Water Rails & Oil - Historic Mid & South Jefferson County

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The current staff of
F. B. Taylor Insurance.
At first F. B. operated the office as a sole
proprietorship, and eventually hired one
secretary. When George Taylor, F. B.’s oldest son,
decided during his sophomore year in college
that he wanted to join his dad in the business,
he changed his major from engineering to
business. He transferred from Lamar University
to the University of Texas at Austin, where he
obtained his BBA degree in the field of
insurance. Upon graduation George sold life
insurance with the Aetna Life Insurance
Company for a year before joining F. B. in the
agency in 1972.
Bill Taylor, the younger of F. B.’s two
sons, received his accounting degree at the
University of Texas at Austin. While a student he
worked part time for the Texas Department of
Insurance, but upon graduation became a fulltime
employee and conducted financial audits of
insurance companies for the department. Bill
returned to Port Arthur in 1980 to join his father
and brother in the agency. The plans were for Bill
to assist in opening a surplus lines agency, but
something happened.
Bill Craig, a long-time friend of F. B.’s, had
been joined by his son, Wally, in Craig
Insurance Agency. When Wally was killed
in an automobile accident, Bill was sent to
Houston to assist in operating the Craig
Insurance Agency. He remained in Houston, and
after the F. B. Taylor Insurance Agency became
incorporated, it purchased the Craig Insurance
Agency in 1981, and the surplus lines agency
was never formed.
Today, George Taylor, CIC, manages the F. B.
Taylor Insurance Agency in Port Arthur, which has
fourteen employees, and Bill Taylor, CIC, CPA,
manages the Craig Insurance Agency in Houston,
which has five employees. Both agencies focus on
property and casualty insurance, both personal and
commercial lines. The Port Arthur office also
handles life, health and group insurance, and sells
real estate as well.
F. B. semi-retired in 1978 and was involved in
the agency only as a consultant, no longer
managing the agency or selling insurance. He
died in December 1994.
The Carroll R. Hand Insurance Agency
in Anahuac, Texas, was acquired by the
F. B. Taylor Insurance & Real Estate Agency, Inc.
on July 1, 1997. Dana Finn manages this old-line
agency, which was formed in 1947. It offers
property and casualty, and life and health
products, as well as selling real estate.
64 ✦ WATER, RAILS & OIL