I have spent a lot of time thinking about life in Mayberry prior to 1960.
It is probable that Andy and Barney were the same age because they talk
about having the same teachers in school. Also they both supposedly graduated
in 1945, according to the first class reunion sign. Then they both claimed
to have served in the military. Supposing that they went into the military
the summer after graduation, they would have been discharged in 1949. Opie
was born in 1954 because he is in the 1st grade in 1960. So Andy would have to
have been married in 1953 or sooner. Now the rest is speculation. I
always thought that when Andy came back to Mayberry, he almost immediately
became a deputy to the previous sheriff. That is the way it usually works,
when the sheriff retires, his deputy is usually elected sheriff. The show
offers absolutely no clue to Barney's life between 1949 and 1959. If we
accept the facts in the episode "Barney's Physical", which aired in 1964
, that was Barney's 5 year anniversary with the sheriff's department. But in
all probability, Barney joined the sheriff's office the same day that Andy
became sheriff. If Andy were elected sheriff while he was the deputy, then
he would have needed a new deputy.
Here is what sticks in my mind. Andy was the deputy in 1952. The
sheriff quit for whatever reason. Andy then ran for sheriff and won.
After he won he hired his cousin Barney to be his new deputy. Andy was now
making enough money to ask his steady girl to marry him. They were married,
the next year Opie was born, and shortly after that Mrs. Taylor passed away.
Now that is the story in my mind, and at this late date, I don't think there is
anyone around who can say otherwise.
Orville Hendricks - Mount Pilot Butter and Egg Man
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