El
Dorado County
Biographies
WILLIAM G. TAYLOR
About
the last of the old-time blacksmiths in El Dorado County is William G. Taylor,
who has conducted a shop at Shingle Springs for the past forty-five years and
is one of the best known men in this section of the Valley. He was born at Spanish Hill, El Dorado
County, on the 13th of November, 1867, and is a son of Joseph and
Adelaide (Weed) Taylor. That latter, who
taught school at White Rock, was one of the first teachers in El Dorado County
and was a woman of strong character, an able instructor and greatly esteemed by
everyone. Joseph Taylor crossed the
plains with an ox team and covered wagon in 1860 and settled first in Nevada. Being a carpenter and wheelwright, he built
the wagon which he used for the journey and in it rode his wife and three
children. After a short stay in Nevada,
he moved to Placerville and entered the employ of the Pioneer Stage Company,
with which he was connected until the coming of the railroad compelled him to
seek other employment. For some time he
was the agent for the El Dorado Ditch Company in different camps, where water
was sold to the miners and Indians. In
partnership with a relative, he established a blacksmith shop at Smithflat,
where he continued in the business for ten years, and in 1885 he came to
Shingle Springs, where he carried on the same business until 1888, when he sold
out to his son William G. and returned to Smithflat, where his death occurred
in 1894. To him and his wife were born five
children, three of whom were born in the east and two in El Dorado County.
William
G. Taylor was educated in the public schools of Placerville, after which he
went to work in his brother-in-law’s blacksmith shop, where he remained for six
year. In 1888, with a partner, he bought
his father’s blacksmith shop at Shingle Springs. Subsequently he bought out his partner and
has conducted the shop alone ever since.
He is well known for the superior quality of his work and has always
enjoyed a large patronage, people coming from a wide territory to take
advantage of his skill.
Mr.
Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Lilly J. Orr, whose father, Thomas Orr,
was numbered among the pioneers of this section of the Valley. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have three children: Myrtle, the wife of E. McCormick; Dewey, of
Diamond Spring; and Elinore S. There are
also two grandchildren. Mrs. Taylor is a
woman of unusual character, kindly and considerate of those about her and
popular throughout the community of which she is an honored resident. Mr. Taylor has always supported the
Democratic Party, is interested in local public affairs and for fourteen years
served as a member of the school board.
He is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and Encampment and the Daughters
of Rebekah. He is one of the real
pioneer families of this locality and to the extent of his ability he has
contributed to the growth and development of the locality in which he has lived
and labored for many years, respected by all who know him.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 Pages 365-366. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's El Dorado County Biographies