Aunt CB, or Mom to me, has written several
times over the years about the many cases of typhoid associated with the Taylor
Homestead of Woodlawn, in Oakfield, NY.
In 2000, she wrote of a visit she and Dad and her sister
Doris made to Woodlawn many years after it had been sold out of the family
(and, as Woodlawn has since burned down, we are very grateful for this visit
and the many pictures and written memoir of the visit):
Woodlawn in 1900
Behind the shed is a
well, also enclosed, which is the famous cause of many cases of typhoid in the
family over the years.
The journals of Emma C. Taylor detail these illnesses of typhoid with many queries to God as to their origin. It was unknown to them then that the animal barn, less than 100 feet away, certainly provided a fertile drain for the germ to enter the well water as it seeped through the rocks beneath.
--http://taylorbakercousins.blogspot.com/2010/11/woodlawn-in-oakfield-ny-august-1-2000.html
In 1903, my great grandfather Bryant Waller (or ‘B.W.’)
Taylor was 44 years old. He and some of his family came down with typhoid in
the middle of June.
His mother, Cordelia Waller Taylor, writes of this painful
time in her journal. But first, it is January 1st of the New Year,
1903, and Cordelia gives thanks for the past year and expresses her love for
her family:
“January First: New
Year’s Day.
Welcome.
This is the beginning which is all we can know and can say
about the ushering in of the new year.
Our eyes are mercifully blinded as to the events of the
coming year. I have not the slightest desire to lift the curtain to see the end
or to take the reins in my own hands for guidance. But will resolutely follow
our Heavenly Leader who never makes any mistakes or leads astray.
Our two lives have been mercifully spared through fifty
years of married life (ed. She and her
husband Daniel Rockwell Taylor).
The blessing of God has rested upon us in all our ways
notwithstanding our unworthiness and imperfections. The celebration of our
Golden Wedding was the chief event to us last year and Bryant and Emma were the
leaders in it all and such a beautiful heavenly and glorious surprise they made
for us. May the Lord richly reward all the precious children for the tender
thoughtfulness and loving words and deeds they have ever given us. They have
left nothing undone for our comfort and happiness and in our declining years,
they are our chief joy, comfort and blessing in this life.
May his banner of love ever be over them.”
 |
| Golden Wedding Spoon, Gift to Cordelia and Daniel on their 50th Anniversary |
Then, in early summer:
Younger Bryant--Taken about 1885
“June 3rd: Dear Bryant’s 44th
Birthday—he and Emma go out to Mr. Carson’s at a meeting of the Grange and how
glad that they can go. The Lord bless the dear boy and all he has. The dry
parched earth is begging for rain and I feel that it will come in God’s good
time.
June 12th: The dear ones from Jacksonville have
come, and how glad we are to meet again and how thankful that our lives have
all been spared (This is Bryant’s brother
Carlton and his wife Jeannie. They spend summers in Oakfield and then go back
to Jacksonville, Illinois to teach at a school for the deaf). All are well,
but weary with hard teaching and work and so glad to get to this dear little
home, and the house is being newly painted, and so beautiful—white with green
blind. How happy we all are.
June 18th: Daniel and I go up home till Saturday
night. Poor Bryant is far from well, and we must see what we can do.
June 26th: Go up home for two days to lend a
hand. Find poor Bryant a very sick man and how my mother-heart aches for him.
Dr. Turk comes every day. Dear little Floyd is coming up all right, but Bryant’s
gain is slow.
The Typhoid is a terrible disease, but I think the Dr. with the
blessing of God on his treatment will bring them safely through. Dear Bryant is
getting so emaciated—the first dangerous sickness in his life—grace is
sufficient.
June 28th: All remain at home this Sunday, but Carlton
goes up to care for dear Bryant.
June 30th: Spend the day up home and help and
care for berries. Dear Carlton is looking very weary caring for poor Bryant day
and night. He must take a rest. All are doing well.
July 15th: A long time has passed, little Diary,
since I last wrote. The critical illness of poor Bryant has been a heavy burden
on our hearts. Hope has almost died at times, but the great Physician has been
pleased to bless Dr. Turk’s treatment and there is a change for the better.
Little Floyd is dressed and beginning to take solid food. How glad our hearts
all are.
July 19th: Can it be that I have been permitted
to go to our dear church once more? Carlton is with dear Bryant a part of every
day, and cares for him some nights. Dr. Turk tells me Bryant is much better but
no one is allowed to see him but the caretakers. Thinks he will be able to sit
up in two weeks. Poor dear boy—what a hard struggle he has had. May the Lord
sustain him and fill his heart with His love and peace. Excellent sermon today
from John 14:19.
July 24th: Daniel and I go up home for a few
weeks for a needed change and rest and to help as needed.
Dr. permits me to see dear Bryant today, this a.m. I must go
from my knees with perfect self-control. The dear boy looks up into my face
with a pleased look and says “ I’m glad to see you, little Mother, dear”. And
then we talk a few minutes and I go till 3p.m. and then I go to him again with
a spoonful of custard which he enjoys. Poor boy! So thin and white and so
patient withal. May this terrible affliction be sanctified to the spiritual
good of all.
July 26th: No going to church from here, but we
have an omnipresent God, and who rules in all our affairs. We have our quiet
Bible study and reading and meditation. Leon is growing no worse—a mild
attack—and hope it will soon be over.
July 28th: Clara and I go down to Carlton’s to
pick berries—other pickers are there and we bring home 17 quarts of red
berries. The best picking is over. Our time is limited and we get what others
picked.
August 2nd: No going to church today. All too
weary and worn, but hope to go next Sunday. Hope on as ever. The sick ones
improving and all are so thankful.
Taylor Family in 1904--Florence and Mildred in front, Floyd, Clara, Emma and Lloyd in middle and Leon and Bryant in back
August 5th: Little Mildred was two years old last
Saturday and this is the 11th birthday of the twins. Dear Bryant
comes down stairs the first time in six weeks and what a joy fills our hearts.
The children go to Oakfield to Sunday School picnic.
August 6th: Mr. and Mrs. Carson (parents of Emma Carson, Bryant’s wife)
go home today. They have done us a world of good in very many ways. The Lord
bless them and prolong their lives.”
August 23rd: Daniel, Raymond and I go to church this
beautiful day, after a heavy blow for two days. Excellent sermon from Acts
19:20.
So, by the beginning of August, the Taylors believed the
worst was behind them.
A cousin of Bryant’s, Raymond Taylor, aged 32, was living
with them. Raymond’s parents (Elliot and Sarah Taylor) had a farm named
‘Homestead’ just down the road from Woodlawn. But, Elliot died unexpectedly in
1889 and Sarah died in 1902. When Sarah died, Homestead was sold, so Elliot
moved in with his cousin, Bryant and Emma Taylor and their family.
In early November, Emma writes in her journal: “But, we are
all here. That means a great deal with the Typhoid lurking for the last six
months. What were our feelings at having Raymond come down with it? Symptoms
were such that it was thought best to take him to the hospital at Batavia where
he is receiving good care and attention from Dr. Turk who helped us all out.
Raymond was so faithful and was in fact the only one to carry on things here as
far as chores go for a while, that it seemed a pity he should have typhoid.”
Emma does not write for another month. “We all know what
came to Raymond—Death, and unexpectedly. He seemed to be getting on as well as
could be when suddenly on November 16th at nine o’clock in the
morning at the hospital at Batavia he died. He was buried beside his father and
mother.”
November 16th was the wedding anniversary of
Daniel and Cordelia Taylor. Cordelia writes in her journal: “Our 51st
anniversary and I am thankful to see an improvement. Raymond passes away at the hospital this
morning—poor stricken boy from his birth, and I believe it is well with his
soul now. He served the Lord to the best of his ability, and it was his wish to
go and be at rest.”
So ends this typhoid episode. As Cordelia writes on the New
Year-- the family’s ‘eyes are mercifully blinded’ to
what will be ahead in their lives. One year later, Cordelia’s oldest child,
Clara Taylor Henry dies at age 48 at her home in Wisconsin. Four years later,
Bryant and Emma’s beloved Mildred, now age six, dies of typhoid and scarlet
fever. Her mother Emma writes: ‘Our little six year old lamb has gone Home.’
Emma describes her white casket nearly covered underneath ‘the last home flowers of the season--bachelor’s
buttons, pansies (the flower she loved so well), asters, bluebells and pretty
maple leaves.’
Amidst the heartache are stories of happiness and
achievement for this family centered around the farm at Woodlawn. We are so
grateful to both Cordelia and Emma for writing their journals. It allows us to
remember and honor their stories, and reminds me of the ancient Celts who kept
memories alive through their rich oral tradition of reciting tales of great
battles and loves. One hundred and ten years from now, how will we be
remembered?
