W. J. S. TAYLOR
W.
J. S. Taylor, a resident of Humeston, who came to the state of
Iowa sixty-eight years ago and has been a pioneer of Wayne
county, where he has made his home for half a century, can
look back upon a career which stands forth as a credit to his
industry, energy and ability.
Successful along agricultural lines, he is the owner of
a productive farm of two hundred acres on sections 21 and 34,
Richman township, and for thirty years ran successfully a
gristmill in this vicinity and was also prominent as a
stock-raiser. Moreover,
he was a leader in all movements which were inaugurated to
promote growth and development and his efforts along those
lines were recognized in his election to the highest office
within the gift of the people of Humeston—that of mayor.
Mr.
Taylor was born in Indiana, December 2, 1843, and is a son of
James and Elizabeth Fair (Steele) Taylor, the former a native
of east Tennessee, where he was born April 5, 1818, and the
latter born August 14, 1823.
In the spring of 1845 the parents with their family
came overland from Indiana and settled in Davis county, Iowa,
where the father followed agricultural pursuits for fifteen
years. In the
spring of 1860 another removal was made to Decatur county,
this state, which remained the home of the family for three
years before they came, in the spring of 1863, to Richman
township, Wayne county.
Here the father engaged in agriculture and attained
prominence, passing away in Humeston, Iowa, July 28, 1892,
greatly respected by all who knew him, while the mother
survived until April 15, 1910, dying at the same place. The maternal
grandfather of our subject was Jesse Steele, who was born
February 7,1795, and spent a great part of his life in the
state of Pennsylvania, passing away January 23, 1844. The maternal
grandmother, Jane Y. (Fair) Steele, was born October 5, 1805,
and died August 1, 1904.
The Fair family to which this grandmother belonged was
of French extraction, leaving that country during the days of
religious persecution and inquisition about 1685, and there is
a record extant which tells of the marriage of Nicholas Fair
to a Miss Elizabeth Taylor in about 1752. This direct
ancestor of our subject in the maternal line soon after his
marriage moved to Pennsylvania and from there to Washington
county, Tennessee. He
had eight children, of whom five served in the American army
at the time of the battle of King’s Mountain, and Mr. Taylor
has in his possession a genealogical record which extends from
this periods to the present day. Five brothers of Elizabeth Fair (Steele)
Taylor, the mother of our subject, who are now deceased,
fought in the Union ranks during the Rebellion and the
youngest of them was imprisoned at Andersonville for nine
months, at the end of which time he made an attempt—driven to
desperation and preferring immediate death to endless
torture—to escape and succeeded.
Mr.
and Mrs. James Taylor were the parents of seven children, as
follows: W. J.
S., of this review; Mrs. Jennie Veach, who was born August 4,
1847, and died in August, 1912; Mrs. Paulina Chamberlain, born
September 10, 1850, a resident of San Diego, California; Mrs.
Asilee Stone, born May 22, 1853, residing in Arkansas; Mrs.
Henrietta Poundstone, born June 15, 1857, of Humeston, Iowa;
Mrs. Clara S. Hendricks, born May 22, 1860, a resident of
Concordia, Kansas; and Mrs. Ada T. Brecken, who was born May
12, 1865, and now makes her home in Barnard, Kansas.
W.
J. S. Taylor was only two years of age when the family removed
to Iowa, where he was reared on the home farm in Davis county,
attending the schools of the neighborhood in the acquirement
of his education. He
lived there until 1860, when he moved with his parents to
Decatur county and from there came to Richman township, Wayne
County, in the spring of 1863 and here he has since remained. An incident which
he well remembers and which is illustrative of the spares
settlement of this section at that period is that the votes
cast at the first election which took place after the family
had come to this township amounted to twenty-three for that
district. All
the removals of the family were made by team, as there were no
railroads at the time and they were fraught with difficulties
on account of the impassability of the roads or their entire
absence. He was
the only child of the family born in Indiana, the remainder
all being natives of this state. In the spring of 1873 he began the
operation of a mill in Richman township and continued in that
occupation successfully for thirty years, although he was
engaged at the same time in operating the home farm, which
comprises two hundred acres of fertile land on sections 21 and
34, Richman township, and on which he made many improvements,
erecting a number of new buildings and instituting such
equipment as he considered necessary for operation. He specializes
along the line of stock-raising and since 1889 has owned one
of the best herds of Duroc Jersey swine to be found in Iowa,
keeping a complete record of this stock. As the years have
passed he has attained to prosperity and has become one of the
substantial men of the community. He is highly esteemed as one of the
pioneers of the section and respected by all who know him. He resides in
Humeston, where he owns a comfortable home, well furnished,
where he and Mrs. Taylor extend warm-hearted hospitality to
their many friends.
On
September 23, 1868, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage, in
Wayne county, Iowa, to Miss Rachel McKinley, who was born in
Guernsey county, Ohio, October 6, 1847, and came with her
parents to this county in September, 1863, when about sixteen
years of age. Her
father, Willoughby McKinley, was born in Ohio, April 23, 1820,
and died in Richman township, August 19, 1896. The mother, who was
Miss Elizabeth Carter before her marriage, was a native of the
same state, born in Guernsey county, February 11, 1824, and
died in Richman township, this county, July 12, 1885. They were the
parents of three children:
John R., born February 23, 1846, a resident of
California; Mrs. W. J. S. Taylor; and George W., born August
6, 1852, who died in Richman township, December 16, 1909. These children were
all born in the state of Ohio.
Mrs. Taylor’s paternal grandparents were William and
Tamer (Brown) McKinley, the former born October 17, 1777, and
the latter December 12, 1791.
They were among the earlier settlers of Ohio, to which
state they had come from Pennsylvania. The grandfather
passed away February 20, 1858, and the grandmother June 27,
1845. The
maternal grandfather, Richard Carter, was born September 28,
1790, and died February 23, 1842, while his wife, who was Miss
Rachel Russell before her marriage, was born November 4, 1799,
and died in 1861. The
McKinley family is closely related to that of the late
President William McKinley, the two branches having become
separated at the time of the removal from Pennsylvania to
Ohio.
Mr.
and Mrs. W. J. S. Taylor are the parents of five children, all
of whom were born in Richman township: Alfred, who was
born June 21, 1870, and resides in Richman township; James
Lewis, born October 17, 1874, a jeweler and optician in
Humeston; Willoughby McKinley, born August 29, 1878, a
resident of California; Elizabeth Florence, who was born
February 3, 1882, educated in the Humeston high school and at
Grinnell and Des Moines colleges, and who taught music in
Richman and vicinity for some time and is at present attending
the Conservatory of Music in Chicago; and Mrs. Ruth Louvene
Bevington, born February 4, 1884, who makes her home in
Centerville, Iowa.
Mr. Taylor is a republican in politics, although he does not strictly follow the party’s dictates and ofttimes follows his own judgment in supporting candidates. Public-spirited and interested in the growth and development of this section, he has been called upon to serve in public office and has made a creditable record as tax collector of Richman township, as a member of the town council of Humeston, to which body he belonged for fifteen years, and also as mayor of this city. He was the first to fill this office and during his administration much constructive legislation was passed pertaining to the city government, with which he has been vitally connected. The family are members of the Congregational church of Humeston and take an active and helpful interest in the work of that organization. While he has attained to prosperity and has encompassed individual success, his labors have been of constructive value in the development of this section, where he has been instrumental in improving the methods of agriculture and stock-raising by his example. His service in public positions has been such as received high commendation, and in private life Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are well liked and highly esteemed for their many good qualities of mind and character.