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January 8, 2004 |
 Aubrey Depot while A.C. Bryant was agent |
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The year of 1881 was economically growing, the area was becoming a good market and the local residents of Onega were beginning to reap the benefits of the demand for goods and services that the new settlers were bringing to the Cross Timbers area. The Civil War had been over for about 15 years, and the economy locally was good. Trading was developing and neighbors were finding that they had items of goods that could be swapped with other neighbors. Bartering was a welcome and popular style of business. They were also finding the many wild grape vines and berry bushes along with the enormous number of plum thickets. The natural growth of wild berries, plums and the easy to grow soil allowed the illicit whiskey to be produced with little or no trouble. Nature has a way of preserving the native plants of briars and berries, and even with the working and cleaning of the soil, they still took over the landscape. The Native Americans found this area to be an excellent place to hide and easily migrate if the need to flee from the arriving adventure seeking settlers arose. The area had just seen the name change from Onega to Aubrey. The other night as Jackie and I attended the Christmas Eve Candle lighting service at the Methodist Church, and were greeted by Ruby Ganzer. Ruby said to me that her mother-in-law was a little girl when the underpass was built just to the north of town as one enters from highway 377. The underpass was not in place when Aubrey had its beginnings, but the Methodist Church was going in 1858, and the area was building up fairly well when the first Sunday School class was organized. There were a significant number of people living in this area at this time. For that many people being in an organized group indicates that they all knew each other and that they were from adjoining farms and possibly had to cross each others land to get to the new log cabin church and school combination. The streets and roads as we know them today were not in place. The close-knit group created a welcoming community that still to this day possesses the same welcome mat. The log house with at a dirt floor was the beginnings of the organized effort to form a village of people who were thinking about the health and safety of each other. The railroad services during the early 1870's and just after the ending of the Civil War had found that part of this same group had built a community water well that was large and furnished an abundant supply of water to the citizens. The water was available in the Indian village as well as a labor market for cutting the hard wood trees into cross ties that were made to the specifications of the rail engineers. James A. Harmon was born in October 2, 1848, and came to Onega a few years after the Civil War. As a young man during the 1870's as the railroad was being built helped to build the cross ties. He used an instrument that I have in my collections that I plan to add to the museum that will be included in the plans for the new library. During this period, the Harmons lived to the north of Onega while the Black Jack Road community included the Smiths, Days, Plunks, Cagles, Wilsons, Slatons, Williams, and Drains at the same time the area was called Onega. Other families in the area were the Wilcoxs, Zumwalts, Keys, Harrison, Moss, Hearts, Godwins, Hunts, Woods, Hendersons and Edwards Soon after the Edwards arrived, he began to attract his family which included the Coffeys, Loopers, and others. This area was occupied with Cherokees, of which many of the above-mentioned families are descendants of Cherokees. The Sandtown settlement was occupied by the Bates, Byrom, Daniel, and Hollar families. |
The railroad was completed in 1881 and the post office was petitioned and granted and the name change of the village took place at this time.
The railroad was beginning to increase the large black engines that were powered with wood and coal that made the steam that created power necessary to pull the large loads. Passenger service was later added.
Mr. S.C. Henderson described that he had trouble deciding to ride the new train, because he wanted to ride in the big black engine, and he also wanted to ride in the big red caboose, but the decision was made by the train crew, when they allowed him to be a passenger in the passenger section. He made comments about his adventurous ride from the Aubrey depot to the Denton depot.
The ride was a slow and new experience for Mr. Henderson as he described how the cows and horses revolted from their grazing positions on the way to Denton, and how the chickens would leave the chicken houses to fly into the woods amongst the wild animals. He said that the people watching the special event making its way down the creek and across the river, into the Mingo water station and on into Denton to the waiting people at the Denton Depot.
The photo is of the Aubrey depot as it existed at about the time of the ride for Mr. Henderson to Denton. I do not have many photos of the depot. This photo was taken of the area where the travelers would line up to wait for the train to arrive.
All of this said, is a good way answer Ruby Ganzer’s question about when the town of Aubrey was started. I didn’t have time to explain all of this to her at the church, and find it appropriate to write this to explain a bit of the history of the Methodist church and the beginnings of Aubrey.
