From: A Twentieth Century History of Allegan County, Michigan

By Henry F. ThomasPublished 1907, Lewis Publishing Co.

REV. JAMES F. TAYLOR.—"The world is better for his having lived,"was the universal verdict when the Rev. James F. Taylor passed from this life. Really the whole of his manhood was devoted to the work of the church and yet this did not entirely cover the field of his activity, for he stood for progress and improvement in all those lines of life which are of benefit to men and continually broadened his knowledge by reading and investigation. He did much to promote the horticultural interests of Michigan in his later years, and was an active worker in the State Horticultural Society. Far-reaching and beneficial was his influence and many lives have been helped by his wise counsel and his words of encouragement and truth.

He was born in Penn Yan, New York, November 4, 1824, and came of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He was named in honor of his grandfather, James Taylor, who came from Lough Brickland, county Down, Ireland, and settled at New Windsor, Orange county, New York, about 1770. When the colonies attempted to throw off the yoke of British oppression he joined Washington's army and participated in the battle of White Plains and other engagements with the British troops along the Hudson river that led up to the final victories that crowned the American arms and established American independence. In 1816 he removed to western New York, and a year later took up his abode in Yates county. His son, William Taylor, became a farmer of western New York and wedded Margaret Coleman. Three members of their family are still living: William M., of Penn Yan; H. R., of Clifton Springs, New York; and Mrs. Sarah Rappleye, of Bellona, New York.

The boyhood and youth of James F. Taylor were spent upon his father's farm, and the outdoor life bringing vigorous exercise, undoubtedly laid the foundation for the strenuous work which he was able to perform in his later professional career. He prepared for college at Franklin Academy, at Prattsburg, New York, and matriculated in Amherst College in 1848. He was graduated from Union College, at Schenectady, New York, in 1852, and afterward pursued theological and post graduate courses at Princeton and Yale, thus being provided with the most liberal educational privileges. His was a mind well trained in the severest school of investigation and to which close reasoning became habitual and easy.

In June, 1902, he had the pleasure of celebrating at Union College with six of his classmates the fiftieth anniversary of their graduation. He was ordained to the ministry of the Congregational church at Pekin, Niagara county, New York, January n, 1855, and served as pastor of churches of that denomination at Pekin from 1854 until 1856; at Newark, Illinois, from 1857 until 1859; at South Bend, Indiana, in 1859 and 1860; at Chelsea, Michigan, from 1860 until 1867; and at Saugatuck from 1868 until 1877. During his pastorate at Chelsea, which covered the trying period of the Civil war, he was engaged for a time on work for the Christian Commmission with the Union army in Kentucky. After the close of the Saugatuck pastorate he was frequently called upon to supply vacant pulpits in that vicinity and, up to the date of his death, continued
active in the work of the church and Sunday-school, having resigned the superintendency of the Sunday-school of the Congregational church in Douglas only January 1, 1903, after twenty years of continuous service.

His wide acquaintance with the earlier settlers in western Allegan county caused him to be called upon to officiate at weddings and funerals in their families long after he gave up the active work of the ministry, so that he was personally known to a very large portion of the people of the lake shore region. Impaired health having warned him of the necessity for an out-of-door life, in 1872 he purchased the farm on the lake shore southwest of Douglas, to which he removed his family from Saugatuck village in 1877. There he established a very successful orchard and nursery, which he continued to direct until the time of his death. He was one of the organizers, as well as one of the strongest supporters of the Saugatuck and Ganges Pomological Society, and for many years was an active worker in the State Horticultural Society. In all his connection with these and similar organizations he stood for advancement and progress along conservative lines. His interest in educational matters caused him to be chosen continuously for many years a member of the school boards of Saugatuck and Douglas villages, and he was for many years a member of the county board of school commissioners. Through his educational work he was continuously in touch with the younger people as they grew up around him and came to exert a wider influence upon the community than falls to the lot of most men, many young men and women having received their stimulus toward effort for self-improvement and progress from him and his beloved wife. Modest and unassuming in demeanor, he was everywhere recognized among those who knew him as a man of sterling worth, sound judgment and most kindly disposition, whose loss is most keenly felt by the community. His health in recent years was such as to cause his friends but little concern until the present summer, and his sudden death, after only two or three days of distinct sickness, came as a severe shock to his many friends.

Mr. Taylor was married at Penn Yan, New York, to Miss Mary A. L. Porter, October 14, 1858, whose death, November 19, 1896, was his greatest sorrow. The union was blessed with five children, three of whom, William A. and Mabel L. Taylor, of Washington, D. C., and Grace L. Taylor, of Douglas, survive, together with two grandchildren, Porter Ross Taylor and Ritchie Patterson Taylor, of Washington, D. C. The son, William A. Taylor, is a resident of Washington, D. C., where he holds the office of pomologist in charge of field investigation. The daughter, Grace L., is living upon and conducting the farm of sixty-five acres, which is devoted to the raising of fruit, including peaches, pears, apples, plums and cherries. Mr. Taylor carried on his fruit-raising interests along most scientific lines, continuing in business as a nurseryman and horticulturist for ten years with excellent success, and standing for improvement and progress at all times. He preached the gospel of advancement to the fruit-raisers of the state and his influence was an element for good in this line of industrial activity.

Wherever the Rev. James F. Taylor was known he was honored and respected. He was an eloquent and forceful preacher, a wise and careful pastor, and a true and loyal friend, while in his home life he was largely the ideal husband and father. Gifted by nature with strong intellectual force he developed his latent powers and was ever an earnest and discriminating student, who, in working toward the ideal, used the practical means at hand. His purposes were ever kindly, his sympathy unbounded, and all who knew him felt honored by his friendship.