taylor-home

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1. Gary Hilton says

   February 2, 2026 at 12:09 am

   Here is a little more information on the paintings, from the display at the Appalachian Museum in Norris, Tennessee.
   “In the late 1800s, Sam and Amanda Taylor moved into their new home in Duffield, Virginia. The house was previously owned and occupied by Amanda’s father, Billy Bishop, who built the house during the Civil War. Not long after they had moved in, a traveling man named Bracket stopped by their home and asked for lodging. Even though the young couple didn’t know this man, they accepted him with open arms. Bracket had no money to give the young couple, but he found another way to repay them. Bracket was a sign-painter, and he volunteered to paint a pair of murals for the Taylors. Bracket painted a colorful and unusual mural on each side of the house’s front doorway. These beautiful works would stay on the house for the next 125 years.”
   Bracket may have been French, as Aunt Ellie recalled in her later life that a French lady had stopped to admire the paintings, and related to Aunt Ellie the meaning of this “Tree of Life”.

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