John May Taylor (May 18, 1838 – February 17, 1911) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Biography

Born in

Lexington, Tennessee Lexington is a city in Henderson County, Tennessee, United States. It is midway between Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, lying south of Interstate 40, which connects the two cities. Its population was 7,956 at the ...

, Taylor was the son of Jesse and Mary May Taylor. He attended the Male Academy in Lexington and the

Union University Union University is a private Baptist university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It was estab ...

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census estimate, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010 United States census, 2010. Murfreesboro i ...

. He graduated with a law degree from

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842. The oldest campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842–1861 The university was founded by the Cumberl ...

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon ( ) is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metro ...

, in 1861. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

the same year and commenced practice in Lexington. He married Amanda McHaney, October 10, 1864, with whom he had eight children.

Career

Taylor enlisted in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

, and was elected first lieutenant in June 1861 and promoted to captain. He was elected major in the Twenty-seventh Tennessee Regiment in 1862. Taylor served as mayor of Lexington in 1869 and 1870, and in 1870, he served as delegate to the State constitutional convention of Tennessee. He was the Attorney General of the eleventh judicial circuit of Tennessee from 1870 to 1878. He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1880, and was a member of the State house of representatives in 1881 and 1882. Elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses, Taylor served from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1887. He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy (Forty-ninth Congress). He served as member of the State senate in 1892. He resumed the practice of law. He was appointed judge of the criminal court for the eleventh judicial circuit in 1895 and subsequently elected for a six-year term, serving until the court was abolished. Taylor was elected in August 1902 as a judge of the court of chancery appeals (name changed to court of civil appeals by the legislature). He was reelected in 1910 for a period of eight years and served until his death.

Death

On February 17, 1911, Taylor died in

. He is interred at Lexington Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, John May 1838 births 1911 deaths Confederate States Army officers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee People of Tennessee in the American Civil War Union University alumni People from Lexington, Tennessee 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives