For the last year and a half, I have driven to work on the same road. Along the drive you see street signs and towns over and over again. Usual names and places that seem to stick in my mind.
The town of Buda. Why Buda? We are a long way from countries who worship Buda. Buda was originally called Du Pre from1835 to 1881 then the Post Office discovered that there was another town called Du Pre. It was then changed to honor some women who worked in a local hotel to the Spanish name “Viuda/widow,” which has long since been mispronounced.
Buda was established as one of the first cities in central Texas region. This is another town that lost history because of a name change. Buda was a part of a land grant given to Stephen Von Rensselaer Eggleston on February 1835. Fifty-six years of history of a placed called Du Pre gone. Snap! Just like that, gone.
The first sign that sticks out is the Old Black Colony Road, there is no doubt in my mind that there is a story to be told there. There is, only it’s belongs to the Antioch Colony. In the 1870 or 1871 a business man by the name of Joseph F. Rowley sold land to, some former slaves, 490 acres at $5.00 an acre. They named the colony Antioch Colony for the Turkish city. Ten to fifteen families were said to live in the community. The Settlers were Bunton, Champ, Harper, Kavanaugh, Taylor and Beard. They raised cotton, sugar cane and corn. They had a mule-powered mill where they produced corn, bran, and sorghum molasses. There they built a community that consisted of an African Methodist church, a school and a cemetery constructed in 1874.The land for the school was donated by Elias and Clarisa Bunton. The two-story school served fifty-seven students. The community thrived until the 1950’s when people moved away for better opportunities.
A little further down the drive is the road Bliss Spillar. It is an unusual name and I wondered if was a woman or a man. The only information I could find on a Spillar was a Dr. Bliss R. Spillar Jr. who was an anesthesia who reshaped the practice of anesthesia in San Antonio, Texas through a group of seven anesthesiologist, called the Spillar Anesthesia Group. Dr. Spillar died in 1977. He had served as the anesthesia chief at Fort Hood Army Hospital. Dr. and Mrs. Bliss Spillar spent more than fifty years in the medical profession. They met while attending medical school together, married in 1952, and moved to San Antonio, Texas. They raised four children and were blessed with five grandchildren. They were active in leadership and community involvement with early diabetes education from the 1960 to the 1990’s.
The town of Manchaca comes up next. In this last year we have seen some (98) ninety-eight years of history erased in a name change. A Basque name Mentxaka-Manchaca was named after a near-by spring. The town went by the name Manchaca and now is being changed to Menchaca from a Jose Antonio Menchaca one time camping at the spring. History is in the making from day one. Manchaca had a history all its own. Now, ninety-eight years later, it’s all erased by a name change. To me it is just sad. It seems history is being changed, whether the right spelling was given or not in the beginning. History began the day the name Manchaca was written down as such. Now it begins a new history let’s hope for the better.
Next sign of interest is the Frate Barker. Who is Frate Barker? I like the name Frate but did not feel it went well with Barker. Well, his real name is James Euphrates Barker and his nickname was Frate. Frate was born in 1860 and died in 1952. He lived in or around Austin, Texas most of his life. He was the son of Austin’s original setters. It was his family that settled the Austin area. His father Eleazor Block Barker (1835-1910) and mother Mary Elizabeth Harvey Barker (1838-1897) and his grandparents Jesse Barker (1791- 1846) and Malinda Weeks (1795-1845) who were married in Bastrop in 1857 were the originals. They were the founders of Rice Crossing. It is rumored that Frate owned property somewhere close to where the sign now resides. Also, rumor has it that there was a heritage tree planted and taken down that was on his property. The tree is to be replaced later.
So now that I’ve started my research on the names. My morning history lesson is a little livelier.
The town of Buda. Why Buda? We are a long way from countries who worship Buda. Buda was originally called Du Pre from1835 to 1881 then the Post Office discovered that there was another town called Du Pre. It was then changed to honor some women who worked in a local hotel to the Spanish name “Viuda/widow,” which has long since been mispronounced.
Buda was established as one of the first cities in central Texas region. This is another town that lost history because of a name change. Buda was a part of a land grant given to Stephen Von Rensselaer Eggleston on February 1835. Fifty-six years of history of a placed called Du Pre gone. Snap! Just like that, gone.
The first sign that sticks out is the Old Black Colony Road, there is no doubt in my mind that there is a story to be told there. There is, only it’s belongs to the Antioch Colony. In the 1870 or 1871 a business man by the name of Joseph F. Rowley sold land to, some former slaves, 490 acres at $5.00 an acre. They named the colony Antioch Colony for the Turkish city. Ten to fifteen families were said to live in the community. The Settlers were Bunton, Champ, Harper, Kavanaugh, Taylor and Beard. They raised cotton, sugar cane and corn. They had a mule-powered mill where they produced corn, bran, and sorghum molasses. There they built a community that consisted of an African Methodist church, a school and a cemetery constructed in 1874.The land for the school was donated by Elias and Clarisa Bunton. The two-story school served fifty-seven students. The community thrived until the 1950’s when people moved away for better opportunities.
A little further down the drive is the road Bliss Spillar. It is an unusual name and I wondered if was a woman or a man. The only information I could find on a Spillar was a Dr. Bliss R. Spillar Jr. who was an anesthesia who reshaped the practice of anesthesia in San Antonio, Texas through a group of seven anesthesiologist, called the Spillar Anesthesia Group. Dr. Spillar died in 1977. He had served as the anesthesia chief at Fort Hood Army Hospital. Dr. and Mrs. Bliss Spillar spent more than fifty years in the medical profession. They met while attending medical school together, married in 1952, and moved to San Antonio, Texas. They raised four children and were blessed with five grandchildren. They were active in leadership and community involvement with early diabetes education from the 1960 to the 1990’s.
The town of Manchaca comes up next. In this last year we have seen some (98) ninety-eight years of history erased in a name change. A Basque name Mentxaka-Manchaca was named after a near-by spring. The town went by the name Manchaca and now is being changed to Menchaca from a Jose Antonio Menchaca one time camping at the spring. History is in the making from day one. Manchaca had a history all its own. Now, ninety-eight years later, it’s all erased by a name change. To me it is just sad. It seems history is being changed, whether the right spelling was given or not in the beginning. History began the day the name Manchaca was written down as such. Now it begins a new history let’s hope for the better.
Next sign of interest is the Frate Barker. Who is Frate Barker? I like the name Frate but did not feel it went well with Barker. Well, his real name is James Euphrates Barker and his nickname was Frate. Frate was born in 1860 and died in 1952. He lived in or around Austin, Texas most of his life. He was the son of Austin’s original setters. It was his family that settled the Austin area. His father Eleazor Block Barker (1835-1910) and mother Mary Elizabeth Harvey Barker (1838-1897) and his grandparents Jesse Barker (1791- 1846) and Malinda Weeks (1795-1845) who were married in Bastrop in 1857 were the originals. They were the founders of Rice Crossing. It is rumored that Frate owned property somewhere close to where the sign now resides. Also, rumor has it that there was a heritage tree planted and taken down that was on his property. The tree is to be replaced later.
So now that I’ve started my research on the names. My morning history lesson is a little livelier.
