Susan Amanda Smart & Rueben Taylor

Susan Amanda Smart & Reuben Taylor

Reuben Taylor

Susan Amanda "Manda" Smart married Rueben Taylor on November 6, 1892. [Marriage Records Index, Denton Co., Texas; 1885-1894; 976.4555 V25d page 51 - Taylor, Reuben & Smart, Susan A.; Vol. 4, # 310; 6 Nov 1892]

Reuben was born on January 3, 1865 near Pilot Point in Denton County, Texas. His parents, Carrol (1831) and Sarah (1835) Taylor, were both born somewhere in Texas.

Rueben had four sisters (Mary b. 1856, Lavina b. 1858, Leoma b. 1864, Catherine b. 1867) and three brothers (John b. 1870, Henry b. 1872, Wesley b. 1876 [grave shown below]).

Reuben and Susan came to Port, Oklahoma in 1898 from Pilot Point, Texas. They were the first Smarts to venture north out of Texas to homestead in Oklahoma.

The Taylors filed on land in Clinton Oklahoma near where the Smarts would homestead on the Washita River. They later* found better land at Port and sold their homestead rights to Margaret (Clapp) Smart.

*This must have been much later--they were in Port and the others were in Stafford, to the north. Rueben may have homesteaded later around Stafford since he started much earlier than the others, in Port.

They homesteaded a large piece of land between Port (NW of Sentinel) and Port Cemetery and north of the Baptist Church. They also had land north of Port to the gin.

Reuben went to Wellington, Texas to get lumber, etc. to build the house which they lived in for many years. Rube Taylor farmed several years on different farms at Port.

Margaret and Rosella spent there last years there. Many of our family is buried in the Port Cemetery near where this house was.

The Taylors were all members of the Port Baptist Church.

Rueben & Susan's House in Port, Oklahoma

A Visit to Spokane

Sometime around 1916, The Taylors, their daughter Bessie and her husband, Bert Loomis went to visit George and his family near Spokane, Washington.

James Ota and Bill went along with some of the nieces and nephews too.

This picture was taken to commemorate the visit.

Susan and Reuben's Children:
Bessie L. Loomis	b. 1-11-1894 d. 1-6-1919 (24 years old)	Their first child, Bessie, played the piano for church services, etc. Bessie met and married another member of the church--an early settler to the area--Bert Loomis. Unfortunately Bessie died of the flu and pneumonia only 17 months after having a daughter--her only child, Joyce. Rueben and Susan raised Joyce as their own. Joyce married Lloyd W. Copeland and had 5 girls and 4 boys. I have marriages/grandchildren info on this line but no geography so I don't know where they live. --Randy.
James C.	b. Aug. 1895 d. 3-18-1950 (54 years old)	Their olest son, Jim became a school teacher at a very young age. He served in France in W.W.I. He married Grace Crabtree on April 16, 1933. They had two children, Jimmy and Janet. Grace died in 2004 and is buried in Port, Oklahoma. [picture below] [ what happened to Jimmy & Janet?]
Roy F.	b. 5-21-1897	Died at only 11 years old.
Unknown	b. 5-10-1899	Died young.
Charley C.	b. 12-2-1902	Died young.
Leonard Ray	b. 9-5-1906 d. 9-28-1985 (79 years old)	Leonard was a farmer and well known around Sentinel, Oklahoma. He is responsible for the first deposit on the perpetual care of Port Cemetery. He was Secretary Treasurer of the Sentinel Baptist Church for 25 or 30 years. Leonard died on Septemb. He never married.
Unknown	b. 12-27-1908	Died young.

The Cemetery at Port Oklahoma
The cemetery at Port, Washita County, Oklahoma is a major focal point for our family history. Nothing else remains of what was a gathering place for our family. The Taylors were an important part of the Port community. Rueben's brother, Wesley and his family also lived there. The cemetery serves as a last gathering place for many from this generation of the Smart family who tried to settle western Oklahoma.
	Rueben died August 21, 1946. Susan died October 13, 1956. She was laid beside all but one of her children--Leonard. The whole family is buried in Port Cemetery at Port, Washita County, Oklahoma where they lived since 1898--some of them still there wel over a hundred years later. Letter from Frances Folsom Smart Pafford, her sister, to other family members: dated 1956: Buried "Manda" Oct. 16, 1956 at Port; her son, Leonard, is the only surviving child of her family of 6* children. *7 shown above.
Nearby Graves:

The Cemetery at Port Oklahoma

The cemetery at Port, Washita County, Oklahoma is a major focal point for our family history. Nothing else remains of what was a gathering place for our family.

The Taylors were an important part of the Port community. Rueben's brother, Wesley and his family also lived there.

The cemetery serves as a last gathering place for many from this generation of the Smart family who tried to settle western Oklahoma.

Rueben died August 21, 1946. Susan died October 13, 1956. She was laid beside all but one of her children--Leonard.

The whole family is buried in Port Cemetery at Port, Washita County, Oklahoma where they lived since 1898--some of them still there wel over a hundred years later.

Letter from Frances Folsom Smart Pafford, her sister, to other family members: dated 1956:

Buried "Manda" Oct. 16, 1956 at Port; her son, Leonard, is the only surviving child of her family of 6* children.

*7 shown above.

Nearby Graves:

	Leonard Taylor, Rueben & Amanda's youngest son. 79 years old. Never married.
	James C. Taylor 1895 - 1950 (54 years) Grace M. Taylor 1908 - 2004 (96 years) and his wife.
	TAYLOR, Wesley G. 1876 - 1939 TAYLOR, Edna B. 1879 - 1935 This was Rueben's brother and his wife.
	TAYLOR, Lee Etta 1913 - 1967 (who is this? married one of the Taylors?)