10-04-06

The area around Onaga was occupied by a large group of Cherokees that soon became the teenage Wesley Calvin Redfearn’s neighbors. The Byroms, Daniels, Hollars, Roberts, Bates, Turners, Crawley, McNatts, Brumleys, Phillips, Keys, all of Cherokee origin, were quickly settling in the area. The lone, teenage boy found the friendship and agricultural abilities of the Cherokees who had settled in the area.

He married Edna Wells over 120 years ago. The Redfearn family now numbers over 500 family members who are descendants of Wesley Calvin Redfearn.

Now, the way I view it; he was prolific and had a religiously indoctrinated family. Redfearn was a teenager that came into the area and soon made himself known throughout the region.

The photo this week is of Bobby Redfearn as he was plowing and harvesting his peanut crop in the early 1970's. Bobby’s peanut farms were still in existence 80 years after his grandfather settled and began farming in the area. Bobby and his wife Diane still live on the land originally farmed by his grandfather Wesley Redfearn.

Bobby Redfearn made a very intellectual prediction back in 1972. He stated that it took 20 to 40 workers in the field and the price of diesel was 12 cents per gallon. When the price of diesel went up to $1.60, he predicted that soon there would be no more peanut farming in the area.

He said that he taught his family to work the same way he was taught. But, he trained his family to find other ways of supporting their families just in case his prediction was correct and peanut farming failed. But, he knew that peanut growing was going to end for this region.

The large hand dug well for water created a central location for the pioneer settlement. The well provided enough water for the water to use for the coal burning steam engines that pulled the train through this area. The settlers during this period dug smaller wells 30 to 40 feet deep which provided the water needs for their individual families. During the dry summers, the large well supplied the animals with fresh clean water. The large hand dug well was located where the Aubrey Fire Department is currently located.

[ Home ]