April 5, 1006

The Rhea, Bell and Sanders families were all related and did not arrive in the Onega area until a while after the Rogers, Daniel, Hollar, and Byrom families. The Rhea, Bell, and Sanders families came into this area from the Indian Territory in Oklahoma soon after the Trail of Tears. They began settling in the Sandtown area as early as 1828.

Western Cherokee of the Indian Territory began dropping out of Chief Sequoyah’s Trail to Mexico during the 1830's. I recently read in The Town Charter that Pilot Point is the oldest town in Denton County. I would like to refer to our old Indian settlement Onega as a town. Onega was an Indian town, which does not agree with local historians records, because they state that there were no Indians in Denton County until after 1939.

The European Germans, Czechoslovakians, and Polish that settled in Pilot Point were aware of the citizens who lived in Onega. Onega was the Indian name of the town until they were required to change the name to Aubrey.

I would like to share with you an old document from November 4, 1881, which indicates that the name of the settlement at this point in time was Onaga. The document was filed by L.N. Edwards and wife, Mary S. Edwards, to H.H. Rhoads. This document is one of many that shows Onaga as a point of identification in the land description.

I am sure that half-Cherokee Edwards referred to himself as Black Dutch and Civil War veteran. Mr. Edwards was a prominent business leader in Aubrey.

Mr. Edwards was documented as one of those present when the name of the town was changed to Aubrey. The name Aubrey was placed in the hat by Mr. Edwards, and thus the name was changed from Onega to Aubrey. It is thought and legend has it that Aubrey was the name of a town that he was familiar with back in Cherokee County Alabama. Cherokee County included about half of a state.

A fire in the Denton County courthouse destroyed many old documents. The Court House burned again in the early 1900's when documents were again destroyed. The land described in today’s article was filed in another transaction on February 1873. The word "Onega" was misspelled on this document.

Many times I have mentioned that I have a family heirloom that was used as a baby carrier by my grandfather’s grandmother, and was used to carry her baby into Onega sometime in the 1840's. She owned land in the area before Denton County came into existence during the 1850's. I also have a tax receipt where she paid $1.50 tax on 300 acres of land on Blackjack Road.

I want to mention that you can go to www.bouncergoin.com and look at old photos that I have collected. My grandaughter, Holly, has been working hard to get all of the photos transferred to this website, but it is a slow process, and we have many more to go. She has tried to place the articles and photos from the beginning of The Town Charter, but still has many to enter. Local and distant readers have responded to with interest about the photos and information we share.

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