Portrait of a UTA family
Twenty-four Taylor family members have been associated with the University

by Lloyd Clark

The Taylor family’s campus connections began in 1911 and continue today through Lloyd Clark (’42) and his granddaughter, sophomore Alida Eggen. Clark himself is the grandson of H.K. Taylor, the president of Arlington Training School (now UTA). In all, 24 Taylor family members have been associated with the institution. Following is Clark’s account of his family’s history with UTA.

The first Taylor family relative came to the Arlington campus in 1911 when J.J. Godbey, son-in-law of Henry Kirby Taylor, was hired as Carlisle Military Academy’s headmaster—a role he served until 1913 when the corporation sponsoring the school was dissolved.

Josiah Jernigan Godbey was my “Uncle Joe”—married to Emma Lee Godbey, an older sister of my mother, Hattie May Taylor, the youngest of Henry Kirby and Sallie Brinkley Taylor’s 11 children. Uncle Joe had notified H.K. Taylor (hereafter referred to as my “Grandpa Taylor”) of the Carlisle trustees’ interest in maintaining the school property upon the departure of James McCoy Carlisle.

When Grandpa Taylor took over the facilities in September 1913, the name became Arlington Training School. My mother, then 16, and one of her brothers, Jack (John Carter Taylor) became the first Taylor family students on the grounds now occupied by The University of Texas at Arlington.

During the time Grandpa Taylor operated ATS, two of my cousins were born in the faculty quarters where the present-day Chemistry Research Building sits. Emma Lee Godbey Jr., born May 15, 1915, and Lucile Carolyn Moore, born July 21, 1915, were the daughters of my Uncle Joe and Aunt “Bit” and Uncle Vic and Aunt “Til” (or “Sis”)—the couple known formally as Victor Ivan Moore Sr. and Lucile Proctor (Taylor) Moore.

Before going further, it should be noted that the Taylor family was well-supplied with nicknames—a practice I was told stemmed from Grandpa. For example, when Lucile Carolyn (who is still addressed as “Cele”) began saying her cousin Emma Lee’s name, she pronounced it “Embelee” and thereby gave her the name of “Blee.” She answered to that throughout the 85 years of her life, which ended as Mrs. C. Adolphe Leonard in Guthrie, Okla., on Feb. 17, 2001. Cele (Mrs. W. Byron Garrett) lives in Houston.

In mid-April 1915, a public meeting was held in Arlington to bolster a plan Grandpa Taylor had to convert the school into a junior college. Clarence Owsley, director of the extension department at Texas A&M College, and G.W. Eudaly, Tarrant County farm demonstrator, spoke in favor of the proposal. Grandpa’s idea eventually was implemented when the school became North Texas Agricultural College in 1923.

In a disagreement with the board of directors over improvements to buildings and facilities, Grandpa Taylor resigned as president of ATS and joined the faculty of Texas Women’s College in Fort Worth.

Jack (John Carter), Hattie May and Henry Kirby Jr., were the first Taylor family members to take classes at the Arlington school. Subsequently, Barbee, Elaine and Lynette (daughters of Walter and Eunice Taylor – my “Uncle Walt” and “Aunt Eunice”) graduated in 1937, 1940 and 1943, respectively, from North Texas Agricultural College.

Walter Henry Taylor—who prefers to be called “Kirby” (his father’s name)—attended NTAC for a semester in 1941. Counting myself, a 1942 NTAC graduate, and Alida Eggen, our granddaughter presently attending UTA, nine individuals with Taylor genes have been students on the Arlington campus. Alida is the daughter of Jeffrey and Candyce Eggen. Candy is the youngest of Jean’s and my three children.

My first association with the campus came during the summer of 1931 when my mother enrolled in a secretarial course at NTAC. She and my father, Lloyd Clayton Clark, had separated, and she was in the process of acquiring a skill that would provide income for her and an 8-year-old son, whose nickname became “Doone”. At an early age I stated that I was “Lloyd Doonier” because I was a junior.

While in Arlington that summer, we lived at Boothe House on College Avenue. William Prentice Leftwich, an 8-year-old residing in the neighborhood, became a pal, and we renewed our acquaintanceship during our 1940-42 student days at NTAC.

Before her death in 1994, my mother—Hattie May (Taylor) Clark/Massie—established the Taylor Family UTA President’s Scholarship Fund from which grants could be made at the discretion of the president. Two students received grants in 2001, following six single awards made in previous years, and the endowment continues to be augmented by contributions from family members and friends.

The Arlington and the Dallas/Tarrant counties area is a place that holds many memories for the Taylor kith and kin, involving educational, vocational and avocational activities, reunions, weddings and funerals. H.K. and Sallie B. Taylor observed their 50th wedding anniversary at the home of Walter B. (their eldest son) and Eunice Taylor on North Center Street in Arlington in September 1930. They and 12 of their family members are buried at Rose Hill Cemetery between Arlington and Fort Worth.

Generations of education Eleven of the 24 Taylor family members associated with the University were administrators or students Henry Kirby Taylor President of Arlington Training School (now UTA), 1913-1916. Josiah Jernigan Godbey Son-in-law of Henry Kirby Taylor and headmaster of Carlisle Military Academy (now UTA), 1911-1913 John Carter Taylor Son of Henry Kirby Taylor ATS student, circa 1913-16 Hattie May Taylor Clark/Massie Daughter of Henry Kirby Taylor ATS student, circa 1913-1916 NTAC (now UTA) student, 1931 Henry Kirby Taylor Jr. Son of Henry Kirby Taylor ATS student, circa 1913-1916 Barbee Taylor Winn Granddaughter of Henry Kirby Taylor NTAC graduate, 1937 Elaine Taylor Carol Granddaughter of Henry Kirby Taylor NTAC graduate, 1940 Walter Henry Taylor Grandson of Henry Kirby Taylor NTAC student, 1941 Lloyd Clark Grandson of Henry Kirby Taylor NTAC graduate, 1942 Lynette Taylor Putnam Granddaughter of Henry Kirby Taylor NTAC graduate, 1943 Alida Eggen Great-great-granddaughter of Henry Kirby Taylor Current UTA student