William Sylvester Taylor (October 10, 1853 – August 2, 1928) was the 33rd Governor of Kentucky. He was initially declared the winner of the disputed gubernatorial election of 1899, but the Kentucky General Assembly, dominated by the Democrats, reversed the election results, giving the victory to his Democratic opponent, William Goebel. Thus, Taylor served only 50 days as governor.
A poorly educated but politically astute lawyer, Taylor began climbing the political ladder by holding local offices in his native Butler County. Though he was a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, divisions in the majority party resulted in his election as Attorney General of Kentucky on a ticket with the Commonwealth's first Republican governor, William O. Bradley. Four years later, Taylor was elected in 1899 to the governorship.
When the General Assembly reversed the election results after a dispute, incensed Republicans armed themselves and descended on Frankfort. Taylor's Democratic opponent, William Goebel, was shot and died after being sworn in on his deathbed. Taylor exhausted his finances in a legal battle with Goebel's running mate J. C. W. Beckham over the governorship. Taylor ultimately lost the battle, and was implicated in Goebel's assassination. He fled to neighboring Indiana. Despite eventually being pardoned for any wrongdoing, he seldom returned to Kentucky. Taylor died in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1928.
Early life
William Taylor was born October 10, 1853, in a log cabin on the Green River, about five miles from Morgantown, Kentucky. He was the first child of Sylvester and Mary G. (Moore) Taylor. He spent his early years working on the family farm, and did not attend school until age fifteen; thereafter, he attended the public schools of Butler County and studied at home. In 1874, he began teaching, specializing in mathematics, history, and politics. He taught until 1882, and later became a successful attorney, but continued to operate a farm.
On February 10, 1878, Taylor married Sara ("Sallie") Belle Tanner. The couple had nine children, including six daughters and a son that survived infancy.
Political career
Taylor's political career began in 1878 with an unsuccessful bid to become county clerk of Butler County. In 1880, he was an assistant presidential elector for Greenback candidate James Weaver. Two years later, he was elected county clerk of Butler County. He was the first person in the history of the county to successfully challenge a Democrat for this position.
Taylor became a member of the Republican Party in 1884. In 1886, he was chosen to represent the third district on the Republican state central committee. That same year, the party nominated a full slate of candidates for county offices, including Taylor as the nominee for county judge. In the ensuing elections, the full Republican slate was elected. Taylor was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1888. He was re-elected as county judge in 1890.
In 1895, Taylor was elected Attorney General of Kentucky, and served until 1899. During his term, state senator William Goebel proposed an election law that created a state Board of Elections which was empowered to appoint all election officers in every county and certify all election results. The board was to be appointed by the General Assembly, and there were no requirements that its composition be bi-partisan. The law was widely seen as a power play by Goebel, designed to ensure Democratic victories in state elections, including Goebel's own anticipated run for governor. The law passed the General Assembly, but was vetoed by Republican governor William O. Bradley. The General Assembly promptly overrode the veto. As attorney general, Taylor opined that the bill was unconstitutional. The measure was adjudicated by the Kentucky Court of Appeals and found to be constitutional.
Gubernatorial election of 1899
Bradley's election in 1895 had marked the first time in Kentucky's history that the Commonwealth had elected a Republican governor. Angry Democrats, who had controlled the governorship since the fall of the Whig Party in 1855, sought to regain what they had lost. Bitter divisions in the party led to a contentious convention that nominated William Goebel as the party candidate. A faction of the Democratic Party held a second nominating convention and chose former governor John Y. Brown as their nominee.