A Walk in the Park with C. Ed and Jessie Stevens Taylor
A Walk in the Park with C. Ed and Jessie Stevens Taylor
by Liz Fuller, SHS President
Recently, the Southport Historical Society was asked to participate in the Grand Opening of Taylor Field Park. The park was named in honor of Jessie Stevens Taylor and her husband C. Edward Taylor. The following is the speech given at the event, which shares a little of the contributions that the couple made to the city of Southport.
It is my privilege today to speak to you about Jessie Stevens Taylor and her husband C. Edward Taylor for whom this park is named. The Taylors lived their lives in the service of Southport and the surrounding community.
Every October as a volunteer for the Southport Historical Society, I get to portray Jessie Taylor in the Old Burying Ground. I tell the story of her important role as Southport’s Weather Observer and Storm Warning Display woman. For over 55 years she worked with the National Weather Service, recording Southport’s temperature, windspeed, and rainfall and sending her records to Washington, DC. When hurricanes came, she hoisted large flags up the weather tower that stood on the garrison lawn, warning friends, neighbors, and ships at sea of the pending dangers. Her most widely known efforts were in 1954 when Hurricane Hazel, a Cat 4 storm made landfall near Southport. Her warnings kept everyone in the community safe. A few months later she received a medal for her service from the U.S. Government.
But I don’t often get to tell stories about her husband, Ed Taylor. At the age of 22, Ed founded a weekly newspaper, the Southport Standard. He served as the editor for several years, during which time he also undertook the study of law. When he was just 27, he was elected Mayor of Southport. Two years later he received his law license from UNC at Chapel Hill. And at the age of 30, he began the first of three terms in the North Carolina Legislature. By now, you may be wondering how Ed accomplished so much at such a young age. I will tell you – he was single!
Although the first half of his life was dedicated to the hard work of getting an education and establishing a career, by the time he reached the age of 34, he was ready to settle down and start a family. That’s when he married the love of his life, 30-year-old Jessie Stevens. I’d like to think that part of what brought them together was their shared devotion to Southport and its future. Because rather than slowing down their contributions to the community after they got married, they expanded them.
In 1909, the same year that they got married, Jessie started a Women’s Civic Club. The club focused its efforts on improving daily life in Southport. They got businesses to install trash barrels rather than tossing their trash into the streets. They put benches along the garrison lawn. They painted and installed street signs. They erected the town’s first streetlight. They encouraged residents to plant flowers and clean up their yards and maintain the cemetery and eliminate breeding grounds for mosquitos. They sewed curtains for the schoolhouse, opened a library, and they increased education on childcare. They even hosted an annual baby parade so mothers could show off their healthy toddlers to the entire community.
C. Ed Taylor (1875 – 1944) & Jessie Stevens Taylor (1879 – 1961)
They did all of that in the first ten years of the club, all before Jessie, or any woman in Southport, had the right to vote. In 1920 when the 19th amendment passed, Jessie and the members of the club went door to door encouraging women to register so that they would have a say in the future of their community. Over the years, Jessie served six terms as president of the club she founded, which still exists today as the Southport woman’s club.
While Jessie was running the civic club, Ed wasn’t just sitting at home. He was doing his own work to improve Southport. In 1911, he helped organize the Bank of Brunswick, helped bring the WB&S Railroad to Southport and he helped establish the Southport Light and Power Company. Nine years later he instituted the rebuilding of Southport-Supply Road which was in great need of repair – even then it needed improvements. And in 1929, he helped organize the celebration for the completion of the Million Dollar Twin Bridges across the Cape Fear River and which made it so much easier to travel by land from Southport to Wilmington. And in the 1930s he was instrumental in obtaining right-of-way deeds for construction of the Intracoastal Waterway from Southport to Lockwood Folly. When the world wars came along, Ed served as Chairman of the Brunswick County Council of Defense and in 1943, he became the Collector of War Records for Brunswick.
I really could go on and on about the Taylors’ contributions to their community. I haven’t even touched on their dedication to their church or their devotion to their four children and numerous grandchildren. But I think you get the idea.
Both Jessie and Ed Taylor devoted their lives to the betterment of their community. Where others saw problems, they saw opportunities. Where others were content to complain, they were quick to roll up their sleeves and get things done. They never stopped believing in the future of Southport, and by their actions, they made Southport a better place for all of us to live.
I don’t think that either Jessie or Ed Taylor expected accolades for the work that they did. They were just living their lives as they saw fit – in quiet service to the community. But I suspect that if there was a landmark named in their honor they would be pleased to know that it was a beautiful park like this one that would serve to bring all generations of the Southport community together, now and in the years to come.