Dad’s Religion in Practice

By George Evans Taylor, Jr.

My parents were grew up near the town of Princeton in Dallas County, Arkansas. Dad’s family attended the Methodist Church and mom’s family (Champion Ennis) attended the Baptist Church. Both churches were near Jicento which is a few miles south of Princeton. After marriage, and with four children, my young parents carried us to church in a horse drawn wagon, we didn’t own a car. My dad was George Evans Taylor, mom was Gladys Aline (Ennis) Taylor. While I was in the second grade of school we moved back to Malvern, Arkansas. During my growing up years we lived on a rocky hill farm north of Malvern on the Old Military Road in the Cooper Community.

Dad always gave of the season’s first fresh vegetables to the pastor of our church as a tithe. He sold vegetables to the stores in town and I knew he could have sold them for more money then than later in the season. I didn’t understand this until I was older. He paid tithes on his farm produce and on his factory job earnings. He worked hard for himself on the farm and also for his employer, the International Shoe Company’s textile mill in North Malvern.

He helped start the local church and helped build a physical church which still exists today as Cooper Assembly of God which is about five miles north of Malvern. For many years he taught Sunday School, was Sunday School Superintendent, was a Deacon, visited and helped and prayed for the sick, helped dig grave openings (by hand), served as a pall bearer for funerals, etc. A few times he sang specials at church with my sisters (Pauline, Wilma and Dorothy). We attended church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. We went rain or shine, sleet or snow either riding in a car or walking. He and mom taught us kids to pray each night.

We children each had only one set of Sunday clothes and shoes. Dad wore his suit each Sunday to church and mom always dressed us in our Sunday best for church.

He always made sure the pastor had enough cash income and also food to eat. Often he had the pastor’s family over for Sunday dinner. Mom prepared the dinner on Saturday on a wood cook stove. There was always a plate of meat on the table, either chicken killed on Saturday or pork from the smoke house. Dad always asked the Blessing at the table. He also always helped provide vegetables for the widows of the church.

He kept things going at church such as providing wood for the wood heater and coal oil for the wall mounted oil lamps.

For years there was no electricity in the building, after WWII electricity came to the area. This is also when we got connected to electricity at home.

He read his Bible every night and studied and prepared his Sunday School lesson. In later years it seemed that he read his bible all of the time! When his eyes became weak I gave him two sets of cassette tapes of the Bible and he wore them out. I believe he lived by the Bible!

Sunday was a day of rest. He would not work on Sunday at home or elsewhere unless the Biblical “ox was in the ditch”.

We lived about a half mile from the railroad tracks out on the Old Military Road near the Cooper Community and quite often we had hobo visitors come by asking for something to eat. Most of the time when they came dad was not at home and mom would let them earn their meal by splitting some wood out at the wood pile. Dad wanted to always feed them, he said according to the Bible that we could be entertaining an angel!

He did not drink, smoke or use God’s name in vain, I never heard him say a bad word. He never even drank a Coke until the mid 1950s. Once we were visiting the Ray Hobbs family and dad was asked if he wanted a coke. His reply, ”man I don’t even smoke!” as he smiled.

At home he sometimes played a regular guitar which he tuned as a steel guitar. He used the handle of an all metal table knife as the bar on the strings and it sounded good! Of course it was church music he played and we all sang.

He cared for and helped his neighbors many, many times. May God Bless Dad’s memory in the hearts of those who knew him!

George Evans Taylor, born Sept 27th, 1901

Written on 8-17-2007 for

The Hot Springs County Historical Society by:

George Evans Taylor, Jr.

209 Lakeshore Drive

Muscle Shoals, Alabama 35661-1029

256-381-2809 email [email protected]

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