Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Taylor, Anthony G 1840 - 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 8, 2007, 11:44 pm

Author: Portrait & Bio Album, 1890

ANTHONY G. TAYLOR is profitably conducting farming and stock-raising 
operations in Custer Township, where he has a well appointed farm on section 
23, and here he and his family have an attractive home. Mr. Taylor's claims to 
representation in this biographical work are not wholly as a farmer, however, 
but in part as a noble type of the veterans of the late Civil War, whom we 
delight to honor, and who, since the Rebellion closed have done so much to 
develop the fine resources of this county. Our subject has an enviable 
military record, as an able and trustworthy soldier, who did his share of hard 
fighting that kept the Stars and Stripes floating over a free and undivided 
country, and by his valor he received deserved promotion to the official rank 
of Second Lieutenant. Hiram Taylor, the father of our subject was a native of 
Rutland County, Vt., born 1806, and was there reared to the life of a farmer. 
His mother, whose maiden name was Eliza M. Weller, was born in the State of 
New York in the month of June, 1810. In 1826 she was married in the place of 
her nativity to Hiram Taylor, and they spent the early years of their wedded 
life in that State. In 1849, they came to Will County and settled on the farm 
in this township now owned by Martin Tanner. There they resided for four 
years, and then removed to the farm now occupied by our subject. Here they 
made their permanent home and here the father of our subject died in 1877. His 
mother is still living at the venerable age of eighty years and is a beloved 
member of his household. Eleven children were born of her married life, two of 
whom died in the first four years of their existence and five of the family 
are now living and reside in this township. The gentleman of whom we write was 
born September 16, 1840, in St. Lawrence County, N. Y. His education was 
obtained partly in his native State and partly in Illinois in the common 
schools. He has always been at home, never having worked away, excepting for 
half a month. At the breaking out of the war he was engaged on his father's 
farm, and watched with ardent interest the progress of the Rebellion. August 
5, 1861, he entered the army as a member of Company A, Thirty-ninth Illinois 
Infantry. He took part in the following campaigns: Shenandoah Valley under 
Gen. Shields; was with Burnside in his Fredericksburg campaign; was then under 
Gen. Banks at Suffolk, Va.; after that was with McClellan on the James River 
and subsequently was at Newburn, N. C.; and later at South Carolina he fought 
under Gen. Gilmore. There he and his comrades took part in the siege of Fts. 
Wagner and Gregg and were of great assistance in the capture of those strong-
holds. His term of enlistment having expired he re-enlisted after a furlough 
of thirty days, returned to Washington, went with Gen. Butler to Bermuda 
Hundred, Va., and was active in the James River campaign. He remained with 
Butler during the siege of Richmond and in the spring of 1865, was transferred 
to Gen. Terry's command near Petersburg, and the brigade of which he was a 
member was the first to intercept Lee. He fought in the following battles; 
Alpine Station, Md.; first battle of Winchester, Va., and was in a number of 
severe skirmishes taking an active part in the one at Black Water, Va. The 
summer of 1863 was spent in the siege of Fts. Wagner and Gregg on Morris 
Island, S. C. Then occurred Butler's march upon Richmond and the retreat, and 
Mr. Taylor was in all the battles in which his corps was engaged until the 
surrender of Lee at Appomattox. He served as a private until 1864, but his 
valor, trustworthiness and efficiency had commended him to the notice of his 
commanders and in that year he was promoted to the position of Corporal and 
then to be Orderly Sergeant and in the same year received his commission of 
Second Lieutenant. He was honorably discharged December 16, 1865, at 
Springfield, Ill. After his long and exciting experience of life on the 
southern battlefields, our subject resumed the quiet occupation which he had 
dropped to take up arms in defense of his country's honor. Coming back to the 
old homestead, where so many years of his life had been passed, he actively 
entered upon the duties of cultivating the soil, and rearing stock. He has one 
hundred and sixty acres of land, that under his able management is in a 
superior condition. Its neat buildings, well tilled fields and general air of 
thrift marking it as one of the most desirable estates in this vicinity. Here 
he and his wife have established a home that is the center of comfort and true 
hospitality, as they take pride and pleasure in making it a happy abode for 
their children. December 6, 1868, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Mrs. 
Eliza Stewart nee Hicks, a soldier's widow and a daughter of Joseph and Hannah 
Hicks. Her father is a retired farmer living in Plainfield. By this marriage 
our subject and wife have five children: Venie is the wife of Edward Yates of 
this township, and they have one child; Belle is the wife of Henry Linton of 
Custer Park; Charles, Eugene and Hiram. Our subject has been closely 
identified with the growth and material welfare of Custer Township, and so of 
Will County, since his boyhood, and is well-known as a man of correct habits 
and high principles, who possesses the business tact and practical ability 
requisite to give him an assured place among those members of the farming 
community who have pursued their calling to a successful issue. His position 
as a citizen of Custer Township, is of the best, and he has given it good 
service as a public official, always discharging his duty with conscientious 
fidelity. He has been Director of this district (No. 1). He occupies an 
important position as Treasurer of the Board of Road Commissioners, and has 
just been appointed Enumerator of Census by the United States Government, for 
Custer Township. His public and private duties are so numerous that he has 
just been obliged to resign the office of Justice of the Peace. In 
commemoration of the part which he took in the war he is now a member of Bowen 
Post, G. A. R. of Wilmington. He always votes the Republican ticket in 
National politics.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890

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