Parents
William Lee Taylor, merchant at Mason, Tipton Co., Tennessee, was born in North Carolina on May 18, 1850. The son of Charles H. K. Taylor, who was a very prominent citizen of North Carolina, and was a member of the North Carolina Legislature for many years.
Life
Our subject was reared on the farm and received his education in early life from the common schools, but afterward attended Randolph Macon College in Mecklenburg County, Va. He followed farming in North Carolina until 1869, and in 1871 he came to Tennessee, and located at Mason. Where he has since been engaged in the mercantile business, and has met with more than an ordinary degree of success. He started in business with a very small capital and now carries a large stock of goods, and has his share of the trade in town and county.
February 8, 1876, he was married to Bettie S. Claiborne, daughter of Devreaux and Fannie S. Claiborne, of Tipton County; to this union were born four children: Fannie A., Eddie L., Bessie C. and Charles C.
Overview
Our subject and his wife are church members in high standing. In politics Mr. Taylor is a Democrat. He belongs to the K. of H.
[Goodspeed’s History of Tennessee (1887)]
William Lee Taylor Obituary
TAYLOR SERVICES TODAY
Retired Business Man to Be Buried Beside Wife.
Funeral services for William Lee Taylor, retired Memphis business man, who died yesterday morning in Dallas, will be held at 3:30 this afternoon at the funeral home of J. T. Hinton & Son. He will be buried in Elmwood Cemetery, beside his wife of 54 years, who preceded him in death only 10 weeks. He was 80 years old.
Mr. Taylor was born at Oxford, N. C., moving to Mason, Tenn., as a young man. He established a mercantile concern there, which he headed until his removal to Memphis in 1899. His father Charles H. K. Taylor, was one of the founders and directors of the old Raleigh & Gaston Railroad.
Since moving to Memphis, Mr. Taylor had made his home with his daughter, Mrs. C. C. Cline, 2030 Hallwood Drive. Heart disease had kept him practically an invalid for the past 18 years. He had been visiting with his two sons in Dallas for a month.
Survivors are: Two sons, Charles C. and A. Starke Taylor, of Dallas; three daughters, Mrs. Nelson A. Williamson and Mrs. Cline, of Memphis, and Mrs. P. E. Happel of Greenville, Miss.; two brothers, Judge Thomas Wallace Taylor of Huntingdon, W. Va., and Dr. Chas. W. Taylor of Marianna, Ark., and a sister, Mrs. Ben Johnston of Huntingdon.
The Rev. A. B. Curry, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, will officiate at the funeral. Active pallbearers will be: Walker M. Taylor, Sr., George Martin, Alfred Boyd, Hamilton Tarry, S. H. Fraser and R. J. Billings.
[Taylor Services Today; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 4 Nov 1930; Pg 7]