The Tupelo journal., 1905-09-08

tA1AO NOuAGAyj 0AA0 ia 0OVN0 ACOO
Col. Swepson Taylo settled il
Itawamba county, nearly soutl
west. and within about one mile
from rhe Borum place, known a!
the tan yard place, and whose
postoffice was called Woodlawr
for many years. Of course tht
Borum name, and that of Wood
lawn, are modern compared t
the settlement made by Col.
Swepson Taylor. He came from
Oglethorpe county, Georgia
sending his slaves here in the
fall of 1888, under the care anc
charge Of Frank Threldkeld, ano
the first crop he made with his
hands was 1889, and he moved
his family in the fall Of 1889. He
settled a very rich tract of land,
not so rich as some, but the lands
lay well, just sloping enough to
drain well, and he opened a large
body of land there. He was also
mill and gin man. He lived about
ten miles from my father, and
that was our nearest mill and
gin. | remember very we'll at
tending his mill to get corn ground
in the early forties. going with
my older brothers, and some
times with my father. Col. Tay-
lor also had a store, and his bu-
siness grew to immense proper
tions. He was one of the busiest
men l have ever seen. He was
a very active man, living very
much outdoors, and the manage
ment of the store, that is the
selling department, was by his
son, Clark Taylor, father of our
esteemed Senator l.. T. Taylor,
of Verona; the financial part of
the store, as well as of all his
other business, remained in the
firm grip of the old man. AS ar
back as can remember Col.
Taylor, his head was like snow
bank, but otherwise he did not
appear to be an old man at all.
He was a man about six feet tall,
weighing about two hundred and
fifty pounds, of ruddy complex
ion, and one of the most pleas
ant countenances / ever beheld
on any man. If there are any
old timers still lingering on the
brink who ever did business with
Col. Swepson Taylor. they will
bear out the statement that no
man ever went to him for an ac-
commodation who had any merit
at all but was cheerfully served.
He was not only willing to sell
to the people the goods and ag-
ricultural products he had, but
his kindness in the doing of it,
and the readiness with which he
accommodated the poor equally
with the rich, spoke volumes in
his favor. Early in the fifties,
and think in 1853, or the first
part of 1854, Col. Taylor built a
new and enlarged gin and -four
ing mill, with a saw attached,
and was delighted with the bu-
siness, and was at the mill much
himself. remember distinctly
the last time / was there, which
my memory now tells me was in
the summer Of 1854, when was
a seventeen year old boy. Col.
Taylor appears to my minds eye
now as l write, and his form,
stately and grand, with those
snowy locks, that ruddy face,
those sparkling, intelligent eyes,
with the flour dust from the mill
clinging to him, ready though,
however engaged to give his
attention to the new conner and
accommodate him too; and thus
was his life passed in the very
busiest of scenes. Just a short
time after my last visit to his
mill with my father, as | have
said above, / heard that the grim
reaper had cut him off in his
prime and in his usefulness.
supposed him to be about
sixty at the time Of his death,
but his daughter, Mrs. John M.
Allen, informs me that he was
only fifty seven when he died,
Denominationally, he was q great
Methodist, but religiously, he