James Campbell Taylor (1878 - 1948)

Born 5 Feb 1878 in Randolph County, Alabama, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Winnie Doris (Petty) Taylor — married 1 May 1909 in Runnels County, Texas

Descendants

Died 23 Aug 1948 at age 70 in Ballinger, Runnels, Texas, United States

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Biography

James was born in 1878. He was the son of Allen Taylor and Josie Park. He passed away in 1948.

Memories

James Campbell "Cam" Taylor was born 5 February 1878 in Randolph County, AL, the second child of Josephine Estelle (Josie) Park and Allen Davis (A. D.) Taylor. His birthplace was probably near the Lebanon Christian Church in the southern part of Randolph County near the small town of Roanoke. One of the founders of Lebanon Christian Church, a small rural church near Roanoke, was Moses Park, Cam's maternal grandfather. Moses was a farmer and devout Christian according to Mrs. Eva Pittman White, a 1st cousin of Cam. Moses Park is recorded in Randolph County in the 1850 census as a Christian Minister, in the 1860 census as a Clergyman in Bible Church, in the 1870 census as a farmer, and in the 1880 census as a Minister of the Gospel. Moses Park and his wife Martha Paxson Park are buried in the small cemetery immediately in front of Lebanon Christian Church in Randolph County, as is their son, A. C. (Alexander Campbell) Park, and 2 of their 6 daughters, Cynthia Jane Park Smith and Martha Caroline Park Pittman. Another son from his first marriage, T. C. Park (Thomas Craighead) is also buried in this cemetery. The first official record of James Campbell Taylor is found in the 1880 census of Randolph County, AL[1]. Jas. C., age 2, appeared in the household of Josie E. and Allen D. Taylor, a farmer. Josie E. was 23 and Allen D. was 29. Both were born in AL. They had an older daughter, Katie M., age 4. The Allen D. Taylor family lived near Josie's parents, Moses and Martha Park, and the family of Alexander C. Park, Josie's brother. A granddaughter of Susan Park Pittman, Mrs. Sue Baker Archer of Atlanta, is certain that because Moses Park was so devout, he named his last son, Alexander Campbell Park after a founder of the Disciples of Christ, Alexander Campbell. It is very possible that Josie named James Campbell Taylor for her brothers, James Echols Park, and Alexander Campbell Park. The A. D. Taylor family remained in Randolph County, AL, until after the death of Josie's father, Moses Park[2], in 1893. In the 1900 census of Runnels County, TX[3], they lived near Norton, Runnels County, Texas. One of A. D.'s brothers, R. P. Taylor and his family lived on a nearby farm. Both A. D. and R. P. are farmers. A. D. was 49, and Josie was 43. They had been married 26 years. Josie reported that she was the mother of 6 children, 5 of whom were living. Neither of the 2 children found in the home in 1880 are found in the home in the 1900 census. James Campbell (Cam) Taylor is known to have been associated with a newspaper in Gail, Borden County, TX, about 1900, but has not been located in the 1900 census. It is presumed that Katie M. died before the family moved to TX. The four children found in the home are Bessie, age 12, Rosa, age 10, Erice, age 7, and S. T., age 4, all born in AL. Erice, A. D., and Josie Taylor are buried in the Norton Cemetery in Runnels County. After James Campbell Taylor returned from Gail, Borden County, to Runnels County, he taught at small country schools, first in Norton, and later in Maverick, TX. His future wife, Winnie Petty, was one of his students. The students at these country schools were predominantly from farm families. The bigger boys were accustomed to the hard labor of farm work and probably had little use for schooling. The previous schoolmaster at the Maverick school, a 2 room school, had apparently had disciplinary problems with the older students, and had resigned or been dismissed by the school board. On Cam's first day of school as a teacher in the Maverick school, he arrived at the schoolhouse very early. As the larger boys arrived on the first morning of school, he brought them into the schoolhouse, one by one, and applied the "red heifer", a leather strip, to their backside, until all the boys understood that he was in charge. The disciplinary problem at the Maverick school disappeared during his tenure. James Campbell Taylor and Winnie Davis Petty were married 1 May 1909 in Runnels County, TX. The marriage license was issued 1 May 1909 to Mr. J. C. Taylor and Miss Winnie D. Petty. Rev. J. D. Leslie performed the ceremony 1 May 1909, and the license was filed 3 May 1909 and recorded in book 3, page 269 of marriage records of Runnels County. The first child of James C. and Winnie Taylor, Vember Dixon Taylor, was born 8 February 1910 in Runnels County in a locale once known as North Norton, probably near Norton in Runnels County. Norton still existed in 1994 as a small community but not as a town. In the 1910 census, James C., age 31, and Winnie Taylor, age 18, were counted in Runnels County, TX[4]. They were the parents of 1 child, Vember D., age 2 months when the census was taken on the 21st day of April 1910. They reported that they had been married 1 year. Winnie reported that she was the mother of 1 child. James C. reported his occupation as schoolteacher. Also found in the household was Winnie's paternal grandmother, Mary Petty, age 88, a widow. Her husband, George R. Petty, a Civil War verteran, had died 6 May 1901. The 2nd child of Cam and Winnie Taylor, Vera Cordie Taylor, was born 1 December 1914 in Runnels County. The 3rd child of Cam and Winnie Taylor, Velma Nell Taylor, was born 14 August 1916 in Runnels County. Velma died 29 July 1969 in Tulsa, OK. Soon afterward, the J. C. Taylor family moved to Abilene, Taylor County, TX, where Cam attended the predecessor of Abilene Christian College to obtain teaching credentials. His oldest son, Vember Taylor, remembered starting to school in Abilene. James C.Taylor and family were living on a farm near Woodsboro, Refugio County, TX, in 1918 as evidenced by a letter written 23 January 1918 from Winnie Petty Taylor to her brother serving in the 90th division in Europe. In the letter she states that their 4th child is due in a few days. James Leroy Taylor, the fourth child, was born 12 February 1918. Cam farmed for 1 year in Refugio County, and then returned to Runnels County for the remainder of his life. Winnie and Cam were living in south Ballinger in October, 1927, when James Leroy Taylor contracted diphtheria. He died in Ballinger, TX, on 27 October 1927, a week later, and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery. In the 1920 census of Runnels County, TX[5], the James C. Taylor family was found in Justice Precinct 2 of Runnels County. James C., age 40, and Winnie, age 28, and their 4 children, Vember, age 10, Vera, age 5, Velma, age 3, and James L., age 11 months, are counted in the household of Sam Petty, Winnie's father. This was probably near a small community that no longer exists, called Content, or Tokeen. Sam was a widower. His wife, Texana Clements Petty, had died 28 May 1918. Both Sam and James were farmers. The 5th child of Cam and Winnie Taylor, Clements Barton Taylor, was born 31 October 1923. This was 5 years after the death of Texana Clements Petty, Winnie's mother, and Clements undoubtedly was named for his mother’s family. Cam had an uncle Barton Park who died in early manhood before Cam was born, but it is unlikely that the name of Barton came from the Park family unless Josie Park influenced the selection of names. Clements died 7 January 1981, and is buried in the family plot in Evergreen Cemetery in Ballinger. The 6th child of Cam and Winnie Taylor, Mertha Jane Taylor, was born 24 March 1926, in Runnels County, and died 10 March 2003 in Wayne, New Jersey. The 7th child of Cam and Winnie Taylor, Rollie Taylor, was born 5 February 1933 on Cam Taylor's 55th birthday. At this time, Cam and Winnie Taylor were living on a small 100 acre farm in Runnels County located about 6 miles west of Ballinger between the Colorado River and Valley Creek. Kate Petty Slaughter, a niece of Winnie Petty Taylor, was present to assist with the household when Rollie was born. She related afterward that the house was so cold that night that ice had formed on the water bucket in the kitchen when she arose the next morning. Cam's oldest son Vember joined the army before World War II. He married Barbara Steinmetz 1 December 1938 in San Antonio. Anna Barbara Steinmetz was an Army nurse who gave up her career to marry Vember. Cam's 1st grandchild, James Benno Taylor, was born 26 December 1939. His 2 oldest daughters, Vera and Velma Taylor, graduated from Texas Technological College (now University) with Bachelor of Arts degrees in August 1940. Cam, Winnie, and Rollie traveled from Ballinger to Lubbock, Texas, for the graduation. In World War II, Cam saw his oldest son Vember, a career soldier, sent to the Southwest Pacific in 1942. Vember was in the Southwest Pacific in WWII, serving in an aerial reconnaissance squadron. In 1943, Cam saw his second son, Clements, join the Army Air Corps, for pilot training. After graduation, Clements also served in the Southwest Pacific theater where he flew transport planes. Winnie Petty Taylor, Cam's wife, succumbed to cancer 12 May 1943, after a lengthy illness. She is buried in the family plot in Evergreen Cemetery in Runnels County beside her husband and her son James Leroy Taylor. Cam saw his daughter Velma marry Walter Presson on 6 June 1943 in Ballinger, Texas. His daughter Jane married Andrew McCulloch Jr. on 24 January 1945 in San Marcos, Texas. Cam saw his son Clements marry Ouida Merle Sharpes 7 April 1946, and his daughter Vera marry Robert Leighton St. Clair on 23 June 1946. Cam's health was failing in 1946, and when Clements returned from W. W. II, he sold the farm to Clements and retired. He returned to his childhood home in Randolph County, Alabama, for a visit with relatives about 1947. In 1992, I visited with Ed Park, Cam's 1st cousin, who was born in June 1894. Ed remembered Cam's visit, and recalled the names of Bessie and S. T., Cam's sister and brother, rather amazing for a 98 year old who could not remember the address of his own son. Apparently Cam also visited with Eva Pittman White, another of his 1st cousins, for in 1954 she sent a booklet, History of the Park Family, to Vera and Velma. Cam died of heart failure 23 August 1948. He is buried in the family plot in Evergreen Cemetery beside Winnie and Leroy. Later, his son Clements, daughter Velma, and great-grandson Garrett Clements Taylor were buried in the same lot. My memories of Cam and Winnie are limited to the period when they lived on the 100 acre farm in Runnels County west of Ballinger between the Colorado River and Valley Creek. Cam Taylor purchased the farm from Judge Trimmier of Ballinger, Texas, for $40 per acre, with a 40 year note. Part of the payments made to Judge Trimmier were in the form of butter, milk, and eggs, for I remember deliveries made to the Trimmier household. The farm was bordered on the west by a limestone plateau, on the south by the Colorado River, and was separated from Valley Creek on the north by a long narrow hill, an eastward extension of the plateau. The farmhouse was located at the foot of the hill at approximately the midpoint. The watershed of the farm was divided between the Colorado River and Valley Creek. About 1970, a dam was constructed on Valley Creek directly across the hill from the site of the farmhouse. The lake on Valley Creek is now the principal source of water for Ballinger. A spillway for this lake was cut at the point where the mesa narrows to the hill extending eastward from the mesa, and through the extreme western portion of the farm, diverting water directly to the Colorado River when the lake overflows. Access to the farm was from the north, through an adjacent farm, where a causeway, or dam, had been built across Valley Creek. These neighbor's were successively, the Woods, the Fred Livermans, then the Walter Curtis family. After heavy rains, Valley Creek would rise, and the causeway would become dangerous and impassable. A trip to Ballinger required a long detour of several miles through pastures, ranches, and backroads to reach the Bronte highway where there was an all weather highway and a bridge over Valley Creek. Early in World War II, an Army Air Corps training base, Harmon Field, was built near Ballinger. An auxiliary landing strip for Harmon Field was built on a ranch near our farm. A bridge was moved from another part of Runnels County and set in place over Valley Creek on a neighbors farm, owned by the Moonen family. This provided an alternate route to Ballinger when the causeway was impassable. This bridge was moved once again, shortly after 1990, and immediately before the city of Ballinger built a dam on Valley creek. This created a lake which submerged parts of the two adjacent farms previously owned by Charles Moonen and Walter Curtis. Cam farmed during the period that the nation was changing from a rural to an urban society, and farming was becoming mechanized. He farmed about 60 acres, and the remainder of the 100 acres was in pasture, too rough and infertile to cultivate, or along the Colorado River and subject to flooding when the river overflowed. Cam had 2 mules to work the land, 6 or 8 milk cows, and a flock of hens to provide milk, butter, and eggs for the family. Sale of eggs, butter, and milk also provided a limited source of cash. There was a separator in the milkhouse, hand cranked, which used centrifugal force to separate the cream from the milk. Winnie had a churn and made butter from the cream. The paper for wrapping the butter was waxed, and hung behind the door that opened from the living room into the kitchen. A portion of the cultivated land was irrigated from the Colorado River. There was a centrifugal pump located about 25 - 28 feet above the normal level of the river, and an old 1928 Chevrolet engine to drive the pump. The pump lifted the water from the river, and emptied it into an elevated flume. The flume carried the water to fields that had been leveled, or were already level. About a barrel of water had to be poured into the pipe to prime the pump each time Cam irrigated, since a centrifugal pump does not work unless the water level is above the pump. Cam plowed the fields with the 2 mules that pulled a planter, and later in the year, a cultivator. The fields were disked in the fall to prepare the soil for planting the next spring. The farm lacked electricity and running water. Water for the animals was a problem. Cam sometimes drove the mules to the creek at the end of the day so they could drink, or harnessed them to a wagon and hauled water from the creek in barrels for the mules and chickens. The cows drank from the Colorado River. About 1940 he purchased a one-row Allis-Chalmers tractor and sold the mules. Cam raised several different crops. At various times he raised cotton, wheat, oats, grain sorghum, and corn. For many years he had a garden of about 8 acres where he raised vegetables for the local market. Tomatoes, yellow crookneck squash, okra, onions, cantaloupe, and watermelons were planted almost every year. He also raised beets, rutabagas, turnips, green beans, blackeyed peas, and lima beans. The garden was the only crop that was irrigated. In the springtime, tomato plants were transplanted from the seedbeds to the field on cloudy, overcast days. A sharpened wooden stick was used to make a hole in the soil, then a tomato plant was dropped into the hole. The hole was filled with soil, then about a cup of water was poured into the hole. This helped the tomato plants survive until the roots recovered from the shock of transplanting. Living conditions at the farm were spartan if not primitive. There was no electricity, natural gas, or running water in the house. We had an outhouse since we had no bathroom. There was no insulation in the walls or ceilings of the house. The shingled roof was guttered, and rainwater was filtered through charcoal and stored in an underground cistern to provide water for the household. Water was obtained by lowering the well bucket into the cistern with a chain and pulley, and lifting the bucket of water out of the cistern, which was then poured into a water bucket that was kept in the kitchen with a dipper in it. Baths were a Saturday night affair in the wintertime. Water was heated in a teakettle on the kitchen stove, and a number 2 galvanized tub served as the bathtub. In the summertime, there were walks to the river with my mother and Janey, or to the creek to swim or bathe in the late afternoon or evening. Cam and Winnie lived in a 4 room split level house before split level houses became fashionable. Two “shotgun” houses of two rooms each had been joined. The living room was about 5 inches higher than the kitchen, so there was a step down from the living room into the kitchen. The house had 4 rooms, 1 closet, and a covered front porch that extended the full length of the house. There was a bed on the north end of the porch, partially enclosed in the wintertime by canvas. I have distinct memories from a very young age of leaving the warmth of the fireplace and hearth and going to bed on the front porch in the wintertime. The living room had a fireplace on the north wall with a mantle above it. A picture hung above the fireplace, a dismal and gloomy swamp scene. At Christmas, stockings were hung by the fireplace. Apples, oranges, nuts, and hard candies were found in the stockings on Christmas morning. A built-in bookcase was on the east wall to the right of the fireplace. A clock sat atop the bookcase. The clock required daily winding with a key. Three windows facing east provided ample light during the day for the living room. In summertime, the windows could be opened easily, but remained open only if a stick was used to prop the sash open. A desk sat near the front door. Cam had a radio on the desk. All radios at that time were vacuum tube radios. The radio was powered by a 6 volt car battery. Vacuum tube radios used a significant amount of electricity, and the battery frequently required recharging. Cam bought a windcharger, a wind-powered generator, and installed it on the peak of the roof to keep the battery charged. At the southeast corner of the living room, the front door opened onto the front porch. The covered front porch ran the length of the house. There was a bed in the southwest corner of the living room. There was a caned rocking chair that belonged to my maternal grandfather, Sam Petty, in front of the fireplace. Sam, Winnie's father, lived with Cam and Winnie for many years until his death 15 December 1945. The kitchen was furnished with a kerosene cookstove on the east wall, built-in cabinets with a counter top extended across the north wall , a dining table with five legs in front of the 3 windows on the west wall, an icebox (not a refrigerator), a pie safe and an open pantry on the south wall. One of the ladderback kitchen chairs had a leather seat. The cowhide had not been tanned, and the seat was covered with hair except where it had worn off. The other furniture was nondescript and memorable for its utility. A large trumpet vine grew on the west side of the house, partially covering the windows, providing some relief in the summertime from the heat. The built-in cabinets went from floor to ceiling. The kerosene cookstove had four burners; two burners heated the oven, and the other 2 burners were for surface cooking. There were 2 ice houses in Ballinger, where blocks of ice were sold. One compartment of the icebox was for the block of ice. Milk soured in a very few days in the summertime, for the icebox was not effective in maintaining low temperatures. There was no central heat. This was certainly no problem in the summertime. In the wintertime, heat was provided by the fireplace in the living room, and the cookstove in the kitchen. Any light after sundown was provided by the fire in the fireplace and by kerosene lamps. Kerosene lamps did not provide a bright light, and it was necessary for the reader to sit within a few feet of the lamp. Each of the 2 small bedrooms had room for a double bed and a chest. About 1942 a third, larger bedroom for Sam Petty was added to the north end of the house, which was built by Johnny Slaughter. During her final illness in 1943, Winnie was bedfast in this room. The best piece of furniture in the house was an oak dresser which belonged to Sam Petty. The Presson family of Oklahoma has restored the dresser, and it is still in use. Cam had a collection of Indian artifacts, many of them acquired as he was plowing, or walking the fields after rains. Some of the arrowheads are a work of art. Some were very small while others were quite large. The native wildlife originally included buffalo, deer, wild turkey, doves, quail, opossums, armadillos, skunks, cottontail and jack rabbits before the area was settled by the white man. Perhaps the smaller arrowheads were fitted on smaller shafts for birds or smaller game. The farm was located between 2 dependable sources of water, the Colorado River and Valley Creek. Along the Colorado River was an area above the flood plain where the ground was covered with remnants of mussel shells, evidence that the Indians had collected and consumed shellfish from the river. Many mussels still could be found in the Colorado in the 1940's before dams were built upstream. The Upper Colorado River Authority has now built dams which interfere with the normal life cycle of the river as well as prevent flooding. The best time to look for arrowheads was immediately after rains, when there was no dust to obscure the shiny surface of the flint. Cam's collection of arrowheads is now in the possession of Charles Taylor of Abilene, his grandson. The 1930’s were not a prosperous time for the country, and especially for the Taylor family. We never went hungry, but money was scarce. The best description of wage earners of the time is that they weren’t making a living, but were living on what they were making.

Sources

1. "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4V8-T4H : 11 November 2020), James C. Taylor in household of Allen D. Taylor, Randolph, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district ED 113, sheet 351B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,030.[1]
2. "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M23B-VQM : accessed 9 December 2020), James A Taylor, Justice Precinct 4, Runnels, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 218, sheet 4A, family 54, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1586; FHL microfilm 1,375,599. [2]
3. "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC9N-DJR : accessed 5 December 2020), James C Taylor in household of Byron Petty, Justice Precinct 2, Runnels, Texas, United States; citing ED 217, sheet 2A, line 45, family 29, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1841; FHL microfilm 1,821,841. {[3]}
4. "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HJXQ-SN2 : accessed 9 December 2020), James C Taylor, Precinct 4, Runnels, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 7, sheet 10B, line 64, family 214, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2387; FHL microfilm 2,342,121. [4]
5. "Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1935," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6GG-8L7 : 4 April 2020), James Campbell Taylor in entry for Rollie Taylor, 05 Feb 1933; citing , Runnels, Texas, United States, certificate 15746, Texas Department of Health, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,283,013.}
6. "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K43W-S8D : 24 December 2019), James C Taylor, Norton, Justice Precinct 4, Runnels, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 200-8, sheet 8B, line 70, family 162, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4129.
7. Texas Department of State Health Services; Austin Texas, USA {https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2272/images/40394_b062330-03315?pId=22390913}

• "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K39R-S5C : 13 March 2018), James Campbell Taylor, 23 Aug 1948; citing certificate number 36434, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,218,964.

1. "Texas Death Index, 1903-2000," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZ64-XM6 : 5 January 2015), James Campbell Taylor, 23 Aug 1948; from "Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2006); citing certificate number 36434, Runnels, Texas, Texas Department of Health, State Vital Statistics Unit, Austin.

See also

1. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 06 November 2020), memorial page for James Campbell “Cam” Taylor (5 Feb 1878–23 Aug 1948), Find a Grave Memorial no. 49931254, citing Evergreen Cemetery, Ballinger, Runnels County, Texas, USA ; Maintained by Sally (contributor 46992880) . {https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49931254/james-campbell-taylor}