Alva Everett Taylor

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Alva Everett Taylor, out of Navarro County. Now, some folks leave their mark on the land by striking oil. Some do it by farming every last acre they can find.

Alva Everett Taylor, born July 19, 1891, near Dawson, tried a little of both. And in the end, he left his mark in a way neither one of those could have managed. He grew up about ten miles southwest of Dawson, and even as a young man, history had a hold on him.

He went off to Baylor University, attended from 1911 to 1913, came home, married Maud Stockard in 1914, and built a life. Three children. Farming.

And when that 1920s oil boom came rolling through, he tried his hand at drilling too. Now, the marker doesn't dress it up, and neither will I. The oil drilling was unsuccessful.

The ventures, plural, came and went. What stayed with him, what never quit, was that grassroots pull toward the past. He wasn't a university scholar with a department behind him.

He was a researcher-writer who did original work, dug into the record, and between 1951 and 1959 published several books and pamphlets to show for it. That kind of patient, self-directed labor is its own quiet drama. Then he started bringing other people into the story.

In 1956, Alva Taylor and Joe Daniel and others founded the Navarro County Historical Society. And if that weren't enough, two years later, in 1958, they founded this pioneer village. Alva Everett Taylor died December 8, 1965.

But the village he helped build was already standing, already telling the old stories. Turns out the man who couldn't strike oil found something that didn't run dry.

What the marker says

(July 19, 1891-Dec. 8, 1965) Grassroots researcher-writer and historical preservationist whose work led to development of this pioneer village. Born near Dawson (10 mi. SW), Taylor attended Baylor University (1911-13), married Maud Stockard (1914), and was father of 3 children. Farming, unsuccessful oil drilling in the 1920s boom, and other ventures formed his business career. From his youth, historical interest led him to do original research. He published several books and pamphlets, 1951-59. With Joe Daniel and others, he founded the Navarro County Historical Society in 1956, and this village in 1958.