Convention Member John Taylor

Convention Member
Democrat
Born February 16, 1808, in Rockingham County, N.H., the son of David Taylor and Martha McNeil. This was his home until 17 years of age, when he removed to Essex County, N.Y., where he resided two years. He afterward lived awhile in Greene County, and then in Albany County. In 1834, he went to Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and, in the autumn of 1836, came to Milwaukee, where he tarried about one year. He is a natural mechanic, but his chief occupation has been that of farming. The winter of 1837-38 he spent in the South, mainly in Louisiana. In the spring of 1838, he located in Dubuque, which continued to be his home for several years. In 1841, he purchased a place in Richland Township, about one mile from Cascade, which was his post office. In October, 1843, he was elected Probate Judge of Jones County, for a term of three years. He was elected from Jones County as a member of the first Constitutional Convention of Iowa, which convened in October, 1844. He was married in Dubuque, December 25, 1844, to a native of Kentucky, Miss Elizabeth Graffort. In April, 1845, he was elected a member of the Territorial Legislature, by the counties of Cedar, Linn and Jones; the first session of said Legislature was held in May and June, and the next in the winter of 1845-46. He was appointed by the State Legislature in 1847, one of the Commissioners to locate a permanent seat of government for the State. He was elected a member of the Legislature, the session of which was held in the winter of 1852-53. In 1859, he was again elected to the Legislature from Jones County, which regular session was at Des Moines, in 1860, with an extra session in May, 1861. Judge Taylor was a loyal supporter of the Government during the trial period from ‘61 to ‘65, but had always been a Democrat from principle a firm friend of the people and of their chosen government. Although Jones County is strongly Republican, the Judge was never defeated in a political contest in his own county.