NEWSTORY: Mackey; Hutchinson; Higginbotham; Rawlings; Morrow; Scott; McKown: Early Residents of Area Contributed by Brenda Scott Hines May 2011 *********************************************************************** The Bronte Enterprise, Coke County, TX - Sept. 3. 1964 ****** The Bronte Enterprise September 3, 1964 Historical & Progress Edition (Editor's note: In going through our files early this summer, hunting out stories for this special edition, we made notes as we went along, about some of the early families who came here. We just used the information available at that time. Much of the following, we realize, is incomplete as to descendants, etc., some were probably overlooked, and some may be a duplication of other material in this newspaper. Working up all of these family histories was one of the things that time and space and limitations did not allow. But it is hoped the following paragraphs will be at least recognize a good many of the early residents of this area. There is a good story which could be developed in almost every paragraph. Ben Oglesby) ****** The Will Mackey farm four miles northeast of Bronte has been in the family since 1901. He was born in Georgia Oct. 19, 1868 and was married in Cohutta County, Georgia on Nov. 18, 1896. The family came to Texas in 1900, settling soon after on the family farm. He died in 1955 and Mrs. Mackey died in 1963. ****** Two of the earliest families into the area were the J. P. Hutchinson's and T. A. Higginbotham's. They were the parents of Mr. and Mrs. (Mattie) Higginbotham who were married here in 1908. The Hutchinson's came to Ballinger in the 1880's before the railroad came to that town, moving on to Bronte in 1902. ****** Mr. and Mrs. Albert J. Rawlings were married Feb. 2, 1894 at Burnet. She was a public school teacher. The couple moved to Coke County in Sept. 1904 when they bought the present Rawlings ranch southwest of Bronte. She was born Oct. 22, 1872 at Austin, the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. W. N. A. Norton. Mr. Norton was a pioneer stage coach superintendent and Mrs. Rawlings could remember, as a child, making several trips through this area during Indian times. Their children were Albert Rawlings, Mrs. Marvin Simpson, Mrs. Ralph Lewis and Mrs. Lucy Warner. ****** J. J. Morrow was born in Hill County, April 20 1880 and moved to Sterling County about 1897. He moved to Coke County in 1912, locating at Robert Lee. In 1914 he married to Mrs. Irene (Clift) McCallum of Robert Lee and the couple moved in 1915 to her father's (William Clift) old home place 7 miles north of Bronte in the Fort Chadbourne community. Clift had bought the place in 1902 and Mr. and Mrs. Morrow bought the place from Clift heirs in 1915. The two-story 8 - room farm home located on the place, a landmark in the area, burned in 1955. An interesting fact is that Mr. Clift's carpenter to build the house was Mr. Morrow's father, Lewis Morrow who constructed it in 1906. ****** When Mrs. M. A. (Margaret Ann) Scott died Feb. 1962, she had been a resident of Bronte since 1890. She was born May 19, 1880 in Erath County, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Billy Rodgers and married to Joseph lee Scott, who died here in 1924. They were parents of Mrs. Ray Coalson, Mrs. Lee Roy Deppe, Lee Roy Scott, Walter Scott, Daniel Scott and Joe Ed Scott. ***** Mr. and Mrs. W. H. McKown both came to Runnels County before the turn of the century and were married June 27, 1907 in Oak Creek Community. She was the former Viola Drake and attended school at Dry Hollow, later Oak Creek. They settled on land his father bought in the early days. They were charter members of the Oak Creek Methodist Church. W. H. McKown's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mary Matilda Moore and William F. McKown were married in 1877 in Milam County and were residents of Runnels County since 1898, living most of the time in the Oak Creek Community. *************************** Permission granted by The Observer/Enterprise for publication in the Coke County TXGenWeb and/or the Coke County Archives of the USGenWeb. Copyright. All rights reserved.