Representative Abner Taylor

Abner Taylor served as a Representative from Illinois in the United States Congress from 1889 to 1893. A member of the Republican Party, Abner Taylor contributed to the legislative process during 2 terms in office.

Abner Taylor’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, Abner Taylor participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of constituents.

Abner Taylor (January 19, 1829 – April 13, 1903) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. Born in Bangor, Maine, Taylor moved with his parents to Champaign County, Ohio, in 1832, thence to Fort Dodge, Iowa, and subsequently to Chicago, Illinois, in 1860. He served the Union the American Civil War as a general’s deputy, and later a colonel and United States Treasury agent. As a business man, Taylor engaged in extensive contracting, building, and mercantile pursuits, and participated in the construction of the Texas State Capitol. In exchange for the construction of the Texas State House, Taylor was awarded three million acres of land in northwest Texas in 1882. He served as a delegate to the 1884 Republican National Convention. Further, Taylor served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1884 to 1886. Taylor was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses (March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1893). He married Clara Babcock, a daughter of business associate Colonel A C Babcock on September 9, 1889, in Cassopolis, Michigan. Clara was nearly thirty-two years his junior. The millionaire and his lively bride were well known in Congress. Clara made international news when she announced that rather than keeping Congressmen’s signatures in an autograph book, she would have them embroidered onto a petticoat in silk to keep as a record of the 52nd Congress. Taylor did not campaign in 1892, he instead resumed the building and contracting business. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1903, and was interred in Rock Creek Cemetery.