TAYLOR FAMILY FIELD TRIP

December 27, 2002

It was 4:00 a.m., just two days past Christmas. It was exciting to wake up knowing this day would be one of the most special times of my life. A family field trip had been planned. An ambitious day had been thought out to visit family lands, homes, and cemeteries in Palo Pinto County and Hood County, with breakfast and lunch. An open invitation was given. No one knew for sure who would come. Descendants of Francis Marion Taylor, 1842-1921, were invited.

Francis Marion Taylor 1842 – 1921

Sarah Frances West 1842 – 1930

It was 25 degrees outside with ice on the car windows. This might not be a great day to be outside. We were to meet for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. at a restaurant in Cool, Texas – between Mineral Wells and Weatherford. We discovered we had an immediate problem – the restaurant did not open before lunch! A note was hastily written and safety-pinned on a rope gate stating the breakfast was moved to the Jones Drive-In in Mineral Wells.

Within 15 minutes of each other, the relatives arrived: Judy Williams Layden of Dallas and her daughter Jan Layden Hernandez of Lewisville; Charles Taylor of Flower Mound; Richard Taylor of Mineral Wells; Travis Harvey, step-son of Shanna Taylor Harvey, of Weatherford; Hester Taylor West and her husband Art of Fort Worth; Ella Farris Cornelison Parks Strickland and her husband J.B. of Lipan; Melinda Taylor Kent of Houston; and Ginger Hale and her son Joseph Hale of Lake Jackson. Others had planned to come, but last minute circumstances and illness prevented their attendance.

Note: Ella Farris’ grandmother was Ella Doyle Gilbert, sister of Jessie Lee Doyle Taylor.

After a hearty, delicious breakfast we headed off in our caravan to the far southeastern corner of Palo Pinto County to A.B. Gilbert’s 2,500-acre U2 Ranch. A.B. Gilbert is still the vice-president of the bank in Santo, at a mere 89 years young.

Note: The first 600 acres, along with a two-story house, of the U2 Ranch were purchased by A.B. Gilbert’s father, A.B. Gilbert Sr., from a “Mr. Beddoe.” Other properties were later purchased that comprise the existing ranch. “Mr. Beddoe” may have been the father-in-law of Vicy Taylor Beddoe, daughter of Francis Marion Taylor.

We were looking for the burial site of George William Taylor, oldest brother of Francis Marion Taylor, who was buried on the U2 Ranch before its formation. George William Taylor was born June 25, 1829 in Rockcastle County, Kentucky and died February 14, 1901.

Front Row: Melinda Taylor Kent, Hester Taylor West

Back Row: Judy Williams Layden, Joseph Hale, Travis Harvey, Ginger Hale, Jan Layden Hernandez

No one wanted to get their cars dirty or stuck in mud after the week’s rain, so we all jumped into the back of Charles’ shiny new truck. Well, the U2 Ranch beautifully rolls up and down, and we had to hold on to each other to keep from bouncing about or out.

The sun had come out and perfectly warmed up this crisp winter day. The air was so clean and pure. The wind gently blew.

Looking for the grave of George William Taylor on the U2 Ranch

We were told to turn right after a certain landmark. This allowed us to see a good portion of the south side of the ranch, without finding the grave. We were having such a good time giggling and bouncing and hanging on while enjoying the glorious land, air, and sun.

U2 Ranch in Palo Pinto County

Then we got serious about finding the grave. We should have turned right BEFORE the landmark. About a mile west of there we found the site of two graves just below a rise.

U2 Ranch in Palo Pinto County

Also buried at this site four years previous was Helen Gilbert, A.B. Gilbert’s wife.

In the late 1800’s a building named Mt. Pleasant Church was located at the rise. It is not known what denomination the church was. A.B. Gilbert remembers seeing the church. It was removed from the property about 75 years ago.

A.B. Gilbert believes George William Taylor was buried by the church because it intended to have a graveyard, but did not. Only a sandrock with George William Taylor’s name was on it until Auburn Taylor erected a headstone for him.

Giving our respect

According to A.B. Gilbert, there used to be a road from the old Natty Flat Road, now Live Oak Road, when people traveled by buggy and hack, that went along the ranch entrance to the Mt. Pleasant Church and exited on the old Clyde Putt place. There was no community at this place, only a church.

Note: The Putt’s were from Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Francis Asbury Taylor’s wife was Sarah Putt Taylor.

Graves of Isaac Marion Taylor, Emma Geupel Taylor, and Acel Fred Taylor

Landreth Cemetery

Next we traveled to nearby Landreth Cemetery, just west of the ranch. We were all moved that about half of the people buried in this small country cemetery were our relatives and allied families: Taylor, Geupel, Odom, Putt, Clark, Riggs, Beddoe, Light, McCarty, Miller, Wheeler, and Kahlbau. Isaac Marion Taylor (Ike) and his wife, Emma Geupel Taylor, and their descendants were buried here.

Landreth Cemetery


Landreth Cemetery

Note: Velma Cook Kahlbau’s mother was Myra Hale Cook, sister of my great-grandfather, Madison Right Hale.

We decided to travel next to Baptist Cemetery near Lipan in Hood County. We drove through Natty Flat, on Live Oak Road, tooting our horns at all our relatives’ homes: Odom, Erwin, Doyle’s, Dunaway, O’Bannon, and Addison. There were some new homes, and many of the old homes remain. I especially like the old rock homes that seem timeless.

Seated: Georgia Winslett Taylor

Standing: Bobbie, Bud, Hester, Betty & Dixie Taylor

About one mile east of Lipan we turned right. At that corner was where Joseph Isaac Taylor (Joe) and Georgia Winslett Taylor (Georgie) lived and raised their five children. The original house was torn down and replaced with a very modern house in the late 1950’s built by their children for their parents. The house built in the 1950’s is still standing, but is no longer in the Taylor family.

Baptist Cemetery

We continued down the road several miles, crossing several cattle guards and crossing some beautiful ranches. At the end of the road was the beautiful and old Baptist Cemetery. John Henry Huffstuttler, 1830-1928, donated the land for the cemetery. At one time there was a Baptist Church and school located there.

The sun was now warming enough for us to take our coats off. We found the graves of Martha Taylor, Norma Jean Taylor Leatherwood, daughters of Herbert DeSoto Taylor and Margaret Winslett Taylor, and Norma Jean’s son, Howard Leatherwood.

Hester Taylor West, daughter of Joe and Georgie Taylor, explained to us that her great-grandparents, John Henry Huffstutler and Margaret Yeats Huffstutler, at one time owned all the land in that area to Lipan Highway and west to Bluff Dale in Erath County. A portion of land was given to each of their nine children, including her grandmother, Francis Huffstutler Winslett, mother of Georgie Winslett Taylor. Hester said as children they played all through this land down to Crockery Creek.

We still had a lot more to accomplish, so we went back to Lipan Highway, turned east, further into Hood County, for about one-half mile, and turned north for about two miles to Evergreen Cemetery, the largest cemetery in the area. We were met by Earline Stowe Gilliam, a family friend from Lipan, and local historian, who joined the caravan.

Graves of Joseph Isaac Taylor & Georgia Winslett Taylor

Evergreen Cemetery

Evergreen Cemetery keeps at rest many of our family members who were buried in both the new and old sections. On the Taylor side: Joe and Georgie Taylor; Carla Ann Helton, daughter of Dixie Taylor Shuffield; Jimmie Joe Miller, husband of Betty Jo Taylor Miller.

On the Doyle side: Vesta Gilbert Cornelison and Vernon Cornelison, parents of Ella Farris Strickland; Dunaway’s; O’Bannon’s.

Hale graves in Evergreen Cemetery

On the Hale side: Thomas Right Hale, my father; Thomas C. Hale, his father and husband of Virgie Taylor; Raymond Guy Hale, brother of Thomas C. Hale and husband of Ora Belle Taylor, and step-father of Judy Williams Layden; Madison Right Hale, patriarch; America Iles Hale, matriarch; plus more of their children and families – Campbell, Roach, Milhollin, Gafford, McCuan, Addison, Guinn, Sublett.

On the Iles side: Luttrell, Cook, Compton, Davis, Brewin.

Plus more allied families: Odom, Winslett, Clary.

Hester and Art, and I, showed the others where we would one day be buried.

Evergreen Cemetery

I found my son sitting on the concrete bench under the mimosa tree my grandmother, Virgie Taylor Hale Bishop, planted from seeds in 1961 at my father’s grave. He was quite moved by the experience and watched the light wind continue to tatter the little U.S. flag at the headstone. I explained to my son that it had always been my desire to be buried next to my father. He said he now understood.

All of us were ready to take a break and eat lunch. Our cousin, Martha Parks Jackson of Lipan, Ella Strickland’s daughter, had invited all of us to have lunch at her home. Martha and her family now live in the restored home of her grandmother, Vesta Gilbert Cornelison.

Martha and I bought and prepared food and drinks. Martha’s beautiful 13-year old daughter, Callie Jackson, helped us. We all sat at the large, beautiful dining table and enjoyed each other’s company. It seemed as though Vesta was smiling at us from her picture on the wall.

After about an hour’s visit and rest, it was time to find Double Mountain – where the Francis Marion Taylor family moved to from Kentucky in 1882. It was good that Earline Gilliam was with us or we may not have found the location.

Traveling west on Lipan Highway, about five miles from Lipan and crossing back into Palo Pinto County, we turned left (south) on an unmarked road known locally as Russell Road. The long road went south and then turned due east. We were parallel with the Palo Pinto County and Erath County line. I kept looking for the Double Mountain, but did not see it. Suddenly the lead car stopped, and it was announced that we were at Double Mountain. What? Where was the Double Mountain? Actually, Double Mountain was once a community with a school and a church in the late 1800’s. The community was an area of farmlands between two lone mountains. There are no signs of the previous time in this sparse, remote area. We do know the Taylor and Odom families lived here.

Richard Solomon Taylor & Jessie Lee Doyle

Probably their wedding picture in 1891 in Palo Pinto County

Russell Road tees into Highway 281. We turned north, traveled several miles, and then turned west on the old Bosley Cemetery Road. The road was longer than I remembered. We finally came upon the homestead of Richard Solomon Taylor and Jessie Lee Doyle, set a good distance from the road.

Looking for relics at the homestead of Richard Solomon Taylor & Jessie Lee Doyle

The homestead was actually a ranch consisting of two sections, 1,280 acres. Dick and Jessie Taylor raised their nine children here: Hub, Joe, Virgie, Ora Belle, Una, Lucille, Darwin, Bob, and Pete. Today only the fireplace remains on the ranch. The land is ideal for ranching. Beautiful mountains line the horizon.

Dick Taylor’s saloon in Santo

Left to Right: Joe Taylor and Dick Taylor

Dick Taylor ranched and owned a saloon in Santo that opened in 1914. Later, following Jessie’s death in 1920, Dick traded the ranch for his Taylor Hotel in Mineral Wells and a place located on the Brazos River. Obviously Dick Taylor was very different from his father, a preacher, and other family members who were very religious. However, one relative commented to me in private, “I bet Dick had more fun than they did.”

About eight miles down the road is Bosley Cemetery where Dick and Jessie Taylor and their descendants were buried. The Doyle family and other relatives were buried there also.

Judy Layden reflecting amidst the Doyle graves

Bosley Cemetery

There was once a one-room schoolhouse located west of the cemetery fence known as Bosley School. I remember seeing it and going in it before it was demolished in the early 1960’s. Seeing some of the original school desks before the demolition, Bob Taylor took one of the desks. He was delighted later when he found his initials he carved in it when he was a young boy.

Grave of Nancy Paige Taylor who died in a drowning accident in the Brazos River

Bosley Cemetery

The daylight was dimming, so we gathered for a final group picture knowing we had indeed spent a special day together. We did not have time to go to Santo. Each of us agreed that we wanted to have another family field trip – perhaps in two years. We would certainly encourage other family members to attend.

Family remembrances and stories had filled us. We each had something to share with the others to delight in.

What did we learn? We learned families are inter-connected to other families. We gained a greater perspective of those that went before us. We gave our respect and showed the younger ones where their ancestors were laid to rest. Our love for each other deepened. We knew absolutely we were family.