EARLY COKE COUNTY RESIDENTS - Adkins, Benningfield, Bird, Campbell, Carlile, Conner, Fletcher, Keeney, Knight, McDorman, Roe, Stewart, Teeters and Wallace Contributed by Jo Collier 23 November 2004 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/txfiles.htm *********************************************************************** Centennial Edition - 1889 Coke County Rustler 1904 1904 Robert Lee Observer 1984 1907 Bronte Enterprise 1984 1984 Observer/Enterprise, July 21, 1989 BENNINGFIELD Robert Lee Observer 1939 Jim Benningfield came to Coke County in 1888--came in a wagon from Mills County, bringing his wife with him. Their children were born and reared here. Mr. Benningfield farmed near Sanco many years and ran a gin there several years. ------------------------- I. A. BIRD AND I. S. BIRD 1939 Robert Lee Observer I. A. Bird and I. S. Bird came up Boozier Creek in a wagon with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. Bird, in 1887. Their old home place is the old A. J. Adkins farm, a part of which has been in cultivation the 52 years since then. --------------------------- CAMPBELL - CHARTER CITIZENS Dan and W. H. Campbell missed being charter citizens by a few months. Their father, the late J. H. Campbell, came to Sanco country to locate before the organization of the county, and did buy the place on which he lived until his death a few years ago, but he returned to an eastern county and did not bring his family until after the organization of the county. -------------------------------- CARLILES MOVED TO FT. CHADBOURNE The late Allen Carlile, father of Mrs. Vernon Lammers, was living in Coke County during the 1890's with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Carlile. After marrying in 1901, he and Mrs. Carlile lived several years in Oak Creek community, in 1912 they returned to Coke County from Oklahoma and settled in the thriving town of Ft. Chadbourne with their four children, Nettie, Tom, Ella, and Louie. They operated the Livery Stable serving the surrounding communities. Mr. Carlile served on the board of school trustees and as a peace officer while they lived there. The Carliles moved into the Bronte community in 1921, Mr. Carlile died in 1956 and Mrs. Carlile died in 1962. ----------------------------------- FLETCHER 97 OLDEST PERSON IN COUNTY Robert Lee Observer - 1939 Grandma Fletcher, 97, is the oldest woman now living in the county. Her memory has remained clear, and she still interests her children and neighbors with the stories of an overland trip to California by ox wagon in 1868 and return. --------------------------- KEENEY IN BUSINESS 33 YEARS Robert Lee Observer - 1939 Frank Keeney has been in business at Bronte for 33 years, and has been a reader of the Observer for 38 years. Mrs. Keeney, herself a news writer, has been active in the community life of Bronte and of the county. The Woman's Progressive Club of which she has long been an active member, is one of the oldest organizations of the kind in this section of West Texas. -------------------- KNIGHT WORKED AT GIN J. A. Knight, one of the founders of Coke County, worked at Coke's first gin, on the Snyder ranch, powered by a steam engine, over forty years ago. It was called the Yellow Wolf Gin, burned mesquite wood and turned out eight bales a day. Farmers came, some a day's journey, and if business was good, they camped for the night and got a good chance to visit around the campfire. Knight was engineer and rode horseback from Valley View, drew $1.25 a day, wages for skilled work then. The second gin in the county was operated by Ralph and Frank Harris, at the Harris ranch. The ranch could use the cotton seed for feeding, farmers did not need them. Mr. Harris offered the ginning for the seed, the farmers gladly accepted, and the seed were stacked in great ricks near the gin. From there they were hauled throughout the winter and fed to the cattle on the range. The first thresher--a "ground hog" machine was run by two mules and who had to walk in an inclined runaround. Mr. Knight was formerly in the hardware business at Robert Lee and was County Relief Administrator under the State Relief Commission. ------------------------- ROE WAS EARLY POLO PLAYER Fred Roe, a polo player (Editor's Note: In an article by the San Angelo Standard's Ross McSwain, he wrote of Fred Roe of Robert Lee and his early polo playing) Perhaps one of the most colorful West Texas polo players was Fred Roe of Robert Lee. A cowboy, Roe started training polo ponies at 16. He got his start as a polo player when asked to fill in for an ill player during a tournament at El Paso. He quickly scored seven goals. Roe's career as a poloist was marked by dramatic moments, Mrs. Waring said. During a game in 1923 at the San Angelo Fairgrounds, Roe and teammates Dick Waring, Jose Tweedy and one other took on a team from Brady captained by Ben Strickland. Roe successfully carried the ball the full length of the field and between the goal posts. His horse dropped dead under him in the first period. He played in Paris, France the following year with the U.S. Olympic polo team with 10-goal player Tommy Hitchcock, J. Elmer Boeske of California and Rodney Wanamake of Pennsylvania. The U.S. team placed second to Argentina. Roe's international polo career ended abruptly in 1927 when two horses collided and he was knocked unconscious for 21 days and his left side was partly paralyzed. Even with this physical handicap, Roe continued to play with local teams through the 1930s. "The Mertz brothers - Joe and Mort - say it was awe-inspiring to see Fred Roe with the reins between his teeth, swinging the mallet with his good arm, and pulling up his horse by rolling the reins in his arms," Mrs. Waring said. -------------------------- STEWART IN COUNTY 84 YEARS Robert Lee Observer - 1939 Marvin Stewart landed in Coke County Jan. 8, 1889. His mother, Mrs. C. D. Stewart, now of Robert Lee has been in the county 84 years. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart first came from Abilene to the Moro mountain country, then brought sheep to Edith. ------------------------------ WALLACE CAME TO COUNTY IN 1889 H. B. Wallace landed in Coke County as a cowboy on the Snyder OB in the fall of 1889. There was a cotton gin in operation then at the Snyder ranch. It was a two stand gin and fired with wood. Bill Teeters was engineer. W. H. McDorman was manager at that time. S. M. Conner had some cattle west of the Snyder Bros. range. 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