Family History

THE MAKINGS OF A LEGACY

(A Brief History of George and Georgia Ann Taylor**)

 

George Washington Taylor was born in the 1860s and was one of three sons. With the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, and the end of the Civil War in 1865, George and his brothers were legally free persons. It is thought the Taylor brothers moved to Smith County, Texas in the 1880s and settled on a homestead two miles west of what is now the town of Whitehouse. On March 8, 1887, George married Georgia Ann Davis. Georgia Ann was born in Texas in March of 1867. Her parents were Richard and Amanda Davis. Georgia Ann had three brothers and sisters.

 

Ten children were born to George and George Ann. They were:

 

Hazel (1888)

Arshael (1889)

Amanda (1891)

Cassandra (1893)

Abraham (1896)

George (1898)

Harriet (1900)

Benjamin (1902)

Annie (1904)

Daniel Culberson (1906)

 

Click here to see to famous ten

 

George’s primary occupation was farming. Although the economic conditions of the time typically prevented Black farmers from owning their own land, George was able to buy his farm and managed through the years to purchase 144 acres in the Smith County area. The chief crops produced on the Taylor farm were cotton, vegetables, and fruits, most of which were sold at local markets.

 

In 1907, George donated a portion of the land he owned for the site of a church (Mount Elem Baptist Church). The church occupied that parcel of land, which sits on Texas Farm Road 346, until 1983 when it was relocated to a site within the Whitehouse city limits.

 

George Taylor had a tremendous appreciation for the value of an education and was instrumental in negotiating with local citizens for a community school for Black children. With his eldest children, George strongly urged them to attend college and managed to provide a college education to all of them who desired to have one.

 

George died on August 3, 1933 at the age of 73. A number of years after his death his wife, Georgia Ann, died in Fort Worth, Texas on May 20, 1941. Both George and Georgia Ann are buried in Antioch Cemetery.

 

After George’s death, the 144 acres of land he acquired during his lifetime were passed on to his children. The land was surveyed and apportioned to each living offspring. To date, much of the land belonging to the Taylor children and descendants has been sold, although several acres remain in the hands of family members.

 

In 1980, two of George’s grandsons successfully petitioned Smith County to permit the road that passes through the Taylor homestead and on through other parts of the Whitehouse community to be named the George Taylor Road. The petition was successful and “George Taylor Road” begins at Texas Farm Road 346 (facing the location of the old Mount Elem Baptist Church) and runs south for three miles, then west for a half mile to Texas Farm Road 756.

 

George and Georgia Ann Taylor are a testament to the many successes of hardworking Black families in the post-emancipation period. They are fondly remembered as generous individuals and active citizens in the local community.

 

 

**Much of this abbreviated history is taken from material compiled by Gwendolyn Richard, Margerie Stewart, Georgia Taylor Lewis, and others in 1989.