Taylor was born in Woodbury, Connecticut. He was orphaned at age 6 when his father's ship was lost at sea; his mother had died when he was an infant. Cared for by his neighbors, he then moved with his guardians to Jefferson County, New York.[2]
Career
Taylor moved to Ohio, where he taught school, studied medicine,[2] and served in the local militia. He served as president of the Dane County Agricultural Society and the State Agricultural Society after he moved, in 1848, to a farm in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin.[2] There he was involved with lumbering as well as farming. He was a member of both the Wisconsin State Assembly, in 1855, and the Wisconsin State Senate, in 1859 and 1860. He was chairman of the city and served as a member of the Dane County Board, County Superintendent of Schools, and County Superintendent of the Poor. He was trustee of the State Hospital for the Insane in Mendota from 1860 to 1874.
The most noteworthy act of Taylor's governorship, however, was likely the so-called "Potter Law,"—named for Republican state senator Robert L. D. Potter—officially, 1874 Wisconsin Act 273. The law was a major priority of the Granger movement and effectively put railroad and freight prices under the control of a new state Railroad Commission. The law was aggressively challenged in the courts by the railroad companies, with cases even reaching the Supreme Court of the United States. The law survived legal challenge, however, Governor Taylor was defeated for re-election in 1875. His successor, Harrison Ludington, signed a bill to repeal the Potter Law and replace it with a weaker law establishing a weaker regulatory body.[3]
Son of Robert and Mary (Coleman) Taylor, he was orphaned at age six when his father was lost at sea, and was cared for by neighbors. He married Catherine Hurd in 1842 and they had three children; and he married Viola Lee in 1886 and they had one son.[4]
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