DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker on Josiah Taylor tells it, and friend, it is worth every word. Born in Virginia, this man first set foot in Texas in 1812 — not as a settler, not as a wanderer, but as a captain. He rode in with the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition, which was nothing less than an attempt to free Mexico from Spain.
That's the world Josiah Taylor stepped into. He fought at La Bahia. He fought at Alazan.
He fought at Rosales. And then came the Battle of Medina. Now, I want you to sit with that number for a moment — seven.
Seven times wounded in a single battle. Seven times the man had reason to stop, and seven times he didn't. That is the kind of introduction a person makes to a land.
Texas didn't forget it, and apparently neither did Josiah Taylor, because he came back. Brought his family with him in 1824. By 1826 he shows up in the Atascosita Census, accounted for, present, rooted.
And by 1829 he'd settled right here, in Green De Witt's Colony, laying down the kind of foundations that tend to echo forward through time. Which brings us to the sons. Five of them.
When the Mexican invasion came in 1842, all five of Josiah Taylor's boys rode out to the Battle of Salado Creek, fighting under Captain Jack Hays in his company of Texas Rangers. Five sons. One battle.
One father who had bled seven times for this ground before any of them were born. The marker doesn't editorialize. It doesn't have to.
Some legacies just stand up and speak for themselves.
What the marker says
Born in Virginia. First came to Texas in 1812, as captain in the Gutierrez - Magee Expedition, an attempt to free Mexico from Spain; fought at La Bahia, Alazan, Rosales; wounded 7 times in the Battle of Medina. Returned to Texas with family, 1824; listed in Atascosita Census, 1826; settled here in Green De Witt Colony, 1829. Five sons fought in Battle of Salado Creek with Capt. Jack Hays' company of Texas Rangers, during Mexican invasion of 1842. Recorded - 1973