Lewis County, West Virginia         Biography of CHARLES W. TAYLOR 

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The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 607


CHARLES W. TAYLOR was four years old when his father,
a Union soldier, died in a Southern prison. He early learned
to face the serious responsibilities of the world, and in spite
of handicaps he has won a substantial success. For a num-
ber of years he was a teacher, but the solid basis of his
prosperity has been laid as a farmer.

Mr. Taylor, who lives on his farm up the waters of Stone
Coal Creek, six miles east of Weston, was born on another
farm, three miles nearer Weston, on September 7, 1860, son
of Sandy and Augusta C. (Newberger) Taylor. His father
was born in Buckingham County, Virginia, in 1835, and
moved to West Virginia when about fifteen years of age.
He had a limited education, and was married in Lewis
County. His wife was born in Baltimore, Maryland, No-
vember 28, 1838, and had a public school education. After
their marriage they settled on a farm in Lewis County, and
Sandy Taylor never got beyond the stage of a renter. When
his children were all small he enlisted in Company D of the
Fifteenth West Virginia Infantry, and was with his com-
mand until wounded at the second battle of Bull Run. He
died in 1864, being one of many Northern men who literally
starved to death in Southern prisons. He was a republican
in politics. His four children were: Frank, who lives on
First Street in Weston; C. W.; Celia, deceased; and Sandy,
a farmer on Stone Coal Creek.

Charles W. Taylor grew up on, a farm, and always made
the best possible advantages of his opportunities in the
public schools, thus qualifying himself as a teacher. For
seven terms he taught in West Virginia and then went out
to South Dakota and took up a homestead and farmed there
for five years. On his return to West Virginia he taught
seven more terms of school and farmed at the same time.

On July 25, 1888, Mr. Taylor married Barbara Danfel, of
Bunker Hill, Indiana. She died in November, 1892, the
mother of two children, Lillie, wife of O. W. Gum, of
Lewis County; and Leslie O., who graduated from the Glen-
ville Normal School, the State University, with the A. B.
degree, served in two training camps during the war and
is now a student in Chicago. In 1900 Mr. Taylor married
Iza Swisher, of Lewis County. Two children were born to
this union: Ralph, now deceased, and Clifford, who is a
graduate of an automobile school in Detroit. On February
9, 1922, Mr. Taylor married Elizabeth Hindman, of Flor-
ence, Alabama.

The well managed and valuable farm of Mr. Taylor con-
tains 184 acres. He is also a stockholder in other enter-
prises. His political allegiance is with the republican party,
and he is a past noble grand of Lodge No. 136, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, is a member of the Encampment,
and is affiliated with the Methodist Protestant Church.