News, Citizen Profile, Cleveland L. Taylor, LaSalle Parish, La. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Submitted by: Kathy L. Kelly, P.O. Box 219, Trout, La. 71371 Thank You to the Jena times for allowing the following to be submitted to the Archives.The Jena Times, Jena, LaSalle Parish, La. Wednesday, August 16, 2000, Page 13A A Times-Signal Feature "Citizen Profile" A Very Special Salute This man has helped people in LaSalle for past 85 years "The only regrets I have in my life is that I didn't do more to help the welfare of people around me," says this week's Citizen Profile Cleveland L. Taylor of Antioch. "That's the only regret I've got." But to countless people who have been influenced by his life, Mr. Taylor should have no regrets whatsoever. He'll be celebrating his 85th birthday next Tuesday, and he is still doing what he has done for many years - seeing to others and lending a hand where there is a need. Those who know him best will tell you that he doesn't just talk about helping others, it's his way of life. You'll find him visiting the sick in hospitals, attending nearly every funeral in the parish, and tending to widows' needs who have no one else to turn to. All one has to do is follow this gentleman around for a day and you'll agree with his many friends - Mr. Taylor should have no refrets at all. He was born in Antioch on August 22, 1915, to Elzy and Nealy Ainsworth. His father cut logs with a cross cut saw to earn a living for his six children, of which Mr. Taylor is the oldest. Mr. Taylor and his family moved from Antioch to the old Reeves' place in 1924, where they stayed until 1926 when they moved to Aimwell. During this time he attended school at Antioch and then Aimwell. It was a Aimwell, during the great flood of 1927, that MR. Taylor at the age of 12, got his first job. He helped herd cattle for area men, trying to save as many as possible from the flood. Later that year, the family moved to Winnsboro in Franklin Parish, where he attended the Winnsboro School while he and his family started farming. In 1930 the family moved east of Winnsboro on the Bayou Mason Ridge where they made a crop there as well. After the crop was in, the moved to East Carroll Parish on Joe's Bayou where they continued farming. He attended the Cordell School for two years and he and his father continued farming during the years 1931-1933. "The last crop I made in east Carroll I got paid 6 cents a pound ofr cotton," he said. "That wasn't even enough to pay the bills so I picked up pecans during the winter on the frozen ground to take them to Lake Providence to sell for food." As if the year wasn't bad enough for Mr. Taylor with the Great Depression going on, he lost his mother to the deadly Typhoid Fever. Mr. Taylor, who himself suffered with the Typhoid Fever also after his mother died was left to raise his five brothers and sisters. He decided to move back to LaSalle Parish in November of that year and almost immediately upon returning he began to court his childhood sweetheart, Orma Cockerham. The two had grown up together from Summerville and were true childhood sweethearts. "I was gone for six years and didn't get to see her and I came back and saw her for four months and we got married," Mr. Taylor said. My wife was a wonderful woman and I loved her dearly." Together, Mr. And Mrs. Taylor raised his brothers and sisters and then raised five of their own - three girls and two boys. They also adopted one child, Walter Taylor, of whom Mr. Taylor now lives with in Antioch. In addition to this, the Taylor's raised 18 foster children in their home. "We loved children and my wife always had a special way with them," he said. Mr. Taylor picked up jobs around the country for 50 cents per day during this time to feed his family. He and one of his brothers would cut wood for 50 cents per rick and helped to clear much of the land in and around Antioch. After his brother died, Mr. Taylor worked fro several of the saw mills that were all over the country during that time, earning hard living to put food on their table. In addition to this, he continued to farm to help provide food and money. "The second winter me and my wife were married, I planted government oaks and got paid $6.76 per month," he said. "That's what got us through the winter - without that we wouldn't have made it." Mr. Taylor then went to work in the WPA governmetn work program for a while and then went to work as a contractor as day lobor cutting logs. When WWII broke out, MR. Taylor was deferred from being drafted because of his family, but ultimately toward the end of the war he was called upon to serve his country. However, after several physicals he was unable to join the service because of a heart condition he had occurred when he'd had the Typhoid Fever years earlier. He next went to work for International Paper, where he stayed for eight years until he went to work for the state. For the next 17 years he was a state employee until he retired in 1975 at the age of 62. On August 29, 1991, Mr. Taylor lost the love of his life when his wife of "57 years, 4 months and 8 days" passed away. He didn't talk much about that day and it was plain to see that the painful memories still plague him today from losing his wife of so many years. After being alone for several years, he did re-marry to Ms. Lillian Nugent for a short time, but said the marriage "just didn't work out." Today, Mr. Taylor is busier than most men over half his age. "Someone asked me in the feed store the other day to stay around awhile and drink some coffee," he said. "I told him that I've got some things to do before I die and if I don't stay busy I won't get them done." Mr. Taylor mows his son's yard (where he now lives, a widow woman's yard across the road, and he has been the overseer and grounds keeper of Squires Cemetery now for 60 years. Along with this, he spends a lot of time at hospitals visiting the sick, nursing homes visiting the elderly, and just generally looking out for people and helping where ever the need presents itself. "The Lord has been good to me," he said. "I got in the church in 1932 and have never regretted it. I try to live everyday so that I'm ready to go." Mr. Taylor said one of the hard things to realize is that his time on this earth is darwing close, but he takes comfort in knowing that he has made all the preparations to meet his God when his time does come. "I look around and I think about it - I'm the oldest man in this country," mr. Taylor continued. "All of my old friends are dead and I'm now the oldest in this part and the oldest man in our church. So it makes me aware and it makes me stay ready to meet the Lord." When MR. Taylor first started going to church at the age of 18, he remembers sacrifices that were made just to go to church. He remembers a time when people would get to church however they could, mostly by walking, and he himself would do unthinkable things just to be in a church service. "When we lived in East Carroll Parish, I remember swimming the Bayou Mason River just to go to church many times, "he said. "Me and a buddy would take our clothes off, swim the river holding our clothes above our heads with one hand, and then when we got to the other side, we'd dry off and get dressed and go to church. We did that a many a times." Mr. Taylor recalled one time when he and his friend were swimming across the river of an experience he'll never forget. "We were swimming across and he said ‘look at that big log floating down the river'," he said. "I told him that was the first log I've ever seen with eyes. It was a big alligator and I don't have to tell you how fast we swam getting to the other side." He has gone to church every since he had that first encounter with Christ in 1932 and says he's never regretted it. The same year he retired from the state in 1975, he started attending Aimwell Pentecostal Church where Bro. Shorty Mayo pastored. "Rev. Mayo has been a real friend of mine ever since I went to his church in 1975," Mr. Taylor said. "I've went to Aimwell Pentecostal Church ever since then and I intend to go there until I die." When asked about the differences in America today and when he was growing up, Mr. Taylor immediately pointed to the political structure of our nation. "One of the things that I've seen is how bad our country has gotten politically," he said. "It's politically rotten and politics is one of the main things that have ruined our country." Mr. Taylor remembers a time when politicians would tell the voters things when campaigning anf then would actually carry out what they said when elected. "Not anymore," he says. "After a man stays in office so long it corrupts him. I'll tell you one thing, if you want to ruin a man just elect him to public office. I've been here a long time and I've watched them come and go and I've never seen a man yet who didn't get ruined by the power." Several years ago, Mr. Taylor was ordained as an elder of the church and still today he leaves no doubt as to where he stands in relation with God and God's Holy Word - The Bible. "I'm not going to compromise the Bible," he said. "I still say the Word says what it means and means what it says. I've studied it for years, read the Bible through three times, and prayed about it. It is true and doesn't need to be added or taken away from. It is a seld-explaining book." Mr. Taylor said that one of the things he has learned from studing the Bible is how to live and how to treat others. He says that if people would simply be themselves and stop trying to put on false fronts that the world would react to them differently. "I'm the same today as yesterday and tomorrow," he said. "I live outside of your sight as I do in it. I don't put on a false face. I'm strictly what I am. What you see is what you get ... That's me." He said that one of the reasons he lives his life this way is so that no one will be able to say that he was a hypocrite in any form. "When they look at me in that box I want them to say he tried to make friends and not lose them," Mr. Taylor continued. "I'm just one of those old timers who knows what he believes and if I believe it I'll stand on it." At the soon to be age of 85, Mr. Taylor is a man who is still strong in the faith and strong in his beliefs. After some 68 years of being a Christian, nothing will shake him from the foundation that has established his ways. He is a man of few words - a man from a generation long passed, a generation where actions speak much louder than words. A generation that perhaps we all should return too. This week we salute Mr. Cleveland Taylor for his lifelong service of demonstrating the love of Christ to his fellow man and we agree with his many friends... Mr. Taylor, you have no regrets. Caption under photo: SINCE 1932 CLEVELAND TAYLOR'S life has been centered around the book he holds in his hands - The Bible. He is known all over LaSalle Parish as a man who demonstrates the love of Christ through his actions and not through empty words. He will be celebrating his 85th birthday next Tuesday, with receptions being held in his honor this weekend. (See Story.)