Name: Taylor, Texas
Address: Taylor, TX

The Man Who Prosecuted the Klan RoadyGoat

In the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan operated with impunity across Texas. But in Williamson County, they met their match in a young district attorney from Taylor named Dan Moody. On Easter Sunday 1923, Klansmen flogged and tarred a traveling salesman named Robert Burleson near Georgetown for ignoring their warning to leave town. Moody did the unthinkable: he took them to court. The case was a sensation. Witnesses were intimidated, and the Klan seemed untouchable. But Moody, a brilliant and determined prosecutor, methodically built his case across trials that ran from September 1923 into February 1924. He came away with five convictions—four Klansmen for assault, plus one for perjury. The Texas Historical Commission calls it the first successful prosecution of the 1920s Klan anywhere in the United States. The victory shattered the Klan's image of invincibility in Texas and propelled Dan Moody to statewide fame. At thirty-three he became the youngest governor in Texas history, all because he had the courage to pursue justice from his office right here in the Taylor area.

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Taylor, TX RoadyGoat

On September 9 and 10, 1921, Taylor experienced a catastrophic flood that resulted in the deaths of eighty-seven people in and around the city. This disaster was caused by 39.7 inches of rain falling in 36 hours on Williamson County, leading to the flooding of the San Gabriel River and Brushy Creek.

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Taylor, TX RoadyGoat

Taylor’s always been a town shaped by big forces, starting with the railroad that birthed it back in '76. For generations, it was cotton that defined us, with that enormous compress humming day and night. More recently, it's manufacturing that's kept the heart of this town beating, the kind of work that builds families and keeps Friday night lights shining down on the Duck’s football field. But the biggest change in a lifetime is undeniably the arrival of Samsung. Suddenly, we're not just a quiet stop on the way to somewhere else. A global tech giant planting its roots just outside of town? It’s brought a buzz, a feeling of opportunity mixed with a healthy dose of anxiety. Will we lose the small-town charm that makes Taylor, Taylor? Will the wildflowers of the Blackland Prairie survive the construction? Only time will tell, but one thing's for sure: Taylor's story is far from over.

Tex Avery

1935

Born in Taylor on February 26, 1908, Frederick Bean “Tex” Avery is one of the most important figures in the history of animation. Directing cartoons at Warner Brothers and MGM from 1935 to 1955, he developed such legendary characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Droopy and Chilly Willy. He also pioneered a style of fast-paced slapstick comedy that introduced many of the basic comedic elements still found in cartoons today. His peers considered him a creative genius and his films continue to enjoy critical and popular acclaim. Avery spent his childhood in Taylor, growing up in homes on Eighth and Hackberry streets. He attended high school in Dallas before moving to California after graduation. In 1935, Avery took a job at Warner Bros. Where he presided over the innovative crew of "Termite Terrace" and introduced the world to Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. Searching for the perfect expression to capture Bugs Bunny’s carefree attitude in A Wild Hare (1940), Avery recalled a phrase popular among students at North Dallas High School: “What’s up, Doc?” He spent seven years at Warner Brothers and then moved to MGM in 1942, where he perfected his unique style of rapid-fire, logic-defying gags. After a lifetime spent reinventing the American cartoon, Avery died in Los Angeles in 1980. Tex Avery’s influence on his craft is difficult to overstate. He created some of the most enduring characters and compositions in history and directed cartoons that were funnier, faster and wilder than anyone had ever seen. An enormously talented writer, artist and director, Tex Avery left his stamp not just on the world of animation, but on the wider universe of American popular culture. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836 - 2011

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Avery, Frederick Bean [Tex]

1908

Frederick Bean “Tex” Avery, cartoonist, animator, and director, was born in Taylor, Texas, on February 26, 1908, to George Walton Avery and Mary Augusta “Jessie” (Bean) Avery. He grew up in Dallas and attended North Dallas High School, where he drew cartoons for the school newspaper and yearbook. He graduated from high school in 1926 and then studied at the Chicago Art Institute, where he received instruction from newspaper cartoonists as well as fine artists. After these studies, he returned to Dallas for a brief period and worked odd jobs. Thinking his ambition to be a newspaper cartoonist would be easier to realize in California, Avery moved to Los Angeles by 1929. Unfortunately, breaking into this already crowded field had become more difficult in the 1920s. The increasing popularity of radio had given Americans an alternate source of news and entertainment, and the number of daily newspapers was on the decline. The animation industry, however, was in its infancy and was receptive to the likes of Avery. Avery’s first job was with Walter Lantz, best-known as the creator of Woody Woodpecker, at Universal Studios. While employed at Universal, where he was given the nickname “Tex,” Avery worked on the popular Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series. A jack of all trades, he painted backgrounds, wrote gags and stories, drew storyboards (a pre-production task similar to drawing a comic strip) and worked as an “in-betweener.” The latter was a term for an artist responsible for the drawings in between the main, or “key,” drawings, which were handled by the animator. Today in-betweening is largely handled by computers. While at Universal, Avery lost sight in his left eye due to some office horseplay. Also, he met his future wife, Patricia Agnes Johnson, who also worked for the studio. They married in 1935 and later had two children. After a salary dispute in 1934, Avery applied for work at Warner Brothers. Pretending he had worked as a supervisor (in other words, as a director) while at Universal, he talked his way into a job with producer Leon Schlesinger and auditioned by supervising the 1935 cartoon Gold Diggers of ’49 with Porky Pig. The cartoon was well-received so Avery became a full-time supervisor. At Warner Brothers, Avery worked at “Termite Terrace,” a ramshackle, termite-infested five-room cottage at 5800 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood (in the 2010s the space was occupied by KTLA-TV). While employed there, he worked with a clutch of talented artists, including Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Frank Tashlin, all of whom made their mark in the animation industry. While at Warner Brothers, Avery introduced and/or developed a number of characters who have remained popular into the twenty-first century. In 1937 he introduced Daffy Duck in Porky’s Duck Hunt . According to Avery, he first conceived of the character while hunting ducks on White Rock Lake in Dallas. This early version of Daffy lived up to his name, but subsequent directors toned him down. Also in 1937 Avery created an Elmer Fudd predecessor named Egghead in Egghead Rides Again . The character was modified over the next few years until the Elmer Fudd familiar to viewers today was introduced in A Wild Hare , a 1940 opus retrospectively credited as the first true Bugs Bunny cartoon. Although Warner Brothers had employed a rabbit character in earlier cartoons, it had little in common with Avery’s rabbit. Nevertheless, the rabbit became known as Bugs because the supervisor of the previous cartoons ( Porky’s Hare Hunt in 1938 and Hare-Um Scare-Um in 1939) was Ben “Bugs” Hardaway. Avery’s rabbit was thus known as “Bugs’ bunny.” Eventually the apostrophe went away, and the character became known as Bugs Bunny, even though Hardaway had moved on to Universal. In contrast to Avery’s zany Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny exhibited self-confident cool composure in a character that animation historian Steve Schneider described as the “brainiest wiseass on the block.” The iconic line “

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Dickey, James Lee

1921

James Lee Dickey, Black physician, the son of John S. and Linnie A. (Sears) Dickey, was born in 1893 in Central Texas, probably near Waco. He attended Waco public schools from 1900 to 1912 and graduated from Tillotson College (now Huston-Tillotson College) in Austin in 1916. For a brief time he worked as an industrial-arts teacher in Marlin. Then he entered Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated in 1921. He planned to go north or east to a large city to practice. But just before graduation his father died in an accident, leaving his mother with eight other children. Dickey traveled to Taylor, Texas, to talk to Dr. J. Richard Moore, the Black doctor there, but upon arrival found that Moore had moved to San Antonio. Dickey later said, "The hand of destiny guided me to Taylor, I came to stay a few years; I remained to do my life's work." He married Magnolia Fowler of Nashville, Tennessee, on November 29, 1922, and brought her to Taylor, where they worked together on many projects, including support of the African Methodist Episcopal Church . At the time, Dickey was the only Black practitioner in Williamson County and one of only 130 Black doctors in Texas. In Central Texas he established a medical facility that began with a three-bedroom clinic and expanded to a fifteen-bed hospital with modern surgical and obstetrical facilities. There were no other provisions for Blacks in any hospital in Williamson County except two beds in a building set apart from one hospital. Dickey discovered that there were no facilities for Blacks in Bell, Lee, Milam, or Bastrop counties. He investigated health problems among the Black population and discovered that the principle causes of death were typhoid fever, diarrhea among infants, convulsions and complications of childbirth, tuberculosis, pellagra, venereal diseases, and violence. He conducted health campaigns and established a prenatal clinic where all expectant mothers who were unable to pay could have free examinations and advice, and established a venereal-disease clinic to treat those unable to pay. Early in his career he also curbed a typhoid fever epidemic through a vigorous vaccination program. His concerns extended to problems of segregation and emotional suppression of Blacks. Because violence was the cause of numerous deaths, Dickey, along with others, developed recreational facilities for youth. He sought assistance from White physicians and got it. In 1940 the school board bought land for a park for African Americans , and with the help of Black women in the community and donations from leading White citizens erected a building used as a community center. A major gain came when the Taylor Amusement Company opened a balcony where Blacks could attend movies. Dickey observed that "it's hard to realize how much that meant. In earlier years, for example, one man had been whipped with a pistol for simply inquiring if seats were available for Negroes." There was no direct means of reaching the Black school except by a "foot log" over Bull Branch, or over a railroad trestle. During high water children would fall off the log into the sewage-filled water and have to be rescued. Finally, through Dickey's intervention, a bridge was erected across the branch. Dickey received many honors for his community service. He was named the year's most outstanding citizen of Taylor in 1953 by the chamber of commerce, the first time a Black man had been so honored in the community. He was also named general practitioner of the year by the Lone Star State Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association in 1953. Honors were bestowed upon Dickey as he lent time and expertise to service at his alma mater, Tillotson College, where the Science Building is named for him and Theodore K. Lawless, a dermatologist, and where he served on the board of trustees from 1951 to his death. Dickey died in Williamson County on May 18, 1959.

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Heap, James Arthur [Jimmy]

1948

James Arthur “Jimmy” Heap was a bandleader, songwriter, and guitarist. His group, the Melody Masters, is one of the best exemplars of the post-World War II-era style of honky-tonk music and introduced two of the most iconic country songs, “The Wild Side of Life” and “Release Me,” to a wide audience. Born in Taylor, Texas, in Williamson County on March 3, 1922, Heap first became interested in making music while working at a service station at age eighteen. He recalled that a frequent customer, local business owner and guitar player Herman Bruno "Slim" Gensler, used to bring his guitar in and play, sparking Heap’s interest in learning that instrument. With the outbreak of World War II , he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and was stationed in Sedalia, Missouri. There he met his future wife. When Heap was discharged after the war, he began pursuing his musical career in earnest and assembled the first iteration of the Melody Masters, which consisted of high school friend Bill Glendening, Arlie Carter, Louie Rincon, Bill Kaspar, and Tommy Swenson. Heap’s band began playing dances at popular halls around Central Texas. Their Saturday night residency at a dance hall just northeast of Austin, Dessau Hall , was an important venue for the Melody Masters early in their career. In 1948 the band began its own radio broadcast on KTAE in Taylor, sponsored in part by Dessau Hall. By this time, Arlie Carter and new member Horace Barnett had adopted an old-time fiddle tune that Barnett dubbed the “Dessau Waltz.” A rough demo of the song was featured on the fifteen-minute radio broadcast daily, and it quickly became a regional hit. Soon, Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters recorded the song for Lasso Records in Austin. That single’s success led to a second single, “Lonely Waltz”/“Rugged But Right.” Heap and the Melody Masters were offered a recording contract with Imperial Records in 1949. By this time the lineup included steel guitarist Cecil “Butterball” Harris and fiddler Houston “Perk” Williams, whose distinct vocals would later help advance record sales. Their debut single with Imperial, “That’s My Baby”/“Today, Tonight and Tomorrow,” did well. A subsequent recording, “A Million Tears,” won the group a spot on Big D Jamboree . Their release of “The Wild Side of Life,” primarily written by William Warren of Cameron, Texas, sold well throughout Texas and later proved highly successful for Hank Thompson who took it to the top of the charts in 1952. Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters recorded for Imperial between 1949 and 1951 and enjoyed great success in Texas and the Southwest. When nationally-distributed label Capitol offered them a contract, they quickly accepted. With Capitol, they recorded the biggest hit of their career, “Release Me.” Heap recalled that Perk Williams found a recording of the song done by Eddie Miller on 4 Star Records. The flip side had a song called “Motel Time” which had suggestive lyrics, causing most disc jockeys to discard the entire record. After adding “Release Me” to their live repertoire to great response, they recorded it for Capitol, who released it in 1953. It hit the Top 5 on the national charts in January 1954. Cash Box magazine named the Melody Masters one of the ten most-programmed country dance bands in the United States in 1955. No other of their Capitol recordings made the Billboard Top 10, and Heap and the band left the label in 1956. Perk Williams left the band less than a year later. In the following years, they recorded on the band’s own labels—mainly the Fame, Big Band, and Splash labels. They also leased some of their masters to other interested labels, including Winston and D Records . By the late 1950s the core lineup of Heap, Harris, and Glendening put together a new group that ventured into rockabilly music. Their recordings featured noted vocalists Dale McBride and Bill Taylor. During the 1960s the Melody Masters included Butch Keith and Ken Idaho, who helped transform the group in

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Birthplace of Governor Dan Moody

1925

A crusader for integrity in public office. Born in Taylor, Williamson County; son of Daniel and Nancy Elizabeth Robertson Moody. At 16 entered University of Texas, where he completed law school. After World War I service, won election to the office of county attorney, then an appointment by Governor Pat Neff to District Attorney, Travis and Williamson counties. Won statewide notice for prosecutions of Ku Klux Klansmen in notorious flogging cases, and was urged by friends to run for Attorney General of Texas. He won this office, and served 1925-1927 in an era of alleged corruption. Moving to halt kickbacks on highway contracts, he recovered for Texas hundreds of thousands of dollars. In 1926 ran for governor on his record as Attorney General, and was elected. Inaugurated when he was 33, he was youngest man ever to take oath for that office. During his terms, 1927-1931, Texans' faith in their state government was restored. Great reforms were made in the State Highway Department and state penitentiary system. After retirement from the governor's office, he practiced law, and was appointed by the President of the United States to prosecute tax evader. He married Mildred Paxton; they had two children.

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Bill Pickett

1870

(ca. December 1870-March 25, 1932) The son of a former slave, Willie M. (Bill) Pickett grew up in Taylor. Working as a cowboy in central Texas, he pioneered the art of "bulldogging," in which a cowboy jumps from his horse to twist a steer's horns to force it to the ground. One of the few black cowboys on the rodeo circuit, Pickett became a sensation, performing in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Europe. He retired in Oklahoma in 1930 and died two years later from injuries sustained in a riding accident. In 1971 he became the first African American cowboy inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. (1991)

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Taylor, Texas

Music in Taylor

Songs About Taylor

Artists From Taylor

Rivers & Roads in Song near Taylor

History of Taylor

The Man Who Prosecuted the Klan RoadyGoat

Taylor, TX RoadyGoat

Taylor, TX RoadyGoat

Tex Avery

Avery, Frederick Bean [Tex]

Dickey, James Lee

Heap, James Arthur [Jimmy]

Birthplace of Governor Dan Moody

Bill Pickett

Things to Do in Taylor

Everything Near Taylor