Marshall County, OK - Biography - Beauford Norborne Taliaferro, Sr. (1900-1968) http://files.usgwarchives.net/ok/marshall/biography/t4160002.txt --------------------------------- Copyright © 2000 by Ella Brown ellabbrown@email.msn.com Submitted by B.N. Taliaferro Jr. Notes from LoRene Taliaferro Reirdon This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. --------------------------------- USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Source: Submitted by B.N. Taliaferro Jr. Notes from LoRene Taliaferro Reirdon ------------------------------------------------------------------ Beauford Norborne Taliaferro, Sr. (1900-1968) Beauford Norborne Taliaferro, was born in Indian Territory Jan. 19, 1900, the son of Dorsey Buckner and Byrd Whiting Taliaferro. He was born at their home on their ranch, southeast of Oakland and south of the new town site of Madill being laid out in 1900. He was given two traditional family names, Beauford and Norborne, used for a number of generations by the Taliaferro family. D.B. Taliaferro’s great-grandfather’s name was Norborne. His younger brother George was a friend and companion and shared his home in Madill for many years. Norborne would welcome the arrival of two sisters, Mary Byrd and LoRene. His paternal uncles were named Henry Beauford and William Norborne. One of his cousins was “Boots”, Henry Beauford, son of W.N. Taliaferro, of Madill. Norborne attended elementary school in Madill and was graduated from Madill High School with the class of 1918. He won many medals and honors when he attended the academic and curricular meets held in Durant, Oklahoma, at Southeastern State College. He brought home gold medals he won for debate, extemporaneous speeches, etc. He applied, and was accepted for entrance, as a cadet to Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I.) the “West Point of the South”, during the pre-Civil War years. His paternal grandmother’s brother, Colonel James Ambrose Madison, was a member of V.M.I.’s Class of 1850. Ambrose was the brother of Eliza Lewis Madison Taliaferro, who was Norborne’s grandmother. Their grandfather was William Madison who was President James Madison’s brother. His paternal grandfather, Col. Thomas Dorsey Taliaferro, gave his age as seventeen when he entered Virginia Military Institute on Aug. 2, 1849, with the class of 1852. As a child, Norborne had been very close to our Grandfather and very kind to “wait on him” and his needs due to the Colonel’s partial and failing eyesight. No doubt Norborne listened to him as he told him of his army experiences and tales of the Civil War. Perhaps he had hopes and dreams of a military career for his young grandson! The terrible influenza epidemic of 1918 struck our nation, killing many people. Norborne returned home to Madill from V.M.I. at the insistence of our mother, who was very ill. She and her younger son, George Whiting, age 15, almost died. This terrible disease weakened their resistance greatly and affected their future lives and health. Norborne graduated from Austin College in 1922 and later taught school at Wilson, Oklahoma, where he was principal and high school coach of athletics. He and his brother George managed the family business due to his mother’s illness, after his father’s death in 1927. He married Octavia Copley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George E. Copley, of Sherman, Texas. Their son, B.N. Jr., was born in April 1934. Octavia died before their son finished Sherman High School. He lived with his grandfather Copley whose wife and all four children were deceased. He spent vacations and holidays visiting his dad and Uncle George in Madill as he grew up and later attended college. In the early part of the 1940’s Norborne worked on the Atomic Bomb project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with the construction of the facilities which was top secret at the time of its development. Our brother, George, was given power of attorney and looked after Norborne’s business interests until he returned. These interests included agricultural pursuits, oil leasing and development, farm land and building rentals, agricultural leases, investments, and banking in Oklahoma and Texas. For a period of time he worked for the Federal Land Bank of Wichita. His son, B.N. Jr. married Ruth Pfeifer, and at the present time lives with his family in Georgetown, Texas. Their young son is Daniel Wesley Taliaferro. In 1961, B.N. Sr. married Helen Moreland who had one daughter, Sherry Moreland. In 1964, after George’s death, Norborne entered M.D. Anderson Hospital, Houston, Texas, where he underwent surgery for a diagnosis of cancer of the esophagus. He seldom spoke, nor complained, of his physical handicaps including a rare eye disease. He lived at 707 West Taliaferro Street where he died February 1968. Submitted by B.N. Taliaferro Jr. Notes from LoRene Taliaferro Reirdon