Amanda Head Key: Named the Town, Bronte - Coke County, TX Contributed by Mary Love Berryman 15 July 2002 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ********************************************************************** All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ********************************************************************* Published in The Observer/Enterprise, September 6, 2002 Out of the Ordinary Column By Jane Austin Bruckner In celebration of Grandparents Day, Sunday, September 8, 2002, I have found a wonderful grandparent story - after asking in this column, who named Bronte? Gerald W. Key, Vice President of Texas Sheet Metal Fabricators in San Antonio is the Key family historian, and wrote this about his great grandmother, and the naming of Bronte. You may contact him at Key Notes 2000@aol.com Amanda Head Key: Names the Town, Bronte Written by Gerald W. Key According to the family history, it was my great grandmother, Amanda Key, who was asked by her husband, Wesley Key, to name the town. 'Annie' was born Amanda JoAnna Head on January 14, 1855 in Butts county, Georgia to Willliam Henry and Amanda Delamar Head. During the great Arkansas land rush in the 1850s, she moved with her family to Dallas County. For those times, Annie was considered to be very religious, studious, and well educated young lady. At the usually young age of ten, she joined the Methodist Church. Annie attended schools in Holly Springs, but was educated mostly by her father, a county judge, and through the teachings of the Methodist Church. On November 30, 1871, Annie married Wesley Fletcher Key in Holly Springs, Arkansas. Soon the family relocated to Greenville, Hunt County, Texas and then to Pursley, Navarro County, Texas. My great grandpa Wesley was a country doctor with no formal medical training but who had studied under another doctor, his uncle, Dr. Richard Childress Key. By 1874 they had moved to Hubbard City, Hill County, Texas. Realizing he needed more formal training, Wesley attended the University of Arkansas Medical School in Little Rock as a third year student. Great granny Annie lived with the Richard C. Key family while Wesley returned to Arkansas for his Medical Degree. In 1886, the family moved to Lingleville, Erath County, Texas. In 1890 when they moved to West Central Texas, the country was still wild and inhabited mostly by cowboys herding cattle. Wesley and Annie Key decided to make it their home on the Kickapoo Creek and eventually owned a considerable amount of property there. Soon other families began arriving and a nice little community was formed. In the beginning, the settlement had such names as Oso and Bronco but for some reason those names did not stick. When the railroad come through the community, the existing buildings were put on logs and rolled to the present locaton of the town. Wesley, Annie and three of their children (Pearl, Henry, and Valdimir) were charter members of the Bronte Methodist Church. The original congregation was organized at the Pecan Motts on East Kickapoo Creek in 1890. In 1907, the cornerstone for the permanent church was laid and great grandpa was on the building committee. All his active years, he served as steward in the church. Wesley Key has long been recognized as the founder of the town and it was fitting that the wife of the founder named the town. It was not a quick decision but after careful thought and consideration, Annie chose the name of Bronte. Annie Key was a well read woman, her favorite authors were Charlotte Bronte, author of Jane Eyre, Emily Bonte, author of Wuthering Heights, and Ann Bronte, author of Agnes Grey. Another interesting note is that before coming to America, the Key family lived in Yorkshire, England, which was hometown of the Bronte sisters. Whether that has anything to do with the naming of Bronte is pure conjecture but interesting speculation. As the town of Bronte developed, so did the Key family. The Bible was always read in their home and their eight children all became God loving individuals and well-respected citizens. A lover of the arts, Annie Key always had musical instruments in her house. Two of her daughters, Annie and Garland, studied music and became piano teachers. Devoted to the church, one son, Ira, became a well-known Methodist preacher. Valdimir (V. O.) became an attorney. Henry was a merchant and farmer. Folden was owner of a lumber company and built many of the homes in Bronte. He alwo became the construction supervisor of streets in Bronte. Pearl married a Methodist preacher. Daisy worked in a school and married a railroad man. Amanda JoAnna Key died in Bronte on November 1, 1915 and is buried at the Fairview Cemetery. She was loved and respected by everyone. On the day of her burial all the children in Bronte were dismissed from school and attended her funeral. Dr. Wesley Fletcher Key died in Wichita Falls, Texas on February 13, 1921, while visiting his daughter Garland. His body was returned to Bronte and buried beside his wife. (Remember to buy a Grandmother Stories from the Heart of Texas available at the Coke County Library or the Observer/Enterprise Office. Proceeds benefit the Coke County Historical Society. And send your grandmother story to jane@janebruckner.com.) Permission granted by the Observer/Enterprise for publication in the Coke County TXGenWeb Archives.