I am sure the Fifteenth Census was not the first one conducted in the town of Aubrey. Aubrey had been incorporated only seven years before Mrs. Ada Allen made her rounds in the community beginning on April 2, 1930. The people included in the census were counted for the first time since the incorporation took place.

The incorporation was hammered out with many pros and cons during 1923. One petition was circulated that included people that lived father away than one mile from the city. The error was detected when the petition was presented to the County Commissioners court. The petition was sent back several times, until all of the people who were not within one square mile were not included on the petition.

I don’t know what all of the issues were, but we have always had more saloons than churches. We had more than the two and perhaps three, and they were not necessarily located within the newly incorporated limits.

According to the Census, the total population in Aubrey was 289 very fine and law-abiding citizens. I remember most of the people listed on this Census. I remember these people because they were neighbors of my grandparents, in whose house I currently live.

Most of the citizens of Aubrey in the 1930's parents were born in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. The grandparents of the people who lived here in 1930, were people who were involved in the trail of tears, they were forced to cross the Mississippi River and move to Indian Territory. Most of our great-grandparents traveled along with the Trail of Tears caravans. You can take one of the old pioneer settlers in the 1930 Census who was 79 years old at the time of the census indicating that they were born in the Civil War period and his parents were most likely a part of the Trail of Tears.

I would like to take just a moment to tell you about a book titled, Trail of Tears, which is in the Aubrey Area Library. When I finished reading the book, I purchased a copy of the book for the library. When I finished reading the book, my heart was so heavy. I assure you that if you haven’t read this book, when you begin you won’t want to lay it down. It is an accurately documented book and the research is well done.

When Mrs. Ada Allen, stopped to register her first person in Aubrey, the house was at the corner of Union Street and is now Hwy 428. The old house was a very large beautiful old Victorian home with almost a full porch on the front. It was on the north side of the highway. I believe that the Wilcox family built this two-story house. I don’t know anything about the last few years of the home’s lifetime; perhaps some of you do know and can let me know what happened to this house. I last remember this house during the early 1940's.

The first entry in the roll was Robert McNatt. He was the head of the house and he owned the property. The family didn’t own a radio and they did not live on a farm. Robert (we called him Bob) was 49 years old and was a carpenter at odd jobs. He was busy on his job and was not a veteran.

Bob lived with his father, Micagha, who was 69 years old whose parents were both born in Tennessee. At the time of the Census, Micagha didn’t show an occupation and his birth was in Arkansas. Bob had a niece who was 25 years old, named Dora, who was not employed. Her father was born in Arkansas and her mother was born in Tennessee.

The McNatt family apparently spent a good bit of time in Arkansas before coming to Texas.

Bob lived until May 4, 1959. His date of birth was January 25, 1891. I have an old photo of Micagha McNatt. He is showing his 600 pound Duroc hog that had won first place at the Aubrey Fair during the 1920's.

Micagha and his wife had operated a large farm just east of town on McNatt Road. Micagha’s wife was my grandmother’s aunt. We called her Aunt Emmer. Aunt Emmer died May 6, 1929. She was born on August 22, 1866, which was just after the Civil War ended.

Micagha and Aunt Emmer were close to my grandparents. Their family was busy doing favors for each other throughout the depression years. They were a large family – I will attempt to name a few: Will, Doyce, Mandy, Lee, Bob, Texas, Fuzz and others. Will and Bob were the only ones listed on the 1930 Census.

The next Aubrey resident that lived on the South end of Union street and just next to the large log house that was just west of the Edwards Mansion was Mary D. Starling. Mary was 63 years old and rented her home at a cost of $6 per month. She was a widow with no occupation. Her mother was born in South Carolina and her father was born in Alabama.

The next family was that of Logan Mann who lived at 401 Union Street.

I will continue with this family next week.

There were 21 radios in the entire town’s population, while there were over 100 homes that made up the town. There were 289 people living in the 100 homes