Annetta: Mayor, city council members sworn in

Thursday, May 15’s city council meeting was quite a special session. The first item on the agenda was the swearing in of Mayor Sandy Roberts, Brandon Thompson, Place #3, and Mayor Pro-Tem, Place #5 Kent Stasey. All three members were given the oath of office from City Secretary Jamee Long.

How the City of Annetta got its namesake

Just about an hour before the scheduled city council meeting, there was a visit from a family that without their great, great grandfather, the City of Annetta may have not existed at all!

Jerry Wilson, 87 years young, who is the great, great, grandson of A.B. Fraser, drove from San Antonio with several relatives and his wife, Sue, to see the town that bears his relative’s name.

Fleetwood Jacobs, who is the daughter of Jerry and Sue Wilson, arranged and did all the leg work of establishing and documenting the lineage of Anneta (Yes, I know it’s spelled wrong, but that is how she originally spelled her name), and how the town came to be.

“My great, great, grandfather established a store and a post office in 1876 in what is considered Parker County now, and would end up traveling East and eventually creating the town of Ft. Worth.” Mr. Wilson said. He also brought up a very interesting thought.

“If he had not established those businesses, maybe Ft. Worth would not even become a thriving city.”

The Annetta Community was established by A.B. Fraser around 1880, when the Texas & Pacific Railroad was built through Parker County from Fort Worth. Mr. Fraser was originally from Nova Scotia, but emigrated to Louisiana and became an ardent Southerner. He fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, and after the War, he was one of those who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Union. In order to avoid this, he went to Honduras, where he had heard the British government was building a railroad.

During the five or six years he lived in Honduras building bridges for the railway, his daughter, Anneta Fraser was born. The name Anneta is composed of the English name Annie, along with the Spanish suffix -ita, meaning “little.” Thus, this name meant “little Annie.” (Fraser, Town of Annetta, 2019)

For those who do not know the history of Annetta, here is a short article:

“Annetta is on Farm Road 1187 six miles southeast of Weatherford in southeastern Parker County. Settlement began there in the late 1870s, when a Mr. Fraser established a station for the convenience of freighters who traveled east to Dallas and on to Jefferson. Fraser named his station Annetta after his daughter. In the early 1880s, after the tracks of the Texas and Pacific Railway passed near his station, Fraser built a general store on the rail line, and gradually a community developed at the site. An Annetta post office operated from 1876 until 1907. By the mid-1890s Annetta had a population of twenty-five, three churches, a public school, and a general store; it was a shipping point for cotton and local crops. For most of the twentieth century Annetta served area farmers as a school and church community. The number of residents remained well below fifty until the late 1970s. At that time the community grew suddenly, probably as a result of the dramatic growth of nearby Fort Worth. (Dallas: Clements Research, 1984).

Reporter’s Note

This is my last article with The Community News. I have accepted a teaching position in Abilene so that I can spend more time with my daughter and my grandchildren. I’ve been blessed to know Randy and have been associated with the News for almost 13 years.
I started writing sports articles and eventually became the first person to blog Aledo Bearcat Friday night football games and eventually other varsity sports.
I have meet wonderful people who are still friends today. I also lost a dear friend. “Big Tony” was the biggest Aledo Bearcat/Ladycat fan I’ve ever meet. His personality was as big as his smile. He could go toe to toe with anyone on Aledo athletic scores and dates, including my nephew, Nolan Ruth, who grew up a Bearcat.
I was fortunate to watch my son’s, Keaton Zimmermann, last high school football game end in a state championship at AT&T Stadium press box and then go and cry with him on the field.
I consider Randy a real friend. He allowed me to experience the true meaning of “Friday Night Lights in Texas” first hand.
It has been an awesome ride, thank you to all!

—Jim Zimmermann