Memorials › Elijah Zachery "E.Z." Taylor

Elijah Zachery "E.Z." Taylor

24 Dec 1834 – 21 May 1875

Birth	24 Dec 1834
Death	21 May 1875
Cemetery	Kirk Chapel Cemetery Tunas , Dallas County , Missouri , USA
Added by	Emma Sue on 07 Sep 2010
FaG	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45045622

Bio

Narrative of the Life of E.Z. Taylor was taken from his autobiography in which he says, "We beg to trouble those who may live after us with a brief sketch of our life, not that we feel competent to entertain you with flowery words or great acts, but for the purpose of enabling you to study your family history and thus become acquainted with those who lived before you; also for the purpose of giving you an insight into the everyday life of those who lived in this country more than a quarter of a century ago." Compiled and written by John A. Taylor, August 1, 1884. Elijah Zachary Taylor was born in Jackson County, Alabama, December 24, 1834. He was the first son of John Taylor by Elizabeth, his second wife, who was a daughter of James Hall. He had one brother and one sister - John Taylor, who is now supposed to be living somewhere in Texas, and Jane Robinson, who now lives near Myrtle, Oregon County, Missouri. His father was neither in high or low circumstances, but belonged to that great middle class who go to make up the bone and sinew of the United States of America. He was generous and liberal, and his honesty, integrity and punctuality were never questioned. He was a welcome and worthy endorser, and his feelings being easily worked upon by those who were poor and needy, he suffered great loss from having to pay for others, and by the time he had reached that period of life which might be termed "middle age" he was so reduced that he became insolvent. About this time he also had the misfortune to lose his second wife, when Elijah, the subject of this sketch was but five years old. After his mother's death, Elijah became a little wanderer, exposed to very ill and inconvenience that too commonly fall to the lot of those who are left without a mother to guide and direct them in a proper manner. Shortly after his mother's death he was placed under the charge of his grandfather, James Hall, a Baptist preacher. There he spent a few months or perhaps ayear, after which time he had various homes, or places of abode, At some of those places he was harshly and cruelly treated, though generally by relatives. When he was ten years old, his father took him and other members of his family, and started on a long and perilous journey for southeast Missouri, carrying their effects on pack horses, and killing game, as they traveled, for the greater part of their food. After reaching Missouri, they settled in the southern part of Oregon County, just north of the Arkansas line, and here the foundations of a new home were laid, and a new settlement added to the thinly inhabited country. The country abounded with game, and great herds of deer were to be seen daily, feeding on the prairies, scampering here and there over the bald hills and across the green, shallow hallows, while large flocks of wild turkeys skulked about the groves, or winged their way from hill to hill when disturbed by the too near approach of man. Bears were also plentiful, and smaller game such as raccoons, otters, mink, etc., were to be found in great abundance. The streams were literally alive with fish. In a country like this it is but natural that a boy become a hunter, either great or small, according to his industry, energy and close application to business. Elijah Taylor soon became a skillful and successful hunter, and was acknowledged by all who knew him to be the best and quickest rifle shot in that portion of the county. The educational facilities of a new country like this were very poor, and at the time of which we write there were many boys and girls fifteen years old who had never been inside a schoolhouse, or heard a sermon preached. The boys were taught to hunt and fish, and to farm on a very small scale, and in a manner that would now be almost be unintelligible to a boy of this enlightened day and age. The girls were taught to card cotton and wool into long white rolls; to spin it into thread; to reel it into hanks; to dye it into various colors, some of which were obtained by boiling the barks of certain trees, and then dipping the thread into the colored water; to spool it, which was done by running it onto spools made of corn cobs; to warp it or get it into one large roll of the same length that the wed of cloth was to be when completed. This latter process was accomplished by setting the spools into a frame, and taking the ends of the thread from each spool in one hand, it was skillfully wound about a number of pins which were usually driven into the back of the house, and were known as "warping pins" while the frame in which the spools were fastened was called "warping bars." The thread must then be taken from the pins and stretched into the loom; each thread taken separately and worked through a harness, and again through a sley, over the breast piece, and down around the little beam when the warp or chain was ready for the filling. Every young woman was supposed to know how to take the raw wool or cotton, and convert it into all kinds of clothing - bed clothing, towels, handerchiefs, etc. A few children were taught to read and write, but many grew up without knowing one letter from another. Although the country was destitute of schools, and people took little interest in educational affairs, Elijah Taylor learned to read and write, and to perform simple problems in subtraction, multiplication and division. During the first five years of his residence in Missouri, he spent a great deal of his time with his half-brother, James Taylor, who was married, and lived near their father. When he was fifteen years old, he went to Green County, Missouri, where he spent four years, and then returned to Oregon County, where he was married to Miss Matilda Irdell Justice, on the 13th day of July, 1854. In August of the same year, he became converted and joined the Baptist Church. In 1858, he removed from Missouri to Texas. Here he remained two years, and again removed to northwestern Arkansas, where he remained during the rebellion. He then removed to Dallas County, Missouri, and settled in the north part of the County, about three miles southwest of what is now known as Leadmine. Here he took a homestead, improved a farm, and lived for a number of years, during which time he was admitted to the Baptist ministry, and spent a great deal of his time in studying the Bible, and preaching the gospel. After seven years residence on his homestead, he purchased a place of William Hatfield, near the junction of the little Niangua and Tunas Branch, and here he lived about two years, or until his death, which occurred on the 21st day of May 1875. He was buried in the Kirk churchyard, about midway from east to west on the south side, and about one mile southeast of Leadmine, Missouri. Their children were: Mary Adeline (1857-1888) Sarah Ann (Died as Child) (1858-1865) John Alexander (1861-1943) James Albert (1865-1951) Margaret Jane (1867-1939) Elijah Zachary [Jr] (1869-1940) Matilda Saberry (1871-1947) Cordelia Irdell [Della] (Died as Child) (1873-1887)

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Matilda Iredell Justice Taylor 1840–1923

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