James Exom Taylor (1837-1913) and the Grand Old South

James Exom Taylor was born on 9 May 1837 in Pulaksi County, Georgia, the son of Charles Edward Taylor (1810-1886) and Charlotte Exum Phillips (1814-1877). Aside from the ten years he was married to Anna Bell Jordan (d. 1882), James lived the bachelor life, usually occupied with farming pursuits.

James maintained a close friendship with members of the George Walker family, whose sons settled the Longstreet community where James was born. Upon James's death in 1913, Dr. T. D. Walker wrote the tribute to his friend transcribed below, and James was laid to rest by his late wife in the Walker Cemetery at Bleckley County, Georgia. Bleckley was carved from Pulaski the year before James's death.

In the dim unknown standeth God, within the
shadow, keeping watch above His own.

Note: This tribute is a classic example of early 20th-century memorial writing. During this era, particularly in the South, it was customary for friends or family to write highly sentimentalized tributes for newspapers. These pieces often prioritized "Lost Cause" rhetoric and flowery, symbolic language (such as the "spirit of the lamb and lion") over a purely objective biographical account.

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Cochran Journal (Georgia)

26 June 1913

Tribute To James E. Taylor

By His Friend Dr. T. D. Walker

Another one of the immortal heroes of the sixties has fallen on sleep—the summons came to our esteemed and beloved fellow citizen, Mr. James E. Taylor, who died after a short illness, on June 23rd, and was buried in the Walker family cemetery on Longstreet by the side of his wife, who was the daughter of the late Judge G. N. [sic] Jordan, of Hawkinsville.

Mr. Taylor, or "Squire" as we loved so much to call him, was born on April —, 1837 on Longstreet, where he has ever resided and it can be truly said that no suspicion of scandal has ever attached to his name. Impulsive, frank, honest, sincere and a generosity that knew no bounds, he was a great favorite and model citizen.

When the war developed in 1861, he with his friend and chum, Charles Walker, hastened to Macon in April to join the Macon Guards, whose captain was the late Col. Lucius M. Lamar. The company rendezvoused at Savannah, where they went into the organization of the famous Eighth Ga. Reg., command[ed] by the gallant and immortal Francis Bartow. The regiment was immediately ordered to Virginia and they reached there in time to take part in the first battle of Manassas, which was fought on July 21, '61. The regiment was cut to pieces, losing the Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel and many thousand of the men killed and wounded. It was during this battle and the bravery of the men that gave to Jackson the immortal name of "Stonewall."

Dear Old Squire was there and acquitted himself, a man, a soldier and a patriot. This was his first baptism of fire and he followed the fortune of the immortal Stars and Bars throughout all the vicissitudes of war until at last they were furled by Gen. Johnson at Saulsbury, N.C. in April—, 1865. The war over he returned to his native home to take up the plow share which he had lain down for the sword. He was an exceedingly modest, gentle unassuming man, and a faithful generous friend and upright citizen.

No one observing this meek modest man could imagine the veritable lion when facing a foe in defense of his country. This though furnishes the pathos that surrounds the memory of these old soldiers. What influence was it that blended the spirit of the lamb, and lion in our southern soldiery? Was it a lofty sentiment that abhored low materialism and gave birth to an immortal idealism of right and wrong, purity, sincerity, devotion to home and country, and last but not least a fear of God.

Mr. Taylor leaves two sisters and five brothers and many relatives, who are the typical representatives of the grand old South.

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Genealogical Notes

Charles Edward Taylor m. Charlotte Exum "Lottie" Phillips on 30 December 1830 in Pulaski County, Georgia. Their children:

• Mary E. Taylor (b. Jan 1831)
• James Exom Taylor (1837-1913)
• Caroline Matilda Taylor (1844-1913)
• John Rawls Taylor (1848-1933)
• Charlotte E. Taylor (b. abt 1849)
• Charles Edward Taylor, Jr. (1851-1918)
• Matthew Whitmell Taylor (1853-1936)
• John Joseph Taylor (1855-1914)
• Nicholas Long Taylor (1857-1938)

As stated above, James E. Taylor was laid to rest in Walker Cemetery next to his wife, Anna Bell Jordan. She was the daughter of George Washington Jordan (1826-1912) and Ann Rebecca Walker (1830-1864). It should be noted that the birthdate provided on Anna's gravestone, 31 August 1862, is off by as much as a decade. Census records suggest she was born between 1852 and 1854. Anna and James were married 24 March 1872 in Pulaski County.

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