War Hero's Reward and Deadly Choices

At the 2012 Taylor Family Reunion held in Double Springs, Alabama, the following story was shared.  It is a tragic story--one that details the too-soon ending of a young Taylor man's life.

Charles Washington Taylor, the son of David Vernon and Gertrude (Roberts) Taylor, was born in Polk County, Georgia in July, 1922  Charles's grandfather, George Washington Taylor, was the son of Francis Marion Taylor (Sr.)  His grandfather's family lived in Cherokee County, Alabama--right across the state line from Polk County, Georgia.  When Charles was 14 years old, his family moved to Rome, Georgia where he lived most of his life.

In 1942, Charles answered the call of service to his country and enlisted in the United States Army.  He was Private First Class with the 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division.  After his induction into the army, he trained at Fort Hancock, N.J., Camp Upton, N.Y., and Camp Pickett, Va. Charles' unit served in the European Theater during World War II.  He was stationed in England until the invasion of France.  His unit participated in the invasion at Normandy and landed on Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944.  The soldiers continued the hard-fought battle, pushing inland over the next several weeks until they reached St-Lo, France where Charles received his battle wounds.
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PFC Charles Washington
Taylor

On August 9, his mother received a telegram informing her of her son's serious injury during the war.  The telegram stated he was evacuated to a hospital. Charles was seriously wounded at St. Lo, France.  His leg, shredded by shrapnel, had to be amputated above the right knee. For his wounds, Charles was awarded a Purple Heart.  A monument was erected in the town of St-Lo in honor of the American sacrifices that were made to liberate France from German Nazi occupation.

Charles was discharged from the Army on March 27, 1946.  When he returned to Georgia, he was the first amputee awarded a free 1947 Oldsmobile automobile by the Veterans Administration in Floyd County.  This wonderful tribute to a soldier who had given so much during the war would lead to his tragic death when a deadly choice was made.

On November 24, 1948 Charles and three friends were riding in his new car on U. S. Highway 27 about four miles north of Cedartown, Georgia.  Charles was not driving--a friend was.  His friends told State Troopers that a few seconds before the accident, Charles commented..."You are going 90 miles an hour, hope you know what you're doing--do you think you can hold it?" About the time the last word left his mouth, the car hit the shoulder and skidded 78 yards, finally hitting a guard rail.  Charles was thrown from the car and hurled 27 yards.  He was killed instantly.  His three friends were unhurt.

The driver faced three charges by troopers--reckless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding.  Indeed, this was a deadly mixture that ended in the tragic death of a friend.  Three choices resulted in the death of a man that survived the dreadful battles in World War II.

Charles was buried at East View Cemetery in Rome, Georgia.  He was survived by his mother, Gertrude, and brother Joe.  Sadly, two years prior to his death, Charles' father, David Vernon Taylor, was killed while walking on a road when he was struck by a pickup truck. His death was ruled unavoidable by authorities.  Ironically, David was also a World War I and World War II veteran.

What was true in 1948 is still  true today.  Driving while drinking is deadly.  May we all remember the lesson.   Friends don't let friends drive while drinking.  Never.

Sacred Harp Singing--Fasola and our Taylors

Haunting, fierce and lovely harmonies, beautiful, sacred, uplifting, soul soothing, all-day singing .... these are words that have been used to describe Sacred Harp singing.  Our Taylor ancestors living in Alabama surely knew about Sacred Harp, and many sang it.  The tradition lives on today as well!

The lyrics to one of the favorite songs of many Sacred Harp singings is written below. The words speak for themselves.

Wondrous Love

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down
Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb,
Who is the great I AM,
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free
I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.

The singings brought rural country folks together, who often lived miles apart.  Both adults and young people attended Singing Schools where they learned the rudiments of music and practiced the songs.  

The human voice, the instrument we were given at birth, is the only instrument used in Sacred Harp singing, also known as Fasola singing.  A tradition that dates back to colonial times in America, Sacred Harp singings are still alive and prosper today around the country. 

Singers sit facing each other, forming a hollow square, with each singing part--treble, alto, tenor and bass--sitting in the four sections.  Singers take turns leading the group.  Standing in the middle of the square, the leader calls the song by page number as the Sacred Harp book is held in one hand, and the beat is kept with the other hand.  The singers begin by singing the appropriate notes using Fa So La Me.  Then they immediately begin singing the song using the words.

Also known as shape note singing, the music is written in the books using shapes to help the singer easily identify the tone:  Triangle is the shape for "Fa," oval is the shape for "Sol," rectangle is the shape for "La," and diamond is the shape for "Me."

From "Original Sacred Harp" (Denson Revision) Standard Melodies, Page 1, Rudiments of Music,
Published by Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Haleyville, Alabama

Singing Conventions were annual gatherings of singers.  In Winston County,  conventions date back to the The Clear Creek Mountain Home Singing Association of Winston County, formed in 1874. Then in 1896, the Bear Creek Sacred Harp Memorial Singings of Winston County was organized.  Neighboring Alabama counties also held conventions. 

The following accounts of family links to Sacred Harp singing have been shared by Taylor descendants:

I remember my grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth (James) Taylor, saying that my grandfather, William Verpo Taylor, loved fasola singing.  He became a Christian and began attending church regularly later in his life.  I'm not sure how long he did this or exactly where, but they lived near the Hopewell community between Ashville and Gadsten Alabama for many years and I always assumed it was there.

William Alexander (Bill) Taylor

Kyle, Texas

In the Minutes of the Sacred Harp Centennial Celebration held in Double Springs, Alabama September 18-24, 1944, several Taylors are listed as singers: Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Taylor, Columbus Taylor, Helen Taylor, Sulu Taylor, Theodore Taylor, Mrs. O. H. (Oscar Harrison) Taylor, Mr. and Mrs. Lonnie Taylor, Harrison Taylor, W. M. Taylor and Eugene Taylor.  At this same centennial celebration, the monument that sits on the grounds of the Winston County courthouse to honor Seaborn M. Denson and Thomas J. Denson was dedicated. The talented Denson brothers were well known for their work in writing Sacred Harp music, singing and teaching others to sing.

Memorial to Seaborn M. Denson and Thomas J. Denson,
Erected Summer 1944 during  the Centennial Celebration of Sacred Harp music
Winston County Courthouse, Double Springs, Alabama

Ada Taylor Godsey, daughter of George Washington and Lucinda (Swims) Taylor, was highlighted in an issue of Country Home magazine, June 1995, Page 58: 

Ada Godsey, 87, also of Double Springs, remembers going to all-day singings in a horse and buggy around 1919.  More often, she walked the mile from her home to the Pleasant Ridge (Hill)  Primitive Baptist Church.

"My family couldn't all fit in the buggy," she explains.  Her father once organized a singing school at the church and brought in Tom Denson, one of the best teachers the tradition has ever produced."

"Papa hitched Molly to the buggy and drove twenty miles to Haleyville to meet him at the train," Ada says.  When the 10-day singing school ended, Denson taught another one 5 miles away in the community of Posey's Mill. "For ten days we walked there (Posey's Mill) through the woods, sang all day, and then walked home again,"  Ada recalls.

Shared by Kay Wojack,

Descendant of Columbus Taylor

Daddy used to talk about fasola singing when we were growing up.  He liked it.  I don't know if he sang it or not, but he talked about it.  (Daddy is Hosey Stevens, oldest son of Pachie Taylor Stevens.  This family moved from Winston to Lawrence County, Tennessee in 1920).

Ann Stevens Rohling

Lawrenceburg, Tennessee

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At the close of the Centennial Celebration of Sacred Harp music held in 1944, the minutes of the event denoted a special song that is still often chosen to end each gathering of singers:

"The great body of singers and listeners joined in singing page 62, "Parting Hand" and mid smiles and tears, they bade each other a loving farewell; some to meet again soon, to sing again these songs of Zion; some to meet in that Land where there'll be no sad parting; where we'll sing, forever, a song of Moses and the Lamb, with our loved ones who are watching and waiting for us." Page 24 

L.O. Odem President

Ruth Denson Edwards, Secretary 

Page 62, "Parting Hand"
From "Original Sacred Harp" (Denson Revision) Standard Melodies,
Published by Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Haleyville, Alabama

George Washington Taylor, son of Charles Alexander

George Washington Taylor, first child of Charles Alexander and Louisa Jane (Curtis) Taylor, was born March 24, 1858 in Winston County.  His name is first found on the 1860 Federal Census as a two year old, living with his parents and newborn sister, Amelia, in Township 10, Range 9 of Winston. 

At the age of 19, George married Lucinda Caroline Swims in 1877.  Lucinda was the daughter of Aaron H. and Elizabeth Caroline (Long) Swims.  Both fathers of George and Lucinda were soldiers in the 1st Regiment, Alabama Calvary, Union Army during the Civil War.

George's wife was orphaned as a child when she was about 8 years old.   Her father had died of typhoid fever in a civil war hospital.  Her mother died the following year.  Guardianship of Lucinda and her siblings was granted to her uncle, William Riley Long. 

George and Lucinda had the following children:

• Charles Aaron Taylor, named after their fathers, married Scottie May Lyle
• Frank Marion Taylor
• Andrew J. Taylor
• Columbus Washington Taylor, married Arsula "Suler" Posey
• David Lincoln Taylor, married Lula Belle Posey (sister of Columbus' wife, Suler Posey)
• Rhoda Bell Taylor, married (1) William Houston Guttery and (2) Pinkney Jackson Woodall
• Ada Louise Taylor, married Richard Sherman Godsey
• Ida Taylor, twin to Ada, died at birth
• Ella "Eller" Ruth Taylor, married John W. Kidd

George was sometimes listed as George Washington Taylor, Sr. in records.  Unlike today's naming pattern practices, George did not have a son named "Junior."  However, George's uncle, James Knox Polk Taylor also named his son George Washington Taylor, who was referred to as "Junior."

George and Lucinda lived all of their lives in the Ashridge community.  He died on March 25, 1926 at the age of 68.  His occupation was listed as retired farmer on the death certificate.  Lucinda died on December 21, 1940 at the age of 83. They are both buried at Rock Creek Baptist Church, Winston County.

George Washington and Lucinda Caroline (Swims) Taylor,
Photo in collection of descendant Kay Wojack

Memories of Visiting My Grandparents: Columbus and Arsula "Suler" Taylor

Columbus Washington Taylor

Columbus Washington Taylor was the son of Lucinda Swims and George Washington Taylor, (1858-1926). George Washington Taylor was a son of Louisa Jane Curtis and Charles Alexander Taylor, (1834-1916).  Charles Alexander was a son of Eliza Cagle and John Taylor, (1808-1880).

In the year 1905 or 1906 Columbus Washington and his father George Washington were our riding when Columbus spied the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen.  Having no idea who she was or what community she was from, he could only dream about her until his father advised him to visit a different church every Sunday until he located her. 

We aren’t sure how many Sundays it took, but eventually Columbus did locate this beautiful dark haired, dark-eyed beauty at Posey’s Mill.  It seems that Arsula (Suler) Posey, daughter of Appleton Posey and Celia Jane Jones, thought the young blue-eyed man was the one for her.

They were married in January 1907 and set up housekeeping in one large room with a lean-to which served as a pantry for staples, dried fruits and jars of canned vegetables.  At some point a long open porch and two rooms connected by a open hall were joined to the original house.  Another porch was added to the front side of the two new rooms.  Two double beds were placed in each of the two new rooms.  My mother often told of how three or four of the girls would sleep in the same bed in the winter in order to stay warm.  There was no “living” or “family” room as we know it today, no sofa or lounge chairs.

This wonderful God fearing, church going couple produced five daughters, two sons and ten grandchildren.  My mother, Annie Bea, the middle child, told of gathering around the fireplace in the evening and listening to her dad read the Bible.  She also told many stories of hosting the pastor or guest preacher for Sunday dinner.

What talent!  All the girls played either the pump organ or piano, the sons played guitars, Suler played a zither.  Columbus played the pump organ and led singing at church for many years.  You can be sure their talents were also utilized at all day singings.  For you young folks, a zither is similar to an autoharp.  

Being a hard working farm family they produced the food need for their family.  Columbus was also a master can syrup maker, processing sugar cane brought by residents from all around Winston county.  Suler was known for her dough-ball butter in which a small ball of dough was used to start the ball of butter, thus ensuring that the ball of butter would be round.

Watching my grandmother make biscuits in the dough bowl kept in the flour bin never ceased to fascinate me.  Ma Maw  made an indentation into the flour, added leavening, seasoning and liquid, then proceeded to mix and knead until she was satisfied that the dough was perfect. She never measured any ingredient and when I asked how she knew how much to add, she would say that she just knew. 

Times were hard, eggs were exchanged for needed supplies, clothes were made from feed and flour sacks.  In the fall after the crops were in, one pair of shoes was purchased for each child.  The toes were cut out of the shoes in the spring so they could be worn until the weather permitted going bare footed.

Remember those straight, ladder back, cane bottom chairs?  In the summer most of  the adults would sit in a long row on the porch with the chairs leaning against the house, cooling themselves with feed store or funeral home hand fans.  (Some of those fans had beautiful scenes and look great in a picture frame). Pa Paw and some of the men squatted on the edge of the porch.  Everyone was afraid that Pa Paw would fall, but no matter how many times a chair was offered to him, he always refused it.  This was a time for adult conversations, with all the cousins sent to play.  But we discovered that we could eavesdrop by crawling under the house and hiding in the “root cellar”, which was noting but a large mound of dirt with a big hole in the middle.  Needless to say, the adults soon discovered our shenanigans and we were sent away from the house.

Ma Maw’s favorite sitting area was by a window in one of the bedrooms from which she could read her Bible and  see vehicles coming down the road.  Her chair was the only upholstered chair in the house and eventually the back conformed to the shape of her Dowagers  hump.  A little spit can hidden behind the curtain was the only indication that she dipped snuff. Ma Maw waited until everyone else ate breakfast, then she dipped a hamburger bun into a mixture of  leftover meat drippings and black coffee. I thought this must taste terrible, but she really seemed to enjoy it. Oh, what fun all of us grandchildren had running around, chasing each other through the bedrooms and off the porches, going to the creek, drawing water from the well, eating watermelon at the edge of the porch, spitting watermelon seeds as far as possible, making watermelon rind teeth, and making homemade ice cream in the old hand turned freezer.  In the summer someone had to swat flies in the kitchen in order to keep them away from the food.  After everyone ate, the food was placed on one corner of the table covered with a tablecloth, just waiting for one of the grandchildren to sneak back and grab a piece of cornbread or other leftover.

"MaMaw" holding Scott,
Bea (left) and Kay

I was in awe of the beautiful quilts, and more that once, an aunt would come by and tell me to close the doors of the quilt press.  Each daughter received 13 quilts when she married.  Even today I admire my portion of those quilts. 

The beautiful crocheted doilies also fascinated me.  The oldest daughter, Hattie Viola, could simply look at a picture and replicate it.   All the daughters could look at a dress and cut a pattern. My mother even made clothes for a chicken whose feathers had been pecked off by other chickens.  All that training came in handy in making my clothes when I was in grade school.  It was so exciting to pick the dresses I liked from a mail order catalogue, then watch as my mother measured, cut and sewed my school dresses.

Of course, there are not so fond memories such as the hen pecking at my face because I just had to see the eggs in her nest.  And yes, there really was a mail-order catalogue used for toilet paper  in the three hole outhouse located in the barn.   

Front: Columbus Washington Taylor, Arsula, "Suler" Posey Taylor;
2nd row: living Taylor, 3rd row: Lonnie Taylor, Rose Altha Watts Taylor,
Claudie Taylor Brown, Robert Brown; 4th row: Dayton Taylor, Hattie Viola, "Ola" Scott

5th row: Annie Bea Taylor Davis, Pernie Taylor Ellenburg

There aren’t many of us left, the old house has changed, the barn is gone, the chicken coop is falling apart, but I am so glad to have the fond memories of visiting Ma Maw and Pa Paw Taylor in Double Springs, Alabama.

                                                                                        Written By Kay Wojack