The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 689 THOMAS J. TAYLOR. Thomas J. Taylor, owner of a farm of forty-four acres on the Naches, was born in Wapello county, Iowa, April 27, 1849, a son of Mayfield and Tempy (Harris) Taylor, both of whom were natives of Indiana. The father was a son of Jacob Taylor, one of the pioneer settlers of the Hoosier state. Mayfield Taylor in early life went to Iowa and after residing for a number of years in that state removed to Yakima county, Washington, where he arrived in the early '70s. Much of the land was still in possession of the government and he took up a claim on the Wenas, securing a tract of wild land which he at once began to develop and improve. His remaining days were devoted to the further cultivation of that farm, upon which he lived until called to his final rest. His first wife had died in Iowa, after which he married again and his second wife passed away in Washington. Thomas J. Taylor enjoyed the educational advantages offered by the public schools of his native state and after his textbooks were put aside he devoted his attention to farming in Iowa until 1877, when he sought the opportunities of the northwest and arrived in Yakima county. He, too, took up a homestead on the Wenas and thereon resided until 1908, when he sold that property and removed to his forty-four acres on the Naches, upon which he is engaged in the raising of grain and hay. This place originally contained eighty-four acres but some time before locating on it he disposed of forty acres of the place. His crops are systematically cultivated and the thoroughness with which he prepares his fields and does the work insures success in his undertakings. On the 9th of July, 1870, Mr. Taylor was married to Miss Ann Malone, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Henry and Nancy Malone, who removed to Iowa and afterward became residents of Missouri, where the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor was celebrated. The latter passed away in 1917, her death being the occasion of deep regret not only to her immediate family but also to many friends. By her marriage she had become the mother of ten children: Tempy and Frankie, both deceased; Albert, who resides at Selah and has a wife and four children; Henry, who is married and is engaged in the real estate business in Yakima; Russell, a resident of Selah, who is married and has two children; Cora and Eva, who have passed away; George, of Wapato, Washington, who has a wife and one child; Everett, of Wapato, who has a wife and two children; Lillie, the wife of Charles Swoope, who is farming the home place and by whom she has four children. Mr. Taylor was numbered among the pioneer agriculturists of his section of the state. Great changes have occurred during the years that have intervened since his arrival here and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past, with its hardships and privations, and the progressive present with its opportunities and advantages. He has contributed to the work of general improvement, especially along agricultural lines, and he still gives general supervision to the development of his home farm. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.