It was especially fitting that on the day of the burial of Janarius A. MacGahan, at New Lexington, the poem for the occasion should have been written by another Perry county boy. The man who was thus honored, and who did honor to the occasion was Wil- liam A. Taylor, the widely known journalist and author, now a resident of Columbus.175
He was born in Harrison township, April 25, 1837. He attended the public schools, but most largely edu- cated himself, through the kindness of an old friend, Dr. Milliken, of Roseville, who placed his large and splendid general library at his disposal. Among his teachers was Philander H. Binckley, of Somerset, who directed his early readings and en- couraged his literary tastes. While working on the farm, he began contributing to the county papers, especially the Somerset Review, edited by the late John H. Shearer, and the Democratic Union, edited by the late James Sheward, afterward a distinguished jurist of New York. When 19 years of age, he began teaching, at the same time reading law with Muzzy & Butler, of New Lexington, and was admitted to the practice at the December term of the Supreme Court in 1858, being examined by Morrison R. Waite, afterward Chief Jus- tice and Noah H. Swayne, afterward Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Samuel Galloway, a distinguished lawyer and Con- gressman, who rated him l00 in the examination. In 1858 he became associated with John R. Meloy and Perry J. Ankeney in the publication of the Perry County Democrat, the predecessor of the present Her- ald, of New Lexington. He ceased the practice of law in 1863, and devoted his entire attention to journal- istic and literary pursuits. He went on the Cincinnati Enquirer, first as correspondent and later as a mem- ber of its editorial staff, and continued in active jour- nalism until 1900, during twenty-three years of which period he was connected with the Enquirer, In 1869 he took the position of editorial writer on the Pittsburg Post, afterward going to the New York176
Sun, the New York World, Pittsburg Telegraph, Columbus Democrat, Columbus Courier, Cincinnati News Journal, and in 1884 again went on the staff of the Enquirer, where he remained until 1900. Dur- ing all these years he contributed largely to the maga- zines and literary publications. He is the author of a large number of books many of which are standard works of reference, among them being: "Eighteen Presidents and Contemporaneous Rulers,;" "Ohio Hundred Year Book; "Primary Tariff Lessons;" "Ohio Statesmen;" "The Peril of the Re- public;" "Ohio Statesmen and Annals of Progress;" "Roses and Rue" (poems); "Intermere" (a narrative of speculative philosophy); "Ohio in Congress from 1803 to 1903)" and "Twilight ? or Dawn?" (poems. He is also the principal author of "The Book of Ohio," an exhaustive illustrated history of Ohio of 1000 folio pages and 2000 illustrations, issued by C. S. Van Tassel of Bowling Green and Toledo. He is a member of the Benjamin Franklin Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and of the State Society of the S. A. R., having held the prom- inent offices in both; of the Ohio Historical and Arch- aeological Society; of the Old Northwest Genealogical Society and many other social and literary associations. He served as a private soldier in the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War. He was clerk of the sen- ate of the 69th General Asembly; was the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State in 1892, and for Lieutenant Governor in 1893. His parents were Thomas Taylor, of London county, and Mary Owens Taylor, of Fanquier County, Virginia, the latter being the niece of Gen. Simon177
Kenton. His paternal grandfather, also Thomas Tay- lor, and his maternal grandfather, Joshua Owens, were soldiers of the Revolution and both were present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown. His father served as a soldier in the war of 1812. His parents, and many others of their families migrated to Ohio in 1816. The elder and the younger Thomas Taylor took up lands in Harrison township, Perry county, where they resided the rest of their lives. Others of the immigrants settled in Belmont and Muskingum counties. William A. Taylor was married to Jane Allen Tarrier, the eldest daughter of Capt. George W. Tar- rier, of Zanesville, Ohio, Nov. 10, 1870. To them was born a son, Aubrey Clarence Taylor, in Alle- gheny City, Pa., Jan 28, 1875, and who died in Zanes- ville Nov. 26, 1898, while filling an editorial position on the evening Press of that city.178