The Sam Taylors

As remembered by Val Rucker Routon,
daughter of Rev. E. B. Rucker, who was 10 years old at the time, 1927

The Sam Taylors were one of the main families at Taylor's Chapel. They lived in an antebellum house at the end of a long shady drive. In the left corner of the yard was a little guest house, that were common in earlier days, often used as doctor's offices.

There was a walkway to the wide steps that had flowers on each side. There were numerous southern flowers and shrubs such as lilacs, magnolia, roses and towering trees that had been there for many years. All over the hundreds of acres of land were tenant houses dotted around in the fields. There were no roads leading to the whitewashed cottages or lean-to's. The tenants were totally dependent upon the landlord. They came to his big house for any staple groceries they needed. When they got sick Mrs. Taylor went to them, and took good food or medicine. There were no schools for the blacks, so if they got any education it depended upon the Taylors providing this.

The Taylors had cooks, cook's helpers, a black man in a white coat to serve the meals, a maid to clean, a yard boy, and the farm hands.

The house had beautiful antiques. Their four grown children had their own rooms. The girls had finished college, gone to Europe, had their own cars and many beaus. The older son had finished college and their youngest was still in high school. Their oldest daughter had made a good marriage and lived in St. Louis. She was very good looking and vivacious.

Mr. Taylor was several years older than his wife and when we knew him he was too incapacitated to leave his home. He had a big armchair in the downstairs bedroom where he invited his guests. He was debonair, even in his old age, and a typical Southern rich old man. He had a strong mind and everyone remembered he was still the patriarch. He would not allow men threshing wheat to eat in his dining room without a coat. He sat at the head of the table, with his wife at his right and she had a little silver bell on a stand that she rang for the servants to attend to the needs of guests and the meals. The meals were always formal. No one sat down until Mrs. Taylor gave seating arrangements. Grace was always said, then the food brought in by the black man with coat, who served according to rules. They had wonderful food and dainties like orange ambrosia for certain meat. Mrs. Taylor was an accomplished musician and it was common after dinner to go to the parlor and be entertained with her music. She was much younger than he and the rumor was she did not have the blue blood that he had, but with her beauty and talent she had learned the finer ways fast, and had met his high social standards. She wore her hair piled high, and "nose glasses" (the kind that pinch on your nose) and cameos and diamonds. She had a lot of laughter and told good stories.

She was the church organist, and her son was the Sunday School Superintendent. She was also the church treasurer. Their daughter Lois had gone to Southwestern and was a teacher. Jenny was also a teacher.

One night my Dad and I spent the night in their home. I was assigned to sleep upstairs in one of the big bedrooms. It was cold, so they built a big fire in the big bedroom fireplace and Lois, Jenny and a friend from college were there, so it was decided I would sleep in the big bedroom that had two antique beds. I would sleep with Jenny, and Lois and her friend would sleep in the other bed. I loved being in the company with the three young women. They giggled and talked into the night and I was in awe of the fine house, their glittery nightwear and all the global things they talked about. I knew then that the outside world had things to look forward to. Even in midwinter they had big red apples, wrapped in tissue paper and stored from their orchard. China pots sat under the beds for nighttime usage. In the morning the black woman knocked on the bedroom door and removed the chamber pots, then reappeared with pitchers of warm water placed on the washstand where fancy hand towels were placed. Everyone dressed before going downstairs to the formal breakfast.

Miss Mary Sue and Frances Taylor

These two maiden sisters had inherited a fine antebellum home and plantation. Their parents were buried in the family plot with an iron fence under large oak trees not far from the house. The front porch had massive tall round pillars. There was a fancy hall stairway and an escape back stairs. There were side porches off special rooms. The high ceilings had fancy light fixtures and beautiful wood moldings. The windows had inside shutters in some of the rooms, and the rooms were filled with scholarly books. Miss Frances was a professor at Southwestern, had studied in France and spoke French fluently. She was very reserved and scholarly. Miss Mary Sue was not as scholarly, but plenty smart. She was the business woman who ran the plantation and the house. When we visited them they liked for us to spend the night. They liked to entertain. The house was big enough to sleep our big family. We had some good visits with them. My father enjoyed Miss Frances and my mother hit it off with Miss Mary Sue who liked a good joke too. We got to be exposed to fine books there and to absorb some of Miss Frances' intellect.

When we visited the Taylors on their plantation where they were the last of the Old South lifestyle of the 1800's we were exposed to story book lifestyles from history books. Undoubtedly this was the last generation of that family to maintain such aristocratic living, as time and customs made changes in the next generation. But if we had not had those three years knowing the Taylors we would never have had the opportunity to see and be a visiting part of such elegance. They were extremely religious people, very rich, aristocratic, and "to the manor born". They were in no way snobs. They had been rich long enough to not have a need to impress anyone, for they shared this culture and wealth, loved their pastor and his family and church, and were very loyal to all their tenants. They saw to their needs just as the blacks waited on them. It was a very co-dependent relationship that faded with the new generation.