DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Horace Dickinson Taylor — and friend, this one's worth pulling over for. Picture two young men standing at the edge of everything familiar, Massachusetts behind them and the whole wide continent ahead. Horace Dickinson Taylor was seventeen years old when he and his brother Edward left their native Massachusetts — not for adventure, exactly, but because their parents had died, sudden, and there was nothing left to stay for.
That's the kind of beginning that either breaks you or builds something remarkable. In Horace's case, well — keep listening. The Taylor brothers settled in Independence, Texas, in 1838.
Ten years they spent putting down roots, learning the land, learning the trade. Then in 1848, they made their next move — to Houston — and there they established a cotton business together. Two years after that, in 1850, Horace became the sole owner of that business.
And what does a man do when the whole enterprise is suddenly his? He thinks strategically. He bought a warehouse near a steamboat landing on Buffalo Bayou, and now — here's where the geography starts working in his favor — from that location he could roll cotton straight down to the boats waiting below.
Just roll it right on down. Before long he had built a thriving cotton brokerage enterprise, and the bayou was his highway. In 1852, Horace married Emily Baker.
Together they reared three sons and two daughters on a three-and-a-half acre wooded homesite right there in Houston. The man was building a life with the same deliberate intention he brought to his business. And Houston noticed.
Horace Taylor became one of the city's influential citizens — serving as alderman in 1861 and 1862, then rising to mayor in 1866. He was also an elder of the First Presbyterian Church, which tells you something about where he stood in the community beyond the counting house. Now here's the moment in the story that deserves a long pause.
Buffalo Bayou had been neglected during the Civil War — let go, silted over, the commerce it once carried gone quiet. During Taylor's term as mayor, the bayou was dredged. That single act effectively re-established commerce to the Gulf.
The bayou became the lifeline of Houston businesses, allowing the city to successfully compete with Galveston for trade. Think about what that means — Houston and Galveston, rivals for the soul of Texas commerce, and the dredging of that bayou tipped the scales. Taylor wasn't finished.
In 1874 he was one of the founders of the Board of Trade and Cotton Exchange, and he continued in the cotton business until his death in 1890. From a seventeen-year-old who'd just lost everything, to a man who helped shape the commercial destiny of Houston — Horace Dickinson Taylor rolled more than cotton down to those waiting boats. He rolled a city toward its future.
What the marker says
(1821-1890) At the age of 17 Horace Dickinson Taylor left his native Massachusetts with his brother, Edward, after the sudden death of their parents. They settled in Independence, Texas, in 1838, and in 1848 the Taylor brothers moved to Houston where they established a cotton business. Horace became sole owner of the business in 1850 and soon thereafter bought a warehouse near a steamboat landing on Buffalo Bayou. From this strategic location he could roll cotton down to boats waiting below and within a short time developed a thriving cotton brokerage enterprise. Horace married Emily Baker in 1852. They reared three sons and two daughters here on their 3.5 acre wooded homesite. Taylor became one of the city's influential citizens, serving as alderman in 1861-1862, mayor in 1866, and as an elder of the First Presbyterian Church. Buffalo Bayou, neglected during the Civil War, was dredged during Taylor's term as mayor, effectively re-establishing commerce to the Gulf. The bayou soon became the lifeline of Houston businesses, allowing the city to successfully compete with Galveston for trade. Taylor, who was one of the founders of the Board of Trade and Cotton Exchange in 1874, continued in the cotton business until his death.