A Little Bit About the Family of Sarah Rees and Ephraim Austin Taylor

While reading the notes from the talk that my dad gave at the funeral of his grandmother, Avagail Taylor Moore, I wanted to learn more about her and her family, especially when her mother died and she helped to raise her brothers. So, I looked to see what I could take from the dates in my genealogy file, and this is what I was able to piece together:

Ephraim Austin Taylor was the son of Annie Sophia Brian and Joseph Ephraim Taylor. Ephraim Austin was the second of nine children, born in 1886 in Fremont, Utah. All of Ephraim’s siblings were born in Fremont, Utah, between 1885 and 1902.

Sarah Rees was the daughter of Sarah Jane John and Thomas Parley Rees. Sarah was born in 1887 in West Portage, Utah, the second of sixteen children (Sarah was the oldest surviving child in the family, as her elder brother, William Thomas Rees, died at six months of age). After living in West Portage, Box Elder county, Utah where Sarah and her older brother were born, Sarah’s family relocated to several different towns within Wayne county, Utah, including West Portage, Thurber (now called Bicknell), Horse Valley, Fremont, Franklin, and Loa between 1889 and 1911. Five of Sarah’s 15 siblings passed away before they reached their first birthdays.

On 26 September 1906, in a little town called Loa, Utah, Ephraim Austin Taylor and Sarah Rees were married, at the respective ages of 20 and 19 years. On 14 November 1906 both Ephraim and Sarah were endowed, and the couple was sealed in the Salt Lake, Utah temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both Ephraim and Sarah grew up in families who were members of the LDS church, as each of their parents were sealed in LDS temples at the time of their marriages – Ephraim’s parents in the St. George, Utah temple and Sarah’s parents in the Logan, Utah temple. Ephraim and Sarah were both baptized members of the church at age eight, as were all of Ephraim’s and Sarah’s surviving siblings.

Eleven months and 7 days after their wedding day, Sarah gave birth to their first child, Dora Belle Taylor. Almost 15 months later their second child, Charles Ephraim Taylor, was born. And just under 2 years later Sarah had her third child, Orval Clell Taylor. When Orval was 13 months old his younger sister, Avagail, was born. A few weeks before Avagail’s third birthday, her younger brother, Pratt, was born. A couple months before Pratt turned 2, Sarah had her sixth child, a boy, who died the same day he was born. One and a half years after their buried their little boy in the cemetery in Loa, Utah, Sarah and Ephraim had their seventh child, Orlo Austin Taylor. Before Orlo’s second birthday, his little brother, Elmo G Taylor, was born. And two days before Elmo turned 2, he became a big brother to Harold R Taylor. (Most of Sarah and Ephraim’s ten children were born in Loa, Wayne county, Utah, except their third child Orval born in Carey, Idaho in 1910; their fourth child Avagail born in Fremont, Wayne county, Utah in 1911; and their youngest child Sarah born in Salina, Sevier county, Utah in 1925).

During their 15-year marriage, Sarah Rees and Ephraim Austin Taylor had become the parents to eight surviving children: 2 daughters and 6 sons, and buried one infant son. On 9 May 1925, at the age of 37, Sarah gave birth to her last child. I assume that there were complications with the delivery, because Sarah Rees Taylor passed away on the same day that her last child was born. On that day she gave birth to a little girl, Sarah Ann Taylor, named after her mother. Sadly, little Sarah Ann passed away when she was only eight months old, and she was also buried in Loa, Utah. So, as a 38-year-old father, Ephraim was left a widower with nine children ranging in age from 17 down to a newborn, and after less than a year he was forced to also bury his baby daughter. The youngest surviving child, Harold, was only three years old when his mother died.

Just under six months after her mother’s death, Ephraim and Sarah’s oldest child, Dora Belle Taylor, was married to Boyd Oyler Blackburn. That left Ephraim, a widowed farmer, with six sons and one daughter, Avagail, who was 13 years old at the time of her mother’s death. Avagail had two older brothers (ages 16 and 14 at the time), and her four younger (surviving) brothers were 10, 7, 5, and 3 years old at the time of their mother’s death. It became necessary for Avagail to stop attending school so that she could take care of her brothers and the household.

Four years after her mother died, at the age of 17, Avagail Taylor was married to Ivan J Moore on 29 July 1929 in Richfield, Sevier county, Utah. Ivan was the third of ten children born to Edith Hunt and John Augusta Moore Jr. Avagail and Ivan had three children, Gwen, Faun, and Ivan Guy Moore. Avagail passed away on 8 February 1999 at the age of 87.

Avagail Taylor:

Avagail and her oldest daughter, Gwen Moore:

Ivan and Avagail Moore with their children, Faun, Guy, and Gwen:

Avagail Taylor and Ivan J Moore:

Avagail with one of her grandchildren, Steven John Chidester:

Avagail with her dog, Sheba:

Notes from a Talk Given at Avagail Taylor Moore's funeral

When I was 17 years old my great grandma, Avagail Taylor Moore, passed away. I remember Grandma Moore and her little black miniature poodle, Sheba. I remember visiting her at her house in Utah a few times when I visited my grandma, and I remember that she could cook well. I always especially liked her ‘pumpkin pudding,’ which was really a pumpkin pie without the crust. I also remember Grandma Moore living with her daughter, my Grandma Faun, when she was older, and I remember that she liked to watch basketball games on tv. I remember giving her a big brown and white conch sea shell as a gift once, and she had kept it and the family gave it back to me after she passed away, and I still have it. And I thought that her name was so cool – like Abigail, but still unique (I always thought it would be cute to have twin girls named Aurora and Avagail and call them Rori and Avi).

Although I loved Grandma Moore, I didn’t know much about her life until I listened to a talk that my dad gave at her funeral. I learned that day that my great grandma’s mother died when she was just a girl, and she quite school and stayed home to take care of her brothers. Wow! I just remember thinking that it was so interesting to learn about her life that day, so I asked my dad if he still had the notes from the talk he gave. He let me copy them, so I thought I’d share them here. (I wish I had a recording of the actual talk, but the notes are the next best thing). Thanks, Dad!

Steven John Chidester’s notes for the talk that he gave at the funeral of his grandmother, Avagail Taylor Moore on 13 February 1999 in Loa, Wayne County, Utah. In a notebook dated 30 January 1999, in the possession of Steven Chidester of San Diego, California as of January 2010:

“Grandma Moore, Avagail Taylor Moore, lived a good long time. This gentle soul bridged a time span that to her great grandchildren seems like an eternity. So long that we came to think of her as permanent – a fixture – a pillar of the family.

During her lifetime, the world changed a great deal – made huge progress in many ways and changed in others that we might not thing of as progress.

This pillar was set on a solid foundation. She learned to work at an early age when family circumstances forced her to withdraw from school as a pre-teen to assume responsibilities for her family. After the death of her mother and marriage of her older sister, Grandma became the woman of the household at the age of 12. She was a surrogate mother to brothers scarcely __ years younger than her. Her brothers Pratt and Harold never failed to acknowledge this. Mother’s Day cards sent even this past year. Supported by her grandmothers Reese [Sarah Jane John (Rees)], Taylor + Bryan [Annie Sophia Brian (Taylor)].

She cooked and cleaned and kept home – baking bread most everyday for the large family that mobilized every set of hands to run the house and farm.

On assuming this new role, she was forced to forego hope of attending high school. She carried the regret of never having gone to school and graduated throughout her life.

I may refer to her as unschooled – but never as uneducated. She was self-taught in later life and read avidly. Each year at Christmas I often received a gift subscription to her favorite magazine, National Geographic, which she studied rather than read.

When in fourth grade I had to learn the capitols of all 50 states, I was delighted to find that she already knew them.
‘Grandma, what’s the capitol of Wisconsin?’
‘South Carolina?’
‘New Hampshire?’

Although we teased her about our needing to eat with one hand while holding on to the plate with the other for fear she would grab the plate and wash it before we could finish our mashed potatoes, we respected the fact that she applies her full efforts to tidiness, cleanliness and a job well done.

In later life she served a mission for the church, then returned to continue work in the mission home. She served her mission at the same time I served mine. We exchanged letters and missionary experiences.

Although she worked her whole life and served tirelessly, her most enduring trait was her love of family. We visited when we could and before fail health made it difficult she – us. She spent several days at our house 13 years ago when our 3 daughters were 4, 2, and less than 1 year. Our girls were then already a rambunctious handful, and I fear we wore her out. After she returned, mom called to say Grandma would probably not be coming to stay with us again. When I asked why, she said that after returning from a week at our house Grandma had awakened in the night, hyperventilating, in a sweat and said she dreamed she was pregnant and giving birth to one baby after another all night long.

I was present when Grandma passed away. After the family had gathered in prayer and each had paid their goodbyes, she tarried with us for a time and later, after years of struggle with health problems, her breathing slowed and she peacefully slipped to the other side.

All present loved her dearly, but none would bid her stay. As the breath of life left her body, I envisioned her beautiful spirit, unencumbered by the limitations of age and ill health, being welcomed by those she loved who have gone on before.

Grandma Moore lived a good long time. So long that we came to think of her as eternal. And we should still think of her that way – for that is what she is. It is only our points of view that lack a clear eternal perspective.

Hers is the prime example of one truly endured valiantly to the end. We would be fortunate indeed, if at the end of our days it could be said we had done as well.”