Charing Community Charing is located in the 12th District (southwest part of Taylor County). It was "incorporated" as a town in 1912 but long before that it had been known as "Flem". It was named for the son of one of the early settlers, Will Garrett. Will's sister, Laura, sent in a list of names for the new town to the postal authorities, including the name of her nephew, Flem Garrett. Flem was chosen by the state and established a post office. The first postmaster was Issac W. Garrett. Flem was built around a pond. On the southeast side of the pond a cotton gin was built around 1890 by Bill Garrett and Tom Cochran. The pond was the town's main source of power and most families built around it. Mrs. Bessie Davis was the postmaster when the post office was the first to move (Sept 12, 1906) the 3 miles west to the Atlantic, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad tracks. The Railroad called this Charing Crossing (taken from the English name) The name of the post office was officially changed to Charing on Nov 4, 1908. Postmasters included: Hubert H. Rogers - June 6, 1909 Jessie I Jinks - Dec 5, 1913 Simms Garrett - Oct 26, 1916 Benny Leon Waller - Jan 26, 1941 Harmon O. Montgomery - Feb 14, 1942 (declined) Benny Leon Waller - May 1, 1942 Mrs. Johnnie Pittman Waller - June 30, 1943 Benny Leon Waller - May 31, 1946 Effie L. Garrett - Dec 13, 1957 Mrs. Johnnie Pittman Waller - Mar 2, 1970 until closed in 1974. In 1910 Charing experienced growth and the Rogers brothers had a large brick store built with three compartments. The contractor was S.S. Kent of Americus. The Rogers brothers each had a house built around that time too. In 1912 when the town was incorporated, J.A. Hollis was Representative, and C.E. Marshall Senator in the General Assembly. On Sept 21, 1912 the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Charing was chartered and began business on Nov 6, 1912 with R.L. Bell as the cashier. The bank was owned by John D. Walker and later by J.T. Garrett and Simms Garrett. This bank was one of the ones in Taylor County that did not fail during the Depression of 1929. Mt. Nebo Primitive Baptist Church and Charing United Methodist Church were an important part of the early life here. The charter was removed in 1915, the bank was closed, the town doctore moved away and World War II came with so many young men going into the service and young women going to work in the war industries. Today, Charing is a small community for those who love it enough to drive 50 miles to jobs elsewhere. Slightly northeast of the town about 1/2 mile are the remains was an Indian village...probably the Creeks. In 1905 the Indian mounds there were still about 8 ft high. One especially high one (12 ft) was said to be that of an Indian chief buried on his horse. Cut into the hillside around this were "seats and steps". Although they have washed away, arrowheads and Indian relics are still found. Virginia Crilley 4500 Kenny Lane Waco TX 76710 (254)772-5390 Subscribe to RUFFIN mailing list: Ruffin-L-Request@Rootsweb.com Subscribe to CRILLEY mailing list: Crilley-L-Request@Rootsweb.com Homepages: http://www.eramp.net/~crilley Ruffin homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6276 Taylor Co USGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~gataylor/gataylor.htm