August 11, 2005

This collection of historical facts collected from Hazel Shelton will be the last for a while. Hazel was a very educated and talented person. Her art work and paintings were very complete and accurate, she was a practicing perfectionist.

I was very honored to receive this information from Hazel a few years before she died.

This part of her collection includes a list of people that were buried in the Key Settlement Cemetery. The cemetery is located where one of Denton County’s free schools was located during the 1850's.

The local Methodist church was organized with the help of Dr. George Key during 1858. The church is still in existence today holds regular services under the leadership of Rev. Lyle Benson and his wife Chris.

The original building was a log house with a dirt floor.

The following are items that Hazel Shelton documented from the old newspapers.

Sept. 24, 1909 – Parties in town from the oil well near Mustang report there is considerable interest in it. It is not known by outsiders what depth they have reached. They are digging a short distance southeast of Mustang.

Oct. 29, 1909 – Work on three brick buildings in the burned district of Aubrey was begun, Monday, October 25. The new buildings will be owned by T.L. Mullins, E.M. Bates and the First National Bank.

Jan. 7, 1910 – On Sunday, December 26, Noah Jones and his son Onor went to a tenant farmer’s house east of Aubrey, where the man had thrown his wife out of the house, to settle the dispute. The tenant, Tom Bruce, age 48, shot Onor. He is not serious, but it is thought he’ll lose his eye.

May 10, 1910 – J.S. Darnell, of Gunter, was in Denton yesterday trying to interest people in an oil test near here. The proposition is for people to take stock in the Aubrey Oil and Gas Co., now operating a few miles east of Aubrey, where two wells have been sunk.

There is an old cemetery at the location of the old Key Settlement which included a school (the first building, a log cabin) and the location of the Methodist church of Onega. After the town of Onega was laid out this was used as the Aubrey cemetery. It is in a grove of trees on a hill on land presently standing and some broken. We located 46 graves with sandstone markers or just sunken but no names.

The markers are as follows:

Sacred to the Memory of Joseph H. Wilcox – born in Boone County, Missouri, on May 17, 1819. Died in Denton County on or about December 12, 1862.

J.S. James born September 23, 1834 – Died 1878

David James born August 18, 1809 – Died November, 28, 1878

B.S. Elrod born August 4, 1818 – Died December 6, 1893

E. Wilson born February 24, 1814 – Died January 21, 1880

W.A. Wilson born September 8, 1810 – Died October 27, 1878

Christiana, wife of S.N. Reynolds, born July 25, 1846 – Died February 25, 1888, age 41 years and 7 months

M.W. Hart

J. Hart

Auttman

M.S. Auttman

Mary Alice, Daughter of A.J. and C.R. Conway, born ____ 26, 1870 – Died July 17, 1871

German, son of A. and R.H. Conway, born, 10, 1860 – Died November 23, 1877

Arbie, wife of W.D. Curbow, born July 1, 1883 – Died September 22, 1900

L.L. James died March 13, xx95

Mrs. A.W. Graham born Hartford, Connecticut, August 1, 1834 – Died Aubrey, Texas, May 21, 1902

Lucy C. Wells born (broken through here), Jan. , 1805 – Died December 26, 1893

There were some broken concrete markers. There seems to have been two of these. From the pieces we picked out the words, "of W.M. and C. iley was born April 28, 1875 – Died September 28, 1875" "Minna" "92"

The City of Aubrey, Texas was incorporated, March 11, 1924 and recorded at the Denton County courthouse at Denton, Texas Vol. 191 page 372 of Deed Records, surveyed by H.T. Brewster.

Lemuel Noah Edwards platted the first town site on part of his farm around, or right after the year 1874 when the first railroad was put through. In 1885, L.N. Edwards made an addition to his first plat and offered a free lot to any church that wanted to build in the City, with the condition that they start a building within one year from the date of the offer.

Black Jack School

Phillip F. Saltsman owned land in the Black Jack Community (2 miles North and West of Aubrey). He donated land, one acre, for the Black Jack School house. One acre, to revert to him or his heirs if the land ever ceases to be used for a school. (The year not given yet, 1970 the acre is owned by George Salstman of Sanger. (Deeded to his wife in 1971). The acre is located on the southeast corner where the road to Maggie Krueger’s property come off the Black Jack – Aubrey road. Phillip F. Saltsman sold the rest of the land to one Wood Goin, owner of the Aubrey Public Scales.

Told by Bertha Mustain – Granddaughter of L. (Lemuel) N.(Noah) Edwards was born in 1837 in South Carolina. In 1860, he married Mary Susan Looper (born 1842 in Alabama) at Gadsden, Alabama. They moved to Texas in 1867 and settled first in Washington County, then moved to Grayson County and in 1873 moved to Denton County.

The railroad was to come across his property – he agreed to give them the right of way to encourage them to come through there. He then plotted the townsite. (Mrs. Mustain has copy – I saw one but take it to be 1885 addition – then she has the one that was made in 1910).

There was a problem in naming their new town, so anyone who has a suggestion was asked to put the name into a hat and one was drawn. "Aubrey" was drawn which was one of two suggestions that L.N. Edwards, himself had put in.