As we follow Ada Allen’s path down Main street as she conducted the 1930 Census on April 4, she went south down the street. She went to one home, gathered her information and then crossed the street to get the information from the people living in that house. After she left Walter Hodge’s home, she went diagonally across the street to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Homer L. and Lillie K Coffey.

At this point in time it was recorded that Homer was 32 years old, they owned their own home which was valued at $1,500, and they didn’t possess a radio. Lillie K. was listed as a housewife and 30 years of age. Homer’s father was born in Alabama and his mother was born in Arkansas. Homer’s occupation was a rural district postman. Homer did not serve in the military and was therefore, not a Veteran.

At the time Mrs. Allen conducted the report the Coffey’s had a daughter named Ruth B. (8 years old) and a daughter Mary A. (3 years old and 8 months). The Coffey’s daughters were born in Texas.

As the Census reporter walked across the street from the Coffey’s, she went to the home of Mr. Green A. Davis, which was straight west of the Coffey’s home.

Mr. Davis home was valued at $900, and the Davis family owned their home. They also had a radio. Mr. Davis was 65 years old and his wife Mary E. was 61 years old. His father and his mother were born in Tennessee. Mary’s father was born in Northern Ireland and her mother was born in Tennessee. He had not served in the military and was not a Veteran.

Down the street going south was the home of Dr. John M. Hawk and his wife Leona L. Leona was listed as a housewife. Dr. Hawk was 59 years old and his wife was 49 years old. They had two sons living with them, one named William A. who was 24 and a public school teacher, the other was John M., Jr., who was 15 years old. Dr. Hawk’s father was born in Georgia and his mother was born in Texas.

The doctor and his family had two boarders. One named Percy G. Tribble who was 42 years old and a public school teacher. The other boarder was Ruth Hampton who was 20 years old and also a teacher in the public school.

The Hawk family lived in the large Victorian house that was originally built by the Mullens family before the turn of the 1900's. My Aunt Lucy Mullens Jones and her husband Onor Lee Jones lived in the large two story house after they inherited it from her parents. I don’t know how long the Hawk family lived in the large home, but I know and can remember they lived in the large house until the 1940's.

Tommy Wright and his wife Alta acquired the big house in the early 1960's. Tommy and his wife traded the large home to me in the early 1980's. I planned to do some work and remodel it, when Jackie Howard and his wife Retta bought it from me. They have remodeled and repaired it to its present state. Jackie Howard was in the store just one week before he passed away and told me that he had finally paid for the large and comfortable old home.

The Census taker stepped across the street to the home of Clide Simpson and his wife Allie M. The house was valued at $2,000 with no radio. Clide was born in Texas and his father and mother were born in Arkansas. Clide was listed as a pharmacist in Drug Store and was 34 years old. Allie M was 34 years old and her parents were born in Texas where she was born. They had three children, Edith P. (a daughter, age 13), Howard (age 10) and Clydene (a daughter 2 years and 4 months old).

This family was a very honorable and civic minded family in the town. They operated the Drug Store from the 1920's into the 1940's, when the business was destroyed by fire. The business was destroyed by fire two different times, but the last time it was completely destroyed in 1947. The fire destroyed the contents and all of the buildings in the block with the exception of the building on the south end that was owned by Homer Stephens.

Clide never attempted to rebuild his business in Aubrey. The loss was a major downfall to the town and caused a set back in the business activity for many years on into the present day, when there is only one retail establishment in the downtown area. A big potion of the downtown area is owned by Wilson Brown. The buildings have been vacant and are used only for storage for the past 30 years.

The destruction by the fire of 1947 destroyed a filling station, a doctor’s office, a chicken hatchery, a café, and parts of other businesses in the downtown section. The Simpson family was a very fine family and they have been missed.