Naylor Publishing Company

Naylor Publishing Company was founded by Joe Oliver Naylor. Joe was born March 28, 1893 to John Decatur Naylor (1857 – 1902) and Anna Lena Miller Naylor (1866 – 1947) in San Antonio, Texas. Until his death, his father John D. Naylor was a “hackman” which is the name for the driver of a horse or mule drawn vehicle for hire. Joe came from a fairly large family. Joe’s brother Frank followed in a similar line of work. Frank was killed by a known assailant while seated in his car while was working as a San Antonio chauffeur in 1911. Except for Frank who died in his twenties and a sister who died as an infant, the other siblings lived to be adults.

Joe’s grandfather was an interesting person. His name was William Commodore Perry Naylor. According to online genealogy records, he was born February 1, 1827 to John Naylor and Sarah Woodfin Naylor in Bedford County, Tennessee. By 1850, Perry had migrated to Texas and was living with his married younger brother Charles Hampton Naylor near Austin. Perry married Sarah Emaline Bryan in 1856. He had previously become acquainted with her in Missouri as he was migrating west. By 1860, the couple had two children, Joe’s father John Decatur and a daughter Viola. The family had since relocated to Collin County in North Texas. Perry, as he was called, served in the Confederate Army in the Civil War after which he returned to North Texas. By the time the 1870 census was taken he and Sarah Emaline had eight children living at home with them in Collin County. The couple eventually had thirteen children.

There is a family legend that Perry twice had encountered Geronimo, the Apache warrior who lived from 1829 to 1909. The first time was during an aborted trip to California to prospect for gold at some time after 1848, following the end of the Mexican-American War. Perry was captured in Arizona but released by Apache tribesmen, believed to be led by the warrior Geronimo. After his release, Perry turned back from his route to California and returned to Texas. A second occasion was to have occurred in the mid 1860s while Perry was on a trip from Texas to Missouri. Perry encountered another band of Apache led by Geronimo, whom he recognized, and once again he was allowed to go free.

Sarah died in 1876 and Perry married Mary Davis Whitlock three years later. Mary’s first husband had also died in 1876. With Mary, two children were born. Perry died in 1910 and Mary survived him until 1939. Both Perry and Sarah are believed to have been buried in what is now known as the Garland Memorial Cemetery, although there are no known gravestones for either of them. Mary is buried in the McCree Cemetery in Dallas County as was her first husband.

---

Not a great deal is known about Joe Naylor’s childhood, other than he lived in San Antonio where he attended high school and business college. Joe was drawn to the printing and publishing business and founded Naylor Printing Company in 1921. Naylor Printing Company was then incorporated with the Texas Secretary of State on September 24, 1923. It operated under similar names over the years and was referred to as a “nationally known publisher.” During its existence, Naylor Publishing Company operated out of San Antonio and had a complete operation for book publishing, including printing, binding and marketing. Naylor was well known for its support of Texas authors and publications about Texas history, fiction and folklore.

It is not difficult to find books of regional interest that were published by Naylor over the years although the company has been out of business for several decades. Below is a listing of just some of the titles of books in the inventory of a used book reseller as of this week:

• Law West of the Pecos: The Story of Judge Roy Bean
• Navajo Indians Today
• Red Man’s Trail
• Mohave People
• Tall Tale’n and Oratin’
• Remnants of the Old West
• I Give You Texas
• Arrows Over Texas
• Texas Proud and Loud
• San Antonio: St. Anthony’s Town
• Amazing Red Man
• Tall Talk from Texas
• Dogs on the Frontier
• Paisano – Story of a Cowboy and A Camp Meeting
• Forest McNeir of Texas
• Mayflower Descendants in the State of Texas and Their Lineage
• Road to San Jacinto
• Snide Lights on Texas History
• Old Indianola: Life in a Frontier Seaport
• Indian Civilization
• The Alamo
• Early Western Heritage
• Younger Brothers
• Texas Reader
• New Texas Reader
• Jackknife John
• A Friend of God; Highlights in the Life of Judge W. H. Jenkins
• Wily Women of the West
• Indian Culture of the Southwest
• Trails of Texas
• Bluebonnets and Blood
• Highlights of Puebloland
• Tall Men With Long Knives
• Afterglow (a book of poetry by a Texas poet)

The company published many other books unrelated to Texas topics. In 1934, Naylor began to produce a publication that ran for many years. It went by the title Naylor’s Epic-Century Magazine. The title may seem somewhat lofty now, but it was initially geared toward the upcoming Texas Centennial of 1936. The publication continued for over twenty years. The “New Texas Reader,” listed above, appears to have been a collection of articles from the magazine.

---

Joe was first married to Valerie Stone (1899 – 1927). Two sons were born to this union before Valerie died of cancer at the age of twenty-eight. He later was married to Loreita “Rita” Hall (1911 – 2000). Joe died of a heart attack on January 25, 1955. Following his funeral service, he was interred in Mission Burial Park South in San Antonio. In his obituary, it was noted that he was a member of Laurel Heights Methodist Church. Joe was also known to be a long time member and supporter of Kiwanis International and until shortly before his last illness had recorded perfect attendance at local meetings for some twenty-eight years. He was also noted to have been a past president of the San Antonio Historical Association along with his membership in numerous arts and charitable organizations of San Antonio.

Following Joe’s death, the company continued to operate for at least twenty years. Joe’s wife Rita was involved in the management of the publishing business, serving for a time as president of the company. The Naylor family will be long remembered and appreciated for their contribution to the preservation of Texas history and their support of Texas related authors.

© 2024, all rights reserved.