t find their identities in my files. Perhaps I will be able to identify them in a later edition. |
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