Lilly May Taylor Family Bible

Lilly May Taylor was born 13 October 1889, the fourth child of Wilson Taylor.  My mother and her sister both recalled Lilly having an old Bible displayed in her living room in a house about two miles outside Cookville, Texas.  From the content, this Bible appears to have some entries copied from an earlier Bible, perhaps that of William F. Taylor.

Following is a transcript of a handwritten document from Lilly dated 16 April 1972 in response to a request for the information in the Bible.   There are a few discrepancies in dates, which are noted.  The notes in blue italics are mine and reflect either corrections or additional information from the family records of Lilly’s sister-in-law Passie Witt Taylor.


William F. Taylor was born February 9, 1841 and died April 28, 1914.   Came to Texas about 1885 from Ft. Payne, Alabama.  [He swore in his Civil War pension application that he came to Texas in February 1885.]

Margaret Morgan Taylor was born November 30, 1839 and died August 3, 1908.

This is their boys:

John Taylor was the oldest and lived the longest of all.  He was born April 16, 1861.  [The Bible actually appears to read April 22, and that is the correct date according to his father’s 1898 list of his children.]  Died May 7, 1950.

Wilson Taylor was born October 13, 1863.  Died November 24, 1938.  [Married Julia Ann Ellen Stewart on 5 November 1882 in Ft. Payne, Alabama according to Passie Witt’s Bible.]

Jim Taylor was born June 14, 1866.  Died November 24, 1944.  [Married Emmaline Brown.]

Andy Taylor was born 1868.  Died don’t know the date. [June 5 according to other records. Married Angie Brown.]

Henry Taylor was born 1870.  Died 1925.  [Born July 8, 1870 according to the 1898 declaration by his father.  Name was “Henry B. Taylor”. Married Judith Butler.]

Sam Taylor was born 1872.  Died January 9, 1909.  [Born September 26, 1876 according to the 1898 declaration by his father.  Name was “Samuel H. Taylor” according to that document.]

Walter Taylor was born 1874.  Died June 26, 1942.  [Born February 19, 1874 according to the 1898 declaration by his father.  Married May Ida Garrett.  Died on 21 July 1942.]

The sisters were:

Fannie Taylor Brown was born December 17, 1871.  Died October 14, 1906.  [Married Lee Brown.]

Lucy Taylor Easley was born March 16, 1885.  She was married second to John Taylor who was no kin to us.  [Married Wade Easley, then John Taylor.]


 Phone Conversation with William Washington Taylor 24 September 1979

William Washington Taylor is a son of Henry Taylor, and grandson of William F. Taylor.  He was living in Commerce, Texas in 1979 when I contacted him by phone.  He said his grandfather’s name was “William Franklin Taylor” and his grandmother was Margaret.  He had no family records.  He said he was born in Cookville but moved to Commerce about 1912.