{{Short description|American politician (1883-1924)}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{About|the Governor of New Jersey|the Olympic diver|Leon Taylor}} {{Infobox officeholder |name= Leon Taylor |image= Leon R. Taylor.jpg |office1= Acting Governor of New Jersey |term_start1= October 28, 1913 |term_end1= January 20, 1914 |predecessor1= James Fairman Fielder (acting) |successor1= James Fairman Fielder |office2= Member of the New Jersey General Assembly |birth_date= October 26, 1883 |birth_place= Asbury Park, New Jersey, U.S. |death_date= {{Death date and age|1924|4|1|1883|10|26}} |death_place= Denver, Colorado, U.S. |party= Democratic }} '''Leon Rutherford Taylor''' (October 26, 1883 – April 1, 1924) was an American politician who was the acting governor of New Jersey from October 28, 1913, to January 20, 1914. Taylor took office upon the resignation of James Fairman Fielder, who had stepped down to create a vacancy in the governorship and avoid constitutional limits on succeeding himself.
==Biography== Taylor was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on October 26, 1883.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leon Rutherford Taylor in the World War I draft |publisher=Selective Service |title-link=:File:Taylor-LeonRutherford 1918 draft.jpg }}</ref> He attended Denison University in Ohio, studied law and established himself as a lawyer in New Jersey. Taylor was elected to three terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, and was chosen as its speaker. After Governor of New Jersey James Fairman Fielder resigned from office on October 28, 1913, Taylor became acting governor by virtue of his role as speaker of the house, serving until January 20, 1914, when Fielder assumed a full term in office. Taylor died on April 1, 1924, in Denver, Colorado.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=3ba03058be3f9010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |title=New Jersey Governor Leon R. Taylor |accessdate=2010-03-07 |publisher=National Governors Association }}</ref> He never married and had no children.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090610104403/http://www.historybuff.com/states/nj.html New Jersey History Facts]
{{S-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly |before=Thomas F. McCran |after=Azariah M. Beekman |years=1913}} {{succession box |title = Governor of New Jersey<br/>Acting |before = James Fairman Fielder <br/>Acting |after = James Fairman Fielder |years = October 28, 1913{{spaced ndash}}January 20, 1914}} {{S-end}}
{{Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Leon R.}} Category:1883 births Category:1924 deaths Category:Democratic Party governors of New Jersey Category:Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly Category:Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Category:Politicians from Asbury Park, New Jersey Category:Baptists from New Jersey Category:Denison University alumni Category:Lawyers from Monmouth County, New Jersey Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century Baptists Category:20th-century Baptists Category:20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature