Pueblo-Mesa County CO Archives Biographies.....Taylor, Frank 1844 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 3, 2009, 6:03 am

Author: Wilbur Fiske Stone (1918)

FRANK TAYLOR.

    Frank Taylor, a general contractor conducting business in Pueblo, was born
upon a farm in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, on the 8th of January, 1844,
his parents being William and Mary (Kelly) Taylor. The father was a farmer by
occupation, devoting his entire life to that pursuit in order to provide for the
support of his family, which numbered ten sons and a daughter, Frank being the
fifth in order of birth. Both parents are now deceased.

    Frank Taylor pursued his early education in the rural schools and afterward
had the benefit of instruction in the Lyman Richardson School near Harford,
Pennsylvania, which he attended for two years. He was also for a similar period
a student in the Hawley Select School and afterward took up the profession of
teaching, which he successfully followed, imparting clearly and readily to
others the knowledge that he had acquired. In his youthful days and early
manhood he also worked upon the home farm with his father until after the
outbreak of the Civil war. His patriotic spirit was aroused by the continued
attempt of the south to overthrow the Union and when seventeen years of age he
enlisted, joining the army as a member of Company C, One Hundred and Fifty-first
Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, under command of Colonel Reynolds. The
regiment was attached to the First Army Division under General Doubleday and he
participated in a number of hotly contested engagements. He was at
Chancellorsville under General Hooker and he took part in many battles which led
up to the final victory that crowned the Union arms. Some of his brothers were
also in the service and the family has ever been noted for patriotic loyalty to
the country. Mr. Taylor returned home with a most creditable military record and
it was subsequent to this time that he had the opportunity for a brief period of
attending the Hawley school. He also took up the profession of teaching and
eventually he left Pennsylvania to come to the west in company with an older
brother. He first located at Junction City, Colorado, where he was employed by
the Union Pacific Railway Company, and later he was with the Missouri, Kansas &
Texas Railroad Company. On severing that business relation he entered the employ
of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and in 1888 he turned his attention to
contracting, withdrawing from activities in railroad circles. Through the
intervening period he has concentrated his efforts and attention upon
contracting and among the many buildings which he has erected may be mentioned
the Centennial high school of Pueblo, which was built at a cost of four hundred
and fifty thousand dollars. Among the other fine structures which stand as
monuments to his skill and ability are the county building of Denver, also five
buildings at Fort Logan, the Pueblo County Courthouse and many of the buildings
which form a part of the State Hospital. He is familiar with every phase of
building, with all the practical features of the work and with every scientific
principle and his efficiency in this direction has led to the steady development
of his patronage until he today ranks among the most prominent contractors of
Colorado. His business methods have ever been thoroughly reliable as well as
progressive and what he has undertaken has brought to him a very substantial
measure of success and, more than that, has gained for him an honored name,
which is rather to be chosen than great riches.

    Mr. Taylor was married in 1872 to Miss Clara E. Keech, of Kansas City, and
to them was born a son, Frank E., who is now engaged in the automobile business.
In July, 1906, Mr. Taylor was again married, his second union being with Mary
Etta Watson, of Illinois.

    The religious faith of Mr. Taylor is manifest by his membership in the First
Presbyterian church, in which he is now serving as trustee, while in the work of
the church he takes an active and helpful interest. His political allegiance is
given to the republican party and fraternally he is connected with the
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at La Junta. He also belongs to the Lions
Club and he is a most public spirited and respected citizen, loyal to every
interest for the general good, his life having at all times measured up to the
highest standards of manhood and citizenship. He is today regarded as the
pioneer builder of Colorado.


Additional Comments:

HISTORY OF COLORADO

ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1918


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