The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 114

WILLIAM J. TAYLOR.

No history of the Kittitas valley would be complete without extended reference
to William J. Taylor, who has lived in this section from pioneer times and whose
name is connected with many of the early events which have shaped the annals of
this region. Mr. Taylor was born in Marion county, Oregon, September 28, 1852, a
son of Melville and Cyrena (McDonald) Taylor. both of whom were natives of
Missouri. The father was a son of John Taylor, a cousin of Zachary Taylor, at
one time president of the United States. The grandfather was born in Kentucky
and became a pioneer settler of Indiana, whence he afterward removed to
Missouri. In 1847 he crossed the plains, making his way to Marion county,
Oregon. He traveled with wagon and ox team, following the old-time trail and
meeting with many hardships and difficult experiences while en route. His son
William had crossed the plains in 1845 with Dan Waldo and they took up
government land side by side in Marion county. The grandfather secured a
donation claim and at once began the development and improvement of the place,
which he continued to successfully farm to the time of his death. He had a
family of six sons and one daughter, all of whom became residents of Oregon.

Melville Taylor, father of William J. Taylor, was a charter member of the Marion
county lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He, too, was associated
with the early pioneer development and progress of Marion county and in later
life he removed to Lane county, Oregon, where he continued to devote his
attention to general agricultural pursuits until he passed away in .August,
1914, when he had reached the venerable age of eighty-six years. His wife
started across the plains from Missouri with her parents, who were accompanied
by their seven children, and all died while en route save two of the daughters
and one son, being victims of the cholera. This was in the year 1849. Mrs.
Taylor and the other two children continued on their way to Oregon, where the
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor was afterward celebrated. Mrs. Taylor passed
away on the 8th of November, 1894, at the age of sixty-one years, ten months and
twenty-five days. To Mr. and Mrs. Melville Taylor were born seven children, of
whom William J. is the eldest. The others are: James Sylvester, who is engaged
in ranching on the Hood river in Oregon; Cordelia, the widow of James Gore and
a resident of Vancouver, B. C.; Joseph, a dentist who practices his profession
in Vancouver, Washington; Clarence, who is ranching in Lane county, Oregon;
Frank, who owns and operates a ranch near Corvallis, Oregon; and Elvin, who is
living on the old homestead.

William J. Taylor acquired a public school education in one of the little
pioneer temples of learning on the western frontier. The building was
constructed of logs and was furnished after the primitive manner of the times.
He had to walk three miles to this school. He was fourteen years of age when he
started out in the business world on his own account, going to Seattle,
Washington, which at that time contained only two stores. In the fall of 1870 he
made his way to Yakima county, traveling on horseback from Seattle and bringing
with him the first negro that was ever seen in Yakima county. He bore the name
of Johnson and he took up a ranch near where Ellensburg now stands.

At the time of his arrival here William J. Taylor had a cash capital of but
twenty dollars. With all of the early events which have left their impress upon
the history of Ellensburg and the Kittitas valley he was closely associated,
either as a witness or as an active participant therein. He assisted in building
the second store in Ellensburg in the spring of 1872. He also aided in building
the first house in the Kittitas valley constructed of lumber, it standing on
the old Smith ranch. He assisted in whipsawing the lumber for the first lumber
floor in the valley. It was rough lumber and they had a dance upon it and danced
it smooth. After coming to this district Mr. Taylor worked for three years on
the Bull ranch and for three years on the Smith ranch. He then succeeded in
getting some horses and cattle of his own and through all the intervening period
has been connected with the live stock business. He purchased his first ranch in
1877 but afterward traded the property for a horse and saddle. About the same
time he bought the right to another tract of one hundred and sixty acres four
and a half miles northeast of Ellensburg, which he owned until the '90s and then
sold.

On the 16th of January, 1877, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Mary Grewell,
a native of Chariton, Iowa, and a daughter of Thomas and Melinda (Dixon)
Grewell, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was born in Illinois.
They became pioneer settlers of Iowa and after living there for some time
removed to the northwest in 1863, making the journey with ox teams across the
country to Vancouver, Washington. The father, however, died while en route. The
mother afterward married again and in 1873 accompanied her second husband to
Ellensburg, where they engaged in ranching southeast of the city. To Mr. and
Mrs. Taylor have been born three children: Archie, who died at the age of three
years; Minnie, the wife of Pete Mitchell, residing in Ellensburg; and Frank, who
is filling the office of deputy sheriff of Kittitas county. He married Emma
Abraham and has three children. Mrs. Taylor taught the first school in Denmark,
then Yakima, now Kittitas county, in 1876-77.

In his political views Mr. Taylor has always been a stalwart democrat but not an
office seeker. He has done much active work in behalf of the welfare and
progress of the county, however, as a private citizen and has contributed in
substantial measure to the upbuilding of the section in which he lives. He took
the first bunch of horses across the Cascades to Seattle for sale and from early
days to the present time has been a prominent figure in connection with the
stock raising interests of the Kittitas valley. His business affairs have been
wisely and carefully conducted and his sound judgment is manifest in the success
which has come to him. He has indeed witnessed many changes during the period of
his residence here. The district was wild and undeveloped at the time of his
arrival. The trees stood in their primeval strength and the open lands were
covered with the native grasses and brush. There was little to indicate that a
wonderful transformation would soon be wrought. Mr. Taylor and other pioneer
settlers, however, recognized the advantages of the region and, acting upon the
dictates of their faith and judgment, they settled here and have lived to see
this district take its place with the most populous and prosperous districts of
the state. They certainly deserve much credit for what they have accomplished
in the way of general improvement and development and the names of Mr. and Mrs.
William J. Taylor are written high on the list of honored pioneers.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.