Mollie Taylor Stevenson

MOLLIE TAYLOR STEVENSON Sunrise: November 11, 1911 Sunset: April 9, 2003   Mollie Taylor Stevenson was born on November 22, 1911 to Major Julius Taylor and Hester Baker Taylor. She was the granddaughter of a slave master's son, E. R. Taylor, and a slave named Ann. Mollie, the only child born to her parents, was delivered by two midwives in Pierce Junction, a small township located in Houston, Texas. She was the last living descendant of the original Taylor family.      Mollie attended Colored High School in Houston's Fourth Ward in 1925 and graduated from Old Jack Yates High School in 1928. In the 1920s, she studied classical piano under the direction of Madame Rochan, a New Orleans native. Performing with great promise, Mollie went on to study concert piano and organ at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music in 1934. Her musical talent afforded her the opportunity to accompany the world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers. As a graduation present, Mollie's father surprised her with a brand new Nash automobile. As an added gift, she and her father toured Europe, which was highly unusual for blacks at that time. Later, Mollie had an opportunity to perform regularly as a guest pianist at Houston's historic and grand Rice Hotel.      It was while Mollie was attending Fisk that she met the love of her life, Benjamin Franklin "Big Ben" Stevenson. From Liberty, Missouri, Ben Stevenson was a seven-time All-American football player at Tuskegee Institute, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in 1931. After Mollie graduated from Fisk, she and Ben moved to Detroit, Michigan, where they secretly married. Shortly thereafter they returned to Houston, and Ben, being the honorable man he was, asked Mollie's father for permission to marry his daughter.      The Taylors hosted a lavish wedding for their daughter on the lawn of their home in Houston. Mollie and Ben had five children: Sandra, Ben Taye, Benjamin, Jr., Mollie, Jr., and Major. They extended their family to include Barbara Thompson, who was accepted as a daughter.      Mollie was a member of Trinity East United Methodist Church, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated, Bluebonnet Garden Club, the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, along with numerous awards and honors she received in her lifetime. Those preceding her in death include her parents Major and Hester Taylor, her husband of more than 30 years, Benjamin Franklin Stevenson, Sr., three grandsons, William Joshua Stevenson, Lloyd D. Choice, Jr., and Lawrence Gregory Marshall. She is survived by her six children: Barbara T. S. Marshall, Sandra Rigsby, Ben Taye Choice, Benjamin F. Stevenson, Jr., Mollie Stevenson Scott, and Major W. Stevenson, Sr. She also leaves twelve grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild. There is also a host of lifelong friends who cherish her memory.      Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2003 at 11:00 a.m., at Wheeler Ave. Baptist Church, 3826 Wheeler Ave., Rev. William A. Lawson, Pastor. Interment will follow in Golden Gate Cemetery.