Kaiser W. Taylor

As printed in 1910

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 History of Wayne County, Ohio (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.