November 30, 2005

In the 1850's the Onega community and especially the Sandtown area was working live with newcomers and "Old Settlers." More specifically the community of Loyd was being settled with new arrivals.

The Rev. W.E. Bates and his family had just settled on a farm and built a farmhouse for his family. To the best of my knowledge this house still stands. The Bates family was large and the children of this old settler were very active in different professions including a medical doctor that served the community during the 1890's.

Another prominent family was the Lee Phillips family. Lee Roy Phillips was telling me some time back that his grandfather built a house in the Loyd community which was located in the Sandtown area. Lee Roy is near ninety years old and remembers many events that have happened in his lifetime.

He says that his grandfather’s house was built just south of the Bates farm. He says the area was occupied by many friendly and helpful Cherokees that had been settling in this area. They were dependent upon what help they received from the "Old Settlers."

The "Old Settlers" were a large group of Western Cherokees that were under the leadership of the Chief Sequoyah in the Indian Territory Cherokee Nation.

According to Lee Roy Phillip’s Grandfather, the newly arriving Cherokee Indians were traveling through the wooded area and when they came across the "Old Settlers" building a new home for their family with lumber that was hauled by wagon from Jefferson, Texas. The Indians of this era would stand around and watch and become friends with the "Old Settlers," which in this case was Lee Roy Phillips’ Grandfather.

Lee Roy Phillips family was a neighbor to my Grandfather Wood Goin. The Phillips family lived on the opposite corner from my Grand Dad.

Mr. Lee Phillips was the banker in Aubrey in 1890 and early 1900's. The Phillips were Methodists as were the Bates. It was the Bates family that bought the lumber that built the wood frame building that served as the Methodist Church until it was destroyed by the storm in 1918.

The Methodist church served the community of people from the area of Zilly Boy Mountain to the Cagle hill and on south to Sandtown. It was the only church in the area until 1875 when the Baptists organized at the Belew Settlement which was just north of Aubrey.

The photos for this week are of the Rucker Cemetery. This cemetery was used by the Cherokee Indians as early as 1850's, according to the old sandstone markings. It is located in the Northeast section of the Providence subdivision. The Huffines Corporation has preserved this Indian burial ground. The developer has turned this area into an attractive beautiful park. They have built a beautiful rock wall around the area.

Billy Ray Redfearn, a native of this area, and the area around the Rucker Cemetery remembers when he was a small child walking over to the burial ground with his father. It was known as an Indian Burial Ground.

A part of history that is not always mentioned is the sad part about how the local Onega Indians had to conceal their identity and Indian heritage, in order to survive. There was an organized effort of some of the prominent people that were charged with killing the Indian women and children.

The making of whiskey by the Cherokees was a secret trade, but it was a very popular drink among the local people. It was largely consumed by others that found it convenient to make their way to the area. Many of the descendants still conduct legitimate business in the area and have knowledge of their ancestors, but have chosen not to make that background a topic of discussion.

One of the photos is of me on the left and Mark Niesman on the right. We are standing at the entry to the Rucker Cemetery. The rock entry was built by the Providence subdivision. Other photos show the iron ore stones which were used by the Indian Families as grave markers at the time of burial.