Cora V. Taylor
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Cora V. Taylor (March 1887 - January 22, 1971) was an American businesswoman from Michigan known for founding what is now the
Indian Trails Indian Trails is an intercity bus operator primarily serving the U.S. state of Michigan, with routes also serving Wisconsin and Minnesota. Indian Trails is based in Owosso, Michigan, with offices in Romulus, East Lansing, and Kalamazoo. His ...
bus service with her husband Wayne Taylor. She was the first woman in the United States to be issued a chauffeur's license.


Early life

Cora V. Phillips was born in March 1884 in
Owosso, Michigan Owosso () is the largest city in Shiawassee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 14,714 at the 2020 census. It is located west of Flint, and northeast of Lansing. The city is mostly surrounded by Owosso Township on its we ...
to Richard and Mary Phillips. She worked as a clerk at the D M Christian store in Owosso before her marriage to Wayne E. Taylor on 30 October 1907 and the two owned a 600 acre stock farm in Owosso.


Bus company

The Taylors started the Phillips-Taylor Livery Service in 1910 which originally moved people and packages via
Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...
touring cars and autobusses from the local train station to locations around Shiawassee County. Wayne Taylor served in the
Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army responsible for creating and managing communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860 by ...
in World War I and Cora ran the bus line. She drove on some of the early routes, leading her to become the first woman issued a chauffeur's license in the US on April 19, 1914. The Taylors bought their first bus in 1915. As the bus line expanded and added Flint to their routes, the Owosso-Flint Bus Line became known as the Indian Trail Route because it traveled along US-12, known locally as the "Old Indian Trail". Taylor was interested in Michigan history, researched the Michigan Native populations, and named each bus line after an Ottawa, Potawatomie or Chippewa
tribal chief A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...
. The bus line eventually became known as Indian Trails in 1935. Taylor succeeded her husband as president of the company when he died in 1954. The company was still owned by Taylor family members as of 2023.


Commemoration

Taylor was inducted into the Michigan Department of Transportation's Hall of Honor in 2006 and the Cora Taylor Safe Driving Award was created by Indian Trails in 2009.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Cora V. 1887 births 1971 deaths American women in business