Voices From the Past

Delbert G. Taylor

By Delbert G. Taylor

November 12, 1970

Tape #118

Oral Interview conducted by Harold Forbush

Transcribed by Brittney Law November 2006 Edited by Jamie Whitehurst April 2008

Brigham Young University- Idaho

HF: Through the facilities of the Upper Snake River Valley Historical Society, the interview on reel to reel tape is now transferred onto a C60 cassette this 18th day of March 1984 by Harold Forbush.

HF: Oral history of the Upper Snake River Valley. It’s a pleasure for me this late afternoon of the 12th of November 1970 to have come to my office here at Rexburg 68 East 1st South. Brother Taylor, Bishop Taylor, President Taylor of this Rexburg Stake that we might consider with him a little of his contribution in the Rexburg area, it’s growth business wise and church administration. Brother Taylor would you kindly state to us your full name and the date and place where you were born.

DT: My name is Delbert G. Taylor. I was born in Grant, Idaho Jefferson County.

HF: On what date?

DT: I was born on the 24th day of April 1894.

HF: Will you state to us your father’s name and a little of his background. And then I would like to have you do the same for your mother.

DT: My father’s name was Delbert L. Taylor. My grandfather was President G. Taylor who lived in Harrisville near Ogden. My mother’s name was Nancy McIntyre, a sister to Brother McIntyre of Rexburg.

HF: That would be a sister to Raymond or his father Eli?

DT: His father Eli McIntyre.

HF: Eli McIntyre. Now were your people on both sides from maybe England or Scotland? I mean, going back as far as you know.

DT: My parents were born in Harrisville, both of them. They grew up in that territory near Ogden and early in life they came up to Rexburg and pioneered this country; started it up.

HF: President Taylor could you comment possibly on some physical characteristic that seemed to exist in the Taylor family/ Were they large men in stature or perhaps medium? Would you have any comment?

DT: I think generally speaking my parents were a little larger than the ordinary person. My father was about 5’8” but I had other uncles that were considerably larger than father. My mother was about 5’ 9” and her brothers and sisters were larger than she was.

HF: In other words, she was a large woman, quite a large woman. 5’9” you say?

DT: Yeah. About 5’8” or 9”.

HF: I see. Now I have noted this, that in some families aptitudes for music or speech or business acumen seem to prevail and be handed down from one generation to another. Could you comment on any such aptitude which might have existed in the Taylor family or the McIntyre?

DT: My father’s family were not interested very much in music. My mother’s family was quite active in music and took part in singing quite a lot. But the family, a group of 12 children in one family, none of us took very much part in music. We liked music but we didn’t participate in it.

HF: You commented that hard work was quite a common denominator of both families.

DT: That’s correct. They came with the pioneers. They had to build canals. They had all the responsibility of killing the sage brush and raising a large family.

HF: According to family tradition, what factors induced your people to move into the Upper Snake River Valley?

DT: When father and mother were married they had two children before they came to Idaho. They followed the council of President John Taylor who recommended that the Latter-Day Saints settle in the Upper Snake River Valley, wherever it was best for our bid. My father and mother came to now Jefferson County, but at that time was [inaudible].

HF: It was right in the raw wasn’t it? Well actually, were your parents involved in small farming. I mean before they left Utah?

DT: My father was raised as a farmer and also my mother, from farm homes. They came up here, took up the hardship of pioneering and building up a home and establishing themselves in the community of Grant Idaho.

HF: Did they come alone or with a group of other pioneers?

DT: There was a group of a few pioneers. Travelled about the same time, but later on not on the same few weeks.

HF: Would it be proper to mention those kind of who came together along with your folks?

DT: Sure. Came up with her husband Eli McIntyre. My father’s sister, wife of John Webster, came up about the same time. And my father’s sister’s husband, Alfred Adell.

HF: Now Brother Taylor, do you recall others that came in the same group?

DT: Yes there were many others who came in the same group and from the same area in Utah.

HF: What were the factors that induced them and caused them to settle in Grant?

DT: I do not know just exactly what brought them to Grant, but I understood that there was something of the family came up and took a understanding of the different pieces of property and where to file the best for homes and they chose Grant as the place.

HF: Now that was later made into a little town site, I suppose, wasn’t it?

DT: A town site yes, Grant, Idaho Jefferson County.

HF: Did it ever have a post office?

DT: No.

HF: It never had a post office. But it was laid out as a little town site?

DT: That’s right, a town site.

HF: Now this would be just south of Lewisville, wouldn’t it?

DT: It’d be west and a little south.

HF: Of Lewisville?

DT: South of Lewisville, yes. But west and south of Rigby.

HF: Do you recall as a young man knowing this Mr. Preston Ellsworth who was a neighbor up in Lewisville?

DT: Yes. Preston Ellsworth was come about a few years before father and mother did. And he was growing up as a boy in that area and he was very fruitful in his achievements as a farmer.

HF: Now it’s my understanding, I think you mentioned, that there were two children born by the time that your parents moved to Grant.

DT: My two oldest brothers.

HF: And what were their names?

DT: Loren Taylor and Ira Taylor were born before they came to Grant.

HF: And following the settlement of your family, can you name the children as they came along, in their order of birth?

DT: After Ira, my brother was Loren, my sister Ariel, my sister Grace, and then my birthday, my brother Baldwin, my other brother Lawrence, my sister Dorothy, my brother Lavaun, brother Harold, brother Wells, and my brother Lynn.

HF: How many does that make?

DT: 12 children.

HF: 12 children. 10 born at Grant. Let’s see, now your people arrived what year in the Upper Snake River Valley?

DT: I think they arrived in the Upper Valley about 1877.

HF: Well let’s see, 87 could it have been?

DT: 87

HF: 1887. Why I’m suggesting that, we had the privilege of interviewing Preston Ellsworth not too long ago and his people settled there at Lewisville in 1882.

DT: There were a few people who came before father and mother did.

HF: It’s interesting to note as we pass, that Eli McIntyre constructed his home on the Ellsworth property and it’s still standing. And he complimented Mr. McIntyre as being a real builder.

DT: Eli McIntyre came up a little earlier that my father and he settled a farm just a half a mile away from our farm up north, and they were our neighbors for most of my young life.

HF: Now your father selected and homesteaded, of course, 160?

DT: 160 acres yes. Eli McIntyre also had 160 acres.

HF: Now as a lad by the time you recall, Brother Taylor, had water been brought down to the ranch?

DT: I did not remember the hard work and labor to get the water to our farms, but I had some inclination about the struggles and the hard work of building canals to bring the water down to the area. What come down mostly through the bridges sway would have been used for the canal all these years.

HF: Now, this diversion has taken place in the dry bed.

DT: The diversion took place in a dry bed almost straight east of Grant.

HF: Almost straight east of Grant. Would that be up around Label?

DT: No, that’d be up around…

HF: Further east of Label?

DT: No. That’d be up around Heise Hot Springs. Close by there.

HF: I see. That far east!? And that canal was named what?

DT: Burgess Canal.

HF: It was named Burgess Canal? Does it carry water on further south than Grant and Lewisville?

DT: It carries water on further south as well as helping people east and west.

HF: Now, it doesn’t provide water for the people in Lewisville?

DT: No. This canal, the Burgess Canal, empties into the river again west of our home.

HF: I see. Were you quite a ways from the Snake River?

DT: We were about three miles or maybe four miles east of the Snake River as it went south.

HF: That is, of course, after the Heinriech fork, the north fork, and the south fork come together there at Manan area, isn’t it? And the river would be quite sizeable. Do you recall as a lad of problems with the river overflowing in those years?

DT: Not in our area, no. But it overflowed in areas near the river many times the water flooded a lot of proper of good property.

HF: Now as a young fellow, did you get your school out at Grant and elementary school?

DT: We had an elementary school in Grant. One building first and then later on other buildings started. We had to go to school regularly all of us.

HF: Can you name your first school teacher?

DT: I don’t believe I can name his name. But I had some very capable people to direct me in school.

HF: Now at Grant did you perhaps complete the 6th and 8th grade?

DT: Yes, I completed the 6th and 8th grade. My teacher that year was Miss Pinnock, which I appreciate more than anyone else that I know of in guiding my destiny and education.

HF: She really inspired you?

DT: Yes.

HF: What quality or personality did she possess, attributes did she possess, that seemed to stir your spirit to set this course that has helped you so much, would you suggest?

DT: She seemed to have a love for children and for all of her students. She had a great desire to please as well as to have them properly disciplined. She was a great factor in my life because I was anxious to do things and she taught me and helped me along to meet the challenges.

HF: Isn’t that interesting. How did you get to and from school Brother Taylor?

DT: We walked a mile and a half to school most of the time. Sometime we went by sleigh and sometimes by a boggan with a Swiss [inaudible], sometimes by a buggy or horseback. Many ways.

HF: Of course at that time, in the early 1900s, there was no transportation furnished?

DT: No.

HF: You got there the best way you could.

DT: The best way you could.

HF: Did you later attend the Ricks Academy?

DT: I attended the Ricks Academy, yes. In the years 1911 to 1915.

HF: Who was the principal here at that time?

DT: Ezra Dalby.

HF: Can you make a rather extensive statement as to how he influenced you, his personality?

DT: Ezra Dalby had the greatest influence on my life as a man, almost greater than I can express. Of course, some of my relatives, why I thank God for them, I believe Eli McIntyre was unusual person and he had a great effect upon my life. But Ezra Dalby was a great leader and his faith in the Church was effective to all those who wanted to know the truth about the restored gospel.

HF: Did he bring quite a lot of religious training and influence into his classroom?

DT: Well I always thought so, but I never had many classes with him. I had other teachers besides him.

HF: What particular courses did he teach here at the academy? Do you recall?

DT: What do you mean by it?

HF: Well, were they all religious courses or maybe did he teach Englis

DT: He taught English and he taught Religion and he taught History. He taught some others. He taught Mathematics and all those things, a round about education.

HF: Let’s see now, Brother Taylor, what year did you come to Ricks Academy?

DT: I came to Ricks Academy in 1912 and graduated in 1915. I had three years under the leadership of Ezra C. Dalby and the other year was under Brother Christensen’s leadership.

HF: Let’s see that was the years under Dalby and one under Christensen, and then did you later come back?

DT: I came back in 1916 and took part of the year in college education.

HF: And, of course, at that time one couldn’t specialize in one given thing, it was more or less a full high school training course that they offered. And let’s see, then by 1916 I think they’d actually started into the college work hadn’t they?

DT: I was a member of the first college class.

HF: That’s interesting. Do you recall some of the classmates of with whom you graduated in 1915?

DT: It’s difficult to recall names. No, I’ve almost forgotten, I think there was about 20 some of us. If I could remember immediately, I’d probably do that.

HF: but in 1916, you were with the group who initiated the first year of college status?

DT: That’s right.

HF: And that was still with Principal Christensen?

DT: Yes.

HF: Let’s see, now I’m just wondering was Coach Packer here at that time, had he started his years at Ricks?

DT: I don’t think so.

HF: I don’t believe he had quite had he? Did they have much of an athletic program at that time, before Coach Packer came on the scene?

DT: Oh we had basketball, that’s the main thing that we enjoyed. But it was difficult to have much of a program of athletics with so limited of facilities.

HF: They had no basketball facilities there at the campus did they? Didn’t they have to play their games and so forth down in town in some building?

DT: Well, they played some up there also. But as soon as they could they turned the building or the place for the library.

HF: Now at that time, were all of the classes held in what became known as the Spori building, the administration building?

DT: All the classes. That was all they had was the one building. The other building, of course, was built a little later.

HF: Was the area around this building, as you recall, planted to lawn and beautified at all?

DT: No, it wasn’t beautified. There was some effort made to get trees and grass down, but it was a difficult task because of irrigation and no sprinkling system.

HF: No water in other words?

DT: No water.

HF: Had they commenced to lay cement sidewalks at all at that time?

DT: I don’t remember. I think the sidewalks were made out of board.

HF: NowPresident Taylor, following your graduation and the year you had a Ricks College, were you called on a mission for the church?

DT: No, I wasn’t called on a mission until later. I went down to the AC for two years.

HF: Now would that still be the BYC?

DT: No, that’s later. Utah State College.

HF: I see. In other words, by that time the BYC had merged as a Utah State College?

DT: I didn’t go to that.

HF: You mean the BYC?

DT: No

HF: You attended the Utah State College?

DT: Yes.

HF: What course did you take down there? I mean was it specializing maybe in agriculture or business?

DT: I took some engineering and irrigation and other things that I needed, but that was some time after I’d served a mission.

HF: Who called you on a mission and where did you go?

DT: My bishop was always anxious to let me go on a mission and was on leave. And through his influence, I was called to go to New Zealand. President Heber J. Grant was president of the Church then. I failed to respond to his call and about another year later in 1919, I received the second call and I was disturbed because I hadn’t responded before. And I thought it would maybe be wise if I went down and had counsel with some of the General Authorities of the Church as to what I should do. I was acquainted with Brother Melvin J. Ballard and I went to him and expressed with him my problems and what I should do. I had enough money to go on a mission. And I told him also my call and what happened. He said, “Well, do you want to go on a mission?” And I said, “Well, I always thought I’d like to go on a mission, but I was getting along in age, I was 25 years of age or more and I’ve been hesitating.” Then I said, “But I know it would do me a lot of good if I should go.” Brother Ballard who had been a missionary most of his life, he said, “If you’re going out there on a mission so you could do yourself some good you should just stay home. We don’t want those kinds of missionaries. We’ve had enough of those. We have too many of them right now in the mission field.” And that was the challenge that made me feel like I should go on a mission. And I asked Brother Ballard if I could transfer my mission to some other place because my age would only justify two years and if I went over to New Zealand it would be 3 years. With his counsel and the consent of President Grant, I was called to the Eastern States Mission And I left for that mission in December 1919.

HF: Do you have in mind any highlights to that mission, just a brief statement or comment?

DT: I was very much impressed that I had gone on that mission because my first experience as a missionary was in Rochester on Palmyra where the Church had its beginning. I traveled all through the mission, through Maine and all eastern states representing the Mission President after I’d been there about a year. And I had a very splendid association with those wonderful missionaries that labored with me over those years.

HF: I’d say I don’t quite understand yet. Were you a missionary as a single man or had you married before leaving for your mission?

DT: I was a single man.

HF: You were still a single man. Following your mission, Brother Taylor, did you soon marry?

DT: I returned from my mission in 1922 and I was married in 1923.

HF: And to whom?

DT: Abby Clement.

HF: From out there in the—?

DT: From Lewisville, Idaho.

HF: Lewisville? Would it be her father that officiates down here at the temple?

DT: No, No. It’s her brother.

HF: That officiates at the temple? And older brother? A little bit older.

DT: Yes.

HF: To continue the interview turn to side two where it will be concluded.

Side Two

HF: Side two continuing the interview with President Delbert G. Taylor.

HF: Now this Bishop Lee you mentioned, he was a rather outstanding individual in the Grant area was he not?

DT: Bishop Lee was a very attractive and a very capable man who worked for the good of the people of that associated with him. To me, he had special interest in me. I’m sure of it because he was always kind and always at my house.

HF: The Stake President of those years was quite a powerful influence for good in the Church and also in his fellow men, Brother Hart.

DT: John W. Hart.

HF: Would you comment about this man. I’ve heard quite a lot about him, and probably you knew him very personally. He was a large man in stature was he not?

DT: He was a large man, and a very capable man; a very strong character. He took part in all the political problems of the staunch Republicans. And he was very kind to me all my life. He seemed to have a special interest in my future and when I returned from my mission.

HF: Well now, Brother Taylor, following your marriage was it then that you became involved in the sheep industry with your father?

DT: I married my sweetheart and under the influence of John W. Hart I was able to borrow enough money to purchase about 600 sheep without any money. He gave me the credit and I told him I could pay it someday. He said, “You’ll pay it.” So I run those sheep with my father.

HF: Now, this was still out of the Grant area? Is this where you were still living, the family was still living?

DT: I was still living with my father.

HF: At Grant?

DT: Yes.

HF: And where did you get your range land for those sheep?

DT: Father had range land up east of Ryrie and I took charge and those three years we had those sheep. We paid all of father’s debts and left money for me. I was able to pay my obligations in two years time. [Inaudible]

HF: Isn’t that wonderful. Having sold your sheep interests what type of work did you then pursue Brother Taylor?

DT: I worked for two years with the reclamation reading their gages on the river for the measurement of water. And during the time that I was reading these records I became interested in selling cars. I had a little time and I found out that I was able to be a pretty good salesman. I sold them at the same time when I worked on the river.

HF: What type of cars were available at that time? This would be in the late 20’s wouldn’t it? The middle 20’s and so on.

DT: There were Dodges and Chevrolets and Fords and there was other kinds of cars, but Chevrolet and Ford were the interesting cars that I was interested in even though I had success selling Dodges. So I succeeded in being an outstanding salesman in the area of several states and I had the privilege of going to a banquet in Detroit where I had to listen to some of the very interesting programs. And Will Rogers, he was one of the greatest characters that I’ve ever come across and one of the most pleasant experiences that I had when he entertained that great group of automobile dealers and salesmen in Detroit, Michigan.

HF: That would be interesting. Well now, what date did you actually open your own agency here in Rexburg?

DT: I opened my own agency on April 15, 1929.

HF: And where was that located?

DT: Right where it is right now.

HF: On College Avenue?

DT: College Avenue.

HF: And College Avenue had been opened up by then so that the same situation existed then when you opened as it does now?

DT: That’s right.

HF: That was rather a sizeable location at that time?

DT: Yes, it was a sizeable location. The big building there across the road from the garage was there and all the rest of property I bought for taxes.

HF: Was that vacant property at that time where the garage is now?

DT: Half of the garage had been used for a garage before, but they used it for other purposes when I bought it. And we rebuilt it a little bit and improved it. And then later on I built another building the same size on the north end of that, the original building.

HF: Can you explain to us, narrate to us some of the aspirations you perhaps had when you were opening for business for yourself? What problems did you have to face and solve as they confronted you?

DT: Well the biggest challenge that I had was to keep myself out of debt. I even would pay for all my parts and other equipment on COD rather than to be worried about not having enough money to pay the bill when it came due. And I did that for about six months and I thought I was capable of asking for credit. And from then on I bought my cars and my parts on a month to month basis.

HF: Can you detail some of the experiences that you had in acquiring new cars and maybe trades. And I don’t suppose the trading business was too important then was it? It was mainly dealing with new cars, was it not?

DT: In 1929 it was the beginning of the great, what do you call it?

HF: The great crash?

DT: The great crash.

HF: The great stock market crash.

DT: The great stock market crash and all those things got turned upside down. But I had pretty good enough selling cars. I sold cars for the first two months and did most of the selling myself. And I finally hired a successful bookkeeper and she gave me the full analysis of my two months work. And I had a good product the first two months.

HF: Who was this young lady?

DT: I can’t recall her name.

HF: Did you have any of your … oh let’s see, you weren’t old enough and hadn’t been married long enough to have any boys at that time to help you.

DT: Yes.

HF: So you must have been more or less operating on your own or had, some hired men or brothers?

DT: I hired men to take care of the shops and things, to take care of the part department and give them authority to work out their aspirations, which were very successful I thought in the type of men I had to start out with.

HF: In the earlier years of your business were there quite a lot of parts work to be done? Was that phase of the business pretty important to you?

DT: It was pretty important that we had proper parts to take care of our needs. The parts man would have some responsibility for his shift as well as taking care of the parts.

HF: And also you would of necessity have to have some good mechanics?

DT: Yes, I had some good mechanics that stayed with me over years until I expanded and bought another agency in Blackfoot and I took some of my main men down there. And after I sold that, why they stayed in Blackfoot. I also took the agency at St. Anthony and sold it to some of my salesmen and also the one that I operated in Ashton. I had a branch in Ashton and I sold that to one of my salesmen and I took the Rexburg from them on.

HF: What name did you use during these years?

DT: Taylor Chevrolet Company

HF: Taylor Chevrolet Company. And that’s what it’s been all these years?

DT: Sure.

HF: Do you have any comment, Brother Taylor, on the types of popular styles or models thatyou seemed to do the best with in those years? Any comment about the style of automobiles at that time as compared maybe to what we have later on?

DT: Well it was a little competition between Ford and Chevrolet and we always thought we had the best looking car. And they thought they had the best looking car, but we were very successful in selling cars. We had some competition, but we sold cars better than we expected to sell. Chevrolet Motor Company was rather persistent that we keep alert to make success for cars to go to them.

HF: Changing the pace just a bit to other subject matter, you became a bishop at one time and I suppose maybe before that a counselor in the bishopric. Would you like to comment on your church service years?

DT: I served as a counselor to Bishop Samuel P. Oldem for a few years. Then I became a counselor to Brother Edward Pookey for a few years. In 1941 I was ordained a bishop.

HF: Now this would be of which ward, the Fourth?

DT: Fourth ward.

HF: Fourth ward.

DT: Yes.

HF: And you served in this capacity for…?

DT: Nine and a half years

HF: For nine and a half years.

DT: I was a then called to be a counselor to President John L. Clark of the Rexburg Stake which was a very pleasant experience. After this pleasant experience with John L. Clark, I was called to preside over the Eastern States Mission. And I left here at 1932 and was released in 1935.

HF: Fifty-five.

DT: Fifty-five.

HF: 1955. And in effect what you were doing then is going back to the same area where you had served as a humble missionary many years before, is this correct?

DT: That was one of the most pleasant experiences that I have ever had to come back where I had filled my first mission.

HF: Now the headquarters of the Eastern States would be in New York City?

DT: The headquarters of the mission was at Fifth Avenue, New York City.

HF: Following your return from this mission, after what about three years of service out there Brother Taylor?

DT: We served about three years and four months. And while we were there we supervised the pageant at Palmyra for four consecutive years. And of course we have that program. But it happened that we took hold of that responsibility by gathering groups and taking care of all the facilities was our responsibility for four different years. When I went out there the mission president left in the spring and I was in the mission field for three years or a little better, so I had four years with the pageant.

HF: With the pageant?

DT: The Palmyra Pageant.

HF: That has become a tremendous missionary tool, has it not?

DT: It has. It’s been very fruitful and very effective. Now in that mission when I went out there, there were hardly any chapels, just four chapels in the entire mission and two of those were in the process of construction. And it was my efforts to have chapels built all over the mission field because we felt that there was a lot of time wasted by going in the mission field and having no place for a chapel. And I pressed the responsibility of building some chapels throughout the mission. I had 21 in process when I was released.

HF: Isn’t that amazing. You know, Brother Taylor, over the years Church history is always inspirational and within that mission there are so many historical Church sites, such as the Sacred Grove and the Monument constructed and erected in remembrance of Moroni. Can you recall any particular spiritual experience that you had in conjunction with maybe the Sacred Grove?

DT: Well we went to Palmyra many times; I always had a sweet spirit to guide me it seems to be when I was in that area where the church had its beginning and where the Prophet Joseph had his experience of seeing God, our Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, come to him. And that’s indeed a spot. But the people around there have never been responsive to the church, but we did have success in building up a pretty good branch in the Palmyra area. But since that time there’s been an active group in that area that’s caused it to grow. We purchased a lot for the chapel, and right after I left, why that lot, that building was completed as well as other buildings throughout that area. And I could talk to you much about the need for a chapel, but I won’t try to.

HF: I understand that sometime upon your return you were made the Stake President of the Rexburg Stake. Would you like to comment on this great honor that came to you?

DT: Well when I returned I thought I would be free from responsibilities, since that was a very rich experience for me to preside over the mission and with some difficulties, however, because of the war that was on at that time the elders were not called and we got down to lower than 35 missionaries in that mission for a few months. When I left, why, we had 135. But President Morris, the one who preceded me, had the privilege of having about 135 to 150 missionaries and we struggled along with only a few until we were privileged to send more boys in service to a mission rather than service in the war.

HF: Well now, in response to my question about acting and serving as a Stake President, would you like to comment about that Brother Taylor?

DT: I came home from the mission from the Eastern States Mission and had some difficulty with my business, but soon got them in order. And then to my surprise I was asked to be president of the Rexburg Stake. And Elder Harold B. Lee came up and set me apart and give me the responsibilities of taking President Clark’s place while I was away.

HF: Who were your counselors President?

DT: I chose for my counselors Willis Nelson and Walter F. Ryrie, my second counselor, and Warren Widdison as stake clerk.

HF: You continued in this capacity for quite a few years then didn’t you as the Stake President?

DT: I was Stake President for about nine and a half years

HF: Isn’t that marvelous. Well now, during these years that you were stake president, I know there came quite a trying issue that arose here in Rexburg, namely should Ricks College be moved to Idaho Falls. As an area where the population was greater and possibly the future of the college would be greater, or should it remain here at hometown where it had been organized years before and here to be built up by the church. It was quite an issue in those days was it not?

DT: Indeed it was.

HF: Now President Taylor I’d like to have you, oh just briefly comment, skim the highlights of this without going into a great deal of detail, but I think it would be fine to hear some little of comment or two that you might care to mention on this issue.

DT: I heard from several sources that there was some movement to move Ricks College from Rexburg to Idaho Falls. It come to me when I was presiding over the Eastern States Mission, but nothing was done until I came back and was a member of the Stake Presidency in Rexburg. All the stakes of this area, I think 13 in number, were called to Salt Lake City to have a counsel with the First Presidency about the advisability of moving this institution from Rexburg to Idaho Falls. We were called right after our conference in Salt Lake City. There were 13 stake presidents and their counselors present and the First Presidency of the Church and President Wilkinson of the Brigham Young University. He gave us a salesman’s program of about 20 plaques that he’d worked up over the previous two or three years to present to the First Presidency and to the stake presidents as to the advisability of have the school moved to Idaho Falls would it be more effective in their judgment than it was in Rexburg. After he gave those plaques that had all the information that those plaques presented, it was very impressive and very well done and the argument was strong. But after the presentation was given, President McKay asked an expression from each stake president and they went around to the all of them but two. I was the twelfth. They had all expressed themselves that the program presented would be a good thing. And of course I was disturbed and concerned about what a calamity it would be to move Ricks College out of Rexburg. So when President McKay asked me to speak, I said “President McKay, there’s another side to this question. There are lots of reasons that it should stay in Rexburg. I think it would be proper for us to have an opportunity to express ourselves more fully on the advisability of moving it or not moving it to Idaho Falls.” President McKay said in his great wisdom he said, “President Taylor, you shall have that privilege.” And that was the beginning of the controversy that grew up over the coming years( two or three years) what to do with that school, move it or not move it.

HF: Thank you President Taylor for that very fine comment. I feel that it deserves a more thorough treatment elsewhere and so therefore I suggest that we not say any more about this great controversy that did have its existence in Rexburg for a few years. Turning then to your own family as we complete this interview President Taylor: someone has commented that beside every successful man, a lovely woman has aided and assisted. And for this reason I’d like to have you comment about Sister Taylor; what a help she’s been to you through the years. And then have you comment about your family, your boys and girls.

DT; Well I’m pleased to make a statement in reference to my family. I was very fortunate to marry a very capable girl, younger than I am, some 25 years, but she has been most genuine in my life in all the things that I’ve tried to do. In fact, I think she’s a very superior woman. We’ve been privileged to have six children, four boys and two girls in the following order: Joseph L. Taylor, named after my father. He’s now living in Arizona and is a doctor of dentistry. He’s been there now for about 15 years and has a very successful practice. My second boy, Ray Taylor has got an automobile business and a potato business in Rigby, Idaho. My oldest girl, Nola Taylor Wheelright lives in Ogden. The fourth child Coleen Taylor is now married to Newel Neider. They live in Pocatello and are in the department of the schools in Pocatello. My fifth child Robert Taylor is living in Rexburg as part of the Taylor Chevrolet Company. And my youngest son, Gerald Taylor is managing and directing the Taylor Chevrolet Company.

HF: End of the Interview.