THE DAUGHTERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS LIBRARY

 

Col 940

Taylor Family Papers

1885-1956

 

 

Collection information

 

Physical description: 1 document box, 7 oversize boxes

Acquisition: Gift of Greg and Louie Davenport, 1978

Processed by: Warren Stricker, 1998

 

 

Table of contents

 

 

 

Biographical note

 

Continuing a family tradition of business activities in Texas, members of the Taylor family were engaged in real estate, farming and ranching in the San Antonio area, in addition to their participation in the social and cultural life of the community.  Born in Terrell, Texas in 1879, Amanda Holman “Mant” Cartwright was the eldest daughter of Matthew and Mary C. Cartwright, and a descendant of prosperous east and central Texas businessmen and women.  In 1900, she married Lane Taylor (1869-1950), a Kentucky native who had come in 1874 with his parents to Sherman, Texas, where his father was the owner of a hardware business.  Lane and Amanda Taylor had three children, Eugenia Polk Taylor, Maria Louise Taylor, and Lane Taylor, Jr.

 

The family moved from Sherman to San Antonio in 1906, where Lane Taylor engaged in a real estate business, working in part with his brother-in-law, Lon D. Cartwright.  Amanda Taylor became active in a number of organizations; she was a founding member of the San Antonio Conservation Society, serving two terms as president of the organization, and was a leading figure in its historic preservation work.  She was also a founder of the San Antonio Museum Association, and worked to establish the Witte Memorial Museum.

 

Lane Taylor, Jr. was also involved in several business interests, including ranching in the Uvalde, Texas area.

 

Sources

 

Ellis A. Davis and Edwin H. Grobe, eds. The New Encyclopedia of Texas. Dallas, Tex. : Texas Development Bureau, 1930?

 

Margaret Swett Henson and Deolece Parmelee. The Cartwrights of San Augustine: Three Generations of Agrarian Entrepreneurs in Nineteenth-Century Texas. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1993.

 

Emily Griffith Roberts. Ancestral Study of Four Families: Roberts, Griffith, Cartwright, Simpson with Relationships Lineal and Collateral of my Children. Dallas, Tex.: Regional Press, 1939-c1948.

 

Southwest Texans. San Antonio: Southwest Publications, 1952.

 

Amanda Cartwright Taylor, vertical file. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

 

Taylor Family Papers. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

 

 

Scope and content note

 

Correspondence, legal and financial documents, journals, printed material, and photographs document the business and personal activities of the Lane Taylor family and some of their close relatives. 

 

The earliest and most detailed correspondence is business related, consisting of five letterpress books containing the outgoing letters of Lon D. Cartwright.  Most the letters are related to his real estate dealings and management of family property, though some personal items are also included.  Some letters refer to the real estate partnership of Cartwright and Lane Taylor.  Many letters are addressed to Matthew Cartwright, the father of Lon D. Cartwright and Amanda C. Taylor.  Most of the remaining correspondence is miscellaneous in nature, and is related to several family members.  A number of letters concern the marriage of Lane Taylor, Jr. and Nell Graves.  Included in the correspondence of Amanda C. Taylor is a letter from Emily Edwards in which she discusses her work with artist Diego Rivera in Mexico.

 

Legal documents consist of three deeds to Grayson County property, and a lease agreement.  Most financial records, while unidentified, appear to be related to the management of farm and ranch land of the Cartwright and Taylor families.  A few other scattered financial documents are associated with Lane Taylor, Jr.

 

Calendars and diaries consist of a series of pocket journals of Catesby W. Taylor, recording his travels and health concerns.  Also included is a single appointment calendar of Amanda C. Taylor.

 

The remaining material is a miscellany of personal documents, including printed invitations, programs and pamphlets, a typescript of a play, and a scrapbook.  Photographs include three aerial shots dating from the late 1920s showing San José y San Miguel de Aguayo Mission, Kelly Field, and the early stages of work on Randolph Field.  Other photographs include some identified individuals, and several unidentified items.

 

Material connected with the wedding of Lane Taylor, Jr. and Nell Graves includes a bound record of the wedding service, notes, and cards received by the couple.

 

 

Box/Folder

 

 

Correspondence

 

 

Box 3 (oversize)

            Lon D. Cartwright, letterpress book, 1900-1907

 

 

Box 4 (oversize)

            Lon D. Cartwright, letterpress book, 1907-1909

 

 

Box 4 (oversize)

            Lon D. Cartwright, letterpress book, 1909-1911

 

 

Box 5 (oversize)

            Lon D. Cartwright, letterpress book, 1911-1912

 

 

Box 5 (oversize)

            Lon D. Cartwright, letterpress book, 1912

 

 

1/1

            Amanda C. Taylor, 1913-1941             

 

 

1/2

            Maria Taylor, 1922, 1928

 

 

1/3

            Lane Taylor, Jr., 1939-1940

 

 

1/4

            Lane Taylor, Jr. and Nell Graves Taylor, 1940-1941

 

 

1/5

            Catesby W. Taylor, 1919-1924

 

 

1/6

            Miscellaneous, 1931, undated

 

 

 

Legal documents

 

 

1/7

Deed: John A. Fitch to James W. Vaden, Grayson County, 1871

 

 

 

Deed: J.W. Vaden and Mollie E. Vaden to F.C. Vaden, Grayson County, 1903

 

 

 

Deed: F.C. Vaden and Bertha Vaden to W.S. Omohundro, Grayson County, 1903

 

 

1/8

            Lease: Lane Taylor to Albert Peeples, 1937

 

 

 

Financial documents

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            Ledger: 1885-1893

 

 

Box 8 (oversize)

            Account ledger: 1907-1908

 

 

Box 8 (oversize)

            Account ledger: 1908-1916

 

 

Box 8 (oversize)

            Ledger: 1910-1917

 

 

Box 6 (oversize)

Account ledger: Cartwright and Taylor, farm accounts, 1911-1913

 

 

Box 7 (oversize)

            Account ledger: farm accounts, 1913-1916

 

 

Box 6 (oversize)

Account ledger: Cartwright and Taylor, farm accounts, 1915-1916

 

 

Box 7 (oversize)

            Account ledger: 1915-1917

 

 

Box 7 (oversize)

            Account ledger: 1916-1917

 

 

Box 6 (oversize)

            Income/expenses ledger: 1939-1969

 

 

1/9

            Loan records, Lane Taylor, Jr., 1939-1940

 

 

 

            Account statements, Lane Taylor, Jr.

 

 

1/10

                        Horners, 1939-1940

 

 

1/11

Texas Livestock Marketing Association, 1939

 

 

1/12

            Bills and receipts, 1928-1940

 

 

 

Specifications

 

 

1/13

            J.H. Kirkpatrick house, undated (photocopies)

 

 

 

Calendars and journals

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            Unidentified, 1905

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            Catesby W. Taylor, 1911

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            Catesby W. Taylor, 1912

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            Catesby W. Taylor, 1913

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            Catesby W. Taylor, 1914

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            Catesby W. Taylor, 1915

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            Catesby W. Taylor, 1916

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            Catesby W. Taylor, 1917

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

Amanda C. Taylor, 1956

 

 

 

Memorandum book

 

 

Box 2 (oversize)

            C.W. Taylor, [Jr.], 1921-22

 

 

 

Scrapbook

 

 

Box 6 (oversize)

Maria Louise Taylor

 

 

 

Organizations

 

 

1/14

San Antonio Little Theater

 

 

 

Typescript

 

 

1/15

May Frances Michael, “Who Can Tell”

 

 

1/16

Clippings

 

 

1/17-20

Printed material

 

 

 

Lane Taylor, Jr.-Nell Graves wedding

 

 

1/21

            Marriage service

 

 

1/22

            Notes

 

 

1/23

            Cards

 

 

1/24

Photographs

 

 

 

Photographs include:

 

 

 

Edith Chandler

 

Kelly Air Force Base, aerial view, ca. 1928

 

Robert J. Onderdonk, Groesbeeck house, painting

 

Mrs. F. Oppenheimer

 

Randolph Air Force Base, aerial view, ca. 1928

 

Frank Reaugh

 

San José y San Miguel de Aguayo Mission, aerial view, ca. 1928

 

Eugenia Taylor?, Battle of Flowers, 1922?

 

Simona B. Wofford

 

Corinne Worden

 

Unidentified photographs

 

 

Separated items

 

See library catalog for location

 

Catalogue of the M. Krueger Collection of Original Oil Paintings by Celebrated Masters of the XIX and XX Century. 1923.

 

Cavalry Drill Regulations. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918.

 

The Home Lighting Primer. 1924.

 

Kelly Field in the Great World War. San Antonio: San Antonio Printing Co., 1919.

 

Mrs. Joseph Rucker Lamar. A History of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America from 1891 to 1933. Atlanta: Walter W. Brown Publishing Co., 1934.

 

A Preliminary Report on Civic Art for San Antonio, Texas. St. Louis: Harland Bartholomew and Associates, 1932.

 

La Reata 1945

 

La Reata 1957

 

El Sombrero 1929

 

Lon Tinkle. 13 Days to Glory. New York: McGraw Hill, 1958.

 

Woodlawn Hills. San Antonio: Arthur J. Dreyfuss Co., 1929.

 

Texas Libraries, November 1953

 

The Trail, August 19, 1921

 

Under Texas Skies 6(September 1955)1