Roby

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the town of Roby, Fisher County. Now settle in, because this one starts with a land grant and ends with a county seat, and the road between those two points has a few good turns worth knowing about. Way back before Roby was Roby, this stretch of Texas ground was included in a land grant given to Thomas H.

Cosby, a veteran of the Texas War for Independence. That's where our story takes root. The land eventually came into the hands of D.

C. and M. L. Roby, two folks from Mississippi who happened to be relatives of Cosby's second wife, Martha.

So the land stayed, in a manner of speaking, close to the family. Now the Robys were not the kind of people who just let acreage sit and collect dust. They had a plan.

They hired a Travis County law firm, Walton, Hill, and Walton, and gave those attorneys a very specific set of instructions: organize a town, and make it the county seat of Fisher County. That is a tall order handed to a law firm, and those attorneys got to work. On behalf of their clients, Walton, Hill, and Walton donated land for churches, schools, a park, and a cemetery.

They even offered free town lots to settlers willing to build homes within ninety days. Ninety days. That is not an invitation, that is a dare.

The town was first platted in 1885, and by April of 1886 an election was held. Roby was declared the county seat of Fisher County. The mission, you might say, was accomplished.

The early days were humble enough. The first county court was held in a shed behind the V. H.

Anderson House, the very same structure that served as the town's first post office. A frame courthouse eventually went up on the southwest corner of the town square, and over the years it was replaced by a succession of other structures, each one a quiet marker of the town growing into itself. Schools, churches, and businesses took hold as more settlers arrived and put down roots.

Roby never swelled into something unrecognizable. It kept what you might call its small town atmosphere, and today it remains a center of commerce for Fisher County. A law firm's assignment from 1885, still doing its job.

What the marker says

Located on land originally included in a land grant to Texas War for Independence veteran Thomas H. Cosby, the town of Roby was first platted in 1885. The land was purchased by D. C. and M. L. Roby of Mississippi, relatives of Cosby's second wife, Martha. The Robys hired Walton, Hill, and Walton, a Travis County law firm, to represent their interests, and instructed the attorneys to organize a town to be named county seat of Fisher County. On behalf of their clients, the attorneys donated land for churches, schools, a park, and a cemetery. Town lots were also given to settlers who would build homes within ninety days. In an election held in April 1886, Roby was declared the county seat. The first county court was held in a shed behind the V. H. Anderson House, which served as the town's first post office. A frame courthouse was built on the southwest corner of the town square and was replaced over the years by a succession of other structures. Schools, churches, and businesses were established as settlement in the town increased. Retaining its small town atmosphere, Roby remains a center of commerce for Fisher County. (1989)