Harry Joe (H.J.) Naylor

My Maternal Great-Grandfather

In the early 20th Century, Wichita Falls, Texas experienced rapid growth, influenced first by the arrival of the railroad and soon thereafter by the discovery of oil in nearby Electra. It was an ideal location for an ambitious young man to establish himself in the community, eventually becoming a business and civic affairs leader. H.J. Naylor was one of the young men who played a significant role in helping Wichita Falls grow from a town with a population of 5,500 in 1907 to a city of over 110,000 by the time he died in 1955.

Harry Joe (H.J.) Naylor was born on August 27, 1888, in Rockwall, Texas, to William Elnathan Naylor and Sarah Jane Kirby. He came to Wichita Falls on March 7, 1907, to be the bookkeeper and assistant manager for the J.S. Mayfield Lumber Company. He was only 18 at the time.

H.J. married the former Emma Bea Van Deusen, daughter of Adelbert Van Deusen and Rose Etta Fuller, on September 19, 1909. After their wedding, the Naylors settled in Iowa Park, Texas

H. J. and Emma Naylor

The young couple soon started building their family with the birth of their first son, William A. Naylor in 1910. Other children soon followed: Alma Edith Naylor in 1911, Lillian Maude Naylor in 1913, Harry Joe Naylor, Jr. in 1915, Henry Laurie Naylor in 1918, and Richard Van Naylor in 1921.

While employed at the J.S. Mayfield Lumber Company, Naylor built his first home for his growing family with his father-in-law, Adelbert Van Deusen, on the 1100 block of Taylor Street in Wichita Falls. In 1918, he joined other businessmen to found the Wichita Falls Lumber & Building Company. In March 1921, the partners reorganized the company as a corporation.

In addition to his work with Wichita Falls Lumber & Building Company, H. J. Naylor was respected as a builder of many prominent homes in Wichita Falls, including the R. O. Harvey, Clint Wood, W. W. Silk, and Louis Sikes homes. In 1929, he was awarded two large commercial contracts to construct the Graham Auditorium in Graham, Texas, and a warehouse for the Municipal Gas Company in Wichita Falls.

In 1936, Naylor was elected to serve as a city alderman as a member of a reform ticket headed by Judge W. E. Fitzgerald. He served in that role for three terms, declining to run for a fourth term in 1940.

H. J. Naylor died in Dallas, Texas, on 25 February 1955, after a prolonged illness. He was laid to rest on 28 February 1955 in Block BB, Lot 2, Space 6 at Riverside Cemetery in Wichita Falls, Texas.