Palo Pinto Co., TX - Biography: Francis Taylor Watson
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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb by:
Bobbie Ross <bwross@htcomp.net>
September 26, 2002

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                           FRANCIS TAYLOR WATSON

    Taylor Watson was born to parents Walter (Buck) Watson and Dollie Taylor
Watson in 1905.  He grew up in Palo Pinto county with a great love for the
outdoors and became a very capable in almost anything that he tried to do,
 he was truly a "jack of all trades".  In 1915 he married Sarabob Martin of
Dallas and they had only one child, daughter, Bobbie.
    Taylor was working on WPA jobs at the latter part of World War II.
Later had a job as a fireman and then went into the filling station business.
He and Walter Moore owned the Sinclair station in downtown Mineral Wells
beside the Greyhound bus station.  Of course at that time, about 1940-45,
downtown was ALL there was of Mineral Wells.
    About 1946 Taylor moved his family to the Watson Ranch, which was almost
in the middle of nowhere at that time.  The only road in was about 10 miles
of unpaved, mostly gravel, ruts.  There was no electricity there and very
little
water.  The ranch still had some horses that were running wild, left from the
government remount days so I was told.  I was in on one cattle drive that took
cattle from near Possum Kingdon Lake across the Watson Ranch and on to Gordon
to the railroad.  We finally got electricity about 1949.
    Taylor had worked one time as tool pusher on oil wells, so was very
interested in the oil activity that took place around him.  He worked for
the oil companies and was paid for pumping them, he said he had made more
money from that than the cattle business.  But he loved his cattle and was
very proud when he was able to get good sires for his hereford cattle. For
a number of years one of the largest jobs around the ranch was Angora goats.
Their hair was used to make cloth and the market was good for a few years.
An advantage to having them was the amount of underbrush they kept cleared out.
The predators later became so thick that it was impossible to keep goats, but
for about 15 years it was a really good business.  He became friends with the
Yorks at Lometa, who sold his goat hair,  and when their son went into the
service he gave Taylor his Border Collie, a trained stock dog, so that she
would be able to continue being around goats because she loved to work so much.
That was Chico, the first Border Collie that we knew of that had been in Palo
Pinto County and the dam of the breed there today.  Taylor and his dogs
developed an understanding that was great to see.
    Taylor died in 1970, Sarabob died in 1992, they are side by side under an
oak tree in the Palo Pinto cemetery.

By Bobbie Ross, daughter.
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