HON. WALDO TAYLOR.  In enumerating the names of the eminent men of this county, those who have contributed to the development of its material resources, who have given their influence to the arts and sciences, and through whose efforts is due the high standing of the county to-day, among these men, prominent mention belongs to Judge Taylor, Mayor of Newark.  The son of one of Licking County's patriots and heroes, he has by his honorable life added lustre to the name he bears.  Nor would this volume be complete without a record of his eventful career.
     The father of our subject, Gen. Jonathan Taylor, was born in Connecticut in 1796, and in an early day was engaged in running the boundary lines between Michigan and Ohio, commanding the Ohio forces during the troubles that ensued.  In both branches of the General Assembly he served as Representative, and further honors were bestowed upon him when, in 1838, he was elected to the United States Congress.  His wife, a woman of fine intellect and sound judgment, bore the maiden name of Sarah Elliott, and was born in Allegany County, Md., May 2, 1799.  In the opening year of the present century she was brought to Licking County by her father, Capt. Samuel Elliott.
     Eleven children were born to the union of General and Mrs. Taylor, viz.: Mary Olive, born June 23, 1823; David Elliott, Jan. 12, 1826; Orlando, Aug. 19, 1829; Jonathan Campbell, Sept. 22, 1829; Harriett, Nov. 4, 1831; Sarah, Jan. 12, 1834; Eliza, Apr. 10, 1836; William and Waldo (twins) June 3, 1838; Margaret J., June 9,1841, and Jonathan B., Mar. 31, 1843.  Mary, who became. the wife of D. D. Jewett, of Newark, died Apr. 21, 1848.  David, a soldier during the Mexican War, died Dec. 25, 1848, a few months after his return from the battlefields of Mexico.  Orlando died Aug. 27, 1829, and Jonathan C. in September, 1830.  Harriett, the wife of William R. Iles, passed from earth June 20,1856.  Sarah married Theophilus Little, and is a resident of Abilene, Kan.  Eliza departed this life Aug. 10, 1837. William, our subject’s twin brother, enlisted in 1861 as a member of Company D, Seventy-sixth Ohio Infantry, and was killed at Arkansas Post, Jan. 11, 1863.  Jonathan B. was a member of Company H, Thirty first Ohio Infantry, marched with Sherman to the sea, and was a short time in Libby Prison; he married a sister of Hon. S. S. Cox and resides in Chicago.
     A man of considerable influence in this community, General Taylor was also well known throughout the entire state, and was honored wherever known.  His death in April, 1848, deprived his widow of a loving husband, his children of a devoted father and his neighbors of a kind friend.  He was long survived by his wife, who by his death was left in charge of a large family.  Surrounded by obstacles, with limited means, she struggled bravely forward, fitting her children, by example and precept, for honorable positions in life, and inculcating in their minds the lessons of honor, virtue and probity to which their success may be attributed.  At the age of seventy-four years, she died in Newark, May 13, 1872, and her body now lies in Cedar Hill Cemetery.
     The boyhood years of our subject were passed upon the home farm.  His educational advantages were excellent, including some time spent in Denison University, at Granville and Jefferson College, at Cannonsburg, Pa.  In April, 1861, when twenty-three years old, he was elected Supervisor, and four years later became Township Clerk.  In 1863 he was chosen Director of School District No. 5, becoming President of the Board of Education.  In youth he selected the law for his life occupation, and continuing the study of that profession for some time, was admitted to the Bar June 10, 1861, and on the 1st of October, 1867, was admitted to practice in the United States Courts.
     The principles of the Democratic party meet with the hearty sympathy of Judge Taylor, and upon that ticket he has been elected to many offices of trust and honor.  In 1875 he was President of the Board of Trade of Newark.  His name was prominently mentioned as candidate for Clerk of the Supreme Court, but he refused to make the race.  He was also nominated for Clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives, and received the enthusiastic support of his party.  July 26, 1864, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and after having served for three years declined re-election.  After his admission to the Bar, he conducted an extensive practice until he was elected Probate Judge of Licking County, in October, 1872.  Entering upon the duties of the office Feb. 10, 1873, he served with efficiency for three years.
     In every enterprise calculated to promote the welfare of the people, Judge Taylor takes a leading part.  He was a prominent factor in the building of the Newark, Somerset & Straitsville Railroad, and at one time was a heavy stockholder.  He has served as Secretary and Treasurer of the Licking County Agricultural Society.  On the 4th of July, 1863, he was chosen Captain of Company A, First Ohio Militia, and on the 31st of August following became Lieutenant-Colonel of the same regiment.  In recognition of his loyal and prompt response to all appeals for aid in the defense of Cincinnati, he was presented with a “Squirrel Hunter’s” discharge containing the portrait of Governor Todd.
     At the present time Judge Taylor is serving his second term as Mayor of Newark.  He was first elected in 1884, serving for two years.  In the spring of 1894 he was again chosen to represent the people in this office, receiving a majority of three hundred and thirty-four votes.  As chief executive, he has advocated the adoption of measures tending to promote the best interests of the city and has also instituted several needed municipal reforms.
     Perhaps in no way has Judge Taylor attained greater note than as a public speaker.  He is a gifted orator, a fluent speaker, eloquent and enthusiastic, combining with a large fund of humor depths of pathos that stir the hearts of his auditors.  Upon occasions of public interest, of whatever nature, he is in great request as a speaker.  His witty remarks in response to toasts often find their way into local papers, and are extensively copied by the press of the country.
Source:  Memorial Record of Licking Co., Ohio - Chicago - Record Publishing Co., 1894 - Page 464

ZACHARY TAYLOR, TWELFTH President of the United States, was born on the 24th of November, 1784, in Orange County, Va.  His father, Col. Taylor, was a Virginian of note, and a distinguished patriot and soldier of the Revolution.  When Zachary was an infant, his father, with his wife and two children, emigrated to Kentucky, where he settled in the pathless wilderness, a few miles from Louisville.  In this frontier home away from civilization and all its refinements, young Zachary could enjoy but few social and educational advantages.  When six years of age he attended a common school, and was then regarded as a bright, active boy, rather remarkable for bluntness and decision of character.  He was strong, fearless and self-reliant, and manifested a strong desire to enter the army to fight the Indians, who were ravaging the frontiers.  There is little to be recorded of the uneventful years of his childhood on his father's large but lonely plantation.
     In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining for him a commission as Lieutenant in the United States army, and he joined the troops which were stationed at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson.  Soon after this he married Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady from one of the first families of Maryland.
     Immediately after the declaration of war with England, in 1812, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been promoted to that rank) was put in command of Ft. Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles above Vincennes.  This fort had been built in the wilderness by Gen. Harrison, on his march to Tippecanoe.  It was one of the first points of attack by the Indians, led by Tecumseh.  Its garrison consisted of a broken company of infantry, numbering fifty men, many of whom were sick.
     Early in the autumn of 1812, the Indians, stealthily, and in large numbers, moved upon the fort.  Their approach was first indicated by the murder of two soldiers just outside of the stockade.  Capt. Taylor made every possible preparation to meet the anticipated assault.  On the 4th of September, a band of forty painted and plumed savages came to the fort, waving a white flag, and informed Capt. Taylor that in the morning their chief would come to have a talk with him.  It was evident that their object was merely to ascertain the state of things at the fort, and Capt. Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept them at a distance.
     The sun went down; the savages disappeared; the garrison slept upon their arms.  One hour before midnight the war-whoop burst from a thousand lips in the forest around, followed by the discharge of musketry and the rush of the foe.  Every man, sick and well, sprang to his post.  Every man knew that defeat was not merely death, but, in the case of capture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged torture.  No pen can describe, no imagination can conceive, the scenes which ensued.  The savages succeeded in setting fire to one of the block-houses.  Until six o’clock in the morning this awful conflict continued, when the savages, baffled at every point and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired.  Capt. Taylor, for this gallant defense, was promoted to the rank of Major by brevet.
     Until the close of the war, Maj. Taylor was placed in such situations that he saw but little more of active service.  He was sent far away into the depths of the wilderness to Ft. Crawford, on Fox River, which empties into Green Bay.  Here there was little to be done but to wear away the tedious hours as one best could.  There were no books, no society, no intellectual stimulus.  Thus with him the uneventful years rolled on.  Gradually he rose to the rank of Colonel.  In the Black Hawk War, which resulted in the capture of that renowned chieftain, Col. Taylor took a subordinate, but a brave and efficient, part.
     For twenty-four years Col. Taylor was engaged in the defense of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in employments so obscure, that his name was unknown beyond the limits of his own immediate acquaintance.  In the year 1836, he was sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indians to vacate that region, and retire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiefs by treaty had promised they should do.  The services rendered here secured for Col. Taylor the high appreciation of the Government, and as a reward he was elevated to the high rank of Brigadier-General by brevet, and soon after, in May, 1838, was appointed to the chief command of the United States troops in Florida.
     After two years of wearisome employment amidst the everglades of the Peninsula, Gen. Taylor obtained, at his own request, a change of command, and was stationed over the Department of the Southwest.  This field embraced Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.  Establishing his headquarters at Ft. Jessup, in Louisiana, he removed his family to a plantation which he purchased near Baton Rouge.  Here he remained for five years, buried, as it was, from the world, but faithfully discharging every duty imposed upon him.
     In 1846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the land between the Nueces and Rio Grande, the latter river being the boundary of Texas, which was then claimed by the United States.  Soon the war with Mexico was brought on, and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the Mexicans.  The rank of Major - General by brevet was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and his name was received with enthusiasm almost everywhere in the nation.  Then came the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista, in which he won signal victories over forces much larger than he commanded.
     The tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista spread the wildest enthusiasm over the country.  The name of Gen. Taylor was on everyone‘s lips.  The Whig party decided to take advantage of this wonderful popularity in bringing forward the unpolished, unlettered, honest soldier as their candidate for the Presidency.  Gen. Taylor was astonished at the announcement, and for a time would not listen to it, declaring that he was not at all qualified for such an office.  So little interest had he taken in politics, that for forty years he had not cast a vote.  It was not without chagrin that several distinguished statesmen, who had been long years in the public service, found their claims set aside in behalf of one whose name had never been heard of, save in connection with Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista.  It is said that Daniel Webster, in his haste, remarked, “ It is a nomination not fit to be made.”
     Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker nor a fine writer.  His friends took possession of him, and prepared such few communications as it was needful should be presented to the public.  The popularity of the successful warrior swept the land.  He was triumphantly elected over two opposing candidates, - Gen. Cass and Ex-President Martin Van Buren.  Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the good old man found himself in a very uncongenial position, and was at times sorely perplexed and harassed.  His mental sufferings were very severe, and probably tended to hasten his death.  The pro-slavery party was pushing its claims with tireless energy; expeditions were fitting out to capture Cuba; California was pleading for admission to the Union, while slavery stood at the door to bar her out.  Gen. Taylor found the political conflicts in Washington to be far more trying to the nerves than battles with Mexicans or Indians.
     In the midst of all these troubles, Gen. Taylor, after he had occupied the Presidential chair but little over a year, took cold, and after a brief sickness of but little over five days, died, on the 9th of July, 1850.  His last words were, “I am not afraid to die.  I am ready.  I have endeavored to do my duty.”  He died universally respected and beloved.  An honest, unpretending man, he had been steadily growing in the affections of the people, and the Nation bitterly lamented his death
Source:  Memorial Record of Licking Co., Ohio - Chicago - Record Publishing Co., 1894 - Page 63