Ashley Taylor 1906

Ashley Taylor was born in Wise County, Texas, on January 28, 1880. He was the youngest of William Wesley and Francis Elvira Taylor's twelve children.

In the spring of 1898, when Ashley was eighteen, he moved with his father and older brother, Seymour, to Bloomington in Greer County, Oklahoma Territory. They moved there to file claim on some of the Oklahoma Territory land that was now available for homesteading. Ashley helped his father planting crops and taking care of their animals.

In the summer and fall of 1902, William, Ashley's father, participated with other local residents to form the Greer County Mexico Colony. These individuals participated in a venture to buy a large tract of land in Mexico, move there with their families, divide up the land and work their own property. The organization became officially known as the Blalock Mexico Colony.

On Friday, February 20, 1903, Ashley traveled with his father, mother, and older brother, Seymour, into Mexico as a part of the Blalock Mexico Colony. They traveled by chartered train car from Mangum, Oklahoma Territory through San Antonio, Texas, to Eagle Pass, Texas. There they crossed into Mexico at the town of Ciudad Porfirio Díaz, now called Piedras Negras. After a two-week ride they unloaded their property at the railroad station of Escondon. From there they traveled by horse and wagon about thirty miles across rivers and over mountains until they reached El Chamal Hacienda on March 6, 1903.

Ashley's mother was sick as they traveled to and arrived in Mexico. He and his brother, Seymour, divided up the work. Seymour carried on the outside work. Even though Ashley had always helped his father with the farming chores, he now did the cooking, housework and looked after his mother. Francis Gibson Taylor died in August of 1903, and was buried in the cemetery at Chamal.

On the train trip to Mexico, Ashley met his future wife, Silvia Penix, and they were married on Feb. 22, 1906. After he married, Ashley built a small cabin for of palm logs and leaves on the site where the Ashley and Silvia Taylor home now sits. There they farmed and raised ten children. Lindy Taylor, his youngest son, still lives on their original land.

Ashley was a perfectionist. He wanted his rows of corn straight as an arrow. He liked planting his orange trees in perfect squares so, no matter which way you looked you could see down a straight line of trees.

Ashley did not enjoy farming as much as he did blacksmithing. He loved to work in his shop. He would fire up his forge and bend the iron rails used as rims for the wagon wheels. He was always happy to help others with blacksmithing. Ashley would sharpen plow points for his neighbors in Rancho Nuevo, a small village down the road toward Chamal. His payment would be in beans or corn, as the people there did not have much.

Music was another great love of his. He could play the fiddle, guitar and banjo. He often would play with Austin Pierson at dances for the young people of Chamal.

Ashley, like his father, was a very religious man. He loved to read the Bible. He and his wife, Silvia, were instrumental in the building of the block church in Chamal.

As Ashley grew older he did less and less of the blacksmith work or farming. He enjoyed keeping his garden growing green, which meant chasing the ants away daily.

Ashley died on February 19, 1963, in his home at Chamal and is buried in the Chamal cemetery.

(Some of the information for this biography was taken from Almost Two Centuries with the Taylor Clan by Ellen Taylor. Mary Taylor Dolge also provided memories of her father for this document.)