Taylor, George W.

TAYLOR

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 17:59:19

GEORGE W. TAYLOR
born July 26, 1843, PA

George W. Taylor, as a resident of Warren county, Iowa, for nearly thirty years, is entitled to rank among its pioneers. It was in 1866, just after the clase of the Civil war, that he came West, arriving in Squaw township, this county, in April. During the following summer he assisted his brother, Matthew A. Taylor, in the erection there of a frame house, 16x 24 feet, two stories, its location being on section 6, on a tract of raw prairie land that had been the property of their father. This tract of land, 540 acres in extent, had been entered by Mr. Daniel Braucht. Mr. Taylor came to his present farm, in Virginia township, in the spring of 1867; here he has eighty acres. His log cabin was the second one in the neighborhood; indeed, it was the second house of any kind in this now thickly settled community. This rude cabin was sixteen feet square, had a white oak floor, was lighted by two windows, and had its stovepipe run up through the roof. Its total cost was the sum of $25. But in the past quarter of a century marvelous changes have been wrought in this section of the country, and in pushing forward and helping to bring about this development Mr. Taylor has done his part. He now has a valuable farm and a comfortable home. Mr. Taylor was born in Halifax township, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, July 26, 1843, the son of William and Eliza (Braucht) Taylor, he being the third in their family of eight children, - five sons and three daughters, - all of whom survive. Of them we make brief record, as follows: Bebecca, wife of Jacob Sultzbauch, Millersburg, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania; Matthew A., who has been a resident of Squaw township, Warren county, Iowa, since 1866; George W., whose name initiates this review; Hiram W., a resident of Coffeyville, Kansas, formerly of Warren county, Iowa; Mary, wife of James Lebo, owns and occupies the old homestead in Pennsylvania; Winfield S., a farmer of Virginia and Squaw Township, this county; William I., Dauphin county, Pennsylvania; and Emma, widow of the late Eli Huff, and a resident of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Huff has been twice married, her first husband been Albert Lyter. .William Taylor, the father of this family, was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania in the year 1808, and died there in January, 1890. His life was characterized by honesty, industry and simplicity; he was a lover of humanity and had an abiding faith in God. A monument in Jacobs church cemetery marks the spot where were interred his mortal remains, and beside it is another grave and another stone, betokening the last resting place of his wife. She was born in 1813 and died in 1880. For many years she was a devoted member of the United Brethren Church; her life was adorned by Christian graces, and by her sweet and winning ways she won the love and esteem of all who came within her influence. Mr. George W. Taylor was reared in his native county and was just budding into young manhood at the time the war clouds gathered and burst upon the country. On the 1st September, 1864, he enlisted at Halifax, Pennsylvania, as a private in Company G, Hundredth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and, after a three weeks’ rendezvous at Harrisburg, went to the front,where he proved himself a brave, true soldier. March 25 1865, in the battle of City Point, he was wounded by a minie ball which struck him on the top of the head. The enemy had broken through the line; he was shot at short range, and the wound was a serious one. He was honorably discharged two months later, May 25, at Alexandria. After the grand review at Washington, in which he was a participant, he returned to his home in Pennsylvania, and the following year, as already stated at the beginning of this sketch, he came out to Iowa, where he has since maintained his residence. Politically he has been a Republican ever since he cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic and the M. E. Church. He has been Superintendent of his Sunday-school for three years, and has been an officer and teacher in the church ever since he came to the State. He gives largely of his means for the cause of Christ and helps to build churches.
On February 12, 1867, occurred one of the most important events of Mr. Taylor's life, that being the date of his marriage to Miss Louise M. Hatfield, a daughter of Enoch and Nancy (Fackler) Hatfield. Mrs. Taylor was the seventh born in a family of ten children, and is one of the six that survive, - all daughters. Two of Mrs. Taylor's brothers starved to death in the Andersonville prison! Enoch Hatfield, her father, was born of English parents and was reared in Pennsylvania. Early in life he followed the trade of miller, but later gave his attention to farming. He consecrated his life to the cause of Christ. He was a great singer and church-worker, and by incidental exposure contracted a cold which terminated in consumption, which caused his death at the age of forty-seven years. Mrs. Taylor's mother was born in Pennsylvania and lived to be seventy-three years of age. Both parents died in the Keystone State. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are as follows: H. C., born November 7, 1867, is engaged in farming on land adjoining his father's; Maud Alice, born November 20, 1869, is the wife of Mr. Charles Butler, their home being on his father's estate in Squaw township, Warren county; Edwin, born May 25, 1873; William Hatfield, October 18, 1875; Harvey R., May 28, 1880; and Harry E., February 28, 1882. Source: A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa, Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1896, vol.1, p.446

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.891
GEORGE W. TAYLOR
George W. Taylor, who was born in Indiana, February 3, 1853, is recog­nized as one of the leading farmers of Virginia Township, and is of English descent, his parents being natives of England, emigrating to the United States some years after their marriage. He is the son of George and Margaret Taylor, who on coming to America first settled in Ohio, but later removed to Indiana, where the father died at the age of forty-five years, leaving a widow, who survived him for some years, and six children, three of whom were born in England, and three in America. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Taylor went to Louisville, Kentucky, where she made her home with her daughter up to the time of her death.
George W. Taylor was but six years of age at the time of his father's death and as his mother was in humble circumstances he was early thrown upon his own resources. His inherent fondness for agricultural pursuits led him to seek the country for a livelihood, and for many years he worked for wages on a farm. From this occupation it was but a step to engaging in farming in his own behalf in which his most successful ventures were first made in Warren County, Illinois. Here he accumulated sufficient means to buy a farm in Nebraska, which, however, he never worked, trading it in 1898 for his present farm. He now owns four hundred and eleven acres of land in sections 2, 3, 10 and 11, Virginia Township, this county. He has attained his present position of independence and comparative affluence entirely through his own efforts, due to his habits of thrift and industry; as no outside assistance has ever been rendered him he can truly say that he has never acquired a dollar for which he did not give value received in the form of expended energy and effort. He has remodeled the house on his present place and built a substantial barn, and on another portion of the farm has erected a full set of buildings which are occupied by a married son; still Mr. Taylor regards his place as being only partially improved. He contemplates adding more buildings in the future and bringing it under a still higher state of cultivation.
In 1881 Mr. Taylor was married to Lydia Ann Shoop, a native of Illinois. To this union have been born five children. The firstborn died in infancy. George Chester is married to Fern Fulmer and works part of his father's farm, reference to which has been previously made. Gertrude is the wife of Hart Shoop, who is engaged in farming in Illinois, and Ward Wesley and Fern live at home with their parents. Both Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Taylor is a Republican and is now serving his second term as township trustee, being elected thereto on this ticket.