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11-01-06 |
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Aubrey First United Methodist Church - 1929 |
| I will take a brief break from Bobby Redfearn, peanut farmer, who
made a successful transition from the large peanut operation to
joining others as the industry transitioned to horse ranching. Bobby
is to be commended for changing his business from peanuts to horses.
In an old newspaper article in the 1972, Bobby said that he was going to prepare his family for success in other profitable ventures when the peanut farm was not profitable. Again, thank you Bobby for sharing your peanut farming photos with us. I plan on sharing more about the Redfearn family in the future, because Bobby’s successful grandfather, Wesley Calvin Redfearn, developed a huge spread of sandy soil. Many good civic minded people are in this area because the fourteen year old, Wesley Calvin Redfearn settled in this area. I want to share a photo of the Methodist church group in 1929. I have shared this photo in the past because the ministry of this church has had such an impact on the community. The Methodist church was established in 1868 in a log house in the pasture land of free grazing. Many of those original worshipers and organizers were of Cherokee descent. However, they did not emphasize their Indian background because of the holocaust that was taking place in this country. Even as the Cherokees were not admitting being Indians, they were holding a great link in the chain of events of history of this area. Now, getting back to the Methodist church, as it was the only place of worship during its beginning. The people in this photo are the ancestors of the people in Aubrey today. I was pleasantly surprised this week when I received an email from Trigg Lawson. He identified three people in the photo for me – his father, grandfather and grandmother. Trigg lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The following is the email that I received from Trigg explaining about his ancestors. Dear Cousin: I was doing some searching for family history yesterday afternoon and stumbled across your website. What a find! In a way of introduction, I am a gggg grandson of James William Harmon. Coming down the tree by way of William I Harmon, my grandmother was Tennessee Iowa "Ola" Harmon, sister of Lucius Harmon and Jennie Harmon Lantrip. My mother married Cecil "Red" Lawson of Aubrey, in 1938. He was the son of Trigg and Mary Lawson who had the hardware store in the 20's and 30's. I am Trigg Lawson, the eldest of four children. I was born in Clovis, NM in 1940. My grandmother, Ola Harmon West Mohon; my mother, Kathleen West Lawson; and my aunt, Ola Mae West Scott are all buried in the Belew Cemetery. I recall my mother and my grandmother Ola tell about the Goin’s and McNatt’s, but I don’t think I ever had the opportunity to know any of them. My Dad, Cecil "nickname Red" Lawson was friends with some of the ones his age. His very best friend was Rhoades Mustain, and I recall their home across from the Baptist Church. My mother wrote about living at the Rock Hill community. Her father was Tom West. He and Tennessee "Ola" Harmon (Will Harmon’s daughter, named after Will’s mother) were married and had four children, Earl, Ola Mae, Laura Kathleen and Bonnie. They divorced and Ola married John Mohon. They never had any children. Tom West married Birdie Lantrip at some point. They never had any children either. Birdie was somehow related to Jennie Lantrip’s hustand. Jennie was my Grand-Aunt (she was Ola’s sister and Lucius Harmon’s brother). To complicate things further, my dad’s youngest sister, Mary Frances "nicknamed Mutt" married H.L. Mohon of Aubrey around 1936 or 1937 and had 3 children. In regards to the photo of the Methodist church, my grandfather Trigg Lawson is in the top row, 2nd from the right. He has a shock or hair on his forehead. He is shoulder to shoulder with Wood Goin. Both are wearing white shirts and light ties. It looks like the man in the bow tie is actually behind them even though he appears to be in the same row. My grandmother, Mary, is in the next row down, 4th from the right, next to the lady in the dark dress. My dad, Cecil "Red" Lawson, is in front of Mary kind of to her right (she probably had him by the collar to keep him from making trouble). My Aunt Mutt should be in this picture too, but at this point, I don’t know which one. I will be seeing her in about a week, and will ask her. She is 86 years old and lives 200 miles from me. My grandmother Mary lived to be 106, she passed away in 1995. With regards to you and the rest, Trigg Lawson |
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