Finders Keepers, Volume 4, Number 1, February 1987 Page: 1
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Found in the Caeabon Community Newt
Vol. 1 November 1986 Number 3
"FROM THE MEMORIES OF DAWN SCARBROUGH
"Early Dawn (Fidler)Scarbrough has history of the Fidler family going back to
the mid 1700's at Baltimore, MD, where her ancestors met the boat bringing digni-
taries from the Old Country to the big Methodist Christmas Conference. In 1873
three generations of the Fidler family, including Dawn's grandmother migrated
from Shelby County, Ohio to Dallas. The family traveled in boxcars along with
all their possessions, horses, cattle, chickens, and in grandmother Fidler's case
4 children, her sewing machine and her cookstove. Grandmother Fidler must have
had her churn too, since she sold butter while the family was living in a wagon
yard in Dallas, using the proceeds to purchase her silverware. The family moved
west from Dallas, settling between Godley and Cresson where they remain to this
day.
"In the 1880's Dawn's grandparents operated the hotel at the intersection (now
hwys 377 & 171). Sep 20, 1900 their son, Wilbur married Elizabeth Wilson from
the Weatherford area. The home where he took his bride was on the creek, same
location where Dawn lives today. Upon arriving at their home Wilbur stepped off
the wagon, caught a chicken, wrung its neck then handed it to his bride so she
could prepare fried chicken and biscuits for their first meal as man and wife.
"Wilbur Fidler, who lived until 1950 was a cattleman, no part of his land was
ever farmed. In the summer months Wilbur's cattle were driven to the stock pens
in Cresson where they were loaded onto the train, both Frisco and the Santa Fe 'd
had depots here since about 1887. Wilbur boarded the train with his cattle and
stayed with them to either Chicago, St Jo, St Louis or Kansas City, wherever the
market was best, until he could return home with the check in his hand. He might
make several trips per shipping season.
"Dawn was born Feb 10, 1906. She graduated (10th grade) in the first class out
of the Cresson School in 1921. Dawn completed 12th grade in Cleburne then atten-
ded Teachers College (now North Texas Univ) in Denton for her BA degree.
"During her youth Dawn remembers trips to Fort Worth with her dad by car. There
was a trail where U S 377 runs now but if you traveled that direction you wound
up on a military reservation called "Camp Bowie". Dawn remembers this being
'mostly tents'. Later Camp Bowie was located at Brownwood, during World War II.
The road to Fort Worth went past the Teich Farm, the Winfield Scott ranch (now
Scaling ranch) thru Plover where the creek frequently flooded, stopping even the
trains, over to Crowley, then to Fort Worth. Part of this route is now under
Benbrook Lake. Arriving at the big city her dad put the car in a garage - driv-
ing in the heavy traffic of 1918 was too nerve wracking - then they went by
streetcar. They might shop at Monnigs, Washer Bros, Striplings or Meachams, all
were close to the depot. It was a 9 mile ride out to TCU, a large dairy was
located across the road from the main entrance and Dawn remembers another mili-
tary reservation adjacent to TCU but doesn't know if it was part of Bowie. It was
another long ride by streetcar to the Stock Yards where her dad frequently went
to check on the cattle market.
"Dawn first met Frank Scarbrough at a picnic along the creek (now part of
Bourland Field). Frank was with a crew working for Standard Oil of Indiana
brought in to install the machinery at the 'Pumping Station' (site of Tex/Star
Ind now). Frank's home was Washington, Kansas but he'd been working in Mexia
before boarding the old Boll Weevil train to Cleburne, thence on to Cresson.
Meanwhile they had built a home at the corner of Crook & Lee Sts in Cresson.For the first 11 years Standard Oil moved them all over the state of Texas, both
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Johnson County Genealogical Society (Tex.). Finders Keepers, Volume 4, Number 1, February 1987, periodical, February 1987; Cleburne, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth355031/m1/4/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Johnson County Genealogical Society.