Mt. Herman Cemetery
Shelby County, Texas
Homecoming: 3rd Sunday in September

Reba Jernigan Powers, Miriam Adams Jernigan, Liberty Powers
© 1998, 1999, 2000
Texas A & M University - Commerce
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY THE AUTHORS
Music:Red River Valley
Revised 4 Mar 2000

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In the Past Lane | Luman | Jernigan | McSwain
Antioch | Black Jack | Campti | Cedar Yard | Clardy | Gibbs | Greenwood
Mt. Herman | Mt. Pleasant | Mull | Oaklawn | Old Sardis
Price (Campti) | Price (Lone Cedar) | Sardis | Smith
RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project:  Luman - Iles Family
 
 
 

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                The home of Lewis Russell and Victoria Peacock stood in Mt. Herman near the school, the two churches, and the cemetery.  Lewis and Vicky's son, Joseph "Crawford" Russell, married  Susan Ila "Susie" Jernigan, and they and their eleven children lived on the homeplace. Pictured third from the left is Aunt Susie with her sons standing next to her.

Joe & Emmy Luman resided in the
Mt. Herman Community for many years.

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Jaret Luman
29 Jul 1892 - 1972
Veteran of World War I
(photo courtesy of Karen & Dennis Luman)

Mrs. Williams' Second Grade Class
Center Elementary School
back row, first on left: Larry Jernigan
2nd row from back, 7th from left: Shelia Jernigan
Shelia was lost at sea in 1982.

        Jack B. (J.B.) Taylor was the 6th child born to Jessie Benjamin and Mattie Kimbro Taylor on September 6, 1911. He lived and went to school in the Mt. Herman community through the eighth grade. Educational opportunities pretty much ended for most children at this point since the distance to the high school in Center was too far and the yellow school bus was still a vision for the future. Because he had shown athletic potential as well as a desire to continue, J.B. was offered the
opportunity to go to high  school. Two men crucial in making this happen were Center High School
Principal F.L. Moffett and Coach “Hap” Malone. Mr. Moffett found J.B. a place to live and work for his room and board.  Coach Malone provided the motivation to come to school. J.B. graduated in May of 1931.
        Again, against the odds of continuing his education, especially in the beginning years of the Great Depression, J.B. enrolled in Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College in Nacogdoches. His major was physical education and his minor was social studies. Because of the economy of the time, he would have to go to school for a while and then “lay out” to work. This is when he first stepped into the classroom, at the youthful age of nineteen. This was a long time before state certification and TEA! He first taught in a one-room school house at Salem. He continued to teach at other schools in the rural areas where school teachers were rare and just a few hours of college credit were all that was needed. He taught a couple of years in a two-room school at Tabernacle, and then at Mt. Herman for about three years. He finally finished his degree in 1939.
        He was teaching at Dixie, a school in the Tyler area, in 1941. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the outbreak of World War II, he was drafted in January of 1942 and joined the U.S. Air Force. Because of his degree, he became a physical trainer and instructor and was stationed in Florida and California where he conditioned new recruits.
        He was discharged and came back to Center in November of 1945. He began his teaching career again in Shelbyville, where he was a teacher and football coach.  It was then that he met and married Vivien Faye Luman on August 2, 1947.  Because of a decade of difference in their ages, the student Vivien had actually visited in one of the country class rooms where J.B. had taught.  Their first of four children, Gwen, was born a year later. J.B. then moved to the Center School District and returned to SFA where he received his Master of Education degree in 1950.  Although offered many opportunities, he always declined administration positions and chose to stay in the class room and coach. Their daughter, Gaye, was born in 1951, and at the age of 45, he became the father of twin sons, Gary and Greg, in 1957.
        He spent most of his years in Center as a junior high math teacher. Knowing that this age can often be the most troubling for parents and teachers, as well as the students, J.B. approached his students with the necessary sternness and discipline to get academic results but he also displayed the sense of humor necessary to help students know that he cared about them as individuals.  He believed in being where the kids were: on the playground, in the lunch room, or on the football field or basketball court, even when he got out of coaching.  He knew that it was important for him to be seen and for those kids to know that he was watching them. He always tried to remember something that the child had done during the game so that he could mention it to the student the next day. J.B. retired in 1976.
        His years of experience totaled 53, with some of them unaccounted for, since he began before there was a retirement system.  He continued to remain involved in his community and church. He was President of the Class of ‘31 for two years and helped organized the reunions. He researched the Mt. Herman community and presented his findings to the Shelby County Historical Society. He was active in his church and made at least one trip a day to Walmart when it came to Center. He loved to be around people and would often just drive around the country roads to visit with friends or to check on family members.
        He died on December 5, 1986 at the age of 75. All four of his children attended SFA, as well as one of his grandchildren. SFA has awarded a total of 8 degrees to J.B. and his descendants. He and our mother instilled in each of us the desire to not just “go to college” but to learn and to be life-long learners. As a teacher, J.B. Taylor modeled the true nature of a successful teacher:

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