Where is "Crockets"

[NW Mailing List]

Okay, being the linguo-nerd of the group, I had to check out the etymology of the surname "Crockett."  One internet site which specializes in the history of surnames reports as below.  Far from being what I thought it was (a Norman name brought to England at the time William the Conqueror and all those despicable Frenchmen invaded England in 1066 AD,) the name has a Gaelic origin:

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This interesting name has two possible origins. The first being a nickname for someone wearing a particular hair style, deriving from the Medieval English "croket" meaning "a large curl".   In Scotland the Galloway family name Crockett is said to be derived from Macriocaird, from the Gaelic "mac" meaning "son (of)" and the personal name Rickard (Richard). The first recorded spelling is found in Scotland.  Crok(k) at and Croket being alternate spellings (1483 to 1614).  In 1634 one John Crokkit in Achinkyle was charged with "molesting the minister at  Inchcallioch  and stealing his timber".  The illustrious name bearer Davy Crocket, King of the Wild Frontier, was killed at the battle of the Alamo (1845).  A Coat of Arms granted to the family depicts three Cornish choughs proper on a silver shield, and the crest being a Cornish clough prope. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Huwe Croket of Kameslank (Cambeuslang) which was dated 1296, where he rendered homage during the reign of John Balliol of Scotland 1292 - 1296. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation.  In England this was known as Poll Tax.  Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
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Now to the railroad nuances:

(1)  Which location shipped more cabbage, Crockett or Rural Retreat?   As I recall it, the really old heads always talked about setting off most of the refrigerator cars at Crockett for cabbage loading, not Rural Retreat.  (By the time I hired in 1964, all the cabbage business had long since vamoosed.)

(2)  What was it about the unique soil or climatic conditions which made this area so fertile for growing cabbage?

(3)  What happened to the cabbage business, and why did it completely disappear ?

And, BTW, the Telegraph Call for Crockett was NV.  A pencil note in one of the books my father kept shows Crockett closing as an agency station 12-1-1960.

  -- abram burnett,
superannuated old brakezmun

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