The Taylor Families of Wayne County, Ohio

WILLIAM B. TAYLOR, a son of /If/ Josspl Taylor, and grandson of John Taylor, was born in Canaan Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, August 18, 181:9, and grew to manhood ou the old home place in Canaan Township, which was entered by his grandfather, John Tay'lor. The latter was a native of Crawford County, Penn., and came to Wayne County, Ohio, in an early day, being among the early settlers of the county. He died aged ninety-four years. Joseph Taylor, father of William B., was a native of Wayne County, born in Canaan Township in 1814, and died May 18, 1870; his wife was Lucinda, daughter of Jacob Hartman, and was born near Troy, Ashland Co., Ohio. In his father's will William B. Taylor was named as the executor of the estate, and this trust he fulfilled with admirable satisfaction to all the heirs. The subject of this memoir received a common-school education, and was brought up to farm life.

December 7, 1871, he married Miss Jane, daughter of William Kiser, one of the first settlers of Congress Township, Wayne County, and to this union four children were born: Kiser W., born March 14, 1875; Nellie M., March 23, 1877; Norah A., January 12, 1879, and Clyde E., July 15, 1886. Mr. Taylor is at present a member of the Board of Trustees for Congress Township, and is serving his third term. He and his wife are prominent members of the United Brethren Church. They own between them 262 acres of as fine land as can be found in the State of Ohio.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

KAISER W. TAYLOR.

The gentleman whose name heads this review is one of the honored citizens of Wayne county, having the prestige both of honored ancestry and of a personal record that commends him to all who know him. In the private affairs of life his course has been characterized by the strictest integrity and his service in the Spanish-American war was of such a character as to win for him the highest regard of his superior officers and his citizen friends at home.

Kaiser W. Taylor was born on a farm near West Salem, Congress township, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 12th of March, 1875, and is the son of William B. and Jane (Kaiser) Taylor. The father was born August 19, 1849, Canaan township, Wayne county, and the mother on November 18,

1849, in Congress township, this county. They were married December 7, 1871, and started their wedded life on a farm of sixty acres in Canaan township. They were prospered and eventually moved to Congress township, where Mr. Taylor now owns a splendid farm of two hundred and seventy-two acres. In 1899 he retired from active agricultural pursuits and retired to the town of West Salem, where he erected one of the finest residences in that town, together with a large and well-arranged barn. He is a Republican in politics and has served seven years as township trustee. He and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which they give a liberal support. They are the parents of four children, namely: Kaiser W., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Nellie M. Curtice, deceased; Mrs. Norah A. Schreffler, deceased, and Clyde E., who is a clerk with Ereidlander & Company, of Wooster.

The subject’s paternal great-grandfather, John Taylor, was a native of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and was one of the early settlers of Wayne county, Ohio. He lived to the remarkable age of ninety-four years. The paternal grandparents were Joseph and Lucinda (Hartman) Taylor. Joseph Taylor was born in Canaan township, Wayne county, in 1814 and died May 18, 1870, at the age of fifty-six years. His wife Lucinda was born at Troy, Ashland county, and was the daughter of Jacob Hartman, an early settler of that section. The subject's maternal grandfather was William Kaiser, who was born in 1804, and was an early settler of Congress township, to which he came in 1822.

Kaiser W. Taylor secured his elementary education in the district schools of Congress township, in which he made such progress that at the early age of twelve years he was able to enter the West Salem high school, where he graduated in 1893. He then entered the Ohio Normal University at Ada, where he graduated in 1896, with special honors. He there took a commercial course and specialized in civil engineering, with the intention of making that his life work. His plans were rudely interrupted, however, by the outbreak of the war with Spain. Mr. Taylor had joined the Ohio National Guard on January 15, 1897, becoming a member of Company C, Eighth Regiment. On the 8th of the following February he was made a sergeant. On April 26, 1898, the Eighth Regiment entered the United States service, and on May 9th the subject was commissioned as first lieutenant of his company. He went to Cuba with his command and participated in the Santiago campaign, including the siege and surrender of that stronghold. Company C was armed with black powder rifles and consequently he was detailed on the outpost guard. He was later detailed for detached duty in connection with the transfer of commissary stores at Siboney. Because of the lack of proper food and continued exposure, Lieutenant Taylor was taken ill and on August 26, 1898, he was taken to the army hospital at Montauk Point. From there he was transferred on September 8th to the Long Island College Hospital and was discharged from that institution on December 1, 1898. The Eighth Regiment was discharged from the service on November 21st, but because of his illness Lieutenant Taylor was not mustered out until January 6, 1899, at which time he was placed on the pension list. He served his country honorably and faithfully and is still feeling the ill effects of his exposure and hard service.

After his return from military service, the subject was incapacitated for work for three or four years, but finally decided that relief might be obtained through out-door life, and to this end he obtained a position in the rural mail service, in which he is still engaged. His health is making rapid improvement and Mr. Taylor expects to eventually resign this service and again take up his chosen profession, that of civil engineering. Prior to the Spanish war Mr. Taylor had done some successful work in the engineering line involving a two years tour of the North American continent, at that time visiting every territory and many provinces in the Dominion of Canada, over one-half of the states, many places of interest and importance in the republic of Mexico, and a considerable number of the islands of the Pacific.

Politically Mr. Taylor is a stanch Republican and in 1908 was the candidate of his party for the position of auditor of Wayne county, but the Democratic majority in this county precluded his election. His religious sympathies are with the Methodist Episcopal church at West Salem. Socially he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and because of his military service he is affiliated with the Military Order of Foreign Wars, the Naval and Military Orders of the Spanish-Ainerican War, the United Spanish Yar Veterans, the Society of the Army of Santiago, and the Military Order of the Serpent.

As reflecting the standing of the subject in his home community, no better reference could be made than to the words of a local publication in reference to him: “He is a business college graduate and expert accountant and has been very successful in administering his own as well as the business affairs of others to which he has so frequently been entrusted. * * Lieutenant

Taylor is possessed of a genial personality, kindly in manner and uniformly courteous. By reason of these attributes he has won his way into the hearts of the people to such an extent that his nomination came to him unsolicited and without his knowledge of this intention of his friends and supporters. * * * As a soldier and citizen he has brought credit to the county from which he enlisted and will grace any position with honor to those who make that position possible.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

CHARLES E. TAYLOR.

The Taylor family has been an honored and influential one in Wayne county since the early days, and they have been faithful in the performance of their duty in all the relations of life. One of the best known of the present generation of Taylors is Charles E., who was born in Franklin township, this county, in 1867, the son of Thomas and Elvina (Batdorff) Taylor, the former a native of Bristol, England, and the latter born in Pennsylvania, The paternal grandparents of Charles E. Taylor were James and Mary Taylor, who, in an early day, came to Wooster township and settled near Munson school house. He was a mason by trade and he built many lime kilns and spent the remainder of his life in that vicinity. The maternal grandparents of the subject came from Pennsylvania about 1826 and settled in Franklin township, Wayne county; there they followed farming, owning one hundred and sixty acres of land, which they cleared and developed, spending the remainder of their lives there.

Thomas Taylor, father of Charles E., was partly educated in England, but being only a young man when he arrived in Wayne county, Ohio, he finished his schooling here. He learned the stonemason’s trade before leaving England, and this trade he followed for some time after coming to America, building much stone fence before leaving his native land; however, he devoted his attention principally to farming after coming to Ohio. He proved his loyalty to his adopted country by enlisting as a soldier in the Mexican war. He was also one of the brave men who made the perilous trip to the gold fields of California in 1849. Upon his return to Ohio he built the first bridge north of Holmesville, but from that time on gave his attention exclusively to farming in Franklin township, Wayne county. He prospered, owning eventually two hundred acres, eighty acres in Clinton and Franklin townships and eighty acres in Holmes county. He was an extensive hog raiser, having been considered the banner hog man of Franklin township up to 1880. He lived a quiet life, though he accepted some of the minor township offices. His family consisted of eight children, namely: Ellen, Catherine, James, Elizabeth, Eouis, Charles E., Emma and Thomas.

Charles E. Taylor, of this review, was educated in the home schools and the Shreve high school, graduating with the class of 1889, and he then entered the University of Wooster, where he made a splendid record, taking the classical course up to the junior year. He then taught school eight terms, two terms in Clinton township, three terms in Franklin township, and three terms in the grammar department of the Shreve high school. He was making rapid headway as one of the leading educators in the common schools of the county, and his services were in great demand, but not finding the school room altogether to his liking, he launched in the warehouse business at Funk, where he has been engaged ever since, having built up au extensive b'business. He is also interested in agricultural pursuits, and is regarded as one of the leading business men of this community.

Mr. Taylor was married in 1896 to Effie M. Orr, the refined daughter of a well-known family here, and this union has resulted in the birth of the following children: Jessie, Edna and Charles.

Mr. d'taylor is a member of the Methodist h4)iseoi>al church, and he is a 1 democrat in national politics.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JAMES B. TAYLOR, Perhaps in no business or profession is a man more conspicuous or better known, or more popular or unpopular, as the case may be, than in the law. His talent soon is recognized, and he rises to distinction in the ranks of men, if by zealand perseverance he merits it. James B. Taylor was born in Fredericksburgh, Wayne Co.. Ohio, August 24, 1840. His father, who was a native of Virginia, married a Quakeress, also a native of that State, and together, in 1825, they came to Wayne County, and Mr. Taylor became a member of the ouster bar. In 1873 he departed this life, at the age of seventy-two years, and in 1878 his widow followed to her long last sleep. Their homo was blessed with the birth of nine children, of whom James B. was the youngest.

James.15. Taylor, at the age of sixteen, became a school-teacher, in which profession he continued in Wayne County during the winter months, attending to his own studies during the summer, at the Fredericksburgh (Ohio) Academy, until the fall of 1850, when he entered the junior class of Westminster College, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in June, 1801. The following fall he organized and opened the Smithville Academy, which he carried on until August, 1802, when, responding to his country's call, he formed a company of all the able-bodied students under his charge, and prepared to go to the front, the remaining portion of the academy passing to the care of J. B. Eberly. Mr. Taylor entered the service as second lieutenant, and afterward was promoted to the rank of hist lieutenant; still later he was made captain of Company IT, One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving until 1805. In that year this regiment, which had seen active service, was consolidated with the One Hundred and Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and as only one of six captains could remain, the lot fell upon ('apt. Speer, the remaining five being mustered, out. The regiment went to the front over 1,000 strong, and returned with less than d00 men. The Captain was with his command in nearly all the battles fought for the opening of the Mississippi, from December, 1 S02, to 180 1, under Gens. Grant and Banks.

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During the latter years of his military service Mr. Taylor read medicine and studied surgery, and in the spring of 1805 he entered the office of Dr. Martin, at Fredericksburgh, Ohio, where lie continued until the fall of the same year, when he went to the University of Michigan, there to attend medical lectures. Soon after his arrival, however, he changed his life’s plans, and matriculated in the law department, graduating in the spring of 1807. He then returned to "Wayne County, and opened a law office at Orrvillo, where he practiced until the spring of 1882, when he finally located at Wooster. In February, 1888, he formed a law partnership with ex-Probate Judge Isaac Johnson, which still continues. In 1808 Mr. Taylor was married to Miss Emi- 1 i e Emmitt, daughter of John Emmitt, and a native of Pennsylvania. To this union six children have been born, of whom three are now living. Mr. Taylor is a F. A A. M., and a member of the Presbyterian Church; he is a Republican.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.