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George Peach Taylor, a
descendant of George Washington Peach, a brother to John Peach that settled in
Pickens Co., AL, was a retired
Law Professor from the University of Alabama School of Law. He and his
wife, Mary Leta English Taylor (born May 2, 1926 and died Sept 16, 2008
from pancreatic cancer )made their home in
 Tuscaloosa,
AL. George Peach Taylor died Dec. 10, 2008 after a brief illness.
George Peach Taylor was very much interested
in Peach genealogy and has done research on several families including his Peach
ancestors. Mr. Taylor attended Howard College (now Samford
University) and received a AB and BS from Birmingham Southern College.
He was a partner in the law firm in Tuscaloosa Dominick, Fletcher, Taylor & Yeilding from
1952 - 1965 and then joined the Peace Corps in Washington. He has also
lived in Sierra Leone where he served as Deputy Director for
three months, then Country Director and as Chief of the West African Division. He
served from 1968 - 1970 as Peace Corps Director in Guyana. He returned to
Tuscaloosa in 1973 where he was Assistant Dean and Lecturer in Law, Alabama
School of Law and then Professor of Law, Alabama School of Law from 1974 -
1989. From 1989 - 1993 he served as Public Defender in Tuscaloosa County,
AL. George and Mary Leta are the parents of four children: George Peach
Taylor, Jr., born Feb. 13, 1953. He received an MD from Baylor College
of Medicine in Houston, TX and an MPH from Harvard School of Public Health in
Boston, MA. He was named Brigadier General in April 2000 in a ceremony in
Ramstein, Germany and on Oct. 16, 2002 was named Lt. General, Surgeon General of
the Air Force Medical Services. Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Taylor is the Surgeon General of
the Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.; Ann
English Taylor, born Sept. 10, 1954. She is an attorney and works with
the Corps of Engineers in the Legal Dept.; Jarred Otis Taylor II, born June 11,
1956. He is a shareholder, Maynard, Cooper & Gale, Birmingham,
AL and David Key Taylor, born May 30, 1958. He is an attorney with
primary practice in construction law.
John Hixon Peach
John Hixon Peach is the son of George Washington Peach and Abigail Hixon, and
grandson of the old John Peach and wife, Rebecca.)
 John Hixon Peach (JHP) moved with his father and family from South Carolina to Perote, AL in 1832 when John Hixon Peach was only 3 years old. There were hard times in South Carolina. Many of the Peach brothers moved out – some to Tennessee (John Peach, Jr. to Williamson County, TN) others to Maryland, Ohio, Mississippi and to Pickens County, AL.
The road from South Carolina was part of a main road from Philadelphia through Baltimore, Richmond, Columbia, Augusta, Milledeville, and New Orleans. Perote is just south of this road.
My mother, Ildegerte Peach Taylor, told stories about her grandfather. Her father, George W. Peach, remembered some of JHP’s military service. As a calvary horseman, JHP frequently lost his horse in battle. He returned to Perote, saddled a new horse, and returned to fight again. When the war was over, JHP returned to his home. GWP remembered that when he was a boy of 5 he met his father at the top of one of the hills overlooking Perote. His father was upset and hurt. All the landmarks had been destroyed although most of the houses were still intact. The Peach home was a typical pre-Civil War house with a long porch across the front, and a dog trot through the house.
The most notable thing about this man was his belief in education, despite his own lack of formal training (perhaps because of it). There was a great article about him, a copy in the John Peach books. His ten children (by two wives) all had college educations, several who became lawyers or teachers (or both, as in the case of George W. Peach), and one a dentist (Henry Peach).
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Susan Wheless Peach Second wife of John Hixon Peach |
Ildegerte Peach Taylor, Mother of George Peach
Taylor, Sr. |
Dr. George Peach Taylor, Jr. Surgeon General of the U. S. Air
Force |
George Washington Peach
 Latin, Arithmetic, Logic, Geography, History, English Grammer, English History, Geography, and US History. He stressed Oratory. My mother (IPT) told of his frequent debates with students at the back of the school after school had closed. She also told of a nationally recognized dentist whom she met on her trip to New York City. He told her that George Washington Peach (GWP) had let him attend school without paying his tuition in advance, that GWP had more influence on his life than any other teacher, and that GWP had given him his first interest in books. He taught several of the sons of Alto and Lilly Lee, and surely met his wife-to-be, Vela, as a result.
He opened his law office in Union Springs, AL in 1884, but remained there for only a few months. He moved to Clayton where he found a small office next to an alley that ran alongside the County Courthouse, and just off the square in the center of town. He was $1500 in debt, slept on a cot in the back of the office, but his practice grew. He ended up as the attorney for each of the two banks in Clayton. In his office was his roll top desk that is now in GPT’s home. There was a small rocking chair which folded. His wife, Vela, made the needlepoint seat and back. It, too, is in GPT’s home. There was a large round checkers table on which were played checkers and dominoes. GWP was a great game player (we have his Mah Jong set and his dominoes, both with ivory faces). There was a meat market a few stores away from the office, owned by Lum Ventress. I remember going to the market with my grandmother, Vela. The office has been torn down.
Although I don’t know too much about his practice, we do have some of his papers. Apparently, he had a general practice: a little criminal work, contract and probate cases, collections (represented both sides), Federal Land Bank, and many Chancery Court cases. I know of one civil case where he represented a number of injured passengers from a wreck of an L&N train. He settled the cases with Judge Steiner of Montgomery who was heard to say that the only bad thing about the settlements was that he knew GWP would not good fees out of the cases. Names of several prominent lawyers appear in some of his papers: Chauncey Sparks (later Governor); E. H. Cabiness (founder of the Cabiness firm in Birmingham), Judge Steiner, and other lawyers from around the nation as well as from Alabama.
GWP also made numerous loans, probably to sharecroppers in the county. We have some of the records in his papers.
He was not much of a politician. He ran for Circuit Judge in 1916, but was defeated. A niece by marriage, Lena Peach (Arthur’s wife), told us that he ran for mayor one time. He was asked if he had met with one of the influential politicians in the city. He said: “No. What do I need to see him for?” He was told that if he wanted to get elected, he would have to have this man’s support. GWP immediately withdrew from the race—nobody was going to tell him what to do. That is apparently a Peach character trait. Lena told the story and immediately told of a conversation she had just prior to marrying Arthur Peach. She was told: “You got a slice of a mighty good cake. I don’t know how good your slice is, but….” Family legend is that he tried to get the position of dean of the Law School. A fellow from Florida, Albert Farrah, was selected. Interesting to speculate on what would have happened if he had been appointed.
GWP was a hard worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was at one time Superintendent of Sunday School, but was removed because he was caught playing dominoes on Sunday afternoon. Terrible! He also got into trouble when he supported a group of young men who organized and then rented a vacant house in Clayton. GWP gave them magazines and books. Member of his church were very upset, and prayed for him. He refused to give in. Nobody could tell him what he could or could not do if he thought he was right. Not a bad heritage.
His wife-to-be was in Tuscaloosa in her senior year at the Tuscaloosa Female Academy while he was in Law School. There are no reports of how or when they got together. There is an interesting event that occurred just prior to the marriage. He escorted someone else to a reception in Eufaula for a couple who married in Clayton.
He adored his wife, but perhaps even more his “darling daughter, sweetest girl in the whole world: (from a letter in GPT’s records that ends “How I do love you. Your affectionate Dad”).
He suffered from asthma, dying from the disease. He stayed in the back room of the Peach home. His obituaries are wonderful. A truly good man.
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