J.B. TAYLOR was born in Richland county, Ohio.
He comes, however, of Virginia
ancestry. His father, William
Taylor, was a native of Virgina, born February
17, 1788. The elder Taylor was reared in his native state and there,
in March, 1813, married Elizar Kidwell, who was a
native also of Virginia, born December 4,
1791. In 1833, William Taylor and wife
moved to Ohio and located in Ashland county. They removed from Ashland county,
Ohio,
to La Porte county, Ind.
There the father and nother subsequently lived
and died, the father dying in 1847 and the mother in 1854. They were plain, industrious people, of
quiet disposition and settled habits, orderly, home-loving arid
church-going, both having been for many years members of the Methodist
church. They had eight children, four
boys and four girls, all of whom became grown, but only four whom are now living.
Our subject,one of the eight here
referred to, was born March 15, 1830. He was reared on a farm in Ashland county, Ohio, and passed his boyhood and youth
much as the average farm boy did in those days, his time being divided between his
duties as a farm hand and his attendance at the district schools of the
locality where he grew up. When it became necessary to select a calling suitable
for his tastes and condition in life, that of harness-maker was chosen and he
was apprenticed to the trade in due form and served out his time, receiving his
credentials about the time he attained his majority. He entered business for
himself as a manufacturer of saddles and harness at Michigan City, La-Porte county, Ind., after completing his apprenticeship,
and continued at the business at that place for seven years. Then in 1855 his attention
was attracted towards the West, and he came that year to Iowa, settling in Delaware county, at
what was then called Plum Springs, now Greeley. For three years he clerked in a
general store at that place, at the end of which time he bought out his
employer and engaged in business for himself. He continued in the mercantile
business there for three years longer, when in 1860 he moved to Earlville and
formed a partnership with William Cattron, and
engaged as before in selling goods. He afterwards purchased his partner's
interest and for nearly ten years was engaged alone in merchandising in
Earlville. In the meantime he also began handling grain and operated somewhat
extensively for the time and locality in this line. Closing out his mercantile
and grain interests he engaged in the livery business, starting on a small
scale and gradually increasing his stock as his trade demanded. He also bought
and sold live stock, and conducted this successfully for some years in connection
with his livery business. He has owned a number of good farms at different
times and in different localities in Iowa, many of which he has improved and sold
at a profit. He still owns one, however, in Floyd county,
consisting of three hundred acres, one hundred and ninety acres of which are
under cultivation. He has a pleasant home in Earlville, where he is passing the
evening of life somewhat in retirement, surrounded by his family.
Mr. Taylor
married, June 16, 1851, taking for a companion Miss Margaret Eahart, a daughter of William Eahart,
a Virginia-born gentleman, who immigrated to Indiana at an early day and
settled in La Porte county, where he died in 1852, his wife surviving him many
years, dying in Delaware county, Iowa, in 1874. Mrs. Taylor was born in La Porte county, Ind., in 1831, and was there also reared.
To Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have been born two children, a daughter and son, Sophronia A., born May 15, 1852, now wife of C. A. Gilliam,
of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and William W., born November 8, 1855, married Miss Eva
Irish, of Delaware county, Iowa, in 1874, and now resides at Earlville, engaged
in business with his father.
In politics
Mr. Taylor is a republican, but he does not take much interest in public
matters, except to vote and keep abreast of the general thought of the day on
public questions.
Personally
he is kind and accommodating to those who stand in need of his services, and
he enjoys the esteem and good will of all who know him.
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