{{short description|19th century American politician}} {{infobox officeholder | name = James A. Taylor | state = Wisconsin | state_assembly = Wisconsin | district = Chippewa | term_start = January 5, 1891 | term_end = January 2, 1893 | predecessor = Benjamin Franklin Millard | successor = John C. Harmon | term_start1 = January 1, 1883 | term_end1 = January 5, 1885 | predecessor1 = William B. Bartlett<br />{{sup|''(Chippewa–Price dist.)''}} | successor1 = Henry J. Goddard | state_assembly2 = Wisconsin | district2 = Chippewa–Price | term_start2 = January 3, 1881 | term_end2 = January 2, 1882 | predecessor2 = Hector McRae | successor2 = William B. Bartlett | order3 = 1st | title3 = Mayor of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin | term_start3 = April 1870 | term_end3 = April 1871 | predecessor3 = ''Position established'' | successor3 = J. W. Sheldon | party = Democratic | birth_date = {{birth date|1835|9|8}} | birth_place = Argyle, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1906|2|15|1835|9|8}} | death_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S. | resting_place = Milwaukie Pioneer Cemetery, {{nowrap|Milwaukie, Oregon}} | spouse = {{marriage|Mary M. Buzzell|1856}} | children = {{unbulleted list | Frank A. Taylor | {{sup|(b. 1858; died 1931)}} | William J. Taylor | {{sup|(b. 1860; died 1922)}} | Charles Taylor | {{sup|(died in infancy)}} | John J. Taylor | {{sup|(died c.1901)}} }} | occupation = Merchant }} '''James Andrew Taylor''' (September 8, 1835{{spaced ndash}}February 15, 1906) was an American businessman, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the first mayor of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and represented Chippewa County for three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly.
==Biography==
James A. Taylor was born September 8, 1835, in the town of Argyle, New York. As a young man, he moved to Lansing, Iowa, then came to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, in 1854. He worked for the merchant company H. S. Allen & Co., clerking aboard their steamboat during the summers, and in their stores in the winters. In 1856, he formed a partnership with Fred H. Bussy to open his own general store.<ref name="obit-chip">{{Cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62166962/23-feb-1906-hon-james-a-taylor/ |title= Hon. James A. Taylor Dead |newspaper= Chippewa Herald-Telegram |date= February 23, 1906 |page= 3 |accessdate= March 7, 2022 }}</ref> He served as village treasurer for two terms in 1858 and 1859.<ref name="1883bio">{{cite report|url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1883 |title= The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin |year= 1883 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Heg |editor-first= J. E. |chapter-url= https://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/WIBlueBks/BlueBks/WIBlueBk1883/reference/wi.wibluebk1883.i0021.pdf |chapter= Biographical Sketches |page= 486 |accessdate= March 7, 2022 }}</ref>
He constructed the Gravel Island mill in 1864, which he sold to the French Lumbering Company in 1875. Chippewa Falls was incorporated as a city in 1869, and at their first election, in 1870, Taylor was chosen as mayor. In 1883, after a fire in the city destroyed the hotel, he constructed the "Taylor Block" which he operated as a new hotel for four years.<ref name="obit-chip"/> The "Taylor Block" still stands today as part of the Bridge Street Commercial Historic District, in the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI38035 |title= 207-209 N Bridge St |website= Wisconsin Historical Society |accessdate= March 7, 2022 }}</ref>
Taylor was active and loyal to the Democratic Party. He was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1880, 1882, and 1890.<ref name="1883bio"/><ref name="1891bio">{{cite report|url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1891 |title= The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin |year= 1891 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Cunningham |editor-first= Thomas J. |chapter-url= https://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/WIBlueBks/BlueBks/WIBlueBk1891/reference/wi.wibluebk1891.i0017.pdf |chapter= Biographical Sketches |pages= 587–588 |accessdate= March 7, 2022 }}</ref>
In 1902, Taylor moved west to Portland, Oregon. He died there four years later on February 15, 1906.<ref name="obit-chip"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-wi-hs}} {{s-bef|before = Hector McRae }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nowrap|from the Chippewa–Price district}} |years= January 3, 1881{{spaced ndash}}January 2, 1882 }} {{s-aft|after = William B. Bartlett }} {{s-bef|before = William B. Bartlett<br />''(Chippewa–Price dist.)'' }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nowrap|from the Chippewa district}} |years= January 1, 1883{{spaced ndash}}January 5, 1885 }} {{s-aft|after = Henry J. Goddard }} {{s-bef|before = Benjamin Franklin Millard }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nowrap|from the Chippewa district}} |years= January 5, 1891{{spaced ndash}}January 2, 1893 }} {{s-aft|after = John C. Harmon }} {{s-off}} |- {{s-non|reason = New city incorporated }} {{s-ttl|title = Mayor of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin |years= April 1870{{spaced ndash}}April 1871 }} {{s-aft|after = J. W. Sheldon }} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, James Andrew}} Category:1835 births Category:1906 deaths Category:People from Argyle, New York Category:Politicians from Portland, Oregon Category:Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Category:Mayors of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Category:19th-century mayors of places in Wisconsin Category:19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature