William George Langworthy Taylor [RG2714.AM]

HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID



RG2714.AM:  William George Langworthy Taylor, 1859-1941



Papers:  1858-1942

Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska:  Professor, writer

Size:  0.65 cu.ft.; 2 boxes



BACKGROUND NOTE



William George Langworthy Taylor, the son of Dr. George William Taylor and Sarah Elizabeth Langworthy, was born in New York City on May 13, 1859.  He received his early education in private schools and received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Harvard University in 1880.  From 1880-1881, Taylor attended Columbia University Law School and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1883.  Taylor was active in athletics during his college career and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa while at Harvard, graduating Magna Cum Lauda.



Taylor was married to Francis Chamberlain Brown on June 21, 1894, and the couple had one son, Edward Taylor.  After his wife’s death in 1924, Taylor married Florence Coles of Newcastle, Wyoming.  In 1893, Taylor came to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was named chairman of the politic economics department at the University of Nebraska. In 1911, he was named Professor Emeritus. His writings on economics include The Credit System and Exercises in Economics.



Although education and scholarly writing were his primary interests, Taylor listed horses among his hobbies and wrote several books and papers regarding this subject. He also exhibited an interest in spiritualism as illustrated by his writings, “The Fox Taylor Review”, “Katie Fox”, and “Essay on Immortality in Some of its Vital, Moral, and Physical Aspects”. During the summer of 1937, Taylor attended the International Spiritualist Convention in Glasgow, Scotland and visited the Institute Metaphysique in Paris. Genealogy also occupied much of his time and resulted in several compilations relating to the history of the Taylor and Langworthy families.



William G. L. Taylor died in San Diego, Calif., on July 6, 1941, following an extended illness.



SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE



This collection consists of manuscript materials arranged in three series:  1) Correspondence;  2) Printed matter; and  3) Miscellaneous material.



Series 1, Correspondence, includes Taylor’s personal correspondence from the early 1900s, as well as older and undated correspondence between Taylor’s ancestors. One folder contains correspondence to Taylor’s son, Edward.



Series 2, Printed matter, contains some of Taylor’s compiled genealogical materials as well as newspaper clippings and newsletters.



Series 3, Miscellaneous material, includes some of Taylor’s legal documents (diplomas, deeds, etc.) and additional genealogical material.



NOTE:  Several folders of material related to son Edward Taylor and the settlement of William Taylor’s estate were added to Series 3 in 2004.  It includes correspondence that was discovered in Olivia Pound’s collection, also during a re-processing project.  It appears that Edward Taylor was trying to collect evidence of his father’s failing mental condition during the later years of his life.  It is unclear as to why, when, or how it had become part of the Pound collection.  Edward Taylor was an actor who performed in America as well as overseas during the first half of the 1900s.  The beginning of the connection between the Pounds and Taylors is also unclear, but both William Taylor and Roscoe Pound taught at the University of Nebraska, both were prominent Lincoln families, and both had an interest in horses.   05-18-2004   EC



See RG2698.PH for related photographs.  See the library for various writings by William G.L. Taylor.



INVENTORY



Series 1 – Correspondence

Box 1

Folder




    1. 1905-1935

    1. 1936

    1. 1937-1939

    1. Correspondence addressed to Edward Taylor, 1913-1942

    1. Miscellaneous correspondence



Series 2 – Printed matter




    1. Andrew Langworthy and some of His Descendants compiled by F. L. Palmer, 1932

    1. The Langworthy Chronicle issues, 1927-31 and 1938

    1. The Langworthy Family, a family tree

    1. “Village Worthies in Burlesque Rhymes” by A. Scribbler

    1. Newspaper clippings, obituary, society news, etc.

    1. Misc. poems, essays, etc.



Series 3 – Miscellaneous materials




    1. Legal documents, including passports, deeds, etc.

    1. Legal documents, including diplomas, etc. [see OB002]

    1. Genealogical material concerning Langworthy family

    1. Correspondence and materials regarding William Taylor’s estate

    1. Miscellaneous address books and notebooks belonging to both William and Edward Taylor



Box 2

Folder




    1. Miscellaneous William Taylor materials

    1. Miscellaneous Edward Taylor materials



 



Subject headings:



Langworthy family

Langworthy, Andrew

Taylor family

Taylor, Edward Langworthy, 1899-1974

Taylor, William George Langworthy, 1859-1941



 



JEP/cr                     06-18-1970

Revised ELC/kfk      05-18-2004

 

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